#rather than just existing as a satellite to a handful of characters and straight up being barely acknowledged by others

[n4rval]

ough. toriel my beloved

[infriga]

Some random Egghead meta about Vegapunk because he was on my brain today for some reason and I just wanna get it out of my head:

Honestly Vegapunk fascinates me as a character. I feel his existence as an individual gets overshadowed a lot by his existence as an important part of the overarching series/arc plot, but there's actually a lot of interesting things to think about regarding him as a person too.

One aspect that I probably think about the most is the mole plot regarding his satellites. Oda deliberately had him make several supposedly "negative" satellites, one being straight up Vegapunk's EVIL persona, and yet the one who truly turns out to be the traitor isn't Lilith, it's York. And sure, on the surface it's easy to say that it wouldn't be Lilith because that would be too obvious, but if Oda was just going to go for the surprise factor with this twist he would have had it be one of the more "positive" Satellites like Shakka (good) or Pythagoras (wisdom). In fact they were popular choices for theory crafters when the fandom was trying to predict who it would be. But he didn't go with that because the twist was based more on Vegapunk's actual character and actually makes a LOT of sense when we learn more about who he is as a person.

York is usually called Vegapunk's "greed" persona, but she's meant to represent more of a mix of greed, desire, avarice, hunger, appetite, even passion, etc, hence why her name is written in kanji as 欲 (yoku) which can mean all those things. With that understanding it's more understandable why her initial depiction comes across more like sloth and/or gluttony, after all her "job" is just to eat, sleep, and poop for Vegapunk, which may seem like a strange job for the "greedy" persona, but does fit the "appetite" or "hunger" aspect of the term yoku.

Obviously this comes with the benefit of hindsight but I actually kind of wish translators had translated her role to something more like desire or appetite instead of greed in most instances, since part of what makes the reveal a twist is that she really is more of an embodiment of "greed" as it's typically viewed despite appearing at first to be a less dangerous form of the concept. We're lead to believe that she's not as ambitious as she really is.

Ultimately I think the thing she represents is desire itself as a whole, unchecked by things like logic or wisdom or conscience. And knowing what we know now about Vegapunk's backstory, it makes sense why she would be the one to turn traitor, because Vegapunk's greatest weakness has always been his unchecked desire. I know some people might interpret it as being his naivety, but naivety on its own isn't a flaw or a weakness, someone can be naive and still make productive choices if they're smart and diligent and let their conscious and logic temper their first impulses. Naivety isn't always automatically a complete lack of wisdom or intelligence, it's a lack of experience, and that CAN be compensated for. Vegapunk didn't realize the extent of the government's cruelty, or the dangerous potential of his knowledge and technology in the wrong hands at the start because he hadn't yet experienced it first hand and he didn't try to compensate for that potential risk. If he'd tempered his desire for progress, for knowledge, for advancement, and exercised his intelligence and conscience, he likely would have realized the potential risks from the start and likely wouldn't have relied entirely on giving the government the benefit of the doubt because he would have prioritized being responsible with his abilities. He might have at the very least done more to gain leverage and have proper oversight over how his inventions would be used. This is something he eventually learned, as seen with stuff like his secret broadcast, but it came from hindsight after the damage was done, rather than from foresight.

A lack of foresight can be an issue, but what really drove Vegapunk's actions was, again, his desires overriding his common sense. The government was his meal ticket to the things he wanted, and he reasoned it away by saying that the means would justify the ends, up until he had to witness what those horrible horrible means really were with his own eyes.

Vegapunk's satellites don't only represent things like good, evil, wisdom, violence, intelligence, and desire, they specifically represent those aspects of HIM, and for all his flaws Vegapunk is clearly not an evil man. So it makes sense that Lilith would not actually be all that evil. And he is not a particularly violent man, which is why Atlas is not actually particularly violent at least in terms of the One Piece universe. Heck, Nami is arguably more violent than her. But Vegapunk IS very greedy. Not in the classic "wants to be rich and powerful" sense, except in terms of how riches and power would help him reach his true goals. He's covetous, he has an appetite, he is driven by desire. It is as much a strength as it is a weakness, it's why he has made so much amazing technology, and why he looked into stuff like the void century despite the risks, but it's also why he chose the government as his benefactors over the revolutionary army, it's why he built so many dangerous things without thinking of the consequences of who might weild them or how they might be used to harm instead of help. He always needed more. He needed more money so he could fund more projects, he needed more projects so he could make more discoveries, he needed more discoveries so he could gain more knowledge, and so on and so on. This is of course represented quite aptly by his ever expanding brain, not unlike the common imagery of an ever expanding stomach that represents gluttony. He may have meant well with how he wanted to use the knowledge and discoveries and technology, but, well, you know what they say about good intentions.

As he grew older, eventually his experience overcame his naivety, his wisdom and good conscience overcame his desire, and he finally stopped seeking more above all else and started trying to mitigate the damages and make up for the consequences of his actions. But York? York doesn't have that wisdom or conscience, she's just the desire, unchecked. And Vegapunk's remaining naivety ended up aimed at himself, when he didn't recognize the danger of that aspect of himself.

So with this full picture in mind, it makes total sense why York was the turncoat, not someone like Lilith or Atlas, because Lilith is only as evil as Vegapunk is, and Atlas is only as violent as Vegapunk is, and unfortunately, York is just as hungry for more as Vegapunk is.

[inkblackorchid]

Hit me with your favorite 5Ds headcanons 👀

Okay so I’ve used/alluded to some of these in my fics already, but that’s just because I love them that much (also it was really hard deciding which are my favourite headcanons):

Crow swears the most out of the boys, but has an almost supernatural ability to completely shut his swearing off the second children are around (unless he’s really flustered)

Though I’ve kinda hinted at something like it before, Jack isn’t actually the worst cook at the Poppo Time. Bruno is. Because Jack knows what good food is supposed to taste like (having been a star duellist for a while and all) and can reasonably guess how to approximate those flavours—he just doesn’t cook because he doesn’t have the patience to learn any technique whatsoever (or clean up after himself when he’s done). Meanwhile, Bruno just can’t cook. Straight up. It’s not a matter of wanting or not wanting to, if you try tasking this man with anything more difficult than preparing cup ramen he will burn something. Guaranteed.

Bruno and Yusei don’t have the same mechanical skillset. Bruno is almost 100% specialised only to runners, and at that, he’s slightly better than Yusei. But Yusei’s advantage is that he knows how to fix almost everything else (provided it’s mechanical and/or electronic), too.

All three of the Satellite boys actually know how to sew a bit. Martha taught them how to mend their own clothes. The quality of their seams varies (Crow’s are the neatest because he got a lot of practice from mending his kids’ stuff, too), but they all know how to sew tears shut and mend holes.

Aki isn’t as good a gardener as one would believe with her plant theme. She likes gardening a great deal, but doesn’t have a lot of experience outside of house plants. So she could decently keep a garden alive, but would never be able to maintain something like, say, a bonsai collection or a bed of prize roses, despite her love for the activity.

I’ve written a whole post about this already, but I still adore it, so: Satellite natives, post reunion with the city, are the bane of brand phone store workers’ existence. They want everything fixed, not replaced, and trying to explain to them why that would be too complicated (whether contrived or not) usually results in them not paying a single cent and going something like “oh, forget it, I’ll just give it to the neighbour’s boy, he’ll take care of this”. This includes Yusei, who usually just ends up fixing his own stuff, and especially Crow, who has already nearly gotten in a fistfight with some tech company’s store manager upon hearing the supposed price of a repair/replacement on more than one occasion before. (He obviously just ends up handing his stuff over to Yusei, too, in the end.)

Maybe my favourite headcanon: As TCG fans know, the manga versions of the signer dragons were printed as the duel dragons. In-universe, I imagine the duel dragons were also printed—as commercial, publicly available retrains of the signer dragons, who are supposed to be one of a kind in canon. (I also use this headcanon to justify why the signers have support cards tailored specifically to their dragons—they were printed to go with the duel dragons in-universe, but allow usage with the original signer dragons as well.)

Rua/Leo isn’t actually that bad at school. He’s just not very disciplined when it comes to studying because he’d rather keep polishing up his deck.

Ruka/Luna owns several duel monsters plushies. Her favourite is, of course, her Kuribon plushie.

Carly is really good at clocking people’s vibes and figuring out their character quickly. The caveat is that this only works when she meets them face to face.

[tes-trash-blog]

So, uh, a while back you mentioned making a post about how Prisoner McNord might affect the player experience/perceptions of the "default" and I would be super interested in reading that

So!

I have a few thoughts already on what is considered “default” in Skyrim to be expanded upon in a future shitstorm rant (it’s on the list, between Almalexia Is Interesting Actually and Even More Crying About Snow Elves Part 17: My Tears Have Become Sentient And Are Also Crying).

And as always, keep in mind that Skyrim is coming up on 9 years old, elements of it have not aged well, and this is in no way, shape, or form meant to be a “If you like Skyrim then you’re Bad” rant. In case you haven’t noticed, I kind of love that game. It has flaws; all games do, and frankly it’s a miracle this game is as solid as it is. The writers are that, writers. They had deadlines to make, hardware limitations to consider, and above all else, worked for a company that wanted to make money.

To keep this relatively short I’ll focus on how your perception of Skyrim is influenced by the first few minutes of the game via Ralof, the Nordiest Nord to Nord since Ysgranord, and how the writers really, really really wanted you to hold on to that perception.

Overanalysis and spoilers (Metal Gear Solid, Borderlands, and Bioshock respectively yes this will all make sense in context) under the cut.

Part 1: How To Make A Perspective In Three Easy Steps

As the saying goes, first impressions are lasting impressions. This is evident in.. well, every bit of media you can find. The first chapters of a book, the first episode of a show, the first 15 minutes of a video game, all as a general rule:

1.) Introduces the setting, a part of the main plot, and with these two, sets the tone of the medium (high fantasy movie, light hearted TV show, mystery series, horror game, etc.). Exceptions exist, especially in horrors, mysteries, and certain visual novels, but even these exceptions rely on setting a tone so they can subvert your expectations later on.

2.) Give you an idea of what is going on. This is normally accomplished with exposition of some sort; Star Wars had its famous screen crawl expositing the dark times in the Galaxy, Borderlands literally begins with “So, you want to hear a story..”, Metal Gear Solid briefs Solid Snake (you, the player character) on a vital mission to save two hostages and end a terrorist threat, so on and so forth. And again, there are exceptions: Bioshock purposefully disorients you with a plane crash in the middle of the ocean so you’re inclined to trust the first person who talks to you.

This all serves to suspend disbelief, immerse you, and earn your trust. This is a new world, you have no idea what’s going on, so you’re gonna take cues from someone who does. Combine points 1 and 2, and that..

3.) Gives you an idea of what is “good” and what is “bad”. Damn near every story has a central conflict, you gotta pick a side, and there’s gonna be a bias as to which one is superior or morally just. Using Bioshock again, this mysterious man named Atlas guides you through the first level, and tells you how to fight and survive in the hostile environment of Rapture; meanwhile, Andrew Ryan taunts and belittles you, and also has a giant golden bust of himself. The shorthand is: Atlas is humble, helpful, and good, while Andrew Ryan is a megalomaniac who wants you dead. Leaning on Borderlands again, the first voice you hear is literally a guardian angel telling you not to be afraid, and that you are destined to do great things. Once more with Metal Gear: Your organization and your commanders are good, you are good because you’re saving innocent people, and FOXHOUND is bad because they’re terrorists who have the means to launch a nuclear warhead.

Keeping all this in mind, let’s do a quick runthrough of the first, let’s call it 15 minutes of Skyrim. No commentary on my end, just a play by play of the beginning of the game.

Part 2: First Impressions In Action

You wake up on a cart. Your vision is hazy, and you are clearly disoriented. You see a man bound and gagged, another man in rags, and several men dressed like soldiers. Everyone on the cart is tied up, and the people driving the cart are wearing a neat, vastly different uniform.

Then comes the famous line: “You! You’re finally awake! You were caught trying to cross the border, got caught in that Imperial ambush same as us, and that thief over there!” The thief bitterly remarks how these damn Stormcloaks had to cook up trouble in a nice and lazy Empire. The Nord who first spoke with you nobly says that we’re all brothers and sisters in these binds.

The presumed Imperial tells you all to shut up. Undeterred, the thief and the Stormcloak provide more exposition: The gagged man is the leader of the resistance, is supposedly the true High King, and since he’s on the cart, it’s clear that everyone on board is bound for the executioner’s block. The thief is terrified; the Nord accepts his fate, but takes a moment to opine on better days when he flirted with girls and “when the Imperial walls made him feel safe.” There is also a remark about General Tulius and the Thalmor agents; the Nord, in a rare bit of anger, damns the Elves and insinuates they had a hand in this capture.

It’s execution time. General Tulius gives a speech about how Ulfric started a civil war and killed the former High King; Ulfric, being gagged, cannot say a word in defense. A Stormcloak is executed to mixed reactions (“You Imperial bastards!” “Justice!”, etc.). The thief runs away; he is shot by Imperial archers, demonstrating the futility of escape. It’s your turn. The Nord in Imperial armor states you’re not on the list; the Imperial captain doesn’t care and orders you to the block anyway.

You see the headsman’s axe rise up when, as if the gods intervene, a dragon appears and interrupts your execution. In the chaos, you run with the Stormcloaks. The game does not give you the option to run away alone, or with the Imperials; until you meet Hadvar again in the fire and death, you take orders from Ulfric.

Part 3: The Crux

A lot happens in the first few minutes of Skyrim. You’re disoriented from being unconscious, and that’s compounded by your two near death experiences (point 2), the first person you meet is a calm, almost reassuring mouthpiece of exposition while the other side, at best, doesn’t care if you die (points 2 and 3), one major aspect of the plot is revealed (point 1, and the tone is that this is a classic Rebellion story).

And people love rebellion stories. Americans especially; we spend billions on the day when a bunch of white guys said “fuck you” to a bunch of other white guys. With the additional layer of when Skyrim was developed, by who, and in what landscape it was written.. Yeah. There may be two ways to go for the Civil War questline, but for most players (myself included!) their first gut instinct is going to be “side with the guys who didn’t just try to kill me.”

It’s the same song and dance. In Bioshock, your instinct is to trust the Irish guy who wants to help you get out of Rapture alive, but he needs your help first. In Borderlands, your instinct is to trust the woman who is literally called a guardian angel, and she shows her compassion by asking you to help the people of Fyrestone and the poor robot who got hurt in a gunfight. In Metal Gear, your instinct is to shut down the threat because terrorists are evil and these ones are not just terrorists, they’re deserters. Hell, even in other Elder Scrolls games the plot is laid out by helping hands: you’re a prisoner being contacted by your murdered friend, and given the goal to stop Jagar Tharn (Arena), you’re a Blades agent tasked with putting a vengeful spirit to rest that leads you to a weapon that can secure the Empire’s power (Daggerfall), Azura literally tells you not to be afraid, and that you destined to stop an old threat (Morrowind), and a soon-to-be-assassinated Emperor voiced by Actual Grandpa Patrick Stewart recognizes you in a prophetic dream (Oblivion).

Where Skyrim departs from these games, and even the other Elder Scrolls titles, is how much it enforces the first thing you see as solidly good and evil, and how little it tries to subvert that perception. Remember point 2, when the game makes it clear that this person is trustworthy? Therein lies the bread and butter of psychological horror, mysteries, and heart wrenching plot twists: that trust gets tested, and often broken.

The rebel leader Atlas? He’s somehow more evil than Andrew Ryan, and has subtly controlled you the entire time with a command phrase (“Would you kindly..?”). You are unable to stop yourself when you bludgeon Andrew Ryan to death at Ryan’s command. “A man chooses,” he tells you. “A slave obeys.” His final words are him telling you that you are a puppet, only able to obey.

The end of Borderlands reveals that “Angel” was watching you the entire time.. from a Hyperion satellite. You were tricked into opening a Vault holding back a dangerous monster, and you don’t even know why. Borderlands 2 goes further into just what (or rather who) Angel is: a teenage girl and a powerful Siren, used by her own demented, evil, father, Handsome Jack, to manipulate the Vault Hunters and gain more power for himself. Her final mission given to you is simple: she wants you to set her free and end her father’s mad march to power by killing her.

Metal Gear Solid ultimately plays it straight in that you stop the terrorists and disable the nuclear threat, but you don’t emerge from the rubble as an action hero; you’re forced to kill your own brother, the terrorist cell is revealed to be composed almost entirely of people exploited by your organization, and you secretly carry  a virus designed to kill the people you were trying to save. War, as it turns out, is not as clear-cut as “we good, they bad”. The people you’ve killed without thinking are your genetic brothers. Sniper Wolf, the assassin who shot your commander’s niece, survived a genocide and has never known a life outside of war. Psycho Mantis’ telepathic gifts were exploited by both the KGB and FBI until he lost his mind. Ocelot is Ocelot.

Oh, but those are other games. What about The Elder Scrolls? Well..

In Daggerfall, your search for hidden correspondence leads you to finding the Mantella, a sort of soul gem that can power the superweapon everyone wants: The Numidium. There are six entities total who want the Mantella, some for their personal gain, one to make a home for his people, and one so he may finally die; the Underking’s soul is in that gem, you see, and he’s been trapped in this misery since the days of Tiber Septim.

In Morrowind, Dagoth Ur recognizes you not as a schlub with a dummy thick journal, but as his oldest and dearest friend. The Empire who guided you for so long? They’ve manipulated you into taking down the Tribunal, destroying the one weapon that could stand against their might, and depending on your interpretation of “then the Nerevarine sailed to Akavir”, have possibly killed you.

And what of everyone’s favorite game in the series to mock? Surprise! Oblivion isn’t even about you, hero! It’s about the actual chosen one, Martin Septim! Sure you can join the Thieves’ Guild and cavort about as Grey Fox, or uncover the traitor of the Dark Brotherhood, or run off and become the Mad God.. but none of those events actually acknowledge you. To be the Grey Fox is to literally be forgotten, by the time the Dark Brotherhood questline is complete there is effectively no more Dark Brotherhood, and to become Sheogorath is to lose yourself entirely. The Hero of Kvatch is one who is ultimately forgotten. Your actions were important, have no doubt, but such is the fate of the unsung hero: they’re not sung about.

Even Arena plays a little bit with your expectations in that the Staff of Chaos alone isn’t enough to stop Jagar Tharn; you need friendship (just kidding it’s a magic gem in the Imperial Palace). Skyrim.. kinda glosses over that. They land a few punches, but for them to stay with you, you have to keep an open mind.

Part 4: Why does that matter?

Because if your expectations are never subverted, your trust never tried in any meaningful way, then your perception of a very specific, spoon-fed worldview is never challenged. The trust you build with a group that is, in essence, a fascist paramilitary cult is never shaken in any way that’s meaningful. You get some lines intended to evoke sadness when you sack Whiterun, but by then it’s too late. Not that it matters; at the end of the Stormcloak questline, there’s not much question about who was in the right. You never lose friends or allies; the Jarls in the holds change, but is there much difference between Idgrod Ravencrone and Sorli the Builder? You might feel a little guilty when you see the Dunmer forced to live in the slums, but then the haughty High Elf says that she didn’t laze around and instead made a name for herself, or the Dark Elf farmer who complains about his snowflake kinsmen harping on about “injustices”. The Argonians seem decent until you meet the skooma addict/thief, and the Khajiit.. let’s just say that even if we disregard the two Khajiit assassins sent to kill you, there exist a lot of extremely harmful stereotypes that none of your friends dispel. They commit no horrific war crimes in your presence, the worst you hear is a Nord (normally a bandit) yell “Skyrim is for the Nords!”, or the clumsy Welcome to Winterhold script where a Dunmer woman is harassed by two Nords; one’s a veteran, by the way. Got run through the chest by an Imperial craven, or so the story goes.

Your only chance to rattle the Nord-driven story is to go against your gut feeling and side with the Imperials (the plotline is pretty weak, not gonna lie), or complete the optional quest No One Escapes Cindha Mine where you see what a Stormcloak sympathizer does to the Forsworn. Even if you complete that quest, the Forsworn still attack you. “They’re savages,” say the Nords, and the game isn’t too inclined to say otherwise.

When it comes to portraying the Nords in any light that’s not negative, Skyrim doesn’t deliver like it did in other games. You saw what life is like in Morrowind under Tribunal rule; it’s not great. The Houses are almost universally awful and they have slaves. You see the destruction in Cyrodiil and hear the rumors on how much the Empire is flailing with the Oblivion Crisis. Hell, even Arena tells you that life in Tamriel kind of sucks, but it’ll suck a little less when Tharn is dead.

That doesn’t happen in Skyrim. You are encouraged to join the sympathetic Stormcloaks, you find out your destiny as Dragonborn, and you set all these things right. Of course you do. You’re a hero, baby. Others have gone on about how storybook the Dragonborn questline is so I won’t go too much in, but that’s it exactly: Storybook. You’re Neutral Good. You’re going to kill the bad dragon that wants to do its job and eat the world. 

And that refusal to really examine the nuances and horrors of war, to consider what it means to be a hero that is never morally challenged or forced into a Total Perspective Vortex, to never challenge an extremely biased perspective or even explore its “logical” conclusion?

It leads to extremely dangerous ways of thinking if unchecked.

[anchoredtether]

Still Got It

<-- Inspired by @honestlyprettychill's beautiful Fault in Our Stars artwork -->

Title: The Therapy Session in Which I Spoke

Author: AnchoredTether

Rating: T [mild swearing, dark themes]

Pairings: Plance [Lance x Pidge]

Series: Still Got It

Chapter: 1/?

Summary: "Everyone is useful in some shape or form, at some point in their life, to an insurmountable number of people. Everyone's existence affects the fabric of space and time whether they realize it or not, and this reality as we know it is affected by your very existence. So..." I waved a hand dismissively as if I just explained something rather simple. "Like I said... no one is useless."

Lance was dumbstruck for a moment, his jaw slightly slacked and his eyebrows lowered. "Holy crow." Then his bewilderment slowly turned into a wicked grin. "Aren't you something else."

<-- CHAPTER 01 --> 

THE THERAPY SESSION IN WHICH I SPOKE

Late in the winter of my sixteenth year, my mother decided I was depressed, presumably because I rarely left the house, spent quite a lot of time in bed, played the same video game over and over, ate infrequently, and devoted quite a bit of my abundant free time to thinking about death. But... I did all those things on a regular basis. Mom became pretty adamant that I go to this therapy group, and of course, Dad and Matt jumped all over me saying it would be good for me and that I might even make a friend. It's not like I'm some lonely girl with absolutely no friends. I have Hunk. I just prefer solitude and technology and video games over people. People are exhausting. Probably the only reason I tolerate Hunk and his extroverted nature is because we can talk about tech for hours on end, whereas everyone else in the universe just doesn't get it. It doesn't help that most people give me that pitiful look when they notice my nasal cannula. Oh yeah. I have lung cancer. I'm like a computer with low RAM. Translation: I have a hard time breathing and doing other basic physical functions such as going upstairs. I'm slow when it comes to anything physical and because of that, some people look at me like I'm a kicked puppy. Maybe... just maybe being around people with similar problems will be different. Ten percent of the reason I decided to go was out of sheer curiosity. The remaining ninety percent was to make Matt shut up. Although now that I think about it, Matt never did shut up, he constantly wanted details about each meeting as if he were expecting me to meet my soulmate in a therapy session focused on death. Woe is me. I went, and went, and went, kicking and screaming the whole way. Metaphorically, of course. Although between moody pouting on the car ride to the church and snappy replies when mom reminded me to get ready, I did consider screaming... often. The therapy sessions were depressing as hell. I didn't need to hear about how others survived their chemo or their surgeries or their twelve years of cancer when I already had a perfectly good role model. My dad and brother's colleague and friend, Shiro, was a survivor of osteosarcoma (also known as bone cancer). He lost his entire right arm, but thanks to modern technology he had a decent prosthetic. I will admit, a part of me loves it when he visits so I can examine the tech of his limb at work. Sometimes Matt has to swat at me and remind me to stop drooling over Shiro's literal cancer scar. I'm not much of a talker so I rarely share any stories or thoughts at the group sessions. I try to listen and give a damn to everyone's depressing problems, but usually I'm just thinking about what I'm going to make my character do in Skyrim when I get home. The only reason I've continued attending these sessions after two months is that it keeps mom happy. The last thing I want is to do something that will make her depressed. I'm already depressed, so a little more depression each week can't do me any more damage than what is already done. This week was different. A boy with deep blue eyes kept staring at me. As we went around with introductions, it was my turn before his. While everyone was staring at me because I was speaking, it felt like only the handsome stranger was looking at me and it was causing my face to redden. "I'm Pidge. I'm sixteen, almost seventeen. I had thyroid cancer but it got treated about a year ago and now I just have a satellite in my lungs. I'm doing okay." The words tumbled out so fast I wondered if newbie caught any of it. The regulars continued to introduce themselves but I still felt those blue eyes on me. He didn't stare at me unblinkingly like a creeper for ten minutes straight, but for whatever reason his eyes continued to gravitate towards me in the same way that your eyes kinda drift towards roadkill when you're driving. Although I'm pretty sure he wasn't staring at me because I was a dead animal. That was just a horrible analogy. "The name's Lance." Oh boy was his voice smooth. It rolled like the gentle draw and pull of the ocean's edge and it was pulling me in like the tide. "I'm seventeen and I just survived osteosarcoma about..." He counted on his slender fingers. "Eight weeks ago. I lost my leg, but none of my charm." Automatically my eyes fell to his legs, which was probably the rudest thing I could have done in that moment. He was wearing jeans and high rise boots so I couldn't discern which was flesh and which was metal. What were the odds of meeting someone who survived the exact same cancer as Shiro, and lost a limb because of it? I was itching to see how the tech differed for a leg prosthetic to that of an arm but it was probably rude to ask a stranger if you could examine their fake appendage. I barely noticed what today's subject was until the group session leader, Coran, called out Lance. Everyone else was prattling on about something while I was trying to avoid the fact that osteosarcoma-man continually drew his gaze toward me. Apparently we were talking about fears. "Lance, perhaps you'd like the share your fears with the group." Coran said in his trademark pleasant tone. "My fears?" "Yes." "I fear forsakenness." "Could you elaborate? Is it a religious forsakenness?" "No, not like that. I guess you could also call it abandonment." There was a soberness in his eyes that made me curious as to what kinds of scars he bore. "At times I'm nothing more than a third wheel. Some days it feels like a seventh wheel." He gave off a soft, nervous laugh. "l used to be on the swim team, was pretty good at it too. Now I've lost a leg. I'm useless to the team. I'm currently attending the Garrison and I want to be a pilot but... apparently piloting requires both your legs. I don't know how much longer they'll continue their cancer-kid pity and let me crash the simulations before they officially flunk me out. So yeah... I fear forsakenness. Being taken for granted and disregarded because of your uselessness. I'm already halfway there, so I guess the only thing I ought to fear at this point is fear itself." The room was quiet for a moment and despite the somberness in Lance's tone, he was smiling as if all of this was no big deal. I could see it in his eyes, however. The smile was a facade. I wondered idly how many times he faked such an appearance for the sake of others. "No one is useless." I'm not sure where my voice came from but I spoke up so loud it echoed softly in the vaulted space and Coran had to do a double take. All eyes were on me, again, and I could tell some of them were wider than usual because I rarely ever spoke in these sessions unless Coran yanked it out of me, but yet again I only felt the sincere stare of the boy with eyes the shade of the sky just before the stars came out. "My dad once said..." My voice started to crack but I pushed through it. "That everyone has a purpose. We may not see it or understand it, but everything in the universe is connected, much like the energy that flows through all living things or how everything in a computer is made up of the same series of numbers. You may feel useless to everyone and everything, including yourself, but you are useful to someone. Someone out there has been moved by the words you've said. Someone out there has been inspired by your actions. Someone out there has been cheered up by your spirit. Everyone is useful in some shape or form, at some point in their life, to an insurmountable number of people. Everyone's existence affects the fabric of space and time whether they realize it or not, and this reality as we know it is affected by your very existence. So..." I waved a hand dismissively as if I just explained something rather simple. "Like I said... no one is useless." Lance was dumbstruck for a moment, his jaw slightly slacked and his eyebrows lowered. "Holy crow." Then his bewilderment slowly turned into a wicked grin. "Aren't you something else." I raised my eyebrows at him in a silent question mark. Who said 'holy crow?' Wasn't the more common phrase 'holy cow?' Either way I'm pretty sure I just imploded his brain with my answer, and Coran is also looking a tad surprised as well as pleased. We continue on with the therapy session, neither Lance nor I contributing any more to the discussion. I quickly figured out which of his legs was prosthetic. He had a habitual bouncing of his left thigh, and it was a movement that was far too natural to have done with a recently amputated leg. When the session ended I stood up a bit too quickly and grabbed my oxygen tank to haul myself out of there as fast as I could. I didn't want to talk with anyone. I wanted to run home, hide in my room and play Skyrim on my laptop in the dark and immerse myself in distraction. But before I could leave more than five feet from the ring of chairs, there he was. "You said your name was... Pidge?" Doubt. Nervousness. And was that a bit of judgment? "Yeah." I didn't care to elaborate. I pulled on my oxygen tank and continued towards the door. "Want me to pull that for you?" He asked as he walked alongside me. There was a slight limp in his step. "It's not that heavy, Lance." Why was I being so snappy? Usually I wasn't this rude to strangers. "But it's a tank." "It's a tank of oxygen. It's not that heavy." He still seemed perplexed as he shook his head, but continued following anyway. "I just wanted to uh... thank you, for what you said back there." I wanted to reply quickly with something along the lines of 'it was no big deal' or 'glad I could help' and continue running away, but instead I stopped in my tracks and said nothing. I stared at the floor and felt like I couldn't breathe, which is saying something because ninety percent of the time I have trouble breathing. "Pidge?" His tone was concerned. "Do you want to come over for dinner?" Why did I say that. Why did I say that. "For dinner?" All I did was nod. I think that's all I was capable of, given the situation. I was still trying to calculate why my voice box made the impulsive decision to invite him over to my home. Lance seemed hesitant, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Well, I won't say no to free food. A-are you sure? You don't need to like… call your parents first and see if it's okay if I come over or anything?" "Nah." I finally gained control over my motor abilities as I grabbed my oxygen tank and started walking again. I was still working on trying to reboot my brain, however. "We always prepare a ton of food in case Hunk or Shiro decide to show up." "Shiro?" Lance's voice went up an octave from surprise. "You mean like Takashi Shirogane Shiro? That Shiro?" "Wait, you know him?" "We had the same cancer! He visited me in the hospital! That guy's my hero!" "Well I'll be…" I whipped out my phone and started texting Matt. "I'm going to see if he can join us for dinner too. Because why not?" When Lance laughed my brain realized why I invited him over. "Yeah, might as well!"

[atc74]

Do Wonders Never Cease?

I have said this before and I will continue to say it: YOU GUYS AMAZE ME!!

Back in September when I posted my first fic, I never EVER in a million years would have guessed I would be here today, with 1,000 of you wonderful, supportive, amazing followers. Your words of encouragement are what keep me going each and every day! Before I get to the fun stuff, I want to take the time to thank some of the people that have continually shown their support and encouragement, and most of all love. I know I am going to miss some, so I do apologize in advance. 

@iwantthedean @just-a-touch-of-sass-and-fandoms @ellen-reincarnated1967 @mamaredd123 @impala-dreamer @impalaimagining @chelsea072498 @paintrider13-blog @leatherwhiskeycoffeeplaid @love-kittykat21 @spntrista @zeppo-in-a-trenchcoat.  I could go on and on!

So keep reading to learn more about my new challenge!!

This challenge has a bonus for you! YES YOU!

I have picked random song lyrics from my very random summer boatin’ & floatin’ playlist. You DO NOT have to use the song. The lyrics will be your prompt to use in the fic, whether it is a line of dialogue or an internal thought from your character.

1. You must be following me - this is a follower celebration after all.

2. Your fic can be any genre you choose. All I ask is no ships please, reader insert only, male or female. And PLEASE use the Keep Reading feature!

3. I prefer this be a stand alone fic (or start to a new series), but not part of an existing series.

4. Please include the tag #Angelina’s 1k in the first 5 tags.

5. Please send an ASK to participate, please include your number choice and a back up, just in case.

6. In light of the recent success of Smut Appreciation Day, I am asking you not to write a smut only fic (that will come later!). You may alude to or imply smut. Let’s stick with fluff, angst, crack, etc. 

7. DUE DATE WILL BE FRIDAY MAY 5TH! 

What’s the bonus you ask? Good question. I will make a custom aesthetic for each and every writer that enters and writes a fic for this challenge! You can choose whether it is for your fic or your banner or whatever! I will reach out to each of you for the details of your aesthetic once I receive your fic. (Please be patient with me, as they will take time)

**As an added bonus to ALL of my followers - I will be drawing random names and will also make a custom aesthetic for 5 followers!!**

So that being said, below are 30 sets of lyrics. But I am only taking 25 people for this challenge. Once the first 25 spots are gone I will no longer take any entries. (**In the event there is enough interest, I will take all 30**). Sign-ups will stay open until all prompts are gone.

Thank you so much to each and every follower that continues to show me (and others) love and support!

1. Last night she told me a story about free milk and a cow. (Keep Your Hands To Yourself – Georgia Satellites) @tankcupcakes

2. Can we forget about the things I said when I was drunk. (My Own Worst Enemy – Lit) @faegal04

3. Well, I know it wasn't you who held me down. Heaven knows it wasn't you who set me free. So oftentimes it happens that we live our lives in chains That we never even know we have the key. (Already Gone - The Eagles)

4. On my own I’m only half of what I could be. I can’t do without you. (God Gave Me You - Blake Shelton) @jotink78

5. You always had an eye for things that glittered but I was far from being made of gold. (Just To See You Smile - Tim McGraw) @percussiongirl2017

6. Whenever this world is cruel to me I got you to help forgive. (You’re My Best Friend – Queen) @smoothdogsgirl

7. Your hands are rough, but they are where mine belong. (Ours – Taylor Swift) @ellen-reincarnated1967

8. I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints. The sinners are much more fun. (Only The Good Die Young – Billy Joel) @paintrider13-blog

9. It’s not that I didn’t have love in my life; I had a different love every night. It’s not that it didn’t feel good, it just didn’t feel right.  (Bring On the Angel - Sons of The Desert) @just-a-touch-of-sass-and-fandoms

10. All these years without any help, well guess what honey? Clothes just don’t just wash themselves. (Down in Mississippi (And Up To No Good) - Sugarland) @death2thevirgin

11. I miss your ginger hair and the way you like to dress. (Valerie – Jailbreak 2016)

12. I’ll do almost anything you want me to, but I can’t go for that. (I Can’t Go For That – Hall & Oates)

13. I am a man of constant sorrow; I’ve seen trouble all my days. (I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow – Soggy Bottom Boys)

14. If you call I will call I will answer and if you fall I‘ll pick you up. (Call & Answer – Barenaked Ladies)

15. Why did you paint the walls? Why did you clean the floor? Why did you plaster over the hole I punched in the door? (Old Apartment - Barenaked Ladies)

16. I'm crazy for loving you; crazy for thinking that my love could hold you. I'm crazy for trying and crazy for crying and I'm crazy for loving you. (Crazy - Patsy Cline) @just-another-busy-fangirl

17. I know it's late, I know you're weary. I know your plans don't include me. Still here we are, both of us lonely. (We’ve Got Tonight - Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band) @impala-dreamer

18. I can’t waste another minute after all that I’ve put in it. I’ve given you my best, why does she get the best of you? So the next time you find you wanna leave her bed for mine, why don’t you stay? (Stay - Sugarland) @teenage-internet-recluse

19. I've dealt with my ghosts and faced all my demons Finally content with a past I regret I've found you find strength in your moments of weakness For once I'm at peace with myself. I've been burdened with blame, trapped in the past for too long I'm movin' on (I’m Moving On - Rascal Flatts - I know this is long so you can use parts of it. I just love it.)

20. You treat life like a picture But it's not a moment that's frozen in time It's not gonna wait Til you make up your mind, at all (Feels Like Today - Rascal Flatts)

21. Oh I wanna see you again But I'm stuck in colder weather. Maybe tomorrow will be better. Can I call you then? 'Cause I'm a ramblin' man I ain't ever gonna change I gotta gypsy soul And I was born for leavin' (Colder Weather - Zac Brown Band) @bcr36

22. When you look into my eyes And you see the crazy gypsy in my soul It always comes as a surprise When I feel my withered roots begin to grow (You’re My Home - Billy Joel) @impalaimagining

23. I haven't shown you everything a man can do. So stay with me baby. I've got plans for you (This Is The Time To Remember -  Billy Joel)

24. Holding you I held everything, for a moment wasn't I the king? But if I'd only known how the king would fall, hey who's to say you know I might have changed it all (The Dance - Garth Brooks) @little-red-83

25. I don’t care what consequences it brings, I’ve been a fool for lesser things.(The Longest Time - Billy Joel) @d-s-winchester

26.  I would go through all this pain; Take a bullet straight through my brain.  Yes, I would die for ya baby, But you won't do the same (Grenade - Bruno Mars)

27.  How can I just let you walk away? Just let you leave without a trace? When I stand here taking every breath with you, [ooh ooh] You're the only one who really knew me at all. (Against All Odds - Phil Collins) @mysteriouslyme81

28.  I was fine before you walked into my life. 'Cause you know it's over, before it began. Keep your drink just give me the money. It's just you and your hand tonight. (U + UR Hand - P!nk)

29.  You can say we’re done the way you always do. It’s easier to lie to me than to yourself. Forget about your friends, you know they’re gonna say We’re bad for each other, but we ain’t good for anyone else. (Come Over - Kenny Chesney) @iwantthedean

30.  So this is me swallowing my pride. Standing in front of you saying I'm sorry for that night. (Back to December - Taylor Swift) @chelsea072498

[twh-news]

Welcome to Skull Island: on set with Tom Hiddleston and the biggest King Kong ever | The Guardian

The director and cast of Kong: Skull Island, including Brie Larson and Samuel L Jackson, discuss filming opposite an 85ft ape – while using as little green screen as possible.

“Apologies for the shirtlessness,” says Tom Hiddleston. “I didn’t want to show off.” The world’s most impeccably spoken Marvel baddie is looking awfully embarrassed. I’ve caught him emerging topless from his trailer, late at night, with female company. The makeup artist has been in with him, carefully pawing at his torso. Hiddleston is shooting a movie in Hawaii and, as it is, his skin doesn’t look sufficiently sun damaged. Muddier stuff is slathered on, and our star is good to go.

This dramatic tan is part of the latest, and perhaps most adventurous, step in Hiddleston’s ascent to the A-list: the lead role in a grand new reboot of the King Kong franchise. It is why we are both standing in mud in the middle of the night on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.

The question arises, though: do we really need another movie about King Kong? Ever since the romantic giant ape landed in New York in 1933 with a giant crush on Fay Wray, he has cropped up in at least another six films, most recently Peter Jackson’s handsome 2005 remake. In the latest reincarnation, Kong: Skull Island, he is getting the origins treatment – his story beginning again, ready to be continued in future films. Reassuringly, any reservations one might have about such a project seem to be shared by the film’s producers, who chuck around words such as “fresh” and “current” as casually as Kong juggles biplanes.

“I went in and pitched a movie I would want to see and my friends would want to see,” says the director, Jordan Vogt-Roberts. “I honestly thought they were going to laugh me out of the room. Then they responded really well and we started building that story.”

One can understand this initial concern. The 33-year-old has just one full-length credit to his name: the low-key coming-of-age indie The Kings of Summer. The only thing that film has in common with this one is that trees feature. Vogt-Roberts also looks every inch the indie director – gold medallions, heavy hipster beard – not a guy you would automatically trust with a reported $190m (£152m) budget. But maybe it is because of his indie credentials that the vibe on set seems so relaxed. There is an army-like camaraderie between the actors playing soldiers and those playing non-military folk.

So what is the movie that Vogt-Roberts and his pals would want to watch? Well, it’s set in 1972: the Vietnam war is almost over and the Landsat programme is dawning. For the first time, satellite imagery is able to capture the Earth as a whole and shine a light on previously unknown areas. A voyage to discover what really lies on a mysterious island is launched with a ragtag crew, all with conflicting missions.

“In the early 70s,” says Vogt-Roberts, “the world was in chaos, and I love the idea of using that as an access point for the characters, taking people who are in the middle of sexual revolutions and racial riots and losing wars for the first time and political scandals – people who are watching the world crumble around them – and sending them to an island untouched by man. There’s a sense of catharsis to that.”

But don’t be fooled by the film’s vintage feel. The producers are keen to position this as a contemporary adventure. Recruiting Hiddleston, hot off award-winning TV show The Night Manager, is indicative, and he is surrounded by an eclectic and self-consciously contemporary ensemble. There is 2016’s best actress Oscar-winner Brie Larson, franchise addict Samuel L Jackson, character actor John C Reilly, Straight Outta Compton breakouts Corey Hawkins and Jason Mitchell, plus John Goodman, fresh from his terrifying turn in 10 Cloverfield Lane.

“It’s a pretty big family to be travelling around the world with,” Larson says, mid-midnight snack. We are in an open air tent and she is ploughing through salad, surprisingly energetic and awake. She has just done the umpteenth take of one especially draining scene; there are many more to come. “Usually, I’d be done by now,” she says with a grin. “Most films I’ve done are 20-, 30-day shoots. So I keep thinking this is the end and we’re not even a quarter of the way in.”

To create a place of unique otherworldliness that could conceivably exist on Earth, three locations – Australia, Vietnam and Hawaii – are being amalgamated. There is an emphasis on bricks–and-mortar sets rather than a CGI overload, which is reserved for the big man himself (a Kong record height of roughly 85ft/26 metres) and a host of nasty creatures with whom he shares his ecosystem. “Jordan always insisted that we should be in real places,” Hiddleston says. “There should be as little soundstage or green-screen work as possible. He was location-scouting for nine or 10 months.”

Despite the hour, he is animated and enthusiastic as he talks to me between takes. This scene involves the characters arguing over whether Kong is friend or foe. It is intense, but what is initially thrilling to watch from the wings becomes notably less exciting the 30th time round. While Hiddleston and Larson remain upbeat (she does an improvised workout with a prop gun whenever the camera stops rolling), Jackson is starting to feel the strain. “How many times have we done this?” he asks. No one seems to know.

When it comes to my chat with him, I’m gathered with a handful of other journalists and his weariness seeps through.

“Why do you think this King Kong is different from the other King Kongs that we’ve seen,” asks one journalist. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen it,” replies Jackson.

“When we spoke to the director and the other actors, they compared your character to Captain Ahab. Is that something that inspired you too,” asks another. “No,” says Jackson.

Still, at least Jackson made it to Hawaii this time. In 1992, he was due to head here to film his doomed role in Jurassic Park when a hurricane destroyed the set before his scenes were shot. His work on Steven Spielberg’s dinosaur thriller was consequently based in LA. His biggest challenge for both projects, he reports, remains the invisible co-stars.

“The first lesson I got on green screen was from George Lucas years ago: the more you do, the more we have to draw,” he says. Do the practical sets help? “No, because you still have to ask the same questions. How big is it? Where is it? How fast is it moving? Sometimes they don’t have the answer to that.”

At least his Avengers co-star is living and breathing, right? “Tom’s got his fans,” he says with a smile. “A lot of girls. It’s good to work with people you know and trust. I guess he’ll be going back into the Marvel universe and put that green suit on again. Hopefully, I’ll be back with my eye patch and we’ll be together again.”

The love is mutual: Hiddleston waxes on about how Jackson is “a consummate professional … just a very fine actor”. But that, surprisingly, is about it when it comes to romance in the film. Despite Kong’s penchant for women, in this version, he is all business, no pleasure.

“This is not a traditional Beauty and the Beast story,” says Vogt-Roberts. “I personally don’t want to see a damsel-in-distress story and I don’t think the rest of the world really wants to see that any more.”

This was a deal-breaker for Larson, too, who added tenacity to a victim narrative in Room and will next be squaring off with a warehouse full of gun-toting blokes in Ben Wheatley’s Free Fire. “We’re in a really interesting time when we’re interested in seeing something different,” she says. “I’ve seen women who have found their way to continue to be feminine but still exert a sense of force and a sense of strength, and that’s important to me.”

Kong: Skull Island, then, is dodging some familiar tropes. But it is also part of a very modern trend: not just a kickstart to one dusty franchise, but a way of breathing life into a shared universe, a world also inhabited by another giant of the screen: Godzilla. The breadcrumbs have already been dropped online, and there are easter eggs in the film to reward the hardcore monster fans. But, on set, everyone is tight-lipped about the upcoming face-off, scheduled for 2020.

“I don’t know much about it,” Hiddleston says. “We’ve got to finish this one. I obviously know it’s a plan and that’s what Legendary [the company in charge of both properties] wants to do. It’s exciting and something that hasn’t been done in a long time. If it’s done in the right way, then it could be cool.”

Godzilla 2, with its rather leading title, King of the Monsters, is next, with Millie Bobby Brown of Stranger Things attached. Might a Kong sequel be on the way, too? Vogt-Roberts shrugs off talk with a lightness befitting his roots, rather than his reality: “That’s a little bit above my pay grade.”

[havesomereviews]

Doctor Who 1x12 - 1x13: Bad Wolf / The Parting of the Ways

Writer: Russell T Davies Director: Joe Ahearne Main Cast: Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper, John Barrowman, Noel Clarke, Camille Coduri, Jo Joyner, Jo Stone-Fewings, Nisha Nayar, Nicholas Briggs

Synopsis: The TARDIS team each wake up to find themselves as contestants in three separate game shows. But these games are deadly. But who brought them here? And who is hiding behind the scenes?

Monster of the Week: Daleks. Lots and lots of Daleks.

Quote of the Episode: “Rose, before I go, I just want to tell you you were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. And do you know what? So was I.”

Standout Moment: The Coward or Killer scene is by far the most powerful. The Doctor has finished the Delta Wave just in time and Daleks are coming at him from all sides. He has his hands on the plunger that will end them all into oblivion... but he doesn’t do it. He can’t press that button again. He is no longer a killer.

Cringeworthy Moment: “I think you need a Doctor.” My God, that was cheesy and ruined what was otherwise a brilliant scene

Main Review: The first season of the new series of Doctor Who draws to a close and we say goodbye to the Ninth Doctor, so straight away you know this episode is going to be spectacular. And it is. Not in the complicated flashy way of later seasons but just by being an epic storyline with so many touching moments. 

The whole series had led up to this moment and these two episodes tie it all together. but not in a way that means you have to have been there from the start to enjoy it. I myself had only started watching from The Empty Child (I was reluctant to give the new series a chance after being such a big fan of the old one, something that still remains one of my biggest undersights) and I still absolutely loved this episode. I was quite happy to watch it multiple times while waiting for the next one that was not due til Christmas. It wraps of the arc of the season while still being a captivating story on its own and that is why, eleven years on, it is still my favourite season finale of the show.

But it’s not just the words Bad Wolf that have served as a lead up to this moment. During my review for The Long Game I mentioned foreshadowing and these two episodes are where it comes into play. The Doctor even mentions the title. “Some one has been playing avery long game.” Not only is the finale set in the same place, the situation is a direct result of the Doctor’s interference in The Long Game and we can’t help but think that if he had stuck around afterwards, maybe he would have been able to prevent it. 

But enough about foreshadowing (although there is a seemingly unimportant line in Bad Wolf that actually starts the arc for the next series), lets talk about all the amazing scenes that this episode has to offer. It has so many that I had an extremely difficult time deciding on a standout moment. It had many contenders and I would like to go through all of them (yes it is going to be a long review).

Contender number one: Jack’s time on What Not to Wear. He’s funny and flirty and just pure Jack, but he’s not an idiot. He has a - shall we say - strategically placed weapon and is ready to use it when the game turns deadly. And the cameos of Trinny and Susannah were a nice addition.

All the cameos helped add to the realism of the situation, but none more so than Anne Robinson as the Anne-droid when Rose gets trapped on the futuristic version of The Weakest Link. It was absolutely the right decision to put Rose in this situation and not the Doctor or Jack. Being a high school dropout, she would probably have a bit of trouble with the show in her own time let alone over 100,000 years into her future, and as such, the stakes are higher and the tension is real. Rose is not one to shy away from a challenge though and she is going to fight for her survival. She not only makes it to the last round, she also works out that her being there is no accident.

The Doctor is placed in an episode of Big Brother and does get some funny lines and a sweet moment with Lynda but it’s not until he gets to floor 500 that we really get to see him shine. His anger at Rose’s apparent death is fierce and yet still not willing to shoot anyone in revenge. He has come a long way from that moment in Henry Van Statten’s museum where he was ready to commit genocide (more on that later).

And that bring us to contender number two. The real villains of the story have been revealed and the Daleks are back. But this time it is not just one, it’s a whole fleet. There thousand of them... and they have Rose. The Daleks order the Doctor to surrender or they will shoot his friend. But in this stunning scene, the Doctor turns the hostage situation on its head with one word: no. One awesome speech later, he and Jack are sending the TARDIS soaring towards the Dalek ship and are saving Rose. Christopher Eccleston delivers this speech perfectly and you gotta hand it to Billie, she absolutely captures Rose’s pride for the Doctor. The only thing that ruins this scene is the shot of everyone in the room turning their heads to the Doctor at once. I know it’s expected that this would happen but it really does look like they have done it on a stage assistant’s cue rather than because of the Doctor’s words.

So, anyway, back to the plot. They have saved Rose, met the Emperor of the Daleks, and discovered his long game. Now back on Game Station with a fleet of Daleks on their way, it’s up to the Doctor to save the day. But he doesn’t have much time. He has only one option: a Delta Wave that will destroy the Daleks once and for all. The only problem is there is no chance of refining it - it will kill everything in its path, including the people of Earth. Jack knows this and in a touching goodbye scene, we see the true depth of his character. No longer is he a con artist/walking innuendo, now he is a selfless hero... /walking innuendo.

But Rose doesn’t realise the full implications of the Delta Wave, her faith in the Doctor is too great, which brings us to contender number three. In a brilliant scene we see her bravery and faith shine through. The Doctor suggests that they could take the TARDIS and leave the Earth to it’s fate but Rose knows that the Doctor would never do such a thing and she never even considered asking. She could never do such a thing either. She’s just too good.

Which is why the Doctor has to trick her. He sends her and the TARDIS back to the Powell Estate and back to Jackie. His goodbye is given in the form of a hologram message he prepared for just an occasion such as this. He promised to keep Rose safe and he made sure he could keep that promise. 

Although his goodbye speech to Rose is emotional on its own, it was the way he spoke of the TARDIS that brought me to tears. The thought of the iconic blue box being left to die was just too much to bear.

But Rose does what she will always do, she finds a way back to the Doctor. She saves him. Her speech about the Doctor showing her a better way of life is a brilliant one. Because it’s not about the space ships and the time travel, it’s about doing the right thing even when it seems hopeless. And that’s exactly what Doctor Who is all about.

Contender number four for the title of “Standout Moment” is a grim one. While Rose is discovering the Bad Wolf message and working to get back to the action, it’s war on Satellite 5. The Daleks are not only killing the people on the game station, they are devastating the planet below. So many people die but the most chilling death scene easily goes to Lynda. She has the safest job of the lot of them, monitoring the Daleks’ movements while hidden in a locked room with steel doors. But the Daleks find her and begin to cut through. 

While she is worryingly watching the door, she realises that there is another way in: the window. She slowly turns and sees three Daleks outside floating up to her level and she knows it’s over. What makes this scene so well done is the way we experience it the way Lynda would. Her death scene is entirely made up of shots from within the room she is trapped in. We see the Daleks through the glass as she would and we only hear the sounds that she would be able to hear. Which is why we don’t hear the Dalek speak, we just see the lights on its top flash. And even though we can’t hear it, we know exactly what it is being said. Ex-ter-min-ate. We don’t even see the glass shatter, we only hear it as the Dalek’s laser shoots through it and Lynda screams. The end result makes a chilling scene.

Contender number five is obvious. Back on Earth Rose, with the help of Mickey and Jackie, opens the Heart of the TARDIS and becomes the Bad Wolf, virtually making herself a God. She destroys the Daleks and brings Jack back to life. But the power is too great. She can see all of time and space and it’s killing her. The Doctor knows what he must do, and he is all too willing to do it. He will die but he has more than one life and it is a small price to pay to save Rose’s. Sealing the deal with a kiss (and the crowd cheers), he takes the power from Rose and gives it back to the TARDIS. All of this happens with Murray Gold’s haunting piece of music playing in the background. Seriously, The Doctor’s Theme is absolutely brilliant and has not been matched since.

There was one more contender for my favourite scene but I will talk about that one later. Right now, I want to talk about the the scene that won. It’s not the scene where Rose shows up and saves the day, it’s the scene before it. The scene where the Doctor loses. 

All throughout the episode, the Emperor has been baiting the Doctor, comparing him to the destroyer of worlds (“If I am God, the creator of all things, then what does that make you, Doctor?”). But the Doctor carries on, determined to wipe out the last Daleks in existence. He finishes the Delta Wave and is ready to push that button that will destroy Daleks and humans alike, paralleling what he had to do to end the Time War. But he can’t do it again. The Emperor continues to bait him, almost daring him to do it, to be a Dalek, an exterminator. He asks the question, what are you? Coward or Killer? and you can see the struggle raging on in the Doctor’s mind. Credit where credit’s due, Christopher Eccleston owned this scene. Ultimately, the Doctor steps away from the button and utters, in my opinion, what is the most insightful line into the Ninth Doctor’s character. “Coward, any day”.

The Ninth Doctor has had such amazing character development over his one and only season and it is done so well that you don’t even notice how much his character has changed until the end. And then you realise that the Doctor we saw in Rose, and even the one was saw in Dalek, would have pushed that button, but the man he has become since then would never. He is no longer just a guilt-ridden soldier, haunted by his past, he is the Doctor, in every way possible.

And the overall reason for his healing of past wounds is Rose. She keeps him centered and is there to catch him when falls. Her compassion and bravery make it easy to believe that this is the sort of girl that the Doctor would fall in love with. Because despite the Doctor’s flirting with Lynda, this episode shows without a doubt that the Doctor and Rose are madly in love.

The supporting cast all have their moments too. Mickey helps Rose even though it’s breaking his heart. Although his continued pining for Rose sort of diminishes their scenes in the previous story where it looked like the end of their relationship, it does show that he still cares about her as a friend more than anything.

Jackie also finally gets chance to be brilliant. She understandably doesn’t want to see her only daughter go back to her death and emotions run high, leading to an argument. But Rose gets through to her. To convince Jackie of how good the Doctor is, she doesn’t use an example of him saving a planet or civilisation, she tells the story of how he saved one man. Not by saving his life, but by giving him comfort in death. That man: Peter Tyler, Jackie’s husband.

Jackie initially runs out in anger and hurt at the mention of her lost love but after calming down, she knows that Rose is right. She calls in a favour (she tells us not to ask and we agree that we probably don’t want to know) and helps Rose get back to the Doctor.

Okay, now we can talk about the regeneration scene. Having abandoned Jack (leaving us with questions that unfortunately don’t get answered for almost two years), the Doctor and Rose leave Satellite 5. Rose wakes up with no memory of taking in the vortex or how she saved the Doctor or how he saved her. So she is a little taken aback when she discovers that the Doctor is dying. 

The Doctor does his best to explain what is going to happen but he doesn’t have much time to say goodbye. In true Ninth Doctor fashion, he leaves us with a joke and by telling Rose just how fantastic she was. The last thing the Ninth Doctor ever sees is Rose smiling at him and I think that’s exactly how he would want to go.

Overall Rating: 10/10. The Ninth Doctor is easily my favourite of the new series of Doctor Who. He was fantastic. Not only did he bring back the show and ensure it’s success, he made every one of his episodes enjoyable. Christopher Eccleston nailed it. So it was devastating to see him leave so soon. But, in saying that, I am glad that he got the send off he deserved. When you see me make a review as long as this one, you know that either; the episode really pissed me off, or I loved it to death. This story, thankfully, is the latter.