#so i have Whitaker and capaldi

[akumanoken]

Someone tell me I'm not serious for wanting to make stickers of all the Doctors.....

[true-illusion]

So, I finally got round to watching the new Doctor Who season.

I had lost interest since Clara became the companion and after Peter Capaldi was the Doctor. I only watched two episodes of Jodi Whitaker - the first episode and the one with John Barrowman and Jo Martin. I thought both episodes were rubbish. Plus, it took effort to find and download the show, so I stopped watching. I haven’t gotten round to the Tennant specials cos I thought they were just nostalgia bait.

So, I was very sceptical, going in to Ncuti Gatwa’s era. I worried it would be another snooze fest that was more interested in being PC and box-ticking than telling a good story. But I had nothing else to do, and it was on Disney, so I turned it on.

IT WAS SO GOOD. I binge watched the whole thing in two days.

I could definitely see Russell T. Davis’ hand in it. It felt like the Eccleston and Tennant era episodes. It was exciting and fun and funny, but not too silly. They made a social point without being too preachy. Ncuti Gatwa is growing on me - I think the binge watching format made it harder to sink in that, "yes, he’s the Doctor". But I’m getting there.

But, I think it was Ruby that carried the season. There were quite a few Rose-type moments. But she was different enough to be her own person. I liked Ruby overall. She was sweet, she felt genuine, and she was not forced into that “sassy/arrogant” characterisation. I was invested in her story.

Her mum was not bad - Jackie Tyler was still better, imo, cos though she had a heart of gold, she still had her flaws. Ruby’s mum was just too perfect. Gran was hilarious though. I want more scenes with Gran just waiting for someone to finally give her a cuppa.

[ALERT: SPOILERS AHEAD]

Some episodes were better than others. Episode 2 “The Devil’s Chord” was AMAZING; it is the episode I want to go back and rewatch. They should have incorporated “American Pie” into it at some point. Haha! Jinkx Monsoon as the Maestro was brilliant. It was so larger-than-life and over-the-top, it was fantastic. Only thing I hated was the twist song at the end. Cringe.

Episode 5 “Dot and Bubble” was also amazing because of how disturbing it was. How people cannot function - cannot look at the world, can't even walk - without the devices, how Lindy sacrificed Ricky to save herself, how they refused to let the Doctor save them in the end. It felt like a reflection of our society and the trajectory we could be on.

Episode 1 “Space Babies” was pretty lame. If I had seen that first instead of the Christmas episode, I might have not continued. The babies were just cringe, and the snot monster… ugh. Plus, with the space station and giving Ruby universal roaming which she immediately called her mum with - it was a bit too much like Eccleston’s Doctor and Rose’s first outing.

The Christmas episode itself also wasn’t great, but it introduced the characters and the season's central mystery well, and got me interested in them. The episode reminded me of Labyrinth. “Magic Dance” kept running through my head. The bad-luck goblins were funny. Unfortunately, this Goblin King is no David Bowie. Also, no sinister robot Santas or killer Christmas trees that were a staple of past Christmas specials. It irked me a bit that the entire season’s central mystery might have been solved if the Doctor had just went up to Ruby’s mother then. He knew she was looking for her mother. He knew they couldn’t go back cos he couldn’t cross his own timeline. So why didn’t he go to her?? (Ok, then there wouldn’t be drama for the rest of the season. Lol!)

Episode 3 “Boom” was also weak. It tried to deal with strong themes - war, family, faith. It introduced interesting technology. But the story itself doesn’t hold up too well. The way the war started and continued was just too far fetched. I thought it was cool that majority of the thing took place just in that one crater though.

Meanwhile, other episodes left question marks. Episode 4 “73 Yards” was good (I loved the Welsh landscape), but a bit too much of building up to something and then it’s an anticlimax. Eg the people at the pub building up to some horror movie scenario, and then it was just some delivery person at the door. Roger just running away and giving up politics just like that? Maybe I just wasn’t paying full attention, but it was a bit too timey-wimey and weird. What was it that the woman said to all those people to make them run away screaming? Was she really Ruby all along? Where was the Doctor all that time?

And episode 6 “Rogue”… silly story with the cosplaying aliens, but it was a nice bit of fun after “Dot and Bubble”. It made me laugh the way they kept referencing Bridgerton, and how the characters were all about the Drama, with a capital D. The resolution of Ruby pretending to be the Chuldur was very disappointing bait-and-switch. But I love Rogue. I want to see more of him. Why couldn’t he stay? He could be the new Captain Jack Harkness (not that anyone could replace Capt Jack Harkness). Rogue and the Doctor together was something special (and not just in the sexual way). I want him as another companion. But the way it ended, I don’t think we’d see him again.

I don’t have much to say about the last two finale episodes, “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” and “Empire of Death”. It was a rollercoaster. It was intense. It was a bit too “Bad Wolf”. There was a lot going on but I’m not really sure what was happening. I liked seeing Kate from UNIT and the old companion Mel. Kate’s “sign out” line made me emotional. Unfortunately, she didn’t stay dead in the end. I also never watched the old episodes with Sutekh, so I don’t think I got it. The scale of the destruction was just too big in this story. The Doctor just randomly going down to that planet to get the spoon… why? If Sutekh could track dead skin cells then why couldn’t he get to the Doctor instead of through Mel? And just conveniently, the DNA test law pops up. Did Ruby find her mother in the database or not? The end resolution with the magic rope and thingy felt, again, like more bait-and-switch. I was intrigued about the concept of how Ruby’s mother is not actually important except that they had placed importance on her, thereby imbuing her with more worth. But I don’t get why Sutekh couldn’t see her or why he cared. But again, maybe I wasn’t paying full attention. The end ending was sweet - how the Doctor didn’t think Ruby should go talk to her mother but Ruby did it anyway and it worked out well. And then more questions at the end. Who exactly is that neighbour woman?

I hope Ruby returns next season. Honestly, I watched this season more for her than for the Doctor. I'm glad I gave this season a chance. I’ll watch next season, for sure.

[sentinelcole]

I've only gotten four episodes with the Fifteenth Doctor and Ncuti Gatwa has quickly become one of my favorite Doctors.

For context: Tennant became my favorite because he could portray such a wide range of emotion and come off as this highly intelligent figure. Everything he did was befitting a time traveler who was centuries old but still in wonder at the universe. Yet he carried the heavy burden of age too.

Now here comes Gatwa and man does he light up a room. His joy is infectious, more so than any other Doctor before. While I associate Tennant's Doctor with his sorrow, Capaldi's with his righteous anger, Whitaker's with her sense of community, I will always associate Gatwa's with his exuberant joy. But much like Tennant, he portrays a range of emotions so well. Your heart breaks when his does and you can feel his fear and wonder if you should run too.

Its fitting that Ncuti Gatwa is coming in with Russell T Davis, the same showrunner as David Tennant, because I have not seen such a pitch perfect casting for the Doctor since David Tennant.

[thewanderingace]

I bought a thing and it's so pretty!!!!

Walmart had this Doctor Who boxset, every season of Eccleston, Tennant, Smith, and Capaldi, for less than $50 and I'm an adult with an income again so OF COURSE IT BOUGHT IT!! How could I pass up that deal?! 10 seasons for that price with those pretty covers that all match? HELL YEAH! I'm fairly certain there's a matching set for Jodie Whitaker's era too and I'm definitely gonna buy that next. 100% gotta have a matching set.

Ahh and it looks so pretty my other Doctor Who merch!!!

I'm a happy nerd lol

[noblechaton]

siderealsandman

ngl Amy/Rory/Doctor's miserable not-Love Triangle made me drop the show. I gotta catch up on Capaldi/Whitaker because I got so burned out on Amy

see I was up on the show through half of series 7 back in the day and just gave up at some point (aside from hopping back on for most of 12) but now I'm rewatching with more critical eyes that are coming genuinely fresh off not just RTD's first era by literal days, but now two episodes of his second era and I'm realizing just how turned off my brain was during all of this

like genuinely me and Ari - also in the rewatch mines - have talked about this but I feel it's akin to like. the Bayformers stuff where if you stop expecting genuine characters and sincere writing you can probably enjoy it just fine. it's a popcorn flick condensed into an hour a week that reaches for the stars with its concepts but so far has utterly failed at getting its characters off the ground. there are moments and flashes of brilliance but any depth that existed through 9 and 10's run is long gone at this point. we keep rationalizing things as "well 11's living with the fallout of 9 and 10's runs so that's why he's like that" but that doesn't really work seeing as it never really comes up

I can see why this hooked people and grew more popular - the plots are higher concept, the dialogue more snappy, some performances magnetic in a way - but the complete and total drop off in the writing is so egregious and noticeable to me now that I have to wonder how I didn't feel it before - or if I did, and that was why I gradually gave up on 11's era

[zakkura]

Please don't read, I needed to rant. Just leave this and let me rant on my profile please.

I just can't enjoy Doctor Who anymore.

Ncuti is fucking phenomenal as The Doctor but the assistant is awful and cannot act. The storylines are too message focused when there are already thousands of shows pushing the same sort of messages.

Doctor Who is supposed to be fun before a message and everything, since Peter Capaldi, has felt so distant from that.

Messages have always, ALWAYS, been in the show since the beginning but it was never put first before having a fun, silly little time-traveling program.

There are so many programs with heavy messages and it is so so difficult to find a program that is there to just be a fun watch anymore.

I am only watching the show for Ncuti because I adore him and I think, again, he makes a wonderful Doctor that is just being given the poorest storylines, next to Capaldi and Whitaker.

I've been watching Doctor Who since I was a child, classic to new and I have enjoyed both.

The show has always gotten me through some of my darkest times and it's now so focused on trying to push messages that it's just a very theatrical protest at this point.

I dunno.

I'm just sad.

[errorid-mt7lt7k7unfr9ttfua5]

I'm starting to get back into doctor who, so here are my top three Doctors and companions:

1. Clara Oswald & 12

2. Bill Potts & 12

3. Amy Pond & 11

more generally, here is my ranking of Doctors (so far, given that I'm not very far into 13, and haven't seen any of 15 (Ncuti Gatwa**)

Peter Capaldi

Christopher Eccleston

Jodi Whitaker

David Tennant*

Matt Smith*

*my feelings about Tennant and Smith are complex, given that, the first time i watched it, i really loved Tennant, but upon rewatching, i am starting to perhaps prefer Smith? i am conflicted

**though i have not yet seen much more than clips of Gatwa, i expect based only on what i Have seen that i will Greatly enjoy him as The Doctor

[inklingofadream]

hmmm, replacing my dr who mobile with one of tma entities: good idea or going to give my room Accursed Vibes?

[amazingphanisnotonfire-imagines]

song lyric prompts!

Hey! You guys know what to do! In celebration of requests opening soon, and to get me back into the flow of writing, I thought I’d do a month of lyric prompts, ending august 4th! 

So, send a number (or a few) and a person and I’ll see what I can come up with! ✨✨

Thank you for sticking with me and I am so excited to start writing for you all again. 🥰

Prompts: 

1: every time she mentions your name, she says it like a prayer (more like you: orla gartland)

2: you show up at my home, all alone with a shovel and a rose (maniac: conan gray)

3: anything you say can and will be held against you, so only say my name (just one yesterday: fall out boy)

4: i wanna sleep next to you but that's all i wanna do right now (talk me down: troye sivan)

5: i fall in love just a little bit everyday with someone new (someone new: hozier)

6: now the day bleeds into nightfall and you’re not here to get me through it all (someone you loved: lewis capaldi)

7: i always fall from your window to the pitch black streets (the kids aren’t alright: fall out boy)

8: i'm shaving with your toothpaste and trying to vacuum from the ceiling (give me a try: the wombats)

9: there'll be happiness after you, but there was happiness because of you (happiness: taylor swift)

10: cause even when she's next to me, we could not be more far apart (she: dodie)

11: things will change they always do, but my heart will stay open for you (stay open: maya hawke)

12: i know you were way too bright for me (golden: harry styles)

13: the boy you loved in spring, the way she looks at him (the key to life on earth: declan mckenna) 

14: could not care less if you love me (special girl: dodie)

15: you fell asleep in my car i drove the whole time (tear in my heart: twenty one pilots)

16: if you dance with me, darling, if you take me home. will we talk in the morning? (will we talk?: sam fender)

17: you knew it still hurts underneath my scars from when they pulled me apart (hoax: taylor swift)

18: all the people over there, they don't seem to have a care, i'm so fucking self-aware, it's exhausting (pretending: orla gartland)

19: you know the galaxies of my heart (space girl: frances forever)

20: i'm just a part of someone else's dream (cool people: alfie indra)

21: tell me that I'm alright, that i ain't gonna die (hard times: paramore)

22: you started a band, that was cool for awhile but it turned pretty bland (forest whitaker: bad books)

23: don't you know I'm no good for you? (when the party’s over: billie eilish)

24: all the silver tongued suits and cartoons that rule my world (hypersonic missiles: sam fender)

25: 'cause babe, what's yours is mine, all your drama and your trauma (zombie!: orla gartland) 

26: with so much left to do, you’ll be missing out and we’ll be missing you (missing you: all time low)

27: but if i just showed up at your party. would you have me? would you want me? (betty: taylor swift)

28: and i've cleaned enough houses to know how to cover up a scene (no body, no crime: taylor swift) 

29: the millisecond that you're away i get the loneliest feeling (give me a try: the wombats)

30: open up your eyes, shut your mouth and see (only angel: harry styles)

31: ‘cause i found a girl, who's in love with a girl, she said that she tried, but she's not into guys (i found a girl: the vamps)

32: i saw a shooting star and thought of you (all of the stars: ed sheeran)

33: but i've found my sweet escape when I'm alone with you (disconnected: 5sos)

34: late december with my heart in my chest and the clouds of my breath (roman holiday: halsey)

35: how could i have been so foolish to let you leave (lover come back: city and colour)

36: only fools fall for you (fools: troye sivan)

37: i'm the only one that has made you fall in love (the king: conan gray)

38: now which do you prefer? to be alone, to be in love or to just be worth it? i think you're worth it (strawberry sunscreen: lostboycrow)

39: it's you, you're the one that makes me feel right (me & you together song: the 1975)

40: you don't have to be scared, babe. you don't need a plan of what you wanna do (listen to the man: george ezra)

41: you won't ever be alone, wait for me to come home (photograph: ed sheeran)

42: have i known you 20 seconds or 20 years? (lover: taylor swift)

43: looked like how i feel 'bout your lips (space girl: frances forever)

44: give me a minute to hold my girl (hold my girl: george ezra)

45: i know i'm the one you want to forget (miss missing you: fall out boy)

46: the darkest night never felt so bright with you by my side (outer space/carry on: 5sos)

47: just let me cry a little bit longer (rose-coloured boy: paramore)

48: you felt it once before i know you did (backseat serenade: all time low)

49: don’t you know that you are golden (golden: the vamps)

50: and i might never be the one who brings you flowers but i can be the one tonight (perfect: one direction)

People I write for:

Stranger Things:

- Steve

- Robin

- Nancy

- Jonathan

Riverdale:

- Sweet Pea

- Fangs

- Toni

- Cheryl

- Veronica

- Reggie

- Josie

- Kevin

- Archie

- Betty

- Jughead

- FP

- Jason

The End of The F***ing World:

- James

- Alyssa

5sos:

- Calum

- Luke

- Ashton

- Michael

Sex Education:

- Otis

- Eric

- Maeve

- Adam

- Jackson

- Aimee

- Lily

- Orla

Killing Eve: 

- Villanelle 

- Eve 

Prodigal Son: 

- Malcolm 

- Dani 

- Ainsley 

- JT 

- Jessica 

- Dr Edrisa 

- Dr Martin 

- Gil

WandaVision: 

- Wanda 

- Vision 

- Darcy 

- Jimmy 

- Monica 

And if you have any suggestions of who I could write for, send them in! 

support my writing! if you want! 

[duran-duran-less-official]

Thoughts:

I agree with the takes that say we likely won't see a return to 2005-era Russell T. Davies television. My point of reference would be something like, 2005-2008 Rusty is like a parallel to 2010-2013 Moffat, and 2023-onwards Rusty is more likely to parallel 2014-2017 Moffat. There's a clear split there where Moffat ditched some of his more egregious excesses as his showrunning matured (helped by dealing with cranky old professor Capaldi instead of... well still a nutty old professor, but trapped in the body of a 20-something Matt Smith) and I have a feeling Rusty will have developed in the same way.

Judging by what Russell has done since Doctor Who, I DO think the coming seasons will be gayer. How that will manifest, I'm not sure.

I've noticed a not-inconsequential number of people saying "ugh, not just another white man but THE SAME white man?? Truly shows the BBC's lack of creativity in this department". To which I say, you nincompoops. The success of the show hasn't been measured by the showrunners identity credentials, it's been measured by how much they love the show. A black woman might be a fantastic showrunner in general terms, but if she doesn't care deeply about the history and legacy of this show in particular, then it will never work. Not for Doctor Who. Steven Moffat didn't survive 8 years of the most vile hatred a showrunner has ever received (maybe apart from, fittingly, the Supernatural fanbase) because he was white. He survived it because he genuinely loved the show, and only now that we've seen the alternatives to his reign have people started missing what he brought to the show. Russel didn't return because the BBC will only hire white guys. He returned because he loved the show and he has the combination of work ethic and passion to make it succeed. The only truly alarming thing about this news is how few competent showrunners there are within the BBC network who care about Doctor Who.

It really is a tragedy how much of the public perception of the Doctor Who fandom is still tied up in Superwholock to this day. It has far, far too much legacy behind it, and likely a future ahead of it, to be lumped in with the other two. It deserves better.

I'm also seeing a lot of people calling out other people for saying that Doctor Who will no longer be "woke", and I think that speaks to a sharp divide in what those two groups mean by that one word. As I say, I fully expect RTD to embrace LGBT rep in the show in one way or another, but at the risk of No True Scotsmanning, I doubt most fans would think not to expect that. What they DO object to, I think - certainly what I object to - is the way that political content I could 100% have handled in the days of RTD and Moffat was executed under Chibnall. Rusty never had a character go "I'm gay by the way! Did I mention how gay I am? *dies immediately*". Moffat got preachier in later seasons but Capaldi's speeches were passionately delivered and relevant to the characters in the scene. Nobody ever turned directly to the camera to speak to the audience. Understanding Capaldi's speeches made you feel smart; Whitaker's made you feel smarter than the writer thought you were. Not one of the characters was ever so obviously a fictionalised version of a real political figure as The Donald Trump Character from Chibnall's tenure. Walking away from serious racist conflicts to hammer home the message that humans are the real monsters was never part of the Doctor's M.O. under Rusty. It's preachy, it condescends to the audience, it betrays things that the characters should stand for, and above all it's just not very intelligent or imaginative writing. That is what people object to. The hope is not that the Doctor will stop destroying Capitalism or Orwellian Regimes or Slave Labour ("Oxygen", "The Lie of the Land", "Planet of the Ood") to become 'un-woke', the hope is that RTD will actually be able to craft relevant political subjects into actually entertaining sci-fi stories again.

If even RTD can't make Doctor Who work for modern audiences (unlikely but possible), then we have some idea of who REALLY made post-2005 Doctor Who work, and that is Murray Gold.

[im-just-a-random-fandom-girl]

Hi hi this is just some long ass Doctor Who meta from 2 years ago I posted on another site so pls ignore me

This explanation is going to take a little detouring, but it will make sense in the end.

What we know as the 12th Doctor (Capaldi) was really the 14th. This is because the War Doctor was excluded from the number system, and the 10th Doctor technically regenerated twice, but escaped the face change the first time by putting all the energy into his severed hand (which then became a duplicate of himself that went with Rose into the alternate dimension.) Canonically, this makes sense. Based on my understanding of Old Who, it has been suggested throughout the series that Time Lords only have 12 regenerations. The "11th" Doctor (Smith) had no more regenerations and thought he would die, until Clara somehow managed to communicate with Gallifrey, and the High Council granted him more regenerations. Presumably another set of 12, but we don't know for sure. All of the faces that we've seen before 13 (Jodie Whitaker) have been male, but there was clear evidence that Time Lords could switch gender in regeneration (Master to Missy, High Council members we saw regenerate, etc). And this is how the Doctor knew their existence as well.

However, this was all flipped on it's head in the latest season. Through a confusing series of events in which the Master returned (although that's a WHOLE other discussion that I would LOVE to discuss and rant about), kidnapped the Doctor, and brought her back to a destroyed Gallifrey (that he claims to have destroyed), it was revealed to the Doctor and the audience that this is not, in fact, her 14th face and 15th regeneration, but that she has a whole history of lives robbed from her memory. The Master claims, with evidence from the depths of Gallifrey's memory vaults, that the Doctor is actually the Timeless Child, the legend that was the beginning of the Gallifreyan race as they both know it.

Here's where my opinion comes in and it is that this makes no sense and is, to me, canonical nonsense. It makes no sense in relation to all of the 57 years since the show first aired. There have always been some plot holes and inconsistencies here and there, and that can only be expected in a show that's run for so long and based on a time-traveling alien, but this really takes the cake.

Firstly, it clashes with the 11th Doctor nearly dying (the first time) in "Let's Kill Hitler." The Doctor could not regenerate! He was lying on the stairs, dying, with no regeneration energy in sight. River Song gave up all of her remaining regenerations to bring him back to life! That was a huge plot point and arc that spanned over the course of numerous seasons.

Secondly, but an earlier and much more strange issue would be when Clara saves all of the Doctor's regenerations. When she was running though the Doctor's time stream, she should have been able to see all of the incarnations, even if the Doctor themself does not remember them. Instead, she only sees 12 faces.

Thirdly, there is the "The Time of the Doctor"regeneration issue that I discussed at the beginning. The Timeless Child has unlimited regenerations, and even if the 11th Doctor didn't realize that he was the Timeless Child, wouldn't he be able to tell that he still had regeneration energy inside of him? And then, what is the explanation for the High Council granting him more regenerations? Wouldn't this be something that they'd have known about? If they didn't know, why the hell not? It strongly disconnects with the fact that Gallifrey always felt the need to keep an eye on the Doctor, a need for control that was even more clear in the memories of the Timeless Child. If they did know, was the sending of regeneration energy all an act?

Fourth, the idea that the Master would do this to the Doctor is practically laughable, whether or not it's real. If the Doctor really is the Timeless Child and it's not all some big gag (which would be annoying either way) this fight should have never been between the Doctor and the Master. The Master is screwed up, certainly, but they and the Doctor have a deep bond. The extent that the Master went was usually to one-up the Doctor, but this blows everything out of the water. They've had their battles but they've also fought side by side more than once. We also saw such character improvement with Missy that really completed the arc, which was why it was annoying that the Master showed up again (although, again, that's another discussion.) It's also strange that the Master finds what the Time Lords did to the Timeless Child so disgusting and abhorrently wrong, and yet tries to torture the Doctor with the information. Wouldn't the Master been sympathetic with the Doctor? Even if this is potentially an earlier incarnation (like some fans hypothesize) of the Master that hasn't had the arc we saw with Missy yet, I don't think the Master would've done what he did.

Fifth, and most importantly, is that this story goes against everything the show has been rooted in. Since the beginning, the Doctor has been a traveler, a lonely, wandering alien who helps save planets and people whenever something is wrong and they happen to be around. They became a legend through the person they were, not from where they came from. The Doctor's good deeds, selflessness and determination to help others is what made them special. It's the central and key component of the show, and the character. Even though I wasn't the biggest fan of Capaldi's 12th Doctor, I think back to his speech to Missy and the Master in "The Doctor Falls" as the perfect summary of exactly who they are. This Timeless Child reveal takes away from the Doctor's earned specialness, because it posits that they've been special right from the word "go". The Doctor doesn't need this "hero from birth" backstory to make them the incredible and enduring character that they are. This video says much of the same stuff as I've said in this paragraph, but also expands on some of it. I highly recommend you watch it.

Some defenders of the reveal claim that 13 needed some conflict, and I agree. As much as I love Jodie Whitaker, the script was really not doing her any favors. The Doctor felt pretty flat in her first season, and on top of her blandness, the character no longer struggled with the conflict of having destroyed Gallifrey, which was solved with 11 (another controversial decision for much of the same reasons mentioned here, by the way! undoing such a major and excellent plot point that added layers to the Doctor without changing their origins was not smart, in my opinion, and it made no sense the way Moffatt did it. that's again another discussion). I know 12 didn't have this conflict either, but Missy added a very significant layer and plot line, and he had a lot of personality. Despite this (and the fact that this seasons scripts were far better at adding some complexity to the character and her relationship with her companions), this was not the way to add conflict, not just because of the above points but because it doesn't work! The Doctor has always had a conflicting relationship with their home planet and people, and this doesn't change that. Maybe it's become a little more personal with this reveal, but the Doctor has always disagreed with the values and pompous nature of the Time Lords, and has decried their methods as unethical and wrong since the beginning. It's why the 1st Doctor stole the TARDIS! This reveal doesn't bring any new layer to the narrative, or change the Doctor's values at all. This shows in the fact that the Doctor is hardly affected at all by the news, reassuring the audience that nothing about her has changed. The writers knew that this would add nothing to the narrative and did it anyway, and detracting from the character as a result.

It also makes the Doctor a less relateable character. We fall in love with characters that work to be who they are, that have shaped their narrative, rather than their birth determining their destiny. We see hope and possibility in them! The video gives the example of Spiderman, and I think Steve Rogers is another one of these characters.

Around 13:25 (until about 17:25) in the video, they give two excellent examples about how a Timeless Child plot reveal could have worked, and I totally agree with it. I prefer the first one, but the second one is still an interesting suggestion. My post is getting freakishly long, so I won't summarize it here, but I suggest you watch this part of the video at least.

[blaithnne]

One thing I want to know about you: Are there any shows you like, but don't necessarily talk about on your tumblr? No need to name them if you don't want to, just curious. I hope you have a pleasant day.

I have a bunch actually! Most of the things I don’t talk about on main you can find reblogs of on my reblog account, but one that I don’t talk about or reblog much of on either is The Good Place, which is probably my favourite show ever.

Its hilarious, it’s heartwarming, it has such a wonderful message, it’s finale was perfect, it’s character development is incredible, I could honestly ramble about this show for hours.

I also love Brooklyn 99, it’s fucking hilarious, even if season 6 sucked for the most part I’d blame it on the new production crew, and season 7 was an improvement even if it wasn’t as good as 1-5, so I’m hopeful for season 8! And also very curious as to what they’ll do, I really hope the squad doesn’t break up in the finale or anything because that would break me.

OH I’ve been on a miraculous spree recently with the release of Gang of Secrets dragging me back into that one, in general Miraculous is just kind of,,,ok imo? I can’t praise this writing for hours like I can other shows, but I like it’s concept, and it’ll probably be cropping up a bit more on main due to something I’m working on so look out for that I guess lmao

Another show that frequents my reblog account is Doctor Who, I love that show so much man. I think Capaldi’s seasons are my favourite? His doctor is just so funny and I love Moffat’s whimsical take on the Doctor. The latest seasons are nowhere near as good though, I’m honestly glad that Ryan and Graham are gone, like I just didn’t care about them, I felt nothing when they left. Ryan’s writing improved towards the end but it doesn’t make up for the amount of time where he was just so insufferably boring. I’m hopeful for the next season, I’m interested in the new character dynamic of just Yaz and the Doctor, I love Jodie Whitaker and she’s had some awesome moments in the last season, so I just really hope she gets to shine some more. Speaking of Doctor Who I’m midway through Season 2 of Torchwood! It’s pretty good, I like the darker take on the Doctor Who world, even if they have the occasional “I’m 14 and this is deep” moment. Like the sex gas, and Susie going from a realistic well rounded character with good motivations to a comic book villain, but in general it’s pretty good - Ianto and Tosh are so precious I’d kill for them both, and I love how it shifts from weirdly hilarious to serious so fast (like that one scene where it just zooms in on Ianto who very seriously says “life knife”, and the line “gloves tend to come in pairs” LIKE BRUH FROM THE SAME CHARACTER TOO??), I’ve been meaning to finish it but I keep forgetting lmao

I also love Gentleman Jack, it’s so underrated, if you want good lesbian representation then WATCH THIS SHOW!! It’s literally about two real life lesbians living in the 1830s, and the world building is so good, it genuinely feels like the 1800s when you’re watching it it’s so perfect, and the finale killed me it was so cute, but also that ominous moment where that one guy found out about the side plot and I JUST LOVE IT SO MUCCHHH!! I can’t wait for season 2 I’m so hyped

I don’t think I’ve ever posted about She-Ra on main either, but I adore that show, binged it in a day or two a few months back and it’s so good, I’m in love with Scorpio and Catra

This was longer than I meant it to be bc I just ended up rambling about my favourite shows, but yeah, I have a bunch that I just don’t talk about much in tumblr. Not for any particular reason, I just don’t. A lot of them are live action, and I have trouble drawing real life people so that could be part of it, but it’s also sometimes nice to have shows that you don’t think about too much, they’re just there to be enjoyed yanno

[weedle-testaburger]

So, according to some other British tabloid paper (not sure which), DW fans are DEMANDING that Peter Capaldi returns to the role in light of recent events. This is a myth as far as I'm concerned. Now, Capaldi only quit because he was worried he'd start phoning it in if he stayed for longer (understandable), plus he has voiced support for Jodie Whitaker, especially recently. I also think having an older Doctor actor return to play a new Doctor would be weird and jarring. NOT in a good way. WDYT?

Oh ffs are they really? Why does everyone think the solution to Doctor Who's problems is 'turn back the clock'? And while it'd be dumb for any incarnation to come back, it'd be particularly dumb to pick Capadi for it since as he said he'd be at risk of phoning it in and because the show originally started declining in ratings with him as the Doctor (not saying it was objectively bad, even if I'm not fond of much of it lots of people love it, but it wouldn't be commercially viable to go back to).

[iamafxsh]

week 6 - w/c march 1st

march 3rd 2021

The question is this: is Doctor Who is dying? I'm going to talk about this, but first, I'll preface by talking about my personal history with the franchise to establish any bias that may be present.

I started watching the show when I 7, directly at the start of season 3 thanks to a friends persuasion. Every Saturday, we watched the new episode and in the week, we'd watch the previous two to catch me up. And I watched Doctor Who consistently, always when it aired, up until midway through Capaldi's run, at which I dropped off, no longer finding the same level of entertainment in it. I came back to it just last year, at the start of season 12, Whitaker's second, through the encouragement of friends, and I've been enjoying it.

Also, I watched Sarah Jane Adventures too, and later Torchwood, so I'm a little versed in the franchise, but nothing much more out of the TV shows, which is to say not really any of the books or audio dramas.

-

Now to the original question: is Doctor Who dying? In my opinion, unfortunately yes. I hate to say it as it was a large part of my childhood, and is something I still very much love, but it's dying. Just looking at its viewing figures shows this much, so I want to look at what I think are some of the reasons.

1. Change in genre and target audience

These go hand in hand. When comparing the earlier seasons with the more recent ones, specifically Whitaker's, they just feel different. The recent ones feel like they're designed for a younger audience, which will of course affect the viewership. You may gain some younger viewers, but you'll also lose older ones, so it's a double edges sword. I think in DW's case however, they've lost more than they've gained.

2. The writing

So I believe this is the biggest reason, but saying "writing" is very broad and vague so I'll break it down in further points, but the writing is the biggest thing that I think has let the show down recently. It's not all bad, I don't mean that, and I'm not implying that the writers are inexperienced or don't know what they're doing, I just think that the writing isn't right for DW.

For example, and mild spoilers for season 12, but practically every episode is set on Earth. Now don't get me wrong, I like an Earth episode, but not for an entire season. I don't know if that was an intended, conscious choice or it just sort of happened that way, but it sort of dampens the season, if that makes any sense - it's like a little bit of the fun, wacky magic is missing.

3. The companions

Now I like that we had a group of companions, and I like that we had an older companion in Graham, but the problem with having three is that you have to dedicate enough time to them so the audience connects. You have to do that with any companion, but when you have three, you have to do that three times, and there just wasn't enough of that.

Graham acts as comic relief, which is fine, and I very much enjoy seeing an older character as a main. We get some stuff about Ryan, usually relating to his family, and a bit about Yaz, also ofter in regard to family. Now that's not bad, it's good to know that sort of stuff to help establish what kind of person they are, but I know I am more than just my relationship with my family, and so likely, these characters are too. Having three companions has been fun, but it's not great when there isn't enough time.

Nearly every episode in season 12 introduces another character (or handful) for that episode, which is fine except it draws attention away from already weaker characters, and it's unfortunate because that means only broad strokes get filled in with Graham, Yaz and Ryan, boiling them down to one or two distinct traits, and people are far more complicated than that.

It likely links to the first point too, with having a younger target audience; kids don't need as much backstory for a character to be able to latch to them, and so more time goes to fun visuals and not introspective development.

-

Okay, so at to not be mean or feel like I'm just hating in the show for fun, I will pick out some of the things I've really enjoyed from season 12, and so definitely spoilers ahead for that.

1. Sacha Dhawan's Master

So it's not surprise I love the Master - my name is Koschei after all - and so when I heard he was back - from a friend since I was late to the season - it was a big encouragement for me to watch. And I was delighted to not be disappointed, and not only that, but Dhawan's Master is now top ranking in my Master-Missy list.

He is so fully unhinged in a way we haven't seen before. He is completely feral and it's a delight to watch him slowly go further and further mad. With all that we learn with the Timeless Child, it makes complete sense and it's fun to watch that manifest in his behaviour and his chaotic nature, especially in regard to the Doctor specifically; the season, and Dhawan's portrayal, really emphasise that symbiotic but also parasitic nature of their relationship.

And the chemistry with Whitaker and Dhawan is wonderful to watch.

2. The Timeless Child Arc

I liked it, sue me. It was controversial, with what it means for DW lore, but I enjoyed it. It was fun and I very much liked what was done and what was attempted.

There are definitely people that hate it because of what it does for the lore (which honestly I don't see a big deal but I've only really seen new Who), but I also watch Star Trek so maybe I'm desensitised to lore fuck-ups, deliberate or otherwise. But I like that they took a risk, tried to do something different and do something big, and building up the relationship (or completely destroying it, depending how you look at it) with the Doctor and the Master was very much a good thing.

-

It is a shame to see Doctor Who going the way it is. I don't think it's horrible and rotten like some people seem too, but I don't think it's at its best, or even above the middle mark. I hope that this isn't the end of the franchise, by any means.

[neighbours-kid]

November Isn't A Real Month

November is the Thursday of the year. Really. The only point of November is making me stressed. Honestly, what even happened this month? I don’t remember a thing.

Well—my instagram tells me the following. My Good Omens dvd arrived, which called for an immediate rewatch of the entire show and naturally all extra features. I still love this show and this story with all my heart and rewatching it has been an incredible pleasure. The extras are wonderful and the tour through the bookshop absolutely made me cry. What a beautiful place. If only it were real. I still haven’t seen all the episodes with commentary, only the first three, but I’ll get there.

Instagram also tells me that I’ve been to a Halloween party—yes, after the 31st. That was great fun too, got to make some people really uncomfortable every time they looked at me because of my white contacts. That was great!

I read Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale for university in basically two sittings. What a fantastic book. I’m gonna have to get my hands on the sequel that just came out too. I also read Hamlet, which resulted in me filling a note on my phone with quotes that could be used as Good Omens fanfic prompts.

I also got new glasses, moved my entire bookshelf from my bedroom into my living room and re-arranged the whole entire thing, finally bought frames for my art and put these up and thus now have a sort of Good Omens corner in my apartment.

I volunteered at a small convention here in the city which was, surprisingly, great fun and I am considering doing it again next year. I really enjoyed that a lot, which I didn’t really think I would. But it was a wonderful experience.

We also had are annual candle making event at our church again where I helped out the whole time while simultaneously trying to study for, oh shock horror, the upcoming exams this December. That didn’t entirely work as well as I planned. But the event was great as always, I even made some candles myself, which I haven’t really done in years.

As per usual, I also went and saw some movies! Last Christmas (great movie, never seen a romcom with a plot twist before), The Good Liar (went in only knowing Ian McKellen and Hellen Mirren would be in it, was blown away by it), and Hustlers (Jennifer Lopez’ back and arm muscles are still in my mind). On top of that, I obviously also watched a bunch of stuff at home, started with Christmas movies about halfway through the month, but otherwise mostly watched the new episodes of my TV shows. His Dark Materials is absolutely wonderful so far and I love having Lin-Manuel Miranda on my screen once a week. Prodigal Son continues to be fantastic, though we haven’t really seen Michael Sheen in a while and I miss him. Speaking of Michael, I toned down my binge watch through his filmography a bit for uni, and am only watching the show at this time. I’ll catch up with the rest of his stuff once my winter break starts. Riverdale is still absolutely ridiculous and bad and I have no idea why I’m still watching it (okay that’s not true, I am watching it for the Jones men and the Jones men only). I am also still on my stand-up comedy special trip and I think that’s gonna keep on for a while still. Laughing is good, y’all.

Oh yeah, I also finally finished Jodie Whitaker’s first season as the Doctor. I like her, I really do. But….she hasn’t really come into herself yet as the Doctor, I feel? The Doc doesn’t have any real depth yet. I don’t see the 1000yr old alien yet. And I just love it so much when the Doc’s a bit mad and a bit rude. I loved Peter Capaldi’s Doctor and he was so rude. She’s too nice for my taste. But I don’t know, I’ll definitely keep watching. I don’t wanna fall off the bandwagon again. Let’s see what the next season brings.

One other major thing I did this month, was read a fuck ton of Good Omens fanfiction. I found my absolute favourite writer and decided to reformat all his fics into nice booklets and get them printed to I can physically own them. One is done, a second one is nearly finished. His work is just incredibly stunning and the way he uses words is beyond anything I could ever hope to achieve. He’s a fucking poet.

So much for not remembering what happened this month. Well, okay, I did consult all my social medias and went through text messages to see what has happened.

But November is just….so weird. I don’t particularly like it, to be honest. Seasonal depression starts to really set in, the weather’s mostly shit, not nice weather but also not snow, just always grey and dreary, lot of rain too. I wake up while it’s still dark, I get home when it’s already dark again. Exam stress is coming up but not strong enough for me to actually really do anything about it until it’s December when it’s nearly too late? Just, a really fucking odd month.

Huh.

But, only one more month to go, and then it’s fucking 2020. I can’t really wrap my head around it quite yet. Another decade over, just like that. It’s insane. But I’ll talk about that at the end of it all. Not just now.

See y’all in a few.

[thearcalian]

This is not my usual political post.  Well, kinda. But not in the broad, big picture Trump-supporter-but-not-a-Republican kind of way.  This is smaller, and more relevant to my personal experience.  That said, it’s going to be long and rambling as fuck.  A few of my followers it will relevant to; most not.  Those who are not, if you stick around, you will find it’s relevant only in terms of who I am and how I got here (unless you are also a fan).

Anyone who’s bothered to go far back enough in my blog’s history will note that, when I started, I was a left-leaning libertarian who still liked Doctor Who, Star Wars and even Steven fucking Universe.  But also, a DC comics fan.  The DC fan part is a long rambling story by itself, but I’ll summarize by saying that I started out being a Robin fan, but wound up being mostly a Terra fan.  Yes, comic book Tara Markov, mostly the good girl 90s version commonly called Terra II.  I won’t go into THAT whole history either, but its relevant background.

I haven’t read comics on a regular/consistent basis since 2007.  Occasionally since then I’ve read arcs or issues because of certain specific characters, but on the whole my comic habit stopped cold.  I kept waiting for heroes to come back.  Because before comics even went “woke”, there was a different kind of woke problem happening, that went all the back to the early 70s; namely, treating the characters like crap.  Heroes weren’t allowed to be heroes anymore.  They were victims, or villains, or merely humans with powers and/or a costume.  And if a hero WAS a hero for real, then it was treated as a joke, which in its own way was even worse.

 So when I first saw this headline https://cosmicbook.news/att-closing-dc-comics-5g-ethan-van-sciver  I thought the “5G” meant the next generation of internet servers, not the characters themselves (the TLDR version is that if the next “fifth generation” comics fail to sell, DC will no longer be published.  Oh, they’ll still make the movies and cartoons and what not, but the comics themselves will no longer be published.)  When I saw that it actually meant that they would shut down the comics entirely, I was like “….What?”

 Part of me wanted to look on it the same way I do on the self destruction of Star Wars and Doctor Who (and in terms of narrative, Steven Universe, which was always flawed in terms of the political preconceptions of Rebecca Sugar and her cronies but nevertheless managed to produce an old-fashioned, true hero within their own political context, but in the “Future” final season going on now managed to screw even that up). I was glad to let Star Wars and Doctor Who go.  I wish The Prequels were the last Star Wars we ever got;  I wish that, while Capaldi had still been cast as the Doctor, he’d had worthwhile Doctor Who to be in.  Because what he got was not Doctor Who in any substantial way.  I was glad to watch the Disney Sequels and Chibnall/Whitaker crash and burn.  Good riddance.

 But I honestly thought that comics would, in a market way, fix themselves; that the publishers would finally go, “Oh right, you wanted Superheroes, not woke quotas filled.” Instead I got “We give up.”

 I….just honestly don’t get why AT&T/Warner Bros don’t go back to superheroes that are freaking Marketable!  And if you want to have Black heroes (or whatever else) that’s fine; but there’s a right way and a wrong way to do it.  The right way is to introduce the character to the mythos, let them build their own story within it, and THEN have them take over the title role a few years down the line, say at least 5 years.  That’s why nobody batted an eye when John Stewart was the Green Lantern in the Justice League cartoon; because the guy had been around for decades by then. As opposed to just randomly introducing a black Batman out of thin air.

But again, wokeness is only half the problem.  The other half is treating the characters like shit.  And this problem goes back to 1971 when DC decided that Roy Harper was a heroin addict (because don’t do drugs, kids!) and a few months later Marvel decided to break Gwen Stacey’s neck (because realism, kids!)  And it’s never stopped.  Tara Markov bringing the roof down on her own head, irredeemable. Jason Todd gets his brains bashed in by the Joker, then later on coming back as a third rate Punisher wannabe. Superman dies.  Batman gets his back broken and replaced by another Punisher wannabe.  (Yes, both of those were fixed….eventually.  But they were never good ideas in the first place!)  Doc Ock in Spiderman’s head.  Captain America a secret Hydra agent all along.  On and on and on and on and ON.  STOP IT!  STOP!

So why in the world don’t they just start the comics over at zero, with the iconic heroes, and *let them actually BE HEROES?!?*  Not comedy relief camp like that Batman 60s tv show, but just the straight up Hero’s Journey, with modifications made for each character?  And as noted, you can bring in your black/Hispanic/whatever heroes gradually in a way that everyone would accept.

 Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.  Instead, DO THE JOB RIGHT.  It’s not that hard.  It really isn’t.

@tron @dafterwho @the-rageaholic