#t: harriet

[khruschevshoe]

We do NOT give Jackie Tyler and Mickey Smith their props for their character growth in the Parting of the Ways. Rose is absolutely amazing, an absolute ferocious beacon of hope and stubbornness and bravery in the finale, the absolute reason why the Doctor lives and the world is saved and an equal hero to Nine, but she has a moment of doubt. A moment of hesitancy.

And Mickey Smith and Jackie Tyler step in and help her save the day. Both Mickey and Jackie give up on their idea of Rose and their hatred of the Doctor and help her pull open the TARDIS. Even within this one episode we see them struggle with their feelings and decide to put them aside and help do this because Rose is right- this is a better way of living your life.

Doctor Who is about ordinary people making extraordinary decisions and making themselves extraordinary and this doesn't just apply to official companions (who I love with all my might)- it applies to the people they love, too. We see it over and over again in Davies' era, with Jackie and Mickey and Sylvia and Tish and Wilfred and Francine and Harriet Jones and every one-off character as well, from Lynda-with-a-Y to Jabe to Gwyneth to Novice Hame to McDonnell to Sally to Chantho to Nancy to all the rest.

Doctor Who is at its strongest when the story is focused on the strength of the bleeding, beating heart of humanity (and character in general, in its non-humans), when the characters drive the story, when at the end of the day you understand why, for all of the world's flaws, the Doctor comes back over and over again because of people like this- not just his companions, but the Jackies and Mickeys and all the rest of the world.

[dandelionjack]

“b-but how did UNIT hire somebody called H. Arbinger and not notice her name!?”

have you ever seen the torchwood episode Adam? same principle. harriet simply appeared out of the blue one morning, having altered every UNIT staff member’s memories to make them believe she’d always been head archivist of the magnus institute. who, harriet? what’s suspicious about her? she’s worked here for as long as i can remember. yeah, she’s lovely. smartest person i ever did meet. work ethic of a superstar. what? uncommon surname? don’t be ridiculous, my nan’s sister’s nephew’s wife’s maiden name was arbinger.

it’s not too far fetched to imagine that a herald of a godlike deity is capable of doing what a random alien with basic psychic manipulation abilities has achieved before. there are a lot of plot holes in TLORS, but this is not one of them.

as a side note, she is so fucking attractive. evil butch academic women with nefarious plans, call me, i’m free all day

[snapesmorningcoffee]

[timeagainreviews]

Dust and Darkness Prevail

Panspermia is the theory that human life was seeded by comets, asteroids, meteoroids, and space dust falling to Earth. Directed panspermia is the idea that an unknown third party purposely seeded life onto this planet through similar means. These are perhaps the most ancient of aliens. For whatever reason, be it propagation, a future food source, or simply contamination from an explorer’s boot, somehow, we were created.  It’s easy to see why mankind looked to the stars for parentage- we are made of star stuff, after all. As our understanding of the stars grew, so did our desire to understand them in relation to ourselves. Staring down the concept of being a mere dust mote floating within sunbeams, some of us began to wonder if the Gods we abandoned weren’t actually a different form of sky daddy. In the words of Giorgio A. Tsoukalos- “Aliens.”

Science fiction has a rich history of depicting ancient Gods as alien lifeforms. Doctor Who is no different. Sometimes these extra-terrestrial visitors are used to explain odd phenomena, and other times, they’ve been used to outright undermine the achievements of ancient civilisations. One of the most popular ancient alien theories is that aliens helped build the pyramids. Some Egyptian-themed polyhedron-obsessed aliens influenced ancient Egyptian culture. You can see it in movies like Stargate, or in television stories like the 1975 Doctor Who serial “Pyramids of Mars.” Recent books like Erich Von Daniken’s scientifically dubious “Chariots of the Gods,” or numerous documentaries narrated by Rod Serling had garnered interest in ancient astronauts. A year after “Pyramids of Mars,” aired, NASA released photos from their Viking 1 orbiter that would only feed these theories. The black and white photos of the Cydonia region appeared to depict a carved facelike structure and gigantic pyramids on the planet’s surface. Needless to say, some people let their imaginations run wild.

While many of the concepts explored in the History Channel’s “Ancient Aliens,” have been labelled pseudo-science or even racist, some of these concepts still crop up in popular media. A more benign example would be Marvel’s own Thor and Loki. Sure, they call them Gods, but they are very clearly from advanced alien civilisations. It feels appropriate then that Doctor Who returning with Disney money might also explore one of its own ancient aliens in Sutekh the Destroyer. Considering the build-up with the Toymaker and the Maestro, it all seems fairly obvious in hindsight. But what does this have to do with Ruby Sunday? In seeking out her own parentage, might she also benefit from looking to the stars?

One aspect to this season of Doctor Who that I feel has actually fallen a bit flat is the question of Ruby Sunday’s parents. Considering that the fandom has been interacting more with the question of the identity of Susan Twist’s character, it’s safe to say I’m not alone in this. It’s just not a very interesting question, and I think it’s partly because we already know the answer. Doctor Who’s official Twitter recently asked fans who they think Ruby’s mother really is, and only a few people actually got the answer right. It’s Carla Sunday, obviously. I find this whole question to be as flawed as the conversation around it. Ruby uses words like “abandoned,” to describe herself. And while I can understand the desire to know your roots, I know my adopted siblings were never abandoned. They were found. They have a family who love them. My mother who was also adopted had a mother in my grandma. My greatest hope with this storyline is that this is what Russell T Davies has been leading up to all along. Ruby’s real mother is the one who changed her diapers and cleaned up scraped knees.

Speaking of family, “The Legend of Ruby Sunday,” begins like a bit of a family reunion. Yasmin Finney is back as “Rose.” As are Gemma Redgrave as “Kate Lethbridge-Stewart,” Bonnie Langford as “Mel,” and Alexander Devrient as “Colonel Christofer Ibrahim.” Also returning is the Vlinx, with a shiny new chassis. Strangely absent is Ruth Madeley as UNIT’s scientific advisor “Shirley Anne Bingham." In her place is Lenny Rush as “Morris Gibbons,” a boy genius with a taste for excitement. We’re also introduced to Harriet, UNIT’s newest lead archivist. More on her later. The light tone of this family reunion is much needed as the majority of this episode is Doctor Who at its most bleak.

Something I have completely failed to mention this season has been the TARDIS’ weird groaning. It’s not as though I hadn’t noticed, there have just been so many things to talk about lately. I had meant to bring it up last week when the Doctor told Rogue the TARDIS doesn’t like bounty hunters. I figured then that it was the Doctor ignoring a bigger problem. Speaking of which, it does strike me as a bit odd that the Doctor hadn’t addressed the issue for such a long time. The TARDIS has been groaning and sliding into landings like a football tackle. I understand that the Doctor has a lot on his mind, but it would have been nice if they could have shown the Doctor showing any kind of concern for the TARDIS. He’s been flying her for thousands of years, he would notice any slight change. This isn’t a huge issue for me, though it does feel a bit out of character. But who am I to complain? Even I forgot to bring it up.

The Doctor does have a lot on his mind, which is what brings him to UNIT HQ. It was nice to see the Doctor lay all of his cards on the table for a change. You don’t often see the Doctor outright asking for help. Luckily, UNIT was already on the case. The woman the Doctor keeps seeing also exists in modern-day London as Susan Triad. I found it a bit odd that the Doctor would know a politician from an aborted timeline like Roger ap Gwilliam, but not a tech industry giant with her name on a skyscraper. Even Colonel Ibrahim recognised it as an anagram of TARDIS, so what gives, Doctor? 

Part of their gathering intelligence on Susan Triad has been using Mel to infiltrate her organisation. When I had heard they were bringing back Mel, I was excited. Mel has never been a fan favourite, and even I took a lot of time to warm up to her in classic Doctor Who. But bringing her back feels like a no-brainer. She’s a tech whiz and Bonnie Langford is a great actress. There is only room to grow with her character, and grow she does. Not only have they given her a bit more backstory with losing her family, but we also get to see her acting as a double agent and puttering about on her scooter. Seeing Mel in this capacity is a delight. I am really enjoying how they have built up UNIT to be more like the ‘70s (or was it the ‘80s?) with recurring characters. Instead of Yates and Benton, we’ll now have Ibrahim and Sullivan. I really hope they continue this trend, though I would appreciate it if they stopped haemorrhaging scientific advisors.

Despite around-the-clock surveillance, the most UNIT has managed to gather on Susan Triad is that she’s a seemingly nice human woman with no underlying alien traits. Her company’s upcoming event will announce that she is making the Triad OS free to the world, which seems like a weird flex. Ubuntu and Fedora are both free operating systems, so this is nothing new. What’s even more perplexing is that UNIT would integrate Triad into their own systems. Call me crazy, but if I were a government organisation spying on a tech giant because their name is an anagram of an alien time machine, I might opt to use Windows or Mac. The whole storyline was giving shades of “The Sontaran Strategem/The Poison Sky,” or even “Kingsman: The Secret Service,” wherein miracle technologies are secretly deadly. We still don’t know the ramifications of the Triad system’s worldwide rollout, but I imagine we’ll find out next week.

Something a friend pointed out to me that feels important happens during the Mrs Flood scene. According to Kate, the Triad press conference was scheduled for fifteen hundred hours, or 3 pm. What’s odd is that when Ruby and Rose show up to Ruby’s home, Cherry’s digital clock reads 15:08. At first, I had misremembered this scene and figured it must take place during the events at UNIT HQ, but the inclusion of Ruby and Rose implies that it’s not. I can think of three possible explanations for this. One explanation is that it was a continuity error. The production crew simply goofed. It happens. Another explanation is that Cherry’s radio is like my coffee machine in that the digital time display is incorrect. That’s possibly the most human answer. But television doesn’t often allow for such realistic discrepancies as they can confuse audiences. Seriously, how often do you see fictional stories where two characters share the name John? One of my closest friends is also named Natalie, but that wouldn’t usually work in fiction. This leaves us with a third explanation which is that it was done on purpose. Either something wibbly wobbly is happening, or they goofed.

As expected, Mrs Flood appears to be someone. With the reveal of Susan Triad being Sutekh, my hopes of the Rani have been dashed against the rocks of reality. Or have they? In explaining regeneration to Ruby, the Doctor describes it as a way to hide away with a new face. When Ruby fetches Mrs Flood to mind Cherry while Carla joins them back at UNIT, Mrs Flood mentions hiding herself away. While Mrs Flood was a bit rude to Ruby and downright hostile toward Cherry, these could be the actions of a bitter Susan Foreman, aka the Doctor’s granddaughter. However, I am reticent to call her Susan for a couple or reasons. For starters, Carole Ann Ford was present at the premiere for the 60th anniversary specials. Sure this could have simply been due to her history with the show, but it could also imply she’s been filming things for the RTD2 era. You could speculate that the only thing she actually filmed was a flashback regeneration scene into Mrs Flood, but that feels like a waste of a much-needed reunion. My money is on the Rani, but mostly because I want her to be and because Carole Ann Ford deserves her moment. If they bring Susan back, there’s only one person I want to see play her.

Ruby and Rose fetch the surveillance tape from the night Ruby was left on that church stoop. I loved that Carla joined them the moment she learned that Donna was involved with UNIT. It’s nice to see that at least one character hasn’t forgotten who Ruby’s real mother is. This also gave rise to one of my favourite Doctor moments of the episode when he says "Yeah but it’s Carla. Come on," in response to the claim that not even the prime minister has access to UNIT HQ. I loved the exchange between the Doctor and Kate about their possession of a time window. They claim they don’t have one, the Doctor knows they do. Classic. It’s the Doctor knowing of the existence of the Black Archive all over again. Even further, I loved the Doctor laughing at the way UNIT has “lashed together,” the time window. I doubt he really feels that way, but the Doctor needs to remind UNIT not to get too comfortable. Undercutting their achievement is a reminder that these items aren’t toys. It’s a subtle way to establish himself as an authority while also reminding UNIT of their limitations. The Doctor’s aim isn’t to belittle UNIT, but to instill a healthy fear of these technologies. As it turns out, the Doctor’s fears were well-founded.

The time window is a large room capable of viewing moments in time. The Doctor refers to time as a memory which is a bigger Whoiverse change than people are giving it credit. I always thought of the TARDIS as a supercomputer that stores moments throughout time in its memory like files. It makes sense that time and memory mingle like this. The effect of the VHS degradation on memory is one of the coolest visual effects in Doctor Who. It’s nice to see that Disney money coming into play. I also have to tip my hat to Lenny Rush for his performance as Morris here. Lots of UNIT characters were given little moments to shine in this episode like Harriet and Colonel Chidozie. The latter of whom we’re given a bit of background information about so that when he meets his demise, we care a little bit more. He’s just a Manchester lad with a cheery disposition. It would be a shame if something were to happen to him.

In an almost cruel twist of fate, the visual of Ruby’s mother is obscured. Not just obscured, but seemingly darkened as if on purpose. The moment she walks close to the Doctor and Ruby, she glitches past them. It’s sad for Ruby, but I feel it’s important that Carla is there to witness this moment. She needs to see that the mystery of Ruby’s life isn’t just one of being an orphan, but that something is deeply and darkly wrong. I feel as though Carla’s involvement in this storyline is due a rather big payoff next week, and I am looking forward to that. The Doctor notices that the TARDIS appears more corporeal than a simple image from a video. He asks the tanatalising question “If time is memory and memory is time, then what is the memory of a time machine?” It’s a question I have been mulling in my head ever since, and I still don’t have a great answer.

Colonel Chidozie disappears around the same time a swarm of dark energy begins to incircle the memory TARDIS (omg I think I just figured it out). The MEMORY TARDIS! Ok. I see what you’re putting down, Russell. Carla refers to the dark energy as “the Beast,” as in, the devil. But who among us didn’t automatically think of the Beast from “The Satan Pit”? Hell, it’s not as though it would break the show if Sutekh and the Beast were one in the same. They’re both voiced by Gabriel Woolf. Furthermore, we know Sutekh takes on multiple forms like the doggo or Susan Triad. There are plenty of examples of gods taking on multiple forms. Christianity has the Holy Trinity of God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Hindu gods often have multiple forms such as Vishnu manifesting as Krishna, Rama, or even Buddha. It’s fully within the realm of possibility that the Beast is yet one more aspect to Sutekh. After all, the Fourth Doctor did refer to him as Satan at one point. Why not?

Possibly the most interesting aspect of the scene is when Chidozie’s speaks out from the darkness. It’s not so much the fact that he’s in Hell or that his consciousness feels like it’s been hijacked like Angel Bob’s was, but rather the fact that he only seems to respond to Ruby. The Doctor tries to commune with the entity and gets nothing. Kate commands Chidozie to report and comes up equally empty-handed. It’s not until Ruby attempts to communicate with the entity that it responds. If Christianity has the Trinity and Hinduism has the Trimurti, perhaps Sutekh has the Triad. Perhaps there’s Sutekh, his doggo form, and Ruby Sunday. This might explain why Ruby’s birth mother has been obscured- she never existed. Whoever left Ruby at the church that day could have been a servant of Sutekh, or even Susan Triad herself.

The tone of the episode by this point is very gloomy. I think the last time Doctor Who gave me the creeps to this degree was “The Impossible Astronaut.” As a fan of dark and disturbing movies, I consider myself rather resilient to horror and dread in media. But there is something about turning the TARDIS into a malevolent force that chills me to my core. Bad Wolf Girl once said “You know the sound the TARDIS makes? That wheezing, groaning. That sound brings hope wherever it goes.” But here, the TARDIS offers no comfort. It goes beyond seeing our beloved symbol of hope twisted and perverted. We have seen what the TARDIS is capable of doing. We know how powerful it can be. We can also imagine what that power can do in the wrong hands. My dear late friend Quinn and I used to say that the cloister bell was the scariest sound the TARDIS could make. But this howling groan and sinister energy turning into a hound of Hell is like the cloister bell on steroids.

The Doctor and Mel head off to S Triad Technologies in the vain hope that Susan might be the Doctor’s granddaughter Susan. It’s a last-ditch effort to gain insight into what is happening. Earlier in the episode, we see Kate telling the Doctor that he brings joy, but after Chidozie’s death, you get the impression that her view has sobered up a bit. The Doctor sees the fear in Kates eyes. He sees the fear in Carla’s eyes. He even let down his best friend Ruby. But it’s Mel who picks him back up. Mel who has seen him at his worst and knows who the Doctor is underneath it all. Only she can give him the tough love he needs in this moment and I loved that they gave this opportunity to Bonnie Langford.

The Doctor makes contact with Susan Triad but there is no Time Lord recognition on either end. However, we’ve been here before. Maybe she has a fob watch she doesn’t like to look at. Maybe she’s hiding away. With her press conference due to begin, Susan is whisked away. But as she leaves the Doctor calls out asking if she’s ever dreamed of a girl named Lindy. Has she ever dreamed about a place called Pacifico Del Rio? Has she ever dreamed about being an ambulance? Out of context, he sounds insane. I mean, sure, I dream of being a sail barge, but that’s my special time. It’s enough to set things into motion.

At this point, we still don’t know the true identity of Susan Triad. She very well could still be the Doctor’s granddaughter. But the moment she walked onstage doing that awkward Theresa May arm thing, I knew she had to be evil. Historically speaking, if you want someone to appear evil in Doctor Who, compare them to a Tory. It worked in “The Happiness Patrol,” and it still works now. Could you imagine being the person who milkshakes Sutekh? I feel like throwing a sweet banana dairy concoction into the face of a terrible god would only resort in eternal suffering. While Susan Triad is having her public meltdown for all to see, UNIT’s own Harriet Arbinger is doing one as well. Once again we get another Harbinger. I’ll be honest, the H. Arbinger joke isn’t nearly as strong as RTD seems to think it is. But then again, Batman is the “world’s greatest detective,” and it took him a while to learn that E. Nigma was the Riddler.

I had begun to fully suspect Sutekh by this point, but part of me was starting to wonder if Harriet wasn’t going to turn out to be Sutekh instead. It would have been a very effective misdirect. I was really liking Harriet up to this point too, so I was a bit sad she just turned out to be a servant of the God of Death. Her “I was born for this,” line had me a little hot under the collar. But it looks like she’s gonna get a lot to do in the next episode, so that softens the blow a little bit. As she names off the various gods of the Pantheon, I was very happy to see them reference the Mara as I am a big fan of both “Kinda,” and “Snakedance.” Some have also speculated that the threefold deity of malice, mischief and misery could be a reference to the Gods of Ragnarok. I really hope this is true because I’ve always thought they were cool.

I’ve seen some people complain that they seem to have somewhat retconned Sutekh. People have said it makes no sense to make him the god of gods. He’s an Osiran, not the most powerful god of them all, right? Well, if you think about it, in many ways, death is the ultimate power. If a god like the Toymaker can die, then of course he would run from Sutekh. Also, he’s a god, of course he’s going to claim to be the best. That’s kind of their whole deal. They’re quite full of themselves, gods. Sutekh’s whole deal is that he believes himself the only being worthy of life. Thus all living creatures are an affront to him. Where he treads, he leaves only dust and darkness. Sutekh demonstrates this by reducing Susan Triad’s poor assistant to dust much like he did to Chidozie. With the TARDIS commandeered by evil Anubis and the Doctor being next in line to receive Sutekh’s gift, things have never looked darker for our Time Lord and saviour.

So who was Susan Triad? Was she always Sutekh? Harriet referred to Sutekh as “the mother, father, and other of them all.” I suppose I should start using they/them pronouns for Sutekh. But who were they? Did every incarnation of Sutekh know they were Sutekh? You could wager that they had a hand in a lot of what was happening, and a lot of what was happening could lead to death. The Space Babies were forced into existence and left to die. Roger ap Gwilliam and the Maestro were set on nuclear annihilation. Lindy and her lot were racists which often leads to death. And let's not forget the cold algorithm of the capitalistic war machines from Villengard. What’s even more interesting then is that if these are all aspects of Sutekh and death, then we know Sutekh is stoppable. In “73 Yards,” we’re shown that whatever Ruby’s follower said to Sutekh was enough to send them scurrying. Sadly, Ruby has no memory of this aborted timeline.

With a new episode of “Tales from the TARDIS,” in the pipeline, I expect we’ll see the return of the memory TARDIS in a big way. According to news sources, the new episode will feature the Doctor and Ruby discussing the events of “Pyramids of Mars,” so make sure to watch that if you need a refresher or have never seen the original. One aspect you might find interesting is that Sutekh initially manifests at a priory on the site of the original UNIT HQ. I have no idea if that will come into play, but it’s interesting that both stories are focused around UNIT, if nothing else. Even more interesting is the fact that in both stories, Sutekh is intent on possessing the TARDIS. I wonder if the Doctor will be forced to use the memory TARDIS to stop Sutekh since the regular TARDIS is compromised. We see Ruby’s memory begin to manifest once more when she and Sullivan enter the time window again. It’s entirely plausible.

I’ll be watching the finale like many others in the UK this weekend, at the movie theatre. The last time I got to see a Doctor Who episode in the theatre was in Kansas City when they simulcast “The Day of the Doctor,” at a local indie-theatre. I’ll never forget the feeling of a theatre packed with nerds cheering over Peter Capaldi’s attack eyebrows. I’m also going to see it in the theatre because, evidently, this is a big enough episode to merit a cinematic experience. I bought nine tickets, so it’s going to be a bit of an event for me. I’ll try not and let that colour my experience too much. All in all, I loved this episode, but we’re still waiting for the other shoe to drop. I loved “Fugitive of the Judoon,” but the lacklustre finale left me retroactively disappointed. But for the time being, RTD has my full attention. I can’t remember the last time Doctor Who left me this excited for what’s to come.

[caitlin1996]

Let’s hope David Tennants 3 for 3

[harri-etvane]

Prompt fill for the poll winner -

"Then sleep. I'll stand guard."

Just short of 700 words; below the cut

“Please…”

Maksym glances up, drawn out of his own thoughts by Volodymyr’s thin, hoarse voice, the stretched out syllables scraping their way up his throat in a way that makes Maks wince in sympathy. Where this particular plea has come from, he is unsure, and for a moment or two, he watches the President. There are only two of them in this room with no windows, no idea of what lies beyond them now, the light confined to one single light-bulb that tries and fails to reach the darkest corners. Instead, there are more shadows than light, the gaping chasm of knowing that their country still stands, but not how much she has bled - right now, at this moment they will have to wait for news like everyone else.

“I’m so tired.”

He looks like a ghost - too close to fading out of sight, his voice barely a whisper this time. This quiet utterance is a hardly audible admission of something he has refused to show over the last week; the way his strength flickers in the depths of the night - his voice cracked and strained. The blank hollows of his face that were not there before are suddenly deep and endless.

I know. I know you're tired. Just a little longer.

Maksym clears his throat, offering up the most simple solution he can, reaching out to rest a hand on Vova's shoulder, his grip light. He feels the smaller man shiver under his grasp, and then a sudden misplaced urge to draw him closer, to eke some warmth into him, to take the burden of his country from him just for a second and let him exhale.

“Then sleep. I’ll stand guard.”

The two of them share a brief glance at the small, rickety cot in the corner of the room that has seen no occupant for the last five nights. Neither make any move and Vova's reluctance is evident in the way he shifts in his seat - as though were he to abandon his desk, his work, it would be tantamount to the unthinkable - to abandon his country. His reluctance in the end, manifests in a different, quiet way - his voice raw and faint.

“I thought you said–” Volodymyr breaks off into a coughing fit that sounds dry and uncomfortable, the recycled air in the bunker scratching sharply at his throat, his irritated lungs. He breathes slowly, dragging his exhales back into a steadier rhythm even as his lungs tighten.

“It was safe here?” His eventual question is pained, the edges rough. He rubs hard at his eyes and blinks at Maks, the whites of his eyes are bloodshot now in this grim, unhappy light, his irises impossibly dark and the thin skin of his eyelids is red and swollen. Maksym opens his mouth. He would never lie to the President, but just this once, he adjusts the truth because the enormity of - you might never truly be safe again - it's too much to bear, too much to think about in this windowless, concrete room.

“…not yet.”

“It is.” He pauses for a short moment, swallowing hard, feeling the weight of his gun, his bulletproof vest, the press of his uniform against his skin. “But you don’t feel safe, do you?”

There is silence for a long time, just the quiet wheeze of Vova's chest as he breathes softly, eventually making a quiet admission.

“Then I’ll stand guard, till you can.”

Another easy, simple little reply, as though it's the most natural thing in the world, and Volodymyr feels something go from him as he rises to his feet, swaying slightly. His shoulders sag and for a brief moment, he looks about to drop where he stands, blinking rapidly, reaching out for something to hold onto. Gently, and entirely without pity or argument, Maksym hooks an arm around the President and pulls him upward, half-carrying him the few steps towards the tiny bed. He places Vova down and then lifts his legs up onto the matress aware of the dull, leaden weight of exhaustion - how it makes one's very bones heavy. Maks pulls a blanket over him as Volodymyr sinks into the thin mattress, his eyes flickering shut, but not before he asks one last, weary question - his voice almost gone.

“Stay-?”

“I'll be here.”

I'll be here until the end, with you; whenever, wherever that may be.

[bethanydelleman]

No Thoughts of Matrimony at Present

This post was inspired by this one by @taciturn-nerd

At the ball in Highbury, Mr. Knightley places himself with the old and married men. This is a significant move: he’s saying that he isn’t interested in getting married. It is acceptable for married men to dance, but for a man like Mr. Knightley, not dancing is likely taken as a sign that he is a confirmed bachelor.

Which means that Emma and Mr. Knightley both claim to have no thoughts of marrying and they are both delusional.

But also, when you consider that Mr. Knightley was going to sit out, for him to then join the dance for the rest of the evening on Harriet’s account, you can see she felt it was so significant. He crossed over from not-thinking-of-matrimony to available for her. Or at least that was how Harriet interpreted it.

Emma actually got this one right, Knightley was being kind and covering over Elton’s insult. Emma didn’t get everything right though, we can’t forget that by openly confirming that she and Knightley are not related and should therefore dance, she opened the door on their future relationship. Something she seems entirely unconscious of that evening.

Also, Emma thinking that Mr. Knightley can easily tell that she isn’t flirting with Frank Churchill, oh sweet summer child,

He [Mr. Knightley] seemed often observing her. She must not flatter herself that he thought of her dancing, but if he were criticising her behaviour, she did not feel afraid. There was nothing like flirtation between her and her partner [Frank]. They seemed more like cheerful, easy friends, than lovers.

Maybe that’s why he’s putting himself on the never gonna marry side, honey.

[hannahwatcheshorror]

TAROT (2024)

A Cabin in the Woods style story about some college kids in the wrong place who find the wrong cards (and do readings with said cards). The production value makes it worth watching because it is scary, the story is just a little ridiculous, borderline silly at times. Very creepy creeps and spooky spooks await these ill-fated friends!

⭐⭐⭐

Never have I ever seen a person wear their loved ones old hospital bracelet as remembrance of them. The memory of that person in the hospital is the hardest part and or not even really how you remember the person so why use it as a sort of horcrux for them? It just seemed over the top for me, like, yeah, we get your mom was someone who was in the hospital a lot, but that shouldn’t have been her only character trait.

Also never have I heard before that Tarot readings are so set in stone (like when she would ask about her mom surviving the sickness). I thought it was more open for interpretation and a little less solidly YES/NO and a lot more MAYBE. I still think that it is supposed to be more open, just this movie and the main girl's interpretation of how the readings go is too strict. Anyway, the story is that a group of friends go to a cabin, break into a room and find the Tarot cards and after about 50 different warnings from the girl who is gonna do the readings, she does readings for literally everyone in the room (including herself). Then the bodies start to drop. (Whoops)

Elise was first and she “had a rough slip” or whatever but then got absolutely hammered over and over with the ladder by the high priestess and I feel like that was entirely unfair but, okay. The second kid was a rule breaker by his star sign so the hermit's light led him to a restricted section of the subway and he got hit by a train. Brutal. Madeline was told explicitly by Heather NOT to run but when the demon told her to run she ran and got hung on the bridge by whatever the heck her card was (it looked like a vampire). Now Paxton says, “I’m gonna go off by myself because the comic relief characters always do well alone.” and goes off to die by the fool who is very scary and he gets stuck in an elevator with the creep.

The last three go back to the house where they found the accursed cards to begin with and try to burn them but they are fireproof! It should be mentioned they try to get a woman who has survived The Astrologer before to help but she ends up not helping and dying so, anyway. Around now is when Paige goes through awful torment of being trapped in a box and having the magician threaten her with a saw and then actually and painfully saw her in half. I felt so awful for her and the final two heard her screams through the vents. They escape their demons by doing a Tarot reading for The Astrologer who bound herself to the cards in the first place and that stopped the madness.

On their way walking home, a car pulls up, they are frightened at first but then realize it is Paxton! He survived the elevator (someone walked in)! I know they let Paxton live for comedic effect but I just cannot let it slide that they allowed Paige to get sawed in half in that coffin when the timing could have worked out that she was saved too. They just glazed over the fact that she was screaming for her life as she saw (ha) the blade moving back and forth before it so viciously and undeservingly sawed her in half. She and Elise got unusually drawn out, painful, and cruel deaths. Ugh.

[lsdunesarchive]

tuckerrule: Throwing it back to playing drums on everything but drums 🥁. Thank to @nickdemarais and @patdemarais @cheersdude__ for the sick snaps 🦂🧡🔺🌵 #cheersdude #warmup #drums #nodrums #LSDunes #desertDunes #joshuatree #pioneertown #pappyandharriets

[secondpersonpoetry]

you’ve probably already read it before, but the poem Party by Kim Addonizio really got me tonight. first thought was “oh man. yeah” and then my second thought was “how can i make this about my hockey guys somehow………..”anyway! have a good one! 

oh. oh.

​

[thefandomeffect-noah]

Time for another double silver show. 😭

[khruschevshoe]

"Nine's story was a redemption arc with him realizing it was better to be a coward than a hero any day, Tenth's was a tragedy of his ego directly leading to his and everyone else's destruction," I say into the mic. The crowd boos. "She's right," comes a voice from the final row. It's Russell T. Davies himself.

[whenthegoldrays]

I don’t know what it is about the Jane Austen adaptations I’ve seen recently, but they just have so much trouble sticking the landing.

[thefairyfellermasterstroke]

I think Emma by Jane Austen would've been much shorter if her and Harriet made out

[jeevesreads]

15 Strangers to Instant Enemies to Lovers Romance Books

I love this trope, personally! It’s sort of like a light enemies to lovers scenario without the messy histories and emotional baggage. These couples haven’t been hating each other for years, but their relationships all have a rocky start in one way or another. A date gone wrong, a new coworker or boss who stirs up trouble, a misunderstanding from the get-go. There are so many different scenarios…

[mcrcki]

@devilsmenu​ said : [ DEFEND ] for one muse to fight back against the other. (Harriet to Tatum)

violentine’s day memes || not accepting

“dude! fuck off!��� tatum pushed back against her, eyes settling into a glare. “i’m not looking to fucking fight you, i just want to go the fuck home already! so, get off!”