#the bill: episode: unlucky in love

[augustusaugustus]

12.82 Unlucky in Love

BOULTON: You know, we can work together on this. You tell me what you get, I’ll do the same… It’s not a competition, is it, Matthew? BOYDEN: Oh yeah?

Oh, it’s always a competition, and Matt knows it! He wins this time around, as well, much to John’s displeasure.

[theflyingkipper]

I'm sure once the unlucky tug does a sodors finest video on them half the fandom is gonna wake up and take off their rose tinted glasses on donald and douglas being added back in cgi. As wonderful as it is that they came back at all… they brought back the LAMEST version of them. As entertaining as Love me Tender and Emily in the Middle are (and I love them. They’re some of my favorite cgi episodes) they’re still based off this extremely dumbed down version of donald and douglas.

I guess it's the same principle with Henry, sticking with the annoying status quo of him being a wet paper bag but he still got a moment or two where they actually got him right (Henry gets the Express) but I don't think Donald and Douglas ever got characterized properly after season 6/7.

(in a vacuum, this one moment is kind of metal. There’s something symbolic about these two looking away from each other and directly at what the alternative to not sticking together when they came to the island would have been: scrap.)

The idea of something driving these two apart in such a dramatic way is an awesome concept but you really can’t count on season 6 to get that right 😭 let alone their cgi re-introduction

The "indistinguishable twins who argue and butt heads" is bill and bens thing! I will stand by this! Donald and Douglas are cheeky but also competent and mature and clever. Might I also add their ability to be separate characters that got completely taken away? everything they had just got turned into “they yell at each other and theyre scottish” and I will go ranting to my grave about it

[janus-cadet]

Tarot Project - N°37

Time for the first drawing of the year. Last of 2023was the 12th Doctor; now, it's time for the 15th!

Here is he, as the Ace of Cups!

(I already love him, so much. That man slays and has such a delightful energy.)

Some mandatory explanations under the cut, for the Brave One. And all the other Doctor Who cards!

Difficult to find a card for a Doctor we only saw in two episodes. I went with the vibes he was giving, and the promise that seems to be made through him.

The Ace of cups, upright, is THE card for Divine love and compassion. You are a vessel for it. You receive love, you give love, you ARE love. Your heart(s) overflows. It's time for you to open your heart and experience the rich flow of emotion available to you right now, yes, you, fresh out of therapy. You are more receptive to loving connections, and hold a deep compassion for other living beings (that are not a King Goblin ; this one can get Hot Fuzzed.) The card is an invitation, perhaps even to travel the stars with a certain someone. Will you take it? Will you run with it? The Ace of cups carries the potential for spiritual and emotional fulfilment- but only if you embrace it with an open heart. Let's just hope The Tooth is not going to come and screw it for you, again. The card shows that at this point in your life, you are happy with who you are, and happily express this part of yourself to others.

It's also the card for a new relationship, like a friendship with that lovely unlucky girl who seemed to think it would be a great idea to grabe a ladder in the sky. It is exciting, and you are glad to meet someone who seem to have so much in common with you. Give yourself permission to open up, and the enthusiasm you two generate will get you fired up about yourself and life. Finally, the upright Ace of Cups has a generous, compassionate side. See this as a time of giving, and make the most of any oppotunities to help others. You are the Doctor, after all. You have the power to share your inner radiance and positive energy, bringing great happiness to those around you.

Reversed, the Ace of Cups is THE self-love card! Because before you can send your love to the world, send love to yourself (to that very sad sad sock-less yourself who's refusing to take a time to heal), and concentrate to find happiness and balance within yourself. You might be repressing emotions (maybe just, perhaps, who knows, a tad), and feel that you have your reasons for keeping your feeling so close to yourself. You've been through a lot. Learn to forgive yourself, to accept yourself, and give that younger you a hug and a kiss on the forehead. You're going to be okay, and you're going to be magnificent.

And that's all for that card! Have, as a bonus, the rest of the Doctor Who cards. Three Teeth, three Doctors, and one Toymaker. Next card for the fandom would be... well. I planned for 11th, Delgado!Master, and Bill Potts. Who would you guys like to see first?

[prof-ramses]

Recommending yo Inside no.9 episodes based on your favorite Hatchetfield musicals

For those unlucky enough to not be familiar with Inside no.9, it's a long running British anthology which could best be billed as a dark comedy. Every episode is written by creators Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, who also both act in all but 3 episodes.

You can find all the episodes here

I've long thought most Hatchetfield and general Starkid fans would love it, so for those with a particular fondness for that little island town, here are some suggestions

The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals

Sardines (1x1), Private View (3x6), Zanzibar (4x1), Wuthering Heist (6x1) and Paraskevidekatriaphobia (8x3)

Black Friday

Last Gasp (1x4), The Bill (3x2), Diddle Diddle Dumpling (3x5), Simon Says (6x2), Mother's Ruin (8x2)

Nerdy Prudes Must Die

Cold Comfort (2x4), Once Removed (4x3), Tempting Fate (4x6), How Do You Plead? (6x5), Love Is A Stranger (8x4)

While these are my specific suggestions for fans of certain shows, I'd recommend the entire show to basically anyone with even a passing interest in dark media.

[commenter2]

"Oops" review

Time to spend some time with Fizz.

Ozzie is pretty buff for a bird demon. 

While Fizz is getting dress, you can see a pic of a white version of those fly dogs that roam Hell. Now I want to see a pic of Fizz and his dog hanging out with Angel Dust and Fat Nuggets!

(insert Ozzie not being an early bird joke here)

Again from time to time the other 2 heads of Ozzie don’t emote the same feelings as Ozzie’s rooster head, making me wonder if they have some sentience of their own. It would be funny to see a scene where all 3 of them arguing with each other, maybe during a moment where Ozzie is feeling a lot of emotions at once. If that ever happens I’m going to call the sheep head Larry and the Bull head Greg. That means they are called L.O.G. XD

You know Ozzie’s place is pretty nice. I was expecting his place to be filled with NSFW stuff, maybe a wall full of people he thinks are hot which would have been a fun chance to have a pic of Lilith in the episode since I headcanon that Ozzie use to have crush on her.

Fizz destroying evidence about people thinking he and Ozzie are a couple. Nothing odd about that.

It’s cute seeing Ozzie care about Fizz’s safety. It also seems like Ozzie doesn’t like Mammon that much, or at least his ring which I don’t blame as a person/place like that would make anyone annoyed or scared.

“Says something only to do the opposite” trope.

For the Greed Ring, there is a lot of free money on the ground though I bet with how high the prices of things are there, those bills are equal to finding a penny on the ground.

Aww his white dog has walkin wheels, just like Fizz! Also the rollerblade scene a definitely a DCAU Harley Quinn reference. R.I.P. Arleen Sorkin

Ouch, that baby from the pilot is sure unlucky.

Pterodactyl demon! MORE dinosaur demons! Wait I recall there being an overlord that looks like a dinosaur in Hazbin Hotel that is Lucifers bodyguard, is she a Hell born demon like Rosie?!?!

Blitzo meets Fizz, HERE WE GO! Though I already knew this was going to happen given a leak, it’s still surprising to see Crimson and Striker in this episode. It also explains why this episode took so much time to come out, WHICH I DON’T MIND!

Cobra demon. I wonder if Lucifer or his snake friend that’s on his hat is a big fan of that species?

“Western Energy” takes place a week before this episode. Good to know, especially for later.

 “something of value” AKA Moxxie.

The mom of the stroller kid is in the crowd with a broken bottle. You think she is going to use that on Fizz? If so she is a good mom :)

So that…. factory seems to confirm my headcanon/theory about Ozzie being a technical genius. Also HOW is Vivzie still getting away with stuff like this on YouTube?????

Again it’s been a week since Western Energy and Stolas’ wounds have already fully healed, yet he was stabbed with an angelic blade. You think that would take longer to heal or lead to some permanent damage or else how is an angelic weapon truly different from a regular weapon. I think the writers should do a “MCU Iron Man” and from now on show that Stolas’ arm is not what it use to be, like he grabs it in pain from time to time or he can’t lift as much/cast spells as fast with that arm.

So the meeting is about Stolas going over his feelings for Blitz! What about trying to keep the relationship a secret? Oh forget it that goal seems to be dead anyway. Also were at the halfway point of the season and we finally get to the “I.M.P. getting Asmodean Crystal” plot point people having been pointing out since the season 2 premiere.

Love potions are real in this series? That can’t be good. I hope the writers just make fun of the idea, and not actually use that for an episode.

DON’T TELL A SIN AN IMP IS GOING TO EARTH ILLEGALLY STOLAS!!! Also why does someone like Ozzie NOT care something like that is being broken! It just makes the idea of Blitzo and the others getting caught less dramatic now since if an Sin doesn’t care, likely no one will unless I.M.P. screw up really bad or it affects someone personally.

I will admit that Ozzie is nicer than he seems. Not the first time we have seen that in demons but still.

Crimson has guts threatening a sin, I’ll give him that.

I wonder if what Crimson said about Ozzie being the weakest is accurate? Maybe Crimson only cause him that cause of how nice Ozzie is?

Ozzie getting mad like that makes my headcanon of him and Satan being close friends one step closer to coming true.

Should the Blitzo and Fizz scenes in the warehouse count as a “bottle episode”?

I’m curious about what Stolas said about a deal with a sin being an everlasting bond. Does this apply to Charlie too since she is the daughter of the devil? IS THAT WHY ALASTOR WAS TRYING TO MAKE A DEAL WITH HER IN THE PILOT!!!

IDK about you but Stolas enjoying reading contracts is just funny to me. It makes me think about one of my old ideas about how Stolas doesn’t seem to have a lot of royal responsibilities, as maybe he enjoys stuff like that so much he finishes pretty quickly and ends up having nothing to do.

Points for Blitzo in having a secret knife, as usually he isn’t that smart. Wait is this why he wears those boots? I recall a theory about him being part Imp and something else and how that explains how (slightly) different he is from other Imps, in this case has regular feet instead of hooves and I’m kind of hoping that’s still true.

Though mostly luck, I will give another smart point to Blitzo.

I do like that we got to instantly learn about the origins of what caused Fizz to lose his limbs and that Blitzo is the reason his mom is gone, but that should have been saved for a flashback episode (which I thought was going to happen here or the next episode) so it can be fleshed out more.

I’m going to guess that either Barbie Wire or Blitzo’s dad was the one who prevented Blitzo and Fizz from seeing each other after the accident, as a sort of revenge for causing the fire.

If this was a HISHE video, the mobsters would have just shot Fizz and move on with their lives.

It would have been funny if Fizz telling Blitzo to hurry up abruptly ended the song and leading to another fight.

An active torch and dynamites, oh no. Oh wait never mind.

Okay I’m willing to let Striker get away this time, only because this would be his 3rd time doing so and with the rule of 3s his last appearance will likely be his last. Let’s just hope it’s not with Crimson as along with how I think he won’t be hiring him again after this, its better to have Crimson be by himself in my Millie’s family episode idea.

OH I know that was going to happen. At least Blitzo redeemed himself, at least as much as a demon can.

The way Ozzie said Fizzy was adorable.

I like that scene of Stolas being happy about Fizz and Ozzie getting together, as it seems to express that if they can work together, he knows he and Blitzo can work together.

Okay though not pics, those statues are close to what I was getting at earlier. Thankfully Lilith wasn’t shown there, though for a second I thought she was as I personally think that lady succubus shares some physical traits with her. I mean look at it! It’s those Vaggie and Velvette Hellhounds all over again!

Was Ozzie surprised about the rain?

So I.M.P. will be getting a crystal to go on Earth now. It's a good backup way for them to keep working but I don't like how they are losing Stolas' book, as we never did see anyone try and utilize the other spells from it which I think could have led to some fun. Hopefully Blitzo and Stolas get together soon so Blitzo and co. can have access to the book again.

I sometimes wish that episodes had end credit scenes, as I could see a scene connected to tales about how Asmodeus was defeated by fish/smell of fish. In this case Fizz forgets to tell him he was around shark demons and before you know it Ozzie is having an allergic reaction.

This was one the best episodes in some time now. I loved how we got to finally learn about Fizz, (especially his past with Blitzo) but also Ozzie which gave us a lot of character and world building too. Even some unnecessary stuff like having Crimson and Striker having a role was great when I thought it wasn’t going to be.

One small thing I liked that I think we should focus on from this episode is the fact that deals with sins sound like they are ever binding, something I think is going to happen with Charlie in Hazbin Hotel. It’s very fitting for this idea I brought up involving her and Adam.

I’m also curious about what is going to happen with Crimson now. He likely still wants revenge on his son (or something else) but after failing to win against Ozzie, he is likely going to suffer some major drawbacks soon. Personally I think he is going to try and go out with a bang and I have just the episode where that can happen.

The weakest part about the episode was how the story quickly skimmed over the origins of Fizz’s accident and what caused him and Blitzo to drift apart. Again that was something they should have saved and went over more in a later episode, maybe the episode could have kept it a secret throughout the episode allowing fans to speculate what happened until it was eventually revealed.

The next episode is going to be another Fizz and Ozzie heavy episode, and though I can see us getting flashbacks to Blitzo and Fizz’s younger days where maybe we can learn more about what led to the accident and its aftermath along with what led to Fizz wanting to become a performer, I feel like most of the story is going to take place in the present.

With Mammon being the focus of Fizz’s upcoming show, I bet we will see Fizz and Ozzie having to deal with Mammon making fun of their relationship or put a lot of pressure on Fizz that he has a panic attack until Ozzie calms him down. We’ also likely see flashbacks about how they met and became a couple which leads them to just admitting they love each other to all of Hell during Fizz’s show.

This episode would be a nice chance to learn more about the sins, maybe learn about how they feel about one another, how they run Hell, and maybe see a new pic of Lucifer and Lilith before Hazbin Hotel starts airing?

There is also a chance this episode could have Blitzo and Stolas being in it and after seeing Fizz and Ozzie admit their feelings, the two decides to try dating and see where it leads? That or we see Loona Octavia appear at the performance and bond as friends.

What were your thoughts on the episode?

[paradoxo8y]

Everyone's writing about how they would write the Scooby Doo reboot, so I decided to post my own rendition on that.

Probably will be a long post...

I think the ideia of the gang being composed of eldritch beings by @icecreamsandwichcomics is great

Basically they are old gods, except for Fred, he's normal

They don't know about each other, except for Shaggy and Scooby

Fred just think his friends are a bit weird

In this reboot they would be young adults and they work in the (you guess it) Mystery Inc. (originality 🙄)

In this the monsters would be real sometimes, some mysteries involve murder, some are thefts and others are disappearances (it's for adults after all)

They get hurt sometimes, cause some of the bad guys actually try to kill them

As most of them are immortal the only that really gets hurt is Fred (it's never really bad, I love Fred and don't want him to be hurt badly)

Will be some cute moments between them

Angel Dynamite from Mystery Inc. will be there, she shares the place with the gang, half is their mystery hall, half is her radio station

Marcie (also from Mystery Inc) will be there too and will have a romance with Velma at some point

Fred's love of traps lives on

Now the kind of powers and weaknesses they have:

Shaggy has enhanced durability and reflexes, his weakness is that he's always hungry and a coward.

Daphne has great knowledge on differents skills and has infinite money, but she's very unlucky and most things break when she's near.

Velma has some type of psyche power and can foreshadow what suspects will do, she ain't good with human interactions and is easily distract.

Scooby has the same abilities as Shaggy, he's also always hungry and kind of a coward, he also hate cats.

The episodes are from different mysteries, but will have a great mystery connecting all of them. Like what happend in Mystery Inc

This mystery is about a secret fifth cult trying to bring one very powerful great one to earth

In some mysteries members of the cults dedicated to each of the gang members will appear

Every time this happens the one who is worshiped will just be like "I have no idea what this means, no, not weird at all"

By the end of the series they all will know they ain't human, except Fred, he'll discovered that in the last episode ever

Some gags are:

The van never needs gas. Also no one know for sure the van origins.

Daphne will always know someone named Bill who knows exactly how to help them.

In one episode the van will break and by the end will be fixed miraculously, they never talk of this again.

The sequence of catchphrases and Fred's curse word will happen. Every time this occur the curse word will be different.

Scooby has a human form, he uses it exactly once.

They're in a polycule.

They all smoke weed, not just Scooby and Shaggy .

In the last episode Shaggy, Velma, Daphne and Scooby will have to make a decision they need to abdicate of their immortality or let the world be destroyed

The fifth eldritch being is Scrappy-Doo

[luciddreamingstuff]

Niche Under the Magnifying Glass Lamp

If there is one thing I can take away from being in some smaller fandoms, or niche hobbies: You take what you can get and There are people out there who need their medical bills paid for carrying the fandom on their backs.

My two babies are the Lego Monkie Kid:

If you loved Lego Ninjago as a kid and still do to this day, I highly recommend this show. You can find the first couple of seasons on Amazon Prime. Seasons 3 and 4 are gonna be a bit more difficult, and this is what I mean by some needing their medical bills paid. Because the only reason I was able to keep up with the show with it being poorly marketed and dubbing is slow, folks came together to not only find the episodes, but also do their damnedest to fan sub these. I've already written a post about this show and why you need to watch it somewhere on this blog. Anyways, my next baby, and the one I have sunk so much money into already, is Zoids:

Most would be familiar with Chaotic Century or New Century Zero, as the Liger Zero (not depicted here) is the poster boy of the franchise. And with the 40th anniversary upon us, I'm glad I get to experience this niche franchise/hobby in general (My wallet not so much). I say that as I have a few kits that are sadly yet to be built. Right, Zoids if you don't know, started out as a sort of model kit toy line-up with a whole story between two warring factions and the mechanical beings known as Zoids. Most of it takes place on Planet Zi, with the exception being Zoids Wild Zero (and I swear to the gods above, I have been trying to watch this series for years now but finding episodes has been extremely tricky. That or I have just been extremely unlucky.)

Anyways, all that aside, insert here how even small fandoms have their problems and blah blah blah. But in general, I found the hardest part of being in smaller communities is mainly finding the content for them. Again, Zoids just isn't a big thing here in the States, so finding kits can be a little hit or miss. I say this as someone who fell into the pit trap of knockoffs (three to be exact.) and yeah, still new to all of this, only started building the kits recently. And as for Lego Monkie Kid, thankfully the internet exists, and the dedicated fans who work their asses off to find episodes and get them translated? Hats off to you my friends and thank you for all you do. It's always so exciting when you find someone out in the wild, so to speak, who knows about some of these smaller properties. And again, just being in these smaller fandoms, you have a slightly different perspective on Things you wouldn't think about being in bigger fandoms. I never thought I would be building model kits because of my horrible coordination and the fact that a disability I have makes it a little difficult to handle the tiny pieces. But then I discovered Zoids: New Century Zero on youtube some odd years ago and then learned about the model kits. Liger Zero was the first kit I got. Sadly him and my knockoff Mugen Liger took a tumble and are now in Model kit hospital trying to fix the broken parts. And even now, I still hunt for new kits, droll over some I could never hope to own. And I've rewatched Zoids Genesis at least 4 or 5 times now. And before anyone says anything, Yes I have seen Chaotic Century, and I do love it, don't get me wrong. But my favorite Zoid happens to be the Murasame Liger and its evolts. So you can imagine why I would watch Genesis a few more times than the others. And then there's Lego Monkie Kid. See, I loved Lego Ninjago as a kid, always diving into each episode and recording them on the VCR to see anything I missed. And then one day, scrolling through TikTok, I came across some clips of this new Lego animation that was essentially a sequel (I'm not calling it a fanfiction, I swear to the gods I refuse) Of Journey to the West. Which I learned about through Overly Sarcastic Productions. And doing my usual thing, now that I know how to surf the um . . . Okay let's be real here, pirating sites for cartoons and then Amazon Prime for this show. It was so easy to catch up on and the animation was eye candy, the characters and story were amazing, sound design and all.

Anyways, if you made it this far into my rambles, I applaud you and hope I convinced you to go searching around the deeper waters a bit. After all, you never know what you're going to find. Whether it be a gold mine, okay but still a guilty pleasure, the downright bad, or just the strange of the strange. Either way, happy exploring and I'll see you on the other side.

[noddytheornithopod]

ask for no reason! Favourite companion for each (modern) Doctor

Let's see...

Nine: Wow, this is a really difficult one... who could there be... Rose. *remembers Jack counts* Eh, still Rose. Jack felt more like a guest companion only being in it for five episodes (only three stories), and of course I haven't listened to Big Finish so I can't judge from that, so Rose wins by default. She had the most complete relationship with the Doctor anyway, and that all worked out. I actually prefer the dynamic she has with Nine than Ten. I'm not anti-companion romance, but I just found Ten and Rose's dynamic being happier and less complicated less interesting, even if Doomsday is a massive gut punch.

Ten: For years I said it was Donna... but that's actually changed since my rewatch. I think Martha slightly edges her out. It kind of comes down to just me having a soft spot for the most underappreciated (seriously when they brought her back in Series 4 she didn't do much of note until the finale and even that's debatable) but I do really like how she basically decided she was tired of the Doctor's shit and also understandably needed a break from everything after all the shit the Master did. I hear she even gets unlucky in Torchwood.

As for why Donna got slightly bumped down... I think it's a couple things. First... revisiting the Meta-Crisis as I'm older? Kinda total bullshit. I envy kid me who was able to just run with it, now I'm just seeing total nonsense. I still love Donna... but I'm not really sure how I feel about the culmination of her self worth being basically "she absorbs the Doctor's brain so now she can be like him". Not to mention there's an absurd amount of ass pulls to make meta-crisis stuff work in the story. For other things... I think it's just that she's kind of been elevated in a way that was unncecessary? I'll explain under 14's section.

Honorary mention for Wilf I guess even if he's more a guest companion? Still loveable as ever even as growing up I now feel he has some major boomer energy lol (look I think he's pre-boomer but you get what I'm saying). Imagine him in the room with Christopher "parasite in chief" Eccleston when he's telling people to show respect for the queen for example, lol. But yeah, joking aside, it's amazing how much heart he's able to bring to being the supportive grandad of Donna.

Ugh if I listed Wilf as a guest companion but wrote about him anyway, then I'll have to also give an honourable mention to Adelaide Brooke. One episode, but she was amazing in it (it's also awesome to see the Doctor play off an older, less wide eyed woman for once), even as she had one of the darkest endings for a central character yet.

Eleven: This is a weird one, because this is what I remember the least, having watched his era the least of everyone's recently (and I didn't even see eps with Amy and Rory). Honestly... I'm not sure how much stock I put in anyone here. If I HAD to pick, I'd actually say Clara, but I think that just comes down to me loving Day of the Doctor and Jenna Coleman being great in the role even if she was just a walking mystery box in Series 7.

So why not Amy and Rory despite being actual characters here? Look, the main stuff I remember about them is basically Rory falling under the "henpecked husband" trope and Amy treating him poorly through that, not to mention you have weird stuff like them needing to get back together like three times (with Asylum of the Daleks being an especially bad example). Just not my thing.

I guess River Song could count since this was the era she'd count as a companion... but her best appearances are the episodes with Doctors that aren't Eleven (and having now seen Husbands of River Song I literally only think the final scenes are genuinely great there). Funny how that works. :v

Twelve: Nardole. Just Nardole.

...okay enough kidding around. I think I'd say Bill here. I don't really know her in and out and I haven't seen most of Series 10 in ages, but not only was it nice to see Moffat finally write a character that doesn't fall into his usual female companion tropes, but her dynamic with the Doctor was genuinely refreshing, and is honestly still pretty unique in the modern era.

I will say that I do think Clara could potentially give her competition though. I think I'd need to revisit Series 8 to be sure (aka where she's arguably the least likeable lol), but I do think her Doctor-companion dynamic is genuinely one of the most fascinating even if not everything worked in that era. Also, I'd need to see how much their relationship is able to step above the usual domestic abuse BS Moffat can't help but insert cuz he loves his dominant women, lol. Huh, Capaldi gets all the cool unique dynamics huh?

Thirteen: ...can I say Dan? For the memes? No? Fine. What's the point of being alive?

This is interesting though, cuz looking back, I do kind of think a lot of the companions blend together. It's not as bad as most say it is for sure, like I feel like they do fit specific roles (Graham and Dan as the older comic relief with a dash of heart, Ryan the more youthful person being opened up to the world, Yaz being the more experienced/accomplished person to match the Doctor when needed), but I do see why people feel like they blend together.

Hmm, if I had to pick... I'd go Yaz. Please ignore that she's a cop though. ACAB. Not sure if it's fair, but I think it might be BECAUSE she got to be with Thirteen the longest (her whole run in fact). Like, I feel like she didn't really get to live up to her full potential, but I do think seeing someone like her with her rough past going all in on the Doctor only to be shut out because Thirteen is afraid of being emotionally vulnerable (which could arguably be influenced by what happened with Clara, and I do think you could argue Yaz has some similarities here, like she even got taught how to fly the TARDIS). Her story is honestly pretty tragic, but I guess like Martha, I have a soft spot for the underappreciated (gosh it's always the companions of colour who are the underappreciated ones huh?). I think the whole semi-unrequited love aspect certainly added to that, and kind of cemented why she had to leave (even if she didn't really have much of a say, it was more just a quiet understanding, at least I think so). Power of the Doctor was also honestly a nice culmination of everything for her, too. Wish it was clear how much she knew about the Timeless Child stuff though.

Fourteen: Gosh, another really difficult one... so hard to choose... oh, Donna. Okay I'm sure some might argue Rose Noble and even Mel could count, but I don't really see them as full companions here.

I guess to continue what I was saying on Donna earlier, I described her as kind of being elevated in a way that was unnecessary. Like, after everything, as great as it was to see her back and get a happy ending... was that really the best or most interesting thing to do for her? I just can't help but feel like RTD was being overly indulgent with her, like how many felt he was with Rose (Tyler). Also... yeah, the metacrisis stuff is still bullshit. "Just let it go." I know emotions were running high in Journey's end, but come on, it makes all the drama there feel kind of hollow now.

I will say I do enjoy the evolved family dynamic though.

Fifteen: Ruby Sunday. I'd say it's super hard and there's so much to pick from, but we've seen so much, and there's so many rich complex layers, it's unlike anything we've ever seen... okay, enough kidding around. We've only seen one episode of them so far, but I am curious to see where they'll go with them.

...but wait, there's more! Time to acknowledge all the other Doctors that were created for the revival!

TimeCrash!Five: Look, he might be a bigeneration, so I'm counting him just in case... oh wait, no companions. Fuck, forget this.

TenToo: Rose! So hard to choose, I know. But isn't it cool that Rose has her own home grown Doctor she can fix again? ...what am I even saying?

Dream Lord: He's from the Doctor's brain, so he counts. Seemed to like fucking with Amy a lot, really exposed the whole love triangle she was in, lol.

Ganger!Eleven: Ganger Amy. Gangers traveling across all of time and space.

War: Clara. Day of the Doctor. Oh wait, I already mentioned that for Eleven. But I guess she kind of ended up working a lot with him specifically.

Curator: The painting. Gallifrey Falls No More. Look, I haven't listened to Big Finish, I don't know what counts. Also something something bigenerated Fourth Doctor (who also might end up being the Watcher if you subscribe to that version of bigeneration theory, like me who's trying to stay sane?).

FakeOne: That's not the First Doctor in Twice Upon a Time, that's a new incarnation who got his brain scrambled from the bigeneration reaching back in time for his first regeneration, making the side effect of him being a bad sexist parody of his original self. So who does this bigeneration have as his best companion? That one soldier dude. The Brigadier's grandpa or dad or whatever. Because they can laugh about women being made of glass. Oh right, Bill was there. Or Bill's avatar from Testimony. She had actual heartfelt moments. Or they would've been if I liked that episode. I'm committing way too hard to this bit.

Fugitive: Lee Clayton, anothe really har- Oh wait, Karvanista was one. Do you think her and Karvanista ever dated? I'm sure someone thinks Karvanista is acting like a bitter ex. Danvanista shippers, team Ruthvanista is gonna give you a run for your money!

OG Timeless Child: That kid who pushed her off the cliff. He's not just the best companion of this very first Doctor, but the best in the whole show. Without him, Tecteun would never have found out the child could regenerate, and therefore we'd have no Time Lords. And no Time Lords means no Doctor Who. This kid is the reason the show exists. Show some gratitude to this kid, guys. Also, who wouldn't push their friend off a cliff to keep playing with a toy?

The other pre-Hartnell Doctors: IDK Tecteun? Are the worth calling a companion? ...why am I still doing this

The Thirteen Doppelgangers from the Vanquishers: um how many people did she interact with, also wait it's all still one consciousness trying to manage three bodies this is a reach sorry forget i said this

The Master!Doctor: It was so great when he shouted at Yaz right? Or when Vinder held a gun to him? Oh yeah what about the Dalek and Cyber-Master perplexed at the Rasputin dance? They were still around after the Master stole the Doctor's body right?

The other bi-generated Doctors that are basically canon now that RTD is in charge: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[brookston]

Holidays 12.15

Holidays

Bill of Rights Day

Birdland Day

Cat Herders’ Day

Coonskin Cap Day

Cricket Day (French Republic)

Esperanto Day

Homecoming Day (Alderney, Channel Islands)

Human Rights Day (Kiribati)

Koninkrijksdag (Kingdom Day; Netherlands) [Unless a Sunday, then 16th]

Local Charities Day (UK)

Men’s Society of Piu Festival of Mirth, Peace, Honesty, Joyousness and Love (14th Century London)

National Headband Day

National HST Day (UK)

National Play Minecraft Day

National Regifting Day

National Wear Your Pearls Day

Navidades begins (Puerto Rico; until Three Kings Day)

North Wind’s Prayer (Elder Scrolls)

Pakistan-Turkey Friendship Day

Remembrance Day of Journalists Killed in the Line of Duty (Russia)

Rugby World Cup Victory Day (South Africa)

Second Amendment Awareness Day (South Carolina)

Sleep Comfort Day

Trivial Pursuit Day

World Martial Arts Training Day

World Otaku Day

World Strengthened Immunity Day

Yuletide Lad #4 arrives (Pvorusleikir or Spoon-Licker; Iceland)

Zamenhof Day (Esperanto)

Food & Drink Celebrations

International Tea Day [also 5.21]

National Cupcake Day

National Gingerbread Latte Day

National Give a Wine Club Day

National Lemon Cupcake Day

Olmeca National Tequila Day (South Africa)

3rd Friday in December

Christmas Jumper Day (EU) [3rd Friday]

Mad Friday (UK) [3rd Friday]

National Holiday Party Day [3rd Friday]

National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day [3rd Friday]

Underdog Day [3rd Friday]

Independence Days

New Massa (Declared; 2015) [unrecognized]

Prudentianopolis (Declared; 2019) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Alcyone (Greek Kingfisher Goddess)

Consualia (Ancient Roman festival to Consus, god of the harvest and stored grain)

David Teniers the Younger (Artology)

Drina Martyrs (Christian; Saint)

Drostan (Aberdeen Breviary; Christian; Saint)

Eusebius, Bishop of Vercelli (Christian; Saint)

Feralia: Day of Purification (Pagan)

Friedensreich Hundertwasser (Artology)

George Romney (Artology)

Hanukkah Day #8 (Judaism)

John Horden and Robert McDonald (Episcopal Church; USA)

Joseph "Le Petomane" Pujol Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Lagrange (Positivist; Saint)

Maria Crocifissa di Rosa (Christian; Saint)

Mesmin (Christian; Saint)

Nino (Christian; Saint)

Othmar the Grouch (Muppetism)

Stupid Inventions Day (Pastafarian)

Stupid Toy Day (Pastafarian)

Valerian of Abbenza (Christian; Saint)

Virginia Centurione Bracelli (Christian; Saint)

Virgin of Cotoca (Roman Catholic) [Bolivia]

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Fortunate Day (Pagan) [48 of 53]

Perilous Day (13th Century England) [30 of 32]

Prime Number Day: 349 [70 of 72]

Sensho (先勝 Japan) [Good luck in the morning, bad luck in the afternoon.]

Unglückstage (Unlucky Day; Pennsylvania Dutch) [30 of 30]

Unlucky Day (Grafton’s Manual of 1565) [59 of 60]

Premieres

Alice the Piper (Disney Cartoon; 1924)

Beatles ’65, by The Beatles (Album; 1964)

Birdland (NYC Jazz Club; 1949)

Buddy the Dentist (WB LT Cartoon; 1934)

Charlotte’s Web (Film; 2006)

Choclat (Film; 2000)

The Chronic, by Dr. Dre (Album; 1992)

The Concept of Mind, by Gilbert Ryle (Science Book; 1949)

Driving Miss Daisy (Film; 1989)

Dude, Where’s My Car? (Film; 2000)

The Emperor’s New Groove (Animated Disney Film; 2000)

Ferdinand (Animated Film; 2017)

Folsom Prison Blues, by Johnny Cash (Song; 1955)

Gone With the Wind (Film; 1939)

Jumanji (Film; 1995)

The Machiavellians: Defenders of Freedom, by James Burnham (Political Theory; 1943)

Madame Curie (Film; 1943)

Mothership Connection, by Parliament (Album; 1975)

Never Say Never Again (UK Film; 1983) [James Bond non-series]

One Piece Film: Z (Anime Film; 2012)

One, Two, Three (Film; 1961)

Out on a Limb (Disney Cartoon; 1950)

The Pink Panther Strikes Again (Film; 1976)

Pollack (Film; 2000)

Revolutionary Road (Film; 2008)

Sabrina (Film; 1995)

Schindler’s List (Film; 1993)

Sense and Sensibility (Film; 1995)

Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi (Film; 2017)

Stormy Weather, recorded by Lena Horne (Song; 1941)

Superman (Film; 1978)

To Hare Is Human (WB MM Cartoon; 1956)

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith (Novel; 1943)

Tweet Tweet Tweety (WB LT Cartoon; 1951)

Two-Gun Mickey (Disney Cartoon; 1934)

War Is Over ad campaign, by John Lennon & Yoko Ono (Peace Advertising; 1969)

The Who Sell Out, by The Who (Album; 1967)

Wonka (Film; 2023)

Young Frankenstein (Film; 1974)

Today’s Name Days

Carlo, Christiane, Nina (Austria)

Marin, Valerijan, Viktorija (Croatia)

Radana (Czech Republic)

Nikatius (Denmark)

Kalli, Kelli, Killu, Kulla (Estonia)

Heimo, Nooa (Finland)

Ninon (France)

Christiane, Nina, Paola (Germany)

Anthea, Eleftherios, Elevtherios, Lefteris, Sossana, Sylvia (Greece)

Valér (Hungary)

Cristiana, Nino, Valeriano (Italy)

Jana, Johanna (Latvia)

Gaudenė, Gaudenis, Kristijona (Lithuania)

Hilda, Hilde (Norway)

Celina, Fortunata, Iga, Ignacja, Ignacy, Krystiana, Nina, Walerian, Waleriana, Wolimir, Żegota (Poland)

Antia, Elefterie, Suzana (Romania)

Ivica (Slovakia)

Valeriano (Spain)

Gottfrid (Sweden)

Adlai, Adler, Carney, Mirella, Mireya, Tanner (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 349 of 2024; 16 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 5 of week 50 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Ruis (Elder) [Day 18 of 28]

Chinese: Month 12 (Jia-Zi), Day 3 (Ding-Wei)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 3 Teveth 5784

Islamic: 2 Jumada II 1445

J Cal: 19 Zima; Fiveday [19 of 30]

Julian: 2 December 2023

Moon: 10%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 13 Bichat (13th Month) [Lagrange]

Runic Half Month: Jara (Year) [Day 5 of 15]

Season: Autumn (Day 83 of 89)

Zodiac: Sagittarius (Day 24 of 30)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 12.15

Holidays

Bill of Rights Day

Birdland Day

Cat Herders’ Day

Coonskin Cap Day

Cricket Day (French Republic)

Esperanto Day

Homecoming Day (Alderney, Channel Islands)

Human Rights Day (Kiribati)

Koninkrijksdag (Kingdom Day; Netherlands) [Unless a Sunday, then 16th]

Local Charities Day (UK)

Men’s Society of Piu Festival of Mirth, Peace, Honesty, Joyousness and Love (14th Century London)

National Headband Day

National HST Day (UK)

National Play Minecraft Day

National Regifting Day

National Wear Your Pearls Day

Navidades begins (Puerto Rico; until Three Kings Day)

North Wind’s Prayer (Elder Scrolls)

Pakistan-Turkey Friendship Day

Remembrance Day of Journalists Killed in the Line of Duty (Russia)

Rugby World Cup Victory Day (South Africa)

Second Amendment Awareness Day (South Carolina)

Sleep Comfort Day

Trivial Pursuit Day

World Martial Arts Training Day

World Otaku Day

World Strengthened Immunity Day

Yuletide Lad #4 arrives (Pvorusleikir or Spoon-Licker; Iceland)

Zamenhof Day (Esperanto)

Food & Drink Celebrations

International Tea Day [also 5.21]

National Cupcake Day

National Gingerbread Latte Day

National Give a Wine Club Day

National Lemon Cupcake Day

Olmeca National Tequila Day (South Africa)

3rd Friday in December

Christmas Jumper Day (EU) [3rd Friday]

Mad Friday (UK) [3rd Friday]

National Holiday Party Day [3rd Friday]

National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day [3rd Friday]

Underdog Day [3rd Friday]

Independence Days

New Massa (Declared; 2015) [unrecognized]

Prudentianopolis (Declared; 2019) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Alcyone (Greek Kingfisher Goddess)

Consualia (Ancient Roman festival to Consus, god of the harvest and stored grain)

David Teniers the Younger (Artology)

Drina Martyrs (Christian; Saint)

Drostan (Aberdeen Breviary; Christian; Saint)

Eusebius, Bishop of Vercelli (Christian; Saint)

Feralia: Day of Purification (Pagan)

Friedensreich Hundertwasser (Artology)

George Romney (Artology)

Hanukkah Day #8 (Judaism)

John Horden and Robert McDonald (Episcopal Church; USA)

Joseph "Le Petomane" Pujol Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Lagrange (Positivist; Saint)

Maria Crocifissa di Rosa (Christian; Saint)

Mesmin (Christian; Saint)

Nino (Christian; Saint)

Othmar the Grouch (Muppetism)

Stupid Inventions Day (Pastafarian)

Stupid Toy Day (Pastafarian)

Valerian of Abbenza (Christian; Saint)

Virginia Centurione Bracelli (Christian; Saint)

Virgin of Cotoca (Roman Catholic) [Bolivia]

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Fortunate Day (Pagan) [48 of 53]

Perilous Day (13th Century England) [30 of 32]

Prime Number Day: 349 [70 of 72]

Sensho (先勝 Japan) [Good luck in the morning, bad luck in the afternoon.]

Unglückstage (Unlucky Day; Pennsylvania Dutch) [30 of 30]

Unlucky Day (Grafton’s Manual of 1565) [59 of 60]

Premieres

Alice the Piper (Disney Cartoon; 1924)

Beatles ’65, by The Beatles (Album; 1964)

Birdland (NYC Jazz Club; 1949)

Buddy the Dentist (WB LT Cartoon; 1934)

Charlotte’s Web (Film; 2006)

Choclat (Film; 2000)

The Chronic, by Dr. Dre (Album; 1992)

The Concept of Mind, by Gilbert Ryle (Science Book; 1949)

Driving Miss Daisy (Film; 1989)

Dude, Where’s My Car? (Film; 2000)

The Emperor’s New Groove (Animated Disney Film; 2000)

Ferdinand (Animated Film; 2017)

Folsom Prison Blues, by Johnny Cash (Song; 1955)

Gone With the Wind (Film; 1939)

Jumanji (Film; 1995)

The Machiavellians: Defenders of Freedom, by James Burnham (Political Theory; 1943)

Madame Curie (Film; 1943)

Mothership Connection, by Parliament (Album; 1975)

Never Say Never Again (UK Film; 1983) [James Bond non-series]

One Piece Film: Z (Anime Film; 2012)

One, Two, Three (Film; 1961)

Out on a Limb (Disney Cartoon; 1950)

The Pink Panther Strikes Again (Film; 1976)

Pollack (Film; 2000)

Revolutionary Road (Film; 2008)

Sabrina (Film; 1995)

Schindler’s List (Film; 1993)

Sense and Sensibility (Film; 1995)

Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi (Film; 2017)

Stormy Weather, recorded by Lena Horne (Song; 1941)

Superman (Film; 1978)

To Hare Is Human (WB MM Cartoon; 1956)

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith (Novel; 1943)

Tweet Tweet Tweety (WB LT Cartoon; 1951)

Two-Gun Mickey (Disney Cartoon; 1934)

War Is Over ad campaign, by John Lennon & Yoko Ono (Peace Advertising; 1969)

The Who Sell Out, by The Who (Album; 1967)

Wonka (Film; 2023)

Young Frankenstein (Film; 1974)

Today’s Name Days

Carlo, Christiane, Nina (Austria)

Marin, Valerijan, Viktorija (Croatia)

Radana (Czech Republic)

Nikatius (Denmark)

Kalli, Kelli, Killu, Kulla (Estonia)

Heimo, Nooa (Finland)

Ninon (France)

Christiane, Nina, Paola (Germany)

Anthea, Eleftherios, Elevtherios, Lefteris, Sossana, Sylvia (Greece)

Valér (Hungary)

Cristiana, Nino, Valeriano (Italy)

Jana, Johanna (Latvia)

Gaudenė, Gaudenis, Kristijona (Lithuania)

Hilda, Hilde (Norway)

Celina, Fortunata, Iga, Ignacja, Ignacy, Krystiana, Nina, Walerian, Waleriana, Wolimir, Żegota (Poland)

Antia, Elefterie, Suzana (Romania)

Ivica (Slovakia)

Valeriano (Spain)

Gottfrid (Sweden)

Adlai, Adler, Carney, Mirella, Mireya, Tanner (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 349 of 2024; 16 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 5 of week 50 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Ruis (Elder) [Day 18 of 28]

Chinese: Month 12 (Jia-Zi), Day 3 (Ding-Wei)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 3 Teveth 5784

Islamic: 2 Jumada II 1445

J Cal: 19 Zima; Fiveday [19 of 30]

Julian: 2 December 2023

Moon: 10%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 13 Bichat (13th Month) [Lagrange]

Runic Half Month: Jara (Year) [Day 5 of 15]

Season: Autumn (Day 83 of 89)

Zodiac: Sagittarius (Day 24 of 30)

[laresearchette]

Sunday, January 15, 2022 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES?: MAYOR OF KINGSTOWN (Paramount +) THE LAST OF US (HBO Canada) 9:00pm YOUR HONOR (Crave)  9:00pm MILF MANOR (TLC Canada) 10:00pm

WHAT IS NOT PREMIERING IN CANADA TONIGHT?: 28TH CRITICS CHOICE AWARDS (CW Feed) THE WAY HOME (Premiering on January 22 on W Network at 8:00pm) BURNED BY LOVE (TBD - Lifetime Canada)

NEW TO AMAZON PRIME CANADA/CBC GEM/CRAVE TV/DISNEY + STAR/NETFLIX CANADA:

AMAZON PRIME CANADA ALL THINGS VALENTINE A DASH OF LOVE DATE WITH LOVE LOVE, ONCE AND ALWAYS     THE PERFECT BRIDE THE STORY OF US

CRAVE TV THE LAST OF US (Season 1, Episode 1)

NETFLIX CANADA SHIVA BABY

GRAND SLAM OF CURLING (SN1) 1:00pm: Canadian Open - Men’s Final (SN/SN360) 6:00pm: Canadian Open - Women's Final

NFL FOOTBALL (TSN4/TSN5) 1:00pm: Dolphins vs. Bills (TSN4) 4:30pm: Giants vs. Vikings (TSN4) 8:15pm: Ravens vs. Bengals

NBA BASKETBALL (SN1) 3:30pm: Warriors vs. Bulls (SN1) 6:00pm: Thunder vs. Nets (SN1) 9:30pm: 76ers vs. Lakers

NHL HOCKEY (SNPacific) 5:00pm: Canucks vs. Hurricanes (TSN2) 5:00pm: Habs vs. Rangers (TSN3) 7:00pm: Coyotes vs. Jets

AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS (TSN) 7:00pm: Early Round Coverage Day #1 (TSN) 11:00pm: Early Round Coverage Day #1

HEARTLAND (CBC) 7:00pm: A surprise visitor causes Amy to see Finn differently. A weekend trip to the cabin has Jack struggling with his past while Katie finally opens up. Lou and Peter’s dinner party doesn’t go as planned. Are they serving HORSE?

DOUG AND THE SLUGS AND ME (CBC) 8:00pm::  A POV documentary about a filmmaker uncovering the story of her best friend’s dad, the lead singer of Doug and the Slugs.

HOW TO FIND FOREVER (City TV) 8:00pm: Marley is great at organizing other people's engagements but unlucky with love. However, the man who could jeopardize her latest project may also be Mr. Right.

WALKER INDEPENDENCE (W Network) 9:00pm (SEASON PREMIERE)

IRREVERENT (Showcase) 9:00pm: Mack tracks down the real reverend to recover his stolen money, but he must officiate a full Christian wedding without anyone noticing that he's a complete fraud.

THE END IS NYE (Nat Geo Canada) 9:00pm:  The largest supervolcano eruption in modern history threatens to ignite the globe; Bill explores the origin of volcanoes, how to survive their wrath and even ways to harness their boundless underground energy.

UNEARTHED: SEVEN WONDERS (Cottage Life) 9:00pm:  Seven wonders of ancient Egypt are home to mysteries still unsolved thousands of years after their construction, and today, investigators use cutting-edge technology and forensic analysis to reveal new secrets of these colossal engineering marvels.

MEETING THE BEATLES IN INDIA (Super Channel Fuse) 9:30pm:  In 1968 the Beatles travel to Rishikesh, India, to study transcendental meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

BROTHER VS. BROTHER: NO RULES (HGTV Canada) 10:00pm (SEASON PREMIERE): Two brothers go against each other as they each mentor home improvement experts for a prize.

THE CURSE OF OAK ISLAND (History Canada) 10:00pm: The team's high hopes of finding the fabled treasure are intensified when it procures what could be the final piece of the puzzle.

THE TERRITORY (Nat Geo Canada) 10:00pm:  When a network of Brazilian farmers seizes a protected area of the Amazon rainforest, a young Indigenous leader and his mentor must fight back in defense of the land and an uncontacted group living deep within the forest.

[tiny-smallest]

day twenty-three - vent

Rating: G Characters: Johnny Warnings: none Description: One of the band members has his own ways of taking out frustration and negative feelings.

Also on AO3!

---

Johnny liked to think of himself as a romantic. He lived for the butterfly rush, the joys of surprising a date. Flowers, bunny kisses, holding hands while walking her home. Slow dancing, elegant dips and twirls, the sound of two pairs of shoes against the floor in perfect harmony. Soft lights and dreamy eyes. He wanted to find someone he could settle down with, someone who he could sweep off her feet for the rest of his life. He knew he wanted that since he was very small, and now as an adult, he wasn’t about to just toss his dream in the garbage.

He didn’t have much in the way of professional aspirations. By no means was he a bum- he had a decent apartment paid his bills on time. He liked where he was right now... quite a lot, actually. He’d played before in parades and in nightclubs, but this was the first time he had something steady. Solid. He liked that, and he was glad to have it. Johnny gave this job his all; why do something half-assed when you didn’t have to? He liked his coworkers, too.

The music director was kind of a sourpuss, but he was never unfair. So that was all right with him.

And now, as a young adult having squared away that aspect of his life, he set his sights on finding a lady love. 

This proved far harder than he anticipated.

Not that he thought he was the greatest catch in the entire world, but he was a decent man. He didn’t hold any obviously obscene views on certain groups of people. He paid for dates, or at least went for halvesies. He took good care of his appearance. He tried to be funny. He was definitely polite. He took notes on how some other guys would spend their entire dates bragging or talking about themselves and vowed never to do that because damn that was insufferable listening to it as a random outsider. So he made sure to be a good listener and ask her questions about herself.

But god, he sure knew how to pick them, apparently.

Night after night after night, either the girl he took out was completely obnoxious, secretly bigoted, or just plain not right.

It was the last ones that actually bothered him the most. There were lots of young ladies who were perfectly fine people. As polite, attentive, and friendly as he was to them, they gave back. Many of them were good humored, with interesting lives. And all of them were drop dead gorgeous.

So why was he having such a hard time finding someone to go steady with? What wasn’t clicking? Where was the spark? Why did he feel nothing?

At least if he was just really unlucky and kept picking awful people, he would know why there were no fireworks yet!

One day at work Johnny had to play the organ the band had for a scene in one of the upcoming episodes. He hadn’t used one in years, but something about the dramatic music from the instrument bade him to come find it again later when everyone else was off eating lunch.

He touched its keys, trailing his fingers down along them before sitting down and coaxing some notes from it.

What started as just random notes eventually became an old song he played several times. With each angry scream of the organ that tightness in him loosened a little.

Maybe he hadn’t found the one yet, but at least he had something to pour his frustrations into.

[princess-of-the-worlds]

Torchwood and the (Mis)treatment of its Characters of Color

Let’s be honest; despite its decent track record with queer characters, Torchwood has a problem with how it treats its characters of colors, and I say this as a South Asian, bisexual fan of the show. 

For the purposes of this post, I will only be looking at the Torchwood television series (so spoilers for Seasons 1 and 2, Children of Earth, and Miracle Day), and not as Big Finish Torchwood releases since I do not believe myself to be well-versed enough in them to be able to make an accurate post. And also, as much as I love Big Finish for eveything they’re doing, on-screen POC representation is very different from audio POC representation. (And for the purposes of this post, I will not be addressing the mistreatment of Martha Jones, which really, if you think about it, stems from Doctor Who and not Torchwood.)

TLDR; Torchwood has neglected or mistreated its characters of color, given them little or no background, and brutally killed them off, often for shock value.

Let’s start with Suzie Costello. 

Suzie Costello, played by Indira Varma who is a British actress of Indian descent, was promoted alongside the regular cast members in publicity material before “Everything Changes” aired, giving the impression that she would be sticking around for a while or would be a main character. Instead, she was unceremoniously killed off at the end of the first episode and only pops up once more in “They Keep Killing Suzie.” At no point was Suzie acknowledged as a woman of color or given much more background beyond her tumultuous, most likely abusive, relationship with her father.

Next, we get to Toshiko Sato, left as the only person of color on the team after Suzie’s death. 

Wonderful, gorgeous, caring Tosh who, for all intents and purposes, is essentially a walking stereotype. She’s an Asian (Japanese specifically) technology genius who is unlucky at love. Need I say more? (Check out this Teen Vogue article if you’re wondering why that’s a bad thing, or, honestly, just quickly search Google.) And all three of the Tosh-heavy episodes (”Greeks Bearing Gifts,” “To the Last Man,” and “Adam”) feature her being unlucky in love (Mary betraying her, Tommy dying, and Adam manipulating her). Plus, there’s everything with Owen where she pines after him for years only for him to finally recognize that before he dies, and then he, well, dies; that plot arc only ends in death and sadness.

Additionally, we only have limited background for Tosh in comparison to Jack and Gwen (who I guess you could kind of say are the main characters) but even in comparison to Ianto (for whom more background was revealed only because he became a more prominent character in COE.) We know she was born in London, moved to Japan as a child, and at some point moved back before growing up in the United Kingdom. She had a younger brother (mentioned in a deleted scene in “Captain Jack Harkness”) and a grandfather who worked at Bletchley Park (mentioned in “Greeks Bearing Gifts” and “Captain Jack Harkness.”) She also very much loved her family, or at least her mother, enough to commit treason for her, despite her mother only being seen in “End of Days” and “Fragments.” But that’s about it. 

There was so much more Torchwood could have done with Tosh. We could have seen more about her family or her education. We certainly could have seen more about her bisexuality; everything that happened with Mary was not a satisfying resolution. Instead, she was killed off alongside Owen in “Exit Wounds.” Torchwood used the death of a woman of color for shock value, and no matter how effective or emotional that was, it was not excusable. There was so much story left to be told with Toshiko Sato. 

Tosh’s death brought the racial diversity in Torchwood down to zilch.

Next, we have Lisa Hallett.

Now, Lisa Hallett...what do we actually know about her? She worked at Torchwood One, dated Ianto Jones, and loved him enough to maybe fight cyberprogramming for him - this part might be subjective to your own interpretation of “Cyberwoman.” We don’t know anything about her, really, apart from how she is defined and described for a white male main character, which...is problematic enough. I mean, would it have been too much to ask the writers for maybe some further description? I mean, I don’t know. Maybe where exactly she worked in Torchwood London? How she joined? How she met Ianto? If she had any family, any other friends? Why she loved Torchwood and worked there? Heck, a flashback scene featuring a non-cyberized Lisa and Ianto would have been brilliant. Is that too much to have asked of the Torchwood writers? I don’t know.

Then there’s the entire fact that Lisa was turned into a Cyberwoman. Now, I have many problems with how Doctor Who and Torchwood uses its Cybermen, especially regarding its continuous brutalization of black and brown bodies for emotional and shock value (Lisa, Danny Pink, and Bill Potts are only some examples.) It sends a very, very nasty message to these shows’ viewers of color, especially if they’re younger and more impressionable. Plus, the depiction of Lisa in “Cyberwoman” was uncomfortable and unnecessarily sexualized, but this is a whole different essay. But in the end, Lisa Hallett was pumped with bullets many, many times, and her death only added to the emotional pain of a white man.

Now, we come to more minor characters.

Beth Halloran was a human who did not know her true identity as an alien sleeper agent. She had a very interesting and action-packed story arc in “Sleeper” before ending up dead at the hands of Torchwood. She had an emotional struggle between her human identity and her truth as an alien sleeper and chose to help save the world, intentionally ending up dead at the hands of Torchwood. That being said, she was still another character of color who Torchwood had bothered fleshing out who ended up dead.

Next, there’s Dr. Rupesh Patanjali. 

Introduced in COE, he’s a medical doctor who catches Jack and Ianto working on a case and ends up piquing their interest after he makes some shit up. Spoiler alert: he’s an MI-5 plant. We see Gwen attempt to conduct orientation and recruitment with him. He has a fun setup to be a potential new Torchwood member and inside spy, but instead, he lures Jack to the hospital where Jack’s implanted with a bomb. And despite doing his job as requested and doing it rather well, Rupesh Patanjali is shot dead by Agent Johnson that very episode, just like Beth.

Then we have Lois Habiba, arguably the most interesting and fun character introduced in COE. 

She’s a naive newcomer, almost like Gwen, but during her first week working in the Home Office, she finds herself committing treason, conspiring against her boss Frobisher, and helping save the world from an alien invasion. She’s smart, resourceful, and principled, very much like Ianto. Like with a lot of the characters on this list, we know next-to-nothing about her background, which is odd considering her rather major role in COE. And despite being seemingly set up to become a member of Torchwood, we never see her again.

Finally, we come to Miracle Day and its two new characters of color, Rex Matheson and Dr. Vera Juarez. I won’t be getting into too much detail here, especially since MD has its own problems.

Ah, Rex.

Torchwood finally has a man of color for a main character who seems like he could be an interesting foil to Jack (a high-ranking CIA agent with a high bullshit meter), and what do they do...they kill him in his first scene. Oh, and they make him “lightly” homophobic, because that’s always fun. And then he ends up immortal in some kind of bullshit plot hole...I have enough to say there.

Vera, however, was quite interesting. Again, little to no background besides the basic (from San Antonio, had an ex-husband, is a surgeon), but she was still a Latina medical doctor. She had morals and was very stubborn and determined to save people, which is why she insisted into helping Torchwood sneak into the overflow camp. And what did she get for that? She ended up brutually shot in front of her lover Rex, which traumatized them both, and then literally burnt alive. Thrown on top of that? In a quite meta move really, the death of another woman of color was used to incite outrage around the country, and the world, and expose the wrongdoings of the United States government regarding the Miracle. Good stuff? Either way, it came at the cost of the death of one strong woman of color and the further trauma of another man of color.

Plus, there’s everything about how unnecessarily violent and graphic some of the deaths of these characters of color. To put it into perspective, think about how Owen or Ianto or Esther died. (I’m not trying to reduce the values of their deaths; I’m just trying to get you to think about it.)

So yeah, that’s all I have to say about that. Torchwood, you could have done better with your characters of color. (And thank you if you stuck all this way with me.)

TLDR; Torchwood has neglected or mistreated its characters of color, given them little or no background, and brutally killed them off, often for shock value.

[strangebrews]

@madam-metaphor​ asked: 69. Ventriloquist

So Eddie was still out of a job. Not an ideal state to be in, by any means, though he’d excused the situation on being busy with other, more pertinent things—diverting an alien invasion, for starters.

But it’d been 2 months since anything urgent had come up and here was Eddie during a Wednesday afternoon, on the couch with a microwave dinner in his lap. TV shows had gotten worse nowadays, he was thinking, no respect for plot anymore, just pure drama. 

His bills were piling up—the stack of envelopes was becoming painfully apparent on the island in the kitchen, giant red notices bleeding onto the paper—but it wasn’t like Eddie hadn’t tried. He had tried—at the grocery store, the pet shop, even the fucking video rental place—yet none of the leads had amounted to any promising offer. He was just unlucky, that was all, he thought and took another bite.

You’re very lucky, Eddie. I decided to live in your body. Venom regarded itself quite highly.

He was flipping through channels now, irritated with his lack of options, Venom’s head perched on his shoulder. A streaming subscription, that’s what he needed. Another bill added to the mound, but it was necessary, because, “I mean look at this shit,” he gestured towards the TV with his remote, mouth full, “You cannot expect me to want to watch this kind of crap.” It’d been some ventriloquist—third fucking episode in a row—and Eddie jammed his finger into the skip in frustration. 

Wait.

Venom pressed a tendril to the back button and slithered closer to the screen, head cocked in interest.

How did he get that little human onto his arm?

Eddie gave Vee a crooked smile. He would admit, providing Venom explanations of silly human behaviors was one of his favorite aspects of this cohabitation. “It’s not a tiny human. It’s a puppet—not alive. You stick your arm up the hole in its ass and make it do things.” He laughed, amused at his own explanation. 

Venom’s eyes glimmered. Don’t we do the same thing?

 The laughing stopped. “No, no we do not do the same thing—it’s different. It’s very fucking different. You’re supposed to make jokes, create a show, have people watch you.”

The glimmer intensified. Let’s do that.

“Do what? Become a career ventriloquist?” a slow nod was Eddie’s only answer.  

Venom’s proposal was unsurpring, actually. It had grown increasingly frustrated recently—angry that Eddie could walk the streets now without anyone suspecting anything out of the ordinary, providing no indication they knew Venom was living inside. But the issue was that Venom wanted to be seen—wanted everyone to know that Eddie was taken, that this was Venom’s Eddie. It didn’t want anyone looking at him. Considering him.

Venom had thrown a fit once or twice in public already, accidentally shoved someone out through the glass doors of a bus because they’d brushed up against Eddie a little too often. And that had been an accident—the person was fine aside from a few scratches on the nose—but Venom had been sternly warned that day to never try anything like it again. 

“I’ll rip you out of me, Vee. I promise I will.” Obviously it was an exaggeration, but the image it produced was painful enough for Venom to agree.

So this was its roundabout way of being present in public. They could star in a show together—much like the one on TV—and Venom would have an excuse to stay on the outside, make itself known. It was a perfect idea.

I would make a great puppet, Eddie.

Eddie just laughed and brushed the crumbs off the front of his shirt. He used to be an esteemed journalist. He was not going to become a fucking ventriloquist for the afternoon broadcast. It was stupid. It was ridiculous. It was not an option. It was—

+

They were standing in front of the bathroom mirror, Venom’s head bobbing out from Eddie’s right hand, while another piece wrapped around his arm before cutting off entirely before the elbow. 

A puppet. A gooey, terrifying, alien puppet.

Venom had succeeded in getting Eddie to try the idea out—there was no harm in just trying, it’d argued. And yes, fucking had been a factor in the convincing process, but there was no need to focus on silly details.

They’d been glued to the same spot for nearly an hour now, Eddie trying to mold Venom’s mass into something a bit less menacing. He’d tried giving it pointed ears, a nose, some makeshift hair strands that were supposed to cover a part of Venom’s eyes, but they resembled creepy noodles, if anything else. The attempts were useless, so with a sigh Eddie gave in and moved onto the next issue. “We’ll just be really funny, to distract from the unconventional look.” Unconventional was his way of describing it, because there was no reason to hurt Vee’s feelings. 

Mouth movements proved to be a problem too. “You have to move it based on the shape of the words I’m saying. What you’re doing is not convincing at all.” Venom was just opening and closing its maw haphazardly, disregarding any authenticity. 

I’m meant to be a puppet. They lack the same facial mechanics. 

“Yeah, but—” Eddie cut himself off, because there was a point to be made here, he just wasn’t sure what it was. He set that aside for later. 

The tongue—the tongue had to go.

“It’s just a bit unsettling, is all, when you flick it all the way out like that, you know? Some might find it suggestive, others might think it's insulting.” So Venom curled it back into its maw, with some difficulty, but it’d managed.

Then they encountered an issue with the flow of the conversation. Eddie should have expected Venom to hit a few bumps in the road when it came to witty comebacks, but it really killed the vibe when it kept answering with things like Eddie, do you really think I look like a nasty talking tar ball?

Eddie even tried feeding Venom dialogue through his thoughts, but on the fourth failed attempt he decided they were done. “We tried, we basically failed. I’ve got more important things to do.”

Staring into your empty fridge so you can ignore your real problems isn’t very important. Eddie did not entertain Venom with a response.

+

Yes, he should have been looking for a job still, but Eddie chose to write a script instead. 

They had stopped after that fourth try, but returned to the mirror an hour later. Eddie was going to get it right—he was going to squeeze at least one original, funny thing out of Venom. 

On the seventh try he decided the only way out of this was writing a script.

Recording the video, with his phone resting on the dresser and the script hiding beside it, was also, just a one-off thing. A quick hyperfixation, nothing more.

He worked on their conversation for 2 days, smoothed out all the kinks in their performance during the 10 rounds of practice recordings. Venom could now shape its mouth around the words, kept its tongue inside, and even spoke at a higher pitch to make it more convincing. The pair was ready.

+

Uploading the video to Youtube had also been Eddie’s idea. He had not given up on the project, and neither had he given up on being in denial towards the fact that he was absorbed by said project.

“It’s just—I refuse to have wasted 5 fucking hours on this and keep it private, you know?” It was a weak argument, and he suspected Venom would have raised its eyebrows in doubt if it had any, but it stayed silent. 

He’d done some minimal editing. Nothing too fancy—just an intro and an outro, simple things he’d learned during his journalism days. “It’s not gonna get any views.” he was talking to himself at this point, mouse hovering over the Publish.

“It wasn’t even that funny.” The video had successfully appeared on the recent uploads page—Eddie had checked to make sure, but he didn’t necessarily care. 

“I’ll probably delete it in a day or two, anyway, mind you.” Venom continued to hide away.

+

Venom was only ever quiet for two reasons: it was tired, or it had won a battle with Eddie and had nothing more to say. This case slotted under the latter category.

Because Eddie had not deleted the video after a day or two—it was still floating around on the Internet and Eddie’s finger was beginning to cramp up from refreshing. And refreshing. And refreshing.

The result wasn’t anything major. It was only 100,000 hits in 5 days and the title was pure bait—kinda hard to pass up a video called “Famous Ex-Journalist Stuffs Hand Up Puppet’s Bumhole, Calls It Coping” (That’s a misleading title, Venom had noted. “I know, just trust me.”)

“It’s not even that funny of a video.” Eddie said again on the 6th day, but there was a smile tugging at his lips—nearing 200,000 now. 

Cooksucker3000 said your puppet is fucking dope, Eddie. Venom hummed along Eddie’s arms in satisfaction. The comments were its favorite part, for quite obvious reasons, and Eddie was too preoccupied with his own shower of compliments to correct Venom’s reading mistakes.

this is so hilarious!! 

i love the idea! 

good to see ur doing well - i remember u from tv! 

u r really fucking hot xx

Delete that. It has nothing to do with the contents of the video. So not all of the comments were Venom’s favorite.

+

When they hit 300,000 Eddie said, “Fine—I’ll write one more script. But after that, we’re done.” Venom did not put up a fight this time either.

Because fine, Eddie could say whatever he wanted, but they shared a fucking body at the end of the day—as if Venom wouldn’t have noticed him finishing up the 4th script of a series last night.

[spockwitharock]

i love how being successful in the Federation or respected by Kirk basically always ends in disaster. Generally death or insanity, with some exceptions.

Famous scientist? Downfall, typically by your own creation. Typically death or if you’re unlucky, something more creative.

Personal friend of Kirk’s from the academy? insanity/death, followed by a large deposit to Kirk’s therapy fund

Captain of a starship that isn’t the Enterprise? Would you like to write a will? No? Okay, just hope you’re lucky enough to make it to trial.

(unless they’re female, in which case, well, Kirk either already has or is going to have sex with them)

i‘m bored so here’s a list because seriously. every damn time.

1. Gary Mitchell in Where No Man Has Gone Before. A personal friend of Kirk‘s from the academy as well as his first officer. Was given godlike powers, lost his humanity and was killed by Kirk

2. Dr. Roger Korby in What Are Little Girls Made Of. His works are required reading at the academy and Kirk has “always wanted to meet him”. Korby has made himself into an android to survive, and kills himself in the end upon realizing he’s lost his humanity.

3. Dr. Adams in Dagger of the Mind. Another great scientist who is revered for his work in making prisons more humane and comfortable. Kirk mentions wishing he had the opportunity to meet him. Adams dies after having his mind emptied by his neural neutralizer.

4. Benjamin Finney in Court Martial. Once a close personal friend of Kirk’s from the academy (he even named his daughter after Kirk). Becomes unhealthily obsessed with getting revenge for an incident in the past. Ends up on trial.

5. Captain Matt Decker from The Doomsday Machine. Captain of the Constellation. Kills himself by piloting the Constellation into the mouth of the machine.

6. John Gill from Patterns of Force. A well respected historian. Breaks the prime directive and ends up perpetually drugged and accidentally creates a fascist state. Dies in the end from a gunshot wound.

7. Ron Tracey from The Omega Glory. A starship captain. Becomes obsessed with a cure for old age, breaks the prime directive an massacres thousands of the Yangs.

8. Doctor Richard Daystrom from The Ultimate Computer. Described as a genius by Kirk. He ends the episode sedated and under heavy restraint in sickbay due to the crushing guilt of his creation’s actions. (lotsa murder)

9. Captain R.M. Merik from Bread And Circuses. An old academy friend who violates the prime directive and becomes the ruler of a Rome-like civilization. Stabbed in the back by his right-hand man.

10. Captain Garth from Whom Gods Destroy. A famous captain whose exploits are required reading at the academy. Loses his sanity and tries to steal the Enterprise to seek revenge against his old crew.

There might be more but I haven’t finished season three yet. I’ll add them when I do.

Honorary Mentions:

- Edith Keeler: Kirk meets her in the start if the episode, so they don’t have much history, but Kirk admires her pacifist stance and she gets offed by the end (hefty deposit to Kirk’s therapy fund)

- Kirk’s brother: I’m not entirely sure what their dynamic was from just seeing Operation — Annihilate! but it seems like it fits the bill. Sam Kirk is family though, which changes things.

- The captain that gets killed by M-5 in the computer episode. Fits the starship captains dying thing but it wasn’t a huge part of the plot, especially with another tragic death of an admired official in that same episode.

[mochuelovelli]

Fix-It AU for the Moonvasion Arc!

I would like to preface this by saying that this is gonna seem real fanfic-y and for that I am sorry. I want to bullet point some ways to change some aspects of S2 from Whatever Happened to Donald Duck?! onwards.

Whatever Happened to Donald Duck?!:

The segment that shows the McDuck/Duck family tree has Donald Crossed out not because he is captured but Lunaris PLANNED to kill him before going to Earth once he would basically tortured him for information

Donald is tripped by Lunaris which makes him land on Penumbra, allowing him to sneak the device under his hat as it falls off without Lunaris noticing. After Lunaris explains his plan he throws Donald and the scene transpires as normal, save for Don attaching the clamp to Lunaris and finding the remote. 

Lunaris still ends up getting the upper hand and punching Don away but he reveals the remote and presses it. Only for it to, of course, get broken on impact and the rest of the scene transpires normally.

[Here is the biggest change]The rocket DOES end up exploding. It makes it to Earth's atmosphere but of course the bullet hits one of Scrooge's satellite and rickashays back to the moon again. Upon realizing he is going to crash, Donald jumps out but just in time as the blast from the pod knocks him semi-conscious.

Last shot is him falling toward a crater and shows Donald gaining conscious only for him to see he is falling into the moonmite's mouth but doesn't reach beyond making a groan and the scene cuts to black with the jaw snapping sound (alternatively it can just cut to black as he falls)

The Jones Scene ends with Scrooge saying the same line about not paying Donald bills. Only he also adds once closing the door, "Fallacious tightwad, I ain't payin' for some leeching city counselor. I'll find that lad a proper therapist when he gets back. One that doesn't have an arachnoid infestation." *cue spider coming to crawl on Scrooge's face before he chucks it off*

Webby's line is cut down to "Well I guess there really wasn't some big mystery to solve." But the kids' lines stay the same frome there on.

Scrooge gets only Donald screaming "Uncle Scrooge!" before the audio cuts to audio to one of Mrs. Crackshell-Cabera's novelas due to the satellite being damaged(does that make sense? No but neither do moonpeople). You could probably make a suggestive joke here about cruises and Scrooge's line can stay the same. The camera pans up as the line is delivered still but it is just a shot where the moon is in focus. That or it's the satellite falling instead.

Happy Birthday, Doofus Drake! until Moonvasion:

(know it would be a pain in the ass, but I think it be cool to edit the intro to remove/replace Donald during the time he isn't shown in an ep. Though I guess they don't change the intro until season 3 so yeah. Mainly wanted to give the illusion that he is "missing" to scare anyone under 8 that "oh no maybe he is GONE gone just to be a prick

The Golden Armory of Cornelius Coot!

Trim down the Bigtime C plot like a LOT. Maybe end that original scene with Ma Beagle by having Bigtime lean on something (statue, standing on some "moss") and fall down to the caves. 

The cart scene with Bigtime still happens but that cut back from Launchpad and Della doesn't happen until after Della yells at Launchpad when she is flying. (So not the scene where Louie is kicking rocks)

Maybe cut the scenes where Bigtime is bragging about "finding a name for himself" and just have one scene where he ties up the boys and saves his family but they argue and waste time til Della and Webby come back. The end where Ma says BT is welcome back is cut as well, she just says it and then complains about the popcorn

After the scene with LP, Della and Webby, the camera pans up to the sky so a transition to the moon happens. Transition zooms out to reveal Penumbra looking at the Earth with her spear, before she turns upon hearing the moonmite screech and readys herself.

The moonmite is then shown crawling up from a hole at first by itself before Donald's torse is revealed, his hair is a bit longer and feathers are ruffled. Penumbra stands down and looks a bit more open before asking "Did anyone see you?" 

Donald just says no before hopping off, of course falling along with the equipment he brought. The shot is focused on Penumbra looking towards Donald's silhouette as he gets up.

She then asks "How's the leg?" To which the camera cuts back to Donald and we see him in full view, his model is similar to when he is on the island only way less beard and his hair isn't quite as long yet. But the most notably difference is that his right leg from the knee down is now a golden prosthesis. Don responds with "Fine, thanks for making it for me."

Penumbra turns back as Donald is shown to clumsily put the equipment on a nearby table and says "I couldn't have forgiven myself if I let Della's brother die." Donald nearly falls over again before she turns to face him and asks if he is ready to which he nods before they turn and the camera reveals the broken Spear of Selene. Penumbra's voice is heard then saying "Then Let's get you home." Before the ep ends.

The Richest Duck in the World!:

Everything is the same except when Penumbra calls, She says "This is LT. Penumbra calling for her friend Della Duck!-" [Della's Line] "All of your defense satellite just went down for some reason. Della-" Familiar quacking can be heard and Della even questions it before Donald's voice comes on. "Della!" "Donald!" Della parrots as she grabs the SATCOM box. "There's going to be an invasion! He's coming for the kids!" Episode ends the same from here.

[I'll make a second post l8r since I planned this to come out before 10 and it's already almost 1130 so yeah. Literally all these changes are basically to set up a bit of a stronger connection between Della and Donald (as well as giving Donald more screen time) by having the twins mirror each other a bit more. I personally headcanon that like Donald, Della is unlucky as well but in a different way. Where Donald has bad luck everyday of his life which mostly comes in the form of physical harm (secondly it would be emotional harm), Della's bad luck comes in the form where she is just as "lucky" as the rest of her family (maybe discounting Louie) but while she enjoyed 20ish years of adventuring relatively unscathed, she then crashes on the moon after a freak storm happens and is stuck there for over a decade. To me, her struggles on the moon in Whatever Happened to Della Duck?! And The Golden Spear! really showcases her bad luck, almost as if the universe decided to throw the biggest karma bomb at her all at once. But just like her brother she is fuelled with determination and love for her family in order to survive anything, she just has to do it all by herself (another thing which is worse for her bc she doesn't have them) at that point. And it isn't a one and done thing, it's something permit as she now is literally 11 years behind on parenting and the show continues to show her stuggle with that. By having Donald lose his leg and have a journey back to his family that's quicker than Della's (along with having company from nearly the beginning) it parallels that unluckiness the Duck twins have. It also can serve as a plot for future eps (well fake eps lmao). 

Ik that this au wouldn't have been possible as Disney would be really anal about having one of their mascots have a total design change. Unless they really wanted to milk having characters with prosthetics for park days or whatever, maybe it wouldn't be THAT big of a deal aside from some fluff articles. I realize though, it might overshadow Della's trauma so ideally I would hope to figure out or map out an ep where it would be addressed along with some other family issues.]