#the toymaker was incredible and terrifying and so fun

[haljathefangirlcat]

*tries to write a post about the last 60th Anniversary special*

*is too overwhelmed with Feelings to string two words together in a coherent manner*

... anyway thank you RTD for reconciling me with the entire concept of found family after fandom at large tried its best to sour it and poison it in so many different ways.

*whipes tears away, still smiling and a bit dazed*

[ralexsol]

watching "Listen" from 12 and then directly afterwards "The Devil's Chord" from 15 was the wrong decision on my part. it only made the devil's chord that much more painful. like listen isn't like an insanely good episode or anything but it. actually feels like a sci-fi show. and it has a very touching ending with clara and kid doctor.

a better comparison would be with "Robot of Sherwood" from 12 vs. devil's chord. they're both the 2nd episode of their respective doctors, with the plot being the companion's "i've always wanted to go to-" dream. both are EXCELLENT companion dreams: robin hood and the beatles. both have INSANE levels of potential for shenanigans between people of legendary status and doctor + companion. but um. one is done incredibly and the other is. not.

Robot of Sherwood: start in the TARDIS with doctor & companion. wanna see robin hood, oh but robin hood is not real - and wow, an idea held by a character in the intro scene will actually play a key role in both the comedy AND emotional charge for the entire episode! for the rest of the episode, you have robin hood as the 3rd protagonist in TONS of scenes, with iconic characters as his merry men and the sheriff making appearances. and look, an actual sci-fi thing going on! the guards are robots and they're stealing gold for their spaceship! cool!! and then the emotion-based ending of the doctor and robin relating over being legendary heroes who will only be remembered as such.

The Devil's Chord: start in unknown location with piano guy and his student. that's fine, it's setting up the plot, sure. get some fun piano playing and holy shit okay the villain is right here and just immediately showing their entire hand and purpose?? okay so they're killing people because they want music to themself. okay, they seem cool enough, there must be some interesting thing about them that we'll learn later. switch to TARDIS, wanna see the beatles, let's go!, montage of them watching famous musicians be shit at EMI studios. oh hey it's george martin the producer of the beatles thats fun!! annnnnnd he has more lines than ringo and george combined and this is basically the last time we will see half of the beatles! um. okay. i am dead serious half the beatles have about 2-3 lines between them and they only speak in 1 fucking scene. there's a cool scene with paul & doctor and ruby & john, i really liked how they explained the disappearance of music and the inherent terror everyone seemed to feel of the maestro (the villain) coming to get them. the scene on the rooftop is cool! im a pianist and i love orchestral music so i really liked that. but i was so terrified she was going to start singing at any moment because i cannot handle any more cringe-worthy songs in this show i just can't. this is not a musical. anyway, the whole episode falls apart when you realize oh the beatles arent actually what this episode is about and oh the maestro is literally just the character that you saw in the intro scene and they have no twist motive and no emotional charge and yeah they're the toymaker's kid so they're a "force of nature" and not an alien with cool science and they just want allll the music. and then there's long "fight" scenes and then john and paul save the day without saying a single word in a 15-second long total shot. and then there's a fully fever-dream level dance and song montage.

i dont know too much about peoples' opinions on 15 so far cause ive had spoiler tags blocked for months, but from what i HAVE seen, it's been really positive. am i blind? am i stupid? am i bigoted????? why dont i like the vibes of this season?? maybe im just spiraling because ive been so hyped to watch the beatles episode as a beatles fan for MONTHS and just can't cope with ringo and george being written out. ive only seen 3 episodes w 15. i so hope it gets better. please let it be better. if they do another musical number i will kill something. i will spontaneously combust.

[denimbex1986]

'The Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials feature the reunion of David Tennant’s Doctor and Catherine Tate’s Donna Noble, but they also brought the Doctor back to an old enemy: the Toymaker. “The Giggle” introduces Neil Patrick Harris (and his version of the villain) into Doctor Who in spectacular fashion.

With an old enemy like the Toymaker, it’s hard to bring him back to a show like Doctor Who and do the character justice. But Neil Patrick Harris brings that eerie energy to life in such a sinister way that you’re brought into his twisted world of games and toys just as the Doctor and Donna are, and you understand exactly what horrors a being like the Toymaker can inflict.

After the Doctor and Donna returned to a world in chaos from their last adventure together, they’re forced to figure out who caused it and are brought back to answers they might not want. Where the episode really worked for me was that the Doctor continued to resurface the anger he has for things he can’t control while still trying to stop what’s happening around him. It is what has made me still love Tennant’s turn as the Doctor after all these years. Other Doctors keep their compassion at the forefront, but Tennant always let that anger boil over when it took over.

What works with an episode like “The Giggle” isn’t necessarily the stakes of everything else going on but it is the relationship between the Doctor and his old adversary. It is why we love going back to characters like the Master, as well, and seeing this pair go head to head was such a fun exploration for the show.

Two old enemies, back to their old games A show like Doctor Who has a unique ability to bring back villains that may have appeared one time, but fans will eat up the minute they return. That’s been the experience, at least, with Neil Patrick Harris and the Toymaker. He’s not a character that many of us know (or at least know well), and to see how we’re all fascinated by this role? It is truly a testament to the show. It helps that he is so incredibly good as the Toymaker in “The Giggle,” too.

What really works about the Toymaker boils down to the taunting aspect of his dealings with the Doctor. The Doctor can never seem to let a rivalry go, despite acting above that kind of taunting. What we see with the Toymaker throughout the episode is him using that to his advantage, and it leads to great moments between David Tennant and Neil Patrick Harris.

Having Russell T. Davies back in charge of Doctor Who as the showrunner has been a gift, reminding fans just what it means to have these “enemies” of the Doctor back in his life. It makes me excited for the future of the series and where the show is headed, and to know that Davies is going to be leading the charge—especially after a fantastic celebration of the 60th anniversary.'

[ravereviewsbybloom]

The Giggle Review

I haven't watched The Celestial Toymaker. I haven't watched any One stories at all, and a mostly-lost story with an uncomfortably racist villain who literally says a slur is not exactly top of the list if I was going to. But The Giggle does something incredible to an old villain. The Toymaker is reimagined into the kind of threat worthy of a season finale, and a regeneration episode at that. There's not a lot of old antagonists who get that treatment.

The episode picks up from the sequel hook of the last episode-it's the end of the world. Everyone's angry and believes they're right all the time, and they're destroying the world with nobody there to stop it. It's a very topical apocalypse, with Donna joking that the Prime Minister hasn't really changed at all and an american newsreader decrying a device meant to protect people as a tool of control. I've read a few novels that showcase just how much the view of a global disaster has changed in a post-2020 world, and much like them this episode hits hard. I almost feel like the episode could have spent more time exploring this, certainly a standard 2x45 minute two-parter would have had plenty of time to showcase the apocalyptic conflict.

UNIT also features heavily in this episode, which has become rather standard for any high-stakes episode set on present-day-earth. Inexplicably, they seem to have acquired an avengers-style skyscraper with a helipad for their base of operations. It's a bit of a change from the more low-budget portrayals of UNIT in the past, but hey, it's cool. Kate Stewart is still leading UNIT in her brilliantly authoritative way, and Shirley was just far too fun a character not to return. More unexpectedly, however, seventh doctor companion Mel returns, having returned to earth.

And now, onto the real antagonist of this episode. The Toymaker returns after a very, very long absence. He's dropped the "Celestial", and the mandarin-styled costume is dropped in favour of french and german stereotypes, on seperate occasions. Reframing the racist stereotype character as just an actual racist bigot works pretty well. With unfortunate implications out of the way, this episode is free to explore the toymaker a terrifying trickster figure who's bested even the Master. He's an absolute love letter to camp villains too, even more so than the Master. While both of them have done murderous things while dancing to cheesy pop music, only the Toymaker does it in costume. He's even more cruel and ruthless too, as he brings tenthree's short tenure to an abrupt end by just shooting him with an artillery cannon.

But of course, it's not technically the end. Fittingly for an episode with a chaotic and incomprehensible antagonist, the Doctor does something unexpected to best him. Bi-generation is a great name and I will hear nothing against it. And more importantly, it allows the Doctor to finally give themselves a hug, and god knows they need it at this point. The unique nature of this regeneration makes fourteen (fifteen?) a little bit overshadowed in his own debut episode, but there will be plenty of time to get to know him in future episodes and even in this short amount of time, it's clear that he's an exciting and refreshing version of the character. Meanwhile, tenthree finally gets some advice from the one person he's definitely going to listen to, and decides to settle down with Donna and her family for a while. It's a very emotional ending with a powerful message, after an awful lot of trauma what the Doctor really needs is to relax for a while with a nice found family. As with all regeneration stories, the ending is an emotional blend of mourning the previous Doctor while being excited for the next. The Doctor is dead, long live the Doctor, I guess.

[twilightdomain]

4, 10, 49 oc questions

ty mollyyyyy 💜

4. A character you rarely talk about?

there's a million billion!!! let's go with kristoph, whom i have tagged a few times and never explained. i played them in a long-lost game of Worlds in Peril, a superhero ttrpg, and because they're so so special their powers are not only their excellent tinkering skills and—i just remembered they have an artfight page so i'm gonna paste their blurb here.

A roboticist/toymaker, eccentric, deadpan, and incredibly proud of their harmless delightful mechanical creations. Their co-worker Dr Steelfuse became so increasingly frustrated by how dismissive they were of his actually effective, terrifying inventions that he kidnapped them and turned them into a cybernetically enhanced zombie to demonstrate his prowess firsthand. They cannot feel pain, nor are they hindered by blood loss or organ damage. Steelfuse also augmented their spine and limbs to give them heightened reflexes. Detached body parts can be controlled remotely. Highlights of their in-game engineering skills include ambulatory gnomes, hacking a private jet's sound system to prevent it from blasting ska 24/7, and a pest-control bot designed to crawl around shoveling cockroaches into its terrible maw.

"Unfortunately, I am not here in my capacity as a god of modern robotics but as a common thug. To, aha, lend a hand."

"Oh, these? No, I am not a prosthetist. I make little things that walk about and look charming. These are the work of Doctor Steelfuse. I don't know why he thought they were necessary; I was just as good at making toy robots when I was alive. I offered to tutor him but that was about when he started screaming and shutting down my organs."

Fun fact: the worst thing my habit of blurting out portmanteaus has ever produced was accidentally naming the aforementioned pest control contraption "Cockro-bot".

10. Introduce an OC with a complicated design?

hmmmmm ooh okay im gonna debut Baby right here right now! keep the robits going! Baby (no pronouns) is my warforged in the works, who i am planning to make a mystic because i have deliberately never tried one before but i think would work here because Baby craves POWER. and naturally, as a warforged, Baby's design does not come easily to me but i really like how it turned out. there are a lot of emotions bouncing around inside that badass chassis, and lacking the ability to produce facial expressions or much vocal tone, Baby uses some very passionate language to make up for it, and also really enjoys self-decoration with accessories and removable paints.

ID: a sketch of a broad warforged with very spiky limbs and shoulders, a curved neck, and a flat vaguely skull-like face with a yellow glow behind the eyes. to the left is a bar marking the warforged's height as 7 feet. yellow handwriting in top right says "Baby!" with a heart dotting the exclamation point. end ID

49. Which one of your OCs would most likely enjoy memes?

dammit okay you know cassidy is the only one who is capable of canonically enjoying them, AND that they have middling taste in them. but in the interest of being creative i also think ásmundr would be really really good at proper absurdist memes. declan is the most likely to enjoy memes other people made.

[ryttu3k]

Part 2 of my season 12 reaction posts! Find part 1 (Resolution of the Daleks to Fugitive of the Judoon) here!

Praxeus

Thoughts on Doctor Who - Praxeus!

OKAY FIRST. THANK YOU, SHOW, FOR FIXING A BIG ISSUE I HAD WITH THE FIRST SEASON. So they were doing a thing where they’d introduce incidentally queer characters, have a female character mention her wife, stuff like that, only for them to die. This episode had Jake and Adam, married/separated/it’s complicated couple, who face huge amounts of danger, who both come close to dying, but who survive! And have a Big Damn Kiss! And walk off together holding hands! They survived!!

Plotwise, I enjoyed it a ton while watching, although in retrospect it did feel a bit free of danger. The companions were never in true peril because the Doctor can home in on them automatically, and we never got the true scale of the risk of infection, since the only people we saw get infected were in isolated areas. I would have liked to see, for instance, the threat of Praxeus spreading beyond just the very Hitchcockian birds; all of the peril was on an individual level.

Good message, if unsubtle. Mind you, that’s kind of Doctor Who’s thing, and it pisses off conservatives, so all for it, really XD (They must have loved the core relationship in this episode, too!) Like. Subtle doesn’t work. There are literally climate change deniers that exist. Sometimes you actually do have to tell a message with all the finesse of a sledgehammer because .

(Side note, I was deeply concerned when I saw the cowriter was the guy who did the hot mess that was Kerblam!, so at least this was just an unsubtle and kind of questionably written story instead of an actively harmful one.)

The companions: Ryan seems a fair bit more confident on his own? His initial scenes with Gabriela showed that he’s starting to work well even without backup, and picking up the bird proved to be a damn good call. Yaz and Graham were a fun pair, and Yaz got a lot to do when she and Gabriela (again!) got to explore, and I can definitely understand the conflict between curiosity/doing what’s right and safety when it came to the teleport scene. She does seem to be bordering on the reckless. Intriguing!

Minor plot snag - Graham knows how to set up an IV, presumably because of the shitload of time he spent in hospital! …And yet he doesn’t know what a pathogen is?

Friend note!

“fun fact about graham seemingly not knowing what a pathogen is! in my reading of the scene, i saw it as graham knowing what one was. with "Well, I’m glad you asked that…!” he seems like he’s actually sort of pleased with himself, like he’s about to launch into an explanation, and then IIRC there’s a very brief shot at Ryan giving him a Look and Graham immediately changes tone to “…cause I didn’t want to look stupid.” he immediately changes from boosting his own ego to bolstering ryans and im love"

In which case, good shit gooood shit.

SFX - the infection was creepy as shit. The very obviously puppet bird near the lab was hilariously bad.

Apparently the filming was tricky because it was super windy so all the shorts of Thirteen with her hair Like That weren’t planned, it just kind of happened. Love a fluffy ruffled Thirteen.

So anyway. People calling for more plot focus - literally this is the Doctor trying to distract herself and not focus on the plot! This is her avoidance tactic! Emotional honesty? Who’s she? She’ll get back to it eventually, but for now she needs a distraction after being punched in the emotions. Give her that for one episode, c'mon.

Ryan: “…I do a lot of running.”

Graham: “Whatever is giving off those weird readings… is on the other side of that wall!” Yaz: *silently turns scanner around* Graham, not skipping a beat: “…is on the other side of that door!”

Yaz: “I don’t want you to panic, but… we followed one of those things through a teleport and now I think we’re on an alien planet.” Thirteen: “…well, you don’t do things by halves!”

Thirteen: “That’s why you smell of dead bird! I thought you’d changed your shower gel.”

Thirteen: “I’m having half a thought. Ooh, this one tickles!”

Thirteen: “What can I say? I’m a romantic~”

In conclusion, Doctor Who said gay rights.

-

Can You Hear Me?

Thoughts on Doctor Who - Can You Hear Me?

Trigger warning for discussion of depression and suicide.

You know you're in for a wild ride when iView warns for horror themes instead of science fiction themes.

Overall: at first impression, it felt sort of mashed together? There's 14th century Aleppo, and there's 21st century Sheffield, and there's a deep space station, and there's creepy monsters and dream villains; I do kind of wonder why Zellin targeted a random girl in Aleppo as source for his pet monster, although targeting people like Ryan's best friend makes sense if he's deliberately trying to lure the Doctor to him.

The theme, on the other hand, of mental health resiliance and reaching out, was done incredibly well. Oh yeah there'll be more comments about it - the Guardian described it as 'adventures in Wokeness' - but damn, sometimes you need to hear it. I loved getting more of Yaz' backstory, about being a desperate teenage runaway at the point of being suicidal, and her reunion with the older woman legitimately made me tear up.

But like, goddamn. Her nightmare - she's still hearing that. She's still hearing her sister saying that she should "do it right this time" and that this time she won't call and that no one is coming and holy fuck. God this makes so many of Yaz' scenes incredibly painful in retrospect, knowing that she was at that point only three years before and that she's still dreaming that shit! It makes her recklessness terrifying!

Ryan's nightmare, and his experience with Tibo - it's quite reflective of the Doctor, too. She wasn't there, and Gallifrey burnt. And Ryan is realising this now, and really thinking about the potential future in Orphan 55. I think this is absolutely foreshadowing Ryan leaving at the end of the season (there's been a lot of speculation given Tosin's new TV role), and I think Ryan and Yaz' discussion at the end of the episode was a definite hint in the direction of Ryan choosing to going back to Earth.

Would have really liked Graham, during his talk with the Doctor, to gently remind her that she can talk about her own problems, although I can understand the narrative choice on why she didn't (although, yeah, would have been good for Graham to ask). Because, yeah, if anyone needs a sympathetic ear (...sans fingers) or a shoulder to lean on, it's her!! The entire theme of this episode was like... reaching out. Conquering your fears with the help of others. Sharing your fears to lessen them. Getting help. And the Doctor deliberately... not doing that makes it into an actual Thing that I think is going to seriously be addressed by the end of the season.

It's been such an ongoing theme. A bunch of episodes have started with an obviously depressed Doctor. The Fam has tried to raise the issue multiple times and have discussed it amongst themselves even more. Scenes like Yaz' reaction after being abducted in Spyfall (...which makes her, "I thought I was dead" part even more worrying) and being comforted by Ryan, not the Doctor... her whole reaction to Graham being like, "I'm glad you talked to me but I literally can't do the same in return" - if it's not addressed by the end of this season, it's at least going to have to be an ongoing theme, because it's becoming very deliberate now.

An interesting note: the actor who played Zellin (an immortal manipulator of nightmares) also voiced the Remnants (who were the first to mention the Timeless Child in The Ghost Monument). Coincidence or deliberate?

Assorted thoughts:

"I'm still quite socially awkward." There's socially awkward and there's emotionally repressed... (I saw a description of it on Tumblr as 'weaponised dissociation' and... yeah. And also yikes.) Also the way she was so closed in on herself, basically hugging her arms to her body! On a semi-related note, talking to herself in Aleppo was a bit depressing. Like it's continuing the theme of The Doctor Does Not Like Being Alone.

The finger thing - ew ew ew ew it's in their EARS ewww D:

Stylistic comment: the traditionally-styled animation for the Immortals' game was gorgeous.

"Try not freak out, yeah, but you're on a floating space platform trapped in a gravitational pull between two colliding planets."

"Thanks for lending a helping hand!" Companions just being, "...Doctor p l s."

On an old lore note, loved the callback to Eternals, Guardians, and the Toymaker! On a concerning note, man, the Doctor has so many issues with immortals. They abandoned Jack, there was the punishment they gave the Family of Blood, they had those Issues with Ashildr (from what I've read), now this, an eternal punishment with no chance of redemption, perhaps because she knows what immortality does? Parallels with the Doctor as quasi-immortal too, which Zellin even pointed out.

"You're wrong about humans. They're not pathetic. They're magnificent. They live with their fears, doubts, guilt. They face them down everyday and they prevail. That's not weakness. That's strength. That's what humanity is."

(Contrast: "That's what humanity is." The Doctor isn't human. She's not prevailing against her fears, doubts, and guilt.)

In conclusion, literally everyone but the creepy immortals needs a hug.

-

The Haunting of Villa Diodati

Thoughts on Doctor Who - The Haunting Of Villa Diodati!

tfw you think you're just going to get a nice spoopy historical and instead get major plot?

Overall impression: Well, Jack is going to be pretty miffed, given that the Doctor had to do precisely what he didn't want to happen - giving the Lone Cyberman what it wanted. To save Shelley, and also to save the future, although that does bring up the question on if the death of one person can rewrite the future, why doesn't that apply to literally everyone? Fletcher the valet and Elise the nurse died too, do their deaths have the same impact? Either way, the Doctor takes the Cyberium for herself - then realises that the Cybermen are inevitable, and returns it. And now she's trying to go and stop them. So... a bit conflicting in the message there, I think.

Yeah. Bit of a Trolley Problem there.

The characters were really fun. I did enjoy seeing Mary's sense of morbidness, but also her kindness and sympathy towards the Cyberman; you can see the foundations of Frankenstein there. I'm seeing some criticism of how Byron was portrayed as a coward, but eh. Nice little callback to Ada. Also I love how one of the rules was 'no one snog Byron'. Put that dirty boy back, you don't know where he's been! Glad Claire realised that too, although historically, she was already pregnant with his daughter at that point (and that didn't go well at all)... Either way. Good display of all these bright young reckless things.

(And yes, they were young. Byron was the eldest at 28. Shelley was 23, Polidori was 20, Mary and Claire were just 18. And while Claire lived to 80 and Mary to her 50s, the three men all died young, too - Byron at 36, Shelley at 29 - yes, from drowning, Polidori at just 25. Also wasn't mentioned that Polidori also created something on that Dark And Stormy Night along with Mary's Frankenstein - he wrote The Vampyre, the first modern vampire story!)

The Lone Cyberman (and I am deliberately using that instead of 'Ashad') - creepy as shit. Not just the whole Frankenstein look, but the way he acted! Not emotionless and blank, but actively manipulative and sadistic! Mary showed empathy and he actively threw it back in her face! I mean, yikes.

House was terrific and also spooky as hell. (Am lowkey miffed that no one went "VIBE CHECK!") The jumbled layout was quite Castrovalva, and I actually really dig that Graham got to see some actual ghosts. Ghostly sandwiches!

I think we got actual confirmation here that Yaz does have feelings for the Doctor? (Bleeding Cool News is pretty sure that it was for Ryan, but... lmao no.) BBCA twitter certainly thinks so!

Claire: "His answers only increase the enigma." Yaz: "I know someone like that." Claire: "This enigmatic person of yours... would you trade them for reliable and dull?" Yaz: "My person's a bit different..."

I MEAN.

(It got deleted. So. There is that.)

Thirteen: "Hmm. Fourteenth... no. Fifteenth century... touch more umami." (Doctor, have you been playing Detroit: Become Human again?)

Mary: "I don't think they're really from the colonies!" Byron: "No, she... is from somewhere much, much stranger." Polidori: "The North."

Thirteen: "YOU HAD ONE JOB."

Cyberman: "You appear courageous. But your vital signs betray a heightened state of anxiety." Thirteen: "Or as I like to call it... Tuesday."

Thirteen: "Yeah, 'cause sometimes this team structure isn't flat. It's mountainous, with me at the summit, in the stratosphere, alone. Left to choose. Save the poet, save the universe. Watch people burn now, or tomorrow. Sometimes even I can't win."

Claire: "You pursued Mrs Doctor without a care for my presence, belittled my thoughts and opinions... and then proceeded to use my person as a human shield." Byron: "...And?" Claire: "And the spell is broken... my lord." Polidori's face: "haha you fucked up dude"

Next week: Shit Hits The Fan.

-

Ascension of the Cybermen

In lieu of a proper post for Ascension of the Cybermen, here are a list of questions we need an answer for.

Will Graham and Yaz survive, on a giant carrier full of Cybermen?

Who is Brendan, and what is his relevance to the story?

What is the Boundary?

How is Gallifrey in the Boundary?

How was the Master in Gallifrey, and not trapped by the Kasaavin?

Who is Ko Sharmus and why am I getting Yana vibes?

Who is Ashad and what is his story? (And why is his theme such a literal banger?)

Is he an actual Cyberman? Because I'm totally getting this impression he's human in armour?

How did Brendan survive being shot, and why did his non-ageing father and mentor do that?

Why did it look like a chameleon arch?

Is Ethan's tech-savvy just warzone familiarity or something more sinister?

Are there any other large human populations left?

Was I detecting a hint of romantic tension between Graham and Ravio?

What's up with Yaz?

Why did the Cyberium get sent to that time period?

Who or what is this alliance Jack is a part of?

How do the Time Lords and the lie of the Timeless Child come into it?

WHO THE FUCK IS BRENDAN?

-

The Timeless Children

WELL THEN.

While I gather proper thoughts on The Timeless Children, here are the questions I had from Ascension of the Cybermen, now with answers!

Will Graham and Yaz survive, on a giant carrier full of Cybermen?

Yup! Disguises for the win!

Who is Brendan, and what is his relevance to the story?

Brendan is a filtered overlay memory of one of the Doctor's former lives.

What is the Boundary?

An anomaly, as far as I can tell.

How is Gallifrey in the Boundary?

No idea!

How was the Master in Gallifrey, and not trapped by the Kasaavin?

No idea!

Who is Ko Sharmus and why am I getting Yana vibes?

A big damn hero.

Who is Ashad and what is his story? (And why is his theme such a literal banger?)

We're still not actually sure. Either way, he's an action figure now.

Is he an actual Cyberman? Because I'm totally getting this impression he's human in armour?

Yeah, sort of.

How did Brendan survive being shot, and why did his non-ageing father and mentor do that?

Because Time Lords.

Why did it look like a chameleon arch?

It's probably related technology! If the chameleon arch rewrites memories, this one just wipes them.

Is Ethan's tech-savvy just warzone familiarity or something more sinister?

Just warzone familiarity. Poor li'l bean.

Are there any other large human populations left?

Possibly! If the Boundary really did send them to random places, there still could be surviving pockets elsewhere in the universe.

Was I detecting a hint of romantic tension between Graham and Ravio?

Maybe a bit XD And now they're all on Earth, who knows?

What's up with Yaz?

Who knows?

Why did the Cyberium get sent to that time period?

Ko Sharmus sent it. Didn't send it far enough.

Who or what is this alliance Jack is a part of?

Same organisation Ko Sharmus is part of. Also, young!Ko Sharmus/Jack please.

How do the Time Lords and the lie of the Timeless Child come into it?

In so many ways.

WHO THE FUCK IS BRENDAN?

The Doctor!

More thoughts later!

-

Thoughts on Doctor Who - The Timeless Children.

...Actually, first thought is the title. Timeless Children? Hmm.

Anyway. That is... sure a literally mind-blowing revelation for the Doctor, yes! Like, damn, the discovery that you're not even the species you thought you were, that your adoptive parent spent lifetimes abusing and experimenting on you, that your memories were routinely erased by people you thought you could trust (including your adoptive parent), that you're literally the progenitor for your entire species, that you've lost who knows how much time and who knows how many memories... yeah. Damn.

What's an appropriate birthday present for someone turning ten million?

Also, huh. Amidst all the old lore and casual mentions (like Borusa!) that got mentioned - were they taking hints from the Cartmel master plan? About the Doctor being some kind of founding figure for Gallifrey? Not exactly written as Cartmel had it, but that big main concept of the Doctor as a sort of... foundation piece of Time Lord culture was still actually there.

Brain of Morbius Doctors confirmed, I guess. I guess even Four was going, "...the fuck?"

Cybermen = still scary. Regenerating Cybermen = felt somehow obscene. Like, no, that's just fundamentally not right. Like the TARDIS responding to Jack by noping the fuck out kind of not right. God. And the Master was completely and utterly magnificently batshit, like, more than usual, come on, dude, you know they'd kill or convert you the second you turned your back.

Still. Deeply, deeply entertaining to watch just from a villain perspective, completely Chaotic, and like... I do understand where he was coming from? His entire life is a lie. His entire life is because of the Doctor, who, I think it's fair to say, he has Complicated Feelings regarding. (Their entire interaction this episode was a giant power play. Like damn guys just get into BDSM and leave the would-be genocide and universal takeover.)

Tecteun = Rassilon, I'm assuming. Goddamn. Like they were a pompous abusive asshole from the outset, this just kind of makes it worse. I also wonder if Rassilon chose the Master specifically to get the drums because he was friends with the Doctor? That actually may have been something the Master worked out himself, too. I mean, I'd be pissed off as well :-\

Also, how many people know about this? I assume Gat knew, since she was implied to be responsible for the mind wipes, but was it like... a super tightly-held secret or was it something a lot of higher-ups knew? Because that's fucked up tbh

Thought on the Master. Okay, he's hugely furious that he's been lied to, that the entire origin of his people is based on a lie, that his greatest friendrivalloveenemy is incredibly special and that a part of her is in him and not in the fun way, but like... I'm also wondering if he's looking at the Time Lords, the way they turned him into their puppet, how they drove him insane for their own purposes, then looked at the Doctor - someone who has also been used, abused, experimented on, manipulated, controlled, and went, "No. This is an injustice and the Time Lords need to be punished for it."

Oh, saw a nice theory regarding the TARDISes - Ruth!Doctor had the original busted police box TARDIS. When she was eventually taken in to be mind-erased, they sent the TARDIS off to storage to be eventually repaired. The Doctor manages to steal that one, goes to Earth, and it immediately gets stuck again because it's still broken. Explains how Ruth!Doctor can have the police box while also being pre-everything.

I really want the Doctor and Jack to sit down and have a nice chat about being timeless undying constants of the universe. Also for Jack to get one of the spare TARDISes around. Be kinda funny if he got the Master's old one, given the Year That Never Was, but it really is just sitting there. (Poor TARDIS stuck as a tree on a random wartorn planet in the far future, though!)

Also, Jodie was fucking magnificent in this episode. The hurt, the absolute fury, the almost glee when she's telling the Master he can't break her, her refusal to press the button at the end (so much like Nine's "coward or killer?" moment!)... just... so good.

Beautiful post I saw here on Tumblr - the Doctor as the Timeless Child, making the choice to help.

Amazing post here on Tumblr about abuse and repressed memories. Even if the Doctor doesn't remember it all, the abuse they underwent at the hands of a beloved parent figure still informs a hell of a lot of their behaviour, but it doesn't define them. The Doctor's need to run = informed by abuse. The Doctor's desire to help crying children = informed by abuse. The Doctor being an inherently good person = being their own person, no matter what their upbringing, no matter what their past was. They made the choice to be the Doctor, and that's a hell of an important thing.

Extremely painful post I saw on Tumblr about the Doctor being 'hip with the kids' by calling her companions her Fam but hell if they're not more family to her than her actual adoptive mother ow my heart.

Also, the scene between Yaz and Graham was so sweet <3 I do want to see Yaz, at some point, admit that sometimes she's so terrified she can barely move, and to tell him what she came so close to doing when she was sixteen, and Graham to just go, "Yeah, but you keep going." Also I'm trying not to think about how Yaz would respond to the Doctor going off on a suicide mission when Yaz was suicidal just three years earlier because ow my heart. She knows that Ko Sharmus went after her, she knows the Doctor might be alive, but either way, she's just seen someone she loves leave with the intention of dying (and Ko Sharmus too, actually). Someone please give her a hug. Actually please just let the Fam have a big group hug in general.

"Have you ever been limited by who you were before?" "Huh. Now that does sound like me talking."

So, remaining questions to be answered next season!

What actually is the Doctor? Since they were found near the Boundary, they could be from anywhere. It's fair to say they now are recognised genetically as a Time Lord, but what were they originally, why were they abandoned in the first place, and are there any more of their original people out there?

How do the Remnants know about the Timeless Child, or were they just picking up on that unconscious knowledge from the Doctor's own mind?

Like... we're generally under agreement that the Master, the eternal cockroach, survived, right? Despite definitely being lowkey suicidal like oh, was hoping the Death Particle would kill me? Like the Death Particle was made by the Cyberium, it could have gone, "Nah, keeping this one."

What's going on with the Kasaavin? Remember them? Still out there, stationed all through time and space? And are we going to see Daniel Barton again?

Is something going on with Yaz?

Will the Fam stay on? (I personally think Ryan will elect to stay on Earth to account for Tosin Cole's new TV role, and if Graham and Ravio enter a relationship, he might too.)

When will we see Jack again? If he was connected to the Lone Cyberman arc, that seems... pretty conclusively finished, unless we're going to learn more about it?

Is it Christmas yet?

............so the Christmas/NY special is going to start with Jack using his vortex manipulator to bust the Doctor out of prison and get back to the Fam and it'll never be mentioned again, right.

"At least buy me diNNER!!"

[madmanransom]

DND Party

The gang’s all here. (At last) I had great fun drawing these characters because character design is a really fun thing to do as it really challenges you to put some thought into how each character should look. You’ve got to keep your head on straight so they don’t end up all looking the same.

Alright let’s get through this character list before I post extras and scrapped art.

First character I drew was the Asian monk. 

Now, there’s a few things I like about this certainly. I personally think this is one of the best looking character designs in the group. They all stand out, sure, but this monk stands out in a special way. His face is unique with a strong, wide nose, strong cheekbones, a sour frown, and annoyed eyebrows. On his right cheek there is a cross-shaped scar which I put there just for character. He has a long neck and defined, slender shoulders. Robes are draped over him and he’s also got a necklace which we will never see from this shot because he’s just a half-bust. He’s carrying a bamboo staff with the Chinese figures for the word “Death” (edgier than a Sonic the Hedgehog OC). The guy sticks out because he looks like he’s in a constantly sour mood. He will HIT YOU with that fucking bamboo stick if you ask him to lighten up.

Now, what do I NOT like? The name. Of all the names that this guy could have chosen. OF ALL THE NAMES. Think about this with me. He could have chosen some kickass Chinese, Tibetan, Nepalese, FUCK IT, any cool East Asian name and what does he choose? 

Dinkle Binkle.

Dinkle fucking Binkle.

A stupid joke name that doesn’t even make any sense. Sounds like a fucking Christmas elf name. No, no no no. On second thought, it sounds like the name of one of them toymakers from Santa Claus is Coming to Town by Rankin-Bass. “Dinkle Binkle Kringle.” THAT’S RIGHT. HIS NAME IS DINKLE BINKLE KRINGLE AND HE MAKES TOYS FOR ALL THE LITTLE GIRLS AND BOYS.

The next character I took on was big boy. My monk. A northern shaman-type by the name of Sígmunðurr.

If you’re wondering how to pronounce his name, it’s “Seeg-mun-thur” but pronounce that “th” like in the word “the”, not “teeth”. Some people often pronounce it as “Sigmundur” which is just fine, too.

Now, this guy was great fun to draw and definitely the easiest because he was my character, I knew how I wanted him to look. Sígmunðurr is a big bear of a man. around 6′4 and 270lbs. As he’s a monk he’s obviously going to be surprisingly spry for how big he is. But why should we be surprised? We’ve all seen Chris Farley dancing, right?

The funny part about old Síggy was when I was absent from my computer for about five minutes and the Dungeon Master asked what his name was again. One of my friends said “SUPERFAG” and the Dungeon Master thought that was funny (it was, come on, you know it was), so it’s a running joke that he’s named “SUPERFAG” in all caps.

The third character was Aeverin, one of our rangers.

Now, Aeverin is a pretty lanky fella. Only an inch shorter than Sígmunðurr, But he weighs significantly less. Also, his hair is very floofy and if you want to operate by those standards he is about a quarter of an inch taller. 

The fun part about this dude was that his player told me that “he’s a horizon walker ranger and he deals with a lot of extraplanar shit” thus he is in an almost perpetual state of befuddlement, and so he said to me that a perfect look for him would be that one face Tucker Carlson has when someone says something dumb and it leaves him simply baffled.

I refused to disappoint on this prospect.

The fourth character I drew and my favorite one at that, was the little Kobold Cleric, Kreet.

Kreet as fun to do for a multitude of reasons. The first being the obvious one: she’s heckin’ adorable. The second being that I had never drawn a Kobold before. Not from the waist up or down, so yeah, this was definitely a learning curve. I had to adjust to the extra small frame and I had to try my hardest to make her look cute. I think I did rather well, if I may have the ego to say so myself. I was about to consider it done when I felt like there wasn’t enough PIZAZZ to it so I gave her them lil’ feathers. 

Did I mention that Kreet’s player has his own channel dedicated to her story? You should totally check that out and be a cool duder.

https://kreetthekobold.tumblr.com/tagged/kreetthekobold/chrono

Do it.

NOW.

The next character was the Tiefling, Kabel Satán.

The fun thing about this is that every character has an interesting little story to pair with them. This player was going to have a character who managed to fashion a blunderbuss. He was human, about 5′6 and he had a grey hood. Unfortunately, upon seeing the difficulties of making this character work, he hastily went to a random character generator and came out with a tiefling who always wears a mask. This edgelord is an unfortunate victim of random character generators. The guy took it and I quickly redesigned the character I had already drawn to be half a foot taller, have a full head of hair, horns, red skin, and a younger face. The next day I created the mask. I’ll post him maskless after this lineup. 

As for the name, the player was Norwegian and had the username Kabelsatan. He just split it in half and gave the second “a” a forward facing grave. Those of you in Iceland will now pronounce that as Kabel Sat-aon. 

This, unfortunately, is a deeply, DEEPLY, D E E P L Y, Norwegian joke. Like, you need to understand some old Norwegian kids’ shows to get this joke because it’s a reference to a play on a character’s name.

The next character after this was the ever-so-infamous thieving rouge “Heywood Jablowme.”

The story with this guy is probably my favorite because it’s incredibly simple. The guy playing this guy had no name. So some other guy suggested the joke name “Heywood Jablowme.” He liked it and it stuck. Now, if you’re lost and you’re wondering what that even means- say the name out loud and make sure you say them as if they’re words in a sentence, not a name and surname.

Now you get it.

Hahahaha it’s funny because sex. Just like Amy Schumer.

And the last guy is... James. 

His name is fucking James. 

And he’s a ranger.

Now, James. James is a good character design for specific reasons. He looks awkward and seems awkward. Part of this is certainly his name. Whereas the other characters possess unique names, this man’s name is fucking James. Fucking JAMES. 

Secondly, he’s got a very soft face. Long in height, narrow in widith, with a large nose, big ears, and soulful hazel eyes that stand out. Apart from Kreet, he’s the least threatening and most approachable member of the group. 

The reason he looks like this is my favorite part. I was asking the guy what he looks like and he messages me this: 

Zoinks.

Anyway, there’s your character lineup. Now here’s some extra stuff.

All the characters, names not included:

All the characters’ individually without names:

The scrapped black powder pioneer, who’s face was the base for Kabel Satán:

Kabel Satán without his mask:

As you can see, I simply erased the lines indicating age to make him look younger. I then added a head full of hair, a pair of horns, some leather armor, and increased his height and shoulder breadth.The recoloring was the easy part.

Sígmunðurr’s beard is on a separate layer from the rest of his body and face, so I can actually show you what he’d look like were he to have a clean shave.

Terrifying, right?

This layer actually also holds Heywood’s mustache.

Again, terrifying, innit?

To top it all off here’s Dinkle Binkle with Kabel’s mask. For the giggles.

You can still see where it cuts off at his hair, haha!

[testosteronetuesdays]

Lightning round where I pick random numbers because I can’t find the actual post and I am sleepy. May the gods be in your favour. Fate decides your questions: 13, 52, 27

Lmao if you search for meme on my page you should find it

13 what do they do for fun?

Nox

Doodling. She loves to doodle even if she's not good at it. 

Bai

Homegirl is RICH rich so she has a lot of hobbies. Her favorite things to do are traditional calligraphy, singing and playing the erhu.

NotBa

Cooking and gardening. Which is good cause he has 6 kids to feed.

Massa

Reading. She's one of the few that can read and she loves it. She also has a knack for storytelling much to the twins delight. 

Hansen

Reading. You wouldn't know it from talking to him but he has a lot of medical journals stashed away in his room. He also has a huge interest in biology.

The Twins

Sewing and toymaking. They often have to make their own toys so they've turned that into a game in itself. They also love to play hide and go seek and hopscotch and will cream anyone foolish enough to play with them

Alma

problem solving and puzzles. She loves tinker and even though her epilepsy makes it harder to concentrate at times but she loves to problem solve. If the world was normal she would be first in line at engineering school.

Pegan

Sews, knits and sings. Often when they preform they lip sing so singing is more fun for them. Sewing helps them with their job but they also just like to cozy on up with camp and glitch and just embroider when they can.

Glitch

Story telling and tinkering. Zie might be the best programmer you know but that dosen't mean zie don't like to get zeir hands dirty.

Camp

Cooking. His ingredients are all shit and from a can but oh my god this boy can COOK. Someone let him meet NotBa so they can recipe swap.

52 what is their body type? Are they muscular, skinny, chubby, etc.?

Nox

Stocky and short. She is still recovering from chronic malnutrition and the like but she still has that lean muscle for running

Bai

Tall and thin. She's lived a life of luxury and you can tell. Her hands are so dainty. But she's got broad shoulders

NotBa

Man's is old but he is ripped. He does a lot of physical labour including picking up children so he's gotta be. It's functional muscle 

Massa

Taller and not as chronically malnourished as her sister Nox as her parents were better off when she was a baby but still not super healthy either. Cheeks still a little too thin. She's also fairly muscular for running.

Hansen

He looks like a stick but has supprise muscles from lifting his little sisters and all those nerd books he has

The Twins

They are babies. Little preteen babies. Too thin tho. Need to eat more.

Alma

Taller but also surprisingly strong. Much like her brother she's got secret muscle. She's lifting pipes and building stuff. She kind of has to be.

Pegan

They are strong and tall and real neat o.

Glitch

Muscley with little bit of weight on zeim and zei are really proud of it. Catch this tummy out here. Yeah zei eat calories that's how a body GOES

Camp

Kinda waify and not super strong with a bit of weight to him. He's the shortest out of the 3

27 what is their biggest strength?

Nox

Versatility. She can adjust to almost any situation and blend in. It makes her very good as a thief. 

Bai 

Sympathy. She might not understand what's going on but if you're hurting she dosen't like that and will fight tooth and nail to make it stop.

Notba

Responsibility. He has a collective responsibility which isn't always good and he carries a lot of guilt because of it but it's what makes him stick out his neck for others and oh my god does he do that.

Massa

Quick thinking and decisiveness. There's a problem, Massa normally has a solution and will stick with it until proven that there is a better one. She's notoriously scrappy because of this. 

Hansen 

His patience. Surprising answer but with the right people he is incredibly patient including himself. Can't get something right ? Wait. It'll come to him soon. The twins are talking a lot and keep telling him weird stories even if he can't tell what Lil' is saying via improvised signing all the time. Its fine the message will get through. 

Alma

Visual thinking. She has amazing spacial sense and can visually peice together any item you can imagine. She knows exsactly what should go where and when things should move.

The twins 

Creativity and learning capacity. They are young but even for kids their age they are creative. Lil' made up her own language to communicate with and Bigs regularly translates. They are both stupid talented and there is no such thing as a stupid idea to them just building blocks to a better one.

Pegan 

Empathy. If you're happy they're happy and if you're sad their sad and if you're hurting well… they'll want it to stop. It makes the party scene very addictive to them but that's also one of the strongest places for the resistance.

Glitch

Amazing memory. Something happened 3 weeks ago ? Zie can tell you who was there how they impacted what happened and what they were wearing and also what they smelled like. It's terrifying. 

Camp

Humour and faith. He's amazing at saying the right thing at the right time to diffuse a situation. He believes in so much to almost a fault and if it wasn't for his almost physic like luck