#we just live in the ryan timestream

[lilacerull0]

MUSICIAN!AMY AU: Talking To The Apple is a song recorded by Cassandra Blackwood (Amelia Pond) for her 5th (although this remains uncertain - it's been said that Blackwood has released double the number of songs she officially shared. whispers about "melodies sung by the river" and "library pools") studio album, You Be A Good Girl. Blackwood said it came to her as "a vision" hence her insistence that she wasn't the one to write it: ''It's not my song. It's a stolen dream I had to sing." There exists no evidence that would potentially support this statement.

(song) (for @god-nonsensical)

[taiblogcomics]

Living Sheltered Lives

Hey there, celebrities on Cameo. My birthday's in five days! Let's review some more Countdown!

Here's the cover:

I dunno, DC, this Fall Guys crossover ain't gonna save this story, even if you're thirteen years early. Like, you didn't even get the art style right at all! Also, since there isn't much else to this cover, let's talk about this point: the design of the handcuffs binding Trickster and Piper together are not consistant from issue to issue, further showing how little the staff was communicating with each other. Last issue, they were thick and manacle-like, taking up half the forearm, with a big cable between them. In this one, they're basically handcuffs with a thin-ass wire connecting them. Just saying, last issue, I believed they could deal a lethal shock. This issue? Not so much.

Recap time! So Pied Piper and Trickster got apprehended and are falling from a plane. Donna Troy, Jason Todd, a Monitor, and Ryan Choi are falling into the microverse to find Ray Palmer. Mary Marvel is falling into the sway of her new powers. Jimmy Olsen is falling into the trap of finding a use for his new powers. Karate Kid is falling back into the timestream before something bad happens. And Holly Robinson is not falling for the stuff at Athena's women's shelter. And now let's us fall into this issue~

So we pick up right where we left off, where Trickster and Piper are falling out of a plane. I should also note that, like the design of the handcuffs, the plane also changes appearance between issues. Last time, it was a high-tech superhero plane. This issue, it looks like a normal commercial passenger jet. So you can tell they just wrote "handcuffs" and "plane" in the script, and nobody went and consulted the previous issue's artist. Like, the reason 52 worked so good is that despite being a multi-creator work is that they mostly all communicated. This series, they're clearly not doing so.

Anyways! Falling from a plane! Very scary. Especially coz if they fall too far from each other, it'll trigger the electric shock from their cuffs. Trickster won't take the blame for this situation, thinking they were only in a van when he jumped out. Luckily for them, Piper managed to grab the bag holding all their equipment as they jumped out. How convenient! Trickster manages to dig out his flying shoes, and both of them put on one shoe. At least this comic is smart enough to point out that even if they're about to hit water, it'll still kill them like hitting concrete if they're going too fast--just as both of them plunge into the harbour.

Meanwhile, Jimmy Olsen is trying on a superhero costume. Oh, trust me, we'll be getting to that. I really want to critique it when you guys can see it too, so wait 'til issue 38. Nonetheless, it kind of sucks, and so does his chosen supranym of "Mr. Action". Jimmy then realises he's going to be late for work if he doesn't stop admiring his shitty costume in the mirror. He gets to work, and Lois asks if he isn't hot wearing a full suit (which he's wearing his costume under) on a summer's day. Jimmy just laughs it off awkwardly, saying he's trying to look professional. Then maybe he shouldn't be wearing his Silver-Age green suit with bowtie.

Over in Gotham, it doesn't seem as hot as in Metropolis. Must be the constant cloud cover. At the very least, Mary Marvel doesn't seem bothered sitting outside in her black latex costume. The perks of magic, I guess. Speaking of, though, she's not sure what the magic is doing to her. Apparently Black Adam's powers feel way different than the old Captain Marvel powers ever did. And they seem to be a bad influence on her, given how violently she took care of Clayface. And while she's moping and brooding about this (she is in Gotham, after all, brooding capital of the world), someone mysterious observes her through a purple lens…

Hundreds of miles and microns away, Ryan Choi leads his teammates deeper into the Palmerverse. I'm just gonna keep calling it the microverse, even though that's Marvel's racket. Less confusing. The Monitor thanks Ryan for his efforts in aiding the multiverse. He's just glad to be here. (This won't last, no one in Countdown is glad of the experience in the end.) And now the most important moment in the comic: Jason notes that the Monitor doesn't have a name. So he decides to name him "Bob". "Bob" is a guy he can get casual with, unlike "the Monitor". Fantastic~

Bob and crew land in the microverse just as we cut away to Trickster and Piper hauling themselves out of the harbour. Somehow they lived through that. By sheer coincidence, they landed in Gotham. This is basically out of the frying pan and into the fire to Piper. Trickster has a plan, though. As long as they keep their heads down and don't attract attention, he knows someone who can help. This is indicated by them passing a sign for the Penguin's establishment, the Iceberg Lounge. I like this includes art for the The New Batman Adventures version of the Penguin.

Hey, remember a few issues back when this series teased at being an Amazon Attack! tie-in? Here's another flaw with this series: it's trying to tie in to an event that was running monthly, while this series is running weekly. That's why we haven't heard about it in a half-dozen issues! Anyways, we've finally caught up to that point where Supergirl and Wonder Girl side with the Amazons and hijack Air Force One--yes, that was a real thing that happened. Naturally, the American public is big mad about it, and reacting perfectly believable for the American public, they decide to protest in droves outside the Athenian Women's Shelter.

Like, seriously, they use a two-page splash to show us how big the angry crowd is. They're shouting things like "Murderers!" and "Terrorists!" Like, the President's not even confirmed dead at this point. Harley Quinn goes out to yell at the crowd that this place is just a women's shelter and they haven't even done anything, and Holly has to drag her back in when the crowd starts throwing things at her. Well, say what you will about literally anything else in this comic book, but they sure got the reactionary dumbasses of America down pat~

Now here's a weird bit I think is only in the trade, possibly to even out the page count so you always get the issue's cover on the right-hand page. But it's a fully black page with only the first panel of the opposite page in the middle, showing an establishing shot of the Fortress of Solitude. I get why it was done, but it's very odd to come across in the trade.

Anyway, the comic ends with the Legion members going home. Except Karate Kid is told he's not allowed through the time portal, as he still has something they need him to do here. At least he won't be alone, since Una (formerly Triplicate Girl and Duo Damsel before she lost her dupes) is also coming with him for the adventure.

I think the biggest problems with this issue are the aforementioned inconsistancies with the art. It doesn't say much for the story when you can't keep details like that straight. (If you're missing simple details, you're probably not setting much store by broader topics either, yeah?) This and the weird shift with trying to keep this as a tie-in to other things with a different release schedule really hurt this one. The behind-the-scenes meta stuff hurts this one more than anything in particular in its writing. And heck, it did give us Bob the Monitor~

[oosteven-universe]

Blue and Gold #1

Blue and Gold #1 DC Comics 2021 Written by Dan Jurgens Illustrated by Ryan Sook Lettered by Rob Leigh    Desperate to regain the spotlight, Booster Gold looks to attract the public’s (and Justice League’s) attention the same way any washed-up, second-rate hero would-social media. The not-so-tech-savvy hero from the 25th century enlists the help of his best friend, Blue Beetle, who possesses both the money and the brains to help his old pal navigate the scary world of internet influencers. Watch out, evildoers, our heroes are live and online!    Part of me is thrilled that Booster has reverted to his old ways and another part of me wishes he’d utilise the time spent in the timestream with his pops to have grown up a bit.  Overall though this is the kind of series that reminds us of the pair’s time in the 90’s version of the League.  It has humour and action, seriousness balances out the silliness and it’s just a pure and utter joy to be able to laugh and smile again when it comes to the DC Universe.  When it’s all said and done this is a perfectly balanced book that brings the fun back to the funny book genre and it’s a well needed distraction from the dark and angst set that has become the norm.    I love, love, love the way that this is being told.  The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceedingly well.  The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction, the social media boxes as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does a magnificent job in fleshing out the characters.  The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story we’re treated to a delightful beginning of their reunion tour!    I appreciate the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story emerge and grow.  The layers contain the characterisation and the plot twists that drive the story forward and whether they work with the main arc or swirl around it they add this great depth, dimension and complexity to the story.  How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is impeccably done.    The interiors here are phenomenal!  The linework we see is clean, crisp and strong and how the varying weights and techniques are being utilised to create the detail work is astonishingly well rendered.  We see some nice use of backgrounds throughout and how they enhance the moments as well as work within the composition of the panels to bing us depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope of the story is magnificent.  The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling.  The colour work is brilliantly rendered.  The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a master colourist at work.  The creativity and imagination that we see throughout is mind numbing.   ​    Booster has the potential to be a great hero and along the way he’s become that joke so here’s hoping he can retain that sense of humour that makes him ridiculously silly and completely and utterly effective in the realm of superheroes.  Still Blue and Gold is a team that would do well on a permanent basis, which of course depends on how this eight issue run does.  What Dan does with the writing here is pure genius on his part and while the legacy of these two is far from written if the writing and characterisation remains this stellar and the interiors this high level of quality stuff than I’m ready for the two of them to be permanent fixtures on stands.

[thedinosaurprince]

While in isolation, I am trying to keep writing regularly and finally gave in to the peer pressure to write something Doctor Who-y. I've been a bit of a snob when it comes to fan fic for a while, but have come to appreciate it as an exercise and as a way of getting ideas out of my head and onto the page. Also, it's just a lot more fun.

So, here's a little scene I cobbled together. Set after The Timeless Children, the Doctor still has her phone on her and is trying to contact old friends, but ends up talking to her oldest friend.

Fills in a bit of the narrative gap between World Enough and Time, and Spyfall.

Voicemail

“Me again,” the Doctor projected as much brightness into her voice as she could muster. “Message number five hundred and six, I think. Lost count a while back, but I think I got it back. Anyway, as soon as you get this, Yas, call me back. In a spot of bother. I can use the relay from your phone signal to subroot the coordinate settings on that TARDIS you got. Also, you know, it would be nice to see a friendly face. Oh, and can you ask Ryan to empty his mail box? Eighty three messages I sent him. Have you all lost your phones? Does Graham have a phone?”

The Doctor was pacing, the tiny cell affording little in the way of scenery, but she was using her imagination, and she had a bloody good imagination, thank you very much. Yas had been the first person she’d called. No answer. She’d tried Ryan, UNIT, Torchwood, all the obvious people. Nobody was picking up. Not even Sarah Jane.

“So, yeah, call me,” the Doctor continued. “Yas, I hope you’re safe. I know we parted on uncertain terms, but we can make up for it. I’ve got this brilliant idea, we can go to…”

“This mailbox is full.”

The message, robotic and empty of feeling. She’d heard it in all the variety the phone companies of her friends offered.

“Please try again later.”

She pulled the phone away and let the robot hangup. Well, if this wasn’t a kick in the ear. Teeth, kick in the teeth. She needed to remember phrases like that. Might be useful one day if she ever entered the universal idioms contest again. She’d lost spectacularly last time, but it was half a dozen regenerations back, so she must have improved. But the competition also had had time to improve, the sly devils.

Sly devils.

Her contacts list was stuffed to the brim of friends and acquaintances, and then there were a few old enemies, just in case. Best friends, and best enemies. Some who fit both bills. Well, one who fit both bills.

It wasn’t exactly a phone number, it was a series of old Gallifreyan mantras they’d say as part of a psychic link across time and space. Rarely worked, and you never knew what part of the timestream you’d find them. Still, as she’d just left him three days ago, she expected that locking onto him wouldn’t be too difficult. It wasn’t as if she had much else going on.

The phone’s battery was winding down. 5% and falling. If she was going to make a call, she’d have to make it count. All those friends and allies she’d been calling out to, and here she was at the end of her rope.

Maybe the Judoon had done something to the phone lines? That would explain why nobody was picking up. Yeah, that’d explain it. People don’t just forget about you, and not all four hundred of your contacts, surely?

His name burned into her eyes, even when she wasn’t looking at the phone. He was going to annoy her, he was going to upset her. But she could annoy him, too. That was one of her special talents.

She punched the call button and closed her eyes, speaking the mantras, aligning her psychic coordinates. It felt like an age, it swirled in pulsing echoes of their past. The academy, the Medusa Cascade, the Autons, Devil’s End, the Panopticon. The day spent basking in the second sun’s rays while they skipped out on Barusa’s lecture on Omegan polarity reversal. The cut and thrust of a sword fight in an island prison. Leaving each other, finding each other. Watching the planet of the Cheetah people burn, watching him disintegrate. The fear, and the joy at seeing him alive again.

Was he still alive? She’d left him standing in front of a bomb set to destroy all living matter on Gallifrey. Then again, she’d watched him literally burn to death, seen him fall a thousand feet, watched him get shot, electrocuted, exterminated, and every time, he found a way to come back. He was almost as bad as she was.

Then again, these sorts of calls rarely happened in chronological order. She might find him in the past - in his personal past. She’d have to be careful about what she said, just in case. Or, she could reach him in the future - in her personal future. Would that be better or worse? Hard to say. She’d just have to roll with it.

“Hello,” his voice came through the speaker, crisp, yet frustrated. “If you’re selling something, just listen to my voice. This thing you’re selling, is it really bringing you what you want? Wouldn’t you like power of your own? Listen to my voice. Hear my voice. Listen, I am the Master, and you will…”

“It’s me.”

[Read More]

[jennaschererwrites]

‘Doctor Who’: Long Live the First Female Doctor! – Rolling Stone

In its five decades careening through the cosmos and the popular imagination, Doctor Who has given us plenty of philosophies to choose from: “Go forward in all your beliefs.” “There is no point in being grown up if you can’t be childish sometimes.” “We’re all stories in the end.” “Bananas are good.” But on yesterday’s Season 11 premiere, the latest incarnation of the time-traveling, galaxy-hopping, species-saving, face-changing Time Lord gave voice to what is perhaps the show’s most enduring philosophy: “We’re all capable of the most incredible change.”

As surely as the Doctor has two hearts, change is built into this show’s DNA. It has a lot to do with Doctor Who‘s enduring message of hope and progress, and even more to do with practicality: A show can go on indefinitely if its lead can change bodies whenever an actor decides to call it quits. In its 54-year history, 12 blokes have stepped into the role — four of them in the past 13 years alone, since the series’ 2005 resurrection. But no change has been more monumental, more timestream-shattering, than the decision to have the Doctor regenerate as a woman.

As with any major news about a beloved franchise, last year’s announcement that our hero would be transforming from Peter Capaldi into Jodie Whittaker (along with a new showrunner, Broadchurch scribe Chris Chibnall) was met with equal parts euphoria and derision. But the proof is in the pudding, and Whittaker’s long-anticipated debut, “The Woman Who Fell to Earth,” is an episode rooted solidly in the Who tradition while also offering something deliriously new.

After six seasons under showrunner Steven Moffat — who delighted in the kind of “timey-wimey” plotting that would leave your head spinning — the character’s mythos had become so convoluted as to be indecipherable to new or casual viewers. The latest series mercifully hacks through that jungle of backstory to bring us a fresh start. New to this universe? No worries — so is the Doctor.

Freshly regenerated and separated from her TARDIS (that’s the blue police box that can travel through time and space and is bigger on the inside, for those just joining us), Whittaker’s Who crash-lands on Earth clad in the tattered, oversized clothes of her predecessor. She’s a bit confused and still cooking, brand-new-body–wise. “Why are you calling me madam?” she asks one of the first humans she meets. When she find out it’s because she’s a woman, she widens her eyes in surprise and delight. “Am I? Does it suit me?”

But never mind that, because the lady has got extraterrestrial bad guys to fight ASAP — in this case, an electrified tentacle-y creature and a goth Power Ranger-looking dude menacing greater Sheffield. It wouldn’t be Doctor Who without some jerks threatening Great Britain, or without a scrappy, endearing human or four to join the Time Lord in her heroics.

The new crop of companions breaks the usual mold of “plucky young woman looking to have an adventure.” This time, it’s a quartet: local teen Ryan Sinclair (Tosin Cole); policewoman-in-training Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill); Ryan’s nan, Grace (Sharon D. Clarke); and her husband, Graham (Bradley Walsh). Together, they help the addled but very game Doctor find her bearings, craft a shiny new sonic screwdriver, and take down the threat of the week. (It’s a testament to the new series’ spirit of inclusivity that this group includes three actors of color.)

Fittingly, said villain is toxic masculinity personified: a gravelly-voiced alien (Samuel Oatley) who hails from a planet where they hunt and kill random innocents for sport in order to rise up the ranks; as a fun, gross bonus, the guy wears the teeth of his victims as face jewelry. When the Doctor wins the day and turns his own DNA-melting weapons against him, she tells him: “You had a choice. You did this to yourself. Go home.”

It’s one of several lines in the episode that function both within the plot and as a message to skeptics and haters. “Don’t be scared. All of this is new to you, and new can be scary,” she tells Graham, and later, in a crane-top showdown: “We can evolve while still staying true to who we are. We can honor who we’ve been and choose who we want to be next.” It’s all a bit on the nose, sure, but you could argue that this is a moment — in a show whose occasional heavy-handedness is part of its charm — when everyone’s noses need a good poking.

Because, well, let’s get personal here: As a Who fan ever since Christopher Eccleston first grabbed Billie Piper’s hand and shouted, “Run!” back in 2005, I’ve been enamored of the Doctor’s particular brand of heroics. You know the drill: brains over brawn, godlike powers married to self-deprecating wit, searing curiosity, hidden darkness, endless wonder and a determined compassion for even the most monstrous of creatures.

Through its many incarnations, the show has imagined a universe of infinite possibility, so it seemed nuts that the Doctor would be limited to resurrecting as a series of white guys. Not that the 12 men who’ve captained the TARDIS haven’t been frequently brilliant, but like many other women who love Doctor Who, I’ve been waiting for the day when that Time Lord regeneration glow would fade to reveal a different sort of face than the ones we were used to.

It’s a truth multiversally acknowledged that the Doctor is always the smartest, most capable person in any given room. And the value of seeing a woman in that position, after five decades of alien mansplaining, cannot be understated. The real world is miles behind, but as far as speculative fiction is considered, we have the sci-fi equivalent of a female president.

Whittaker (who’s best known for her previous work with Chibnall on Broadchurch) absolutely owns the part from moment she leaps into the frame. Like every Doctor, she’s a ball of frantic energy and one-liners, commanding the room by thoroughly flustering and out-talking everyone else in it. But she also brings something else to the table that sets her apart from her male antecedents: emotional availability. Take the way she describes the experience of regeneration: “There’s this moment when you’re sure you’re about to die. And then … you’re born! It’s terrifying.” Previous incarnations drew power from shoving their true feelings down deep; Whittaker’s version airs them in the open, and is no less formidable for it.

There comes a moment in every Doctor’s first episode when they take a stand against the bad guy, square their shoulders and declare: “I’m the Doctor.” It’s formulaic, but it’s thrilling; the mantra is both the establishment of a moniker and a mission statement, a superheroic call to fight injustice across time and space. And when Whittaker says it — wind-whipped and majestic in the charred remnants of a black coat tailored to an old body that no longer suited her — it sent a shiver up my spine. For the first time in half a century, women aren’t just in the passenger’s seat of the TARDIS. We’re the goddamn lords of time and space.