#well the exact anniversary is in a couple of hours

[weirdlizard26]

its been two years by the way. fuck

[accio-victuuri]

okay, let’s do a part two of birthday cpns. part one is here incase you missed it ✌🏼

let’s start with this wardrobe match. xzs posted another set of photos and this time, xz is all dressed up. well it turns out it’s from the same brand/collection as what yibo wore at yh concert which is amiri. it’s kinda special cause that’s what he used to perform somebody else’s arms which i think is personal. and adding the cpn that the design on wyb’s side had WX on it.

it’s like the tom ford thing ( among others ) all over again. granted that this is a good brand that they have used before but it’s so sus! do they have the same taste? lol. i imagine them talking about clothes and sharing what they think looks good on them. and personally, that collection had some v interesting pieces. so glad they get to wear stuff like this and not just plain black suits.

now we move on to yibo’s usual photoset related to exploring the unknown 🗺️. he does share personal photos he took from his time shooting for the past saturdays so we knew he will post today. fans have noticed that the number 33 ( gg’s age now ) is somehow incorporated.

his past posts only had one emoji or none. that’s how short and simple he is and we got used to that pattern. but for today, he had 9. and it’s 3 emojis reposted 3x. 33. when people also check this on weibo, it’s coming up as 33 characters. this exact combination. you can put in 9 other emojis that use the hand but it’s not 33. this may be a coincidence. you can say that there are lots of emojis because it’s the last weekend he is expressing his thanks.

also, if you count all the photos/videos in sets he shared ever since he started it’s 33. not including the one posted today.

the universe is truly clowning us. 🤡🤡🤡

and oh, the photoset of wyb and xzs new photoshoot were posted a minute apart. did wyb miss the 16:23? or maybe he was really going for 16:24. I found an explanation here of what it means and it’s so sweet?!

The number 1624 represents love and romance. it can be explained in two ways: 1. Pinyin homophony: In Chinese, "one hundred sixty-two four" is harmonious to "all the way". the sound means smooth progress and smooth development on the road to love. therefore, some people will do it on the occasion of marriage proposal or anniversary.

Digit Split: Split the number, i.e. "1 6" and "24". "16" represents the meaning of "one heart and one mind". it means giving and serving wholeheartedly in love and "24" represents the hours of each day of your life. The number implies that the two of them will spend a whole life together. Day and night, we accompany each other and never leave.

some are also talking about the closed loop of yibo starting his bday with a photo in the desert. and then posting about it again on xz’s bday. 💛

it seems so similar to xz’s bday photoshoot before in a desert where he wore the GUCCI couple necklace. i don’t think i have to explain much, if you were there or read about it — you would know how chaotically sweet that year was.

and the first emoji yibo used ✊🏻✊🏻✊🏻 is the same as the gestured they did in this photo ⬇️⬇️⬇️

this photo too, maybe i’m wrong but when i saw it i was like — two sets of tableware? Is he on a date? lol. or maybe it’s the girlfriend fantasy they are serving here. you and gege on a date? HAHAHAHAHAHA!

FINALLY, xz studio shared 18 photos for the first set. and 9 on the second. they could easily made it 18 + 18 cause that’s the max and i’m sure they have lots of photos. but no. it’s 18 + 9 = 27 which is yibo’s age.

PLEASE SHUT UP. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

I honestly thought it was gonna be chill considering the kinds of cpns we picked up on part one. but this is kinda insane. lol. I think we will still get a video? the behind the scenes of the photoshoots ( hopefully ) and i’m excited to see it!!!!!!

END.

[loveacrosstimes]

The Nurse and the Rancher

Summary: Claire, a 27-year-old nurse from NYC accidentally gets transported back to California in 1995. There she meets Jamie, a 25-year-old Scot who recently inherited his uncle's sprawling ranch in St. Helena.

Claire Randall had no cell phone, no wallet, not even a single ballpoint pen to accompany her on her trek through the dusty, humid hell that was small town, California.  

It had a name, sure, but she couldn’t remember what it was.

It wasn’t one of the handful of famous cities she’d learned about back home in New York  — Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco  — but that was the least of her worries.

In the span of eight or so hours, she’d settled into the terrifying reality that not only was she not in New York anymore, but she was somehow nearly 30 years in the past as well. 

June 8, 1995, to be exact.

The rolled-up newspaper under her arm confirmed as much, as did the genial convenience store cashier who’d given it to her for free. That small show of kindness had kept her from falling to her knees and asking God why the worst luck in the world seemed to attach itself to her. 

Traveling to the past on the day before her fifth wedding anniversary, when she and her husband, Frank, were already on icy terms. He thought she spent too much time clocking in at the neonatal unit in the hospital; she thought his nose was too far in his history books. 

Neither was wrong, and once they could see past their own deep-seeded stubbornness, they agreed to fix things. 

After spending weeks in couple’s therapy, this was supposed to be a make-or-break milestone for them. 

A new beginning. 

She’d bought a new dress and a little makeup — because it’d been ages since he’d seen her out of her scrubs — supplies to make his favorite maple cake, and the fixings for a steak dinner. 

And now, she'd vanished without a trace. 

She stopped in the middle of the barely-paved road, unfurling the paper. The number of times she’d glanced down at the date hoping that the numbers changed was mind-boggling — but it was unfailing.

June 8, 1995. 

Eight days into the sixth month of the nineteen hundred and ninety-fifth year. 

In Le Cressida , no less, according to the paper. Wherever that was. 

She pressed an anguished hand onto her forehead.

The California sun, which she’d only heard about in theory before today, beat down on her with no abandon, shellacking her curls to her forehead and plastering her scrubs to her thighs.

If she didn’t get something cold to drink soon, she was going to pass out from dehydration. 

Heeding the directions of the cashier, she turned right in front of the store, walking right down the long, uneven street, until she passed a car repair shop and a check cashing place. 

Sure enough, there was a diner across the way. 

HATTIE’S, spelled in all caps. It was supposed to serve the best chicken and waffles in town, according to the cashier. 

Not that she cared. She just needed sustenance.

And water, God, she needed water. 

Claire pushed open the old creaky doors to the diner, and was immediately enveloped with the cold, crispy breeze of air conditioning and the overwhelming smell of grease.

Perhaps her hunger was overtaking her, but it wasn’t a rancid, turn-her-stomach kind of smell.

It smelled like buttery, artery clogging goodness, swirling with the remnants of chicken and burgers and bacon, and whatever else was sizzling on the big splotchy grill back in the kitchen.

She never allowed herself to enjoy these foods, thanks to the number of patients she’d seen meet their demise from years of overindulging when she was doing her rounds in nursing school. 

But today was no ordinary day.

“Come on in, little lady, you’re letting out the AC,” said a gruff, burly man from behind the counter.   

Claire walked further into the establishment. The floors latched onto her shoes, its thin layer of grime sandwiching itself between the grooves on the bottom of her shoe. 

Inside, she grimaced, but she kept her face leveled to keep from offending the man who stood between her and a tall icy beverage. 

“Sorry about that." She pointed back towards the door. "I got distracted.”

He picked up his notepad and shrugged. “‘It’s alright. Now, what can I get for you?”

She sat her newspaper on the counter, then looked at the menu scrawled out in chalk on a board above. Endless pairings of salt, fat, and protein, slathered in more fat, but only one item made her stomach truly quake. 

“Can I get a double cheeseburger, please? Hold the pickles and extra tomatoes. And a cup of ice water. The biggest size you have.”

He wrote as she talked. “That's all?” 

Glancing back up, she considered adding a carb to the meal. Before the universe whisked her to Le Cressida, she’d been making her daily walk to Mount Sinai Hospital. She was halfway there before she realized she’d left her purse at home, but she didn’t think much of it. 

Obviously, she should’ve.

Now, she only had the $50 worth of emergency money she kept in her bra — something NYC pickpockets couldn’t swipe — to pay with. Through some measure of a miracle, it’d made it through this journey here with her. And since she didn’t know how long she’d have to stretch it, she couldn’t go overboard. 

“Yes, that’s all — thank you, uh, Danny,” she said, finally noticing his name tag. 

With a nod, he turned and headed towards the kitchen. 

As he fetched her food, Claire familiarized herself with the surroundings.

The diner walls were dyed with what looked like years of unfiltered oil and smoke residue. There was a large neon, Coca-Cola sign on the wall to the right of the large windows, across from the counter. The retro kind she’d seen in her mother’s old magazines she collected in her early 20s. On the other wall was a board full of polaroid photos she couldn’t make out from her seat. In the other corner was a jukebox that looked like it’d been plucked straight out of the ‘60s – probably why it wasn’t on.

Or maybe it was because the diner was nearly empty. Besides her, two other patrons were sitting in a booth that lined the windows — peculiar for 3:12 p.m, no matter what decade you were in. 

Then again, it wasn’t quite time for the dinner rush yet. 

Or maybe HATTIE'S just didn’t turn over much business. 

She didn’t intend to stay here long enough to figure it out. 

After she got a good meal in her belly, she was going to wander a couple of miles back to the edge of the forest where the universe had spit her out and see if she could get back home.

Glancing backward towards the door, she looked across the way. There was barely any foot traffic along the few businesses that lined the street. It made the expansive nothingness surrounding them in every direction seem more storied, more menacing. 

Just as Claire turned her attention back to the counter, Danny emerged with her order. “Here you go, little lady.” 

She whipped around with a gleam in her eyes. “Thanks, this looks amazing,” she said about the very generic-looking diner burger coated in a thin layer of grease and grill marks – even the bread. 

Yet, it wasn’t long before she was shoveling in her food with both hands, slowing only to gulp down streams of her water. The food wasn’t nearly as tasty as it smelled, and yet it was the most delicious meal she’d ever had in her life. Determined to savor every morsel, she didn’t notice Danny, propped up near the counter, watching her intently. 

“Slow down, ma’am, I don’t know the Heimlich maneuver,” he said with a guttural laugh. 

Face flaming from embarrassment, Claire slowly raised her head and reached for the napkin dispenser. “I’m sorry … I haven’t eaten in hours,” she said, wiping traces of grease from her mouth and hands. 

But he waved her away. “Oh, I’m just funnin' ya. It’s nice to see someone appreciate the cuisine.”

Claire picked up what was left of her burger. “Well, it’s amazing.” A lie and a truth. “I’ll, um, have to come this way more often.”

Though, if the universe cared about her even a little bit, this would be the last time they ever crossed paths, because she’d be able to figure out how to get out of Dodge, and back home. 

Or maybe she’d just wake up from this very bad dream or perhaps even a coma. She hadn’t completely ruled that this wasn’t an elaborate hallucination, after all.

“I certainly wouldn’t mind. It’s always nice to see a new face now and again – especially one so pretty.”

Ignoring Danny, she took another bite from her burger, not wanting to entertain even the mildest flirtation from this man. 

Even if she wasn’t married, he wasn’t her type. 

“Plus, we don’t get many medical folks in this part.”

“Oh?” She asked brow raised slightly. 

“No, the nearest hospital is about 10 miles out.” 

“Yeah, I know,” she said quickly – perhaps too quickly. “But I was doing a house call nearby...” she added, offering up that tidbit before he could find any gaps in her story. “For a homebound patient.”

The less the locals knew of her situation the better. She was already in a strange town in an unfamiliar time. The last thing she needed were people sniffing around her trying to figure out where she was from.

All she had to offer them was the truth, and in this case, it was certainly stranger than fiction. 

"Dedicated eh?” he said, the answer seeming to satisfy him.

She smiled again. “Yes. I love my work.” That part was true. “Anyway, how much was the meal?” She reached into her bra for all the money she had in the world. Her poor father, he’d roll in his grave if he knew.

“Let’s see, a burger, extra tomatoes, and ice water. $5.56.”

“Really?” She asked, unable to contain her surprise. That same meal would’ve been at least $12-15 in 2024 —  and that's without a tip.

“Yep. Surely that’s not too steep for a nurse – I hear y’all make good money.”

“No, it’s very affordable. I’m just … surprised.”

He shrugged again. “Shouldn’t be. Things are cheaper out here in the sticks.” 

“I'm learning.” 

He reached for her money and walked over to the register.

She turned her attention back to her water, downing the rest of it. Barely satiated, but feeling stronger to restart her journey. 

Behind her the door jingled, alerting her to another patron, but she was too transfixed with the temporary relief.

It wasn’t until he stood next to her at the counter that she noted his statuesque physique. A long, lean body, accented by bulging muscles,  topped with a mess of auburn curls. 

He was wearing loose-fitting jeans, gathered at the waist with a belt and a plaid button down with what looked to be cut-off sleeves.

He was a cowboy or a cosplayer. 

Was cosplaying even a thing in the 90s? Her knowledge of the decade mostly amounted to the 90s-era TV she’d grown up with and the stories from her mother’s days as a wild, uninhibited twenty-something she’d heard about from her aunt Tiffany. She couldn’t remember any mention of the costume-heavy conventions that had taken root during her lifetime.

Either way, he was undeniably handsome in a way it’d be improper to harp on as a married woman.

So she didn’t harp .

She took only a moment to familiarize herself with this deliriously handsome figure standing feet away.

He noticed her a beat later and tilted his cowboy hat towards her. 

She flashed him a meek smile, then forced her gaze forward. 

Danny returned to the counter with a conflicted look on his face. 

“I’ll be with you in just one second, Jamie,” he said to the man he was obviously familiar with. 

Jamie, as she now knew him, nodded, then took the fourth seat at the counter, leaving two empty seats between them. 

Turning back in front of her, Claire caught the man’s expression, turning her face downward into a frown. “Everything okay?” She asked, a prickly filling rooting itself in her stomach. 

And it wasn't because of the greaseball of a burger she'd scarfed down.

“It will be after you tell me where you got this money.” 

She blinked slowly, taken aback. “Umm, an ATM?

“Which one?”

“Does it matter?”

“It does when the money is counterfeit,” he said, holding the bill up into the air next to a second $50 bill he’d pulled from the register. 

Pressing her hands into the counter, Claire leaned forward.  “Are you seriously accusing me of giving you fake money?” 

“I am.”

“This is preposterous. I have a good job, and I am married to a man with a good job. I have no reason to hawk fake cash.”

“I don't need your life story, little lady. All I know is that Ulysses S. Grant’s head is the wrong size, misaligned, and the numbers are missing those little circles. Not to mention this bill says series 2024. 20, 25 – nearly 30 years into the future. So unless you rode up in town in a time machine, you’re dealing fake money, and you got it from someone who didn’t give a damn enough to make it look real.”

Eyes wide, Claire froze, the unsettling realization sinking into her bones. Of course, the money looked weird — it wasn’t yet in circulation. Thank God she hadn’t tried to pay with the new $100 bills; Danny would really crap his pants then. “Can I see it?” She asked, hoping that if she could get her hands on it, she could somehow explain away the abnormalities.

Or at the very least snatch it and make a quick escape. 

Where the hell she would flee, she didn’t know, but she knew she didn’t need another problem added to her plate.

“No … and guess what else? I’m going to have to call the Sheriff.”

“Sheriff?! Why?!” She yelled, garnering the attention of the other patrons – including the Ginger-haired man sitting two seats down. He'd already been quietly assessing the scene, but her outburst inspired a less casual observance.

"It’s the rules. We have to confiscate fake bills. He stopped, his gaze thickening as he allowed his eyes to travel from her face down her body. For the first time that day, this somewhat neutral stranger made her skin crawl. “But you look to be about his type  — bat those pretty eyelashes of yours and you’ll probably be able to get off with a warning.”

“Surely, you’re not suggesting that I use my womanly wiles to fix a problem made by your egregious accusation.”

“Egregious!? You’re the one trying to cheat out a small diner in a small town with your fake money. What happens to you is not my problem. What is, is making sure you don’t do it again.”

This was the last thing she needed.

Actually, being whisked into the past the day before her anniversary was the last thing she needed, but this certainly wasn’t helping. 

Especially now. It’d only be a matter of hours before Frank realized she was missing – that’s if her job hadn’t called him because she hadn’t shown up for work that day. She needed to figure out how to get back home before she made the local news. 

Unable to help herself, her tears built and fell hard and fast. She pressed her elbows into the counter and rested her face in her hands. “I cannot fucking believe this is my life,” she said under her breath. 

Danny turned to reach for the corded phone on the wall — another nostalgic relic from decades past she would now associate with one of the worst days of her life.  But before he could dial the Sheriff, a thick Scottish accent spoke up beside her. 

“Wait, Danny,” said the voice she quickly realized was Jamie’s. “Let me pay for the lass’ meal. It can’t be that much.”

Eyes wide, Claire shot the man a surprised glance. The other man held the phone in the air, looking between them, brows furrowed. Whoever he was, was somebody that Danny respected, as his inquiry had momentarily halted his desire for “justice.”

“I don’t know,” Danny said after a beat. “I don’t want to give an outsider the impression that it’s okay to get over on us small-town folk.”

“Just this one time.” He said, tilting his head her way. “The lass looks like she’d had a long day." Reaching into his back pocket for his wallet, he pulled out a $50 bill, dangling the money in front of the cook with a charming smile.

Danny shot her one more contemptuous glance, then returned his attention to Jamie. “And I can keep the change?” He bargained. 

“$50 for a burger and some water? You must ken me a Gomerel,” Jamie objected.

“And you must ‘ken’ me a brassy-haired Scot,” Danny returned with a laugh. “But that was your uncle, not me."

“Come on, Danny. Ye’re robbing me blind.” 

He shrugged. “That’s my price for not turning in the thief.”

Claire, who’d become more transfixed with this kind man’s thick, Scottish accent than she wanted to admit – rooted herself back in the present at his insult. “I am not a thief.”

"No, you’re just a woman handing out Party City money to hard working, small town folk.” 

Unable to help herself, Claire wound herself up to unleash an insult in kind, but Jamie interjected. "Fine, I’ll give you the $50,” Jamie replied. 

With a sigh, Danny hung the phone back up on the wall. “Fine, you got yourself a deal,” he said, taking the money from Jamie. “And I’m still keeping this,” he said, referencing Claire’s $50. 

It was the bit of cash she owned, but being absolutely broke was better than spending the night in the local jail, a fate she’d escaped thanks to this stranger. “Whatever,” she said, rising from her seat at the counter. 

Danny deposited the money into the register just as a few more people walked into the diner. More trickled in across the way. Adults, teens, kids – school and work was obviously over for the day.

And if time moved at the same pace here as it did back home, Frank would be expecting her home within a couple of hours. 

But as eager as she was to get back, she had to take care of something first. She took a step forward where the man was seated. “Thank you so much … Jamie,” she said slowly with a smile. “You didn’t have to do that, but I am so, so grateful that you did.”

He humped his shoulders. “It was nothing,” he replied in that thick, mellifluous accent of his. “But I wouldn’t suggest you try that again. People don’t take kindly to scammers in these parts.”

“I really wasn’t trying to scam anyone. I have no idea how I ended up with fake money,” she lied, though it actually wasn't a lie.

Tilting his head, he looked at her incredulously – as if he didn’t believe even an ounce of her story. “Maybe. Maybe not. Just be careful."

She nodded, unwilling to even scrounge up an explanation that he would believe, mainly because she didn’t have one – at least not on such short notice. Also, because for a moment, she got lost in the oceanic depths of his gorgeous blue eyes. 

“I will,” she said eventually. “And thanks again.” 

“It was my pleasure,” he said, a hint of a smile on his face. 

Turning back to the counter, Claire grabbed her newspaper and the rest of her ice water, then turned towards the door. 

Just as she reached the exit, he called out to her. 

“What’s your name again, lass?” 

She turned on the balls of her feet, meeting his inquiry. “What was that?”

“Yer name.”

“Oh. I’m Claire …" she said, "Claire Randall."

“It was nice to meet you, Claire. I’m Jamie. Jamie Fraser.”

**********

Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think!

It's also available on AO3!

[kaivenom]

BABE i need more spider stuff, i loved the french cuisine one ❤️

Everything has to be perfect

Summary: you had been all summer out with your family, which means you "lost" your anniversary with Spencer, now you came back and he wants the surprise to be perfect.

Pairing: Spencer "Spider" White x reader

A/N: i don't know the necesity to call me BABE, but i must admit that makes my heart go BUM-BUM, of course you will have more Spider stuff.

Masterlist

FInally, you are back from vacation, you liked being with your family in another country but you were exhausted and wanted to see your friends, especially your boyfriend. Your anniversary with him was a month ago, which means you both couldn't celebrated it together, you just did a videocall.

You were unpacking your things and carefully pull out a small box with a neck chain on it. This was your surprise present for your boyfriend, neither you both talked about buying things or celebrating it due to the distance but you couldn't resist to buy him this gold necklace with a Spider on it, very poetic.

You wanted to surprise him with it, so you asked him to meet up. He said yes, of course. You prepared yourself to finally see him after two months and go to the meeting place.

When you finally got there, almost with the box in your hand from the anticipation. Spider wasn't there, instead, there was Ant. You were really surprised but you won't refuse a hug from him.

"Hi (Y/N), i'm really happy to see you finally. Spider suddently wasn't feeling well," you started to get sad but then Ant winked at you in a mischiveous way, "let's go."

With that expression you are now calm, this means Spider prepared something to you.

On the way to Spider house, you cathed up a little with Ant. When you both were finally in front of the door, you were again almost taking out the box to give it to him, very nervous.

A foot inside and suddently the everything lighted up and all your friends got out of the shadows to welcome you. You were really gratefull for the reception and hugged everyone, you missed them. A big banner was set on top of one of the furtnitures, saying "Welcome home (Y/N)".

You saw Spider on the counter but couldn't get to him from all the people asking you questions. There was only one moment you could both get close and you managed to kiss a little, somehow.

At first the night was good, you were happy to see all those people but deep inside, you wanted all of them to get out so you could be alone with your boyfriend.

A couple of hours passed and everyone left, finally.

"I think i should go." you said nervously, it was so late that you thought it was time to go.

"Why? you didn't see the best part yet." Spider went to the banner and pulled off to discover another banner under that said "Happy Anniversary."

"You... piece of..."

"That's how you thank your boyfriend who organized a welcome and anniversary party?"

"Stupid," you went to hug him, "i didn't want a welcome party, i just wanted to be with you."

"Me too." he inclined himself a little and kissed you slowly for a couple of minutes, all your frustation was out in that moment.

"I have something for you." you said, finally showing him the little box.

"I have something for you too."

You both exchanged the boxes and revealed that both gifted the other, their representative animal on a necklace. You even matched the exact colours.

"We are too cheesy." said Spider simulating a grossed face.

"But you love it."

"Maybe, but i just love..." he poked your nose, "you."

"I love you too." you kissed him again.

"You want to take dinner and finally celebrate our love."

"Of course." suddently Spider lift you up in bridal style, you could only laugh while being carried into the kitchen.

[kinzis-writing]

Better Than Revenge | M.R [1]

Y/N Nettleby thought that her relationship was going perfect. They were planning their future together and making arrangements for their lives to fall in line. So when Theodore ruined the image by breaking up with her, Y/N was heartbroken. There was only one thing on her mind, revenge.

Pairing: Mattheo Riddle x Y/N Nettleby, Ex! Theodore Nott x Y/N Nettleby.

{This is the first time I have written something like this so I apologize if it is bad. My friend got me hooked on the idea of Riddle character and I wanted to try to write for him. Also, you may notice a pattern with the chapter names, it was my cousins suggestion that I use taylor swift lyrics so if you do not like her, I apologize. Also, I imagine the characters older, so the ages in the harry potter movies will NOT correspond to my writings.}

Warning(s): slight cussing, cheating, heartbreak.

i. "There is nothing I do better than Revenge"

Prologue: Introduction

*Not edited*

Y/N Nettleby looked at her work with a satisfied grin, it had taken her hours to set up for the special date with her boyfriend, Theodore. They had officially been dating for a year and the girl had decided that she was ready to take the next step with her boyfriend, and she was hoping tonight would be the night. She had her friend, Hermione, stay with their mutual friend Ginny tonight and the other roommates had already had plans for a party in Ravenclaw.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Hermione asked as she grabbed her pajamas to get ready and head to Ginny's room. "It's not my business but boys like him..." she trailed grabbing a few books as well.

"It's what I want, Mione." Y/N promised giving her best friend a small smile. Hermione gave the girl a small smile before heading out and heading to the youngest Weasley's room.

The girl sat on her bed and patiently waited for her boyfriend to come up to the dormitory, he happened to know Gryffindor's password and he knew his way to Y/N's room. They had agreed on having a quiet night in and he would come over around 7 o'clock. It had now hit seven and she was patiently waiting for his arrival.

A knock on the door sounded at 7:13, causing Y/n to fix herself quickly and rush to open the door. The girl had a bright smile on her face when opening the door, but the smile was quickly dropped once she seen the state of her boyfriend.

Theodore's hair was slightly disheveled, he seemed nervous and anxious, and he looked ready to run. "We need to talk." were the words that left his mouth when he locked eyes with his girlfriend.

"Well, happy anniversary to you too." Y/N spoke sarcastically as she moved out of the way to let him come into the dorm. It was not their exact anniversary date, but it was only a couple days past. School had kept Y/N busy to where they did not get to spend time on the actual day together. "What's going on?" She asked noticing how he was acting. It was unlike Theo to act like this unless he was out in the hallways. He was not a very affectionate person outside of the dorms, simply because he believed in keeping up his reputation. He is very intelligent, and quiet, but will always obey his parents and keep their legacy alive.

"It's over." He simply stated with a shrug, unsure of how else to go about this. He knew she would take it hard either way, but he had to get it out in the open so he could leave. "I'm breaking up with you."

Y/N felt as if she had gone into shock, her emotions fluctuated. She felt numb a bit at first, until she felt the tears start to well up in her eyes. "What? Why?"

Theo sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "you want the truth?" he asked softly. He knew that she would hate the truth, but she deserved it regardless. "I slept with someone else." He spoke truthfully. The pain in the girl's heart only stinging more. "I tried to wait; I really did. It's who I am, and I am sorry." without another word he had gotten up and left the room.

As soon as the door closed behind the Slytherin boy, Y/N sunk down to the floor and let the sadness overtake her. The tears freely came out and she wasn't trying to stop them. She had the dorm to herself tonight and she made the exception to wallow in self-pity for the night. She would pick herself back up tomorrow and act like nothing had ever happened.

🪄

The next day, it was harder for the girl to get out of bed. She had slept through breakfast and was almost late to her first class of the day. It was not like her to be late and to skip breakfast, but she was hoping to avoid any conversation until after classes.

Y/N honestly thought that she could contain her anger, that was until she seen her brother at the end of the hall talking with his girlfriend and Mattheo. The Nettleby siblings did not really have much to do with each other, they were close until they were sorted into separate houses. After that, Y/N became the disappointment of the Nettleby family as she was in Gryffindor when the family was a group of pureblood Slytherins.

Storming up to her brother and his two other guests before letting her mind think rationally, "You're a shit brother, you know that?" Y/N snapped when she got in front of her older twin brother. They were fraternal, so they did not look anything alike. "I know that we don't talk much, but you could have at least given me a warning about your little blood brother." she spat with a harsh glare.

"Excuse you?" Sean muttered not knowing what his sister was going on about.

"You could've warned me about Theodore cheating on me." She spoke clearly for her brother to understand. "I get that you pieces of shit are all "big and bad" but that is pretty bad for you to do your own sister like that." She finished before turning away and storming off to get to her next class on time.

'I'll get my revenge, Theo, you just wait." She mumbled to herself before walking into class.

Part 2

Happy Thanksgiving!! I'm in the US so some terms may not be correct and I apologize. I love harry potter and I wanted to try to write for Mattheo, this series will probably only have about 8 parts to it. No more than 10 for sure. I'll see how far my plot will go (I have a whole rough draft I have been changing). This is just the introduction and will involve more content in the coming chapters!

[koralira-kira]

when it rains 🎐han jisung🎐

pairings : han jisung x reader

genre : fluff, romance, slice of life, did i say fluff?

synopsis : situations wherein you came to love han's habit when it rains

warnings : profanities used

wc : 980

notes : i finally finished this little bitch after two days. i've been really busy lately cuz me and my parents are going back and forth from the city to my grandparents house (the province) bc of my granddad's death anniversary. and to add that, we're packing my things to go back to my dorm since school is about to start. so yeah, the travelling is killing the shit out of me. other than that, a big thanks to all 249 of you for liking my bang chan fic!!! ya'll don't how ecstatic i felt for that. anyways, moving on, here's the fic. hope you enjoy!

---

man, it's really raining like cats and dogs outside. it has been raining hard for the last couple of days lately, and honestly you quite liked it. that is, minus all the thunder and lightning. but in your situation, not only do you like the rain for what it is but also for how your boyfriend is reacting to it. let me explain. han loved the rain as much as you do. especially when it gets all cold in the apartment complex. NOW let's just say that whilst the cold temperature is going on, he likes to expose the bare top half of his body. the first time you saw this, you're all confused as to why he took his hoodie off when he could've just got a wife beater or tank top. but oh no no no.

"woah, hold on there. what do you think you're doing?" you asked as soon as han was about to take his hoodie off.

"why what's wrong?" he asked, confused as to why you stopped him from stripping. poor boy just likes the cold, ok?

"it's so cold, baby, why are you taking your hoodie off?"

"i like the cold, sweetheart. why? is there a problem?" now he's being cocky. his ego definitely boosted up after he took off that hoodie.

"oh no no, it's fine. just... carry on i guess," he smirked. goddamn that fucking smirk is killing the shit out of you.

now he joins you sitting at the opposite end of the couch and taking out his phone from his pocket. you took your gaze out from your phone for a minute to look at jisung. when i tell you this man is sculpted, he IS sculpted. you'd be lying if you said he didn't look good without the hoodie. the body- i mean, HIS body never disappoints. you could look at him for hours and heck, if you had hyunjin's hands, you wouldn't waste a second to draw him like that. you were practically drooling over him at this point, you didn't care how long you've been staring at him you just wanted too take your time looking at him. yeah, just definitely taking your time.

"hey, what are you thinking so hard about?"

"hm? oh, nothing really. just, you know, thinking," you met with his eyes for a second but soon making it back to your phone.

"... you were fantasizing about me weren't you?"

"what?! pfft- no, obviously not!" you declined, laughing it off as if it was nothing but it's undoubtedly the exact opposite.

"why don't you come over here and sit next to me, i'm a bit lonely here," his arms were now on top of the backrest of the couch, manspreading and basically looking cocky.

"oh so now i'm the one that has to adjust for you, huh?"

"so you don't want to get closer to this?" he argued back, pointing at his body.

‘this motherfucker,’ you thought.

"well, yes i'd love to but-"

"then come over here!"

"ah ah, let me finish-"

honestly, the bickering could go on.

___

the second time you experienced this little habit of his however, was much more intimate than you'd expect it to be. sure you two have had sex here and there but this one was more, say, romantic in a way. 

now it was the next day and you're alone in the apartment watching a movie whilst hunching back on the couch eating a pack of doritos, han had to leave a while ago to go to the grocery store and buy a few things for the both of you. it took almost an hour for him to get back because of the bags but when he did, he was soaking wet from the rain.

"i'm back!" he said, kicking off his shoes and putting them on the shoe rack leaving him his white drenched socks.

"heyy- HEY! why are you soaking wet? didn't you bring an umbrella or something?" you rushed over to the man, helping him putting the grocery bags on the counter.

"i was about to but i saw that it was sunny outside so I didn't feel the need to. anyways, i'll go take a quick shower, love you," he said, pecking you before going to the bathroom.

"yeah yeah, don't worry i'll take it from here. love you too."

it took you not less than 10 minutes to finish putting up the groceries then headed back to the couch to finish your show, that is until SOMEBODY interrupted it.

"hey, babyyy~" once again, a topless han jisung comes out of the bathroom, crawling into your arms and cuddling you.

"you're not wearing a shirt again. you know you might catch a cold after this," you looked down at him trying to make him look into your eyes. but as stubborn as he is, he didn't listen and rested his head on the crook of your neck.

"hmm," he groggily said. you knew that he didn't wanna talk, but yet you still tried to let him know that he might get sick later on. 

"han-"

"can we stay like this for a while? i kinda miss you," he cut you off. his hands making their way from your waist to your back to hold you even tighter and yours going to his hair and the other to his back caressing it. you both silently agree on not talking, it was quite comforting for the both of you. the mixture of sounds coming from the tv and rain were a perfect match, especially with his breath on your neck and the asynchronous breathing coming from the both of you as you melt into each other's arms.

you knew intimate moments like this with han would come sooner or later but you didn't expect for it to come this soon. you're not complaining though.

fin

---

[ask-carmenpondiego]

Here Be Spoilers: The TL;DR Version

Skip this post if you dont wanna know. But you’ll still find out anyway.

Carmen and VILE go on more heists, Carmen wearing a brown wig to conceal the changes she went through.

Aciano and Blendin finally meet as brothers but not before accidentally sharing a cute gay romantic exchange as strangers. Whoops! Well now they know and it takes a while for it not to be awkward between them, so they’re chill now. Ty, Blendin’s boyfriend, being open and understanding, never lets Blendin live it down, even after its revealed that Blendin IS the magician’s assistant!! The boys and Daring end up finding an Enby pickpocket and befriending them, they join VILE but they get along better with the kids than anything so Carmen decides to adopt the pickpocket, an Owlin named Puck. Child count is now 4.

Carmen and Kiros go on a heist in the 1700’s Caribbean but got shipwrecked, damaging their C5 Doorway devices and not having a way home. So an hour heist turned into a couple months island vacation on a deserted island where natives mistake Kiros to be a God. Theres more tea to spill. Because they were only supposed to be gone an hour, Carmen did not bring any of her medication with her. The exact medication that suppresses heat cycles to a more manageable experience and acts as her birth control as well. And not to forget, Kiros has an ability that amplifies and absorbs pheromones. Time goes by and they finally get saved by some quick thinking and a few dozen messages tucked into bottles, and gave everyone quite the surprise when they returned home, and Carmen carrying TWINS. Updated child count to 6.

At least six months after the Twins’ birth, which were two girls, Desiree and Mira, everything seemed to be back to normal. M had taken more than a simple liking to Lekir’s friend Kalai as to which they were actively courting. Lekir, Kiros and Wally were helping Carmen care for the twins. Wally getting more and more distant though. Carmen confronts him and he tries to make it up to her by giving her a wonderful wedding anniversary full of romance and passion.

That last part really becomes a sour note because during their passionate love making, Wally starts crying after their climax and slips a nerve blocker emp sticker to her back, a little higher than he meant to, not only disabling her cybernetics but paralyzing her to where she could only move her eyes and breathe. She couldnt even speak or ask why. He hadn’t even pulled out yet and his hands clutched around her throat. He begged himself not to do it but he also begged for her forgiveness because he couldnt stop. He squeezed, crushing her esophagus, trachea and finally her neck snaps. His words to her was that soon the RAINE will wash it all away. She literally goes brain dead gone for a good while as he makes his escape, with the twins. So little innocent Wally just committed murder and kidnapping in one swoop. All because he was blackmailed. Sure, he was cured from the disease but not the muscle control..

And the Blackmailers? They are called RAINE, led by a stallion named Gunnar Maelstrom. Yes, that one from the two other Carmen Sandiego cartoons of 2019 and 1990. In fact, this Maelstrom knows it too because he enlisted those Maelstroms’ help in planning Carmen’s downfall since before the museum fire as well as boosting productivity and success of RAINE for their own profit. RAINE is a shadow government Syndicate that practically makes the world run, from economics to politics to even school boards and town hall meetings. They are like the illuminati meets Masons only with the charisma of celebrities and influencers but the audacity of fascists and Nazis. They let the public think they are in control of their lives but we all know how the public can be swayed and bought. Immigration issues and turbulent border control fuel the paranoia of the “Unnaturals”, or ones who are unconventional hybrids or even beings who supposedly live past their means by way of magical or artificial enhancements, prosthetics must only provide the ability as a normal limb would, other disabled beings were shunned and separated, shipped to “healing facilities” where they mysteriously disappear, creatures that are hybrids are sent away to other camps and programs advertised to assist and help but thats never the case. Each one is experimented upon to find more ways to eliminate further advances of the individuals and their kin. Wolf in sheep’s clothing. These are the same people who forced Waldo’s hands to break his wife’s neck on their anniversary and kidnap newborn twins for two reasons: elimination of a constant problem and the gaining of long sought after DNA of escaped SCP-682, in the hopes of finding a way to finally terminate Kiros as a favor to the SCP Foundation, who was also in RAINE’s pocket.

Back to Carmen, whose body was starting to get cold, was discovered by M who tried to revive her via CPR. Luckily, he discovered that Carmen had a gift from Daring implanted into her chest, a coin with a phoenix on it, and if the holder dies suddenly, it will ignite and revive and heal the body to the point before the mortal wound occurred. She soon was lit up like a bonfire, destroying her sheets, but otherwise had a sore throat and a long lasting bruise around her neck, this is also where the circle shape under her collar bone appears. So she finally awakens and she was PISSED.

Carmen LIFTED her no kill ban. She was out for blood, and she wanted Wally’s. She ordered everyone to get as much info on RAINE as they could find, searching for Wally and going on the offensive with utterly destroying multiple facilities, freeing as many people as possible from the harmful experimental imprisonment and elimination. RAINE soon learned about this and changed its facilities to reflect more innocent facilities such as children’s hospitals and pet shelters, painting Carmen and VILE as terrorists rather than just thieves.

One of the last missions the team went on to destroy a facility, M and Lekir followed a lead where they could have found Waldo. M was caught off guard as he was stuck with a needle and injected with special serums that stripped him of his powers, leaving him trapped in a glass enclosure as a mere mortal. And he was forced to watch as RAINE fatally strikes down Lekir, no wounds, no damage, just no more life left and drops dead. M still blames himself for her death.

Now, with both lovers gone, Carmen has gone on the warpath but is advised by Lekir’s other friend from Cador. She strikes a deal where Celica helps infiltrate and eliminates the seats in power and swaps them out with her own people, striving for better change and trustworthy governments and all. They finally have a showdown with the Maelstroms but VILE is triumphant once and for final with the element of surprise, Carmen taking Maelstrom’s seat of power for herself, effectively stealing the entire world. She starts making the world a better place, even finding her twin daughters in a pocket world where they have aged and raised to hunt and hate Carmen and VILE. They soon learn the truth and join VILE reluctantly at first.

Carmen then gets word that Waldo was found in Times Square. After a brief chase and rainy rooftop scuffle resulting in a skyscraper drop to the pavement below, both surviving, Wally still on the wet pavement and Carmen pointing her gun directly to his face, she almost pulls the trigger. A crowd has formed.

M comes out and touches her horn, making her pull the trigger, just missing his head, and her body falls to the ground unconscious. The scene past M walks in on. Past M thought Carmen died then. As does the rest of the world. After she wakes up back at VILE from being unconscious, she watches the news and decides its best leave this as it is, but continues heists on other worlds, going as far as having a public funeral for herself, closing the book on the BackStory.

After some time, the kids grown and both kids and Agents went off to have families of their own, heists slow down and VILE itself falls into obscurity over the years. Carmen herself goes off and disappears off grid without warning. By then, her name is spoken in whispers, much like superstitions among the new crime lords rising into power. Older generations remember the myth of the Red Rogue, and her war against those who did wrong. As if her ghost were to come and turn their reign asunder if they even breathed wrong. The younger generations were more brazen. A new wave of crime has resurfaced, taking city districts as their own, even the reformed ACME Agency couldnt keep them in check this time. The Faculty, lead by a Lee Jordan, former apprentice of Maelstrom, dares to attempt to rekindle his own version of RAINE.

He isnt the only youngster looking to rekindle old practices. A young vixen who has ghost related powers, attempts to bring the old team back together with the help of her parents: M and Kalai. Only thing, a lot of time has passed and the old team can only mentor now, she will need to find a new team to take on the Faculty. But first, she needs to find the Red Rogue’s ghost herself within the cyberpunk concrete jungle she was last rumored to be spotted.

Only the vixen finds.. that Red Rogue’s ghost isnt a ghost at all. Carmen is alive and well. And she upgraded her look to be near all cybernetic and has a new animal companion and watchdog, a white cerberus yokai hybrid named Xerxes.

And now we have been brought to the current storyline. Enjoy your stay.

[tomholland1996simp]

A Peter Parker x reader where the reader and Peter are best friends and one day they are studying together and the reader is wanting to ask peter to cuddle. Then maybe it ends with them cuddling just a short cuteness one x

Cuddles || Peter parker

Summary: The reader and Peter have been best friends for so long and whenever each other is sad they use cuddles as something to help one another through tough times. Now y/n needs Peter during studying as she’s feeling down after a fight with her mother.

A/N: Thank you for the requests, i’m trying to finish everything in my inbox. Some of the requests I never got around to doing, but i’m starting to do them now. Still keep up all the request though! Also I have a wattpad account that you can all check out to see my stories. Wattpad = @JustTomHolland26

(Isn’t proof read, it’s nearly 2am so I apologise if this is bad. I’m going bed now, goodnight)

You and Peter have been best friends for most of your life’s. At the age of five you both had met each other. He was just a young boy who had just lost his parents, and his aunt knew he needed a friend. May was best friends with your mum at the time, you had met her a couple times before. You never knew she had a cute nephew around your age.The five year old was crying in his room, not having spoken to anyone for days not even his aunt. He missed his parents, them being around and now he was left empty and alone.

Well that was until you came along. A little girl with the exact same gap in her tooth as Peter. Your mother had asked you if you wanted to make a new friend, and you agreed straight away. You loved making new friends, you didn’t really have many at that age so you wanted to try make some with any opportunity you got.

May showed you to Peters room, you remember her knocking at the door telling Peter that ‘someone’s here for you’. You remember walking into his bedroom that was filled with star wars posters, legos and other toys. Peter sniffled at the edge of his bed, you closed the door walking closer to him.

“Hi, i’m y/n” You told him with your bright smile.

“Hi i-im peter” He finally looked at you, him smiling a little seeing that you was around his age.

“Hi Peter, w-why you crying?” Five year old asked him.

“My mummy and daddy have gone to heaven” He told you.

“I’m sorry, my daddy is in heaven too. Maybe they would meet” You smile, Peter smiling knowing that you know what it’s like to lose someone. “Do you wanna be friends?”

“Yes, please” Peter smiled as you sat on his bed.

“You know what helps me when i’m sad?” Y/n asked the five year old, hun muttering a ‘what?’

“Cuddles” She smiles pulling Peter into a big long hug, them lying on the bed eventually falling asleep. Both May and y/m/n walked in an hour later seeing the two cute five year olds asleep.

Present day

You walk up to the door of the apartment, knocking on the door. Seconds later the door opens, you walk into the house you are very familiar with. Going straight to the kitchen to get a drink. “Hello to you too y/n!” May calls putting her shoes on in a rush.

“Hey May! Just gonna raid your cupboards, don’t mind me” You told her, grabbing a snack and walking over to her. “Remember May, breathe you look beautiful. Happy is such a lucky man” You tell her, her thanking you and kissing your head.

She shut the door behind her as you made your way to Peters room. Today had been such a long day and all you wanted to do is chill out with your best friend. Lately you have been struggling with life, you had an argument with your mum earlier, it had been coming up to the anniversary of your dads death.It really took a tole on your mother more than you. He died when you was really young, at age of 4 you don’t understand certain things so you didn’t remember a lot about him.

You go to his door, not bothering to knock. Peter was sitting on his bed, books, pages and notes spread all over his bed. He looked up when he saw you, a soft smile planted on his lips. “Hey” He diverts his eyes back on his revision notes.

“Hey, what you doing?” You asked sitting on his bed where there was space.

“Studying for the math test on Monday” He told you, you rolled your eyes. It was Saturday night and he was revising for a test on Monday. You asked him earlier to hang out but he said he had things to do, you didn’t realise revising on a Saturday was his ‘thing to do’.

“Peter, it’s Saturday. You shouldn’t be revising on a Saturday when you could be doing better things, like hanging out with your best friend” You say, placing your glass of water on the side.

Peter chuckled at your comment tapping his pen on the paper, “How about you revise with me, you have this test too, you know?” His eyes locked with yours, uh how you could stare into them all day. “Maybe you will get a good mark and impress Mr Brown” Peter adds on and smirks at you.

“Ooo, maybe I should gotta impress that sexy man.”

“He probably has a wife and kids” Peter laughs.

You shrug your shoulders, “Must have a big dick-“ Peter pushes you a little making you look at him laughing. “Your disgusting, that man is like 50 odd”

“I’m just joking” You tell him honestly, picking up one of his note books to start revising. However you grew bored after an hour, your phone kept vibrating, your mother sending you messages. She has always been like this during this time, for about two weeks she will be an absolute bitch, then she will act like nothing happened.

You swipe through all the messages she sent you. She was apologising then telling you to come home then saying to not ever come back. You love your mum but she can be too much sometimes, and you wish your dad could be there. The notes were long forgotten, you just stare at the screen holding your tears back.

The one time you sniffle, Peters head snaps up. “You okay?” He asked concerned, you both haven’t spoken words to each other in a while, him being too concentrated on his work.

“Erm-yeah, yeah. No, I just got a runny nose.” You lie to him with a fake smile, wiping your nose. “Hey, can we chill and watch a movie?” You ask him.

“Maybe later, in like an hour” He said, focusing back on his work believing your lie but still worried. You sigh, your head falling back on his head board. He had been studying for hours now and all you wanted to do is cuddle, watch a movie and sleep.

“Please” You pleaded, hoping he would catch on that you needed him. “I just want to cuddle” You tell him, he instantly knew something was wrong. Ever since that day when you were both five, anytime one another was sad you would always ask to cuddle. Peter quickly gathered all his things together, you apologetically smiling at him as the tears fall. He put everything one his desk, getting under the covers as soon as you got under them.

Peter opened his arms, you falling into them instantly. “It’s okay, I got you” He cooed you as you cried into his arms. One of his hands rubs your back whilst the other plays with your hair. Peter kisses your head, saying the most kindest things to make you calm down.

“My mum and I had an argument. It’s getting to the anniversary again, for my dad. A-and I can’t take her anymore, I love her so much but I always get treated like shit-like-like it’s my fault or something” You sniffle into his arms, his heart breaking.

“Y/n, Hey, look at me…..please.” You lift your head up to look directly at him. “I promise you it’s not your fault, what happened to your dad is not your fault. I thought that first with my parents and Ben, however I can just about say that it’s not my fault. I couldn’t have stopped it, and I can confidently say your fathers death has nothing to do with you. No one knew he would get into a car crash.” Peter kissed your forehead, brushing your hair from your face.

“I just feel like no one loves me or cares” You admittedly told him.

“That’s not true. I care, May cares, Mj, Ned and all our friends do. And we all love you…maybe even Mr Brown might.” This made you laugh a little. “Your mum does too. It must be hard on her but that isn’t an excuse for her to treat you like that, but I know deep down inside she does. Why didn’t you tell me you felt like this?” He was truly upset that he only just found out how you was feeling, that you never came to him before.

You looked at him feeling safe in his arms, “I don’t know. I-I just don’t want to loose you, Pete” You hug him tighter.

“You will never loose me y/n, we are in this together forever. Just next time come to me, you need to tell me these things and I’ll be your shoulder to cry on. I’m always here to cuddle. I love cuddling with you” He told you, laying back down into a more comfortable position, him noticing your tired eyes as you try to fight back your sleep.

“Go sleep, angel” He whispers as your eyes start to shut. “Thank you, Petey” You kiss his cheek before letting sleep take over you.

“Don’t thank me, i’ll always be here for you. I’m in love with you y/n” Peter whispers before falling into a deep sleep himself, still cuddling and holding you close.

[mlmxreader]

Forget Me Not | Simon Ghost Riley x trans!m!reader

Anonymous asked: Hi there, it's me again and I'm back with another request this time for Simon "Ghost" Riley with pakistani!ftm reader who is a pilot. So it's there wedding(?) anniversary and reader thinks Simon has forgotten it so he goes on small flight, as he lands back on the ground simon is standing there. I had these two prompts in mind "You remembered our anniversary" and "I've put a do not disturb sign on the door, we'll be fine" (the last one was if you want to add spice into it I guess). Again if you don't feel comfortable doing it then its cool, thank you ❤️

summary: important dates aren't often remembered, but there's one date in particular that Ghost never, never forgets.

tws: swearing

Ghost had been counting down the hours to your anniversary, he had kept the exact date and time of your nikkah written down on a piece of paper and had kept it with him at all times ever since; from the day that it was officiated, the exact hour and minute, he had kept it written down. Knowing you, being your husband, was merely a glimpse of the blessings that Allah had graced him with. No one was allowed to really get to know Ghost, he didn't want to let anyone in too much in case they got hurt because of him, but your fifth anniversary was coming up, and... well, if he was honest, Ghost really did thank Allah for you being in his life.

He was waiting, he had a little hotel room all booked so that he could be with you without any interruptions, so that he could actually sit with you and tell you exactly what he was feeling and how he was so, so thankful to have had you in his life for all these years; but when you suddenly up and left for a flight with your fellow pilots from the Pakistan Air Force, Ghost was... a little lost, to say the least.

Usually, if it was a mission, like a bomb raid or surveillance or something, you always told him when and where you would be. You never just got up and decided to go for a flight, and he couldn't really understand why. But he waited, he waited on the landing strip, kicking his legs out a little as he kept his eyes on the skies.

"He fucking forgot our anniversary!" Nearly shouting in Punjabi down the Comms. "I mean, sure, it's been five years - but he... I'd been hoping he wouldn't forget."

"I dunno," Rohaan, another pilot, replied, "maybe he wants to surprise you?"

"Surprise me?" You scoffed, shaking your head even though you knew that he couldn't see it. "Fuck off. My Si doesn't do surprises."

"Golden Jackal, watch your six, I'm coming in hot," Yadid muttered, exhibiting great control over his plane as he flew it over yours. "Also, I don't think that Ghost forgot. Is not like him."

"A lot of things ain't fucking like him," you grumbled. "Are we clear to go further than the training fields?"

"Yes, Sir," Rohaan confirmed, following your lead when you took to the skies for a slightly bigger flight. "insha'Allah, you can fix things with Ghost, though."

"If he's not listening in," Yadid joked. "He speaks Punjabi as well as us, if he heard what we were saying, maybe he'd know how to fix things."

A couple of hours of flying around and talking to your boys honestly helped you so much more than what you wanted to admit; being able to talk things out and to clear your head was so, so much better than sulking and letting it fester. But when you got back, landing your plane with grace and control, you saw that Ghost was still waiting for you; he had not even moved a single inch yet.

But he got up the second your plane came to a complete stop, waving at you before you dared to approach him; he slung his arm around your shoulders, pulled you close into his side as he smiled behind his mask.

"Why are you in such a piss?" He asked, not daring to speak English, falling into step beside you as he lead the way to his car. "Did I do something?"

"No," you huffed, shaking your head. "It's what you haven't done."

Ghost looked at you for a moment, then his eyes widened as he realised and came to his senses. "Ah. Bollocks."

"What?"

He sighed heavily, gesturing to the road up ahead. "Booked a hotel room a few days ago so it would be just us for tonight. Y'know, special occasions and all that shit."

You paused, letting his word sink in for a moment before you grinned. "Mashallah, you remembered our anniversary?"

"Yeah," Ghost nodded. "I never forget."

Sure, there were ups and downs - there was in any marriage, but you loved Ghost dearly, and you knew from the moment that nikkah was signed, you never wanted to be without him.

You grinned, getting into the passenger side of the car; in all the years you had known Ghost, you had to admit - you were thankful that Allah had pushed you together.

From helping with your transition when you first came out and weren't really sure how to do certain things on your own, he helped you every single step of the way and had promised to make sure that you never faced any transphobia - even went so far as to make fucking sure of it, too, and had been pulled aside a few times for fighting American soldiers who remarked on you being trans.

From ensuring that you always knew he was safe to be around - if he ever raised his voice, he always made sure that you knew he never meant it in an angry way... often, it was just because he had been watching football and got a bit carried away -, all the way through to him practicing Islam, and to learning Punjabi.

Still, as he started the car, Ghost cleared his throat, swallowing thickly. "Nobody's gonna bother us."

"They're not?" You asked, looking over at him for a moment.

He shook his head. "No... I've put a do not disturb sign on the door, we'll be alright."

"We're gonn have to hope that your task force doesn't take do not disturb as a challenge," you joked softly, and when you heard his soft laugh, you grinned. "I'm sorry I got pissy with you earlier, Si."

"I'm sorry, too," he mumbled. "Didn't want to make you think I'd forgotten... it's on me... but, I'll book us a holiday to Pakistan soon."

"You will?" You couldn't help but to smile. "Si... my family will adore seeing you again, you realise that, right?"

"I know," he nodded. "Ain't seen 'em in too long... but, let's get to that hotel room first, yeah?"

"Yeah," you took his hand gently, and pressed a sweet kiss to his palm. "Thank you."

"It's alright," he mumbled. "Y'know, I thank Allah for bringing us together, for you being my husband, a lot more than you think."

if you liked this fic, REBLOG IT - you SHOULD reblog it; spam likers WILL be blocked. as will blogs that refuse to reblog or to give feedback. if you don't wanna reblog, then you'll get blocked; reblogging is the BARE MINIMUM. don't just "like", REBLOG

[whisker-biscuit]

SlyFox Day 4: Clue

“Are you finally going to tell me where we’re going, or am I going to be in the dark for the entire train ride?” Carmelita complains, again, for the eighth time. Sly knows the exact number because he’s been counting.

He gives her a cheeky smile and squeezes her hand where it sits on the armrest between them, linked with his. “We’re almost there. Just gotta be patient for a little longer.”

“I’m the embodiment of patience.”

“Mhm.”

“Don’t ‘mhm’ me!” She smacks him lightly on the arm. “I’m very good at being patient when I want to be! I wouldn’t have gone after you for as long as I did if I wasn’t.”

“I’d say something like ‘you got me there’ but I’m pretty sure it was your stubbornness that did that.”

The fox grinds her jaw, then lets go of her annoyance with an audible sigh. “Will you just give me one clue? One single clue to what we’re doing today?”

“Mmm…okay.” Sly makes a big show of pretending to think about what to tell her. “The clue is that there are clues involved.”

“Seriously?!” Carmelita throws her hands up.

“Seriously.”

“You can’t give me anything more than that?”

“Afraid not.”

“It’s our anniversary, Sly. You know, that thing that couples celebrate together? As a couple?”

“I wouldn’t ever forget it.” He leans over and gives her a quick peck to the cheek, which makes her grumble without any real heat behind it. “Besides, I asked if I could make it a surprise this year. You didn’t have to say yes.”

“I know that,” she says as she folds her arms over her chest and stares at the back of the seat in front of them. “It just drives me up the wall not knowing something.”

“Well, I can assure you that you’re going to love what I’ve got planned.”

“And if I don’t, you owe me a dinner at the fanciest restaurant in Paris. Anything I want, full course meal, and a gondola ride afterwards.”

“Of course.” The raccoon can’t keep the amusement out of his voice, because the train is coming to a halt right as she finishes listing off everything she wants, and he can see their destination outside.

Carmelita doesn’t connect the dots until they get off and he starts directing her towards the building. When she sees the large, fancy font out front, it stops her in her tracks.

“An escape room?” She asks, sounding as if the idea wasn’t even close to what she had considered he had planned.

For the first time since booking the appointment, Sly starts feeling unsure of his decision. He gives a slightly nervous laugh. “Yeah, well, I remember you mentioned a few months back that you’ve never tried one before, and it sounded like you wanted to. And, y’know, I’m pretty good at finding clues, but I need a lot of help piecing them together.”

His partner looks at him. Looks at the building. Looks back at him. A bright, excited grin breaks out across her face.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” She asks, grabbing his arm and dragging him forward as she marches inside. “We’ve got a case to solve! You better have picked the hardest kind they have, Ringtail, or I’m going to be very disappointed in your faith in me.”

“Oh, don’t you worry; I wouldn’t dream of underestimating you.”

True to form, they’re booked for one that’s estimated to take two hours to complete with at least five people – it takes the two of them an hour and twelve, shattering all previous records and earning themselves a commendation from the owners. When they’re on their way back home, armed with chintzy matching t-shirts declaring themselves “Mystery Masters”, Carmelita lays her head on Sly’s shoulder with a satisfied smile.

“Thank you. I had a great time.”

“I’m glad you liked the surprise.”

“Maybe we should do another one next year.”

“Another escape room?”

The fox laughs and shakes her head. “Another surprise. But with more clues leading up to it – I was losing my mind trying to figure out what you had planned.”

“Okay. Next year I’ll make it a scavenger hunt. How’s that sound?”

She rolls her eyes and hugs him tighter.

[artdecosupernova-writing]

Find the Word Game XV

(Double Feature)

tagged by: @oh-no-another-idea & @zmwrites!! my words: candle, wax, sunlight, dandelion, butter, play, step, miss, scramble tagging: @drippingmoon, @druidx, @drabbleitout, @sleepy-night-child, @ashen-crest, and lady luck though she and I are not on speaking terms at the moment your words: morning, evening, night, day, dark, moon

candle (Aurora)—

Thrive pressed his fingers against his water and the surface began to frost over, ice crystals spider-webbing out from the points where his skin met the glass. He then took a fork and began to break the thin layer of ice at the top. "I am quite cognizant to your love of space…as it's one of your many idiosyncrasies with which I am utterly enraptured."

"As evidenced by this," Warren added, gesturing toward the nebula. "You really didn't have to go through so much trouble for me, though."

"Why not? It's our anniversary."

There was a pause. "What?" Warren blinked. "Really? You've kept track of the exact day we got married ———?"

Shaking his head, Thrive lifted his water to his lips. "The day we met."

Warren inhaled sharply, veins filling with heat and veneration. Thrive's brilliant eyes sparkled verdant under the light of the candle, and Warren wanted little else but to be inside his mind at that moment. "October fifteenth."

"Correct." Thrive took another sip of water and glanced at the patrons inside the restaurant, on the other side of the tinted glass wall. "The night I landed in Ruria Lake."

wax (Warpath)—

"When was the last time you went to Leviathan?"

Warren sighed, taking the mug of coffee from Thoeala as she joined him at the edge of the cliff the next morning. "It doesn't feel like that long ago. Let me tell you…I hate going there alone. It's like a fucking prison fortress."

She regarded him, hands at her hips, obsidian ponytail waving in the breeze. "You've been doing a good job taking over for Daddy, though."

Warren swallowed a sip of the caffeinated beverage and gazed out at the ocean again. "Yeah…I'm suffocating, actually. I don't know how he does it. And of course he's gone gallivanting across the galaxy right as another crisis hits. I've handled them before, but this one feels different." He looked at Thoeala. "...[Sinkship] didn't deserve this."

She waxed sympathetic. "No, she didn't. She started a lot of conflict that made life a living hell for all of us, but she didn't deserve this."

sunlight (Rebirth)—

Warren sighed. "Well, Mr. Sympa—"

"Eugh, nope. Guetry. Mr. Sympa's a lanky French man currently on business somewhere around Mars, probably cursing me out under his breath because I haven't called him in a couple weeks and it's almost his birthday."

"Right…I wanted to talk to you about helping to bring this all to a permanent end."

Guetry did not resume his seat but instead leaned his hands on the table, imparting Warren with a long look of abject offense that displaced the default mischief. "Okay, look…people were born, lived their lives, and died of old age during these wars. Whole planets ravaged with battlefields, mass graves floating for eternity in the dead of space, soldiers of all species getting killed every damn day to these wars. Families torn apart, hope completely dashed along every waking hour…what kinda ignorant, stone-cold arrogance do you have to possess to think you alone can be the metaphorical sunlight breaking through this raincloud shit-show, brother?"

"Not alone, no. I have an obhelian."

A look of recognition crossed Guetry's face and he narrowed his eyes again. "The obhelian?"

"Yep."

dandelion flower (Meridian)—

Atoa and the guards, dwindling down in number, led them to the kitchens, the gym, the training room, and finally to the simulated courtyard where a surprisingly luscious garden grew under artificial weather lamps. Vegetables, fruits, flowers of all kinds beautified the space and Thrive looked enchanted, which surprised Warren.

"I smell at least four flowers from Tournaltis," Thrive said, walking past a bench to survey the vegetable area. "And...three from C'o."

"What happened to a good rose, huh?" Warren asked, leaning into a marble pillar.

Thrive came to a sudden halt, reaching over to pull a single orange rose into view past a bush. He looked at Warren.

"Damn," Warren said, smiling. "That was kinda hot, I won't lie."

"You never do," Thrive said, letting the rose move back into place. "Not about that, anyway."

butter (Aurora)—

My Bear—

Warren already had to pause to give himself time to recover. He'd forgotten that his mother used to call him that, particularly closer to the time she passed, and he could almost hear her beckoning him to the couch to watch her weave baskets for their neighbors. Her scent, honey and whipped butter from her daily breakfast, wafting in front of his nose from olfactory recall alone. He'd play with her hair, braided down to her waist, unbraiding and teaching himself to re-braid it by following the natural waves. Her expressive brown eyes, eyes he wished he'd inherited growing up. He envied the way the light would turn them gold.

Taking a deep breath and sitting down on his bed, Warren continued reading his mother's shaky handwriting through blurred vision.

My Bear,

I trust you have finally decided it's time to read this. That means you need strength more than you ever have before, and I am about to provide it to you.

play (Meridian)—

"I'm surprised y'all don't have bodyguards or something stationed here," Mercury said at one point as they congregated in the sitting room Thrive had installed to entertain diplomatic guests.

Thrive stiffened at that. "It's a matter of time. Once our palace has been built, they'll likely assign a permanent security detail to us."

Sig, Guetry, and Mercury went quiet.

"Palace?" Guetry said. "You guys are getting a palace? Where?"

Warren and Thrive exchanged a glance. "We can't tell you," Warren said. "We can't tell anyone. It's supposed to be the most well-hidden location in the two galaxies. I don't even think we're allowed to know once we move in."

"Hey, we found ——— eventually," Guetry said from one of the sofas. "Not to spook you guys but anything can be found with enough time."

Thrive nodded, resting his elbows on his knees and watching Thoeala play with Mercury on the other side of the room. "That is true...however, the tactics we used to find the Blue Palace will be taken into account when constructing Leviathan. It will be impossible to track." He lifted his gaze to Warren. "For our safety."

step (Eternal)—

Minutes later the doors to the gate opened and a couple of heavily-armed guards marched through, escorting a mechanized wheelchair in which sat Guetry, chained at the wrists and completely zoned out. He still looked impeccably groomed but not in the usual Guetry way, wearing a normal overpowering t-shirt and skinny jeans. His face was a bit puffy as he'd gained a bit of weight, and dark circles encompassed his makeup-less, somewhat dulled eyes. Even though in its normal state the giant tattoo crawling up his right arm to his throat was dormant, now it seemed even more as if something had washed part of it away.

"Guetry," Warren said abruptly.

His head swiveled up and around to him as they all stopped for the guards to talk with DeCosta. He narrowed his eyes at him and Thrive, almost placing them, but not quite. "Too fancy for paparazzi and t-too foreign for my family…"

Thrive stepped forward and swiped a gentle hand over Guetry's hair, resting it on his forehead, holding out the other hand to placate the guards who moved to jump into action. "Settle…" he murmured to both parties.

miss (Meridian)—

The image shifted again, this time portraying Thrive hidden in shadow, a green glow taking up much of the shot and highlighting the lines of his face.

"Not too long after I'd awakened," Scot said. "At NodeSource headquarters."

Once more the image changed, and Warren's breath left him in a rush.

Efthim, during the rescue of the qrihk. Warren's face in profile, in the middle of speaking to someone, and Thrive standing at his shoulder, watching him. It had been a blink-and-miss-it moment of levity among their evacuation team. While he remembered the instant of cracking a joke to make the others laugh as their assignment had weighed down on everyone, he had no idea Thrive was watching him with such...softness.

He was smiling. Subtle, but definite. His eyes were focused not on his surroundings, not on potential escape or incoming harm, but on Warren. And there didn't appear to be anything strong enough to break that focus in that long-gone yet immortalized snap of time.

"Send me that one," he whispered.

Scot patted his knee under the table. "Already done."

scramble (Aurora)—

Dazia burst onto the bridge and immediately swore. "Thank fucking god. Okay, let's get the hell out of here."

Warren scrambled to the viewscreen as everyone else began to pour into the room, relieved at him and Guetry being in one piece. "What happened?!"

"We don't know!" Emnophene exclaimed. "You were there one minute, then a huge sinkhole opened up and we thought you and Guetry had died!"

Mercury surged forward and gathered Guetry in a desperate, tight embrace, planting a solid, lengthy kiss to his mouth that surprised even Warren, who'd accidentally turned at that exact moment. Guetry's wide eyes spoke volumes.

"I was leavin' you behind," Mercury breathed through clenched teeth, voice quaking as he gripped Guetry's stunned face in his hands and pressed several more kisses to him. "I had to leave you behind, you stupid man…"

Sig's voice came in through the comm. "Are we still detonating or not?"

Warren snapped out of his thoughts. "Yes. Yes! ——— can handle it—we need to get out of here, 'cause we sure as shit can't!"

[farminglesbian]

I posted 5,990 times in 2022

523 posts created (9%)

5,467 posts reblogged (91%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@darkbloomiana

@pea-green

@grandselfmythology

@theoeuvre

@yellowleather

I tagged 5,567 of my posts in 2022

Only 7% of my posts had no tags

#killing eve - 372 posts

#art - 320 posts

#aloto - 173 posts

#sandra oh - 158 posts

#photography - 121 posts

#cat - 119 posts

#jessie buckley - 110 posts

#doctor who - 101 posts

#welcome to night vale - 78 posts

#hacks - 76 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#& then it’s also one about a woman breaking under the pressure of trying to be the perfect mother but failing to accept her child’s changes

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

See the full post

25 notes - Posted April 5, 2022

#4

these are some last tango fic fragments about anniversaries 💫

some longer, some not at all, i've had these lying around in various forms for 5 years; some i enjoy a lot, some less, some are just completely silly and i couldn't for the life of me make something more out of them, and other bits have been deleted, but anyhow it is time to post this at last and set it free :)

~

1.

She is 55 years old today and, believe it or not, on a hike.

It's chilly, it's rained at noon, but birds are chirping, and the occasional cheerful hikers couple passes them by while she and Gillian dawdle about, bicker over their exact location on their small hiking map, and take photos for Mum and Alan to show their gratitude for the bestowed romantic weekend getaway.

Except for now. Except that Gillian's pulled her off the trail, and there she is, out of breath and some persistent, tiny thing pricking her neck. And a persistent, tiny woman clinging to her.

Pressed between a large trunk and Gillian's warm mouth and body—which does drown out any silly tree bark biting into her skin—Caroline's knees slightly cave, her vision is swimming of Gillian's eyes and hair and sea-green windbreaker, her heartbeat's picking up speed. It's a distraction, and, as such, it's working.

Gillian's really going for it. Caroline surprises herself with the needy noise she makes that Gillian absorbs with a hum. She grins into her mouth, keeps planting pecks on her lips, all impish eyes. She full well knows what she's doing—and Caroline summons all her strength to gently but firmly push her an arms length away. 'You've no idea where we are, do you?'

''Course I do, but that's not important right now,' Gillian replies, not even trying to sound convincing, and Caroline should be offended, really, but Gillian, still holding onto Caroline's scarf and parka, pulls her close again and effectively shuts her up. Her mouth's well-kissed, tongue still tasting like the burgundy they guzzled at the last lodge two hours ago. With great foresight, Alan and Mum had gifted them a stay at a resort where the wine flows plenty and the nearby trails are, presumably, safe enough to not get even their most squiffed lodgers lost.

Gillian stops and giggles—another hiker's trotting past them, not noticing the two snogging women ten feet away. He's whistling, and it conjures a pleasant memory in Caroline's mind.

There's a grin spreading over Gillian's face as well, who carries on humming the song, filling in lyrics as she remembers, lips touching Caroline's mouth turning it staccato….. and I find you spinning 'round in my brain... like the bubbles in a glass of champagne.

You go to my head—Caroline's swaying, remembering the very song they danced to last night, the evening it led to at the hotel—like a sip of sparkling burgundy brew—she nuzzles Gillian's throat, inhales her smell—and I find the very mention of you… like the kicker in a julep or two.—Gillian's humming vibrates behind Caroline's ear, sends goosebumps across her spine.

Alas, two can play at this game, so Caroline steps it up a notch and lets her hands wander underneath Gillian's anorak, and further, under her robust cardigan, the plaid shirt, past the tank top and, finally—Gillian gasping in delight—touching skin. Her mouth on Caroline's becomes more urgent, reacting in unison with Caroline's fingers on her back, her soft hips, and sneaking further up, first grazing, then—'aah,' goes Gillian—pushing against her breasts until Gillian turns pliant, clinging in earnest, and one hand on the tree for support.

Her eyes grow darker, and it's gorgeous—but Caroline pulls away, slips out of the prison of trunk and Gillian, to the latter's pouty protest.

'The rest you'll get if we make it back to dinner in time, because I'm sure as hell not shagging you on an empty stomach.'

Gillian laughs, pulls away, and struts forward with determination—that is hopefully not entirely misguided—and picks up her crooning, as irresistible as booze in the afternoon, or kissing on a well-frequented hiking trail.

You go to my head… with a smile that makes my temperature rise… Like a summer with a thousand Julys... you intoxicate my soul with your eyes...

~

2.

'Stop checking on Greg.'

'I will, if you stop checking on Raff.'

'Do I have to remind you of the Great Downpour And Mucky Sheep Debacle of 2018 when we went to Spain? It rained for days, back home, and—'

'Mum and Alan are staying at the farm, having an eye!'

'That's… not having me less worried. Who's having an eye on them?'

'Let's just assume that everybody has an eye on each other.'

….

'Caz. You're doing it again. Remember we said no phones at dinner?'

'Greg might turn Flora into an addict while we're gone! Remember how he threatened to get her into healthy breakfast after deeming what I've been feeding her 'a catastrophe on her juvenile metabolism'? I might end up having to eat along chia seeds and goji berries for the next ten years! Or—no less worrisome—he might encourage her to change her entire wardrobe because he wants her to 'find herself.' She's eight, for Christ's sake!'

'You do dress her in a lot of pink.'

See the full post

25 notes - Posted April 7, 2022

#3

scott & bailey, 3x03

27 notes - Posted October 3, 2022

#2

See the full post

31 notes - Posted September 18, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

See the full post

39 notes - Posted March 25, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[ohgodimyearning]

I want to hear more time and number related clockboy stories. does he chime every time you have to wake up? a little celebratory chime for when you come home? knows when you have to go to sleep so has a different 'warning' chime? is he distressed when he's out of sync and not the correct time.. does he remember the exact time you became a couple etc

I actually haven't thought about most of this before!

...this got really long so it's under the cut 😅

The only one of these that's crossed my mind is the waking up thing where he has offered to be my alarm clock and I've taken him up on it in the past! We both have whatever the opposite of time blindness is (me because I'm autistic + anxious and him because. He's a clock... But he's also autistic) so I think he would know when to wake me up so I actually get out of bed on time, even if it's waking me up 15-20 min early

As far as chiming goes... He doesn't always do it? I personally think it's something he suppresses out of politeness (considering he "naturally" chimes every 15 min) cuz some people might be driven mad knowing 15 minutes keep passing or something lmao.

That isn't to say that he doesn't still chime here and there tho, I think whenever he's experiencing strong emotions, if a quarter hour hits, he'll chime it in but it's not particularly loud or anything.

The same goes for his tick-tocks, where they're muffled and you can really only hear them if it's really quiet or you put your ear up to his chest

But yeah I don't think he particularly lets out chimes or dings or bongs or anything super often, but he still offers to keep time for people in the form of reminders/being an alarm (in the form of him getting your attention/gently nudging you to wake you up/etc).

As far as being out of sync... It's happened irl before!!! I think he'd get embarrassed more than anything, even though it's not his fault 🥺

(I drew this comic back in March 2023 when he wasn't set forward an hour, to give a visual to how I think he'd react if he wasn't immediately aware of being off time)

He generally needs a human to help him set his time... He usually keeps time well without needing any adjustments between daylight savings starting and ending, but minor adjustments are probably something he can do on his own. But the whole forward or back an hour, he definitely needs an extra set of hands for. If he is having prolonged issues about being in/out of sync with (standard/computer/phone) clocks around him or not having his time adjusted, it's probably really frustrating and anxiety inducing. Fortunately it doesn't happen often!

Also the last thing... 🥺🥺🥺 I really really REALLY love the idea that he knows the exact date and time (down to the second!) of important events and anniversaries and stuff... I don't think he ever fully discloses that to anyone, out of fear of looking pretentious or something (like an "oh you remember the day this happened? Well I remember the exact second!" kinda thing... He's worried about being rude)

That being said, I think it'd be really cute if he timed certain things on our anniversary to line up with the exact moment we became a couple, even if it's something small like a kiss right on the dot, or something far more elaborate like timing a show/movie/whatever to be at a certain scene. Stuff like that! I probably would never know unless he told me, but the gesture means a lot on his end, so it's something he does regardless (also this isn't exclusive to me and our relationship, I'm sure he does this for IASW's ride anniversary and celebrating close friends)

[meltotheany]

hi hi friends! i hope you’re all doing well. june was a little bit of a whirlwind for me, but i was still able to read six things that i can’t wait to talk about with you! june is also my army anniversary with bts, and this year was the fifth! which feels very insane to type! but jimin also dropped a song the exact day, so the month for sure is ending on a happy note! but let’s get into the six books i read this month! 💜 ✨ Jujutsu Kaisen, Vol. 04 by Gege Akutami ⭐⭐⭐ ➛ vol. 1 ★★★★ ➛ vol. 2 ★★★ ➛ vol. 3 ★★★ i really am loving every itadori and sukuna interaction/moment. honestly, sukuna was my favorite character in this fourth installment, and im not sure what that says about me, but here we are. my heart @ junpei, fully and utterly. mahito, after my fave scene with sukuna, thinks up a new mission to steal some remaining cursed fingers of sukuna. but besides that, we get to see the start of the good year event, which is a team battle of different schools, where the most exorcisms win. but obviously, itadori is a target all on his own. so, so, so excited to continue on, probably extra because of the cliffhanger ending feeling of this, too! trigger + content warnings: fighting / battle, violence, blood, gore, death, talk of bullying ✨ One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware ⭐⭐ i feel like i really can’t talk about this book without getting into a little spoilery territory, so please skip over this review if you wish to know nothing about this thriller! (and i do say thriller and not thriller mystery because there really isn’t much mystery to this story whatsoever, which is also probably a reason i didn’t enjoy it as much!) but i picked this up because 1) i have enjoyed ruth ware in the past and 2) the girls were saying survivor meets love island and i will always be here for that set up! But instead of love island and survivor, we get lord of the flies and men’s rights activists. our main character, lyla, reluctantly agrees to go on a reality tv dating show, set on a secluded island, because her boyfriend is an actor and really begs her to do it because it could be very good for his career. lyla’s lab contract is up next month, and the funding renewal isn’t looking too good, so she also agrees under the condition that she can work on her paper and that she can only be on the island for two weeks. but after filming for only 24 hours, a big storm comes that is not only deadly but has completely made the people on the island not be able to contact anyone to come save them. And then she and the rest of the people are trying to survive while… red pill lord of the flies ensues. i really do respect making the villain who it was, and i respect the talk of the manosphere and the following these mens right activities accumulate on youtube and other platforms that also leads to the perpetuation of violence against women. but oh my god, i just hated reading about this man with all the sum of hate i have in my body. after that storm, that man would have been GONE by me and me alone and i would not have… done what they did at the end (even though that’s an important discussion too, and it does make sense, but again – i just hated reading about it!) i hope if you pick this one up, you have more fun reading it than i did, friends! trigger + content warnings (these will content some plot spoilers so please use caution or do not read if you do not need to know any tw/cws): extremely bad storms, talk of fear of water, extremely abusive relationships, blood, death, drowning, talk of loss of parent in past (one sentence), suicide mentions, not having the insulin that you need, grief, depression, loss of partner, grooming in past, and discussion of men’s rights activists throughout (always in a negative light but it is a lot) ✨ Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass, #3) by Sarah J. Maas (reread) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ “You cannot pick and choose what parts of her to love.” listen, 2015 melanie gave this two stars and i am 99% sure that was just because i shipped celaena...

[parasaparaluman]

Love Story

March is now over and so is our prenup shoot. But guess what, we're far from over from being busy. Laira and I work hand-in-hand in working through our remaining pre-requisities for our wedding and for our honeymoon in Palawan. This is good stress though as we're enjoying that we're building our memories together.

Now that it's April, we have just celebrated our last anniversary as girlfriend and boyfriend while we'll be celebrating my birthday this weekend. Our anniversary went great - we used the spa voucher that was given to us by the parents of one of Laira's students. It was a "premium" experience as we're given a private couple room complete with a shower area and a.. wait for it.. jacuzzi. Yes, that's right. I've been longing for a jacuzzi ever since especially when I didn't get to experience one in La Bella due to fatigue post-shoot. What's surprising though is since it's right after a massage, the water in the jacuzzi has to be hot but unfortunately, it was too hot for us to really enjoy it.

Was the experience worth it based on the price you paid for it? Probably. If you rarely go to spas and you wanted the full experience then I guess the price is justified. But if you frequent spas such as Nuat Thai or call in a home service and don't mind an oily body after the session, then it will just fall under a good experience that we might never try again unless offered by someone else.

I'd like to compare this to our ever-favorite, Ace Water Spa. For just around 6000, you'll already have 2 entries in the spa, a hotel room, a breakfast buffet for two and if my memory serves me right, 2 500-peso voucher that you can use at their rooftop resto-bar or at their cafe. So between this and The Spa, I might be comfortable saving up for Ace Water Spa instead - you'll get the whole day for you to do whatever you want at their premises (nearby as well) rather than being limited just for ~2 hours.

We were supposed to eat at Modern Shanghai due to good reviews but as we've already eaten Chinese food in TuanTuan on our exact anniversary day, we've opted for CIBO but seeing later on that most of the reviews mentions that it's overrated and expensive, we ended at Banapple as they're now offering a smaller serving of their delectable ribs. We also went back to Toby's Estate but sadly, I mistakenly ordered the wrong drink. It was a Chai Chocolate - it has ginger which while is "okay" for me, it was not a fun drink at all.

We strolled around SM Megamall afterwards hoping to finally purchase my wedding shoes but after a few realizations such as a hard-shelled shoes can be a bit uncomfortable depending on the thickness of the socks you're wearing as well as on how you walk, I decided to do a bit more research rather than jump the gun that day.

This week, we'll be dining at Senor Pollo again after so many years (this is the restaurant we ate on our very first date) and try to check if there are Rastaclats still in Landmark. As for the Omniverse Museum, I missed their 4.4 sale that will supposedly save us 1000. Here's to checking again on what other activities that we can do around the area.

There's so much more in store for this month. We'll also be having a get together with my cousins in BGC to try some good ramen and meet with Laira's family prior to the wedding.

Bring it, April.

[yeonchi]

Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Special Review Part 3/3: The Giggle

Air date: 9 December 2023

"RTD did a prototype regeneration and I have mixed feelings about it. Wait, what? He really said that? Oh, thanks a lot, RTD, you're Shirakura 2.0 now. #RIPDoctorWho"

This not-so spoiler-free thought is how I'm opening the review for this special. Although details of the bi-generation were leaked online previously, the concept may be familiar to you if you've read about my personal project in Kisekae Insights. It is because of this that this review will be a crossover with a filler instalment of Kisekae Insights, for which I'll also be repeating the same content for the sake of that series. Don't be surprised if you read that instalment and it's literally the same things I'm going to talk about in this.

By the time I finish writing this review, enough time will have passed for you to have watched the episode by now, so hopefully that justifies my not-so spoiler-free thought. Regardless, spoilers will continue after the break.

Apologies for the delay in getting this review out. I've been really busy this past week especially with what I had planned for this review. Stay tuned to the end for my future plans of these reviews. No, seriously, I mean it.

What the left thinks freedom protesters want

After a cold opening in 1925 Soho with a man called Charles Banerjee buying Stooky Bill from the Toymaker's shop to test the new invention of television with John Logie Baird, we cut back to the present day, where London is in a peaceful protest chaos. The Doctor sees a man trying to fight a car and he goes to ask him what he is doing; the man, who can't drive, insists that he has the right to the road because he paid for it with his taxes. When asked why he can't stand on the kerb and be safe, the man tells the Doctor to blame "them" because things changed two days ago (which would have been when the Doctor and Donna left in the TARDIS) when people started thinking they were right and refused to change their minds. Yeah no, when people wake up and realise the cookers were right they (ideally) band together and protest the government. This is just society losing common sense.

The Toymaker, dancing amongst the chaos, briefly dances with the Doctor before UNIT comes for the Doctor and Donna. Upon arrival, they are greeted by Shirley, Kate Stewart and, much to the Doctor's surprise, Mel Bush. Kate and UNIT explain the situation to the Doctor and Donna; the Doctor, Donna, Wilf and Mel aren't affected due to long-term travel in the TARDIS making their brainwaves out of sync while the rest of UNIT aren't affected because of an arm brace device called the Zeedex, a creation of the Vlinx. Kate uses herself to demonstrate the effects of the situation on society by having her Zeedex turned off and going full Karen; something inside the brain is causing spikes that make people lose common sense. A slight problem with using Kate as an example; Wilf wasn't affected by the spikes despite being in the TARDIS for a couple of hours at most, but Kate was invited into the TARDIS a couple of years back and she was only in there for a couple of hours as well (at most), so by that logic, Kate shouldn't be affected by the spikes. However, I suppose you can argue that the spikes didn't affect Kate and Wilf as much due to their brief time in the TARDIS.

The Doctor and UNIT speculate as to what could be the trigger for the spikes; Kate notes that the KOSAT 5 satellite was activated two days ago to fully connect the world online, but there is nothing strange being transmitted from it like the old Archangel Network had. As the Doctor notes that everyone has access to a screen for the first time in history, Donna realises that the spike peaks are like a tune; Mel sings the tune and everyone (but the Doctor and the Vlinx) reacts to it like they heard it before. Shirley finds the exact same notes in a clip of Stooky Bill from 1925 and the Doctor realises that it isn't a tune, but a giggle in everyone's head burnt into every screen since the invention of screens.

The Doctor gives Kate permission to use the Galvanic Beam to destroy KOSAT 5 due to all world leaders being affected by the giggle before going back to 1925 Soho with Donna. You know, I honestly like how the Doctor's attitude to UNIT has changed over the years. When UNIT was reintroduced in the revived series, the Doctor was wary of them and he had an aversion to them using weapons, but now that Kate has been Chief Scientific Officer for over a decade in real time, the Doctor is able to entrust Kate with taking down a satellite in a situation such as this.

In the Toyroom

Upon arriving in 1925, Donna notes that the Doctor just keeps charging on and that he hasn't stopped for anything, speculating that his old face came back because he was wearing himself out. Except for that time when he willingly spent 900 years on Trenzalore to keep the Time Lords and Daleks from starting another Time War. Or when he spent 24 years on Darillium with River Song. Or that time when the Doctor stayed with the Ponds for a year- ok, bad example, but you get my drift.

Dismissing the subject, the Doctor and Donna head into the Toymaker's shop. The Toymaker knows Donna's name while the Doctor begins to realise who he is. The Doctor tells Donna to go back to the TARDIS and Donna says that he never told her to do that. Except for that time the Doctor sent Donna back to the TARDIS to get her away from the ATMOS gas. Or that time the Doctor teleported Donna back to the TARDIS to get her away from the Vashta Nerada before she ended up being saved.

The Toymaker runs back into a corridor and the Doctor and Donna follow; they end up entering his domain and they get separated. The Doctor encounters Charles, who has become a puppet after trying to see the Toymaker to cure the giggle in his head and losing a game against the Toymaker. Donna encounters the rest of the Stooky family and is attacked by them, though the manages to destroy Stooky Sue and scare away the Stooky Babbies before reuniting with the Doctor.

The two then find themselves before the Toymaker in front of a stage, where he gives Donna a proper catch-up on the Doctor's adventures with Amy, Clara, (lady) Bill and the Flux. The Doctor then decides to challenge the Toymaker to a game of cards; as the Toymaker mentions all the godly beings he has won against, he mentions the Master and someone he never dared face, The One Who Waits. The Doctor asks the Toymaker why everyone thinks they are right in 2023 and he says that he made every opinion supreme, turning cancel culture on its head so that everybody wins, but everybody loses as well.

The Toymaker wins the game, but counting the Doctor's previous encounter with him, they are at one-all and this is a best of three. The Toymaker decides to meet him again in 2023 before collapsing his shop. The Doctor and Donna manage to escape and they head back as well.

"Hai, si, ja, hold tight!"

UNIT fires the Galvanic Beam at KOSAT 5 and takes it out. The Doctor and Donna return and has UNIT use some software to hopefully track down the Toymaker, but as a song begins playing, the Toymaker makes his appearance in a song and dance sequence before disappearing through the floor. OK, I have to give credit here, this sequence beats the Master dancing to Boney M's Rasputin in The Power of the Doctor. Also, Neil Patrick Harris, being American, had never heard of the song where as "all Brits know it as if it was Happy Birthday". He had it set as his alarm ringtone and listened to it 30 times every morning (according to him), which really deserves kudos.

The Doctor tells UNIT to search the building for the Toymaker. Suddenly, they notice that the Toymaker is manning the Galvanic Beam, having thrown the staff off the helipad. The Doctor asks the Toymaker why he won't use his powers for good, to which the Toymaker states that good and bad are nothing to him. In the ensuing confrontation, the Toymaker shoots the Doctor with the Galvanic Beam, noting that by his rules, the next game will be played with the next Doctor. Donna and Mel go to the Doctor as he begins to regenerate, finally ready to accept his death, but then the regeneration stops as he notes that it feels different this time; the Doctor asks Donna and Mel to pull on his arms, separating the Fifteenth Doctor into the Fourteenth Doctor and giving him half of his clothes. The two Doctors push their hands together and they separate.

The Fifteenth Doctor notes that he bi-generated, something that is supposed to be a myth (how the fuck would you know, Fifteen). The two Doctors then challenge the Toymaker to a game of catch, where the one to drop the ball loses. The game is played and the Toymaker drops the ball thrown from Fourteen to Fifteen to himself; for the Fourteenth Doctor's prize, he banishes the Toymaker from existence, or rather causes him to fold up and drop back into his box (that was originally his shop) as he tells the Doctor that his legions are coming. Kate has a soldier take the box to the deepest vault and bind it in salt.

Later, the Fifteenth Doctor notes to the Fourteenth Doctor that he is running on fumes; noting everything that has happened since facing the Toymaker as the First Doctor. The Fifteenth Doctor isn't experiencing any averse post-regeneration effects because Fourteen is the one doing the rehab, out of order. Donna reiterates how Fourteen regenerated back into his face and found Donna because the time has come for him to come back home. As Fourteen wonders if he can let the TARDIS go, Fifteen suddenly goes and takes a mallet, speculating that the Toymaker's domain could still be in play because Fifteen hasn't gotten his prize yet. Heading outside with Fourteen and Donna, Fifteen hits the TARDIS with his mallet and it bi-generates, giving a (slightly) newer TARDIS with a wheelchair ramp and a jukebox. Fourteen and Donna part ways with Fifteen as he leaves in his new TARDIS.

Sometime later, Fourteen then goes to have lunch with the Nobles and Mel (at a house that he bought if this is to be believed), revealing that Fourteen has had adventures with Rose and Mel and that Wilf is shooting moles who have force fields. And so the story ends with the two Doctors already off on their separate ways.

Bi-generation

Right, we need to talk about the bi-generation scene and just straight up, I like the idea in execution, but not in principle. To explain it, I'm going to do a crossover special between my Doctor Who reviews and the Kisekae Insights series. For those of you who are reading this in my review, expect to see this again in a filler instalment of Kisekae Insights as I repeat basic facts fans will already know. For those of you who are reading this in Kisekae Insights, hello again and welcome to content grubbing hell. Join me for the ride and I hope you noted the spoiler warning before the break.

Firstly, a little explainer for those of you who are unfamiliar to Doctor Who. The concept of regeneration was created for Season 4 in 1966 when William Hartnell's failing health and poor relations with the new production team meant that he was becoming more of a burden, and so, it was decided that he would depart the series to be replaced by Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor. Since then, different actors have portrayed different Doctors over the years and with the modern series, a cycle has popped up within the fandom in relation to their reactions to departing and arriving Doctors:

With the cancellation of the classic series in 1989, Seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy wouldn't get his regeneration scene until the 1996 TV movie featuring Eighth Doctor Paul McGann. However, the failure of the TV movie in the US led to the series being shelved again in the UK, with a regeneration seemingly nowhere in sight. Then, the series was revived in 2005 with Ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston and Paul McGann would finally get his regeneration scene for the 50th Anniversary in 2013, additionally revealing a previously unknown incarnation of the Doctor who fought in the Time War played by John Hurt. In addition to an aborted regeneration as the Tenth Doctor played by David Tennant which created a new meta-crisis incarnation, this meant that Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith was the final incarnation of the Doctor's first regeneration cycle of twelve regenerations.

However, the Doctor was granted a second cycle of regenerations, which led him to regenerate into Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi. In the following incarnation, Thirteenth Doctor Jodie Whittaker would learn of a revelation that destroyed everything we knew about the Doctor; the Doctor was actually a being known as the Timeless Child, who could continually regenerate upon death. The Child was experimented on by its "mother", Tecteun, going through numerous incarnations so that she could unlock the secret of its regeneration and grant it to herself and her people to become the Time Lords. Personally, I am of the belief that Rassilon, one of the Founding Fathers of the Doctor's (actual) home planet, Gallifrey, created or discovered regeneration as we knew it without all the cultural appropriation bullshit with the Timeless Child. In either case, Time Lords were limited to twelve regenerations.

And so we get to the 60th Anniversary. After regenerating back into David Tennant, the Fourteenth Doctor gets into a confrontation with the Celestial Toymaker and is killed, but instead of regenerating as normal, he bi-generates, with Fifteenth Doctor Ncuti Gatwa splitting away from him.

Doctor Who is a series that is all about change. Aside from changing Doctors, the entire show itself changes every so often, from companions to the production team and much more. Regeneration for Time Lords is likened to the death of one incarnation and the birth of another, and like it or not, the dying incarnation in question needs to learn to move on. The Tenth Doctor famously said "I don't want to go" immediately before his regeneration and the Twelfth Doctor initially refused to regenerate before an encounter with the First Doctor pre-regeneration made him realise that the universe still needed the Doctor. The Timeless Child revelation ends up being a piece of fridge horror when you realise that Tecteun repeatedly killed the Timeless Child in her pursuit of regeneration (some people may say it isn't fridge horror but that's because I didn't realise the implication until much later).

Following the premiere of the special, Russell T Davies, in his everlasting inability to shut the fuck up, explains how with this bi-generation, all the other previous Doctors bi-generated as well, explaining how the other Doctors appeared in the memory TARDIS for Tales of the TARDIS. With that point, I don't agree, I think those were the Doctor's "Guardians of the Edge" from The Power of the Doctor projecting themselves into the memory TARDIS. The implication here seems to be that the previous incarnations bi-generated and continued to have adventures in some way. So much for Fifteen saying that bi-generation was a myth, because if this is supposed to be a rare occurrence, then RTD’s theory clearly goes against it.

With all this in mind, the bi-generation takes away the gravitas mavitas of regeneration and leaves it without any meaning. If the Earth is in danger again, do the previous incarnations just go, "Oh, we'll just leave it to the latest one" like they lost their powers and their powers are with a legacy character like in Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger or Kamen Rider Zi-O? Nah, at least the Gokaigers returned their legendary powers to their original Rangers.

"But Azuma, Fifteen said that this was a rehab for Fourteen, he doesn't have to go through the standard post-regeneration instability because Fourteen's doing it for him on top of meditating on his past!"

I admit that I missed the rehab bit when I first watched it as I was thinking about how to address the bi-generation for this review. I thought bi-generation was a trick or a prize caused by the Toymaker, but it clearly wasn't seeing how the Toymaker reacted in surprise when it happened.

Regardless, the implications of bi-generation are still yet to be explained. Can the bi-generated Fourteenth Doctor (and maybe even the other Doctors) regenerate himself or will he have to merge back with Fifteen ala the Watcher? How is the Valeyard supposed to fit into this? If this was truly meant to be a rehab for Fourteen, then why did Fifteen bi-generate the TARDIS? Oh, but I guess we can't leave Fourteen without a TARDIS like how Eleven was basically stranded on Trenzalore for 900 years. That'll give him an excuse to forget about the emotional baggage Fifteen left him. How long can we expect Fourteen's rebab to go for? As long as it takes for Clara to finally decide to face her death at the hands of the raven, because this bi-generation was RTD doing a Moffat and Clara-ing Fourteen. (Side note, I can slightly forgive this if both Fourteen and Fifteen can regenerate and one of them becomes the Valeyard.)

The Timeless Child revelation makes all this even worse, because assuming the Doctor can regenerate unlimited times again at this point, it's all boiled down to "It's magic, we don't have to explain it." Hell, I didn't even bother counting how many regenerations the Doctor has in his second regenerative cycle at this point with the Master force-regenerating the Doctor into himself and then Yaz going to great pains to reverse it, that is how much the Timeless Child revelation made me stop giving a fuck.

OH, FUCK OFF.

Look, if the bi-generation was just between Fourteen and Fifteen, leaving it as the mythically rare occurrence that it should have been, then I would have been fine with it, but RTD implying that it echoed back and affected the Doctor’s past just so he can begin a “Doctorverse” is just bad, especially when we don’t know the full implications of bi-generation.

"But Azuma, didn't you do bi-generations as well in your personal project? You've got Doctor Whooves, the Pony Doctor and Storm Dasher, plus you've got all of Hiroki's prototypes in your stories. You even mentioned prototype regeneration in the not-so spoiler-free thought for this review!"

Oh yeah, it's coming. I haven't forgotten about that.

The Kisekae Connection

I could give you some links to previous instalments of Kisekae Insights where I talk about Hiroki Ichigo and his prototype regenerations, but since I'm padding out the review and I want to repeat things on Kisekae Insights, I'm going to do a full essay here, but before that, let's talk about two other connections related to the rest of the Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials.

Meta-crisis

The meta-crisis plot point was used for several characters in my personal project.

Kyōko Izumi was a new prototype introduced in December 2011. Immediately after his regeneration, not all of his appearance changed until during a crisis involving the Sycorax, where the TARDIS console opens and Kyōko received the power of the Time Vortex, giving him his new appearance. Once the Sycorax left, Kyōko began to have a mental breakdown like Donna did until the Doctor wiped his memory of the past few hours. Entrusting Kyōko to the care of the Lucky Stars of Saitama, the Doctor explains that until his regeneration stabilises, he cannot be reminded of him or he will die. The events of The End of Time take place during a time when Kyōko's regeneration hadn't stabilised yet and is a significant plot point in the story. The power of the Time Vortex gradually left him as well during that time.

In the serial Parallax of Love and Time (which forms the first four episodes of my Series 4), the meta-crisis plot of Journey's End is adapted with Doctor Whooves and his companion, Derpy Hooves, creating a non-cross-eyed alter ego within herself known as the DoctorDerpy, or Ditzy (Doo) as she would call herself. Derpy would be left in Ponyville with the Meta-Crisis Doctor Whooves, also known as Time Turner, while Doctor Whooves would get killed again and regenerate into his next incarnation. Derpy did not require her memories wiped because Equestrian magic can alleviate the strain of a Time Lord consciousness in ponies.

The same plot point would be repeated again when I actually adapted Journey's End for real in Series 5's The Return of Antoni. Fifi Forget-me-not used a prototype replica Soul Talisman (from a Parallax War universe) to regenerate herself, but she managed to siphon off much of her regeneration energy into the heart of the TARDIS before her appearance could change. Storm Dasher would end up looking into the heart of the TARDIS and become part-Time Lord as Derpy, in her Ditzy alter ego, appears and saves the TARDIS from being destroyed. Like with Derpy, Dasher did not require his memories to be wiped; in fact, becoming part-Time Lord and representing a new Element of Harmony, Time, were precursors to him becoming Ultraman Ginga and evolving into an alicorn years later.

Trans character

I didn't include this in my topic about trans issues for last week's review because I didn't want to distract from them, especially given how I handled the subject.

Towards the end of the Salacian Time War in Series 7's opener, a new male prototype who would be known as Korasuke Hayashi was born. As he was left in the care of Yuno at the Hidamari Apartments, Korasuke would need to disguise himself as a female to even be there and so, with Yuno's help, he assumes the persona of Kumiko Hayashi.

During the 50th Anniversary Series, a mishap during an adventure caused Kumiko to become permanently female, though unable to have children. Uniquely, this happened without Kumiko going through things like mental health evaluation, hormone therapy and gender reassignment surgery, which is why I acknowledge that this is far from being an accurate portrayal of trans people. (I don't know if this was mentioned or not, but the Doctor might have offered to find a way to make Kumiko a boy again but Kumiko refused because of reasons I'm about to explain now.)

The reason why I made Kumiko permanently female was because I started to forget that she was actually Korasuke, so I decided to get that out of the way. I don't think of Kumiko's old name as a deadname because I didn't use it much, so that name didn't stick with people and therefore Kumiko isn’t fixated on people deadnaming or misgendering her.

Oh no, a male in a female-only space, I guess I'm cancelled by TERFs now. Oh wait, I basically blackfaced the transgender experience, so I guess I'm cancelled by the trans community for being a transphobe now. Lol calm down, you clearly don't understand that this is (fan)fiction and that I acknowledged that this is not an accurate representation of being trans.

Can Kumiko be non-binary as well? I don't know, think what you want. She's already transgender anyway.

Bi-generation case 1: Quad-generation

In The End of Time, the Doctor regenerated into his next incarnation, but three other individuals regenerated from him - two of them got their own TARDISes. For additional reasons that are detailed in previous instalments of Kisekae Insights, the Doctor ended up using six regenerations in one go, creating three ponies with a regeneration each and splitting away two human lives that had merged into him.

Of the three ponies were two Time Lords, Doctor Whooves and the Pony Doctor, and an Earth pony named Jee Gun who later became Storm Dasher. Long story short, Doctor Whooves gained a meta-crisis incarnation, then the Pony Doctor sacrificed the regeneration he had so that Doctor Whooves could regenerate again.

Although the reason why this quad-generation happened wasn't explained initially, the Doctor would make use of a Time Puncher used by Girl Power to ensure that the existences of the three ponies would be cemented - a future revision is expected to slightly change this by having the Doctor input some history that the Time Puncher apparently missed, unintentionally becoming the reason for their existences in the first place.

The difference between this and the bi-generation is that the old (David Tennant) incarnation doesn't stay around, though you can say that he did end up becoming Doctor Whooves for a time.

Oh, and by the way? At the end of my Doctor Who series, the Doctor regenerates into himself for a final time and it is later revealed that he and the TARDIS became one, repairing the TARDIS' chameleon circuit while also allowing the Doctor to assume whatever form he wants, so the Curator and the past Doctors can still be things without this bi-generation mess.

Bi-generation case 2: Prototype regeneration

This case is the closest analog to the bi-generation we saw in the episode and yet in my opinion, is better than it. For one thing, the character in question who can bi-generate is NOT the Doctor and for another, the mechanics of it have been thoroughly explained in multiple lore dumps over the years, basically repeating the same thing I'm about to describe.

The Fifteenth Doctor was right when he said that bi-generation was a myth because I did write it as a phenomenon that only happens to one person. To explain it, we'll need to look at the Doctor's origins from the POV of my personal project. Enjoy this description copied verbatim from #2 because it's taking long enough writing two posts at the same time as it is:

During the Time War, the Time Lords were desperate for more soldiers and resurrecting their dead wasn’t enough for them. As such, Lord President Rassilon invented a virus, suspended in Mako energy, and spread it on Earth at some points in history. While the virus would have no effect on the infected, it would sometimes result in the souls of their offspring being harvested and transported to Gallifrey, where they would become new Time Lords. The human “shells” would be left with corrupted chromosomes and/or brain activity as a result. Other humans documented these genetic and neurodevelopmental disorders over the years, resulting in what we know today as disorders like Down syndrome and autism (though I should note that the Time Lords probably didn’t cause every disorder known to mankind).

At essentially the same time, the Shinra Electric Power Company worked on the Jenova Project, injecting a number of people with Jenova cells in the process. By chance, one of those people had a child *1 with someone who was infected with Rassilon’s virus and also a twin *2 that they were unaware about until its birth. Unfortunately, in the present-day view of the project, Shinra had already fallen and there are no plans for a “reunion theory”. *3

After the twins were born, they had to be taken to another hospital due to complications. In the middle of the night, the Time Lords were extracting the child’s soul (the other babies in the nursery were chanting an angelic prayer in the process) when the twin suddenly emitted a blast of Mako energy, causing everything to go silent. In reality, that soul was knocked out of the Time Vortex and landed on Gallifrey long before the Time War. That soul became the Time Lord who would be known as the Doctor. My backstory is that he was found by Omega and raised like any other Gallifreyan. *4

The child would later be diagnosed with autism. Uniquely, due to the Time Lord and Jenova DNA in him coupled with whatever remnant Mako energy there was (I dunno), the child also had the ability to regenerate, but it would create another body in the process and he was also susceptible to regenerating following emotional distress (like a broken heart or something, think Takotsubo cardiomyopathy). The child would keep on living as the “archetype”, while the new body created would take on a separate identity and live as a “prototype”. The process varies each time; either the child would regenerate into the prototype and the archetype (or real self) would manifest sometime later, or the child would regenerate into his next incarnation and the prototype would manifest later. As for the twin, well, everyone forgot about him because of the Time War, so he was put up for adoption as if he were an orphan. However, he did not share his brother’s regeneration abilities. In the story, they meet each other again and basically, all is well.

*1: Hiroki Ichigo *2: Parker Zhou *3: Until Soulbound Series 4 *4: See? No Timeless Child bullshit here.

So in summary, the Doctor was born from Hiroki Ichigo due to circumstances and Hiroki is able to bi-generate as a result. You know, seeing how Fifteen was basically leaving his emotional baggage to Fourteen for his "rehab", I think I have a better tl;dr explanation for my version of it: "Oh no, my family or someone who was supposed to be close to me hurt my feelings! I guess I'll regenerate, become a different person and escape my emotional baggage because I'm too much of a snowflake to cope!" God, I fucking hate myself.

Like the Doctor, Hiroki has gone through a forgotten regeneration (Hayato Kisaichi), a meta-crisis regeneration (Takumi Kamijō/Kumiko Hayashi) and a female regeneration (Momoka Mizutani). In fact, with the exception of the meta-crisis regeneration, Hiroki was the other two prototypes for a short amount of time before they separated, meaning that I predicted bi-generation nearly a decade before RTD showed it to the world.

The main reason why bi-generation works better for Hiroki than the Doctor is because regeneration is different for Hiroki than any other Time Lord. Also, it is made clear that Hiroki has the same twelve regeneration limit of other Time Lords (barring certain exceptions) and the prototypes are unable to regenerate themselves. The way regeneration works for Hiroki is that he is still the same person who only changes slightly with each regeneration - in fact, you could say that the prototypes were new incarnations that split off from Hiroki instead of him regenerating into each one, but by that logic Hiroki would have had three female incarnations before Jodie Whittaker debuted as the Thirteenth Doctor. Then again, Steven Moffat made Joanna Lumley the Thirteenth Doctor in The Curse of Fatal Death, so this isn't the one-up I thought it would be.

Hiroki's final regeneration is made to be different from his original self because it signifies his final victory in the fight to be a different person, his ideal self. Despite this however, Hiroki's problems always have a way of catching up to him, and while he has found a way to conquer each and every one, there is one big problem that he has neglected for a long time, but that is a story for another day...

You know, over the years I've come to realise that "prototype" and "archetype" are inaccurate words to describe my version of bi-generation, but now that I've actually seen bi-generation for myself, maybe there were better names that I could have used:

prototype regeneration = bi-generation

prototype = splinter

archetype = original

No, I'm not going to revise all mentions of "prototype regeneration" to "bi-generation". I may be doing revised editions of my stories, but the prototype regenerations (among other things) are a core part of them that changing anything about them would make my stories drastically different. I'm not an SJW revisionist.

This concludes the Doctor Who review/Kisekae Insights crossover. And now, we take you back to your respective hells of series. They don't get any better than this.

The Celestial Toymaker

This episode featured the return of the Celestial Toymaker, now known only as the Toymaker, played by Neil Patrick Harris. His first appearance was in the third season of the classic series, played by Michael Gough. The Toymaker was a being who loved to play games with others, but he hated to lose and the games would always be rigged in his favour. While he would never cheat, as he was bound by the rules of the games set by himself or his opponents, he could bend them to some extent or conveniently forget to mention them. He also had the power to manipulate reality and if he were to lose a game, that power would briefly be granted to his opponent so they can claim their prize. Hmm, could the Toymaker have been behind the Desire Grand Prix of Kamen Rider Geats? Nah, totally not at all.

The "celestial" element of the Toymaker was toned down in this episode, though the Doctor does mention the word once. In the 1966 serial, the Toymaker is shown dressed like a Chinese mandarin, or a bureaucrat in imperial times. Huh, I wonder if they had a Central Bureaucracy. Oh, wait.

Anyway, because of that, SJWs in the 21st century thought that this was problematic because of "cultural appropriation" (also, the serial contained the use of the hard-r n-word in the traditional form of a counting rhyme), so RTD decided that this white villain would be played by a white man. On top of that, RTD wanted to acknowledge this by giving the 2023 Toymaker a racist aspect by having him speak in German and French accents in addition to British and a little bit of American accents. So I guess being (or God forbid, acting) German or French is racist now? Also, I can tell that some German words were made up in the Toymaker's lines. That's just as racist as people mixing Asian sounds together and making up Asian words that make no sense in their original languages. Look, jokes aside, this isn't a "shut up RTD" moment because this wasn't his fault. The problematic elements have been there for years.

There's a little aspect of the Toymaker's "racism" that I must disagree with:

The Toymaker: "I really must apologise for the rain. You must be used to sunnier climes." Charles: "I was born in Cheltenham."

Yeah well, I'm from Queensland. We get cyclones. OK, I'm not really from Queensland, but this isn't the racist attack you think it is, RTD.

The song used in the Toymaker's song and dance scene, Spice Up Your Life by the Spice Girls, had a problematic lyric that goes "Yellow man in Timbuktu/Colour for both me and you". The Spice Girls have revised that line in future performances so that it becomes "happy people in Timbuktu", which doesn't fit the syllables of the original line. RTD acknowledged this and so the line was covered up in the episode. You know, with my usual aversion to political correctness gone mad, I'm the kind of person who actually doesn't care about the line and I'm Asian. In fact, thanks to China's One Belt One Road Initiative, that line has never been more accurate.

If you didn't get the joke, Timbuktu is a city in Mali and Mali, like many African countries, is a member of the initiative. Although Mali is a landlocked country, it is expected to benefit from the African Continental Free Trade Area. In fact, a Chinese company has set up Konyobla and Karan villages in Mali with solar-powered electricity and water pumps. Granted, they are very far away from Timbuktu, but they'll get there sooner or later.

Also, Chinese singer Nicholas Tse 謝霆鋒 (famous for hosting a cooking show that makes Gordon Ramsay look like Ncuti Gatwa) sang a song called 黃種人, which literally translates to "yellow people". And it's not just him. Other Chinese singers have sung songs with nationalistic themes that make reference to "yellow skin". Again, this isn't a "shut up RTD" moment because this is more of a dig at the Spice Girls.

Also, the last line of the song before the Toymaker disappeared - did the "Hai" get blorted out in it? I know the line was misheard for many years, but there was nothing problematic about it. However, when that line was replayed again in Unleashed, the "Hai" didn't get blorted out. What the hell, sound team?

Anyway, of the original 1966 serial, only one episode of four was recovered (the audio remains intact for all four episodes), so the entire serial is set to be re-released in an animated format with a reconstruction of the three missing episodes and a new remaster of the recovered fourth episode. The animation style is... rather controversial, apparently.

Other general thoughts

Clearly the London scene at the beginning of this episode (and Kate going full Karen) was meant to satirise the coronavirus pandemic of 2020-22, what with everyone being right and all (hence why I titled that section "What the left thinks freedom protesters want"). Donna suggests to Kate that they distribute the Zeedex to everyone, to which Kate shows her a clip of Trinity Wells (RTD's go-to American news presenter played by Lachele Carl) on her own show, talking about how the Zeedex is a conspiracy to control and monitor humanity, a clear satire of vaccines and vaccine mandates. One question, was there ever an intention to distribute the Zeedex to the wider population? It just sounds like a lot of money and time wasted when you could just have UNIT use the Zeedex while the Doctor tries to solve the situation. That being said, if that was the case, then it can be presumed that Trinity Wells knew about the Zeedex from leaked or stolen information.

Wilf is featured in this episode, however Bernard Cribbins was not due to his health, hence his appearance was done with a stand-in, an archive line from Series 4 and a mention at the end. When I heard Wilf say to Donna, "You go with the Doctor" in the preview clip, it felt a bit heartwarming because it reminded me of how Sylvia was so hesitant regarding aliens and distrusting of the Doctor back then (even more so when Donna's memory was wiped) while Wilf was a lot more open-minded and sympathetic to his granddaughter. RTD apparently had a version of the episode where Wilf was revealed to have died to acknowledge Bernard Cribbins' death, but Phil Collinson opposed it.

I have a weird irk about using the definite article when addressing aliens in normal conversation like their name is a title. It's always "the something", like "the Meep" or "the Vlinx" when you could drop the definite article and nobody would bat an eye. You could do that with "the Doctor" and just address him as "Doctor" like everyone has because it's a title.

The Toymaker talks about what happened to the Master; the Master begged the Toymaker for his life in exchange for one final game, but he lost and he was sealed in a gold tooth- okay, that is too many teeth for a mouth, the rest of the teeth have to be fake. Anyway, after the Toymaker was defeated, a hand with red nail polish picks up the gold tooth- alright, I know this is a direct rip off of the signet ring from Last of the Time Lords and I know what RTD is getting at. Can we fucking not, please? Moffat killed off the Master, then Chibnall resurrected him to deliver the stupid Timeless Child retcon before killing him off again. Can we just have an incarnation where the Doctor doesn't have to face the Master again- oh right, the bi-generation. Really wrote myself into a corner with that one. But still, surely there are loads of other Time Lords that could be brought back? With Mel back in the picture, can we finally have a return of the Rani maybe? Hell, you brought the Toymaker back and made him like the Master, because everything he did is totally what the modern series Master would do.

Also, the Toymaker tells the Doctor that he made a jigsaw out of his history, which some fans have interpreted to be a retcon of the Timeless Child. Ahahahahaha, no it isn't. If we're supposed to believe that this was the Toymaker's doing, then why did we get the Tecteun double-down in Flux or the mention last episode? Yeah, RTD's not going to retcon the Timeless Child because he has to give face to Chibnall (as part of the Fitzroy Crowd), but he mentioned that this was a "loosening of the rules"; fans can say anything about the Doctor now, whether he was really half-human as the Eighth Doctor, whether he was actually the Timeless Child or the other. Yeah, I sure do appreciate this attempt at "ignoring" the Timeless Child retcon, not that fans could do this already or the extended universe was breaking the rules before later stories defined them.

During the bi-generation, the Fifteenth Doctor is left without pants (because Fourteen took them), and so for the last 15 minutes of the episode, he is just walking about in a shirt, an untied tie and briefs, the absence of trousers which I didn't notice initially. John Barrowman got cancelled for less than this (quite literally, in a manner of speaking) and he got thrown under the bus because of Noel Clarke (albeit indirectly).

Mel Bush was a companion of the Sixth and Seventh Doctors. Her debut was in Terror of the Vervoids, the third serial of The Trial of a Time Lord saga which showed Mel being from the Sixth Doctor's future at the time of his trial and thus her introduction was left to extended media. She stayed with the Doctor through his later regeneration before she decided to leave and travel with Sabalom Glitz, the Doctor now travelling with Glitz's former companion Ace. In this episode's recollection of events, Mel travelled with Glitz until he died at the age of 101. After attending a space funeral, Mel decided to head back to Earth on a Zingo (space Uber?), but she found herself with nothing on Earth (she describes herself as an orphan here but that only applies to children, not adults). She had a cameo at the end of The Power of the Doctor and in this episode, she is shown working with Kate and Shirley at UNIT.

Say what you will about these specials undermining Donna's character development, but she truly got a happy ending in the end and she deserved it. She's got her memories back, her mother likes her and the Doctor, and she's got a high-paying job at UNIT (£120k plus 5 weeks' holiday). Heck, the Fourteenth Doctor and Mel got their happy endings as well; Fourteen doesn't have to go and Mel finally found another family after losing hers.

The Fifteenth Doctor's TARDIS has a wheelchair ramp now, "bringing it into the 21st century" as Shirley says. Apparently on set, this was known as the "Tharries Ramp", something that was confirmed by Benjamin Cook after RTD was inspired to do so from watching his videos. It's nice and all, but... Tharries once bugged Bowlestrek and NoelZone to do a stream together with them (he even casually refers to himself as a "mini Bowlestrek" lmao) before turning on them to hang with the likes of Channel Pup and Mr TARDIS, even going to far as to copyright strike the stream for "privacy violations" because he was clearly ashamed of it. Congratulations, RTD, you pandered to a left-wing grifter. Sure, being disabled doesn't mean that someone is evil, but it doesn't mean that they are incapable of evil just because they are disabled (case in point Davros). Evil doesn't discriminate whether you are disabled or not.

In the end, Donna believes that the Doctor got his old face back and found her because it was destiny telling him to come home. Somehow, I find that hard to believe given how the DoctorDonna was the cause of the Doctor and Donna meeting in the first place, helped by Dalek Caan. Maybe this could have been the Toymaker's apology offering or something, which would also explain how the Doctor's clothes changed when he regenerated back into his old face. Or maybe it might also be the work of The One Who Waits, possibly the Meep's "boss" mentioned in The Star Beast.

The anniversary roundup (and RTD’s work behind the scenes)

Oh, you thought I was done with this review? I haven't even covered the topic I was planning to cover for this week. God, this is going to be longer than a Content Cop at this point.

After signing back onto the series as showrunner in 2021, RTD has been working non-stop to make the 60th Anniversary the best it could be. At the time of writing, production is currently ongoing for Series 15, due to premiere in 2025, and promotion for the 60th Anniversary goes way back to the end of The Power of the Doctor. RTD and Bad Wolf have really taken the opportunity to make up for the irregular gaps and lack of promotion, two of the most frustrating shortcomings of the Chibnall era's production. Christmas Specials are back and the show is back on Saturday nights, which is a real plus.

While reviewing the 2022 Specials, I did get a bit pissy at the news that there wouldn't be any series until the 60th Anniversary. In addition to this, Series 14 and 15 will be eight episodes long with an additional Christmas Special. While mulling over this for the past year, I realised that a significant amount of the RTD and Moffat era's shortcomings came from having to produce 13 episodes and a Christmas Special in 9 months. Although the Chibnall era had its series reduced to 10 episodes each, Chibnall had to assist rookie writers which resulted in the series finale only being a first draft; all the other shortcomings came down to inexperience, incompetence or neglect.

On top of that, production values have evolved over the past 60 years to the point where we need to consider quality over quantity particularly with the amount of work required to produce an episode of a series like Doctor Who. The equivalent of 21 full-length episodes in the First Doctor era cannot be achieved with all the work, time and budget required in current year, which has necessitated the reduction of episodes in production over time. With these factors in consideration, I suppose I can accept that this is the cost of getting a series every year in this new era.

In terms of extended universe content, the Fourteenth Doctor is special in that he had his debut in comics before his first episode. Following his regeneration, the Fourteenth Doctor received a 14-issue long comic run in Doctor Who Magazine from November 2022, titled Liberation of the Daleks. The Doctor was not known to experience any post-regeneration complications, presumably due to going back to a previous body for a new incarnation.

As we got closer to the 60th anniversary, the episode titles for the specials were released six months prior in a reveal trailer. At the start of November 2023, BBC iPlayer in the UK launched Whoniverse, which hosted all content related to Doctor Who including all old episodes and spinoffs. Notably, the very first story, An Unearthly Child, is not available in the back catalogue due to a rights dispute with the inheritor of writer Anthony Coburn's estate, his son Stef. Stef claims that the BBC "offered a pittance" to him to relicense the story after cancelling it, claiming that his father also owned the rights to the TARDIS as well and that the BBC effectively "killed" his father by registering the TARDIS as a trademark in 1976 without asking permission or offering payment. Stef has also been known to be against the concept of regeneration, let alone the Thirteenth Doctor being a woman, but regardless of this or any insinuation of Stef being racist or anti-woke, I think we can agree that it is spiteful of him to hold back An Unearthly Child from the Whoniverse, not that it isn't available on physical media or other sources already. The BBC hasn't given their side of the story as far as we know, so there's not much more I can say on that. It's really saying something when even the notorious Ian Levine is speaking out against Stef and has been since 2013 according to a Twitter search.

As November began, we got Talking Doctor Who, a documentary hosted by David Tennant featuring archived interviews from mostly past Doctors. There was also a six-part spinoff, Tales of the TARDIS, featuring omnibus editions of classic serials bookended by newly filmed scenes of the Doctors and companions in a memory TARDIS, an initiative presumably inspired by The Power of the Doctor as Tegan and Ace got a chance to appear again with their respective Doctors. According to Screen Rant, it fixed mistakes from said special by acknowledging a relationship between Tegan and Nyssa, had the Seventh Doctor acknowledge his manipulation of Ace, and fundamentally, bringing the Doctor into the companion therapy process. The article's writer says that the memory TARDIS is a "giant middle finger" to Graham's Companions Anonymous group, but it's not like it's impossible to have both things. Like I said before, this is where RTD stated that the bi-generated Doctors could come in, but my theory is that they were the Doctor's Guardians of the Edge being projected into the memory TARDIS.

On 23 November, The Daleks in Colour premiered as a colourised cut of the original 1963 serial that beat the Beatles in ratings and saved the show from cancellation before it even started. Compressing a 7-part serial into 75 minutes has honestly got to be a hell of an ask for editor Benjamin Cook, which isn't helped when people are panning it for things like the jump cuts and repeated flashbacks to things like the anti-radiation drugs. This version also has updated visual effects, a new soundtrack and additional Dalek voices from Nicholas Briggs. I thought it was alright, but other people may have stronger feelings than I do about it. I think it could have been better if it was 90 minutes long.

Following this, An Adventure in Space and Time was replayed, but with the ending changed to show Ncuti Gatwa instead of Matt Smith (along with more edits to the scenes showing the filming of the first serial due to rights issues). Apparently Mark Gatiss designed the scene so that it could feature any Doctor for any anniversary they decided to replay it. I'm a bit meh on this, but whatever.

On 25 November, after The Star Beast was broadcast, a documentary Doctor Who: 60 Years of Secrets and Scandals was broadcast on Channel 5 in the UK, covering various topics mostly relating to the classic series. In addition to this, BBC Radio released various audio documentaries relating to the classic series, the Wilderness Years and the modern series. A number of Doctor Who figures were invited on My Life In A Mixtape, where for an hour, they play the songs that defined their lives. Katy Manning (who played Jo) also narrated an audio special featuring an interview with composer Murray Gold by Richard Latto of BBC Radio Solent. I didn't care for it, but I did also listen to Surviving Doctor Who, where Toby Hadoke defined one word or phrase for each letter of the alphabet, and Doctor Who: 60 Years of Friends and Foes hosted by Sue Perkins, which explores how the show reflected the social history of the world across the decades.

Summary and verdict (and the future of these reviews)

If you've read up to here by now I'm sure you're tired of me ranting like a cooker gaslighting you into thinking I'm right or a lefty putting walls of text in a meme in an attempt to convince you why a half-Indian actor playing Isaac Newton isn't racist, so I won't belabour my verdict any more than necessary.

I liked the episode. Neil Patrick Harris as the Toymaker was great, we saw Kate Stewart and Mel Bush again and the Doctor and Donna got their happy ending. However, where it fails is the bi-generation, because the concept takes away the gravitas mavitas of regeneration and the implications of it are not fully explained. Unfortunately, there are no plans for David Tennant to return, at least for now. It's not as bad as the Timeless Child retcon, but it is up there.

Rating: 5/10 60th Anniversary cumulative total: 16/30 (53%)

In conclusion, the 60th Anniversary Specials were a return to form for Doctor Who after the Chibnall era all but killed it. I won't say that it's a good starting point for new fans because although it may be so, you should binge at least the first RTD era in order to understand the DoctorDonna storyline. It also sets up The One Who Waits as something that will be important for the Fifteenth Doctor's era and also lays the groundwork for another reboot of the series.

RTD did double-down on the Timeless Child again, but instead of pussying out like Chibnall did in Flux, he leaves the door open for fan interpretation by implying that the retcon was a game by the Toymaker, nonsensical though it may have been.

The Message is still prevalent throughout the three specials, but as I said in my spoiler-free thought for the first special, you have to be willing to overlook it in order to find enjoyment in this series (unless you clearly don't have a problem with it in the first place). While I am okay with the "woke" politics (belittling though they may be), I wasn't okay with RTD's stupid justifications for certain decisions he made in production, such as the decision to have the Doctor regenerate his clothes as well, justifying the portrayal of Davros without his life support wheelchair or the bi-generation working retroactively so that all the previous Doctors still exist in a sense.

Sure, RTD has done some phenomenal stories in his era which is deserving of our respect, but let's not forget how he treats critics and detractors on social media. Do you really want to support or care about the opinions of a showrunner who has a stick so far up his ass that he thinks he can say things like these and have sycophants (in both the access media and social media) support him doing so?

I compared the first RTD era to writers Naruhisa Arakawa and Yasuko Kobayashi with producer Naomi Takebe in Toei tokusatsu. Replace Naomi Takebe with Shinichirō Shirakura post-Super Hero Taisen/Twitter (Zi-O, Zenkaiger, Donbrothers) and you get the RTD2 era in a nutshell. Say what you will about Shirakura or even Chibnall, at least they didn't outright insult fans on social media.

With all that being said, I would like to announce that I won't be continuing to review the RTD2 era after these specials. The main reason isn't because of RTD or the bi-generation (though they are contributing factors), but it's because I've been feeling a bit burnt out on Doctor Who after watching Wild Blue Yonder and dealing with a few real life problems around that time. Also, I promised my fans an original story for the 20th anniversary of Sea Princesses in October 2024 and right now, I'm stuck doing side stories and tie-ins when I've barely made any progress on the main story. I'll still continue to watch Doctor Who as a casual fan, it's just that I might limit myself to posting thoughts about episodes if they're important for me to post about. I did consider doing reviews without restating the plot, but I thought it would be better if I stepped down from reviewing instead of trying to force out cut-down reviews.

How do I think The Message was handled during the 60th Anniversary specials compared to the Chibnall era? I expected to find more SJW red flags in the first two episodes of Series 11 than I found in these specials. Although I was dense to a lot of things back when I started the Thirteenth Doctor Reviews, I have to give Chibnall credit for the Timeless Child revelation and Flux because they enabled me to spot and call out RTD's bullshit during the specials.

At this point I'm feeling more apathetic to the current state of Doctor Who than anger and that's mostly because I've been emotionally detaching myself from the show once the Moffat era came to a close (this was also because I wanted to branch my personal project away from the BBC canon and do my own thing with the Doctor after Twice Upon a Time). The Timeless Child revelation was the terminal cancer for Doctor Who as I knew it, the double-down was the fatal blow and despite the return of RTD giving me hope, the bi-generation was the death knell. Although the Ncuti Gatwa era is slated to be a reboot, it's really just going to be "same same but different".

Speaking of Ncuti Gatwa, I will make a few comments about what we know. His new costume (I'm pretty sure he'll have different costumes in each episode) reminds me of Series 4 Donna Noble's look, and I'm sorry, but that is not a sonic screwdriver. Call it a remote if you like, but I'm surprised they didn't make it a flip phone. At least the Fourteenth Doctor's sonic screwdriver won't go to waste now that we know he's still around.

RTD has also stated that the show will be taking a step towards fantasy, something that will annoy people who knew it as a hard science-fiction show. I'm interested in seeing how it plays out. When I was in Year 10 English class, I mentioned to my friends how Doctor Who was a sci-fi show. My teacher overheard it and he made a counterpoint that it was a fantasy show. Thinking about it, he did have a point there as Doctor Who (and other sci-fi shows really) can be considered fantasy shows with a sci-fi setting - a science fantasy, if you will.

Before I sign off I will say one final thing about Christopher Eccleston. At the 2023 For The Love Of Sci-Fi convention in Manchester, Eccleston was asked what it would take for him to return to Doctor Who, and he said, "Sack Russell T Davies, sack Jane Tranter, sack Phil Collinson, sack Julie Gardner and I'll come back." Eccleston has been very open with what happened on Doctor Who given what we heard and I've also covered it in the Doctor Who 10 for 10 post for Series 1. I think if he were asked this at Dragon Con in 2021, before we knew that RTD was coming back and that the show would be produced by Bad Wolf, he would have said, "Get Doctor Who away from the BBC," meaning "Move the production away from BBC Studios".

That is it for my Doctor Who reviews. If you have managed to make it this far, thank you for reading this and a big thank you to everyone who has read and interacted with my reviews. Sorry I won't be able to continue reviewing the rest of the RTD2 era in depth and sorry I took longer than usual to finish this review. I feel like I've neglected myself over the years to dedicate myself to my internet audience and I hope to refocus my priorities to balance taking care of myself with content creation.

Despite the death of Doctor Who as I knew it, I hope the new Doctor Who will at least continue to be as enjoyable as it was over the past 60 years.

#RIPDoctorWho