What's that poem about the cockroach and the moth where the cockroach is like "I wish I've ever wanted anything the way that moth wanted to burn itself up in that lantern" because we had to read that in high school and it still fucks me up to this day
Ok I found it it's called "the lesson of the moth by archy" and it's by Don Marquis
An old favorite. (And the incident with the moth in The Door into Fire is a nod toward this, though not an obvious one.)
Why is there so much everday cruelty against children and why is it never treated like a political issue?
Because children don't have a vote, I guess.
There's something really fascinating about how a common trope in the Moffat era was "system isn't working as intended and starts killing everybody" only for Moffat to come back to the show and drop an episode about how the system is working exactly as intended and if isn't stopped everyone is going to die.
I wish the 12th Doctor was blind until he regenerated. For a lot of reasons, but can you imagine in Twice Upon a Time where he gets his memories of Clara back, and he knows that she’s standing right in front of him. He can feel that she’s there. But he can never see her.
Imagine how bad that would hurt. Like, this man deserved a happy ending. But imagine the pain he would feel at knowing he’d never see her again after regaining his memories, even when she’s standing right there. But at the same time, he couldn’t be sad about it. Because he knows that she’s standing right there. And he finally remembers her face. And maybe the memory is enough.
get someone that knows nothing about doctor who to play smash or pass with each regeneration and reveal at the end that theyre all the same person
I love that for every episode of the new season thats come out so far I’ve seen at least one post calling it the worst episode of doctor who to exist
okay, so you know that theory that series 14 is a tv show, that's why there are so many fourth wall breaks, etc, etc. well, what if we had a weeping angels episode this season? it's the climax of the episode, ruby and the doctor are surrounded by angels when...nothing happens. they forcibly close their eyes just to check, but the angels aren't moving. the doctor does his signature rambling as he tries to figure out what happened, and then it dawns on him. he turns slowly, stares directly into the camera and says "oh. it's you. all of you. you're why they can't move." the doctor starts jumping around, shakes ruby for a bit (and ruby's just like wut the hell is going on), does a thing with the sonic screwdriver before starting to run when he suddenly stops and turns back. looking directly into the camera, he says "don't blink." and then he runs off to save the day.
couple minutes later, he tells ruby to stare at some angels that were out of frame by saying "babes, the camera angle's changed."
One: The land mine is diffused by the power of parental love much sooner. Splice and Mundy join the TARDIS team after he decides that Splice will be his next fill-in granddaughter.
Two: Plays the recorder instead of singing. Jamie attacks the ambulance with his knife as soon as it attaches the lines to the Doctor, and it's only Zoe that stops him from getting killed. The detonation happens much sooner because the Doctor gets antsy and plays with the fiddly bits.
Three: Expertly controls his blood pressure to stop a premature detonation. Tries to keep his companion far away, but they discover the land mine anyway. Takes the land mine with him after it is diffused to use for spare parts in the UNIT lab.
Four: "Harry, I'm standing on a land mine." Doesn't bother with a counterbalance and just stands on one foot for the whole episode. Snacks on some jelly babies while waiting for the right moment.
Five: Has an in depth conversation with Nyssa about how he is regulating his biology on a molecular level. They use a cricket ball from the TARDIS as a counterbalance, meaning that he never gets shot or targeted by the ambulance. One of his companions still ends up getting shot, at which point he falls over, immediately self destructs, and blows a giant hole in the planet.
Six: Gets far too irritated for his blood pressure to stay low. Could really do with some of Evelyn's cocoa right about now. The land mine blows up because he cannot calm down enough to disguise his presence.
Seven: A much longer conversation on how the Doctor is a complex space-time event. The countdown finishes, but the land mine doesn't blow because he had disarmed it at the beginning of the episode. The entire time, he was just pretending the land mine was live in order to teach his teenage companion a life lesson.
Eight: Forgets he's standing on a land mine and blows up. Gets into a passionate conversation with his companion about the war industry complex. Soliloquizes about life and death. Almost sacrifices himself in an inferno of self-loathing, but his companion saves the day.
War: His associates go back in time and extract him before he steps on the land mine. This new version of him continues fighting the Daleks while the time echo standing on the land mine is used to blow a hole in the nearby Dalek command ship.
Nine: Has flashbacks to the War while standing on the land mine but somehow manages to stabilize his blood pressure thanks to the presence of Rose and Jack. Jack manages to diffuse the bomb while he is on it thanks to his experience with Villengard tech.
Ten: "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." Tries to convince his companion to evacuate as much of the population into the TARDIS as possible because they would be safe there. Almost lets himself blow up, but his companion forces him to find a way to survive.
Eleven: The mine blows up in about ten seconds because he can't stand still. The entire planet is blown to smithereens, but his friends are okay because he locked them in the TARDIS.
Twelve: Gets into mind games with Clara while she is trying to figure out what he is standing on. Clara tries to take his place, but he doesn't let her. Missy eventually shows up and disarms the land mine because she wants to be the one to kill him.
Thirteen: Only manages to stay still because the Fam calms her down. Is oddly stoic about the entire thing and disappears into the depths of the TARDIS for several days after it happens. She never brings it up again even though Yaz tries to get her to talk about it.
Fourteen: God damn it this guy is supposed to be retired. He's supposed to be having a break. He talks about how much he loves his companion and how so, so sorry he is that he can't fix this.
Fugitive: This is a normal Tuesday for her. Probably has some sort of anti-land mine device in one of her coat pockets.
'Boom' would've been five minutes long if it had starred Eleven because no force in the universe could've forced him to stand still for more than three seconds.
Series 1: You always wait at crossings until they're green, even if there's no one else around, and/or you are very new to Doctor Who and have no idea why there's any fuss about series numbering.
Series 14: The mid-2000s were formative for you. You still cry every time you watch Doomsday.
Series 40: You can name multiple individual episode titles pre-The Savages. You own at least one Big Finish audio. You probably have opinions on UNIT dating.
The Fifteenth Doctor's first series: "Too tired for this nonsense" is a recurring theme in your life. You theoretically know how to fold a fitted sheet but favour the "roll it into a ball and shove it in a cupboard" method instead.
Variations on the above, e.g. 15-01: You are the person that friends, family and co-workers come to when they're struggling with a tricky formula in Excel.
RTD2Who, New New Who, etc: You own at least one sonic screwdriver and multiple pairs of novelty dungarees. (They're very nice).
Doctor Who (2024): You are a journalist, academic or simply someone who is fed up with all of this, and who can blame you.
I think some people, including me before I analyzed the opening scenes of the Eleventh Hour more closely, assume Amy's abandonment issues are just about being abandoned by The Doctor, but there's way more to it than that. Her parents had disappeared for reasons she had no capacity to understand, and she's left with her aunt who's heavily implied to be neglectful (leaving a child home alone completely unsupervised) and who she says she'd be lucky not to have. She also doesn't fit in as the only Scottish girl in the English village and frankly just an odd person in general.
When The Doctor says he'll come back, she says people always say that like she knows from experience. The tragedy of what The Doctor accidentally did to her is that she finally however breifly met an adult that cared about her only to have that ripped away again and having others disbelief in him only alienate her from others further. She keeps getting taken to psychiatrists and biting them. It's worth noting that even though it was an accident, it was incredibly callous of The Doctor to promise he'd be five minutes when he knows the TARDIS has a long history of being unreliable. Rule one The Doctor lies, not just as part of plans, but also to pretend to be a version of himself that's actually responsible and reliable.
And that's why she has so much trouble healthily expressing her love for Rory, because deep down she's afraid he'll abandon her to. That's also why Amy needs Rory, because there is nobody less likely to abandon Amy Pond than Rory Williams.
[ Link to survey ]
The 11th annual international gender census, collecting information about the language we use to refer to ourselves and each other, is now open until 13th June 2024.
It’s short and easy, about 5 minutes probably.
After the survey is closed I’ll process the results and publish a spreadsheet of the data and a report summarising the main findings. Then anyone can use them for academic or business purposes, self-advocacy, tracking the popularity of language over time, and just feeling like we’re part of a huge and diverse community.
If you think you might have friends and followers who’d be interested, please do reblog this blog post, and share the survey URL by email or at AFK social groups or on other social networks. Every share is extremely helpful - it’s what helped us get 40,000 responses last year.
Survey URL: https://survey.gendercensus.com
The survey is open to anyone anywhere who speaks English and feels that the gender binary doesn’t fully describe their experience of themselves and their gender(s) or lack thereof.
For the curious, you can also spy on some graphs and demographic data for the incoming responses here.
Thank you so much!
[ Link to survey ]
Image credit: Malachite and rhodochrosite.
Tuesday 21st May 2024 - day 9
I have perhaps been quieter than I would like in the social media department for the past few days. Things behind the scenes are ticking along, I've started playing with some of the early data a little bit out of nosiness.
Participation is slowing down, of course, but it's still way ahead of previous years at over 37,000 participants:
Due to the slowdown, the prediction graph is projecting that we'll finish in the high 50,000s, which is extremely intimidating. At the same time, I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to do next, promotion-wise.
Perhaps this is a good time to tell you about my new guide to pronouns for allies?
I am pretty proud of it! I put a lot of thought and work into it compared to my usual zines, and then I sent copies to local insensitivity readers (people who were self-described unfamiliar with trans issues) to make sure it was understandable and accessible to people outside of the trans-queer-internet, and it's printed on 100% recycled paper and card, and hand-stitch-bound.
I'm not quite ready to offer it up for sale yet, because I'm waiting for a delivery of A5 cardboard envelopes - but, SOON.
In the mean time, if you have been procrastinating the annual survey, DO IT DO IT! Most participants are taking about 5-7 minutes on it, so you'll be done in no time. Here it is: https://survey.gendercensus.com
American Kestrel- done digitally
These little guys are so cool!
Fun fact: It is the smallest falcon in North America! Female and male Kestrels also have very different coloration with males having a dark band on their tail and females having multiple bands on their tail.
