Food as a metaphor for love real and true in the One Piece live action adaptation.
Which makes me glad that Strawhat Polycule is an AO3 relationship tag, but sad there's only 4 Live Action fics (and that the tag wranglers haven't gotten around to adding a meta fandom tag for One Piece yet)
So after uh...Many years, I’ve finally started watching revolutionary girl utena. Just a bit a week with a friend, so as it goes.
And so far so good! It’s fun times, and while I know a decent chunk of spoilers, I don’t really have the context for any of them so whatever there. Mostly, I just know enough that I should probably over read into them for maximum amusement.
so just a few things I noticed, Sans Pictures, because I lack the technology (or at least the willingness to do so. I mean I guess there’s Youtube.)
Anyway.
Episode 1:
-They just go into it establishing that thesis don’t they?
-Saionji is a Diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick.
-My Girl really going to cut off a rose with a blunt Shinai somehow. Ok.
-“Just classmates” Wow. Saionji is a dick, this is established, but to watch the light die in his eyes like that hurt. This is episode 1 Man, you can’t go killing someone’s spirit like that in episode 1
Episode 2
-Saionji Want’s his Salt Back. I Predict he will not get his salt back.
--Spoilers, he Does Not Get his Salt back, he gets absolutely brinned the dumb green idiot.
-Hey. Utena. Utena are we just going to ignore how you closed that door for like 5 minutes (or hell however long you want really) and opened it and suddenly the room doesn’t look like a bomb went off and now it’s clean and Anthy Just...Showed up and Asserted herself? Are we ignoring that? Ok.
-Saionji, the Kendo Captain, also 14ish years old, just gonna bust out that good old fashioned REAL JAPANESE STEEL FOLDED 80 TIMES SHARP ENOUGH TO BISECT THE SOUL.
-Also, I left this til now, But Hey We’re Married Now? Fiance Cool, Cool. Uh...Hey, why the fuck is Utena in a Pink Rose Bride Outfit. Suspect.
-Hey Related, WHAT THE FUCK IS WITH THE WHITE ROSE CENSORSHIP!? Like Uh... Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
-So hey, Roses Are Color Associated, Let’s Keep an Eye on that. Hair Colors seem to be the jim jam that does it. So Green with Saionji, Pink with Utena. White with uh...Dios? Fucked up Inverted Castle Boi. I guess Anthy would be in Purple if she ever duels, so we’ll write that down for later. Though Engaging yourself seems in universe tricky so you know. Probably not. Although counter Point, Knight Anthy in that sweet intro. Hey, wait, what do those armors look like again? Later I guess.
--Sorry, the Optical Illusion (that...Are we also not gonna acknowledge the big ass tower you walked up and can’t see from inside? i get that you already had a weird thing going on but just gonna ignore that? That’s life now? Ok. Fair enough, you got engaged by deflowering a dude with a....Uh...No. No I do not like where that particular statement was going nevermind.)
Episode 3
-Ah. Anthy is ‘popular’ with the freshman boys. Ok. Wait, how old is she? I thought they said middleschool, so this is highschool? Ish?
-A Dance. A Bunch of people. Is this gonna go Carrie? Ok.
-...Are....Are those condoms along with that dress.
-Nanami: Fuck that Girl in Particular Who has Stolen My Brothers Heart.
--So Hold, fine, but has she ever interacted with Touga? (Red Hair, Red Rose? Big Challenge Boss Dude?) Enough that Nanami would think she’s stolen his heart somehow?
---Related, The Dress is Green, more the green of Saionji’s rose so...Uh...Is that a thing to watch out for? There was that Kendo Hall Scene but they for the moment are just kinda...Not...well, Looking at each other like that. Or at least i’m not getting the vibe yet. Considering they’re both aggressively going after Anthy and Utena respectively I guess whatever there. It’s a long series, and What I know suggests things will be getting a lot more gay so we’ll see.
-----Last Thing, I find it funny that so far they combine to make the “proper” rose color which is amusing. Wonder if there’s anything to the other pairings there should it come down to it.
-Utena, how the actual FUCK did you switch from a shoulder exposing dress to the school outfit. No, fuck the tablecloth into dress thing, Where did she have that. She hot Hucked that dress off, was she just wearing it under the skirt? Was she waiting for this moment? Were you just wearing your shirt around your waste waiting for a moment to dramatically unclothe and reclothe yourself?
-So touched on the dress before, but listen. Listen for a moment please. It dissolves when it got sprayed with....Alcohol? Water? Seltzer? How Old Are they supposed to be? Whatever, A Frothy White liquid hit it and it dissolved, which, fine I guess, except where did Nanami get cotton candy clothes (apparently?) and also, I am not letting this go why did the dress dissolve when a frothy white liquid hit it and what were you expecting to happen with those Condoms Nanami. Like shit this is a layered metaphor gag thing going on here because she get’s declothed in...Wait wasn’t that around the same spot where the flowers were? Nope. We’re done here.
--No, we’re not done here, HOW old are they supposed to be again? I heard Middle School mentioned. We’re three eps in here folks, And while I expect some shit to go down, My Oh Lawd, Oh Fuck, Oh Shit o meter is dinging like mad And I am full of C O N C E R N.
-Now I should have mentioned this earlier but I’m assuming the Intro’s Outtros are actually kinda relevant to the show unlike a good chunk of shows, and uh...There’s questions to be raised there. Like the weird doubling thing in the outro, or the fact anthy hot vanishes, or how anthy kinda looks like she’s gonna fight Utena, and I’m not sure how much any of that is actually relevant, Well no that’s a lie I kinda know but I don’t know HOW much of How Much it is, But mostly, I bring this up because Those seem relevant lyrically and image wise, which is kinda making me wonder about the stuff during the duels since those seem pretty nonsense word salad. But also, Egg Shell Dying without Born so should I be looking at it poetry....Do they have unique songs for most/all the duels? Oh dear.
Not so much my yeah, eh, hmm, nah format, more an actual live blog
With bonus squee at the end because of that reveal at the end
Really doubling down on the Resolution location typesetting. The typography is better this time around though, and I like the minus tracking. Gives it a bit more flavour and doesn’t make it so painfully obvious that it’s copying CA:CW and Killing Eve. (But more appropriate here than Resolution! This story is a spy story!)
Yaz isn't going to make it back. Not with the way she keeps saying she'll be back. Calling it that she doesn’t make the end of the series
Love they're actually packing their stuff though
Thirteen says she had an upgrade!
Also love the UNIT/Torchwood mention. Don’t care if they still exist or not but I do care they are at least mentioned
Also hurrah, serious mentions of the Doctor not always being a woman (especially, reflecting post-episode, the one made by O)
What happened to Yaz when she got transported by those beings of light? Nothing good I think
This whole VOR is a FB/Amazon stand in would've been a great story in 2018. Just a bit slow on the uptake Chibs, not extrapolating enough and not being speculative enough in your sci-fi series.
Red (or perhaps magenta) lining in Thirteen’s formal coat! 💕
Yeah! The Doctor playing Snap
Whittaker's profile when she's talking to Lenny Henry's character in the sunlight is BEAUTIFUL
Ryan screaming, fave. He’s the best character for reacting like that and I love him for it. More people should love him for being the companion that screams in this team.
:O
FINALLY we get to see a working Chameleon circuit AND it’s the Master’s TARDIS
Dhawan’s Master seems like a mix of manic Simm and Ainley at most playful with his TCE and it’s exciting
Unsure when in timeline, but he still thinks these aliens won't turn on him (which Missy seemed to have learned never works out) so I have to laugh a little at him
Awww, Terrence Dicks memorial. I hope the next episode has one too
The sort of rephrased 'without hope, without witness, without reward' in the preview is interesting
Also really struck by how, after TDF, I was imagining the reunion between the Doctor and the Master as one between Ruth Wilson as the Doctor and Riz Ahmed as the Master on a battle field, both in suits and here we are, under three years later with Jodie Whittaker and Sacha Dawan in tuxes.
Yeah sure, Dhawan isn’t my top choices of Hannah John Kamen or Riz Ahmed, but he’s awfully close. (And he isn’t Blake Ritson or Colin Morgan, who I can now say were my fears for white dudes who might play the Master.)
I am, of course, SQUEEING so much over Thirteen getting a Master of her own to play with. Even if it isn’t Missy and it once again looks heterosexual. But like... Dhawan!Master’s acknowledged that the Doctor has previously been a man, and depending on whether he’s after Missy, we might get a line that he was a woman previously too. So there’s definitely genderfuckery going on, never mind the fact Dhawan!Master likely flirted with that previous incarnation of the Doctor as well.
Anyway things that make me think he’s post-Missy (even if I would’ve liked to see a Master making a go of being their version of good) rather than an interstitial one between Simm and Missy or from the previous regeneration cycle that we haven’t met before
The Simm mania and Ainley playfulness. The Simm mania in particular isn’t really a thing that pops up in classic Who. (Yeah, Ainley and Roberts are dramatic fucks, but not manic the same way Simm is.)
The long con that is more associated with Jacobi and Simm (War Master/Saxon/Razor)
The whole set up - on Earth, aligning with aliens who'll inevitably betray him - very classic, very their flirting. So much so that I’ve been saying that the Master has been putting on an anniversary party for the Doctor
Doesn't demonstrate that he's aware he'll be betrayed, but does make a point of getting the fam on his side - making tea for Graham and offering him info about the Doctor, flirting with the pretty girl one. Very Delgado, very Gomez
He loves the Doctor so much. Like yeah, that's the natural state of the Master in the presence of the Doctor, but he is definitely more on the sweet side than the annoyed side.
Also a very modern Who characterisation of the character, but then apparently all the showrunners have shipped it and I’m glad they do.
There's deep lore about how other universes don't have Time Lords. I don't know how the Unbound series fits into that aside from being DWEU version of Marvel's what if universes, but I’m expressing my doubt here that Chibnall would wade that far into the lore on the main show.
Anyway points 1-5 are all very on the nose, very "I'm the evil step-mother", that it all could very easily be an act in the Doctor's favour and this Master is just a lovesick fool who misses the Doctor and wants them back
I did hear the rumours about the Master before the series started that I dismissed, but I did note that someone resembling Dhawan seemed to be hidden/in the background in a few shots which might mean he’s a recurring character. Which obviously I’m very excited about.
Things that make me think twice that this is our Master after Missy
'Heart' not 'hearts'
The Master isn't good at running? The one who ran with the Doctor through fields of red grass? Who the Doctor told to run on Skaro, fully knowing she'd be able to escape?
There was the tagging of Rufus Hound which does make me suspect maybe not the Master but another Time Lord BUT there are yet more rumours circulating that make me look askance at this theory too
Overall though... fun episode, gotta needle Chibs a little for not being a great speculative writer, but otherwise it’s looking hopeful. He split up the team, gave them different jobs to do, got them back together and then split them up again. That’s how you handle large TARDIS teams!
And of course I love this new Master and hope to see plenty more flirting between him and the Doctor. I’m already writing fic
Neither liveblog style nor yeah, eh, meh, nah. More... thoughtsy.
First off, I actually kind of like it? In vast contrast to everyone else in the fandom it seems. It has solid bones, even if I do take issue with its direction and do think it could’ve been much better with more script editing, it’s got a rock hard concept at the base of it. So a high 7?
But gods. The direction. I was really missing Talalay. This was the perfect story to play with horror tropes but that didn't happen and it was disappointing and I think made the story worse than what it read like on paper. Also so many idiot balls with people wandering off which didn't help, but I could totally see being used because a certain director wasn't drawing out tension correctly. We shouldn’t have seen the Dregs in their entirety until at least halfway through the story, possibly even until just before the reveal of what planet Orphan 55 really was.
(Also interesting that for the second time in as many episodes the Doctor's been choked. Chibnall! Jones! *shakes fist*)
Also, weirdly, I'm very invested in when this episode potentially takes place in the whole Dalek Invasion of Earth/Human Exodus and Colonisation timeline? Like is this timeline one where the Dalek Invasion didn't even happen because humans had left already? Or does it just slot in many generations after the exodus when people have forgotten where earth was?
Because my desire for consistent lore is warring with my desire for hopefulness in Doctor Who and its almost making me anxious. Especially as it's been more recently established than the Dalek Invasion/Human Exodus that witnessing an event cements it in time. I mean this episode doesn't directly contradict any of that... just... it's not as hopeful as the picture 13 paints. And far less immediate than what she's implying.
Would've liked to have seen the ending dialogue before Chibnall stuck his pen in though. I know I would've written that last bit to repeat what the Doctor had said about how orphan planets are created - just as vicious in blaming humanity but a little less direct (and more appropriately places the blame on a capitalist oligarchy) - and I wonder what Hime had as I do think he's a good writer who can deliver a message subtly. (Also I think Ryan is his favourite companion too, which obviously endears him to me.)
Chibnall can't stop sticking his nose in though, and it's not even for a good reason like trying to tie an arc together like Moffat or RTD did.
I actually did a little experiment in cutting down the ending remark. Cut it down by a whole 30 seconds (about 1/4th a page I think?) and posted it on twitter because I do like that smooth run from “You want me to tell you things are going to be okay? 'Cos I can't" to "But it's not decided". It’s punchy and straddles the line between ‘things are fucked up’ and ‘but it’s not too late’, which is the appropriate tone for addressing climate change. (And something which the script editor should’ve done, so this was also prime missing Brian Minchin time too. Like overtime missing Brian Minchin time. He was such a good script editor for Chibnall on Torchwood and I’m pretty sure he also contributed to Capaldi’s tenure being generally great with more good stories than not.)
Also regarding that ending dialogue, after Spyfall, and remembering what the Twelfth Doctor was trying to teach Missy, I completely thought that "People can save planets, or wreck them. That's the choice" which was in one of the series trailers was going to be aimed at the Master. 😂
Actually wait, no, that makes it sadder. The Doctor can't say this to the Master about the decisions they've both made about Gallifrey, so she has to say it to her companions instead.
It would've been nice to have it said to the Master though. It would invite a very clear comparison of stubborn Time Lords who refuse to interfere to stubborn politicians and billionaires who refuse to act or change policy. It would’ve also been nice if, in the absence of the Master, to have that disc thingy on the console and have a shot of it as Thirteen in delivering her speech. Just so the people who’re paying attention know she’s talking just as much to humans/the audience as she is talking about Gallifrey.
So generally - solid concept, very Torchwood-y, but not executed the best. Not much else to say except for how I’d’ve maybe shuffled things around to be better.
Which is (riffing off a couple of ideas I saw on twitter)... get rid of the old couple sooner, get rid of a lot of people as soon as the threat of the Dregs occur so it’s just the TARDIS team, plus Kane, Nevi, Bella and Sylas. Give Kane a hairstyle more suited to the owner of a luxury spa and make her and Nevi partners with Sylas as their kid. This gives Bella a very good reason to hate Kane and a great reason for Sylas to run off. Maybe that even starts the whole outside the dome bit before the Dregs ambush them and they have to go further out to the access tunnel before heading back in (danger!). Bella and Sylas have to work together to get the transport working (maybe Sylas earns a hair ruffle and a ‘you’re not so bad’) and maybe have Kane and Nevi be the ones who stay behind. Get the thematic thread of ‘adults/those in power (and with the money) need to do something before leaving the kids alone to do it’ in there.
Everything goes more or less as the episode goes... just with a few more character moments (the Bella & Kane connection still happens but with higher stakes) and perhaps more emphasis on things like how orphan planets are made by their native species wrecking it with nuclear wars, pollution, climate cataclysms and mass extinction, and the capitalist colonialism inherent in setting up a fake luxury spa on an abandoned planet with the aim of terraforming it back to habitable to make giant profit. (Also like... maybe addressing how fucked up it is that a single person can own an entire planet?)
Slightly liveblogish, bit thoughty. Plus bonus mid-season trailer thoughts
Did think at the beginning Skerrit would be a clone
Also thought that this would tie in with the Kasaavin with the spies and Tesla's importance to electronics. Slightly disappointed by that.
Loved the Doctor/Tesla dynamic. Kind of ship it
Poor Yaz keeps getting abducted
But *chef's kiss* look at how snappy and great everything is when women are put in charge of an episode. Lots of little character moments for all the team (not exactly the most elegantly done, but more than we've ever gotten). Ryan got lots of it in particular, which is honestly no less than what he deserves being the true companion of the team.
Also like how well balanced they approached the Edison/Tesla rivalry
Extremely solid episode. Can’t really point to anything that makes it good but the performances, the writing, the plot were all just plain good. Slightly let down by the Queen Skithra design, but otherwise, as I said, solid. High 7, low 8
Midseries trailer thoughts! I hope that line about the Doctor not always winning and the Master laughing means there'll be some reference to the events of The Doctor Falls.
Though even if not, I do look forward to more of the Master, the Doctor admitting her faults and whatever has made its way into the TARDIS. Poor TARDIS though! She's had a lot of things force their way inside her this series.
Which, when I put it like that feels a bit icky. :/
Don't mind the theory that Chibs may bring back the Black and White Guardians though. Better than any variant on the Cartmel plan, so I hope they're part of the Timeless Child mystery.
there wasn’t much to liveblog about, so more thoughtsy?
Super slow episode. A dud, a real 3-4 out of 10.
But then again McTighe isn't high up on the list of writers I like. And Chibnall co-wrote so like ?? you contributed nothing except maybe an awkward speech about micro-plastics. Maaaybe some of that excellent Ryan&13 friendship which has surged to the fore this season.
But yeah. Super slow, enough that I was fiddling on my phone towards the end. Not that there was that much plot. Which isn’t bad, just... it needed a bit more of the group dynamic to make it more interesting, and there wasn’t enough of it to pull it through that hurdle.
Don’t get me wrong, I do love all the companion stuff we got, especially what Ryan got, but comparing this to Tesla... the characters just weren’t used to the best of their ability.
I think Jamila is another for the bury your gays trope 😬. And in general this episode was a miss for who got to survive.
Like cool. Gabriella survives to have adventures and Jake and Adam get to repair their marriage, and it was very nice to see such a diverse guest cast but like... the two white (British) guys and the cute black girl got to live while the others... didn’t. Like hey, there are two whole other (very wide) demographics in BAME and I am feeling distinctly left out.
Also Jake and Adam’s actors are just familiar enough that their faces were distracting.
Nice to know that Chibs likes the name Adam though.
Saw some Stezna prop reuse too! And the plastic scales/praxeus were a really cool effect.
Once again more liveblogish than my yeah nah format. Starts out bullet points but quickly devolves into ranting paragraphs.
Ryan is indeed the best. Glad he got to have a hero moment, especially since there was focus on Graham and Yaz in the previous one. (Also, he’s my favourite, can you tell?)
The video like that in Blink/Family of Blood/etc was a nice reference, though it did feel a bit like copying RTD’s homework.
News from home? I was so excited for that and was really hoping the Time Lords were wanting some favours.
“You can have me” “I’ve got you anyway”
Those two lines were certainly something. I want a hundred smut fics about it. And definitely primed me for what came next.
Because wow. That kneel scene was certainly something. Especially how quickly the Master then goes down to the Doctor’s level once he’s gotten what he thinks he needs (emotionally) from her.
Like I love it because it's very them and very very shippy and Whittaker absolutely kills it with her expression of 'this again? fine, you asshole' but also? 😬😬😬😬😬 Did you have to be horny on main Chibnall? Did you have to make your female Doctor kneel and say 'Master' three times when asked to? Was it absolutely necessary?
Then again, post-Fleabag (which Chibnall COULD NOT have seen coming), the scene definitely reads more horny than degrading. And if you’re a Doctor Who fan and are familiar with the Doctor and the Master’s relationship... well. You were probably reading it as horny to begin with.
I like the implication later in the conversation that yes, this is basically extreme hide and seek.
Contact! Heartbeats!
I’d really like to see Chibnall give an explanation for doing this double dose of fanservice that’s a) platonic, b) heterosexual and c) has the Doctor and Master being intelligent around each other.
Their Paris indeed.
So like I hope that’s Chibnall acknowledging Missy happened. Almost don’t care if it’s supposed to be a hint that Dhawan comes before Gomez, just I NEED him to recognise that hey, there’s a dude who ran the show for eight years before he did and that his episodes exist and Chibnall can reference them.
"That's a low." Indeed, so why did you do it Chibs. Why? It's like the thing about female characters dressing in skimpy outfits - unless there's very, very good character reasons for them to do so, that's just the author/artist/director wanting them to be so. And you are the writer. That paints you in a very bad light, especially with the knowledge that Noor’s death was filmed, even if it was wisely left on the cutting room floor.
(Also wtf were the script editor/Strevens & Wilson doing? Or the director? Or the costume department? Maybe the script editor didn’t know Dhawan was going to be asked for the role, but Strevens and Wilson would have! The director and costume department knew too, and if the script merely said [the Master walks in, leading a squad of Ges**po] and didn’t specify Na** officer, then they’re the ones to blame and are an extremely good reason why Chibnall should be on set for his stories rather than staying the fuck in London.)
Also fascists, that's more the Daleks. The Master is more of a dictator. They are different.
And er... like... we know Thirteen (and you Chibnall) have a thing for choking and bondage, but really? That happened but you didn't make the Master grab the Doctor's face? At least Moffat made them kiss.
Never mind either that choking is a very common form of domestic violence and highly triggering for some people. Like I can tell Jodie and Sacha were staging it safely (her hand is placed over his and she’s in charge of it’s position and selling that she’s trying to stop him) but it is so very much not a good look. (And I only know they’re staging it safely because I did drama in highschool and it’s really just a variation on being dragged by the hair. Not everyone has that same experience!)
And wow... did you mean to make the Doctor so cruel? Make her DIRECTLY responsible for sending the Master to a concentration camp, to a firing squad?
Because yeah, back to what I said about very good character reasons? That’s not a good light you’re painting yourself in Chibnall. You could’ve left it at the whole Twenty Committee gambit, but nope, you had to make the Doctor cruel and have her strip away the second to last ounce of protection the Master has.
3 masters in the 20th century? That’ll be fun for fans and the EU to fill in.
😟 So 13 is back to the erasing memories bullshit? Is Chibnall purposefully ignoring 12's entire era and all the lessons learned from it? (Like I mean... I suspected that Capaldi decided to decline to continue with Chibnall after meeting him and presumably talking about where Chibnall wanted to take the series, but uh... this makes me think even more so. All that work he put into Twelve learning that it’s wrong to violate someone’s memories like that, especially without consent? If they discussed any specific details about episodes I can see why he bailed.)
Chibnall. Mr Lee Haven Jones. You are both cowards. Let the Doctor kiss a girl, even if only on the forehead.
😡 Destroying Gallifrey again? Again?
However I will admit I like the Doctor and the Master being the last two Time Lords again. 😍 They HAVE to be together now.
😡 Fuck Lungbarrow and anything derived from it or even remotely resembling it though. The Doctor does not, in any way, shape or form, need to be more special that the weird, nigh-immortal, super intelligent alien they already are. They do not need to be a god in the shape of an alien. (I’m okay with Time Lords being glowing squid aliens in meat suits though, but I doubt that’s what the Timeless Child is all about.)
That post-Gallifrey sequence was nice though, lots of good stuff for Whittaker and Dhawan to work with, and I am glad my suspicion this Master would be recurring is probably true. Hopefully. (Some of the comments Jodie made about Chibnall’s plans seem like this will be stretched on for far too long (until the 60th) and, though that also makes it sound like she’ll be sticking around until then too, it may mean that Dhawan’s Master only pops up once a series whenever the Timeless Child mystery is brought up again. Which I sincerely hope isn’t the case because the fandom loves him a lot and wants to see plenty more of him. And it’s not too late to insert him into more scripts for series 13 either!)
Also like... really liked that Dhawan and Whittaker got to do so much across from each other. Lots of stuff I'll interpret shippily, though a decent chunk will also get ignored or reinterpreted because it's stupid and ouch and fuck you Chibnall.
Vor subplot was basically there for a little bit of padding this episode. Which feels useless and pointless, especially the way it sort of literally fizzled out at the end. (Chibnall's not great at sticking the landing)
Also I’m very disgruntled that the BBC Voices audience response surveys haven’t been sent out yet. I hope it’s just because they’re still on holiday, because I don’t like the options why I haven’t received one.
They could not have received an order to run the surveys this series. Which uh... cocky much about your writing Chibnall?
There’s no money to run them for this series, which is a whole bunch of whelp in regards to the BBC being bled dry by the Tory government.
For some reason I’ve been kicked off the panel/no longer qualify. Which would suck. I like giving them what for.
Listened to, at the last possible day to do so, the rerun of the Good Omens audio drama, and below is the sort of livetweet I did (Sort of not as I didn't tweet as I listened, just added to a drafted thread. Also sort of as some of this is just... notes for fic I’ll never write)
------
Barely 10 minutes into the radio drama of Good Omens & I'm glad that Crowley isn't quite so thick to have thought that he needed to get pregnant to deliver the antichrist - it's 'up to him to–' and not 'his scene' and 'tool of that glorious destiny'.
It'd make great fic though.
The whole thing with the nun going on about how men shouldn't be involved at all in the process [of giving birth] is SQUARELY why I thought the Order was made of lesbians.
Aziraphale. Awful. Chiding Crowley for getting attached to earth and humanity.
And this is after a couple of minutes of Crowley being less than enthusiastic about Satan and the antichrist.
I do like how yes, Crowley does ask too many questions.
Like, what if Hell's plan for the Antichrist is meant to be thwarted, what if that's meant to be the ineffable plan. He's the one who started the idea that maybe the Apocalypse doesn't need to happen in this version.
I would gladly spend a whole book on the hijinks of Aziraphale and Crowley raising Warlock. (Thankfully there is fanfiction for that.)
The introduction to the Them is... interesting given the episode opens with Newt joining the Witchfinders. Obviously they're meant to be counterparts to the Four Horsemen, but this intro? Almost makes them parallel to the witches/witchfinders
'Your eyes are a funny colour.'
'So's your hair.'
Radio Anathema has brightly coloured hair and no one ever does fanart with that. :(
I like the idea that Crowley might just... keep the luggage rack that Aziraphale added to his car.
I just love their double act when they rescue Anathema though - enquiring after her injuries, healing them, distracting her from what's happened to her bike.
And the circumstance of Jasmine cottage being near the hospital!
Adam sort of maybe has a naïve little crush on Anathema, getting rid of the nuclear material in the power plant for her, and it's adorable and again no one does anything with it.
(It’s adorable because Anathema is likely the first adult to not treat him like a child - she talks to him about serious topics like global warming and nuclear power and doesn’t think it’s too complicated for him to understand. And Anathema likely talks to him like that because he’s a young boy who is absolutely the kind who would throw rocks at her and call her nasty names, but he hasn’t. (I think it's also worthwhile remembering that she's really young in this version. Like... two years out of uni at most, maybe as young as 18. She 100% remembers being teased by boys like Adam when she was that age.))
'Speak of the devil' 'Spawn of hell if you please' A delightful exchange!
Also I love the cheerful way they say goodbye to each other.
Aziraphale's breathy excitement over tracking down the Youngs is uh. definitely something.
'Play rescuing people' @equalseleventhirds quite likes how Good Omens is sort of Adam learning to human (and how A&C need to do more to do the same)
And well, this is definitely a example of that.
I do think Pepper (or her mum) has a bit of fascination with Anathema too. Pepper because Anathema is a cool adult, her mother n the nosy way that small English villages are, but also because she named her child Pippin Galadriel Moonchild.
I like what happens the next episode though, & the slow, scary way Adam wants to remake things and make it fun for the Them.
Anathema sort of gets handed the idiot ball a little though. Even if Adam does have that protective aura, her witchy senses should whisper something's up
Crowley's disposal of Hastur and Ligur is smooth. Very smooth. It's just about the only cool thing he does.
Self-driving Bentley!
And Mr Young's conversation with RP Tyler about Adam being no angel is fun.
For being a part of the story that so many people remember, the four other Horsemen of the Apocalypse are very short lived.
Madam Tracy - unappreciated for the way she handles both Aziraphale and Shadwell.
I can't quite tell who wants to go home to watch Doctor Who, but I can say that there's a very high chance that it was Gneil who suggested that line. (And I am thankful for it.)
I do love the note of... excitement Anathema has when she confiscates the guard's handcuffs. (It's a shame she and Madam Tracy don't really talk to each other afterwards.)
'When has War ever cared about children?' 😢 Poor Crowley has seen too many children killed in war.
And yeah, Aziraphale should be blamed for that one. (I wonder if he had anything to do with Cain and Abel... or if they merely found the sword.)
Aziraphale and Crowley, not that clued up as to where Adam is, but are clued into the fact that Heaven and Hell are desperate to fight.
Also, Aziraphale, a hypocrite. One moment he wants to get rid of Adam, the next he wants to protect him and the Them.
The moment when they get their wings out is special. Just absolutely lovely with the way Madam Tracy exclaims over them.
I love the apple line! Not just because I once used it for a fic title, but the whole ethos of it! That humans leaving Eden & gaining knowledge was worth it.
Final thoughts:
I prefer Agnes narrating,
Anathema needs to be drawn with dyed hair more often,
she and Madam Tracy need to be friends,
Pepper's mother should meet Anathema and attempt to be her friend,
there is probably a bike rack on the Bentley afterwards,
poor Newt has to share Anathema with an 11-year old boy (& his gang) who has a small crush,
Madam Tracy could've stepped up her medium business if she hadn't retired with Shadwell, claiming 'angelic/demonic connections' & charging double,
Aziraphale trying to keep his sword? fun
I'm glad Crowley isn't a large enough idiot he thought he needed to deliver the antichrist bodily–
though I am always up for Aziraphale and Crowley adopting kids, and, lastly,
this version has the best wing reveal - the music, the unfurling noises and Madam Tracy's awe? Perfect
Relistening to the wings scene: I'm also here for Aziraphale and Crowley pretending, badly, to be the Them's teachers to get them and Adam out of trouble.
