Doctor Who: Flux: Reviewed?

SOMEWHERE IN CANADA 2021

I hated The Timeless Child. The fact I said that led a good number of people to roll their eyes, sigh or leave and honestly I don't even blame you as the discourse on it has been wild. Which is why i think it's incredibly funny in the "huh?" Sorta way that i didn't and don't hate Flux. I don't love it either, but with just how polarized the discussion has been im pretty "its aight" on all fronts.

It's not even disappointingly middle of the road, I just kinda liked it.

ALSO CANADA 2021

I can't say it's the best usage of a shandified narrative, but its the first ive seen put to screen done well. For those of you unexperienced with the book Tristam Shandy allow me to explain.

The literary classic had narrative adhd. As a result at any given time there were 4 or 5 short plots that connected to the larger plot and never necessarily shown in order. IN A NORMAL narrative A > B which leads to C

In those books and many an well designed rpg A > E > C > D

While B is over here leading thr charge to emsure A thru D happen swiftly.

And i think for better or worse thats what Flux is artistically supposed to be.

A set of narratives all tied to one much larger plot thread intrinsically.

Now did it do it well enough for mass appeal? God no. And to be honest I'm okay with that.

STILL CANADA BUT ITS WINTER NOW 2021

When it comes to the main beats of this story... they sucked. Why is Time as a person a last second reveal. Why does tecteun and Division even matter again if they aren't really the point of the story. Oh shes dead. Thats it. All powerful division is gone and all we are SHOWN not told, is that they have void tech. Oh joy. Don't even get me started on the nonsense of  OH BABY A TRIPLE GENOCIDE and I guess the rest of the Universe is just gone now.

LIVERPOOL 2022

Dan is funny, hes bright, he's optimistic, endless meme potential but i don't think i know dan any more than I know Yaz. And yknow i think thats okay at this point. I don't think the companions were ever meant to be or going to be a focus post s11. So hell yeah lets have Adventures Dan... fuck diane tho tbh... judging him for shit he couldn't actually control for no apparent reason. Like shit man. What even was the point of all the chemistry and emotional beats.

Daer Lardy.

The TARDIS ??XX

13

Jodie is the best she's ever been at being the doctor, this is who i know the doctor to be, s12 was an impressive improvement but dear lord she just kept on banging it outta the park with Flux. She is The Doctor whether you like it or not.

Yaz

Mandip still at it again this time with a more defined personality in terms of mannerisms, like that shes more of an active player now.

Bel and Vinder

Heard on a grapevine Vinder was replacing Jacks return due to covid (not controversey) but if the bits in it were meant to be tied to like the time agents or summat, they did a hell of a job hiding it.

Bel was very fun but i feel bad that her basic purpose was to be a guest companion to the other much more advertised guest companion.

THE TRAIN OF THOUGHT, MY BRAIN, 2021

UNIT

Finally got a better explanation then brexit now didn we. Pretty underutilized but also brill

SOUND, VISUALS AND DESIGN OF THE SERIES

★★★★☆

Truly the best ive seen bbc pull off in years. I loved everything. Except the ravagers looking kinda goofy but thats the charm I suppose.

Still not as good as loki tho lmao.

Okay but what about the Angels

Very good episode but idve liked it more as a standalone. 

The End of An Era

Some questions are better left unanswered, the ones people wanted that got summarily discarded would never have been satisfying enough. If youre mad that she discarded the fob, think of it that way instead.

I fully suspect 13's last 3 episodes to culminate with The Master. But that mayve been a misdirect. At least one will be a historical. The other One will be groundhogs day with daleks! Sounds fun.

    WHERE THE FLUX ARE WE, 2021

1. ★★★☆☆
2. ★★★★☆
3. ★★★☆☆
4. ★★★★☆
5. ★★★☆☆
6. ★★★☆☆

Total: 20/30 Flux Given

See you next time i need to talk about Doccy Whu.

~Gemjax

9DAs: Hunting Season

DOCTOR WHO:

The Hunting Season

Written by:

James Kettle

Sound Design by:

 Iain Meadows

Directed by: 

Barnaby Edwards

The 9DAs were kinda Mixed,  as criticz maraud through the good and bad. It’s a frightful business, and as The Doctor battles the Fleshkin, Mjax finds new reason to love rtd era esque who again. Can s/he convince the internet to unite to love 9DAs 3.1?

The Hunting Season is a terrible title. Why is "the" there? Perhaps i missed a critical plotpoint where it gets roll credits'd but If it did I wasn't cognizant of it. Despite the goofy title and frankly goofy alien of the week. Hunting Season is Leftwing RTD pro Prole writing at its best. If you hate the Gen Z/Millennial Vibe of Okay Boomer you will equally hate the vibe of 9 dealing with humans of the *coughhack1900?*

Era being their historically accurate if a bit hamfisted selves.

Which is to say if that sounds amazing. It is. It really really is. What should definitely be a typical romp quickly unfolds into a good (if also typical) subversion. All actors in this set are on fire if again a bit hammy. Perhaps the most hammy of which being The Daughter who really loves death and gore. Shes not like other girls yknow.

My only real complaints are that the story never Really alludes to the Doc thinking the second subversion is plausible til the twist is pulled. Afterwhich all the Foreshadowing falls into place as any good twist should.

Eccleston on Audio is definitely different but not in a way that is as bad as i'd initially feared. His (The Ninth Doctor's) darkness is maintained he just REALLY doesn't wanna talk about it right now.

Go Listen to It / 10

B++ maybe an A

Still Drinking From a Fanta Stick,

~Gemjax

6MR: The Juggernauts Audio Review

DOCTOR WHO:

The Juggernauts

Written by:

Scott Alan Woodard

Sound Design by:

Steve Foxon

Directed by: Gary Russell

‘In a small city on the northend of the planet of Earth, Reviews are occurring -- the results of which could dramatically or not at all affect things on a opinionated scale. For within the dingy corridors of the truck backseat, the lone passenger of a devastatingly boring trip has expertly started listening their way into the story mentioned above
A passenger known as Mjax.

7MR: LIVE 34

DOCTOR WHO:

LIVE 34

Written by:

 James Parsons 

 Andrew Stirling-Brown

‘You’re reading a review of LIVE 34.’

‘LWMJ -- Posts on frequently , every so often -- LWMJ -- broadcasting to Earth all day, every day -- LWMJ -- Rarely updated every so often of a blue moon -- LWMJ -- sport, weather, business, local news, interplanetary affairs -- LWMJ -- Text, independent, biased, comprehensive -- LWMJ -- all weird, all day, every day -- LWMJ.’

6MR: Oddities: Vampire Of The Mind Review

Doctor Who: 

Vampire Of The Mind

By Justin Richards

"Damien, Dominion, Dominous... any other D words i oughta know about?"

Vampire of the Mind is an excellent second part within what i am told is a Three Part Multi-Master Event within the Monthly Adventures.

I imagine it Probably has a lot of ties to The Two Masters, and indeed I probably will get around to listening to that once I hit my 7th Doctor run. However as a standalone story it leaves nothing else desired, Macqueen is at his best, Colin is giving a spectacular performance as usual and even Kate Kennedy as Dr. Heather Threadstone shines as a one off companion.

With the right amount of camp and a story that doesn't truly show all its cards till the end, Vampire seeks to do a bit of fanwank while maintaining itself as a solid story. I do feel as though its a shame this story could have been done with pretty much any doctor aside 8, but the pairing of Six and Bald!Master is delightful regardless.

Here be Spoilers

Of Authenticity and Fear

"Putting a quote at the beginning of something only makes you seem smarter to idiots"  -Unknown

Triggered by a number of recent self examinations I've come to wonder If who I portray myself to be is consistent with who i really am, or if it's the result of a toxic unending anxiety, a fear of rejection. While there are a number of things which i hold as a moral or ethical code based in nature and nurture alike, other things ive found I'm easily influenced by, especially when it comes to interacting with people i don't know. This has the inverse effect of me being stubborn and steadfast in my beliefs when challenged by people I do know and no longer fear Abandonment or judgement from. And if the individuals whom are way more wise than me, have agreed that, all the worlds a stage, that we are all constantly performing for others (see here) than I'm not entirely sure they're wrong based on my personal experience.

While I'd like to think I'm more authentic than most (Us Vs Them at its finest) I cannot and thus will not deny that I too have long worn a mask, many different masks and some of those masks i may not have even realized WERE masks. If you'll excuse the tired metaphor; I'd like to also liken it to the idea of Authenticity, and truly what can be considered authentic in a world where manipulation (as dirty as the word is) is as common as germs. Can anything really exist as it does without some form of Manipulative behavior?

Presumably anything that has Cognition cannot, i may be using that term wrong, but take for example a cat or dog, both are things some may view as innocent, too dumb to Manipulate anything or anyone. The mistake i think people are making is that both these creatures can and do manipulate us, and are fully aware of it, but theyd not view it as manipulation, nor would it be logical to assume their intentions were malevolent. 

A typical Cat meows most often in the presence of humans, not other cats, it has been theorized they mimic frequecies and sounds based on human babies to attract attention to the things they want. 

A Dog does a similar thing, by whining lowering its ears, looking away, or otherwise barking. 

These are all forms of manipulation but are they INauthentic? 

I think most of us would argue no. Humanity then is a tad more complicated, we dont always understand why we are doing things, saying things or otherwise performing. 

This is especially true when we act out of Fear. At least It is for me, and it took me a long time to realise that. So how many others are like me and haven't?

Basically I'm rambling again at 10PM because sometimes I wonder about this stuff. It's an interesting thought train though.

Til next Time, Stay Golden,

Mjax Majoran

The Silver Lining Of Dad Guilt

"Missing someone hurts, but whats hurts even more, is knowing that you're the reason that they're gone."

Hello Internet, sometimes i find myself wondering why it is in the last 4 years my biological father has increased effort to correspond with me, To be certain it actually started earlier than that, but during that time i was for lack of a better word, bluntly not interested.

Basically I had told him to die in a fire.

It was a year later after my 18th birthday that he came into town and urged me to come to a karaoke bar, he wanted to talk.

Obviously I didn't care. I had given up on the dude, but my other family members wanted to see me as well so I went for them...and probably because I was forced.

He started out acting as if nothing happened as he has tended to do for years, but then things changed... I think it was about halfway through the night, I struggle to recall if the talk or song came first but, at some point he dedicated a song to me. One with lyrics that seemed eerily specific. It was clearly chosen with some degree of thought.

After or perhaps before that, we had our talk in which I believe for only the second time ever, the man opened up to me.

There was no condescension, no random trivia or promises for future events he'd never act on, just him in a vulnerable state, saying his piece, apologizing and talking about things, that to my knowledge, nobody else could get him to open up about. And the part that bothered me the most was how similar this man was to me.

He couldn't have manipulated the reasons for why we're similar. Mind, it was how he said things, the way he moved, talked, the little things. He had no way of knowing.

And in that moment I didn't forgive him... not really, but I did offer him empathy. I offered him an open door with a spring-lock mechanism to boot him out if shit went arie. It's been years since then, every now and again he calls me or texts me on the IMs... not to brag or make promises, hell it is an improvement that he's even reaching out of his own accord.

No most of the time he just asks how I'm doing, if I have seen this thing we share an interest in, Or even a thing he doesn't like but I do. And while I still refuse to call the man Dad. Or send hearts or affection…

It feels like for the first time, he's making an effort not because someone told him to, but because he wants to. Course as i

I am cynical so I often dismiss it as guilt; dude has got to be in his 40s or 50s by now. And I really tore into him that one time. But maybe just maybe we've made some progress, both of us.

...

Today he messaged me again, said he just wanted to check in, I asked him in all politeness how he was doing.

He admitted to being...weirdly enough not okay! Being depressed in fact. Made a joke about buying a book from marvel to cheer himself up; and from there we just kinda talked like friends would.

And I would be remiss if i didn't say for once I enjoyed it.

Maybe someday we will do all those things he wants to do. I doubt it, but it isn't promises he can't keep anymore, just ideas for the future. Maybe that makes all the difference.

Stay Golden,

~Mjax Majoran

14/09/2020

The PR Vs CEO Vs Developer Conundrum

"Right answer, wrong answer, it matters not, your replies are all paper thin. Goodbye" -Origami Princess Peach

There is a distinctive if not overly important (right now) problem with Corporations and the way they communicate with the public. I'd of course say that of any Corporation  but today I wanna focus on The Entertainment Industry. Specifically in the only place I feel I can have a say. 

I also have to say this is all speculative and based on my experiences with NDAs and Social media clauses in general.It really rather seems what a "Artist" is "Allowed" to say is dictated by The Marketing and PR Firms of any given company, and in turn what they say is overseen by the elusive higherups.

What results in my opinion is a dissonance between what is said to us, and what the truth is. Regardless of its intent.

With a Middleman deliberately tasked with hyping up, apologizing on behalf of, or placating the public. It becomes hard to trust anything a Company's "Voice" says, and when individuals are interviewed I imagine they are very careful with what they say, how they say it and might not always reflect their own views.

This kind of thing might be good to placate and ensure good brand image, but it certainly makes it difficult to trust anything and often leads to misinformation or misleading assumptions on what Artists think versus what the company they work for thinks.

At least that is how  I see things working. I don't claim to be an expert.

What do you think? Let me know!

Stay Golden,

~MjaxMajoran

Love Is Strange. (Part 2/2)

"Love is More Valuable than Infinite Diamonds" -Mjax Age 6

Hello Again, 

So last Time I promised One thing kinda and then went on a tangent about the history leading up to it,

This time I'm going to for certain explain what that first Post was supposed to be about.

The whirlwind and confusion that I experienced after Entering my first real relationship was well confusing. I suppose it being long distance didn't help but while i Knew i was much happier and definitley glad id reacted the way I did, I found myself at odds with myself with feelings a friend likened to Imposter Syndrome, the state of mind where you believe that you are not the person who you tell people you are, nor who they see in you. Which I agree is pretty accurste to how i was feeling, I kept fighting against this thought in my mind that i was lying to them and myself, that I didn't truly love them, that Id acted rashly out of fear. Various things led to this I'm sure not least of all was the lack of hormone inbalance making everything seem less intense than with my first crush.

I kept questioning myself and others on what they thought was the truth, Was it fear of losing that person if I rejected them, or worse broke up with them because I was wrong, or Did I truly love this person and simply hadn't fully come to terms with this different kind of feeling, fueled by self doubt and other factors. 

Eventually I talked to them about it, straight up. after having deemed for myself that I infact did care about them more than anyone before, that I would be willing to self sacrifice for their well being, and that I probabbly wouldn't have even been this concerned if I didn't.

They reassured me about things and understood it quite well. I was and still am Damn positive I love this person, even if the "usual" signs weren't there at first. Besides, im neuroatypical so I'm not even completely sure if the Usual applies to me. I know the first time I fell in love was different from what I expected too. 

Anyhow, It's because my experiences were so different from how I normally see it described and shown that I wanted to delve into it, 2 years after the fact, to really describe just how Strange Love really is.

Until Next Time,

Mjax Majoran

What Is Love? (Part 1/2)

"Love is weird in humans, it kinda defies the usual chemicals and urges to procreate. Even as a cynic I find that pretty beautiful" -Mjax Majoran

Dear World,

So usually I'm all fancy and formal and pretentious with these entries but I really think this topic doesn't need, and in some ways doesn't deserve that kind of needless parody/formality.

I suppose My experiences with what I'll refer to as Romantic Love for clarity have been a bit Tumultuous overall. Starting with the whole "love is great and beautiful but its not for me, to a few dumb crushes which were mostly fabricated to get people off my back or because I figured they were cute-ish personality or Appearance wise. but most of those I don't think I'd ever consider Real, at least not in the way my last two... including my current; dances with romantic love have been.

It's important to know that I view myself very much as complicated when it comes to my Sexuality and Romantic interests, the closest labels applicable would probably be Asexual* PanRomantic.

The reason for the * there is that while I derive little pleasure from traditional sexual imagery, flirting, and the physical appearance of others. I am capable of enjoying Physical intimacy with someone I actually love romantically, even if it's partially or mostly due to their enjoyment by proxy. I am also quite capable of self pleasure though require Paraphilias or a long time to really get in the mood. traditionally Sexual themes do not apply to me.

With that Digression out of the way Let's talk about that First real Crush. In the interests of being mature I won't be saying their name or alluding to details which would allow someone who I didn't trust to discover their identity, As that would risk harassment of them which They do not deserve.

I found my first crush much in the same way i found my current love, the difference in their case was I was introduced via a mutual friend who had met them years prior and knew We were both into the same show at the time, it wasn't a matchmaking thing at all, my friend just figured I'd like someone to discuss the show with. This person and I became fast friends, even meeting in person so as to be more comfortable talking to each other (I wasn't even in high school at the time) And while I knew from the beginning something was different, I didn't yet know what. Overtime we became quite close in my opinions discussing all sorts of personal things and deep thoughts. Shit in retrospect probably led to the downfall of our friendship entirely. I won't say hormones had nothing to do with what happened, but Quite a few bystanders at the time did assure me what happened was in fact That i fell in love for realsies.

My biggest mistake was not being able to really read people well back then, that and admitting to my crush so soon in a game of truth or dare. There were other signs of course that I should have let go and moved on, the revolving door of relationships they had at the time (some of whom were objectively pretty immature and toxic) and never offering me a chance. I probably would have been better off if my assertion to myself that we were better off as friends wasn't being clouded by my hormones and legitimate feelings. At two points I believe I approached them myself, both times they gave valid reasonings that nevertheless hurt quite a bit and really got to me. In some of the final years shit got really messy as a meetup group for the show we created together started having drama, fingers were pointed every which way. And My crush just kinda disappeared off the grid. many Years later I found myself giving friendship another shot after we had ceased speaking for a long time, it started out fine, but turned sour when the "real" reasoning for having disappeared and consistently rejecting me came out. What prompted it was merely me reminiscing on positive memories that had nothing to do with it. Their reasoning while valid, was also hypocritical and manipulative. They deemed I needed to let go of both the good and bad, and move on, that memories would only fuel the fact that I was as a person Depressing.

It took me a long time to forgive them, and forgive myself. And while I would apologize and try to start anew, I think that their entire point was pretty clear. We were more different than I thought in that way.

My current Love, whom I hope to keep, I met before my first real crush, and in fact re-met after this whole shiz went down. I at first had feelings toward them, but due to previous experience and their significantly long distance I forced myself to repress them, which i Successfully did for many years. Anyway, a Couple years back and sometime still, They Started dropping hints, and i'm kind of well ace and autistic and sometimes dense so I never picked up on it. To be fair the hints were at first subtle, stuff I took for granted like drawings of our animal characters cuddling like animals do. It didn't even seem unusual to me when the actual flirtish jokes happened because that was just our humour, I really should have realised that nobody draws your characters over 100 times for free with extensive effort just because you're friends. and I mean the Friends With Art Benefits Joke? And the hearts drawn on some of the drawings. Yeah I was dense. Overtime though I really noticed certain things I either didn't or couldn't repress.

Listening and talking to them for hours about anything and everything, finding myself making joke plans to come visit them, always being more critical of their choices but supportive too. Not to mention the fact that, they just made me well happy. I guess i never acknowledged it as love again because what i'd felt during my first crush felt so much more like what the media tries to push as Real Romance, those feelings and actions that are hyperbolic in every article or movie. It made things hard to discern between a really close friend and something a bit more. At one point though They confessed to me, outright, and I guess I was expecting something deep or important when they kept struggling to just say it, but I know I hadn't been expecting it.

I recall turning red, and being unable to speak for a few moments... and then I just returned the sentiment, without second thought.*

It was a bit of a whirlwind after that, and its kind of the main reason for this post.

but since this is long winded enough I'll get into it on a second part.

Until then,

Mjax Majoran