Brandon : Look Who's Here Guys ! Wouldn't That Be The Demon Of The Trident ?!

I think that whether or not "Rogue is the Master" turns out to be correct, Davies/Herron/Redman assumed that it would be the popular, "obvious" fan theory after the episode came out.

They figured that everyone would be abuzz about the sheer number of Master references they worked in. "Rogue is the Master" would be the fan assumption they'd be working with and against in all subsequent, extra-textual Rogue content.

Now. Let's step away from "is Rogue the Master" for a moment, and focus on another question: "is Rogue coming back"

On the pro side: they keep working Rogue's ring into the Doctor's costume designs (potentially setting up some sort of "the ring is actually a tracking device or something" plot beat). Rogue and The Meep appear to have the same boss. Season 1 and 2 were shot back to back, which takes care of "will they ever be able to work Groff into the shooting schedule again"

On the con side: the novelization. If there's supposed to be any sort of mystery or suspense around Rogue that would sustain another appearance (and frankly, I don't think "Rogue is trapped on Scary World, but the Doctor saves him" would provide enough narrative thrust on its own. or the necessary relationship conflict, within the structural constraint where a straightforward "happily ever after/domestic bliss" would kind of end the show) - then I don't think we would have gotten this much detailed, unambiguous info about Rogue's thoughts and background and motivations.

Unless: either everything we just learned will be completely irrelevant to future plot twists (which would imply that any coming wrinkles in the story will be more external conflicts than character-driven ones. Less interesting, imo)

Or, everything we just learned is some kind of misdirect

But why would they feel the need to misdirect? If Rogue's story isn't finished yet, then why do the novelization at all? Or why not restrain it to info we already know, or the Doctor's pov only?

Which brings us back to: if the creators assumed that "Rogue is the Master" would be a major fan theory, then how would we expect them to act?

If Rogue isn't the Master, then I would expect them to play up the theory in order to distract from whatever reveal is actually coming.

You could argue that RTD liking the above insta comment would count. But if the goal was to tease the fandom, then one insta like wouldn't exactly be a very public forum for it (compared to, say, those "hee hee, what's with all the 4th wall breaks? What's with Mrs. Flood? Maybe we'll never know 🤭" comments in mainstream outlets)

If Rogue is the Master, and they thought that a significant portion of the fandom already knew that...then I'd probably expect them to throw out some misdirection.

Hey uh, for no particular reason. Remember when Moffat knew perfectly well that "Missy is the Master" would be glaringly obvious, but still wanted the reveal to land with at least some surprise. So he shot a fake scene where Missy goes "I'm the Rani btw 😘" and tried to leak it on purpose

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Corn in all its colors!

I know this has probably already been done, but consider: A stereotypical trope-heavy sitcom family, but it turns out that all the annoying toxic clichés that seem to be in play are actually subverted in ways that are conversely wholesome.

Like a husband who keeps making morbid, almost sadistic Boomer Jokes about how much he hates his mother-in-law. Turns out that his wife's childhood was wildly abusive, and it is entirely reasonable of him to not forgive people who tortured the love of his life when she was a child. Wanting to throw that horrid old witch into a wood chipper is the least that he could do.

“Appeal to a wider audience” is corporate lingo for “strip more themes from a piece of media so it’s safer and more sanitized for investors”

I just met a mother of an autistic child who thinks vaccines cause autism but is still pro-vaccine. Didn't know ppl like her existed tbh

I LOVE THESE GUYS!!!!!

The green silver lines moth, oh my god, they have SUCH a good colour palette! i encourange anyone to use these guys as an inspiration for art cause they're sooo unique and pretty!!

these guys are tiiiiny at 3.5cm, so you gotta make sure to look out for them if you wanna spot them, especially if you're looking for them while out :P

They live in europe and northern asia, so you goddamn know next season when they fly (june-july) i'll be trying to spot them

and to make it even better, they're not even a pest of anything! just an all around beautiful moth :3 i love them so much!!

You ever get into a piece of media then find the fandom and just stare in horror?

Or get into a fandom and see canon and get disappointed because it is not, actually, gay?

My nan: *sighs* I used to be straight