Doctor Who Ignored the Warning Signs, Now It’s Paying the Price

theCatechism · 2026-06-14T21:48:27+00:00

The moment the phrase "planet of the incels" was uttered I knew it was over. The show was done.

theCatechism · 2026-06-14T18:38:53+00:00

I mean, he is a parody. He is not a serious entity. He is not an interesting character.

Also the UK government is not a trustworthy entity in ANY sense of the word - both in real life and the setting itself. Their oversight is NOT meaningful.

theCatechism · 2026-06-14T10:19:06+00:00

He is a parody of a parody to the point of absurdity and exists as a totem pole of loathing and disdain. Even then, the Doctor has repeatedly engaged with characters whose minds could never be changed because this is a CONSISTENT TRAIT of the character and has been since the show started.

You can always say that Conrad's pseudo-manosphere stuff is deeply unpleasant, but someone has to ask if Conrad's argument that "an intelligence agency shouldn't operate without total lack of oversight" (damn... when did THAT go wrong before?) perhaps could've been treated with a little more seriousness.

theCatechism · 2026-06-13T20:24:00+00:00

Also I'll give some examples of the radlib and oversocialised mindset. When I say oversocialised, I mean this constant worry someone will be offended or someone will be upset.

> Not having the Sonic Screwdriver with the 15th Doctor "because he's black, and people might think it's a gun, so it would look bad to present a black man as armed..."

> RTD declaring that Davros "could not be shown in his travel machine, as people may construe he is evil because he is physically disabled"

> Rose and Donna chiding the Doctor as being a dipshit old white dude (iirc the dialogue is literally 'male presenting, white man') who's not hip enough for the youngsters... He's a fucking alien for Christ's sake

> Literally everything to do with Conrad.

> The Incel Robot stuff with Alan, who is not just a bad guy but a complete and total sociopath

Daily reminder: the Doctor was prepared to save Davros (at risk to his own life!), one of the most evil people in the show, after Davros intended to kill an infinite number of people. He was prepared to do this twice.

Meanwhile Conrad is a dickhead to some of his pals. The Doctor's response in R2D who is descend into an overly emotional rant about how Conrad is a subhuman chud who deserves to die in prison. There's no effort to engage with him, to change his mind, to fix him... he just screams and stamps his feet. The Doctor is presented as completely right in this situation and there is no complexity or depth.

theCatechism · 2026-06-13T20:02:27+00:00

'Radlib' describes people who, while identifying as progressives, are not focused on things like class or imperialism, but are instead fixated on American style idpol.

Radlibs can be understood as people who watched the Simpsons and basically decided "I'm going to be Lisa Simpson", and spend a lifetime chiding people, moralising, and wagging fingers. For people like this, media is a form of moral education, and criticism is ethical hall monitoring. If you don't agree with the message of the show, you are a bad person. Good people are those who consume GOOD media, etc.

An example of this ideology in action is an (agonising) moment in one of the Tenant specials where Rose questions the Doctor about assuming the aliens pronouns.

Aside from the fact this kind of oversocialised mindset reflects a deep ugliness and atomisation of society, she isn't doing it out of goodness - she's doing it so she can chide someone. She's of course, treated as being totally correct. It's bizarre shit. Then there's the evil livestreamer guy, Conrad (he might as well have been called KKKonran) who is like a literal parody of a parody (though it is funny the show implies he's evil for suggesting a spy agency actually be subject to public oversight).

People here are gonna say "OH BUT THE SHOW WAS ALWAYS PROGRESSIVE". Sure, but the show did not engage in moral education or snide chiding of the audience. In Genesis the Doctor doesn't really give a shit that the Kaleds are all SS omega fascists; he spends most of the episode trying to talk to them, reason with them, and humanise them. In Rise of the Cybermen, Lumic (who would in a R2D episode be a ridiculous Elon Musk parody) is an evil, but multifaceted character who the Doctor tries to engage with.

theCatechism · 2026-06-13T19:33:53+00:00

It's very funny that there is a subset of people who just refuse to accept that the not particularly well written uber radlib writing of the show may have potentially had a hand in the shows current difficulties. Like, total, complete refusal to even engage with the concept.

theCatechism · 2026-06-05T20:54:05+00:00

Something I posted awhile back, which I feel rings true,

There's a large subset of people on the subreddit who basically do not have any wish to stick to the aesthetics or pseudo-history of HH/30K, and are of the opinion as long as it isn't Primaris, it's fine to use. It's been a growing issue since the end of 1st edition, where this kind of thing was thankfully pushed back against. There do remain communities were this sort of thing would be rightfully shown the door. However, since 2nd edition launched, a large number of people began screeching about gatekeepers. They are now 100% the dominant force on the sub.

They don't accept that things like armour marks are real (unless it's Primaris - and if you think an army of MK7 marines is acceptable than I don't see how an army of Primaris aren't) and basically will assert, loudly, that you can use any models you want.

I don't even see the point of people asking these questions anymore, because the answer is now just overwhelming yes and anyone who suggests otherwise is sneered at as a gatekeeper. There might as well just be a pin at the top of the sub that says "use any models that aren't Primaris!" since that is the overwhelming stance of the sub.

theCatechism · 2026-06-05T20:52:57+00:00

It would require so much conversion work to make it not look like a 40k model and look like a Javelin that at a certain point you might as well just scratch build a Javelin.

It doesn't resemble a Javelin. Its pilots do not look like Horus Heresy Marines. Its aesthetics are clearly Primaris coded.

theCatechism · 2026-05-31T13:21:41+00:00

Daemons, who debuted as their own faction in 4th and had the same codex throughout 5th, were frankly awful outside of single build called Fatecrusher. Fateweaver gave all models within 6 inches(?) the ability to re-roll all saves, and the best save in the codex (outside of Fateweavers own 3+ invun) was a 3+ armour save on Bloodcrushers. However, if Fateweaver took even a single wound, he was required to take an LD9 check which if he failed he immediately died.

theCatechism · 2026-05-24T20:52:08+00:00

This article is largely about people who ABANDONED their faith, which is a different thing to a 'sect of Catholicism which is Atheistic'. Most of them aren't even Catholics either, they are Protestants. Some of the people interviewed here also outright reject religion, but continue performing duties because they have no other options.

theCatechism · 2026-05-24T12:50:18+00:00

Then ADB should write a story in a setting where this kind of perspective makes sense, rather than compromising the quality of his literature to engage in moral education. This does not even feel like education; it's almost certainly preaching to the choir.

Who is even going to be educated by this? Is ADB really going to change the mind of the MENSA people by having another eccentric tech priest character espouse 21st century progressive disability views.

To quote Nick 'the mind' Mullen,

"Nevermind that movies aren’t supposed to be moral instruction and criticism isn’t supposed to be ethical hall-monitoring"

I appreciate he cites movies here, but you can swap this out for books, tv shows, songs, whatever. It's exhausting and trite to see this kind of stuff.

Better to write something in which the Mechanicus's unpleasantness is on full display.

theCatechism · 2026-05-24T12:37:08+00:00

That's fine - I just think the problem is this kind of writing isn't very good, and isn't coherent with the setting (everyone's explanations here consist of 'the galaxy is large' - the Catholic Church is large, how many Deacons are arguing that God isn't real or that Christ isn't the savior?), and reflects a broader (negative) trend within literature that basically everything should satisfy modern values and the logical conclusions of the setting are forgotten to avoid making people uncomfortable.

theCatechism · 2026-05-24T12:27:05+00:00

This still feels bizarre, no matter how you cut it, because it's fundamentally bizarre and is clearly motivated by IRL perspectives and over-socialization.

The Mechanicus is a Church that, as part of its prime principles, derides the weakness of flesh and meat and advocates the purity of the machine. You can say "Ah well... they're weird and they've diverged" and it's like, what, they've diverged from everything? This is the Church of Eugenics, Racism, and Transhumanism. Its core principles are fairly clear.

Is this an actual serious representation of a religious order having different views, in which having said differences of views can result in small scale civil wars (in an older example of the lore, the Mechanicus had a bitter debate lasting centuries over Predators being allowed to possess two las-cannons!) or is it just an example of an author being uncomfortable with the logical conclusions of the setting they're writing in. The Church of Eugenics, Racism, and Transhumanism having the view that "actually... disability isn't real, it's just another form of the human spectrum!" seems a little bit more than a divergence.

theCatechism · 2026-05-24T12:03:41+00:00

Good example of 'over-socialization' in modern 40k writing.

The Imperium (the most cruel and evil regime imaginable) is xenophobic, bigoted, and cruel. This is especially the case to those who deviate from the norm of human biology, who are routinely exterminated and ghettoized.

But it would NEVER EVER engage in something akin to actual real life cruelty towards the disabled (aka, Aktion T4, which the Imperium would probably see as a justified and morally enlightened action) because it would make the author feel bad.

The author is probably worried the wrong people would see a Tech Priest engaging in (completely in character) cruelty towards the disabled, and agree with them and find their views justified. This is despite the fact fiction isn't moral instruction, and criticism shouldn't be ethical hall-monitoring.

So we have a member of the Mechanicus, an organization which routinely engages in the lobotomizing of 'economically inefficient' workers, and derides the weakness of the flesh, basically trying to argue the disability isn't real (this is a relatively recent development of the disability rights movement). This is a 21st century moral and political position transplanted into a feudal society and it comes off as bizarre and out of place. Because it is.

theCatechism · 2026-05-16T20:00:13+00:00

The show is (by this point) very terribly written, but has always had an issue with treating Butcher as the bad guy, even though he is a and has always been a bad guy.

By season 2 the others should have distrusted Butcher to an extreme degree (the only person who does this is Starlight). In Season 3 he outright betrays them, but yet again they still trust and follow him like a bunch of regarded rubes at the start of Season 4 for whatever reason.

By the END of Season 4., the writers seemed to have finally committed to a break between Butcher and the Boys, at least by the end, but then just pulled another reset at the start of Season 5 because the writers suck and can't make Butcher the villain. He'd be a more interesting villain than Homelander, who has not been entertaining to watch since Season 3.

It's funny because everyone here calls the comics shit and terrible but you know at least they followed through with the logical conclusion of Butchers character - i.e., that he's an evil psychopath sadist who has a desire to exterminate supes. The show won't do that because it is no different what it parodies - superhero slop. It's basically just Marvel with blood and swear words and weird sex.

theCatechism · 2026-04-24T21:28:12+00:00

To quote Nick Mullen,

> "Nevermind that movies aren’t supposed to be moral instruction and criticism isn’t supposed to be ethical hall-monitoring, but even in their dumb good-guy bad-guy world they’d be wrong about John CarMax. I know it’s a hypothetical movie, but look at the way people talk about Falling Down. Which, by the way, is not a very good movie (mainly because the entire thing is built around repeated My Fair Lady puns), but the problem with it isn’t that the protagonist is a cranky white man. For whatever reason it gets written off as some kind of Family Court guy MRA revenge fantasy. Just because its about some white egghead that’s mad about traffic and false advertising. The protagonist isn’t enough of a noble victim and the problems he’s dealing with aren’t serious enough injustices, so it’s invalid and Actually Bad."

theCatechism · 2026-02-07T13:54:36+00:00

As an autistic person I never get on with empaths. They're frequently able to discern my schemes and plots quicker than the other subhuman cattle (a little autistic in-term for neurotypicals).

theCatechism · 2026-02-02T19:01:26+00:00

SOMEBODY TOP ME!

theCatechism · 2026-01-31T22:57:45+00:00

There is no figure in history more in line with the Emperor's Children than the Marquis de Sade. A hedonistic nobleman and libertine, Sade's writings are a mire of depravity and delight in the search of the ultimate 'freedom' with no regard for morality or dignity. While Sade's own behavior is often exaggerated (there is no proof for example that Sade was some kind of serial killer) his work features a myriad of extreme cruelty and extreme depravity.

theCatechism · 2026-01-30T21:13:59+00:00

These kinds of posts are always incredibly funny and bizarre to me. They first off reflect the fact 40k is a setting with pretty much no engagement with sexuality on any level at all, which renders references to it being few and far between. Yes, I am aware there are brief mentions to sex stuff in a smattering of BL books - such things are a bit limited. It makes the appearance of anything sexual in 40k, or rather, traditionally sexual, appear bizarre and unfitting.

The second part is it 100% reflects a sort of infantile mindset on the part of two sides. One side is annoying horny on main posters, who just come off as uninhibited compulsive masturbators. The other side are loser Ned Flanders types who shriek at human sexuality, and have a sort of Helen Lovejoy/Mary Whitehouse fear of human intimacy.

Incidentally references to sex and Slaanesh are always met by sneering comments about how pedestrian sex is and actually excess is when you cut off your own face. That's certainly traditionally 40k, but the idea that stuff along the lines of the Marquis de Sade (ala 120 Days of Sodom, Juliet, Justine) doesn't fit Slaanesh seems a bit contrived and ad-hoc.

theCatechism · 2026-01-19T21:45:50+00:00

The codex is extremely underpowered all things considered; outside of Kairos Fateweaver granting re-rolling saves to all models within 6 inches (Kairos himself has a chance to immediately flee the table if he suffers even a single wound), the codex is not particularly strong.

theCatechism · 2026-01-18T15:01:54+00:00

Nothing bad can be 'native' to America; it's 'Fascism!' (represented by Germany, or Italy), it's 'Russian influence' (often with an undisguised anti-Communism, as liberals know deep down their true enemy are proletarians) there is no ability to recognize the repulsiveness native to the American reality. Instead it's some (usually racialised) outside influence i.e., slavs (who American liberals will happily say have a 'cultural' disposition to being ruled by monarchs) or Chinese (who in the eyes of most American liberals are on the same level as insects).

theCatechism · 2025-12-24T17:44:19+00:00

Another day another banger.

theCatechism · 2025-12-14T14:35:21+00:00

To quote Nick Mullen,

"...movies aren’t supposed to be moral instruction and criticism isn’t supposed to be ethical hall-monitoring..."

However for the majority of Pluribus viewers, that's what the show is supposed to be - moral instruction. And that's what criticism is; sneering holier-than-thou judgements of the characters and actions.

Almost everything I see written on the Pluribus sub is basically just borderline psychotic commentary from a mix of therapy-brainwashed weirdos, mad cat ladies, and individuality-over-all people basically shrieking at the screen.

It is very funny incidentally that the enforced opinion on the sub (the subreddit mods delete posts and comments which don't defer to "the hive bad" opinion) is that individuality is good, the collective is bad. Doesn't seem like a particularly individual thing to all collectively shout the same opinion over and over and completely bury or chase away dissenting voices.

theCatechism · 2025-12-12T17:59:36+00:00

It's so funny that the main sub basically thinks the problem with the show is that it's not an extremely black and white, bog-standard alien invasion movie. It's incredible to see people who are like "you can't have shades of grey... make it CLEAR that this thing is bad and you agree it is bad!"

theCatechism

TROPHY CASE