#DW 60th

[kerubinart]

Rose made them bestie bracelets!!!

[unexpectederawhilesubmitting]

WARNING: DOCTOR WHO SPOILERS EXPLAINING REGENERATION SHENANIGANS

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okay so I was kind of not on board with the concept of bi-regeneration, mainly because of how it seemed like all of the Sad and the Trauma that the Doctor had undergone got kind of handwaved away? i'm all for ncuti's Doctor being sort of a fresh start/jumping on point for new viewers, but i didn't get how that could work if like, literally 40 minutes ago he was David Tennant being a sad wet puppy dog of a man

however, after rewatching it, i've realized what i think happened there, and it goes all the way back to something introduced with the 4th doctor's regeneration that was never explained: the Watcher

^this spooky guy

so, for those that don't know (or haven't seen every episode of a show that is over half a century old), the Fourth Doctor regenerates at the end of a story called Logopolis (he falls off a satellite dish, but that's not important right now). all throughout the episode, this weird figure, The Watcher, stands off in the distance, and even intervenes slightly by saving the Fourth Doctor's companion. there's not much given in the way of an explanation until the Fourth Doctor regenerates, saying "it's the end. but the moment has been prepared for..."

the watcher walks up, and gets absorbed in a super rad 1980's digital effect (never change doctor who), while his companion just gives us the not-super-helpful-for-lore statement "He was the Doctor all the time!"

then, in a crossfade, the Doctor goes from Four to weird-powder-man to Five

canonically, the Watcher is explained as a future version of the doctor that comes about in sort of a weird overlapping thing with the doctor's timeline, it's very wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey.

-------------------------

SO what does this have to do with biregeneration and satisfying character arcs/moving on from trauma?

Well, remember, Fifteen said this, about Time Lords doing rehab out of order:

so, here's the thing: Fifteen is the Doctor AFTER Fourteen (duh, I know?) But to be clear...Fourteen lives out an entire lifetime with Donna and family, gets to a ripe old age, and then, when his lifetime of healing is over, he gets yeeted back through his own timestream just to zoot himself out of David Tennant's chest.

Remember, his first words to Fourteen (after popping out of his chest) are "So good to see you! So good!", not the RTD classic "what?". He greets himself like he's almost expecting this, he then says "does anyone want to tell me what the hell is going on here?" which only makes sense if he's coming from a different point in his own timestream (remember, when two doctors interact, memory gets really weird, 10 and the War Doctor don't remember the events of Day of the Doctor until they live through them as 11).

SO TO BE CLEAR: Ncuti Gatwa is playing the Doctor AFTER he has spent years healing from his traumas. His Doctor is fine because Fourteen takes the time to rest and work on himself.

tl;dr: I didn't like biregeneration at first because I thought it looked like this:

In actuality, it looks more like this:

[beansprean]

I haven’t even seen the special but this post by @nat-20s put me in a chokehold lmao

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(ID in alt and under cut)

ID: fake tweet screenshot based on the mareep plushie meme. The tweet is by Shaun, username TempleTaxi, icon a photo of his and Donna's wedding. The text reads 'Ah yes. Me. My wife. And her mentally ill six foot tall reincarnated alien time-traveler.' Attached is a drawing of Shaun laying in bed in profile, comforter pulled up to his chin as he stares at the ceiling in resignation. On his far side, Donna is laying with her back to him, sleeping soundly with her arm slung over the 14th doctor who is laying on his back on the edge of the bed, fully clothed and on top of the covers. He lifts his head up to peek over Donna's head and wave at Shaun with a grin. /end ID

[ickleblorg]

[crowlixcx]

[vroomvroomwee]

Can we talk about this?

Because we seriously need to talk about it. This single scene is so so so so important. Both of them are doing something typically associated with romantic couples. He grabs her hand, kisses it, holds it close to his chest and looks directly into her eyes.

In any other piece of media that would have undoubtedly been a romantic gesture. But not these two. And that is just so fucking incredible. Personally, I didn't think I would ever see this type of platonic closeness in my lifetime. One where romantic or sexual attraction between both parties is completely thrown out the window.

That's just so goddamn important to have. And you know what makes this scene even more mind-blowing. It's that their relationship is a male-female one (I know the Doctor is non-binary, but rn he's presenting as male). AND where the woman is attracted to men and the man is attracted to women (be it allo or ace).

And there is ZERO possibility of a romantic relationship between them. How amazing is that? It's so important to have that. To show that men and women can be friends. That women are not objects or something to achieve. That men can have closeness with women without being attracted to them. That there can be love, pure deep love, between men and women, and it's no less than that between a romantic couple's one.

And it's not like that trope in movies that we so often see where the "ugly" "undesirable" "quirky" ones are single and have formed a relationship with other individuals because no one wants them. No no. Both of these people are absolutely stunning and still, there's no attraction.

Also, this will go a very very long way for the ace and aro communities. To know that the love you can give is no less powerful and not inferior to that of people who do experience romantic and sexual attraction.

These two are a fan favourite, if not THE fan favourite, duo of all Doctor Who and I just wish people will realise how wonderful and special platonic relationships can be.

[grandadtwelve]

I know that donna was like “haha yeah doctor you’ve always been kinda gay” but it’s better 2 me if the doctor actually meant “oh I say that shit out loud now” the same way he said that about verbalizing his feelings/saying ��love”. bc do I think the doctor was completely unaware of any and all attraction they’ve ever had to men? nah not at all. do I think the doctor has ever seen an attractive person and immediately gone “yeah. smash.” out loud? no sir

[metamorphicrocky]

at first I thought it was endearing to see the doctor constantly being like "oh do I say things like that now? is this who I am?" because it's an old face but with all the experiences and changes that come with living longer. so unlike ten, fourteen is open about his feelings because there were lingering regrets with not telling people how she felt as thirteen

BUT NOW. not-donna saying you're scared. because of the flux. because the universe destroyed itself just in the chance it could destroy you. and you know now that you're not from gallifrey and that scares you. because the doctor is scared. everything they ever knew is thrown out because on top of everything an old face came back and the doctor can't figure out why

the timeless child and the flux just being MENTIONED brought the doctor to frightened tears and we have never seen anything like that before. the doctor is so so lost and just wants to know who they are. so regenerating into something new but old has thrown them off so much that at every turn he thinks "huh. is this who I am?" and it is so strange to see the doctor unsure about themself, questioning their identity every second. and it is HEARTBREAKING

[vampir-el]

love that doctor who is spending their new budget on practical effects. nothing is more important to me then watching bts footage just to see the beautiful meep puppet

[juicyreptile]

Jack Harkness, the most offended he's ever been or will be in his life: You telling me that there were TWO Doctors in the same place, at the same time, both with barely any clothes on, doing strenuous activities, and NOT A SINGLE PERSON INVITED ME??

[gallifreyanhotfive]

Not only did the Doctor offer to travel with the Toymaker, playing games across the cosmos, RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE MASTER, but he ALSO left the Master JUST LAYING THERE on the top of UNIT tower. By the end of it, there were TWO WHOLE DOCTORS and NEITHER of them stopped to pick my poor little cringe-fail off the floor. They either assumed he got folded into the box with the Toymaker or decided to leave him there, and I don't know which is worse. The Master’s going to complain SO MUCH about this, and it'll probably be his evil backstory for a little while.

[donutdrawsthings]

Wanted to design a post 60th anniversary look for the 14th because there's no way he'd stay totally skinny under Donna's care. Also I thought it would be cute if the Doctor wore clothing pieces with hints of Donna's colour palette in it (red/pink). Plus, I think a sweater vest would suit him right with him trying to slide into a more comfortable life.

Bonus:

[fedzzzart]

the first special was perfection, i can’t wait to see the rest💙✨

[mizgnomer]

David Tennant and Catherine Tate The Fourteenth Doctor and Donna Noble

...and the teeth

[mindibindi]

[vroomvroomwee]

The aroaces really won this time huh?