#Eighth Doctor Adventures: Echoes

[thisisaheist]

Liv: Helen, she's my... she's everything I have left

[riversofmars]

Day 2 of processing Echoes and making fanart :D

[being-of-rain]

I listened to Echoes, the latest Eighth Doctor Adventures audios. I don't think there was really a standout episode, they all had their ups and downs. But there was a standout element, which was, of course, the companions. It really felt like all the writers had fun writing for Liv and Helen, both in their emotional moments and their lighthearted ones. It's such a delight having intelligent, mature companions who love constantly ribbing each other and the Doctor (or in Liv's case, wielding sarcasm like a deadly blade). And of course they can't seem to do an episode together without leaving crumbs for Liv/Helen shippers.

I always look forward to the Liv and Helen audios, even though Big Finish being particularly aimless and meandering with their travels at the moment. Apart from their apparent goal to gradually fill in every corner of Helen's family tree.

On the other hand, I'm very much looking forward to how the story arc of Eight's Time War series is going to progress (even though I get a pang of 'Bliss deserved this treatment' every time there's an interesting development). The next box set has some fascinating guest stars that has me very excited 👀

[a-wartime-paradox]

Paradox of the Thirteenth, or "There's a surprising amount of Faction Paradox in Series 11-13"

Despite not being many fan's top choice, the Thirteenth Doctor's era shared concepts with the Faction Paradox series surprisingly often. Some of these were explicit, such as The Paradox Moon featuring Siblings Same and Different (although these Siblings' Faction is otherwise unrelated to the FP Faction, as of 2023), whilst others are simply similarities in creative choices, again varying in how obvious they are, from the "Ashad" (Series 12 - The Timeless Children) resembling FP's technosapiens, to Time Lords "binding" time in Once, Upon Time (part of Series 13/Flux)

So, here I will attempt to list every possible connection between the Thirteenth Doctor/Chris Chibnal's era of Doctor Who and the Faction Paradox mythology

Firstly, an explanation as to why this is all happening...

Explanation as to why the Thirteen Doctor is meeting Faction Paradox-esque entities.

The War has been ended for a long time, and the Great Houses have finally, actually, fallen (see The Timeless Children) leaving no one to hold up their imposed metastructure of history. Why didn't anyone invade in Series 1-7, before the Time Lords returned?, you ask. Well, it's not because The Day of the Doctor is a bootstrap, as I don't believe in perfect bootstraps, but rather because well... They did. During Series 1, the Reapers arrived, explicitly due to the lack of Time Lords (Father's Day), and so did a lone Dalek (Dalek), and finally the original Dalek Emperor's last Time War fleet (The Parting of the Ways). Then in Series 2, the Cult of Skaro arrived (Army of Ghosts/Doomsday), followed by Davros (The Stolen Earth/Journey's End)- who along with the Supreme Dalek, somehow survived the Crucible's fall (The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar)- and then the New Dalek Paradigm emerged, from survivors of the War (Victory of the Daleks). All this interference from War-time participants is what's preventing pre-Anchoring entities entering the Third Universe, as it echoes the status quo which was so hostile to their very existence.

Oh, and "Dvapara Yuga" means "the Dark Times, as understood to not be an early period of universal history, but rather the state of history metatemporally predating Rassilon's anchoring of the thread"

She is born out of an interaction with a past Doctor (Twice Upon a Time) - if it wasn't for acausal (and unintentionally) intervention of the First Doctor, the Thirteenth Doctor never would have existed. This is a bit of a stretch, as interference forwards in a timeline is much less paradoxical than the reverse, but this is her first appearance so...

The Solitract, from It Takes You Away, is an intelligent & conscious universe, exiled from the main universe in order to allow for it's creation. "Creation" here probably refers to Event One/The Big Bang, but, if one is on the train of "the universe before the Anchoring of the Thread didn't have a beginning, and the Big Bang was retroactively added by Urizen [Rassilon]", then this is very easily re-interpreted as a mention of the early Sun Builders (a.k.a Time Lords) cleaning up their area of spacetime in preparation for imposing rationality on it. To be even more bold, I may suggest that this isn't a universe at all, but instead an intercreational, a class of being first mentioned in The Book of the War, although one type was first mentioned in the BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures novel The Taking of Planet 5, as a "Swimmer". I propose that the Solitract is not a Swimmer, or a Leviathan, but rather a smaller intercreational, perhaps growing out of the Third Universe (the main DW/FP universe), before being banished by the Great Houses. See Explanation as to why the Thirteen Doctor is meeting Faction Paradox-esque entities at the top of this post.

The Ux, from The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos, are clearly some gods from the Dvapara Yuga.

Orphan 55 features a future version of Earth which deviates heavily from most other depictions of it. Speculatively, this means the Thirteenth Doctor travelled to an aberrant timeline, or that the Ghost Point has somehow worsened since the degradation of the Great Houses's imposed metastructure, rather than healing.

During Fugitive of the Judoon, the Doctor interacts with Gallifrey's distant past. I can't really explain this even by the standard explanation at the top of this post. However, one thing interesting to note is that the ancient Time Lord "Gat" considered "Mutter's Spiral" to be a "tiny galaxy". This is notable because Gallifrey is basically always said to be in the centre of Mutter's Spiral - that is, the Milky Way - and naming a galaxy as "tiny" kind of implies that you aren't from it. Maybe Gallifrey wasn't always in Mutter's Spiral, and got moved? Or maybe Gat and the Division come from some alternative Gallifrey? I don't know, just interesting to note.

The novel At Childhood's End (written by Sophie Aldred, actor for Ace) featured Ace meeting the Thirteenth Doctor, and descriptions of the former's fractured timelines. Notably, the next time Ace and the Doctor met (in The Power of the Doctor), neither one of them mentioned this, almost as if the timeline in which it happened had fractured...

Rakaya and Zellin from Can You Hear Me? are clearly some kind of pre-anchoring gods like the Ux. In Time Lord Victorious short story The Guide to the Dark Times, it was confirmed that they were, specifically, Eternals (not the MCU kind), and another Time Lord Victorious text, a novel called The Knight, the Fool, and the Dead, claimed that Eternals were among the other inhabitants of the Dark Times, the "Old Ones". Interestingly, multiple Eternals do indeed appear in the "classic" series of Doctor Who, implying that the Anchoring did not fully remove them, but as they didn't appear in NuWho until now, I feel safe in speculating that the War somehow barred them from it - perhaps they'd joined the conflict, on the side of both the Time Lords, Daleks, the Enemy, and others, "helping out" wherever it benefited them?

Ashad, first appearing in The Haunting of Villo Diodati, and then in the following serial Ascension of the Cybermen/The Timeless Children, is an "emotional Cyberman". Any readers of Faction Paradox could immediately draw the connection between this and Faction Paradox's "technosapiens", named as such partially to avoid infringing on the BBC's trademark, but also because The Book of the War showed that many sects of posthumanity had become cyborgs, but many were not emotionless and evil like the Cybermen.

The Timeless Child, first appearing in The Timeless Children, is vaguely reminiscent of the idea hinted upon in The Book of the War that the Great Houses stole the power of regeneration from another species, in The Book of the War being the Great Vampires, and in The Timeless Children being the titular Timeless Child. This note of continuity was expanded upon by the writer @aristidetwain in his short story Out of the Box introduced the "Child-That-Was-Taken", intended to be a member of the Yssgaroth species, and to be the Timeless Child itself. Additionally, this Child was the motivator for the Great Vampires' war with the Great Houses, the Eternal War (a.k.a First War in Heaven).

In The Timeless Children, Tecteun is shown alongside Rassilon and Omega. Previously, the figure alongside Rassilon and Omega was the Other, a version of the Doctor from before he was the Doctor. My personal fix for this, which I admittedly took from @/aristidetwain, is that there were many Others, assisting Rassilon and Omega at different points in time. Other Others may be the human Dr. Who from the novel Human Nature, the Eleventh Doctor "Cheesemaker" (The Lost Dimension), Osiris (in his car future), and the Sixth Doctor (The Scrolls of Rassilon)

In Shadow in the Mirror, the Thirteenth Doctor released Aphasia / Daughter of Mine from her mirror of entrapment, despite the fact that Aphasia mentioned a "ginger haired doctor" who "believed himself to be the last" (likely Muldwych/Merlin), meaning that the Doctor had been interacting with Aphasia out-of-order, which is... Reasonably dangerous.

Throughout Flux, the villains "Swarm" and "Azure" attempt to remove the Mouri from the planet Time, effectively de-anchoring the thread. They're method, strangely, is to try to destroy the entire universe using "the flux".

Village of the Angels features the first instance of Weeping Angels being shown to posses proper intelligence, as they ally themselves with Tecteun, presumably in exchange for something, and even more interestingly, they have a rogue member, suggesting power structures in their ranks. This isn't particularly Faction Paradox -related, but it feels like it is, and I hope Faction Paradox writers use Weeping Angel - analogues to continue to explore this.

Eve of the Daleks features the Doctor "resetting" the TARDIS, causing a localised time loop. However, perhaps more notably, the Daleks which appear in this episode are "Dalek Executioners", which make their debut in Time Lord Victorious.

The Power of the Doctor won't be mentioned here, perhaps I'll grant it a full post going over all of its batshit-insanity (affectionate?) some other time.

This post was made after I saw @familyparadox remark at the high amount of Faction/Thirteen content

[pers-books]

Paul McGann stars in the forthcoming full-cast audio drama box set, Deadly Strangers, which includes a story by the writer of his very first adventure, the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie.

The Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) and his companions Charley Pollard (India Fisher) and Lady Audacity Montague (Jaye Griffiths) have three brand-new audio adventures in store in The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Deadly Strangers, due for release in December 2024. 

The Doctor, Audacity and Charley visit many times and places, always with the best of intentions. But others have a different agenda.

An alien princess takes an interest in Puccini, a visitor to Iceland causes chaos, and a lethal interloper slips into the dreams of a sleeping population. Some strangers have deadly intent...

The first of the three stories, Puccini and the Doctor, is written by Matthew Jacobs, the screenwriter of 1996’s Doctor Who: The Movie. Jacobs was the first person to write for Paul McGann’s Doctor and this audio drama marks his first time penning any Doctor Who media since then.

In Jacobs' story, the TARDIS arrives in Milan at the turn of the twentieth century, where the time travellers encounter legendary opera composer, Giacomo Puccini (voiced by Tim McInnerny, known for Blackadder, Game of Thrones, and Doctor Who: Planet of the Ood). But the Doctor’s not the only alien around with an interest in the music of love. 

Doctor Who – The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Deadly Strangers is now available to pre-order as a collector’s edition 3-disc CD box set (+ download for just £22.99) or as a digital download only (for just £18.99), exclusively here.

The three new adventures for the Eighth Doctor and his companions are:

Puccini and the Doctor by Matthew Jacobs Women’s Day Off by Lisa McMullin The Gloaming by Lauren Mooney & Stewart Pringle

Producer David Richardson said: “How brilliant to have Matthew Jacobs return to the series to write Puccini and the Doctor – a man so dedicated that he woke up at 4am in Los Angeles to listen in to our studio recordings! He’s given us a lovely and imaginative tale, which feels very much in the spirit of the Eighth Doctor TV movie.”

Matthew Jacobs said: “This is the first time I've written a Doctor Who adventure since 1996. The Doctor is such an integral part of my life, so it's been fascinating over the years to see it grow and grow. Paul has kept the Doctor alive at Big Finish in a marvellous way and he has become so much more sophisticated as a character than when we were starting.   “I was over the moon when script editor Matt Fitton asked me to put together a story. We discussed that this version of Paul's Doctor is a bit closer to the TV movie Doctor – inquisitive, not as embittered as he gets through the Time War.   “The idea that stuck out was one where I got to deal with some unfinished business from the TV movie. In the movie, the Doctor says how sad it was that Puccini never got to finish Turandot, and it was the bane of his life towards the end. I wanted to tell a story to do with the nature of how we use music and how we search for love.”

Big Finish listeners can save money by pre-ordering Deadly Strangers in a multi-buy bundle with the previous Eighth Doctor Adventures box set, Echoes, for just £44 (collector’s edition CD + download) or £36 (download only) exclusively here.

All the above prices include the special pre-order discount and are subject to change after general release.

[tindogpodcast]

TDP 1271: Doctor Who: The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Echoes #Doctorwho #PODCAST

https://bbvproductions.co.uk/products/Faction-Paradox-The-Confession-of-Brother-Signet-AUDIO-DOWNLOAD-p389922366

As the Doctor, Liv and Helen explore the universe, they come across lost souls, troubled minds and long-kept secrets. From a lonely world with birdsong but no birds, to an English university whose undergraduates tell ghostly tales, and a distant galaxy where a utopian society lives in the shadow of enormous creatures, the TARDIS crew are haunted by echoes of past, present and future...

Birdsong by Tim Foley The TARDIS arrives on an empty world where two scouts await the rest of their colony. Except this world may not be as empty as everybody thinks. There's a figure in the woods - and a strangely familiar sound...

As the Doctor and his friends learn more about the planet's inhabitants, the birdsong they hear becomes a deadly chorus.

Lost Hearts by Lauren Mooney and Stewart Pringle Michaelmas term, 1903. In one of England's ancient universities, strange apparitions float between quads and cloisters.

While Liv and Helen protect a naive undergraduate from a sinister society, the Doctor finds a ghost-hunting ally. One who happens to be the era's foremost chronicler of things that go bump in the night...

Slow Beasts by Dan Rebellato The Doctor takes Liv and Helen to see one of the Wonders of the Outer Galaxy - to Ran-Zoan, where immense alien figures loom over the plains and settlements of the Renn.

But the Slow Beasts hide a secret - a secret that, once unleashed, spells doom for this entire world.

A new Tin Dog Podcast

[fangirlinsweden]

Just One Kiss Part 1

Part 1: I Can’t Say No To You

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Warning: Swearing, Mention of Child Abuse, mention of death, accidents, and blood

Word Count: About 3 800 words

Summary: You have been suspended from work and do not know what to do with yourself. Then in just a matter of hours, you find yourself on a plane to Montana to stay with people you have never met before. And as if that is not enough one of the men you are supposed to get to know is handsome enough to make your knees shake.

A/N: I do not know anything about the professions that are detailed in this story. I have googled most things I did not know and therefore there can be some inconsistency.

English is not my first language, so there will be mistakes.

And a big thank you to the amazing @dreamcatchernightsky not only for being a great support and helping me stay motivated. but also for making the amazing dividers for this story!! You are the best!

I also want to give a big thanks to @banditthewriter @kaunis-sielu and @maw000 for their support!

And lastly a big thank you to the incredible Cat for being my beta reader!

The words "You are suspended” echoed in your head as you were walking out of the hospital. Your workplace. Brock’s face, when he had told you, had been smug and you wished you could have beaten that look off his face, but you were already in a whole lot of trouble. How were you supposed to know that the man, Alexander Pierce, you had tried to get arrested for abusing his son was some high and mighty person on the hospital’s board. Not that that would have made any difference - you still would have reported him. But now you stood here suspended without pay. For a month. Even though you knew you eventually would be fired. It was just a matter of time. You already knew that nobody would stand up for a nurse. If it had been a doctor, then maybe, but not a nurse. Many did not think nurses were worth anything and that made you angry. Nurses were the backbone of hospitals. Sure, doctors were needed, but nurses were also needed, even though many people did not believe so. Let’s just hope that the kid got the help he needed and could get away from his father. Another thing that annoyed you was that Brock was getting his way. He had wanted you fired since the moment you had turned down his advances on you. Or no, not the first seven times, but the eighth time when you had threatened to go HR and report him, after that he had wanted you gone. But there was no way you would date a sleazy doctor who made belittling comments on people's bodies as well as sexist jokes. What were you supposed to do now? You looked around. Going back to an empty apartment did not appeal to you so you took out your phone and called your best friend. Natasha, or Nat as all her friends called her, answered on the first ring. “Hiding in one of the patient rooms again?” she asked instead of a greeting. You sighed and before you could answer she asked you what was wrong. “Can I come to your work?” You shifted in place. “Yes, come on over,” Nat answered. “I will be there in twenty minutes,” you said, and you hung up. It was now far too Nats office so you decided to walk. To clear your head and hopefully be able to talk about what had happened without getting angrier or without crying. Because crying was what you were feeling to do right now. What were you going to do?

Twenty minutes later you walked into the lobby of the building where Nat worked. The security guard Stan winked at you and you walked to the elevator. You could hear some guy complaining that you could go on without checking in. It made you chuckle. Stan had a soft spot for you. He said you reminded him of his late wife and on slow days he told you stories about their adventurous life together. It usually made you wish for that kind of love and connection. When you arrived on the right floor you stepped out of the elevator and nodded at Rebecca, the receptionist. She smiled and told you to just walk on through. Nat’s office door was open and you saw that she was sitting behind her desk looking at something on her computer. You knocked on the doorframe and she smiled at you. You walked in, closed the door, and took a seat in one of the soft chairs opposite Nat. “Tell me what is wrong,” Nat tilted her head. She always got straight to the point. You took a deep breath and it all came spilling out. About Alexander Pierce’s son’s injuries and how you called the cops. Brock’s suspending you and stating that you had gone against hospital protocols since you only were a nurse and not a doctor. Nat sat there quiet just listening and nodding. When you were finished there was a knock on Nat’s office door. Nat’s assistant Zack opened the door and comes in with two coffees and a box of pastries that he placed on Nat’s desk. “Thank you, Zack,” both of you said and each took a coffee. He just nodded and left the room. “Your assistant is always so quiet.” You turned to Nat and took a sip of the coffee. “I know,” Nat smiled. “He is godsent.” You laughed at this. “But back to the issue at hand.” Nat took out a pen and paper. “What are you going to do about your job?” You opened the box of pastries to give yourself a moment. “Y/N,” Nat knew you too well to be fooled. “I don’t know,” you muttered and took out a chocolate eclair. Zack always knew your coffee order and always brought the best pastries. “You could take legal actions against the hospital,” Nat offered. You tilt your head. “I don’t know,” you admitted. “If they fire me, then I might want to do that, but right now… I just don’t have it in me to fight.” Nat nodded but you could see that she was holding something back. “I know you don’t agree with me,” you started to say but Nat holds a hand in the air. “You don’t have to say it,” Nat smiled at you. “But if you want to take legal actions, know that the firm would be happy to take your case.” “What?” You sank a bit down in your chair. “If I talked with my boss, he would say that we will take it on. If that is what you want.” Nat walked around the desk and put a hand on your shoulder. “You are not alone in this. You have me as well as Matt and Foggy on your side. We would take this lawsuit and win it.” “Thank you. I really appreciate it.” You placed your hand on top of Nat’s and squeezed lightly. Nat’s phone rang and she answered after you nodded your okay. “Hey, Steve,” she answered. You looked at her and saw how her shoulders tensed up and then she sighed. “I get that he messed up Steve, but he is just a kid.” Nat walked to the window. She had said Steve, which you knew meant that she probably was talking to her stepbrother or more like ex-stepbrother Steve. Or could a stepbrother, be an ex-brother, or were you stuck with each other for life? Nat sometimes spent the holidays with him, so maybe you should just say brother? Nat was quiet for a while, listening to what was said on the other end. “Of course, he should be punished, but I think that might be a bit too much.” Nat sigh and turned around to her desk again. She pulled out her calendar from some papers. “When is it?” Nat wondered, flipped through some pages of her calendar, and then she hummed. “Yes, we will talk more about this later. I can’t come until at least five days, maybe a week. But I am coming.” Nat nodded at something that was said. “Yes, I want to help. We will figure this out. Bye.” Nat hung up and turned to you. “Was that your step-brother Steve?” You wondered

when you saw the face Nat made at her phone. She nodded and sat down with a sigh. “Problems?” “It’s my other step-brother Peter. He has messed up again,” Nat ran a hand through her hair. “For like the hundredth time this year. It’s a whole mess.” “What did he do?” you asked and Nat sat down with a sigh. “A while back Peter created this website for the ranch, it was something that Steve and he had decided together. But what Peter failed to talk to Steve about was that he also made living on a ranch package available for people to book.” “What? Like, see how it works on a ranch kind of thing?” You tilt your head to the side. “More like try being a cowboy, get to go on a cattle drive, and so on.” Nat typed in something on her computer and turned the screen around. The site was expertly done and the pictures were breathtaking. And not even close to what you were used to. Being born and raised in New York City you had never been out of state and Montana had always been a place you wanted to visit. If it looked anything like the pictures showed, well then it just got knocked up even more on your list of places to travel to. What you missed when you looked at the pictures was Nat’s calculating face. If you had seen that you would have known that you were in for trouble or something that you could not talk yourself out of. “What are you going to do during your suspension?” Nat wondered and it brought you back to the present. You sighed and started playing with your bracelet. “Go to the store and stock up on chocolate and wine. Then lay in bed and watch as many Disney movies that I can,” you almost whispered out, feeling a bit ashamed over your lack of motivation. “And I guess I have a month to find a new job. I just know that Brock will have me fired.” “Why did you never file a complaint against him?” Nat wondered. You sighed again. “He is connected at the hospital and I just never wanted to take the fight or get fired,” you admitted. “But now I have a month to come up with all the ways I will tell him to go to hell when I get fired." “Do you know what you need?” Nat wondered and you shooke your head. “You need tacos and margaritas,” Nat said firmly. You knew that there was no point in arguing so you agreed. “I have a meeting in 10 minutes, but that won’t take a long time,” Nat looked at her calendar. “Meet me at the restaurant in two hours?” You agreed and left her office.

Two hours later you walked into the restaurant. All the staff knew you since this was Nat's and your place, and since you usually stopped by at least once a week for margarita night. Since Nat was not there yet you ordered margaritas for the two of you before you took out your phone to start looking for a new job. After five minutes Nat sat down in front of you and you put your phone away. “What were you looking at?” Nat wondered instead of saying hey. “I was looking for work,” you admit and take a big sip from your margarita. Nat frowned at you and you shook your head. “You know I will probably be fired by the end of this month,” you defended yourself. “And I need a job.” “I think you need a break. So why not take a vacation instead?” Nat sipped on her margarita. “Nat, I am suspended,” you groaned. “I do not have the money to go on a vacation right now.” “What if I pay for it?” Nat smiled and you started to get a sickly feeling in your stomach. “Nat, you can’t pay for my vacation,” you shifted in your seat. “And besides where would I go? Bahamas, Spain, or Italy? No, thanks.” “No, you would stay in the States,” Nat smirked. You tilted your head and just looked at Nat. “And you would be doing me a huge favor.” Nat continued. “Plus there would be a distraction for you as well.” “Doing you a favor and a distraction,” you narrowed your eyes. “What are you talking about?” “I need someone I trust to go to Montana and make sure that Steve and Peter don’t kill each other.” “It can’t be that bad?” you said. “You have no idea,” Nat almost growled. “On the way here I took a call from Steve, then from Peter, and then another from Steve.” Nat took another sip. “Apparently Peter has already taken bookings for the cattle drive as well as the money. 550 dollars per person and 10 people.” “Can’t they just pay the money back to the people who booked it?” You tried to see the problem. “No, Peter took the money and day-traded it,” Nat looked upset. “He is crazy. He lost it, didn’t he?” you said and Nat nodded. “So why doesn’t Steve pay the tourists and help him out of this?” you said and Nat took another sip. “Well, let’s say this is not the only time that Peter has messed things up. It is kind of his thing,” Nat sighed and rubbed her forehead. “Peter is seventeen and thinks everything will magically work out for him. This time he put the money on some company that went bankrupt and now he thinks Steve will just pay as he has done before, and as I have done before. But this time Steve wants Peter to learn his lesson and I agree.” “So you are saying Peter sold a fake cattle drive to tourists and people actually paid?” you wondered. Nat and you looked at each other for a while and Nat's eyes started to cross. At the same time, both of you lost it, which made the staff look over at your table and shake their heads; they were used to your antics. “Where did he get the idea? And who wants a working vacation? Vacations are for resting.” you started laughing again. Nat stopped after a short while. “This is not funny,” Nat said. You continued laughing and Nat laughed some more. “Okay so it is kind of funny, but it is also so wrong. Peter can get in a whole lot of trouble,” Nat tried to keep her game face. “Steve is really mad and Peter is upset and thinks he will get away with it.” “But you have to admit,” you giggled into your hand. “This will be so funny in a couple of years.” “Yeah, I admit. But I don’t think Steve ever will,” Nat said and then the waiter came to your table so you ordered. “I am actually surprised that Steve wanted my opinion on how to handle the situation,” Nat said when the waiter left. “We talked for almost an hour contemplating what to do with Peter. We talked about everything, from military school to actually calling the police.” “What did you settle on?” you wondered. “Something I never thought that Steve would do,” Nat smiled. “On Monday in two weeks morning 10 people are going to arrive at the Rogers Ranch and Steve is going to take them on the cattle drive. Steve is not happy about it. Cattle-drives are what Steve

calls getting back to his roots. He does not do it as most other ranchers do nowadays, with trucks. He does it as they did back in the day on horseback, with a couple of the men working on the ranch, and moves the steers to the pasture. He also takes the less chatty men from the ranch on these things, I don’t think he has ever taken Peter with him and now he needs to bring tourists with him. There will be people who might never have ridden a horse. I believe Steve would rather walk through town naked than do this. But he said that he was going to make Peter go along and do all the crappy jobs and hoping that will teach him a lesson.” “I take it Peter called you to get him out of this mess.” “Yes, but that did not work this time,” Nat said. “But I had to make a compromise with Steve and agree to come along on this cattle drive. Which actually made Steve happy.” “Why?” you knew you were probably putting your nose where it did not belong, but you were curious. “Because I always helped Peter, even when Steve asked me not to,” Nat said as you got your food. “But this time I am on Steve’s side. Peter is almost an adult, he can’t keep messing up like this. We can’t keep bailing him out forever and he needs to own up to what he has done.” “I still don’t know what you want me to do?” you said after eating in silence for a while and Nat gave you a smile. “I need someone to run interference with Steve and Peter until I can go to Montana in a few days, well Monday next week at the most. Someone who can help organize things, since Steve already has his hands full with the ranch and Peter is not to be trusted.” “So basically a babysitter for your step-brother?” you asked. “Yes, and you get a vacation,” Nat said. When she saw your hesitation she continued. “You love animals. You said just a week ago that you missed riding, I promise you will get a lot of riding in on the cattle drive. And Steve is really handsome, as long as he keeps his mouth closed.” “A cattle drive, Nat? That is not really what I had in mind when I said I missed riding.” You knew she would convince you, but at the same time, you needed to make a bit of resistance. For your own sake. You were not a doormat. “Come on, Y/N,” Nat pleaded. “You've been working too much the last year, never taking the time off for anything. And you always loved the outdoors. You can use my frequent-flier miles.” “The outdoors I am used to is a lot different from Montana,” you tried again and Nat looked at you. “Okay,” you said and Nat pumped her fist in the air. You both knew you would cave. “You will have a great time, and Steve is not the only handsome man on the ranch, plus I hear that Steve’s old friend Sam is back in town. He is also very good-looking and a doctor.” “I am done with doctors. And you have always said that you are no match-maker.” You narrowed your eyes on Nat. “What are you trying to do?” Nat just smiled and changed the subject. “I have a flight booked for you tomorrow. Steve will meet you at the airport and drive you to the ranch. Then I will come on as soon as I can,” Nat said and you shook your head. “I just agreed to this,” you groan and Nat winked. “I always knew you would cave,” Nat smiled and continued to eat. You decided to do some last-minute shopping to get yourself some boots for the cattle drive, and that Nat would go with you home to pack. That meant just one margarita.

Back at your shared apartment, you pulled out your suitcase and Nat sat down on your bed. “You will need durable clothes,” Nat said as you put the suitcase beside her on your bed. “I know you don’t have any flannel shirts, but I have some on the ranch that will probably work for you. Steve will let you have your own room, but then we might have to share.” You just shrugged. You lived together now, so sharing a room would not be a problem. “Can you tell me more about how Steve and Peter and you are family?” you asked. “I know some, but I also know I am missing things.” “You know that Steve and Peter are not my brothers by blood,” Nat states, and you nod. “Well, Peter is kind of a late child to Joseph and Sarah Rogers, Steve’s parents. Sarah died just hours after Peter was born, complications by birth. It devastated Joe and the town kind of gathered to help him raise his boys. Steve was only thirteen, but from what I heard he grew up fast. Five years later Joe went on his first vacation. He went with a couple of friends and he met my mother. They fell in love fast and got married within a month. So we moved to the ranch. I was fourteen and suddenly had two brothers. Steve was eighteen years living at the ranch working hard but heading to university to study. The plan was all along that he would take over the ranch after his father. But no one knew that it would happen so fast. Four years later my mother and Joe died in a car crash. I was at university and Steve was twenty-two years old and fresh out of university had to take over the ranch. Not only that he fought to keep custody over Peter. They had no family left, just the two of them. Or at least no close family, maybe some distant cousins somewhere. Steve had to take over the part as a father as well as keep the ranch going. Peter was just nine and already a handful.” “Wow,” was all you could get out. You knew that Nat’s mother had died in a car crash and that she had no other family, but that was unimaginable. “I have no words to express how sorry I am for your loss.” “I have Peter and Steve,” was all Nat said and she gave you a small smile, then she quickly changed the subject. But did she really? She spends some time with them in Montana every year, and you knew she kept in contact with Peter. With Steve, not so much? One call a month to Steve for as long as you have known her. Sure it was something, but you always thought there could be more than that. You continued to pack and talk about other things, like the number of cattle there were on the ranch and Peter’s different mischiefs through the year. It made Nat laugh and it was nice to hear and see. Your childhood had not been the best, but you never lost your parents at such a young age.

The next morning you were boarding the plane and wondering how this happened. Less than 24 hours ago you were suspended. Now you were boarding a plane to go to Montana and going to keep the peace between a man and a teenage boy, both people you had never met before in your life. It felt surreal. Like something from a movie or a book. Plus you had a four-hour plane ride to obsess over details like. What if Steve were not there to pick you up? And how would you recognize him? You should have asked Nat to see a newer picture of both Steve and Peter. The ones you had in your shared apartment were older. As well as get an address for the ranch or get to know what town was closest to the ranch. All you knew now was that there was about a three-hour drive from the airport to the ranch.

Everything tag list:

@buckysmischief

@allaboutthebooz

@dreamcatchernightsky

[illusion100]

I just listened to The Natural History of Fear, it was great and i understood nothing

I kinda started out thinking "ooh, someone has recently read 1984", but no. The concept is really interesting. It's also one of those stories (like Scherzo) that shine in the audio format. Btw sound design and editing are phenomenal too.

DOCTOR: When a humming top is at the acme of its gyration, it becomes so steady and quiet that it doesn't seem to move. In this state, it is said to sleep.

Basically, the doctor and companions aren't really in the story. It's kind of just the echoes of their memories (that certain characters in this totalitarian state adopt as their own) that drive the story and lead to a revolution. It works so well because they reuse actors. The listener has already attached attributes to these voices. (For example, the editor gains instant sympathy just by McGann voicing him.)

⠀

Here are some things I thought were neat.

1.) Light City (as a totalitarian state)

Justification: "your state loves you", "anything for the common good", "real love, real loyalty", "better for both of us", " Happiness through acceptance. Productivity through happiness.", "What's good for the Conscience is good for the State. What's good for the State is good for me.", "I did it for love."

Spinning Top Metaphor: totalitarian society is held in an equilibrium ("it becomes so steady and quiet that it doesn't seem to move"). The only way this can be maintained is by preventing new ideas, by preventing questions. Also, Peoples daily lives loop (go round in circles).

"cover the face", dehumanizing people makes it easier to manipulate while keeping a clean conscience

⠀

2.) Parallels Trauma & Repressing Memories (Editor/Doctor)

Spinning Top: remain in a "sleeping" state, repress questions that could bring up trauma, a barrier

EDITOR: And the sound of a child's toy, a humming top.

CONSCIENCE: A trigger.

EDITOR: Good. A hypnotic, I agree. And the sounds of building.

CONSCIENCE: Symbolic, of course. A barrier, something to protect the deeper levels.

government forces parallel states of the mind: Conscience, Sub-conscience

DJ: As you are happy?

EDITOR: Do not question me. Questions lead to unhappiness.

Conscience (plans to incite revolution using the Eighth Doctor's memory) and Sub-conscience (follows rules of leaders: censor, editor) are working against each other

NURSE: There's something you've forgotten.

EDITOR: What?

NURSE: Something you need to know.

EDITOR: You, you can't.

NURSE: Shall I tell you what it is?

EDITOR: No. No, you may not tell me anything. I am the Editor. I tell you. Do you hear me? I tell you.

NURSE: I think I will tell you. You'll thank me. It's very important.

EDITOR: No. No, no, no, no.

⠀

NURSE: Look straight ahead. Tell me what you see there.

EDITOR: A figure. A child. Is it me? Or is it you pretending to be me?

NURSE: Yes, and behind you?

EDITOR: An old man.

NURSE: What have you forgotten?

EDITOR: I don't

NURSE: What have you forgotten? Tell me.

EDITOR: I don't know. I don't know. I've forgotten who I am.

3.) Critic of Religion, Doctor Who, and the Media??

The doctor kinda becomes an accidental messiah to this society. His extracted memories are broadcasted, almost used as gospel. But they are warped to fit the narrative, not exactly the same as his memories.

NURSE: The hero, the Doctor, arrived in Light City. Everyone was happy.

The Conscience criticizes the people for following him blindly.

CONSCIENCE: The hero was real. His name was the Doctor. But long ago he fell to the shadows. They took him, rewrote him, gave him back to us as a fiction they knew we would idolise. And us? We follow our hero blindly, day after day, story after story, along a road we once would have burned. And we think we are happy.

The adventures of the Doctor turned into "infotainment" programs (which is to say, Doctor Who itself) can be easily arranged into propaganda tools of the state. Have we in our own watching, listening and reading of Doctor Who, been victims of this kind of manipulation? But we also learn that Doctor Who is the carrier of the ideas of the Doctor (freedom, inquiry, and creativity) which cannot be entirely eradicated.

⠀

4.) Does End Justify the Means?

⠀

EDITOR: Look at them. They're mad. They'll kill us.

CENSOR 2: No birth comes without pain.

EDITOR: Look at our time. I don't even know if I was right or wrong.

EDITOR: A fate I have brought upon the world I love. What have I done? What have I done?

QUOTES

"Memory is such an unpredictable process. Neurons, proteins, the chemical tides that govern our lives." ~ poetry McGann is back babii, also idea of person = sum of their memories -> (against this because:) editor is not doctor although he has all his memories

"A single image fighting through the chaos of misfiring neurons. Overwhelming, ambiguous." ~ poetry McGann is having the time of his life

"Everything we could be and everything we mustn't be all mixed up together in the same.. ahhh, at the same... a rainbow. *happiest voice ever & smol giggle* I saw a rainbow." ~ poetry McGann must be protected

"Of course there are lost episodes commissioned, but not made. Made but misfield post-broadcast. Shear incompetence." ~ I see what you did there Big Fish and I like it

[madamewriterofwrongs]

62 of the sensory prompts!

I hope you enjoy <3

Sensory Prompts

62. Fingertips smudged in blue ink

Bear my Signature

2008

His hands were steady as he bent over the recruitment table, sure in the path he was setting himself on. This was his decision, not his father’s. Shannon was proud of him; his parents were proud of him – he was proud of himself. Nothing could make him change his mind.

Then why did he hesitate over the final signature?

One last scrawl of his name and he would be a new Sixty-eight Whiskey recruit with the United States Armed Forces, with a career and a future serving his country and doing something of use – for once.

He couldn’t keep working for his father, long hours of travel, barked orders, and n real choice. Working with his hands was one thing, but this would be so much more.

He was going to make something of himself.

All he had to do was sign on the bottom line and his life would change forever. He thought of Shannon. They hadn’t been together long enough to know what time and distance would do to them, but he loved her; and she loved him. That would be enough.

He could do this.

He would do this.

He had to do this.

Eddie’s hands shook as his pen danced over his last key to freedom.

2010

He had been staring at the page for hours. It was a good program – it should be for the amount of money his parents were paying (he could hear his mother’s voice echoing in his ears). He wanted to be here. Sure, he wasn’t overly enthusiastic about his field of study but it would open up a lot of doors if he could be at least a B student.

He wouldn’t have to live at home any more, that was a definite plus. There was a great love he had for his parents when he didn’t have to see them every day.

Distance makes the heart grow fonder.

Or forgetful.

Either way, this college would be the perfect opportunity to go out on his own and make something of himself. So what, if it was only a few hours away from home and his parents were paying for everything? He was still an independent person of independent means; he would finally have something to contribute. He’d be doing something of use – for once.

So what, if he hated the program? So what, if he was still staring at that map of the known world he got on his seventh grade trip to the museum?

This would be how he would make his mark on the world; it was his only option.

Buck placed his signature on the final page and handed the pile of forms back to the registration office.

2010

Eddie had never felt so panicked in his entire life (apart from the time two months ago when he’d called his girlfriend in the middle of the night and asked her to marry him when he was in town on leave). That had been a different kind of panic.

The panic brought on from calling his parents the day before and telling them that Shannon was pregnant and he had no idea what to do. After a lot of cursing and a lot of lecturing, they told him that there was only one option available to him: marry the girl.

They never liked Shannon. They tolerated her – were polite to her whenever Eddie brought her around – but the sneer in his mother’s voice when she told him what an idiotic mistake he’d made, reminded him that this would be the only way his parents approved of him marrying his high school sweetheart.

He’d always thought he’d get around to marrying her eventually. Sure, they’d only dated for a few months in her last year of high school but that still counted as a teenage romance where he was from. It was romantic right?

And then she’d told him she was pregnant, and then he’d panicked and begged her to marry him.

And now they were walking down the aisle in front of their friends and family (who were available to fly out at a moment’s notice), saying their vows like they actually meant them.

To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, till death do us part.

Eddie smudged the ink of his signature as he marked the marriage certificate, a reminder of the familiar yet uncharted path his life was currently on.

2011

Eddie never believed in love at first sight, but holding that little boy in his arms changed everything. Christopher Ramon Diaz, born 4lbs, 9oz. The doctors assured them that he was a little small but perfectly healthy and safe. That was all he needed to hear.

He hadn’t stopped smiling since they brought Shannon and Christopher to their room so mom and the baby could rest.

Mom.

Shannon was a mother now. The mother of his child.

He was a father. How the hell was he going to be a dad when his own had kept him at a distance his entire life? Not that he blamed him – he was providing for his family – that’s what you do. That’s why he was serving out the rest of his tour and coming straight home to look for a job.

He hated that he wouldn’t get to spend more than a week with his wife (the mother of his child) and newborn son, but that was the deal he made:

Put food on the table, keep a roof over their heads, and you will be a family forever.

At least he was around long enough to sign his name on the dotted line, declaring this little boy his for anyone to see. Christopher looked so much like his mother, he prayed he wouldn’t stay away long enough to become a stranger in his eyes. He wanted every moment he could get.

Eddie was going to be a good father; he would fight for them, and when he came back, he would work a million jobs so he could keep their deal. So long as the two of them were happy, nothing else mattered.

2014

Buck was floating, restless, in a sea of uncertainty. To be specific, he was floating in Moloaʻa Bay, just north of Kauaʻi, watching a group of men performing professional grade dives further out. They worked in sync but came up splashing and laughing, hearty laughs of grown men (not boys who had no idea what they were doing with their lives).

He’d spoken to them the night before when they stumbled into the bar he’d found himself sitting at most nights, striking up a conversation about how they all ended up on this island paradise.

He vaguely remembered coming up with some story about following a girl here only to have her ditch him for another man. It sounded better than telling them, he’d shown up at the airport in Seattle and asked for the cheapest, earliest flight and somehow ended up here.

Their story had been much more interesting anyways. Naval SEALS, honorable and strong. They were attending a conference by day (who got to go to a conference in Kauaʻi?) but the nights were all for them.

Buck blushed, remembering how bright the youngest one, Jacob, had smiled at him over their fifth shot of rum – or was it their eighth? Either way, they’d woken up tangled in each other’s arms somewhere around 6am, when Jake kicked him out so he could get ready for his meeting.

Now, he watched them all, wondering what it must be like to have that kind of comradery, that kind of purpose – that kind of freedom.

That night at the bar, Buck found Jake again and followed him back to his hotel room so he could register for their mailing list of interested applicants (he didn’t ask to stay).

The next time he was in Coronado, he’d have a new career opportunity and – hopefully – a new life.

2015

Eddie hated his signature. On a good day, it was a series of loops strung together with an E and D sloppily thrown in.

On a bad day, it was the end of a long series of papers that meant he was being discharged from the army with honors. For being brave, he wouldn’t have to fight anymore.

He didn’t feel brave. He certainly didn’t feel like he was done fighting.

And yet here he was, standing in front of a General he’d never met, having to hide the tremor in his hand as he struggled to sign off on his emancipation from the only real thing he’d ever known.

He had a wife and a son back home who didn’t know him any more – it wasn’t a stretch to say he no longer knew himself. But they needed him. They needed his money and his leadership and he didn’t have much of either. He had no way of knowing what he was coming home to (and didn’t that just sting?). Having no idea what was going on with his own family because he was gone for too long. What good was he to them now that he was back, though? He still had months of recovery ahead of him, and a few scars that opened up into a chasm of nightmares every night. All he wanted to do was take a deep breath a scream.

But he couldn’t do that.

He could salute with his good hand, and thank the man for the box that said he was a hero, and go back to his family.

And keep trying to hold it together.

2016

So being a SEAL hadn’t been the dream he imagined it to be. He still gained some valuable skills when it came to search and rescue, and combat. He also learned about the type of job he didn’t want to have.

He wanted the life they had on the brochure:

Help save lives.

Do some good.

Be a daredevil.

So they hadn’t said those exact words but that was the implication. It was implied that he’d get to be a badass rulebreaker with a heart of gold.

He shuffled out of the facility with a few new bruises and a new respect for being a decent human being for once.

Whether by coincidence of providence, he found himself wandering around the streets of Los Angeles nearly every night after he arrived, searching for some sort of sign that this was the place to be at this moment in time. If it wasn’t, he could always move on to the next place. But there was something about LA that felt right. Hot sun, hot people, lots of mischief and adventure.

A boy could become a man here.

He was stopped on the street as the fire station in front of him roared to life, and he watched through the window as men and women worked in tandem to load their gear and peel away from the hangar. 30 seconds of excitement suddenly left the building feeling empty enough for Buck to hear his own heart pick up.

Before he knew what he was doing, he walked up to the main door and rang the bell. A man in a uniformed t-shirt and pants answered, and invited him inside to tell him all about the exciting life as a Los Angeles Firefighter.

For the second time in his life, Buck left his name and number with a strange man, hoping this single interaction would change his life.

2017

Eddie took a deep breath; not screaming, this time, but exhaling the last of his nerves. This felt right. This was his decision, not his father’s – in fact, his father had no qualms about showing his disapproval at his decision.

But it felt right.

Being a firefighter was a lot like combat (with an eighth of the on-the-job stressors). But he still got to help people – he could use his skills he’d learned in the army to save lives at home the way he hoped he was doing overseas. And he could come home to his son every night.

He would have come home to Shannon, too, if he could get her on the phone for more than a few minutes at a time.

He hadn’t spoken with her in over a year, now. She’d stopped answering so he’d stopped calling and only part of his heart was broken for knowing that she’d run away, too.

Even if it was just him and Christopher for a little while, it would be still be a blessing to go save the world and be back in time for dinner (usually).

He was so tired lately. Working three jobs left him no energy to be with his son and even less desire to argue with his parents over how to best raise him.

Christopher needed stability, so he’d give it to him. He’d become a firefighter for whoever would take this mess of a human being, and build the life for his son that he deserved – a happy one.

Even if he wondered twelve times a day if a happy life was really a life with him. Maybe Christopher would be better off with his parents. He barely knew the little boy sleeping in his own bed and not a crib.

Isn’t that all the more reason to stay?

Before Eddie could second guess himself, he signed his name on the dotted line, and joined the row of recruits for the fire academy training.

2017

As far as first dates went, this one was strangely not the worst. That had involved jumping out the second story window of an apartment complex because her “technically still my boyfriend” was coming through the front door.

He’d twisted his ankle when his leg got caught on the fire escape and the police were called – though, thankfully, no charges were laid. Incredibly painful, and incredibly embarrassing.

Waking up in the hospital after his girlfriend had performed an emergency tracheotomy, was a very close second.

Unlike that awful first date, though. Abby was still at his side when he woke up. He hadn’t realized how long it had been since he’d had someone to wake up next to – even if it was groggily coming off anesthesia after surgery.

It was nice.

She was nice.

God, he liked her so much. Why couldn’t the universe let him have one good date? He hadn’t had that many to begin with, was it so much to ask that things go right?

Abby was nice and smart and beautiful and liked him.

And she stayed.

She was at work when he signed himself out of the hospital but Bobby had been there, too, to drive him home since his car was still at the restaurant. They even went out for breakfast. That was new as well. Someone who willingly spent time with him and offered him advice and cared whether Buck took that advice.

He’d be lying if he said it wasn’t a little addictive:

Having people in his life who stayed.

2018

Carla had to slap his hand during their tour of the school every time he tried to play with the lanyard around his neck. He managed to stop fidgeting after the first fifteen minutes, but the nerves never faded.

This was a huge risk. It was still early in the school year, but Christopher had just moved to LA. He had no friends, no social circle, no one outside of his family; and now Eddie wanted to move him to a highly specialized school.

What, just because it had small class sizes, and teachers who seemed to understand his son’s needs, and had incredible security measures, and was an opportunity for Christopher to get a better education than he had back in Texas, and it felt like a miracle that Carla convinced the school to see him on such short notice?

It was still an incredibly expensive miracle.

And there was the problem of getting a hold of Shannon. He’d told their lawyer when he was taking Christopher out of the state, and thankfully, her number hadn’t changed, but getting her to pick up the phone when he called his estranged wife had been an exercise in anxiety control.

If it meant that Christopher got the best care, nothing else mattered.

Even as his thought swam with a thousand unanswered questions (the loudest one being: what did that kiss in the parking lot mean for us?), Eddie’s hand was sure and still as he signed the registration form.

2019

Maddie was back in his life. He’d almost lost Maddie a few months after getting her back, but now that wouldn’t be a problem anymore. She was safe, and she was home with him; he had his big sister once again and that was all he needed.

It didn’t stop the nightmares from bolting him awake, reminding him that he could die tomorrow and then she’d be left alone. Or she could leave again and then he’d be alone.

He didn’t want that: he didn’t want to be alone again. He liked the people in his life. Maddie, Bobby, the 118, Eddie, Christopher; they were people he wanted to keep safe.

But the dangers he needed to protect them from weren’t always solved with a giant water hose or an axe. For everything else, he called a lawyer and got some advice.

Maddie had been very understanding when he told her about the will he planned to change so she’d receive a larger piece of his assets. She was his sister, he was always going to leave something to her, but now that she was back, he wanted to know that she’d be happy here without him in this place he’d convinced her to settle.

Eddie had been less understanding; grateful, yes, but speechless as to why Buck would want to leave his colleague so much (it was mostly for Christopher, he explained, so that he’d could have something for his future if he lost his best buddy). That had still led to a lot of protesting – eventually broken up by a confused by thankful Shannon – but nothing was compared to Bobby.

Bobby who teared up when Buck explained that he didn’t have a lot of things in this world, but if anything happened to him, he wanted Bobby to have something to remember him by.

That hadn’t been a lie, but maybe not a whole truth.

He wanted to know that the people he loved most were never left alone even after he left them.

Was that so much to ask for?

2019

Eddie hated funerals. He didn’t know a single person who enjoyed them; but he’d been to far too many in his short life to find any comfort in them.

They were burying his wife today.

She didn’t want to be his wife anymore but he hadn’t told anyone that. The shame that burned his throat when he thought of revealing that painful truth, was too sharp. He suffered in silence as he always had. It wasn’t just his own feelings he had to worry about; there was Christopher.

There was always Christopher – there would always be Christopher – he would never stop caring for his son as long as he lived (and probably long after as well). Because that’s what parents were supposed to do.

He found himself standing, poised with pen in hand over another piece of paper, frozen once again by his own indecision and fear.

What was he supposed to write in the book of her life? How was he meant to say goodbye to the only woman he’d ever loved? How could he close this chapter of his life with a flick of ink?

He couldn’t.

His eyes hooked onto his son’s back, sitting quietly beside his great grandmother, swinging his legs under the pews because he still wasn’t tall enough to touch the ground. He was so small; so young.

Christopher needed him to be strong; needed him to put it away so they could take care of each other.

Eddie signed the front page, and opened the book for the guests to sign.

2019

When Buck woke up in the hospital this time, he saw an angel, and for a moment he was terrified; but then everything was at peace.

The moments after he felt peace, however, were agonizing and terrifying. The moments before hadn’t been a picnic either, but at least his memories of laying underneath a ladder truck and being pulled to safety were still a little hazy. He remembered a warm hand in his and a few words of encouragement and a lot of screaming, but not much else.

Now that he was awake, fear was quickly becoming his only focus. The fear of not knowing whether the surgery had been successful – not knowing if he’d ever work again or if he’d have to start his life over. The fear of whether he would be the same man if he ever could go back to work. So much was uncertain, that he clung to the tiniest bit of hope: Ali, Maddie, and Carla. The women who would stay by his side no matter what.

It took him four days before he had the strength to walk to the end of the hall, and finally, the doctor was satisfied that the was safe to go home. He had never been happier being wheeled out to his sister’s car, than the day he got to sign himself out of the hospital, knowing that everything would be back to normal.

2019

Buck was man enough to admit that this punishment was nothing compared to what it could be. Three hours in the human resources office with Bobby, Chief Alonso and Alex, head of HR, signing his name to a million forms, could have been a lot worse.

Sure, his hand cramped about half an hour in, but it was worth it all if it meant he could finally go back to work.

It all seemed a little silly – not that he’d ever say that out loud. Buck had no intention of suing the city or the department (or Bobby) again. He’d meant what he said, though: he was a fighter. He’d fight for his job and his family however he could.

Sometimes he fought in really stupid ways that he didn’t realize were harmful until it was too late. But then he’d just have to fight to make up for those mistakes.

Buck was a fighter, plain and simple.

Tonight, he’d fight through hand cramps and eye fatigue. Tomorrow he’d fight for his friends’ trust.

And pray it was enough for them to let him come home.

2022

There was one recorded day of history in which Eddie Diaz felt happier than he did today: the day his son was born.

Nothing else compared to that day, vowing his fealty to Christopher and whatever he needed.

Today was a pretty good day, though.

He was dressed a lot nicer, that was for certain – not that he didn’t love the sea green scrubs, but a fitted suit was much more comfortable.  

The company was also pretty good.

Christopher stood beside him in the mirror, adjusting his tie for the tenth time (even though Abuela told him to stop playing with it). He understood that the boy was nervous so he only smiled down at him and his slightly crooked tie.

There was a knock at the door and Eddie hurried to answer it, knowing exactly who would be on the other side.

Buck hadn’t stopped smiling since he arrived at the rental hall, taking all of Maddie’s teasing as she helped him dress for his big day. Nothing could dampen his mood; not the caterers calling in with last minute substitutions, not baby Gloria throwing up on Chimney all night, not a small tear in his suit jacket that neither of them could fix.

None of it mattered as he knocked on the door of the side room they’d set up.

Technically, he wasn’t supposed to see the groom before the wedding – but technically they weren’t supposed to sleep together the night before either, so one more break in tradition wouldn’t be the end of the world. Since the day they moved in together, Buck had never willingly spent a night away from their bed. Even on the nights when they were irreconcilably fighting, they’d sleep on opposite sides of the bed.

He was not about to sleep without his fiancé on the last night he got to call him his fiancé.

Eddie and Buck walked down the hallway to greet the officiant, Maddie waiting for them with two pens in hand.

This was it; the last step before they officially tied the knot. Everything after this was just icing on the cake (which reminded Buck, he needed to tell Eddie about the catering mishap after everything was sorted because he was more likely to panic). This was the moment where they would sign their names and be legally bound in the eyes of the world, as two people who wanted to spent their lives together.

Eddie was careful with his penmanship. His hands didn’t shake much – absolutely confident in this choice – but he wanted it to be perfect. This would be the last time he would sign his name on a piece of paper like this (and he wouldn’t sign his name on a book for others to impart their memories of his dearly departed for a very long time); so he savored every little detail as he lent his name to another cause he believed in wholeheartedly.

Buck laughed when he messed up the B in “Buckley” after spending hours for weeks on end, practicing his “Diaz”s. It turned into a strange series of vertical loops that someone could use in context to describe as a B, so he wasn’t too worried. In fact, he had no worries at all. Now, he had a happy memory attached to signing away his life to a man he hoped to know better with every passing day.

[thesongandthesunset]

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Doctor Who (2005), Doctor Who Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: The Doctor/River Song, Eighth Doctor/River Song Characters: Eighth Doctor, River Song Additional Tags: these two need to have more adventures together so here I am Summary:

That wasn't supposed to happen. Not that she was against it, not at all. River just didn't expect this one in the middle of her dig. Sure, that face was surely a very refreshing view for the archaeologist, even more so because she was forced to work side by side with Lux in the last five weeks.

An unexpected encounter with a certain Doctor that River shouldn't have met leads to an alarming discovery. Surely everything is gonna be fine, right?

[ao3feed-riversong]

Who Killed Harmony Grace?

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2YoacbA

by RulerOfCats

Harmony is not only the self-proclaimed queen of New York, but she also is a dignified trouble maker. She rose to fame as a child star, falling from that grace as the child sweetheart of America and into someone who needs serious help to stay sober and out of the tabloids. This was just one of those days that would never end, living aimlessly and with little hope since she will inevitably die. His eyes were so old when he introduced himself to her and she couldn't resist the temptation of the escape and secrets he offered. She had none, all her secrets on display for the world to see since she was five. He opened her life to one on the run, all starting with a mysterious death loop.

Who wants to kill Harmony Grace?

She doesn't want to find out.

Words: 112, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Doctor Who (2005), Doctor Who, Doctor Who: Eighth Doctor Adventures - Various Authors

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/M

Characters: The Doctor (Doctor Who), Tenth Doctor, Eleventh Doctor, Donna Noble | The DoctorDonna, Donna Noble, Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, River Song, River Song (Data Ghost), Amy Pond (Doctor Who), Rory Williams, Clara Oswin Oswald, Echo Clara Oswin Oswald, Twelfth Doctor, The War Doctor (Doctor Who), Eighth Doctor

Relationships: Tenth Doctor/Original Female Character(s), Tenth Doctor/Original Character(s), The Doctor (Doctor Who) & Original Female Character(s), Eleventh Doctor/Original Female Character(s), The Doctor (Doctor Who)/Original Female Character(s), Eleventh Doctor/Original Character(s), Metacrisis Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler

Additional Tags: Romance, Friendship, Family, Drama, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2YoacbA

[riversofmars]

Wonderfully creepy story by Tim Foley, thoroughly enjoyed it!

[being-of-rain]

So on a whim (and in an ungodly short amount of time) I relistened to all of the Eighth Doctor Time War series, because I missed the companion, Bliss. I don't think she gets anywhere near as much focus and development as she deserves by the writers, and I'd probably find her pretty dull if she wasn't played by Rakhee Thakrar, who somehow makes her every line terribly engaging and full of life.

I decided to take notes on Bliss as I listened to her just so I could have a strong grasp of her if I write fic with her in future (I really want a whole series of adventures with her travelling with the Doctor and the Twelve). Then, when I started linking ideas in those notes, I turned them into paragraphs, and pretty soon I'd accidentally written a whole wiki entry about her character, with episodes cited as sources 😂 I thought I'd share it here, because what else am I going to do with it?

Spoilers for the Eighth Doctor Time War series under the cut.

Bliss is from the human colony world Derilobia, studying a post-graduate degree in applied quantum astro-tech at Lunar University. She's empathetic and loyal, cool in a crisis, a natural initiative-taker, optimistic, and very intelligent (many sources). She described herself as liking to deconstruct, analyse, solve, and find a practical use for things and people (In the Garden of Death). She grew up in a city she considered dull. She looked forward to leaving the planet and delighted when she managed it for university (Salvage, State of Bliss).

She is rarely naive, but she makes friends easily and places trust and faith in people even when she has no reason to, or has good reason not to, such as the Doctor (The Starship of Theseus), a Dalek (Echoes of War), the Twelve, the Ogron Doctor (Planet of the Ogrons), the Time Lords in general (In the Garden of Death), Tamasan (Fugitive in Time), and the Valeyard (The War Valeyard).

On the other hand, when circumstances call for it she's happy to go on the offensive with any gun that she can get her hands on, more so as time has gone on, and in the face of the Doctor's express disapproval (Companion Piece, The Starship of Theseus, Palindrome, Restoration of the Daleks). She even went behind the Doctor's back to attempt the premeditated murder of Davros (Palindrome). And when the Doctor used scare tactics against an opponent, she enthusiastically played along (The Famished Lands). All of these instances were tied to self-defence (against Daleks and Time Lords) and her desire to protect others from injustice. She hates sacrificing people (many) but very willingly shot and killed a good man when he asked her to in extreme enough circumstances- in this case when he had a chance of surviving the death and stopping the Time War from restarting (Palindrome).

She has more than once impulsively used dangerously powerful devices to try and achieve the impossible, against the Doctor's wishes, such as the Salvage Train's engine (Salvage) and Professor Deepa's quantum tech (State of Bliss). She questioned if the Doctor was tempted to do something similar with the omniscient power of the Ourashima. In that case, the Doctor had declined the offer on the grounds that everyone in the room had been or could become a warrior, a statement which included Bliss (Jonah).

Indeed, during missions Bliss earned respect from war-hardened military types such as Rasmus, Davros (Restoration of the Daleks), some small begrudging amount from Tamasan (Fugitive in Time), and even acknowledgement of her usefulness from Ollistra (Jonah). She hates the destruction and pain the Time Lords wrought due to their lack of compassion (many) and has more reason than most to hate them after they locked her up and threatened her as first impressions (Echoes of War, The Conscript) and destroyed her homeworld and original timeline (The Lords of Terror). But she was still happy to work with them for the greater good, even contacting them to update them on a mission without telling the Doctor (Restoration of the Daleks).

Her first encounter with the Doctor was a complicated event and often difficult for either of them to remember due to several factors: Professor Deepa retroactively altering Bliss' timeline, creating many parallel lives, to steer her towards the Doctor (State of Bliss, Companion Piece), Bliss meeting the Doctor in a particularly unstable part of the War that altered timelines around people (The Starship of Theseus), their first adventure being more or less erased by Quarren (a powerful Time Lord at the centre of the events) erasing himself (One Life), and Bliss' entire original timeline later being overwritten by another Time Lord (The Lords of Terror).

Bliss travelled with the Doctor for some time between losing her home planet (The Lords of Terror) and meeting the Twelve (Planet of the Ogrons): visiting an ocean planet (Dreadshade), meeting space explorer Hudson Sage (Vespertine), saving the people on the Salvage Train (Salvage), and learning enough about the Doctor's adventures to make jokes about his way of travelling (Salvage etc).

At first she travelled with the Doctor because she had no choice, due to her home planet Derilobia being destroyed. The Doctor told her that he thinks he'll be able to bring Derilobia and her timeline back, "not now, not with the Time War going on, but someday, somehow," and until then they'll "look after one another, away from the battlefields" (The Lords of Terror). Bliss adapted to the change and loss well, probably helped by the fact that the changing timelines made it hard for her to remember her past (Jonah, Salvage). She soon described the TARDIS as "my home, for now" (Salvage). Eventually she was pulled back into the War doing missions with and for the Time Lords (Planet of the Ogrons, Jonah). When the Doctor finally tried but failed to settle her and her planet's timelines, he reassured a Bliss in an existential crisis that he's seen her "do good" and "make a difference," and Bliss resolved that he should take her somewhere she can "help other people" (State of Bliss).

After the Time War seemingly ended, Bliss still travels with the Doctor for "ages" despite (or maybe because of) the fact he hadn't yet managed to restore her home planet (The War Valeyard). It's when the War restarted and they're drawn back in that she shows a slightly more practical and trigger-happy side that appealed to the Time Lords and Davros. She called the Doctor "the best friend I've ever had" (Dreadshade) but pushed him to go to the front lines of the Time War when he was hesitant to. When offered by Rasmus to "find a place" for her, Bliss responded "My place is with the Doctor- for now, anyway" (Restoration of the Daleks). But soon after she seemed to be erased completely from the timeline and the Doctor's memory (Meanwhile, Elsewhere, Vepertine, Previously, Next Time).

I'll also share my issues with how Bliss was handled: she works fine in Eight's Time War Volume One as the one-off companion she was originally intended to be. I'm glad they kept her on, but after that she really needed a strong character focus or story arc, and she didn't get it.

Volume Two and Volume Three each dedicate one episode to her backstory, but neither does it well. Volume Two's episode (The Lords of Terror) edits her in to story about the loss of a planet by making it her homeworld, but so badly that we don't really learn anything new about her and she doesn't seem to care about the fact that it's her homeworld getting destroyed in half the scenes. The episodes immediately afterward had her acting totally fine and not addressing the loss of her planet at all.

Volume Three's Bliss episode (State of Bliss) attempts to address her multiple timelines, but does so in a way that's confusing, badly explained, and again doesn't end up saying or provoking much about her as a character. Both of Bliss' backstory episodes end by proposing things to do with her character moving forward (grieving her home planet in the first, and helping others affected by the Time War as a form of coping in the second) but no other episodes really pick up those threads in an explicit or meaningful way.

Despite not dedicating an episode to her, I think Volume Four gives some of the most interesting characterisation and story arc for Bliss. Namely, she butts heads with the Doctor a lot more in their slight philosophical differences: they both want to help people affected by the Time War, but Bliss is more willing than the Doctor to go near battlegrounds, to use violence in her own and others' defence, and to work with the Time Lords. What could be a better story arc for a companion with Time War-era Eight than her friendship with him gradually fracturing as she gets irritate by his desire to not interfere with the War, even when he could help others. The fact that these ideas are only really hinted at makes me wonder if any of it was intentional arc-hooks, but the hints were spread throughout the set, so who knows.

Then Rakhee Thakrar got too busy to keep playing Bliss, and good for her. Big Finish should've given her meatier stuff while they had her. I honestly hoped that they'd write her off in Volume Five as having left the Doctor on bad terms to work with other Time Lords instead, for maximum drama, especially if they can get her back. But instead she was simply erased from the timeline, which honestly feels very disrespectful if they never bring her back, but it would be in-keeping with her usually treatment. It's a knife in the back that the companion after her, Alex and Cass, immediately have slightly more interesting dynamics and arcs.

[a-wartime-paradox]

The Eighth Doctor during the Time War in Heaven, a "grandfather paradox" of undone Moments

Okay so this is just a canon-weld in pure in-universe style, like a wiki article (because I really enjoy writing it like that much more than in the style of a historical article). The parts that are just completely made up are written in bold, but do remember that this is all, at least partially, speculation (although I'd love to convince many of this account)

The Eighth Doctor appears to end the War (NOVEL: The Ancestor Cell), in reality "falling out" of it (SHORT STORY: The Story So Far...), with the fallen Gallifrey's Matrix becomes trapped within his mind (NOVEL: *The Gallifrey Chronicles*). Eventually, he attempted to restore it at the end of the universe, thus creating the Imperial Throneworld (NOVEL: *Hope*) as some kind of temporal echo (read: similar description) of Gallifrey Eight (NOVEL: *The Taking of Planet 5*). Eventually, the Doctor, now calling himself the Emperor (NOVEL: *Father Time*), travelled back into the War to rule a decadent splinter of Faction Paradox, led by Mother Mathara, and called himself "Grandfather Paradox" - but not being the true Grandfather of House Paradox (REF: AHistory extract) - invading Gallifrey and apparently destroying it (NOVEL: *The Ancestor Cell* from Grandpa P.'s perspective) using the Moment (SHORT STORY: *Doctor Who and the Time War*) to apparently end the War. However, this instead "rewound time" so that the Eighth Doctor had never interacted with the future War, and in order to do this, the universe prevented him from ever returning to Sam Jones in the Greenpeace rally (NOVEL: *Vampire Science*), which started his intersection with the War (NOVEL: *Alien Bodies*), instead travelling Charley Pollard (AUDIO series: Main Range), Lucie Miller (AUDIO series: The Eighth Doctor Adventures - Series 1-4), Molly O'Sullivan and Liv Chenka (AUDIO boxset: *Dark Eyes 1-2*), before eventually (NOTE 1) using the Moment in an attempt to end the Time War by destroying Gallifrey (SHORT STORY: *Doctor Who and the Time War*), but instead rewinding time again to make it so that he never pressed the button (SHORT STORY: *Out of the Box*), which actualised in an extended history past his adventures with Molly O'Sullivan, including further adventures with Liv Chenka (AUDIO series: Dark Eyes 2-4) alongside new companion Helen Sinclair (AUDIO series: Doom Coalition - AUDIO boxset: Connections) and later dorning his final outfit, travelling with Josie Day (COMIC series: *Doctor Who: The Eighth Doctor*), dealing with the Kutturah Crisis (MULTIMEDIA: Time Lord Victorious), and finally aiding in the Time War with companion Bliss (AUDIO series: *The Eighth Doctor: Time War*), ultimately regenerating on Karn into the War Doctor (LIVE ACTION: *The Night of the Doctor*), who refused to use the Moment (LIVE ACTION: *The Day of the Doctor*), instead teaming up with all his incarnations, past and future, to extract Gallifrey into a "parallel pocket universe" (NOVEL: *The Day of the Doctor*), finally regenerating (NOVEL: The Day of the Doctor, SHORT STORY: Doctor Who and the Time War) into the Ninth Doctor LIVE ACTION: *Rose*).

NOTE 1 - the Doctor says he "has the right" (contra Genesis of the Daleks), and the Master is resurrected (referencing The Sound of Drums), also came out before 2013's The Night of the Doctor, although this is a weaker point because it could still the Ninth Doctor.

When I wrote this (7th of June 2023), I believed it. Since then, and before posting (9th), I now don't but shall share regardless because I enjoyed writing it, and someone may like it.

[the-desolated-quill]

A List Of The Eighth Doctor Big Finish Audio Dramas In Chronological Order (I Think)

If there are any Big Finish fans who can make sense of this chaos and think I might have missed something out, please feel free to add to this :)

Original Eighth Doctor Monthly Releases

Storm Warning

Sword Of Orion

The Stones Of Venice

Minuet In Hell

Invaders From Mars

The Chimes Of Midnight

Seasons Of Fear

Embrace The Darkness

The Time Of The Daleks

Neverland

Zagreus

Scherzo

The Creed Of The Kromon

The Natural History Of Fear

The Twilight Kingdom

Faith Stealer

The Last

Caerdroia

The Next Life

Terror Firma

Scaredy Cat

Other Lives

Time Works

Something Inside

Memory Lane

Absolution

The Girl Who Never Was

The Eighth Doctor Audio Adventures

Blood Of The Daleks Part 1

Blood Of The Daleks Part 2

Horror Of Glam Rock

Immortal Beloved

Phobos

No More Lies

Human Resources Part 1

Human Resources Part 2

Dead London

Max Warp

Brave New Town

The Skull Of Sobek

Grand Theft Cosmos

The Zygon Who Fell To Earth

Sisters Of The Flame

Vengeance Of Morbius

Orbis

Hothouse

The Beast Of Orlok

Wirrn Dawn

The Scapegoat

The Cannibalists

The Eight Truths

Worldwide Web

Death In Blackpool

An Earthly Child

Situation Vacant

Nevermore

The Book Of Kells

Delmos

The Resurrection of Mars

Relative Dimensions

Prisoner Of The Sun

Lucie Miller

To The Death

Dark Eyes Boxsets

Dark Eyes

The Great War

Fugitives

Tangled Web

X And The Daleks

Dark Eyes 2

The Traitor

The White Room

Time’s Horizon

Eyes Of The Master

Dark Eyes 3

The Death Of Hope

The Reviled

Masterplan

Rule Of The Eminence

Dark Eyes 4

A Life In The Day

The Monster Of Montmarte

Master of The Daleks

Eye Of Darkness

Doom Coalition Boxsets

Doom Coalition 1

The Eleven

The Red Lady

The Galileo Trap

The Satanic Mill

Doom Coalition 2

Beachhead

Scenes From Her Life

The Gift

The Sonomancer

Doom Coalition 3

Absent Friends

The Eighth Place

The Doomsday Chronometer

The Crucible Of Souls

Doom Coalition 4

Ship In A Bottle

Songs Of Love

The Side Of The Angels

Stop The Clock

Ravenous Boxsets

Ravenous 1

Their Finest Hour

How To Make A Killing In Time Travel

World Of Damnation

Sweet Salvation

Ravenous 2

Escape From Kaldor

Better Watch Out

Fairytale Of Salzburg

Seizure

Ravenous 3

Deeptime Frontier

Companion Piece

L.E.G.E.N.D

The Odds Against

Ravenous 4

Whisper

Planet Of Dust

Day Of The Master - Part One

Day Of The Master - Part Two

The Eighth Doctor: The Time War Boxsets

The Time War Series 1

The Starship Of Theseus

Echoes Of War

The Conscript

One Life

The Time War Series 2

The Lords Of Terror

Planet Of The Ogrons

In The Garden Of Death

Jonah

The Time War Series 3

State Of Bliss

The Famished Lands

Fugitive In Time

The War Valeyard

The Time War Series 4

Palindrome - Part One

Palindrome - Part Two

Dreadshade

Restoration Of The Daleks

[rassilon-imprimatur]

The Bidmead Masterplan, or...

... the Birdseed Marzipan

Blair Bidmead. Obverse author. Faction Paradox novelist. Iris scribe. Champion of Original Characters and headcanon. Hartnell lover. A Bludgeon to canon.  

These are his stories. 

Señor 105: By the Time I Get to Venus: Señor 105 (when merely Señor 93) and the time traveling DJ Theo Possible travel back to the Venus of three billion years ago, a few relative years before the date and events of Paul Leonard’s Venusian Lullaby. There, 93 and Possible learn the art of the Venusian and train under Venusian aikido masters, with Mondasian Cyber(wo)man Litany Chromehurst, and a young First Doctor. During the training, Theo Possible, holding contempt for the Doctor and his people (a race of “trans-temporal aggressors”), beats the Doctor in combat, and leaves him with a limb that would require the use of a cane for the remainder of the incarnation’s life. The Doctor leaves Venus with a Venusian training stave (which would become one of his primary and favorite walking sticks). 

(Due to translation technology, Señor 105 only knows the Doctor as “El Jefe,” and Litany’s homeworld as “El Mundo.” Despite Bidmead’s use of the the title of the satirical deconstruction of the Doctor in the Iris Wildthyme story First Meetings, the “El Jefe” seen here is inarguably the Doctor proper.) 

“Significant Others,” A Target for Tommy: Prior to retiring from adventuring, Theo Possible begins to travel with Rose Tyler. Due to his trans-temporal nature, Possible is able to cross other dimensions and locked off timelines, and met Rose in Pete’s World. Feeling abandoned by the Tenth Doctor and now disgusted with the Metacrisis Doctor, Rose happily travels with Possible. The pair cross paths with the much older First Doctor in the Fourth Universe (on a planetary neighbor of Quinnis), realizing that their adventure was intertwined. While seemingly willing to let bygones be bygones, Theo is unable to get the Doctor to let go of old grudges, and the Time Lord totters off after telling Possible he “is not canonical!” 

Rose never learns the identity of the old man. 

“With All Awry,” Myth Makers: The Golden Years: After The Ancestor Cell, in an intermission before The Burning or a different temporal path entirely, the amnesic Eighth Doctor is given refuge from the universe in the Eleven Day Empire by the Faction. With his history damaged beyond repair, the Doctor is insubstantial and ghost-like, an echo. He shares his flat in the Empire with “Reg,” the equally insubstantial Ninth Doctor of Scream of the Shalka. The pair are looked after by Iris Wildthyme, at least at first. The few things that help the Eighth Doctor hold on to his existence are: a letter from Fitz Kreiner, explaining that the Faction are actually trying to help, and Fitz’s leather jacket, sent to the Doctor to ground him. 

However, a “large Northerner with close cropped hair” appears in the flat one day, using the Doctors’ remembrance tank bathtub to become real flesh and blood, seemingly with Iris’ help. The Eighth Doctor and “Reg” are evicted by the Faction, and before the ghostly pair can make it to the TARDIS, the “Northerner” steals Fitz’ leather jacket and the TARDIS. “Reg” abandons the Eighth Doctor and vanishes into the mists of the Empire. 

The final fate of this version of the Eighth Doctor is unknown. 

“Now or Thereabouts,” Faction Paradox: A Romance in Twelve Parts: After vanishing from the face of The Sarah Jane Adventures, Kelsey Hooper attempts to join Faction Paradox at eighteen years of age, wishing to gain the technology and means of destroying her ex-boyfriend Ryan (in truth a humanoid creature with a face of exploding glass). Now going by Ceol, she and a select group of young Siblings take part in Godfather Starch’s Apprentice-style media ritual. One of the many tasks Ceol is set to accomplish is to evict the Eighth Doctor and “Reg” from the Eleven Day Empire, and she witnesses the “Northerner” in the bath (as well as giving him a ride to the TARDIS). 

Ceol eventually becomes the victor of the media-ritual, gains a shadow weapon, and destroys Ryan. 

“Party Kill Accelerator!” The Panda Book of Horror: Calling herself Kelsey for simplicity, Cousin Ceol meets up with Theo Possible at the Zona Obscura Music Festival as part of a “cultural exchange.” She has an adventure with Iris Wildthyme and Panda after refusing to kill them at the request of the evil Jimmy the Mandrill. Before Kelsey departs, Theo Possible gives her his record box.

“Entirely Possible,” Webcomic: An unknown time between, before, after, or during all these stories, Theo Possible begins a new adventure. 

(This story is unfinished, but establishes that Possible’s primary time traveling is done on the Parallel Line, a literal railway through history and timelines (maintained and regulated by the Time Lords perhaps?). Theo’s compassion and pity for (what appear to be) survivors of the Anchoring of the Thread and time wars is made apparent.) 

“The Calamari-Men of Mare Cimmerium,” Iris Wildthyme of Mars- Iris Wildthyme and a Martian named Vardo discover Ares, the Greek god of war, drunk in a bar, locked away by Mars, the Roman god of war. The Roman god allied himself with the Calamari-men, whose Queen could produce an ink that could literally rewrite the pages of history. 

Faction Paradox: Weapons Grade Snake Oil: This story establishes the exsistence of Godfather Christèmas, the renegade Homeworlder the Hussar, brings the infamous Anne Bony into Faction lore, and gives us a wonderful new character in the form of the renegade timeship the Kraken. 

Several years after escaping the Faction, Cousin Ceol, now Sojourner Hooper-Agogô, led a rebellion against the company seen in The Sun Makers and became the president of PROTEC. The Faction drags her back into the mess (but certainly not without a fight). 

(This story established the concepts of “Oxbow Realities” (strongly implying NuWho is the end product of the Doctor’s protagonist syndrome) and “Elective Semantectomy.”)

“Grumpy Auld Men,” Battlefield by the Meadow: To the joy of absolutely nobody, Theo Possible and the Doctor cross paths again, the Doctor now in his twelfth incarnation. 

“Happily Ever After is a High-Risk Strategy,” Tales of the City: Now semi-retired from adventuring, Theo Possible goes to and fro through the universe lazily, and is capable of getting into the City of the Saved (despite not being human, and not being dead.) 

While in the City, Theo learns that Litany Chromehurst, the Mondasian Cyber(wo)man he trained with on Venus, was resurrected in the City. 

“A Hundred Words from a Civil War,” Faction Paradox: A Romance in Twelve Parts: Kelsey Hooper/Cousin Ceol/Sojourner Hooper-Agogô is resurrected in the City of the Saved with her cymbiont L-Event.