#President Romanadvoratrelundar

[lerios]

also wow Romana is COMICALLY corrupt lmao. like queen i love you but holy shit

"i dont have friends, just allies" yes bitch, because you keep elevating your only friends to political positions and destroying laws so that you can force your point on your pet causes 😭

2 episodes ago she was making dodgy backroom deals with known criminals because She Wanted To and anything is permissible to her if She Wants To. she knows Brax is committing 24/7 crime and its fine because her besties can do whatever they want. no shit she's a good candidate to become imperiatrix, she fundamentally sees no real issue with herself having ultimate power, that's practically what she's already doing lmao 🙃

like bestie WHAT is wrong with you. i went into this series expecting the main personal problem to be Narvin being a wet pathetic neurotic babyman but god Romana is a legitimate fucking car crash already (politically and otherwise)

[downtofragglerock]

Thinking about how kind of insane Romana's journey is

Ok so imagine that you're a recent college grad, did very well, high honors, stem major with a polysci minor or something like that

And then, like very shortly after you graduate, a literal god kidnaps you and puts you on a fetch quest where the continued existence of the spacetime continuum is on the line.

This is not as big of a deal for you compared to someone else, as you come from a society that deals with time stuff on the regs. Granted, the stakes at play are pretty damn dire, but again, you majored in the sciences of your society, which have advanced to the point of being viewed as borderline sorcery to most other civilizations

You're assigned a partner for this, another member of your society. This makes sense, while you're up for the task, having another person equally qualified will probably make the whole thing easier.

Only the guy the literal god gets for your partner is the biggest weirdo your society has ever produced. He barely graduated every school he was in and currently lives out of an old busted up van that he stole literal lifetimes ago and also barely works.

But you go along anyway and start the fetch quest. On the final leg, you end up encountering a woman that you just become enraptured with, though you'll never externalize this at the time, nor examine why you, a woman, may be feeling the things you're feeling about this other woman.

The fetch quest is over and time is saved and all that, but you're still traveling in the busted up van with this absolute freak, although his charm has grown on you. You're still fixated on that woman though, to the point where you self induce complete cellular remixing to become an exact body double of that woman. You don't examine why exactly you did this.

You keep traveling with the weirdo, and you're really starting to like his shtick, so much that you resolve to start aping it, only better (certainly with better dress sense at the very least), and hey, maybe you don't wanna go home, at least for a bit.

Eventually you two get trapped in a parallel dimension, you accidentally pick up an annoying teenage boy, but you don't have to deal with him for very long, as when your weirdo friend finally figures out how to get out of there, you stay behind to help some furries or something. You'll get back on your own time. Also you took the robot dog with you (he had a robot dog this entire time).

Some time passes and you eventually not only make it back to your own reality, but also your home. You end up meeting another woman who your weirdo friend hung out with before you met him, and she also triggers those feeling you had that last time made you commit the ultimate form of identity fraud.

But no time to ruminate on any of those unexplored things, you run for president, and win. Congratulations, you are now in charge of your entire society after what timescale-wise basically amounted to taking a slightly longer than normal gap year after graduating from college.

That is the tale of Romanadvoratrelundar, aka Romana, aka Fred

[natequarter]

the academy is a boarding school from hell, it's eton that kills. please indulge in the vision of the hallowed halls of the academy, grand and echoing, full of students but devoid of life. one lonely child wanders its halls: romanadvoratrelundar, currently mana, someday lord president romana. she has friends, but they don't exist. she has friends; someday they will try to kill her, all three of her sole friend. she has a friend; that friend hates her. her teachers say she will someday be good; not great, but impressive. doomed to intelligence, cursed to lack that spark of imagination that makes the time lords great. her house is dying and her past is marred by civil war and dictatorship; if she isn't careful, her future will go the same way.

and she's lonely.

she's so lonely.

[morally-grey-girlbosses]

Propaganda under the cut.

Romanadvoratrelundar:

Was the Doctor's companion, then became president of Gallifrey. Romana is simply THE girlboss, she has to try to get her political agenda through, she is president of a whole planet, she annoys all her political adversaries SO MUCH for her unorthodox views. She is extremely confident in herself and does what she deems right even when nobody else wants her to. Power comes naturally to her and she uses it unhesitatingly.

Rouge the Bat:

All the worlds jewels are hers to have! She’s so selfish I love her. She loves stealing the chaos and master emeralds just cause they’re pretty. She’s so fun to watch. She’s besties with an escaped immortal amnesiac government experiment and a giant robot made only to kill who now wants to kill his creator because he didn’t get respect. She has a girlfriend in sonic x. She’s not truly loyal to any side other than her own.

[adventure-showdown]

What is your favourite Doctor Who story?

TOURNAMENT MASTERPOST

synopses and propaganda under the cut

Partners in Crime

Synopsis

Donna Noble is determined to find the Tenth Doctor again — even if it means braving the villainous Miss Foster. But when the alien threat escalates out of control, can Donna find her Time Lord before the March of the Adipose begins at last?

Propaganda no propaganda submitted

Lungbarrow

Synopsis

"Nonsense, child", retorted the Doctor. "Grandfather indeed! I've never seen you before in my life!"

All is not well on Gallifrey. Chris Cwej is having someone else's nightmares. Ace is talking to herself. So is K9. Leela has stumbled on a murderous family conspiracy. And the beleaguered Lady President, Romanadvoratrelundar, foresees one of the most tumultuous events in her planet's history.

At the root of all is an ancient and terrible place, the House of Lungbarrow in the southern mountains of Gallifrey. Something momentous is happening there. But the House has inexplicably gone missing.

673 years ago the Doctor left his family in that forgotten House. Abandoned, disgraced and resentful, they have waited. And now he's home at last.

In this, the Seventh Doctor's final New Adventure, he faces a threat that could uncover the greatest secret of them all.

Propaganda

Is it good? No. But damn if it doesn't cause some good fandom fights. #LoomRights (@eighthdoctor )

cornerstone of weird doctor who lore and jokes about looms (anonymous)

[gallifreyinstituteforlearning]

Where do you stand on the long term political ramifications of the Dalek/Time Lord alliance created via the act of Master Restitution by Lord President Romanadvoratrelundar and letter reaffirmed and strengthened by Chris Cwej in approximately to 28th Year of the War in Heaven around the same time as the Time Lord/People Non Aggression pact was strengthened into an alliance both the People and the Daleks where given advanced Time Travel Technology, in what way would you say that this has effect the state of the Spiral Politic in the Year since?

[INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS]

From: Human Liaison for Sol 3 To: Shaplinortyovatshuagu, Regional Liaison for Mutter's Spiral Subject: Clarification Required on Earth Blog Inquiry

Dear Shaplinortyovatshuagu, I have received this question on the Earth blog; please could you advise a response? Warm regards, Human Liaison for Sol 3

--

From: Shaplinortyovatshuagu, Regional Liaison for Mutter's Spiral To: Human Liaison for Sol 3 Subject: Re: Clarification Required on Earth Blog Inquiry

Do what you must. Shaplinortyovatshuagu

--

From: Human Liaison for Sol 3 To: Shaplinortyovatshuagu, Regional Liaison for Mutter's Spiral Subject: Re: Clarification Required on Earth Blog Inquiry

As flattered as I am to be invited to respond on Gallifreyan political discourse, my expertise is in biology, linguistics, and societal Gallifrey. I can only hope your infinitely greater judgment might spare a crumb of guidance for this humble human.

Yours, Human Liaison for Sol 3

--

From: Shaplinortyovatshuagu, Regional Liaison for Mutter's Spiral To: Human Liaison for Sol 3 Subject: Re: Clarification Required on Earth Blog Inquiry

Very well. Proceed with this template: "GIL aligns with the views and principles of the High Council in all matters concerning [insert applicable event]." Regards, Shaplinortyovatshuagu

--

From: Human Liaison for Sol 3 To: Shaplinortyovatshuagu, Regional Liaison for Mutter's Spiral Subject: Re: Clarification Required on Earth Blog Inquiry

Your support in this matter has been nothing short of revelatory. I will treasure the cut-and-paste wisdom you have bestowed upon me.

Bye.

More content ... →📫Got a question? | 📚Complete list of Q+A and factoids →😆Jokes |🩻Biology |🗨️Language |🕰️Throwbacks |🤓Facts →🫀Gallifreyan Anatomy and Physiology Guide (pending) →⚕️Gallifreyan Emergency Medicine Guides →📝Source list (WIP) →📜Masterpost If you're finding your happy place in this part of the internet, feel free to buy a coffee to help keep our exhausted human conscious. She works full-time in medicine and is so very tired 😴

[presidentdisastraofgallifrey]

Doctor Who?

The idea first came to Romanadvoratrelundar the day after exams finished. The other students, happy to be free and excited to be nearing the end of their school days, were acting wild and silly below her window. She pulled the curtains tight and turned back to finishing her makeup. It wasn’t her fault she actually valued her studies, or that she was good at them. It wasn’t her fault that the tutors could see her potential. One day, the others would regret this, one day when she was President and no one dared speak against her…

Of course, one day seemed like a very long way off when she got scowls between classes and her attempts at friendliness got her called cold. She had only offered advice, and she knew that friends did that. She could go down right now and sit in the filtered sun among their picnics and games, but it would do no good. She was doomed to at least another century of excelling and being hated. She could fail instead if she wanted, but she suspected it wouldn’t help.

Which was when the thought came to her: maybe she should just leave.

[janeturenne]

this post is secretly four and a half years old

y’all, it’s been a hot minute and I don’t even know if people crosspost fic on tumblr anymore but here we are?

I wrote nigh on 10,000 words well over four years ago for what was supposed to be a published Gallifrey charity anthology, which sadly seems to have been pandemic’d. Having eventually accepted that this fic was never gonna find its way into print, I’ve been meaning to post it, and was finally nudged into it for the following reason: Gallifrey One is around the corner in California, and this year I will, for the very first time, actually be there.  So! If any fellow Gally audio fans are gonna be in those parts, please do come say hi! I will, among other things, be Iris Wildthyme on Saturday and be, uh, trying not to lose my wits too thoroughly at Gary Russell’s kaffeeklatsch. And until then, please enjoy the following rather meta fic about a character who I love weirdly and deeply and down to the bottom of my boots:

A Passable Artificiality - Gallifrey fandom, gen, suitable for all audiences

A series of rescues in time and space look suspiciously like President Romanadvoratrelundar's messes being cleaned up. But what about Romana's biggest loose end of all? https://archiveofourown.org/works/44790893

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

“desperate need to write more narvinromana you say??” 👀👀👀👀👀

so I don’t know if you want to stick to them in the later audios, *but* since the majority of your narvinromana fics *have* been post-Enemy Lines, I would be super interested to see how you write them in say, the time when Leela has left them on the alternate Gallifrey — maybe when she’s just left them, and they’re stuck together with just each other on this hostile world and are maybe stepping into their doubles offices and rooms for the first time? or them during the civil war — maybe between series 2 and 3, on the run from Pandora and Romana trying to figure out her plan of attack and Narvin having Opinions and the very fragile alliance they have — or maybe a moment post-Fractures when Romana is isolating herself and Narvin is trying to secure the Academy and maybe he tries to talk to her?

but also I love their specific dynamic in Time War so much and I always love more Time War narvinromana stories. I know you’ve already written a few TW3 snippets, but I am so interested in any fics about them in exile, when suddenly they aren’t President and Coordinator (or Chancellor) or Coordinator and Deputy Coordinator anymore. maybe a scene/moment between Nevernor and Unity (aka post-Nevernor from what you’ve heard) that’s exploring them just living together in this constantly-on-the-verge-of-malfunctioning TARDIS as they’re following Leela’s biodata trail and the impact of that situation on them and their relationship?

but really I will be interested in anything you write with them!! <33

HOW HAVE I NEVER WRITTEN S5 NARVINROMANA BEFORE

---

There's an assassination attempt at least every other Tuesday, for Rassilon's sake — all of him, every regeneration, and the Rod and robes and blasted sandals as well — and Narvin cannot stop shaking. When Leela left, he thinks she took all their collective strength with her. Maybe she was their strength.

Either way, his hands shake near-constantly these days and a part of him longs for the Axis, lonely and desolate as it may have been. At least it was safe. At least they were together. With first Braxiatel, who admittedly, Narvin did not mourn as much as he could have, and now Leela gone as well, albeit in a much different way, thank goodness, there is half of them missing. It's like losing a limb, or a heart stalling.

Romana frowns, lines between her brows deeper than Narvin can read, whenever she sees him. She's cut her hair. Lady President Romanadvoratrelundar has only had hair this short, not even to her chin, once before, and it was a great many years ago on their own version of their planet; after Etra Prime, if Narvin, who was quietly puttering along in his own shadowy work at the time, remembers correctly. This is something they do not talk about.

They don't talk about Leela, either. They talk security, and reinforcements, and politics and plans. They do not talk about Romana's hair, which Narvin keeps finding himself staring at, or the deepening worry lines between her eyes, or Narvin's shaking hands. Sometimes, Romana's hands shake as well, like she's trying hard not to fall apart, and this, too, is something they don't discuss.

If Narvin is beginning to shred apart at the seams, then Romana is about to shatter. And if Romana shatters, then Narvin will be cut open, and neither of them will ever be whole again. (Neither of them is whole to begin with. They haven't been in a long time.)

So, just once, absolutely uncharacteristic much as he hates to admit it, Narvin takes a risk. There was another attempt on her life today and as common as it is, Romana is shaking despite her own composure. The two of them are composed of contradictions. She's perched on the edge of her desk, Narvin sitting in the chair itself, which somehow seems both backwards and completely correct. Her hands are shaking and she's pretending they aren't, except that she keeps combing through her short hair, can't keep still.

Narvin catches her hand as it drops from the back of her head and for the first time this entire evening, since the sudden rush of panic and immediacy that followed her nearly being killed, again, they both are still. Romana stares at him, for just a moment, eyes wide but the worry lines disappearing, and then squeezes his hand back. Wraps his hand in both of hers until he brings the other one up to join it and closes his eyes, feeling her double-pulse in her wrists and the cold solidity of her touch. They may not be whole, but they are both here. Romana is alive; this is what matters most of all.

He wishes he trusted the guards who watch over her. He wishes he could watch over her himself, so for now, he does just that. Holds her hands for as long as she will allow and maintains the pretense of conversation when she finally pulls away so that he has an excuse to walk her to her quarters. Were he more of a courageous man he might take one of her hands again, carefully kiss her knuckles. But, no, Narvin is a coward, and they are barely friends. But they're all each other has. Sometimes, their hands shake.

[wastelandimperiatrix]

I’ve been wanting to make this post for years now. It’s never easy admitting the past, nor your own part in it. But I suppose it’s finally time to be honest, and to tell my own side of this deeply, deeply fucked up story.

Not gonna lie, I’ve been terrified of writing this out, not only for my own safety – but also for the safety and peace of the people I love and care deeply about. I didn’t want any harm to come to anyone, and I sought to protect myself in the process.

I was part of the Gallifreyan Tradition Society, the notorious Doctor Who cult. There was also a time where I was the face of the cult – President Romana, who burned out after 3 months and ran.

I didn’t join the Gallifreyan Tradition officially, until late 2016. I was living with my parents at the time, and was with my (long distance, at the time) partner. But I had known it’s leader, Cass since at least 2014/15. We talked a lot back then about fictionkin, otherkin, and other things. They had initially invited me to join, but I had declined at first, wanting to keep a distance (I am for the most part a very private person).

There’s a lot of tangled memories, and a lot of memory loss regarding the situation. I was introduced to (REDACTED), a younger member who had claimed to have been my son in a past life, the son of Romanadvoratrelundar, and the Doctor. We became very close, but I couldn’t always be there for him, and Cass frequently used that bond to guilt me. I kept my distance for my own safety, and out of the blue one day, he messaged me saying that Cass, her partner Tau? and a few others??? were pissed off at me, which was confusing as I didn't really know what was going on.

During that time in my life, I was going through my first round of intense EMDR trauma therapy, and this would lead to learning that I am plural. This was an incredibly difficult time in my life, where I had ended up dropping out of high school due to the pressure, as well as dealing with law enforcement. I’d rather keep the details private – suffice to say, it was hell on earth for us.

2016, after moving to a new town, having my life uprooted and displaced, I joined the Gallifreyan Tradition. I was welcomed with open arms. In those days, it was small – almost too small. It felt like a friend group at first, with everyone having one thing in common – we were fictionkin, or otherwise.

(Side note, I no longer identify as fictionkin, or in the otherkin community, what I DO identify as, is not anyone public's business, and as such, I would rather people refrain from assigning any labels to me)

After a few weeks, I was invited to sit in on the Council – a group of tight knit people, who oversaw the whole chat group. I accepted, because at the time I had no one, and they were usually awake during the hours I was awake (I had been working night-shift at the time).

This time period is a bit of a blur, but around May 2017, I was kicked out of my parents home, and was effectively jobless, as well as homeless. I fled town, and went to stay with my partner, a couple hours away.

During this time period, I had become more embroiled into the cult, and my responsibilities were growing. I was assumed to take part in more official meetings, and during this time period, Cass had given the presidency over to HIY. They weren’t happy about it though, and my partner and I were frequently involved in their vent sessions, and I had supported them as much as I could at the time.

Cass had been telling me about wanting to cast out HIY from GT, saying that they were a terrible influence, and that they weren't doing anything right, they were a horrible person, etc. Which, seemed deeply confusing, as I didn’t understand why they nominated them to be President in the first place if they had such strong negative feelings about them.

My mental health was in a severe decline during this time, and I had been having episodes of psychosis, dissociation, and dissociative amnesia. I had become even more in over my head. Around October, I had attempted suicide, and had to be revived in hospital, and came home a few days later Cass had messaged my partner with a lot of 'concern' during the situation.

When I had come home, I was bed bound for weeks. During the time I was bed bound, I was incredibly weak and in and out of consciousness rapidly. My partner was caring for me at the time, and I don't remember much. This is when Cass...coerced? me into challenging HIY for the Presidency. Which I did, and won. HIY left, and I was at the helm barely recovered from a severe overdose. I wouldn’t fully recover until around February of 2018.

Cass assured me that I could do nothing wrong, that I was meant to be President, and that I would bring a new "golden age" into GT. I will say that I was happy and proud to be President, it made me feel like I could do something good for the world, and myself. I had tried to hone in on more fandom oriented group related things, like a compilation zine, more community events like watch alongs, and card games. I was online all the time, making sure everyone was alright, running the server, making sure everyone met for council, etc. I had some past experience with server modding, so it wasn't too bad in the beginning, but the real hand behind everything was still Cass. Always Cass. I now suspect they chose me to take over the Presidency because I was easier to manipulate than HIY.

Then trouble came, in early January Cassandra messaged the Council, alerting them to the fact that HIY was 'stealing' their art. This came just after I had proposed a treaty between the two groups, in hopes of uniting them (and at least quashing the beef between us) I never understood it in the first place. There was to be a chat with all of us, but Cass had riled me up into an angry frenzy thinking that we had been done the severest dirty, that was as bad as treason. The chat came, and I couldn't even think straight and ended up leaving in a rage. I collapsed after this from stress. It felt like a farce.

My duties were lessened, due to my weak constitution, and I have barely any memory of anything that went on at this time. It was January. After a few weeks, my partner and I left their parent’s house, as it wasn’t safe for us, with my mental and physical health deteriorating severely, I couldn’t work anymore. We went to stay with my aunt, on the condition that we would be out of her house in 3 months while we prepared to get a place of our own, jobs, basically starting our life.

This made it impossible for me to handle the responsibility of being President, and Cass had begun to get frustrated with me, as I was a lot busier with my time, and couldn't devote my all to GT anymore.

So I resigned, it was an easy choice for me. I was burnt out, homeless, unsteady, and recovering from a lot of abuse (and regaining repressed memories) I named (CENSORED) my successor, and left with my partner in tow. I was also upset with Cass at the time, because they had called me a "New Age Self-Help Guru" for telling them that their art won't improve unless they practice consistently, and that a positive mindset is important for recovery. They never apologized to me for this, they pretty much ghosted me, refused to acknowledge the work I had done for GT, despite all the shit and pain I had gone through for years at that point.

And that’s my part in this. It feels good to finally get it off my chest, and I hope through this I can finally move on – I’ve been afraid for years, due to the amount of harassment I witnessed – I feared that I would be on the receiving end of it myself. At this point, I’m trying to move on – to heal, to learn, and to grow. I hope that with this, I can finally let go of this fucking awful period of my life.

If I had hurt you during my time in the Gallifreyan Tradition, I am sorry. If you knew me back then, you would know that I tried so fucking hard. I wanted to be there for everyone, but I couldn’t even be there for myself, I hope you can forgive my actions, my absence, and my cowardice. I am learning to forgive them in myself.

If you have any questions, I can try to answer them, but I can’t promise anything coherent, as I said I do have a lot of memory gaps from this time. I will not answer any questions as to my identity, nor anything related to fictionkin, otherkin, or plurality. My experiences are purely my own and I wish to keep it that way.

[gallifreyquotes]

ROMANA: I am Lady Romanadvoratrelundar, President of the Supreme Council of Gallifrey and all her dominions, holder of the wisdom of Rassilon, preserver of the Matrix, guardian of the legacy of Omega. But you can call me Romana.

[doctordefinitearticle]

Hello, this is Lady President Romanadvoratrelundar, please stop giving humans knowledge they're not supposed to learn till centuries later. I do not want to be a typical time lord but please, just listen to me for once, Doctor.

No thanks! Not today!

[lurking-latinist]

77) Under the Tycoon’s Protection – Anna DePalo It seemed that her family had employed had employed security tycoon the Eighth Doctor to safeguard successful prosecutor Romanadvoratrelundar from recent death threats. His barely restrained ardour should have been warning never to let him move into her home. After all, he’d featured prominently in her fantasies. And now neither of them could afford to be distracted…

a) apparently "security tycoons" are a thing that exists in romance-land?

b) clearly this was Narvin on a particularly bad day going "people keep trying to kill the President, I know, I'll make it that renegade's problem and see how he likes it! oh no now he keeps BEING HERE"

[natequarter]

BRAXIATEL: I hear nothing other than an intelligent, well-connected student wasting her time, and mine, trying to fight the inescapable. Come on, let’s head back. I’ll tell whichever dreary Cardinal that is no-doubt waiting for us that I took you on a… field trip, and we got lost.

ROMANA I: Why?

BRAXIATEL: Why what?

ROMANA I: Why get yourself into trouble on my behalf?

BRAXIATEL: Because you remind me of... someone I used to know. Hotheaded, arrogant, self-assured… They used to call me the Icicle during my terrible time here. What do they call you?

ROMANA I: The Ice Maiden.

BRAXIATEL: [Chuckles] See? Things never change.

***

A renegade and exile from the Houses in the Pre-War era, he was part of the first generation of the Homeworld to produce renegades: indeed, he may have been spawned by the same flaws in the Houses’ breeding-engines which produced was part of the first generation of even more legendary transgressions like the Imperator Presidency and the Grandfather of House Paradox. But while the Imperator led a crusade in the name of military conquest, and the Grandfather seemed to have a rather more philosophical agenda for subverting the ruling Houses’ authority, the young War King was a bored, amoral outlaw, dedicated to his own desires above all else, meddling in the affairs of the lesser species for no other reasons than power, personal gratification and perhaps even casual amusement.

[...]

He was notorious for hiring, manipulating and seducing a variety of lesser species, many of them mercenary or megalomaniac in nature, and it’s possible that it was through his association with them that he became aware of the imminent War… the first step in his gradual (and quite legal) rise to power.

***

ROMANA: I am Romanadvoratrelundar, mortal heir to the House of Heartshaven, inheritor of the House of Dvora, and custodian of the House of Everston, and I command—!

***

In the brief period before a species loses its interest in its evolutionary surroundings, it’s relatively common for societies to be categorised as tribal, and for the ruling body to be seen as either an alpha-male among primates or as a dominant predator among lesser animals. While for the Great Houses such ideas have mostly been forgotten, a number still cling, oddly, to House Dvora: the House of Devouring Hounds.

This isn’t a metaphor for a House at the top of the food chain, a rare, vicious, rampaging beast. It’s an emblem of controlled, concerted, voracious power. Neither gauche nor hide-bound, the members of House Dvora look out across the landscape of the Homeworld from the comfortable position of an established pack predator. They are not careless. They are sombre, they are sane, they are pre-eminently practical. What they grip, they hold. When not deployed in the field their personas are icy, untouchable and ironic, but they can when necessary adopt any passion.

It’s not surprising, then, that it may be the House which exercises the greatest real power.

***

ROMANA: I am aware that my policies have not been entirely favourable with you all, but Gallifrey must not fall back on itself and become insular. We have the greatest knowledge of time in this part of the galaxy, and we must not be seen to create a monopoly. That only isolates us from those cultures who are capable of using time responsibly. So, I will not step down as President, despite these deaths, despite the opposition to my ideologies, because that is a regressive step for Gallifrey. We cannot linger in our past or, regardless of how much we know, time will overtake us. [...] I have thought about this long and hard, and to me, it seems the only way forward. As is my right, as is stated as ancient edict in the Book of the Old Time, I, Romanadvoratrelundar, claim the title of Imperiatrix of Gallifrey and declare my rule as such to begin immediately.

DARKEL: [Laughing] You cannot claim yourself Imperiatrix. It is a legend from the Old Time, nothing more. There’s no legality upheld in that title! Will you, the High Council of Gallifrey, ratify this? The ramblings of a woman mad for power? Her very bloodline desires war!

***

The Great Houses have, according to their own doctrine, observed and maintained the meta-structure of history for ten million years: a number so round that many feel it must have been picked by the Houses out of thin air, a purely arbitrary figure chosen just to suggest “a very long time”. True or not, it’s unquestionable that for aeons before the War the Houses themselves existed in a state of almost total stasis. There was no natural reproduction on the Homeworld; no death, other than the slowest, greyest and least spectacular kind; no argument, no injustice, no progress and very little actual culture. And yet around a millennium before the War began, tiny imperfections began to appear in the great status quo, defects in Homeworld society which would eventually culminate in the War itself. How did this happen?

[...]

Things took a startling turn for the worse around three hundred years later, during the cataclysmic Imperator Presidency, the first shockingly direct contact with the outside universe in living memory. House Dvora was a House of respect, its bloodline one of the cornerstones of the ruling six, and yet this seemingly reasonable bloodline had produced Imperator: the brutal, mono-maniacal God-Emperor who tore through the polite barriers between the Homeworld and the rest of history to lead a realpolitik crusade into the outside universe. He demanded involvement in the affairs of the lesser species; he demanded a pre-emptive re-forming of the Spiral Politic; he demanded that the Protocols should be ripped from the Homeworld, and that history should be adapted to suit the Houses’ own needs, particularly (it was implied) the needs of House Dvora. He actively recruited from the lesser species, not actually welcoming them into his bloodline but using them as extensions of his will, playing on their expectations that the rulers of the Houses would be inscrutable, unstoppable Gods. That he developed a cult of personality around himself wasn’t as shocking as the fact that he had such a personality.

***

WYNTER: That cannot happen. Our job goes back aeons. To change the role, to dispense with it, would take change in the law.

NARVIN: Of course. And with Braxiatel, Lebine, and the rest of the Council in her pocket, getting laws changed would be... oh, about as difficult as changing the oldest law about allowing aliens into the Academy. Think on that, Wynter.

[morally-grey-girlbosses]

Propaganda under the cut.

Romanadvoratrelundar:

Was the Doctor's companion, then became president of Gallifrey. Romana is simply THE girlboss, she has to try to get her political agenda through, she is president of a whole planet, she annoys all her political adversaries SO MUCH for her unorthodox views. She is extremely confident in herself and does what she deems right even when nobody else wants her to. Power comes naturally to her and she uses it unhesitatingly.

Electra:

the sassiest drama queen ever 💯💯 who lowkey assists in several attempted murders and has a meltdown when it doesnt go their way. also is canonically bisexual and genderfluid

[adventure-showdown]

What is your favourite Doctor Who story?

ROUND 3 MASTERPOST

synopses and propaganda under the cut

Lungbarrow

Synopsis

"Nonsense, child", retorted the Doctor. "Grandfather indeed! I've never seen you before in my life!"

All is not well on Gallifrey. Chris Cwej is having someone else's nightmares. Ace is talking to herself. So is K9. Leela has stumbled on a murderous family conspiracy. And the beleaguered Lady President, Romanadvoratrelundar, foresees one of the most tumultuous events in her planet's history.

At the root of all is an ancient and terrible place, the House of Lungbarrow in the southern mountains of Gallifrey. Something momentous is happening there. But the House has inexplicably gone missing.

673 years ago the Doctor left his family in that forgotten House. Abandoned, disgraced and resentful, they have waited. And now he's home at last.

In this, the Seventh Doctor's final New Adventure, he faces a threat that could uncover the greatest secret of them all.

Propaganda

Is it good? No. But damn if it doesn't cause some good fandom fights. #LoomRights (@eighthdoctor )

cornerstone of weird doctor who lore and jokes about looms (anonymous)

The Cars that Ate London!

Synopsis

The advent of electric carriages on London's streets causes a stir – until they start careening out of control. Elsewhere, factory workers lose their senses, while a brand-new power plant suffers mysterious outages.

Genius industrialist Fabian Solak has a vision of the future – free from pollution, running on clean electricity. But Madame Vastra knows such ideas are ahead of their time...

Propaganda

We open with one Jenny Flint buying racing pigeons because Vastra keeps eating the- because the pigeons keep getting out. She also buys a swan for Vastra (which, if you know Brit lore, the Queen owns most of the swans for some reason XD, and this is therefore a big ""Fuck you"" from Vastra to the Queen), when suddenly an electric car without a driver attacks the market. At home in Paternoster Row Vastra checks if Jenny is okay and promptly suggests a 'lie down' together... 😂 The guy making the electric cars owns a factory that quite literally works its workers to death in assembly lines, or absorbs the people's brains. The Gang infiltrates said factory (Strax starts a small war after doing a gloriously funny Cockney impression), trip an alarm, and have to flee. Strax runs through a wall. They try to escape in their carriage, two electric cars chasing them. When the carriage crashes, Strax is prepared to take the cars on in hand to hand combat; he sees it as a tactical advantage for himself that the cars don't have arms. Or so he thinks: the electric cars are actually electric TRANSFORMERS. While Strax rallies the workers to seize the means of production (communist king) and Jenny is prepped to be absorbed (she kicks the lady trying to tie her up and frees herself), Vastra has a talk with Mr Solak that ends in her being electrocuted and temporarily disabled for being IBSANELY mouthy. Solak's transformers are automated enough that he doesn't require any more workers, and he plans to absorb the brains of everyone in London with his factory he's made mobile. Well, they manage to escape and get caught AGAIN (they're that skilled istg) they try to absorb Strax as well, and while Vastra talks to Solak and distracts him, Strax takes advantage of the high voltage they connected him to and uses the energy to recharge himself properly. A hilarious audio to kick off the fiest boxset, though not without its serious moments. The concept is insane tho and I love tha. (@jennyandvastraflint )