#SORRY TO ANY RYAN ENJOYERS I JUST. HE REALLY IRRITATES ME

[timedthirteen]

* concerning yaz, graham and ryan.

the well-documented problem with these three is that ( to me, and to others i respect ) they feel like plot more than people, only speaking as is germane to the narrative, only there to make the doctor look more interesting. i've gone to great lengths to flesh them and their relationships to the doctor out, so as to earn the intimacy they say they have at various points across canon. i do not expect any portrayals of these muses to adhere to what i've written here, and if i end up writing with anyone who writes these muses, that may alter my thinking. for now, this is a good jumping-off point into how i approach these dynamics.

yaz: as i've already discussed here, yaz's chosen profession represents a sticking point between them in a world where yaz sticks to what seemed to be an authoritative, duty-bound nature. i imagine this as a broader conflict that develops throughout thirteen's first series, with thirteen going to at times extreme lengths to expose yaz to the systemic corruption inherent in the police system. it's messy, morally complicated, both of them in the wrong at times, and they both come out of it with a better understanding of each other. thirteen does not refer to her as yaz until at least the end of her first episode; for the entirety of that first adventure together, the doctor continues to refer to her as pc khan, neutral-to-disdainful.

graham: i feel that the doctor has a very close bond with graham, and that begins by connecting with him over grace's death. they have so much in common, actually, and she sees a lot of herself in him - he's (mostly) kind, curious, courageous, and at times deeply angry. he has so much left to learn, reliant on his creature comforts, and she wants to teach him. she wants to help him become the best version of himself, to transmute his grief into something better. when he expresses his fear over his cancer returning, she hugs him, tells him that she understands; she's afraid of death like she's never been before, but endings are what make anything worth doing. all they can do is to live in the now, and make the most of this time, because they never know what day will be their last. she then gives him a choice, where there is no wrong answer: if he wants to, they can pop to a future hospital, and make absolutely sure he will never have to worry about this ever again.

ryan: honestly, ryan strikes me as someone who would piss the doctor right the way off - not, obviously, because of his disability, i am disabled, don't even try it - but because he's so ... immature. he's nineteen; so was rose, and it's absolutely night and day between them. i genuinely cannot find much of worth in his characterisation when 99% of the time he just asks plot questions, and the rest of the time he's pretty ineffectual in spite of apparently being very bright - studying mechanical engineering and the like. i've been thinking on this for awhile and i'll have to keep letting it run in the back of my brain, bc i genuinely cannot figure a way round it.