#Sartia

[joycieillustrations]

Here’s one for the Gally fans! A piece commissioned by @magicofthepen and @presidentromana: an alternative version of Weapon of Choice featuring Sartia and Romana, based on their Gallifrey AU ✨

This is a commission. DO NOT REPOST UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

[raspberry-gloaming]

I'm currently listening to Skin of the Sleek and The Thief Who Stole Time and fuck me ik obviously she gets rescued but the idea of a Time Lord drowning... fuck that's fucked up.

So you're sinking, and there's no way to not, and you use your respiratory bypass for as long as you can - and then you hold your breath for as long as you can - but then it's all water in your lungs and gold, gold, gold, and you are still drowning.

Would it happen again and again? Would you keep drowning, gold and gold. The panic that would set in - would you even use your respiratory bypass or would you - by instinct, by terror, take the first breath of new life with new lungs and gulp in water? Would the body that finally sinks be so removed from the original that sunk that in your final moments of writhing you didn't know who you were anymore. I imagine it would be torture - would you wish you couldn't regenerate, that you were another species? There's no way of survival - they could just get on and die, but it's so dragged out for you.

[helieanmail]

Zartira sine even.

Canción de la Guerrilla Segadorista de Valzaneyan.

La última estrofa fue añadida a posteriori tras el ascenso de Z'alara K’tourazya en el frente del norte de la guerra civil que acucia la Corona Galvánica. Actualmente, el conflicto ya dura 17 años y se encuentra enquistado, sin grandes avances para ninguna causa.

Importante: La escritura original no es fiel a la escritura real de los idiomas de Talios.

[magicofthepen]

/this is so very on time/ characters: Romana, Sartia (redemption verse) ship: Mana/Sartia and Romana/Leela/Narvin (conspiracyverse)

I believe this ask is from a year or so ago, which means I’m very much the not-timely one. 😅

Romana — Redemption Verse

003 | Give me a character & I will tell you:

How I feel about this character: she is The Blorbo in whatever verse, but I've particularly enjoyed exploring her in the direct aftermath of Etra Prime in this verse. she pushes and pushes herself because she can't rest until the Dalek plan is stopped, until the prisoners are rescued. her trust issues are just as pronounced as in canon, but there's a slightly different flavor to them - because Sartia found and rescued her, Romana has all the more reason to believe that The Powers That Be on Gallifrey never really tried to find her. (since crucially, she doesn't know that Sartia only found her via working with Free Time and the Daleks.) she also has one (1) friend in the aftermath of Etra Prime, but it's a friend who sort of tried to kill her once, and she's swinging back and forth between holding Sartia at a distance and breaking down in front of her, as if daring her to use Romana's vulnerability against her. Romana is, as always, going through it <33

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: I feel like I should answer this only in the context of what's already happened in the verse, because we know who I ship with Romana in general. but at this point in redemption verse, it's really just Sartia - they have this terribly messy unspoken tension Thing going on that might be feelings and might be relief at having Someone, and they both are approaching their relationship as transactional, and Sartia's betrayal of Romana is haunting everything. and Something very nearly happened between them on the sofa late and night and that scene was so !!

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: at this point? Narvin, absolutely. I am fascinated by how she meets him much earlier and dislikes him much earlier - and it's a more personal, irrational dislike at this point. he is That CIA Agent who has seen her in a vulnerable position more than once, and she hates that. she very much wants to never see him again, but he keeps, unfortunately, turning up. and on the other hand, he is much more forgiving of her than in canon because he was the first person from Gallifrey who saw her only a couple days after she escaped, and he was there with her on Etra Prime during the mission and saw how she reacted and watched her push herself until she collapsed. them starting at this point where he's already seen her vulnerable, and she resents him deeply for it, is super interesting to me.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I don't really have any wishes for her personal story in this verse, because I want to just chase the ripple effect of the changes to canon. how will these different post-Etra Prime experiences impact her issues with trust and friendship? how will pushing for a mission to liberate Etra Prime - a mission that only succeeded because Sartia temporarily seized godlike power to wipe out the Daleks on Etra Prime - impact her as a politician going forward? how will not being the sole survivor of Etra Prime affect her? I dunno where these things could go, but when my writing brain kicks back into gear, I'm excited to find out.

Favorite friendship for this character: I mean, at this point it's Sartia, for all the reasons above. and my god it's a messy friendship, and Sartia is keeping massive secrets from Romana that would change everything, but she is also genuinely the only person looking out for Romana as a person right now. and Romana really needs that.

Sartia — Redemption Verse

003 | Give me a character & I will tell you:

How I feel about this character: oh I am rooting for her so very much. yes, things are gonna get worse for her at some point before they have a chance of getting better better - because she has spun a massive lie, and that will come back to bite her eventually. but the reason that's gonna hurt is because she isn't lying anymore about her motivations. she's had her realization that the intensity of her resentment for Romana was unfair - Romana didn't mean to hurt her, while Sartia definitely meant to hurt Romana on Funderell. Sartia has chosen where her loyalties lie, she's genuinely trying to rebuild something with Romana. to confront her own past and carve out a place for herself on Gallifrey. there is no sinister agenda. but there was an agenda once - she was an agent of Free Time before her world was tipped sideways. just because you want to move on from your past doesn't mean your past will let you.

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: *gestures at my response for Romana* although because there isn't anyone else I naturally ship with Sartia, it'll be really fun to see if any other shippy dynamics do develop. but yeah her thing with Romana is the main one - the intense teenage crush turned deep resentment turned Complicated.

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: Narvin is also a strong contender here, given that they've already tried to kill each other, which I find hilarious - but actually, for me it's Brax. I love that this AU being canon divergent is a plot point - that Sartia changed time through force of will without realizing it, and now the timeline's gone off the rails, and all of Brax's careful plans that rely on knowledge of this particular timeline are at risk of crumbling. I love how this creates an inherent rivalry between them, but only Brax is fully aware of it, at least for now. and the other thing that gets me about Sartia and Brax is that, yes, they have this methodical vs. impulsive clash happening, but it's not a clash of equals. they may be (consciously or not) battling each other for control of the timeline now, but once upon a time, she was his student, and she asked him for help, and he dismissed her. she was collateral damage in the timeline.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: as much as there's a painful angst factor if she also becomes friends with Leela and/or Narvin eventually, despite knowing that they're both Romana's Friend first.....I do hope someday she's able to make connections with people who aren't also deeply tangled up in Romana. I think it would be good for her.

Favorite friendship for this character: see everything above about Romana and Sartia, although I'm really intrigued to see what other friendships (with canon characters or not) she ends up having.

Mana/Sartia — Conspiracy Verse

002 | Send me a ship and I will tell you:

When I started shipping them: I mean, I already shipped Romana and Sartia in much messier ways, but Mana/Sartia was probably in my head when were first getting started with the verse. it's the innocent and sweet version of their relationship - first crushes, falling for your friend, no betrayals between them.

My thoughts: my children!! my main thought right now is that image of them grabbing each others’ hands on the steps of the presidential palace and running off into the night. they’ve been through so much, and they’re gonna go through even worse, but my god they are trying to look out for each other.

What makes me happy about them: Romana assumes their friendship is a lie on Sartia's end. Leela and Narvin are worried that whatever went wrong between prime universe Romana and Sartia will happen again. they’ve been thrown into another universe, they’ve had a big fight with each other. there is so much against them, and so many folks skeptical of their friendship. and they’re out here going fuck that, we’re sticking together. you’re my best friend. (I also love how Sartia has weird feelings about adult Romana’s potential love life, for reasons she has yet to unpack.)

What makes me sad about them: how they can never go home. they lost their world to the Daleks at such a young age. and their bond is so much more intense because of being survivors together, but it’s also a Lot to have one person be all that’s left of your world.

My wishlist: vampire hybrid Sartia and Pandora possessed Mana, of course, and all the inherent angst of both situations. I’m also super looking forward to them finding out what Sartia did to Romana in this universe, and how devastating that’s gonna be.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: they're like. the Time Lord equivalent of thirteen, so they've got plenty of time to end up with other people throughout their lives. but in the short term - I don't think there are any other kids their age in the story, unless I'm misremembering one of the OCs ages, and really, in this verse it wouldn't make narrative sense for them to end up with someone else.

My happily ever after for them: ooh now that’s a question. because they don’t have a home to go back to, but they’re always going to be out of place in this universe. possibly it’s them somehow being able to attend the Academy and then at some point running off to become renegades because they both still have that desire to see what’s out there. but while I can see them ending up not on Gallifrey (I have contemplated the idea of them being companions to the Doctor for a bit, and the Doctor experiencing the weirdness of hanging out with a teenage Romana and teenage Sartia—having actually been there on Funderell!), I dunno if they’ll get a lot of choice in the matter. especially if Sartia ends up part vampire.

Romana/Leela/Narvin — Conspiracy Verse

002 | Send me a ship and I will tell you:

When I started shipping them: well, they are fundamentally the same as canon ot3 up to the end of series 6, so the answer is “when I binged series 4-6 in a day in 2019 and my brain went ah about the three of them.”

My thoughts: loving the opportunity to explore their tangle of relationships post series 6! it’s one of the two really juicy time gaps in the audios, and I’ve done a lot of ot3-centric post-Enemy Lines writing, so. and because we’re actually exploring the ramifications of rebooting Gallifrey and the new stress this creates for everyone—they’re in this weird place of having to go go go, respond to whatever crisis is in front of them, keep things under control. while at the same time, the three of them suddenly being back on their original Gallifrey and all together is quite an adjustment after many months away and many months of Leela living separately and only barely speaking to the other two.

What makes me happy about them: I love writing them in this “there Something between each of them but they’ve got various levels of self-awareness about it and aren’t gonna talk about it regardless” stage. the complexity and intensity of feelings between pair of them is its own distinct Thing, and they have too much going on to really unpack any of it, and I love unfolding this slow burn Thing. (I also think it’s hilarious that Sartia strongly suspects there’s Something Going On between Romana and Leela, even if she can’t quite articulate what that is, and Mana just as strongly suspects that there’s Something Going On between Narvin and Leela, and they’re all not wrong.)

What makes me sad about them: oh, it’s similar to Romana/Sartia in redemption verse, in that there’s a Secret waiting to detonate. I know I’m an angst loving person, I know I’ve already written a “Romana finds out what Narvin did” fic, but I’m also enjoying the romcom-vibes-in-the-middle-of-a-crisis, and I’m rooting for them, and of course Romana has to find out eventually what Narvin did.

My wishlist: mainly I just want more scenes with the various ot3 pairings! it made a lot of sense to focus on mixing and matching them with the kids because new dynamics to explore, and those scenes have been so good. but now that the kids have run off and they’re not gonna find them for a while, we have an opportunity to have scenes between them that focus on other crises, beyond the AU kids at large, or that look back at what they’ve been through together and really poke at the layers of what their relationships are like now. and lean into that unresolved tension thing maybe…..

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: they’re really the only people they could each end up with (in this verse)—they don’t have that emotional closeness with anyone else. they’ve been through so much together, they like each other so much, even when they’re completely disagreeing. if later canon follows a similar path, there’s one option for Leela, but I don’t think this verse will ever get to that point—and even if it did reach the Time War, I don’t think events will play out the same way.

My happily ever after for them: oh, I don’t think they get a happily ever after—unless something really bonkers happens with the multiple universes, the time war’s already been set in motion. there is a tragic endgame (unless I start bringing in my post-time war fix it headcanons). and I think a happily-for-now for them would be something like what I wrote for them in my post-Enemy Lines fics, but in the context of this verse: the crises spawned by the memory wipe are addressed as best they can, and simmer down over time. Romana learns to trust that young Sartia won’t betray Mana, which is a big ask, but also the only way I think she’d ever somewhat relax about young Sartia being out there on the planet or in the universe. somehow Narvin’s secret comes out and it doesn’t ruin everything in the long term. possibly Romana is less of an asshole about taking over the CIA. Leela gets closer to finding a place where she fits on Gallifrey—where she’s not just a tool of the Time Lords, but also doesn’t have to leave her friends. feelings get confronted in one way or another, which would definitely be awkward and messy and very fun to write, but I am rooting for them.

[cytser]

i finally listened to the thief who stole time and i have so many thoughts about it. but sartia specifically telling romana that she's going to end up trapped in the archives sure has a double meaning after tw4...

[raspberry-gloaming]

ik its only one story but I'm gonna say Romana II simply because of the Skin of the Sleek two parter which fucked me up and also her and i definitely think contiributed to her later behaviour in isolating herself majorly

Who had the worst time aboard the TARDIS?

ROUND 0 MASTERPOST

[natequarter]

time lord names seem to follow a few patterns:

Complete Nonsense. this is where you get the likes of sartia or vansell or hallan. usually has a long full name

mythological, particularly greek mythological, references. see: ulysses, eris, pandora. usually has a long full name

a modified english word. this can be a name or just an ordinary word: narvin (marvin), andred (andrew), innocet (innocent). usually has a long full name

a sort of double-barrel name format, e.g. irving braxiatel, fuldanquin borusa. less common than the others. the latter name is invariably used to address them, but there's nothing stopping you from using the first name. doesn't appear to have an accompanying long full name

renegade names, or more accurately, titles. the doctor, the master, the rani - this is the one most familiar to nuwho. usually the people who use these names had a name that fitted into one of the above four categories, but said name is no longer used or known

house names seem to do something similar:

Complete Nonsense. see: catherion, dvora

[noun] [noun] format, or something adjacent. see: lungbarrow, oakdown, heartshaven

mythological references, again most often greek. for example, ixion

[galliversary]

Introducing Emily, Our Social Media Mod

Where can we find you? 

Tumblr: @magicofthepen

Ao3: magicofthepen

What first drew you to the Gallifrey audios?

I don’t remember how I first heard of them, but when I did, I was really interested because:

sci-fi politics are my jam

I was a New Who fan, and since Gallifrey barely appears in New Who, I was super curious about it, and

from all that I heard of her, Gallifrey!Romana was absolutely My Favorite Character Type (lonely women in leadership roles). 

Why did you want to be a mod for this project?

When I realized that next year is Gallifrey’s 20th anniversary, I wanted to do something to mark the occasion. This series got me back into fic writing; I’ve met wonderful friends, including one of my partners, through Gallifrey. I love these characters and this world dearly, and I want to celebrate all its eras. 

What is your favorite series of Gallifrey?

It rotates between Series 2 and Series 6, with Time War 3 also up there. 

What is your favorite episode of Gallifrey?

My favorites include: 

Imperiatrix (what a finale, always gripping every time I relisten)

Unity (this episode rewired my brain) 

Extermination & Renaissance (listing these as a pair because I go back and forth about which one I like better, but I love series 6’s intense focus on our main characters and their relationships) 

Tell us about your involvement in Gallifrey fandom.

I first listened to the series in 2019, and I’ve rambled a lot about the audios on Tumblr; you can find my thoughts here. 

I’m a fic writer. You’ll mostly find me writing Romana/Leela, Romana/Narvin, and the ot3, but I also write Leela/Veega (and the Unity family as a whole), Romana-centric gen fic, and Sartia fic (who isn’t a Gallifrey character, but is super connected to Romana).  

I also rp Gallifrey characters with @presidentromana on Discord; we have two ‘verses longer than any of my fics. 

[foxymoxynoona]

To Kill A King: Cast and Scene

Banner and line break by @awrkives

To help with reading To Kill A King, here is a reference page. There are a lot of characters and since it’s an in progress story, I know it can be hard to keep things straight in between updates. I’ll occasionally update this with newly added characters or newly-discovered information about them. -- Story Masterlist --

The Kim Family, all branches

Donggun Kim, King - divisive as a leader, given to excess and outbursts of harsh treatment since the death of his wife but a competent ruler in enough ways he hasn’t been overthrown. Yet. Everyone is kinda thinking about it though. A volatile, mercurial father at best.

So-yeon Kim, Queen, Deceased. Seokjin’s mother who died when Seokjin was thirteen. They had a close relationship and she was beloved as a queen.

Seok-ho Kim, Royal Prince, Deceased. Seokjin’s 8-years-elder brother, died five years ago during the Therepin Border Skirmishes. A natural born leader with a successful military career until his death at 32.

Seokjin Kim, Royal Prince. 29, heir to the throne after his father’s death.

Lady Zselyke Kim, 39. The only daughter of King Donggun’s deceased younger brother. She has functioned in many ways, though without recognition, as the lady of the house since Queen So-yeon’s death.

Byeonggun Kim, Commander. King Donggun’s youngest (and only living) brother. The commander of Yeonhalbi’s military, rumored to have committed war crimes during the border wars. He is married but has no children. 

Namjoon Kim, 28. From a lesser branch of the Kim line which settled in Therepin and Sartia many generations ago. His mother Landa Kim is a Baroness and his uncle Gregor Kim sits on the Therepin Council. 

Mindeulle Kim, 22. Namjoon’s beloved younger sister, she has convinced her parents to let her come to Priva to befriend Nasimiyu and look for a husband.

The Dabo Family

Hamisi Dabo, Prince. Ruler of Marvono, he dotes on his daughters but has high expectations for how they dedicate their lives to serving the greater good. He is blackmailing Dulce for her assistance in getting his daughter onto the Yeonhalbi throne as a widowed Queen.

Simisola Dabo, Princess. Nasimiyu’s mother. Loves her daughters deeply, mediates and guides when necessary but expects her daughters to learn to walk on their own.

Nasimiyu Dabo, Princess, 26. The youngest of Hamisi’s three daughters, betrothed to Seokjin for the last three years. She has strong ambitions and progressive ideas for what kind of queen she wants to be, largely due to frustrations and boredom with her own life. At home she was the most rebellious sister.

Two elder sisters, each married with children, not met.

The Inner Circle

Dulce, 27. Originally from Paloma, she’s been working as an assassin for hire for many years. She and Nasimiyu met in a tavern where Nasimiyu used to sneak off to visit and have been in a sort-of-relationship since then. After “an incident,” her existence and occupation were discovered by Nasimiyu’s parents, and she’s been blackmailed into acting as Nasimiyu’s handmaid to help gather intel to ultimately kill Prince Seokjin and King Donggun.

Taehyung Kim, 26. The only living son of the handmaid of the late Queen So-yeon, he currently works as a stablehand in the palace under the protection of Seokjin. He is known to be a bit wild, restless, and dissatisfied with his position in life, not to mention those swirling rumors around his parentage.

Jimin Park, 26. Jimin serves as Seokjin’s valet and, in many ways, right hand. He is always on hand to guide and assist, incredibly capable, and easily charms those around him. He’s originally from Destin and happy to tell anyone who’ll listen about his luck in making it to Seokjin’s side.

Jungkook Jeon, 25. Seokjin’s favorite of his bodyguards. Jungkook’s father was a bodyguard for King Donggun and died protecting him, so Queen So-yeon saw to Jungkook’s education. Originally he was in the military but remained close to Seokjin and after saving him in an attempt on his life, was allowed to be hired as a bodyguard despite his young age. Despite his casual, flirty appearance, he appears to be very good at what he does.

Hoseok Jung, 28. Hoseok’s father was the main tutor for both Seokjin and the late Seok-ho and educated/trained his son into the role as well. Hoseok does his best to keep Seokjin on the proper path and loves nothing more than a successful social event.

Yoongi Min, 29. Yoongi is a talented cook working in the palace, around whom the prince and his inner circle often gather in the evenings to cook and chat. He has some ambitions to make it to head cook but also sometimes can’t be bothered. Seokjin knows he spent some of his younger years as a political activist and protestor, including some time spent in Marvono, but this is not known to anyone else.

The Court (Not everyone but notable members)

Miss Lidmila Aukem, 20. The only daughter of the Aukem family. Young and full of admiration for Nasimiyu. Very strong sense of justice, fairness, and propriety. Her mother Sukhdeep was a close friend of Queen So-yeon’s; they sent each other flowers from their gardens weekly, and Lidmila clearly hopes to have a similar friendship with Nasimiyu.

Miss Çiğdem Quincy, 20. Slightly more rebellious than the other girls, Çiğdem is direct and loves some good gossip. She is easily bored of pampered life, probably why she has been so enamored of her secret Therepin penpal for the last year.

Miss Afua Trevis, 21. A total romantic, Afua is known for saying just the wrong thing or really putting her foot in it, though her intentions are good. 

Miss Tasa, 22. Another friend of the young women, a little older but not yet matched with anyone.

Lady Anne Lapointe, elderly. An antiquated old woman who favors tradition and is strict in her expectations of the royal family.

Lord Téo Ascanio, 20-something. A young lord who goes on the hunt with Seokjin and Nasimiyu.

Lord Jothi Harker, 20-something. Another young lord who goes on the hunt with Seokjin and Nasimiyu. He’s the one who shot the deer but was too cowardly to fetch it.

The Household

Master Drin, Seokjin’s arms trainer. A former soldier, he now trains nobles in combat and drinks a little too much in his freetime.

Edmund. One of Seokjin’s three main bodyguards.

Master Boutros, a “game master” who lives in the caves and tends to the animals there.

The Nation of Yeonhalbi

The Nation of Yeonhalbi is comprised of several provinces, each governed by a local ruler who owes fealty to the royal family of Yeonhalbi, which conquered these territories many generations ago. Some provinces do have unrest around this governance. In recent history, the border wars along Therepin, Minsk, and Destin's led to great bloodshed and an effort to squash the questions around whom exactly was fighting whom.

Priva, the capital province and seaside capitol city. Major industry is fishing.

Destin, a very poor region that lacks natural resources to self-sustain, mainly focused on livestock. 

Paloma, the most distant region, mostly very poor mountain villages in between farmlands. Lots of small cottage industry, livestock, and farming. Massacres at the time of conquering decades ago left it hobbled and quiet as a principality.

Marvono. A wealthy region, very educated, warm weather year-round. Medicine is one of the strongest industries.

Rinsk. Area with many mountains and desserts, focused on mining and ore-works, very wealthy cities due to the mineral deposits.

Sartia. Incredibly wealthy, mild-weather principality and closeby islands. The vacation destination of the wealthy thanks to beautiful coasts. Easy living for most social classes, very focused on education and the arts.

Therepin. Conservative principality, the most religious of them all. Has a royal family that’s largely for show; a religious “council” does the actual ruling.

-- Story Masterlist --

[gallifreyborn]

@factsandfigures liked for a starter!

Romanadvoratrelundar hated the Academy.

Everyone always just told her no, nobody ever answered her questions, and all of her classmates except for Sartia hated her. She didn't even know why! She had even started to read the psychology textbooks from the library in an attempt to better understand them, but no matter how much she explained the issues in their differing communication styles, the best she ever got in response was a laugh.

She didn't get it. She hadn't even been telling jokes.

Last time that she had complained to Sartia about it, the other girl had suggested she skip class. She said that people were just jealous of Mana's intellect, and so if she did something disobedient like that, they were sure to change their minds about her.

The idea made logical sense, and so young Romanadvoratrelundar found herself wandering the Citadel instead of attending Tri-By Physics. She wasn't really sure where she was going, but she didn't think it would be too difficult to find her way back to the Academy, so wasn't too concerned as she turned corner after corner.

Just... it was a bit quieter down here. Was it supposed to be so quiet? Mana started to worry that she had wandered into a restricted area. She could really get into trouble for that.

Spotting someone else, she walked over, her dark curls bouncing with each step. Then, she came to a sudden halt. The other person's clothes were... not standard, and something about her just felt very... very not normal.

There was only one possible explanation.

"You're an alien!"

[galliquotes]

Romana: Doctor, she's seriously disturbed!

Doctor: Stop making excuses, she's insane!

[janeturenne]

So I can't get this Au out of my head, where Leela stayed on with Four and when Romana joined they initially disliked each other, eventually became friends and then girlfriends (and Four doesn't notice, because Four). When the Sartia thing goes down Leela tries to protect Romana (because Sartia is awful, in the best possible way). Romana then pushes Leela away a bit cause this is her best friend since she was a time tot and she can't see how toxic Sartia is to her. Leela is on the ship when

A+, 10/10, super 100% approved, ‘nonnie!

[raspberry-gloaming]

I very much doubt there's much chance of this, but is there anyone out there who is a fan of both Doctor Who (and especially/possibly the Gallifrey audios) and the Nevermoor series? As I have many au thoughts but no-one to share/discuss them with.

(if you are please message me)

[magicofthepen]

Shipping ask game: Romana/Sartia?

ship it/don’t ship it ask game

Romana/Sartia — Ship It

What made you ship it?

so I knew that Sartia was going to betray Romana, right. the friend-betraying-her dynamic was why I was so excited to listen to those audios.

and then That Scene with the hair happened and I was like oh man, if I didn’t know already that this isn’t genuine, I would totally start shipping them right now. but y’know, the gay nemesis thing….so that kernel of shipping remained.

and then after Sartiaposting on tumblr dot com someone (❤️) sent me a fic that became The backstory fic and cemented the idea of teen Sartia having a crush on Romana in my brain, and those original feelings really bubbled up, and well. *glances at multiple rp verses* it spiraled from there.

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

honestly probably how different my feelings are about them depending on their age and the ‘verse.

there’s a version of them where feelings are mutual and there might never be a betrayal and it could work out. there a version of them where the feelings are there, but there is too much hurt for it to be so straightforward—their relationship could come back from the edge or break further. there’s a version where it was mostly one-sided, and when their friendship soured it left only cruelty and pain between them.

and I could keep going—I love that the dynamic between these two characters can be rotated and poked at from so many different angles in so many different parts of canon and AUs.

and fundamentally — they were the first friends each other ever had, and it went so, so wrong, and the intensity of that is so much and so interesting.

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

alas, I don’t think this ship has enough fans for there to be any popular or unpopular opinions.

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

Big Finish's entire schtick really is "how much trauma can we give Romana," huh?

[companion-showdown]

Nominations are now open: Which villain would make the best companion?

This tournament is intended to be smaller than usual, so I may be aa little stricter about who qualifies (at least when i'm familiar with the character, which means the EU nominees are going to end up with a lot more leeway)

as some starting rules

You can only nominate actual villains, they must actually be evil, not just dislike/be disliked by the Doctor

They must be an individual (or possibly a small group of individuals), eg you cannot nominate 'a dalek' it must be a specific dalek or daleks you can point to and say that/those ones

No companions, I don't care if they were evil when they met the Doctor or became evil later or were evil the entire time, they cannot already be or have ever been a companion

If there are multiple versions of the same villain (eg because they can regenerate), they will only be included once, either as generically as can be acheived, or a specific one will be chosen through a group stage

If they don't have a name (or you can't remember it) I will do my best to figure it out but try to give me as much context as you can and bare in mind im not psychic

Please bare in mind when you are nominating that I am hoping to keep the number of nominations under 64 to run this as a mini-tournament. This is not a hard rule so if nominations do exceed 64 its not a big deal, just something I'd like everyone to bare in mind (we have now broken 64 so full sized tournament it is

Nominees

The Master (this counts for any and all versions of the Master, a specific one will be chosen during the group stage, I'm preempting their nomination because duh)

Dalek Caan

Angel Bob

Morbius

Beep the Meep

Family of Blood

Meddling Monk

Salamander

Nobody No-One

Scaroth

Madeleine Issigri

JP Kettlewell

Sharaz Jek

Morgaine

Blon Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen

Cassandra

Bonnie (Clara!Zygon)

Davros

The Rani

The Binary Apprentice

the Scream

Timewyrm

Sabbath Dei

Death

Time

Black Guardian

Braxiatel

Aphasia

Luke Rattigan

The UK government

Auton!Boris Johnson

The Statue of Liberty

President Arthur Winters

Dream Lord

The Axos

Sartia

Valeyard

Great Intelligence

House

Not Donna

Captain Wrack

Pirate Sea Devil

Tecteun

The Dalek that offered the doctor tea in Victory of the Daleks

Plastic!Mickey

John Lumic

Miss Foster

Prisoner Zero

Karabraxos

Cessair of Diplos

Andred

Miss Hartigan

Kro'ka

Mr Finch

The Headhunter

Swarm and Azure

Ashad

Lilith

Reverend Golightly

Mr Clever

Toymaker

Justine

Rassilon

Lolita

Eckersley

Soldeed

Pandora

nominations will be open for at least the next 24 hours, that is until 14:00 BST (GMT/UTC+1), 10/04

after that there is no guarantee