#Yaz you deserved better

[thelesbianthespianposts]

the first rule of being the doctor’s companion is not to believe he’s infallible. the second rule is not to believe you’re following the first

[laniidae-passerine]

well while I’m sorry to hear we’re losing Millie Gibson at the end of this season I damn hope that RTD can treat Varada Sethu’s companion character better than he ever treated Martha

[hyperfixation-tangentopia]

I'm so sorry for the menace I'm about to become in relation to Camp Cretaceous, by the way. Usually I have irl people to dump it onto but with Events I no longer have irl people to dump it on so...yeah

[grimark]

two unrelated screencaps from doctor who season 12 episode 5 fugitive of the judoon, presented with no further commentary

[i-got-bored]

just finished series 13 and...

uhm ouch. its strange, during 13's run i rarely found myself invested in the story being told - i definitely noticed the shift in writing and wasn't a fan. what i ended up realising tho is that despite my disinterest in what aliens did what, i was invested as 13 as a character and ofc i have alway felt that way but its been accompanied w "oh that episode is great - i love the way the alien did this" so when it came to her regeneration, it acc really hurt to see her go, bcs i want to see more of her, maybe just with better writing lmao.

but uh, yeah continued my streak of crying at every regeneration and am moving onto whatever we're calling the newest who!

[praxeus-13]

There’s something so heartbreaking about watching your favourite parts of a tv show, the parts that you have loved for years and found so much joy in, being misunderstood, forgotten and erased by it’s predecessors.

13’s beautiful TARDIS interior, and sonic screwdriver erased to make way for nostalgia.

13’s clothes, her entire outfit, burnt up never to be seen again without any explanation.

Yaz, who 13 was in love with, who she wanted to tell everything to and spend the rest of her days with, not even mentioned - not even hinted at!

13’s character, her core personality traits and storyline reduced to ‘woman Doctor’ and fundamentally misunderstood!

13’s fam, the family that she found and built, not even mentioned or reminisced about!

I’m glad that the Timeless Child wasn’t erased, but I feel like so much else was that RTD didn’t properly watch 13’s era. It’s like he was given a summary and only took the parts that he thought was interesting.

13’s memory deserves better! She deserves to have passed on the baton to Ncuti’s Doctor, to have him running around high on regeneration energy while wearing her outfit! To use her sonic for an episode before choosing to make his own!

13 deserves to be remembered as a Doctor who was loved dearly by her companions and fans, as a Doctor who went through so much tragedy right from the start and struggled to deal with that, but still managed to face down her foes! As a someone who was optimistic and kind, but could also be cruel and harsh when needed! She was complicated, she went through so much, I love her and she will always be my Doctor.

She deserves to be remembered as more than ‘woman Doctor’, because she was so much more than that.

[dandelionjack]

the ninth doctor trusted rose enough to believe she would stay with him after his face changed. and twelve took some convincing but towards the end of deep breath accepted that clara would stay by his side no matter how old he looked. but thirteen was so used to losing people. her previous self had loved clara and lost her, he had looked after bill and failed to save her, he had tried to redeem missy and (to his knowledge) lost that cause too. no wonder she wouldn’t trust yaz to stay for her fourteenth face. no wonder she believed she ‘had to do this next part alone’. she had grown quietly distant with the new knowledge that she was no longer even an ordinary gallifreyan, not something of this universe, but outside of it, alien even to the aliens. isolated and inaccessible, standing on an invisible pedestal her ancestors placed her on — a pedestal that more resembled a cage. glass walls on all sides like the forced regeneration chamber. thin glass wall between her and yaz now, transparent but too solid to break through. harder than azbantium when there’s no solid footing to stand on.

of course yaz would run when she saw her new self. of course she would leave. companions would never stay now, they would never fully understand. when thirteen said that she would need to do ‘this next part’ alone, by ‘next part’ she meant ‘the rest of her (potentially eternal) life’. it’s the classic gambit: push the one you love away before they get the chance to reject you. because they always will, now. either that or they die in horrible circumstances. better to flee like you’ve always done.

this is why the bigeneration was a narrative necessity, why the giggle was the perfect vision of a positive finale. the original version of the doctor gets to settle down with people that he won’t lose. people that he won’t turn away from. people whose hearts he won’t inevitably break. he’s sitting there in the back yard and he’s not going anywhere…

…yet somewhere out there in sheffield lives a police officer named yazmin khan. she’s not all sunshine and rainbows — all cops are bastards, after all. sometimes she takes her nameless rage out on a shoplifting suspect. sometimes she hands a parking ticket to a kid that didn’t deserve it. and sometimes she does genuine good for the community, sometimes she goes to the club and dances with strangers, sometimes she sits on the sofa and watches a documentary about space exploration and laughs at the painful inaccuracies. and many miles south, the doctor spends time with his family, but he’ll never get the courage to visit her. because she’d want to run away with him again. and he could never give her that, not anymore. anything but running.

yazmin khan loved the universe in the eyes of her doctor. oh, that doctor in the garden? the stay-at-home-doctor? he’s brilliant, but he would never be enough for her. his presence would never replace the cosmic vistas and myriads of stars thirteen gave her. and she’s never coming back

[ghost-bison]

Doctor Who - Opinions

-the ninth doctor was the best. no one will ever be as good as he was

-same for donna, best companion, no one will ever compare

-imo 9th > 10th > 12th > 14th > 11th > 13th (dunno about 15th yet, haven't seen enough of him)

-donna > rose > jack > martha > nardole > bill > river/clara > rory > graham >>>>>>>>>>>>>> amy (idk about yaz and ryan I honestly dont see any distinctive personality traits apart from the fact that ryan is always complaining and generally unpleasant)

-ninerose >>>>>>>> tenrose

-clara is a cool character, it's just her plots that made people dislike her

-i don't get the obsession people have over thoschei. or the master in general and his relationship with the doctor? apart from missy and twelve ofc

-i could never warm up to amy, nor do i get how people can like her. she was abusive, not a girlboss. didn't deserve rory

-i have mixed feelings about river. like obviously, slay my goddess, but also, she's everything that's wrong with moffat's writing of women? she's actually dependant and praises the doctor and never makes a decision for herself? never questions the doctor? that's not ok

-idc how good moffat's storylines get, i'll choose rtd any day. i'll refer you to this post as to why.

-chibnall's era feels flat. i don't hate 13, she's adorable, but I used to laugh and cry several times an episode during the first ten series. now it's like twice a series if we're lucky.

-i liked the campy effects way better than the disney-style expensive cgi they now use to try and balance out mediocre writing (I'm sorry but wtf was that Space babies episode and how did they manage to make it even more cringe than the series one Slitheen two-parters?)

[songforten]

bill deserved to meet thirteen

i fully agree. i have so many thoughts on this

bill would not at all be tripped up by the doctor being a woman, she understands the doctor’s gender better than most. once the doctor proved that she exploded but is still wholly and completely the same person, bill would take it in stride

i do think it takes a Bit for bill to be as comfortable with the doctor as she was before bc bill is naturally inquisitive and challenges things BUT she does get there

thirteen would stay as a sort of parent/tutor figure to bill. sorry to anyone who thinks bill would be attracted to thirteen i just think you are so wrong. maybe for like a Second bill would be like “who is this woman she’s gorgeous” and then thirteen says something like “that reminds me of that time i went to the Silfrax Galaxy and invented custard creams for bees” and bill would be like okay. yeah no nevermind that’s my granddad

bill and yaz would get along really really well. like in a gay way. i cannot believe that billyaz is not a more popular ship. it’s everything to me. imagine. bill staying on after s10. yaz meeting this brilliant girl only a couple years older than her who actually pays attention to her and bonds with her and Also is comfortable with her identity as a lesbian. bill showing yaz the ropes when it comes to life on the tardis. bill helping yaz come to terms with being queer. genuinely i think about this all the time.

[moderndaymelodrama]

i really don’t think people talk enough about the “i want to tell you everything” scene between the doctor and yaz in the vanquishers, because it’s just so so important in terms of their feelings for each other, especially the doctor’s feelings for yaz.

when you really think about it, 13s main character trait throughout most of her three series is that she keeps things a secret. she doesn’t open up about her past or the things that are hurting her, she doesn’t let herself be open with the people closest to her no matter how much they ask; she lets her fear of herself and her past define her completely.

so for her to stand in front of the person who has been there by her side through all of that and choose to say those words is the biggest step she’s taken. and it isn’t just “i guess i should probably tell you everything”, it’s “i WANT to tell you everything”, she’s choosing to make that promise, not just because she feels like she���s got no other choice, but because she wants to make things better. partly for herself, but mostly for yaz. in my mind, these words, for this doctor specifically, are the closest we could possibly get to “i love you”

in many ways, it means more than simply “i love you”, it’s her saying “i’m going to go against everything i have stood for in this lifetime, fight against every fear that has held me back, all for the sake of you. and i want to do it. i really do. because i hurt you, and i don’t want to do that anymore

you deserve a better version of me

i want to get better

[kayla-2]

Well jokes on you because Elriel is obviously not happening. It was so obvious in the bonus chapter that Gwyn and Az will end up together, maybe it was hard for you to analyze it? Take your time and read Yaz's analysis about mating bonds and Gwynriel so you'll not get disappointed. Plus, when Gwynriel's book is finally out the focus will be on Nesta too, Nessian specifically. Fetsand's time was up. Either you have to love Nessian or you could "roll your eyes" while reading acotar 6

I do not know who that is but I’m not reading anything that’s not the books and the author. That’s it, everyone else has limited information just like I do

Bonus chapters are just BONUS and shouldn’t be the start of a relationship. Elriel didn’t just have moments in the bonus, we don’t even need that bonus, it’s more of a confirmation they’ve been building since acomaf-acosf. You need things in the main series that is accessible to everyone not a limited bonus chapter that don’t even have any development.

I must care about gwyn more than you do because why would you want gwyn with a man that doesn’t consider her a friend, gifts her a necklace he bought and designed for another woman (mind you, he told clotho to give it to anyone first) and two pages before he saw her (mind you he said he thought he would be alone and would’ve ran if she didn’t already see him) he was about to kiss another woman and thinking of having sex with elain.. why do y’all want that for her?

The only thing that allows your ship to even be a thought is Rhys interrupting Azriel when he was about to kiss elain (definitely not elains mating bond which Sarah hasn’t made any development for since book 2) if Rhys didn’t interrupt…Az would be laying somewhere with elain, which isn’t enough for a new relationship and gwyn deserves better than a coincidence or a hurt man

Maybe if you listen to the author instead, you would know that Sarah said that feysand are the center of everything, so I’m not worried 😘 I do adore cassian though not that thing he’s chained to

[swan2swan]

So, spoiler thoughts:

So, a good season. Pretty decent, but I'm a little worried that they blew everything by making Season 1 so good.

Definitely had some of the best scenes in the franchise, but the way Season 1 ramped up felt like it was a little...shallow of a splash on Season 2. 8/10 season, maybe a 7/10.

Arguably my least favorite season of the cartoon, and that includes Season 4 of Camp Cretaceous....okay, no, I think this was much better.

I felt like the Brooklynn Alone episode didn't quite match the power of the Ben Alone episode, and that was the first issue. But that also feels like an episode where they had to cut some stuff down with Brooklynn--in fact, there's almost half an episode missing, it felt like. Woulda loved to see her adjusting to public life with her limb difference, and the DLN. Woulda made thee moment where Soyona gently comments on her limb difference all the better.

Speaking of Soyona, I'm glad thy kept her just as much of a menace. I was worried at a few points, but in the end, it was clear that she had complete control the whole time. Probably knows that Brooklynn is spying on her, too....but she's letting it happen.

The episodes with the gang also didn't hit hard enough. It really felt like they waffled around too much with the whole "Kenji Wants to Kill Himself" plotline for too long, and then missed the window. That's indisputably my biggest issue with the seasons: I hate when shows forfeit the essentials of their episodic format and just keep kicking the ball down the road. Kenji risks his life. Yaz gasps. Kenji risks his life. Yaz gasps. Kenji risks his life. Yaz gasps. It's a disservice to BOTH when you don't get to the point and do it five times over.

Then there was Zayna--a delightful character, more than welcome, but I felt that we deserved more of an exploration of "Hey, we're taking on someone who was the same age we were when we were Traumatized. Let's keep the same from happening to her, okay?" And then they could have focused on that a little more than one throwaway gag from Darius.

There also wasn't a lot of introspection on the group, and Darius's infatuation with Brooklynn and Kenji's falling-out with her also seemed a little diluted...meant to be products of odd happenstance and Bad Timing, a Malevolent Coincidence, rather than stagnation and an inevitable reaction. Such is the consequence of a backstory, though.

HOWEVER...the scene in Soyona's apartment was among the best in the franchise. Tense and powerful, wonderfully acted and perfectly paced, it was only matched by Brooklynn's return later. Soyona and Brooklynn played off each other in a way that made them the most engaging part of the season--both a praise and a criticism (the second-best part was possibly Sammy and Zayna, though, again...if they'd gotten into the "Keep Her From Experiencing What Happened To Us" part, it mighta been better.

The Leucistic Baryonyx was a fine addition, but I do wish they'd had the budget to bring in another new dinosaur. Maybe a Megaraptor of some sort. It worked, and the HORROR aspect was definitely there, but...eh. The part where Red figured out "Oh, clicking noises make you happy?" was PHENOMENAL THOUGH??? I FORGOT THAT RAPTORS WERE SMART? I WAS WONDERING HOW THEY WERE COMMUNICATING AND THEN I REALIZED THAT IT WAS JUST RED FIGURING THINGS OUT?????????? BECAUSE SHE'S SMART?????

But also, this felt very much like the Quarry Season. A lot of stuff is happening, there's a nice big group of people, but it's very enclosed. You can even see it in the concept art: the village in Episode 2's credits, the tarmac in Episode 10, this world shoulda been bustling, but they could only afford so much. Less an indictment of the show and more of the budget given to them. Suchomimus coulda been chasing villagers instead of schlorping water, and there coulda been some guards on the tarmac surrounding Brooklynn for that final meeting.

I was very delighted when she went with Soyona, though. And when her PTSD got her in the WORST moment.

Anyway. Hoping next season takes it to a new level. This one had the spunk of Season 1, but it didn't have the reach. But maybe a rewatch will help (it won't, most of my criticisms are Set In Stone, I'm just Correct).

[ssaalexblake]

damn i love watching wwfte immediately after eve of the daleks and seeing yaz go from totally ignoring sarah's body in the floor to look kind of breathlessly in awe of 13 being a bastard (it was awe with a shade of 'i would love to grab you by the lapels and kiss you till we're breathless' lbr) back to when they first met on the train, when 13 was all callous and dismissive about a dead woman in front of them and Yaz was like. Bitch. This person is dead. Take it seriously. She deserves better than that.

Yaz picked up a lot of doctor traits over her time, including the not so charming strain of utter callousness that 13 has.

[doctorwhonerdadi3]

Ranking New Who Companions

What classes as a companion in Doctor Who is a difficult one for me to answer. On one hand I would say it's someone who travels with the Doctor, but then we'd be here all day listing out everyone that has been in the Tardis. So I have decided to limit it only to the characters who are the named companions for each Doctor. Simple right? Choosing who I liked more over each companion was a difficult one. As always this is just opinion based and honestly, my opinions for each of these companions changes regularly. That being said, I have made an attempt at ranking them.

Number 12: Ryan Sinclair

Ryan is, for me, probably the most forgettable of Whittaker's companions. It doesn't mean he is bad, I just don't enjoy him as much as the others. I've seen Whittaker's run a couple of times and I barely remember anything about Ryan other than he had Dyspraxia and sucked his thumb.

Number 11: Rose Tyler

Okay, I think Rose being so low down is controversial, but honestly... I don't like her. She is 19 when we meet her and very clearly a product of the 90s/2000s. She spends most of her time as a love struck teenager, who is constantly jealous of any woman who gets near the Doctor. It's strange because series 1 and Eccleston are my favourite of New who. Her 'lovestruck' phase really shines in Tennants first series. Either way, she is my number 11.

Number 10: Clara Oswald

I enjoyed Clara when she showed up as a Dalek in Asylum of the Daleks. I enjoyed Clara when she was in The Snowmen. But then it kind of stopped. Her run with Smith just didn't do it for me. She did better with Capaldi but I think that is mostly down to him actually letting her have a life as a teacher, go on dates, etc. It gave her chance to really shine.

Number 9: Graham O'Brien

I just had to google Graham's last name, that is how much I don't really like him. Dealing with bereavement is difficult, and being the oldest of your group is also a challenge. I think 'Rosa' was when Graham really shined. Idolizing her and then having to be the reason that she didn't give up her seat on the bus... Graham was actually a well rounded character in a series of none rounded characters.

Number 8: Yazmin Khan

Yaz had the longest run with Whittaker, probably down to her crush. She proved herself to be a smart woman, who could handle herself. When we first met her, she was training to be a police woman, which shows that she has the strength and courage to succeed. I enjoyed her as a companion.

Number 7: Donna Nobel

Okay, time to be controversial again. I love Donna, as I am sure everyone else does, but she isn't my favourite. She was heart warming and smart, plus she had a bit of a temper and slapped the Doctor. What more do you want from a companion? She truely was a mate of the Doctor, and after the 60th anniversary specials- she got the ending she deserved.

Number 6: Dan Lewis

What? I'm putting Dan above Donna, have I gone crazy? Probably. John Bishop cannot act. However... I really liked his character. She was chill. He had a wok. He was kind of resourceful. The only thing I didn't really like was how he outed Yaz to the Doctor.

Number 5: Martha Jones

I love Martha. I think she is truely underrated as a companion. She often gets overshined by Rose, which is annoying. Take away the ending where she married Mickey, I didn't like that, and you have an amazing character. Smart, resourceful, brave. Everything you need to be the Doctor's companion. This woman walked the Earth for the Doctor. She should have married Tom though.

Number 4: Ruby Sunday

Our new new who companion. I think part of the reason that series 15/Season 1 did so well was because of Millie Gibson's performance. She started out a little rocky, but she soon grew into a companion I loved. Her performance in Boom and 73 Yards really solidified her as a great companion in my opinion.

Number 3: Amy Pond

The girl who waited. Amy's run as a companion was beautiful. She had her boys and her spaceship and she was off. She did start out a bit shakey, trying to sleep with the Doctor the night before her wedding, but if you look at it from her character arc it makes sense.

Number 2: Bill Potts

Bill's death was heart breaking and was 100% the Doctor's fault. Shot through the chest and then turned into a Cyberman. Ouch. She was a fun companion and she brought a ray of sunshine to a rather dark Doctor who had just lost his previous companion. Also I love the Cybermen design for when she got turned into one. It was very classic who.

Number 1: Rory Williams

And finally we have Rory the Roman. Well deserving of the first spot. He waited 2000 years for Amy in the Pandorica. He loved her unconditionally from childhood. He was a nurse. This man was brave and strong all at once. I was heart broken when he got erased from time and Amy forgot him. Luckily he came back... Until he died again.

[duchezss]

Honestly I think jwcc is gonna be roman empire forever, more specifically S4 and 5, because of how much the writers ruined all of their characters arcs and growths.

I think S1-3 were just perfect. Ok maybe they weren't actually perfect, but for they were setting out to do it was superb. The writers were establishing dynamics and relationships and conflicts, external and internal, so well. It's almost hard to believe that such a grounded brilliant story fell apart in the last two seasons. I generally cannot fathom how they were the same writers. For example, in S3 Ben and Darius have this long arc about forgiving each other and coming to understand each other after the monorail. It was beautiful and slow paced and just a great character study. So when the end of S3 happened, and Darius and Kenji were clearly fighting, I figured they would kinda do the same thing for them. Instead the two forgave each other in less then five minutes and then they just never speak on it again. I can't be only one that just finds that so odd?

Another thing I think really ruined the show was the forced romance between Brooklynn and Kenji. It was out of left field, it didn't make sense, and it completely undermined their characters. To me, the show always presented their bond as brother and sister, but honestly if the writers had done it better maybe (MAYBE) I could've gotten behind it. They just made it so hard to route for them. First of all because of the romance, the two of them weren't really allowed to interact with the others. Like yes they did, but not in meaningful ways like they had before. Also something that irks me to no end is them playing off Kenji so vigorously trying to save Brooklynn at the end of S3 only because he had a crush on her. That's such a misinterpretation of his character, because S3 Kenji would've acted like that if ANY of the crew were in that situation. They became the only family he ever had, and to say that all of that was just because of a crush? Oh don't get be started. Also it just made Brooklynn a shell of the character she once was. I was so upset in S5 when the only thing she got to do was mope about Kenji's betrayal. She deserved more development and screen time, and just everything really. Their romance did a huge disservice to them both.

Third point, I really hate how they played off everyone not having PTSD, especially Darius. I was very happy that Yaz had that arc in S5 and how they showed how it really got to her. But when the rest of the group said everyone was fine, especially Darius? The same Darius that felt endlessly burdened with leading? The same Darius that had nightmares about his father and Ben after he lost them? The same Darius that let everything get to him even when he knew it shouldn't? THE SAME CHARACTER THAT WAS ALONE ALL OF S4 AND THE WRITERS DID NOTHING WITH??? Ohhhh one day these writers will pay for the way they sidelined THEIR MAIN CHARACTER. Darius deserved that arc, and he deserved an arc that allowed him to step out of the leadership role. Like yes that was technically S4, but it was handled in such a bad way and it really didn't present any growth for him or the crew. Just a wasted opportunity.

I think at their core, the problems with S4 and S5 lie with the direction the writers wanted to take it. As soon as the group ended up at this highly technological island I knew it was over. Not to say advanced stuff is bad, the hybrids were always sick, and I even thought the mind controlling was a good moral dilemma, but everything else? It was so tiring and frustrating, like damn I don't care about the brads or this island, or these random ass characters you introduced. I think the writers just really lost sight of what made the show so great in the first place, the main characters. Yes the plot was amazing, but the brilliant cast of characters and their ever changing dynamics and lives was what really brought it home. When you erase all of the development you've been building up for three seasons in favor of a incredulously complicated and over done plot that side lined your main cast what can you expect? It seems voltron was in fact a harbinger for this show. One day dreamworks will learn how to not fall off mid show, but it appears that's not any time soon.