#also no i did not stop watching it after rtd and NO i didn't stop having parts that i liked from every era

[nat-20s]

So far it seems like RTD's approach to this era of this Doctor Who is "I'm gonna have as much fun with this as humanly possible" and honestly? I respect it. Hell yeah let's have a kiki of a show!!

[anotheruserwithnoname]

Ten years of Whouffaldi

My word, where did 10 years ago?

Ten years ago on Aug. 23, the episode Deep Breath launched the remarkable era of Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor (or true Thirteenth if you want to annoy some people).

And it was the true launch of one of the most interesting romances in sci-fi (friendly reminder that Peter, Jenna Coleman, Steven Moffat, writers and directors have all in some way or another confirmed that this wasn't fans watching with "ship-coloured glasses" - it was canonical. Regardless how some fans and even media have tried - as recently as a few days ago - to pretend it didn't exist.)

I do think it was not intended. It cannot be denied that a lot of people consider there to be an age-gap limit in romances, real-life and fictional, even when both parties are consenting adults. So when Peter replaced Matt - and no one can deny Clara had the hots for Eleven because she flat out says so, several times - they obviously planned on a return to the First Doctor-Susan dynamic with Capaldi (or maybe more accurately Third Doctor-Jo Grant, since Three low-key held a flame for Jo, since Twelve would still remember how he felt as Eleven, plus Three was "Capaldi's Doctor"). But due to the fact Peter and Jenna had such intense chemistry (to this day some fans remain convinced they had a real-life romance, which is not something I ever subscribed to), coupled with the decision to shoot the first episodes of the season in order of broadcast, you can see Moffat and his writers pivoting in real time as they adjusted to the fact that - with no disrespect to Samuel Anderson - Danny Pink was never going to be the next Rory Williams. This is most in evidence with Listen defining a future for Clara and Danny that was definitively retconned by Danny's death in Dark Water.

I know the Capaldi era was not everyone's cup of tea. Season 10 in particular did not age well for me, mainly because it was clearly "one season too many" for Moffat and Capaldi himself seemed to "check out" after a fashion when it became known that the next producer wasn't planning on keeping Twelve around. And if we're going to harp about falling ratings for the show in recent years, Peter never attained the same viewership levels as Matt or David. But for me, Seasons 8 and 9 were - a few off points notwithstanding - the best of the modern era and easily rank alongside the Pertwee years as some of the best this show ever had. (I stopped watching after Season 10 - but having spoken to people whose judgement I trust, I don't think anything that followed is likely to have rendered that statement outdated.)

But I appreciated the more mature approach to the show. Yes, I know DW always was at its core a children's show - though upgraded to family show over time. But having the Doctor and Clara having a mature conversation at the diner, the Doctor inviting a villain to have a drink with him (the closest the Doctor ever got to being James Bond), Clara freaking out about being called a control freak (not to mention her perfect "Nothing is more important than my egomania!"), the fact the episode confirmed that the Doctor did look upon Clara as his girlfriend when he was Eleven, and the fact the episode walks up to ageism and pops it in the nose with Clara being upbraided by Vastra for being ageist because of Twelve no longer being the young man Clara fell for ... all these add up to a remarkable episode and likely the strongest debut story for a Doctor since Spearhead from Space.

Deep Breath also marks the last time we saw the Paternoster Gang on screen. Having praised Moffat for Whouffaldi, now time to aim some criticism his way - he set up a perfect spinoff series (Neve McIntosh is one of my favourite actresses not named Jenna Coleman) and yet never followed through. Say what one might about RTD, we'd have gotten 4 series of Vastra, Jenny and Strax had he been in charge. Big FInish doesn't count though I'm sure Neve and Dan Starkey appreciated the fact they didn't need to put on the makeup all the time! LOL

So happy 10th anniversary to Whouffaldi!

[being-of-rain]

I thought I'd continue my usual trend of writing my thoughts down on new Doctor Who episodes, by talking about The Star Beast. As usual, I set out to write something quick and concise, but the Wrarth Warriors busted down my door and told me that I legally couldn't.

Apparently I still have the impulse to describe Doctor Who episodes as 'fun', but by and large it's a fun show! And a fun episode! Even if I'm not as obsessed with him as a lot of fans, RTD has a charm which it's hard not to enjoy, especially with lots of little jokes and bits of physical comedy (I love little bits of physical comedy). And it's a funny episode, I was laughing from the moment the Doctor picked up a box, saw Donna, and put the box back again. Well that's not true, I was laughing from the moment I saw David Tennant just standing in green screen space like he was about to tell me the exciting new direction he intended to take the company. I'm glad everyone else seems to find that as funny as I did.

Another word I could use to describe the episode is a bit surreal. Having Beep the Meep and the Wrarth Warriors on screen was a little surreal, but strangely I found it even more so that the Doctor was walking around not knowing who Beep the Meep was. I mean obviously that was always going to be the case, but all Doctor Who mediums just live together inside my head and it was just weird to see him not recognise an iconic enemy. Maybe that was just me. Oh but Beep and the Warriors looked fantastic! It's hard to believe they're all physical effects! I really wasn't too interested in the UNIT gunfight that didn't really do much for the story, but if the new big budget lets aliens look that good then I'm fine with it. Other slightly surreal or strange things involved finally watching Doctor Who again after more than a year's break, watching it on Disney Plus rather than Australia's ABC channel, and seeing Ruth Madeley on-screen as UNIT's scientific advisor when she's also playing a companion of the Sixth Doctor in the audios at the moment.

Oh and, of course, having the Tenth Doctor and Donna back on-screen, and the TV show doing what fanfiction writers have been doing for 15 years. That was really surreal. I definitely like the two of them, but I don't have the same rampant nostalgia for their time on the show like lots of people do. I'm glad lots of people are enjoying the nostalgia aspect, but I'm also glad this is a mini-series rather than a full one. And already there's some aspects back of RTD's writing which I'm not super fond of- like conclusions that try to use technobabble and music-swelling emotional moments to smooth over the fact that some things are just happening without much cause or set-up. RTD's usually pretty good at that too- that's how the whole DoctorDonna thing started in the first place, after all- so Donna and Rose just 'letting go' of the metacrisis did feel like it fell unusually flat. Especially with it being paired with a 'women are better than men' moment which felt more like something from a Moffat script (I say this as a fan of both these writers).

Okay, that was just me trying to get all of my negatives out of the way! On the flip side, Rose inheriting the metacrisis and saving the day was a wonderful revelation, and I love that daughter/mother and loving family relationships were so important on the whole. Seeing Sylvia stumble with pronouns but still try was so lovely, as was Donna being so aggressively supportive of her daughter. And Shaun was a small role but so hilarious.

The chat outside the Tardis was great too, with Shaun dunking on the Doctor, and Donna being genre-savvy enough to stop her daughter getting into the Tardis but not enough to save herself. The new Tardis itself was a little empty to me (I'll always prefer more homely interiors) but was still extremely cool. All I want is for the show to come up with excuses for creative ways to use the mood lights. And I couldn't imagine a better ending to the episode than the console exploding because Donna spilt coffee on it, 10/10 no notes.

I know basically nothing about the next episode, and it seems that's the case for most people, so I'm terribly excited about it! It seems potentially scary spooky 👀 I'm so here for that

[marley-manson]

Hi :3 May I please request Star Trek and/or Doctor Who (whatever you prefer!) for that fandom ask game? :D

Thank you 💖 Gonna do both lol

Star Trek TOS:

my favorite female character

Few options but it's Uhura. Love the occasional moments she gets to shine <3

my favorite male character

McCoy! I love how emotion driven he is, I love how grumpy he is, love how brave he can be, love how dedicated to being a doctor he is, love his bickering with Spock and his scolding of Kirk all the time, he's just very loveable to me.

my favorite book/season/etc

I thiiiink I slightly prefer season 1, but seasons 1 and 2 are pretty equally matched.

my favorite episode (if its a tv show)

A Piece of the Action lol.

my favorite cast member

Honestly I'll never have an answer to this unless I did have an actual fandom-y interest in one of the actors, and I didn't for Trek.

my favorite ship

Spock/McCoy. I enjoy all the K/S subtext and vibes when I watch the show, but I'm way more interested in Spock/McCoy because they're just more fun and a more interesting dynamic. They're the ideal kind of ship to put into situations. Accidental marriage, only one bed, fake dating, sex pollen, every fanfic trope is more fun with Spock/McCoy.

a character I’d die defending

McCoy!!! Yes he's mean to Spock sometimes but have you considered that Spock is also mean to McCoy sometimes? Check and mate.

a character I just can’t sympathize with

Hmm, there's that one asshole captain in Doomsday that I wanted to strangle. Oh also the dude who created the nazi planet lol.

a character I grew to love

Idk, I didn't dislike any characters at the start. I guess McCoy grew into being my favourite over the course of the first season.

my anti otp

Spock/Uhura I guess. That man is gay, please stop putting him in het.

Doctor Who:

my favorite female character

Rose Tyler! I fell in love with her at first sight and continued to love her for the rest of her run and after.

my favorite male character

Ten. Nine is better written in terms of like... thematic coherency, but I fucking love Ten's downward spiral lol. I love to see the hero of a legacy family show try to kill himself 10 times, ruin his friends lives, decide to sacrifice the earth so he doesn't have to kill the absolutely abhorrent villain he's pathetically in love with, be jealous of his human clone who gets to peace the fuck out and live a relatively normal life, mope over genociding the time lords for 4 seasons only to genocide them again because it turns out he also did it on purpose the first time for good reason, and then die miserably.

That's my kind of entertainment. It would've been a little better if RTD had fully committed to Ten as responsible for all his own problems in the vein of Casanova which was clearly a trial run for Ten's arc, but I can understand why he probably felt he couldn't quite go that far since he is the hero of a legacy show RTD was trying to repopularize.

my favorite book/season/etc

Season 3. I think season 1 is the best written followed by season 2, but 3 is Peak Ten at his miserable suicidal asshole low. Genuinely love his toxic dynamic with Martha and how it led to her walking out on him with her head held high.

my favorite episode (if its a tv show)

Midnight.

my favorite cast member

I do finally have an answer and it's David Tennant because I did have a Tennant phase lol. Watched some of his other stuff, fangirled a little, good times.

my favorite ship

Despite what it seems I am actually answering this for Doctor Who as a whole and not just RTD's first run, so Three/Delgado is the answer. Followed by Ten/Simm and Ten II/Rose.

a character I’d die defending

It'll be a cold day in hell before I get involved in Doctor Who wank lol. It is by a wide margin the worst fandom I've ever been in for infighting, and I want no part of that. I will never defend a Doctor Who character, I will run away as fast as I can.

a character I just can’t sympathize with

If I watched more than 5 episodes of his run I'm sure I could easily answer this with a Moffat era character, but as is... I'm gonna say the time lords as a whole. Like not every time lord, and maybe I'd feel differently if I ever listened to the Gallifrey audios lol, but given that their society is a parody/satire of Britain, Rassilon is always a villain, and it was entirely in character for them to decide to destroy the entire universe to become gods or whatever... yeah fuck em. Hope the Doctor blows up Gallifrey again someday.

a character I grew to love

I feel like every character I love was love at first sight. I guess... Sam from the Eight books? I did find her a little annoying at first, but I really liked her in some of her later books, like Seeing I.

Ooh actually I should also mention Mickey, I love his arc.

my anti otp

Doctor/~*~*~Missy~*~*~ in that they literally took my otp and turned it into everything I hate in a shockingly gender essentialist package. Granted I've only watched the first two parter with Gomez but nothing I've heard about the rest has made me think it might change my mind. More the opposite.

ask meme

[katefathers]

dissecting companion exits: a doctor who rant in the year 2024

So it's been over a month since I did that Doctor Who podcast, which has miraculously got me back on my Doctor Who bullshit, and after "The Giggle", I've been thinking a lot about companion exits, and how they worked for me and how they worked both inside and out of the narrative. And because what else is social media for than ranting about fiction, here I am.

I find it really interesting how in both Moffat and RTD Who, many of the exits work more successfully outside of the narrative than inside of it, yet for completely different reasons.

Like, "The Giggle" really emphasised how ridiculously tragic the Moffat companion exits were. And while I can't speak for Bill as I haven't watched her series, for both Amy and Clara, those exits didn't make much sense inside the narrative. Amy and Clara could have had non-tragic exits. Amy's run in particular seemed to be working towards her and Rory choosing to stop travelling with the Doctor. They weren't doing it full time, they were getting older (it was highlighted how Amy needed reading glasses now), and it would have made solid character and thematic sense to have them choose to end this chapter in their lives. To focus on their careers, and maybe have kids, and find the joy in the slow path. A slow wind down--a bittersweet yet poignant departure--would not have been untoward.

Clara could have left that way too. She could have either walked off into the sunset with Danny Pink (if he hadn't been killed off. Because he was killed off, right?) or found some other calling. Embracing teaching at Coal Hill. Teaching on another planet. Anything! But I think in both cases, Moffat wanted his "Doomsday", and so what made logical narrative sense took a backseat. These exits worked more outside of the story--"because the showrunner wanted tragedy"--than inside.

Donna, I think, could have also had a non-tragic exit. I know her tragic ending has been reversed, but if Donna had two series instead of one, I think an ending where she chose to leave the Doctor would have been possible. I mean, she loved travelling, but it's clear that she also wanted to do things like get married and have a family, and I think if she had one more series (or was in all four specials), she could have had a Jo Grant exit. But they couldn't get Catherine Tate for another series/all four specials, and RTD was set on leaving before Series 5, so Donna doesn't.

And the constraints of TV filmmaking are what I believe hampered the RTD companion exits. And there are two major ones: actor availability and the time the BBC allowed him to tell his stories.

Granted, while having two tragic exits that weigh on the Tenth Doctor and contribute to him going all "Time Lord Victorious" could have been the plan all along, assuming it wasn't, both Donna and Rose's exits make the most sense when read from an outside perspective: neither Catherine Tate or Billie Piper had signed on for more full episodes.

Rose's second exit, in particular, is the poster child for "outside the narrative" storytelling. I mean, when the Doctor says "But you've got to [stay in the parallel universe]", you nearly expect him to end that with "because your actress didn't sign on for more episodes". Outside the narrative, leaving Rose with TenToo wraps up the Doctor/Rose romance, keeps them mostly safe from the whims of future showrunners, and yet leaves Rose's story a little open-ended for the audience so they imagine whatever they want to happen in Rose's--and future Doctor's--future. Inside the narrative, however, I didn't find it particularly satisfying. The Doctor has been pining for Rose for two series. Rose has worked incredibly had to get back to him. As a character, she's crafted as someone who would stay with the Doctor forever. They have this sweeping, incredibly romantic reunion! Inside the narrative, her staying makes the most sense. It's the most satisfying ending. Especially if you don't have the space to make an ending with Rose's permanent exit gratifying.

Because like Donna and the bigeneration in "The Giggle", Rose ending up back in the parallel world could have been more satisfying if RTD had more time to build up to that exit. In general, much of "Journey's End" feels rushed, and the end of the episode is particularly bad, leaving a number of holes that never get filled. Mickey gives a very brief reason why he's staying in his home universe, but we don't see him say goodbye to Rose and Jackie. We never get a proper reunion between Rose and Jack, or resolution to Rose making Jack immortal, which she is clearly unaware of, nor do we get a goodbye between them. I remember wondering when "Journey's End" first aired, do Mickey and Jack even know that they won't see Rose again? Do they walk off with a quick "see ya later", thinking they'll meet up occasionally? Because Rose sure as hell didn't think she was leaving her home universe. And while we got TenToo on his own to establish that he is (mostly) the Doctor, we don't get much between him and Rose prior to being left on Bad Wolf Bay to build any kind of connection between them. We don't see Ten come to the decision to leave the two of them; we never really know how he feels about it. Yeah, Doctor Who is a very plot-forward show, but "Journey's End" was juggling a lot of plot and a lot of characters, and it should have been longer--or the Series 4 finale should have been a three-parter--to give both the story and characters time to breathe. The audience is left to infer A LOT, and for me it was unsatisfying at the time, and now with over a decade of distance, it's actually even more unsatisfying.

While it might seem like I have more of a problem with RTD's companion exits, I think they're more successful from a technical and audience standpoint than Moffat's. RTD has the incredible ability to write backwards, making you feel like an ending was always something that he was working towards, even when he wasn't. Although both Donna and Rose's stories could have been different given more time, and if they played out in a different medium like a novel, they still, mostly, work. Donna forgets, but gets a family and a mother who values her a little more. Rose gets both the Doctor and her parents--she doesn't have to sacrifice one for the other anymore. Moffat's, on the other hand, feel very slapdash, and I don't recall feeling like we'd been working towards them. Because, as I said, it always seemed like he was working towards a totally different ending.

I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with this, but I find the difference between Moffat and RTD's approach to companion exits really fascinating. One wanted a specific style of ending, but didn't seem to know how to foreshadow it--how to make it work as part of a cohesive narrative. The other had a strong handle on narrative and character arcs, but their ability to craft something satisfying--to give his audience all the information--was hindered by episode length. Going forward, I hope RTD can manage his time better so that the companion exit is more satisfying, like Martha's. But I also hope he takes a leaf out of Moffat's book and plans a non-tragic ending. Because Moffat did set up two fairly sold, amicable partings, and Doctor Who needs more of those again.

[genderqueerpond]

(Second attempt, full and complete story this time, with the basically-happy ending I promised.)

Alright. I'll admit it: I couldn't quite buy the whole bigeneration-tenteen-gets-to-live-happily-ever-after-with-the-nobles thing, as much as I WANT the Doctor to have that. (it is SUCH an RTD thing to do though.) And I loved 99.5% of the episode, I really really did. But that just didn't quite sit right, and yet I loved it, and yet I want the Doctor to have that.

So! Ahead, my patch, featuring what I thought was happening at the last point during which it all still worked for me, which changes very very little and is, I swear, just as happy as what's in the show. (REALLY. if you saw me accidentally post this before it was done, no you didn't.)

The "bigeneration" does happen, exactly as shown. And boy, is the Doctor terrified. Because --- they were regenerating, they could feel it, and then it just.... stopped. Regeneration energy ebbing away, as if.... as if there's not quite enough of it to complete the process.

Is this it? Are they just too old, can they run out if regeneration after all, oh god what if this is the end end, and they just die, and abandon their friends, all of humanity, all of the the universe, to this nightmare?

But... no. They can't allow that to happen. And they can feel it, the presence of the new self inside, the energy bubbling.... it just needs a little encouragement, that's all. It must. They can do it, even if it turns out they're doing it for last time. They HAVE to. So they get their friends to pull, to encourage it, and it works, or does something like working, because, well, that happens.

And the new doctor feels GREAT. How could they not, born surrounded with such unconditional love and support?

But ten....fourteen....ten is still dying. The regeneration energy didn't heal them, it just slowed things down. Slowed it down enough, to pretend everything is fine. Enough to do what needs to be done, to team up and defeat the toymaker at his own game.

Also, they each only have one heart.

This, too, is fine --- for now. They can function. They don't even notice, at first.

But a time lord (whether or not they really are one) isn't built to sustain health with only one heart. Especially not one who's still actively dying.

So, once it's all over, ten begins to crumble. Not outwardly, not too much. They'd never let everyone see that. But inside, physically as well as emotionally.

And when their new self hugs them, pulls them into their arms and says "I'm here, I've got you", the thing the Doctor has said to hundreds of people but never before heard back.... it's true. It's true on every level.

The worn-out, defeated Doctor lets go. Relaxes completely into their other self's arms. Begins to cry.

And the new Doctor just holds them. Holds them both up. Holds on.

And ten finally lets themself be DONE.

At first it is subtle. They couldn't break away even if they wanted to (they don't). They don't know where their body turns into tears turns into their other body. It simply melts away into the new one, and is absorbed. Regeneration energy burns softly around them.

"Right... okay." Donna breathes, mostly to herself, watching.

"Okay?" says the Doctor, the one, whole, united, fabulous new Doctor, turning to their best friend and smiling at her - for an instant, it is a sad smile, a soft, sad smile, ten's smile. Only for an instant. Then it transforms effortlessly into their new bright, joyful beam.

"Yeah." says Donna, grinning back.

------------------

The fifteenth Doctor doesn't fly away. They do something really, truly, completely new: admit they need a break.

So, it's the fifteenth Doctor who stays with the Noble Temples, and honestly that's a perfect name for them, and their home, and the whole dinner scene goes down more or less as shown, just with fifteen.

Donna takes the job at UNIT, and she and Mel are natural besties instantly.

Her salary is enough to live comfortably in that house and neighborhood on the same level as their neighbors, making one less way Rose has to feel like an outsider, and still consistently give a large chunk of it to charity. (The Doctor helps her make sure she's picking them wisely.)

The Doctor also helps out at UNIT, but they don't need them, not the way they did when UNIT was new, and frequently shoo them away, reminding them that they're on leave, reminding them to take care of themself for once, and "we've got this, Doctor. Really."

"Right.... right." The Doctor will say with a smile, any of the ten million times this happens. Kate and Shirley don't mind reminding them again and again and again.

And they go on trips every so often, because it's the Doctor, and they can't resist. Every single one of them gets to see at least a little of the stars. The universe chills out enough, for now, for it to be mostly fun, and only occasionally terrifying.

But, mostly, the Doctor stays.

("You don't have to stay forever." says Donna, and in that, what she's really saying is I love you.

I will not hold you here. I will not force you into anything you don't want to do.

"We'll see." says fifteen.)

The fifteenth Doctor uses their newfound ability to actually talk about things with every member of the Noble Temple family, and with Mel and Kate and Shirley. But ultimately the one they talk about things the most with is Wilf.

Wilf, who has felt stronger somehow ever since the Doctor joined their family, ultimately lives to the ripe old age of 117. The presence of the Doctor's shiny new regeneration energy might have something to do with that. Or not. The Doctor never admits it.

But all of the family age gracefully and live long, although not that long.

Ocasionally, stuff does happen on Earth, as it always will, and in the end Donna lays down her life to save humanity and save the Doctor, as she was always going to do. As we all saw foreshadowed that she would. But she's 89, so it.... well, no. It hurts. It always will.

But the Doctor stays for the funeral, tells everyone who knew her how special Donna was. Then says goodbye to their family, which has lost people over the years but also, mostly, grown, hug Rose, hug Shawn.... and THEN they're off. It really hasn't been that long, not by the Doctor's scale, but it's been good enough for some healing to take place, at least, enough to be that perfectly joyful Doctor, in the TARDIS rocking out, destination: christmas.

[cringecompanionapologist]

So, there's a lot going on with Doctor Who right now, and I'm not sure it's all gonna work out, but I really want to give RTD the benefit of the doubt right now, because he's got a nearly impossible task here.

The show went through a dip in ratings and he was brought back in to rescue it. He revived the series from the dead in the first place. But, he now has to create something keeping a very diverse audience in mind. I don't mean "diverse" in a race/gender/sexuality sense, though that's certainly also true. I mean diverse in what they actually want from the show. I mean, you've got:

Fans of the Classic series who generally hate everything new.

Long time fans who like the new series, but weren't really into the Chibnall era.

These can be divided between "We didn't like Chibnall and we want things to be like they were before him" and "We didn't like Chibnall and we want something completely new."

People who stopped watching the show some time between 2010 and 2022 who want to get back into it, because it looks like it did when they were watching it.

Literal children who just watch Doctor Who.

Fans of the Chibnall era that don't like that it ended.

Fans very critical of the first RTD era who just don't want him back in general.

Fans who think the Chibnall era was "too political"

Fans who think the Chibnall era played it too safe politically. (Compare the treatment of capitalism in Oxygen to the treatment of capitalism in Kerblam.)

And I'm definitely forgetting some people here. He has to make the show like it was in the classic era, like it was the last time he was running things, like the Moffat era, like the Chibnall, and like something completely new. Something different, but not too different. Something inoffensive, including to people who get offended by attempts to be inoffensive. Something that appeals to children without seeming too childish for adult fans. And it all has to bring up ratings and turn a profit.

So everything he's done so far that you don't like was done in an attempt to cater to someone else.

David Tennant's back for the people who stopped watching after he left. This is stupid to everyone else.

Series 14 is a new Series 1 for new people who feel weird starting a show in its 14th season, who we don't want to binge 13 seasons to catch up. It ruins the numbering system for anyone keeping track.

13's cloths changing when she regenerated into 14 was an attempt to avoid controversy with one group which created controversy with others. Same thing with all the Davros stuff recently.

Meanwhile, you have Tales of the TARDIS, a popular dw comic villain appearing in the show, and the return of a one-off villain from 1966 to appeal to classic series and eu fans, as well as make new fans curious about those things.

He's trying to do something for everyone, but some things that are for one group are against another. Still, I can't be mad at him for trying. He's being giving a near-impossible task of saving a sinking ship, which wasn't sinking for half of its passengers, and already underwater for a good portion of the other half. Things are going to go wrong in there somewhere.

I'm still going to wait and see how this next season goes before calling it a success or failure. I don't believe Doctor Who can be Ruined Forever. Even if it's cancelled, it'll come back eventually. It's already happened. And even if it's not on TV, we're still got a lot of other stuff. This show, even if it's doing things you hate, is unkillable.

I know I have absolutely no sway over this fandom, but I think we should try to be patient. Even if you didn't like the RTD era, he's still trying here. If you didn't like the first RTD era, don't be surprised if you don't like this one. This era will end and you might like the next one. If you don't, whatever you do like will still be there.

Everything's gonna be fine by someone's standards.

[variousqueerthings]

we did watch end of time last night, and I didn't cry, but also it feels like I ought to, but maybe it's that the story isn't technically finished because there's a coda coming up. but also I feel sad anyway

but just to think about the original epilogue that is the five specials, interesting to think about. I do think that "the next doctor" is the messiest of the bunch, but that's par for the course for christmas specials (and still by far not as messy as some later christmas specials...) however, let's be real, I'm here for the character insights, and this episode eases us into the idea that this doctor will not be with us long, mentions a bit about being alone, and then the doctor has a last christmas dinner, after avoiding it since rose

planet of the dead is an alright episode -- fun general plot, am into the creatures it introduces, and I mentioned before that whatever is happening between christina and the doctor is like an anti-romance (and... not by design, I assume, but it fits in with all of my headcanons, so I'm not complaining here). the main thing here, other than cryptic prophecies, is that the doctor has an offer for a new companion here. and he says "no, because I have a bunch of survivor's guilt, PTSD, and depression, and I wish women would stop suddenly kissing me out of the blue, seriously beginning to freak me out, sure hope that doesn't happen in my next regeneration..." (well, okay, he thinks those things)

mainly those two episodes though, give us a bit of good stuff. people clap and tell the doctor what a good job he's doing, you're like "ok maybe he could keep going like this for awhile and things might get bette-"

and then waters of mars, beloved carrier of The Themes, rtd like, "well you've got two slightly silly episodes to start us off, and we've got a double episode that's very rtd-vibes to finish us off, so lets have a middle episode that is so horrifying on several levels, to really balance us off, yes good." (and it is so fucking good). rtd in the behind-the-scenes talked about how they originally had a whole thing about how yuri and mia being a couple, well were they going to have children, and how would that affect the development of humanity if they were meant to be dead and like... yeah. adelaide knew what was up, but they didn't (maybe they suspected -- what's it like, I wonder, knowing you were really really meant to be dead, and you're living a life that is at odds with time itself...) but we don't have time to get into aaaall of that, the important thing is that the doctor is briefly mad with grief and tries it out against heavyweight (checks notes) The Concept Of Time, and sort of loses and is told it's time to die and responds to it by going-

lol nope. at the beginning of the end of time, the doctor avoids dying by doing a last spot of travelling, and acting like he's having a mental health breakdown and that's fine. and then has to rush to face his death, which as it turns out is (not so shockingly) connected to the master, our favourite weirdo, and they do their whole homoerotic thing where the master hurts the doctor in various ways and ties him up and threatens to kill him and destroys humanity (again), par for the course, except for bringing back the timelords + ofc there's a whooole bit where the doctor's PTSD depression comes to the forefront and he admits that he's terrified of regenerating, but also everything sucks and david tennant is a terrific actor and it's fascinating that rtd brought back doctor who in the way that he did, with a relearning of the wonders of the universe, only to rip it all away again

so you know. get fucked ten, but also it makes sense, there's an Arc, there's Cause and Effect, there's mountains of Sadness. POV you're learning about tragic narrative arcs in the whimsical time travel show after having tuned in for 5ish years since you were 10 (kidding, I watched the animated animal farm when I was five and it made me very curious about why it made me feel so bad and then we chased that concept ever since)

I genuinely cannot remember how I emotionally left things with ten back when there was no proposed special episodes going to happen, but I think if there's any doctor that needs a bit of catharsis, it's that one. and hopefully that'll come with a sense of everything that came next to change the doctor's view on Life this time around. or youknow. more pain. maybe a bit of both

in any case, thank you to the first rtd era, it changed my brain chemistry forever and introduced me to the whimsical time travel show and everything was fine

[ssaalexblake]

Out of curiosity, do you think anything in particular will cause people to come around on 13, or it’ll just be that their perspectives kinda soften with time?

Hm. I don't really think there will be a particular event that'll cause people to suddenly change their perspective, the only way I see any kind of ~catalyst to changing opinions on 13 in a dramatic way is if RTD really does Whedon himself, and to be fair even thought I said i doubt there will be a catalyst, I genuinely think there's at least a chance he will actually do this because fandom is a fickle beast that will turn on people as if a bird on the wind. The fatal mix of hero worship and nostalgia, the time gap where fandom has had More than enough time to become attached to their own view of things were back in the day even if that view doesn't entirely mesh with what actually transpired. The passage of time leaving viewers nowadays far less forgiving of the type of things rife in his work that can be written off on 'product of its time' for 2006 but will not be if they show up again in 2023. The expectations being So high. People only have So much ability to write things off before the straw breaks the camel's back.

I have seen this pattern in fandom before, and yeah it might not happen, but this is also potentially whedon after the first avengers movie being everybody's best buddy straight to being their most disdained after aou.

Generally speaking, when shit like that happens, people tend to reassess preconceived notions. a 'why did we think that one was ever bad?' as a result of the above eventuality is the only way i see some kind of Thing happening that softens people on 13.

But, also, those tags was me kind of responding to the op's tags on their gifset, because despite the fact that the people on the internet have been sipping the nmd's misogynistic koolaid light without even realising it for years, the vast majority of viewers Not being chronically online haven't been doing that and were fine with her era. Judging her popularity only from the people obsessed with the show on the internet is absurd, and i include my positive views in that. I am not the average viewer lol, neither are the weirdos being hateful, no matter How much it benefits them to make people think Everybody hates it and that they're peddling the Bestest Opinion and that it's not cool to like the girl doctor.

So with the caveat that I do not think she's actually unpopular (radiotimes favourite doctor poll my beloved. 10 & 13 coming in highest with 21% of the vote each. Over 50,000 votes in total and he received only abt 90 more than her. There was no way to victimise anybody on this poll with strategic voting, no amount of block voting to support one doctor could dent her total and she came second out of all the doctors by a few measly votes. The general public Like Her.)

In time, it will soften. The misogynists will stop spending all their time talking about how uncool it is to like her to peer pressure people and the ones who don't eventually stop will be marked as losers obsessed with insulting her not worth listening to, so people will just watch it with no one sitting on their shoulder telling them it's bad. People will rewatch it with an open mind instead. I literally have had (multiple times) people in my activity page saying once they stopped listening to people saying how bad 13's era was and went back to it with an open mind it was good! This was a few different people! This has already happened and will continue to.

The nmd squad, quite successfully, were allowed to make it uncool to like her. They were open that their reasoning was misogynistic and even if they didn't use the word, anybody who knows what that means knows they are, but it was not called out as such and it poisoned the well because it gave them legitimacy they did not deserve. It won't stay that way forever, though. People will watch it and judge it Fairly without their influence. Let it have flaws without using them as an excuse to express hatred they already felt for no reason. Let it shine where it shines. Discuss its issues analytically instead of as a gotcha. Talk about themes. Discuss the characters.

This bullshit shall pass, basically.

idk how long we'll have to wait, but i'm willing. I got through being in the fandom and open about my love for it when it aired, and i sure as hell am not missing the moment when people stop being weird and can just be normal about it. I earned that sense of peace through suffering and i intend to collect. I'm not letting it go though. Being an active fan Really Really Sucked.

(shout out to my man colin baker who told the misogynists to get over it from points A to Z. Had everybody had the balls to do what he did they'd never have gotten a foothold and would have been booed out of the room as they should have been.)

[theglockwizard]

Finally had the time to sit down and watch Doctor Who's third special.

So, I was really excited about the Toymaker's comeback because while I haven't seen the Classic Who's episodes with him, it did look like a fun villain to have and oh boy did NPH deliver! He's been a joy to watch. But I will say this special is a let down from Wild Blue Yonder for me, possibly even from The Star Beast.

It needed to be LONGER. There is so much good ideas thrown around but none are like, discussed enough to actually matter ?? Like The Giggle is a fun concept, the idea of a laugh being subliminally implanted in humans brains to make them feel scorned at and lash out in retaliation, but it's not actually explored at all! Like Mel even says it's just a simple arpeggio I think, which would raise the question would any other similar enough jingle produce the same reaction? Who knows because big laser goes brrr and that's it.

The Toymaker's domain, the toy shop bigger on the inside that answers to no rhyme or logic if not games filled with horrors definetely could've carried one full episodes(even more!), but it is instead quickly dispatched, because we have to go back to show the totally not UNIT spinoff setup.

The game being catch is a fun idea but boring and atrocious to watch (I loved (sarcastic) how the Doctors were doing stunts and stuff while NPH just raised a hand multiple times and that was it). It also takes no advantage of there being actually two Doctors - rock paper scissods would've worked better honestly? First thing that comes to mind, and the fact that the Toymaker is stopped because he dropped it when he could've just jumped and caught it is dumb. And I know that it's because the game bounds him to keep it fair, but his adversaries could've done the same albeit by regenerating after going splat.

And now. Now. The big elephant in the room. Bigeneration. I don't know what to think, because the show doesn't really explain it. My current guess is that it's a myth and the fact that The Toymaker is there plus salt at the edge of the universe made it seemingly real by pulling Fifteen from Fourteen future: he is stated to be older, which would not be the case if this was a split regeneration, and is in a better place mentally because he, as Fourteen, stopped and rested and stuff. But that's my headcanon, because there's no confirmation and RTD has been obviously not very keen to confirm or disprove either option, I assume to keep each door open until one definetely needs to be closed.

But as for now? I don't like it. I was ok with Fourteen especially because he's not Ten (despite having similarities) and because he would be here for three specials only, but this Has Been Certainly A Choice to make huh. First of all, reusual of plotlines much? Tennant having a copy "to gift" to a previous companion? But also, The Doctor's regeneration has always been a baton pass of sorts and that felt missing. Also the way Fifteen is the one going off with the copy TARDIS while Fourteen kept the OG... Don't like it nuh huh. Plus I hope the show goes either off current day Earth a lot or solves the Fourteen's plotline because the moment an invasion comes you will have to answer to why isn't Fourteen helping?

But anyway, I am choosing to trust because this three Specials have effectively revived my interest in Doctor Who, and I think RTD knows how not undermine the entire thing. I hope.

And let's be honest even if I didn't trust, I would still be watching because Ncuti's Doctor HAD ME HOOKED.

[nocaffeineforlevi]

CON ROUNDUP

Day One:

Cosplay: S4 Simm!Master

My mom was with me dressed as Missy so we got stopped a bunch for photos.

When I was down in Artist Alley someone started doing the drumbeat and I swear I almost collapsed.

I was part of a panel about Trans stories in Doctor Who and everyone was very sweet and supportive.

The con had a thing where cosplayers could sign up and do a walk across the stage with whatever ers you were apart of, so I did that, all the cosplayers were super nice and I had a great time.

I was going to go to a dance party thing that the con had, but unfortunately the time difference really got to me so I didn't end up doing it.

Day Two

Cosplay: Weeping Angel

Had another panel much earlier so I had to rush a bit to get the makeup and everything on, but the cosplay came together wonderfully and I got asked for lots of photos again (My mom was Ten this time so we also got asked for a lot of photos together)

Once we got down into artist alley we get approached by this 13 cosplayer who compliments our cosplays and starts to ask for photos, but is interrupted by me impulsively screaming because I realize that the 13 cosplayer is Katiegangel. I talked about this a bit in a different post but yeah she was super nice and understanding about me freaking out. AND She did a little thing for one of our photos where she took my hand and said "I've never had a Weeping Angel as a companion before" and my heart was beating so fast but I managed to get out a response so aaaaa. (Just found out she DOES have a tumblr @katiegangel hope you don't mind me tagging, it was awesome to meet you!) (Dang imagine if that's an impersonation account) (welp)

Big Finish had a table in the center and I managed to pick up a copy of the Ten and Missy audio drama since they didn't have any of them the previous day. (I listened to it today and it was as amazing as I expected, although I was a little sad it wasn't technically ten who was meeting missy)

I went to my panel which was much emptier this time, so luckily there weren't many people around to see me awkwardly attempt to sit in a chair while wearing those wings.

After I had a break I went back down to artist alley and got to meet ANOTHER cosplayer I recognized from tiktok (I can't remember their username, but they cosplay Yaz with Katie as Thirteen a lot and that' why I recognized them) and I got to get a photo with them as well.

In preparation for watching the Star Beast I had to change from the Weeping Angel cosplay back into Simm!Master and it took SO LONG to get all the makeup off.

I brought my knitting with because I knew we were going to have to wait for a while before we got to watch the episode, the line outside of the room was super long but I was too anxious to knit.

Once we finally got in and got seated we ended up in the row behind Katie and her friends and I was silently freaking out again, so I started knitting and ended up talking with the person next to me who liked the panel I did on Friday. Katie turned around and we ended up doing some in-character banter because "haha the Master is knitting a scarf" "It's an evil scheme I swear" "You didn't shave Beep the Meep to make that yarn did you" "even if I did I morally committed no crime" so anyway by the time the event started I wasn't as nervous anymore.

When announcing the event the guy on stage I think misspoke and mentioned "The Master" so, like any normal group of people, this ballroom full of hundreds of Whovians started doing the four-beat clap. I unfortunately didn't get my phone out in time to record it but it was insane hearing that lol.

The director of the episode was a guest so she came out and talked up the episode a bit before recording a video of all of us cheering to send to RTD and David Tennant.

Then the episode begins and I already talked about that so no need to talk about that.

Final event of the night, we did Karoake and found a S3 Simm!Master cosplayer (we had run into him several times the previous day as well) and he had a Ten cosplayer with him this time. They did Good Old-Fashioned Loverboy together and were overall awesome. Me and my mom did Starman and it was really fun.

The entire time throughout the con people were giving out these ribbons that you could put onto your badge and by the time we left mine was over a foot long.

Overall, super fun con, props to you if you actually read through this whole post, I cannot imagine that anyone else found this interesting to read through, I'm mainly just writing this to remind myself about all the fun things that happened.

[jyndor]

literally ncuti's doctor got me in one line lmfao I will in fact be watching fucking doctor who again

I only stopped watching because I gave m*ffat's era YEARS and chance after chance but it pretty much killed my love and interest in the show. apparently he finally got it right in his final season but idek I'd had it with his misogynist, racist and queerphobic bullshit - not to mention his writing just isn't for me (though it's certainly competent enough).

rtd's writing is pretty much my style to a t, but I'm not gonna deny having concerns about the guy who wrote martha's arc and the antiblackness around it (as well as with mickey).

anyway I have my reservations about ever getting into this show again, but I'd be shocked if I didn't like what russel does because he's exceptionally gifted at writing complicated, deeply human and flawed but still lovable characters. my main concern is... please let him recognize the problem that happened with martha following rose - and being treated like shit by ten - because it doesn't really matter if the intention is to point out how bullshit it is to make comparisons or that all companions bring something equally important to the table (or that grief was keeping ten from being as good to martha as she deserved) since non-Black audiences will totally miss the point and be vitriolic as hell to any Black character who could even remotely be considered a replacement for their fave or whatever.

idk I'm just worried about what might happen if you have ncuti gatwa's doctor "curing" himself of some weird glitch or whatever is making ten-whatever come back. because obviously fourteen isn't david tennant.

for better or for worse, rtd's era with ten was the most beloved era for many fans. although at the time it was given so much shit lol yall are acting like everyone stanned ten and rtd when actually there was a significant gender divide on the show. the dumbass fanboys didn't respect ten because he was emotional and in love and heartbroken, and not like their weird cold badass fuckboy fantasy or whatever that eleven ended up representing. there was so much misogyny and racism in the fandom then.

I hope that rtd has learned since those days and will have a robustly diverse writer's room. I don't trust a lot of writers on anything but I do trust him to create great characters with diverse identities and do it relatively well, but I also know how anti-Black his era was (despite his clear good intentions, he still put martha and mickey to a lesser extent through it) and it gives me pause to see tennant steal a bit of ncuti's thunder, even if I understand the real world reasons for why they did it.

[oodlyenough]

@firstofoctober dedicatedly does this fandom meme at the end of every year ever since back in lj days and i am bored so here we go

even just calling this a "meme" is so dated now. love it

1. Your main fandom of the year: It was probably Borderlands by definition for a majority of the year, although in that sort of waning way where different things monthly would catch my eye. Ah the slow end of an era...

2. Your favorite film this year: Oh my god wtf movies did I watch this year. I think basically by default it's No Way Home because it's the only film I can remember watching from 2021 flkhghlg... it was certainly the movie I was most anticipating, by which I mean also the only movie I was anticipating and the only one I braved a movie theatre for in the past two years.

3. Your favorite book this year: Much like the above, I only read a few books, and right now I'm hard-pressed to remember what I read, when. The pandemic's a blur. But I am certain How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa was 2021, and I did enjoy it. I like short story anthologies. The other one I've been working through is a Shirley Jackson collection.

4. Your favorite album or song this year: According to Spotify wrapped it was Red lmfao. I also got into Sour like, six months after everyone else.

5. Your favorite TV show this year: Arcane apparently?! Sneaking in just below the deadline.

6. Your favorite Tumblr game this year: I'm using creative liberty since a) no fave tumblr?? and b) this meme is not designed for Gamers and I played way more games than I watched movies or read books. Anyway Psychonauts 2 was my GOTY! I absolutely loved it, what a gem. Fun to play, great script, incredible level design, unique look and feel. I played a lot of good games this year, but Psychonauts 2 takes top slot.

7. Your best new fandom discovery of the year: I guess I have to give it to Arcane despite only being around for like, two weeks, it's the first time in years something sort of wholly took over my thought process after finishing and made me want to write fic, etc. Runner-up mention will go to Spider-Man just because god I consumed so much Spider-Man this year lmao... two Insomniac games and their DLC, every movie including Spiderverse and all the MCU ensemble clips. It didn't really give me the same level of intense emotional investment, but it sure did give me something to, like, academically study lol.

8. Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year: Man I actually... can't think of anything that really stunned me? I guess I was lowkey disappointed we didn't get Harley Quinn s3 but that's not really the same. Also the Harley Quinn TV show comics sucked ass, so maybe that.

9. Your TV boyfriend of the year: Viktor Arcane, the latest in my long line of beloved white men with sad puppy eyes. I am nothing if not consistent.

10. Your TV gamer girlfriend of the year: I'll give this one to Alex Chen. I really wanted to like True Colours, of course, but I was still surprised by HOW MUCH I liked True Colours, and particularly Alex herself. What a wonderful, nuanced character. The whole game rests on her lovely empathetic shoulders.

11. Your biggest squee moment of the year: "Squee moment". This meme is so old. God bless. I'm actually not sure? I can't think of any big announcement or ship development that made me lose it this year, lol. Maybe seeing No Way Home just because it was cool to be in such an excited, cheering theatre, especially after two years of pandemic. And now I am back in covid 2: christmas boogaloo lockdown anyway, so it was kind of a last hurrah lmfao.

WAIT NEVER MIND it was the announcement RTD is coming back to Doctor Who?!?! !?? What the fuck!! Return of the king... Roll on 2023

12. Your most missed old fandom: Don't have one. I do have an old fandom I wish I could stop hearing about forever because mention if it brings only pain and bitterness due to a creator's radicalization. No points for guessing.

13. Your fandom you haven’t tried yet, but want to? None comes to mind.

14. Your biggest anticipation of the New Year: Lots of video games lol... LIS Remastered, Oxenfree 2, Horizon Forbidden West. Killing Eve's final season. Harley Quinn... hopefully...

[dans-den]

Creator Clash: thoughts and ranking matches

What up everyone! Dan here and this isn't a review per say, but rather my thoughts on the Creator Clash boxing event hosted by Idubbbz. This is different from your typical celebrity boxing or Paul brothers fights because this is actually entertaining and its for charity. This was an awesome event to watch and a lot of my favorite Youtubers I watched growing up were boxing or in attendance at the event. Plus you had Moist Critikal aka Charlie aka Penguinz0 commentating at the event which was just the cherry on top. It was a fun event and the fact it was all for charity to help with Alzheimer's research along with a couple others was real nice, I respect everyone who participated in this event. With that said, I figured I'd do a little ranking of my favorite matches from the event. There were nine matches in total and I'll rank from least favorite to most favorite.

Now keep in mind these are Youtubers, not professional fighters so I'm not here to insult any of them because anyone willing to get in the ring to fight another person for charity earns my respect at the end of the day. Just giving my thoughts on each fight since they all fought in more amateur boxing sanctioned rules.

NUMBER 9. THEODD1SOUT VS. I DID A THING

This was the 4th match of the night and it was also James (THEODD1SOUT) birthday so that was cool. I'm surprised he event took this fight and it was clear that Alex (I DID A THING) was ready to go ham because he gave James a good one, two and James was already out of it. Luckily for James, Alex didn't follow through and blast him like team rocket. But shortly after the ref stopped the fight in the first round with 36 seconds left on the clock, making Alex the winner by first round TKO. I don't think James was serious about this match considering he didn't seem physically or mentally ready for this but regardless, still cool seeing these two clash.

NUMBER 8. INTERNET COMMENT ETIQUETTE WITH ERIK VS. DJ WELCH OF ANIMATORS VS GAMES

This was the third match of the night, I love heavyweight bouts because one punch can change the course of the fight. This bout was a little different since both fighters wore headgear which is understandable because this is all for fun and no one should get seriously hurt. This match did go pass the first round which was cool, but DJ had this match won while Erik was struggling to hold on. To be fair, both guys were exhausted after the fight but DJ had the most aggression and pressure which won him the fight. They went two full rounds before Erik threw in the towel before the third round making DJ Welch the winner by round 2 RTD.

NUMBER 7. JUSTAMINX VS YODELING HALEY

This was the fifth match of the night and the first female youtuber/influencer boxing match so that was pretty neat to watch because I do think Women boxing is entertaining to watch and at times explosive. I do hope this sets a trend or kickstarts more female content creators to get in on the action too in the future. The actual match was decent, but there was a definite size difference because Becca (JUSTAMINX) is built like a tank compared to Haley. Becca had size and power on her side in this clash, She was like a female Tyson Fury. To be fair, I will say Haley had more speed and accuracy and she absorbed plenty of punishment. as the fight neared the end, both were exhausted and throwing sloppy and slow punches. But Becca had more weight behind her punches which soon overwhelmed Haley and the referee stopped the match at the end of the forth round making JUSTAMINX the winner by fourth round TKO.

NUMBER 6. GRAHAM STEPHAN VS MICHAEL REEVES

This was the seventh fight of the night and this lightweight bout was pretty competitive seeing how both were pretty even coming into this fight. The first round was more of a feeling out process but it had it's moments where these two clashed it out a bit. Come the second round, that would change. Graham was putting on the pressure more in the first half of the second round and just when it looked like he had this in the bag, Michael came in with a powerful right hand and dazed Graham. Soon Michael would clock Graham with another right hand and back him into the corner like a wounded animal. Michael kept clocking Graham with right hand punches and the referee stopped it with 15 seconds left in the second round. Michael Reeves won by second round TKO and when asked if he would box again, Michael responded "FUUUCK NO!" which I thought was hilarious.

NUMBER 5. MATT WATSON OF SUPERMEGA VS. DAD

This was the first match of the night and would set the tone for how the entire fight card would go. This was a shock to everyone considering this fight would only last 22 seconds in the first round and there was a huge age difference between the two fighters. Matt is 26 while Nathan (DAD) is 41 years old. That is a 15 year age difference, I thought that was Matt's Dad and everyone thought Matt would destroy Nathan but you'd all be wrong. Nathan came in looking shredded and completely obliterated Matt. Matt tried to set up Nathan with a jab, but Nathan came in fast and furious with some beautiful left hooks that stunned Matt and followed it up with a wild right hook then another crisp left hook until the referee saw enough and stopped the fight at 22 seconds making DAD the winner by first round TKO. This was a George Foreman style victory where the old man taught the young buck to respect his elders.

NUMBER 4. RYAN MAGEE OF SUPERMEGA VS ALEX ERNST

Man, this was not a good day to be a SuperMega fan. However unlike his partner, Ryan Magee would go pass the first round and give quite a performance again Alex Ernst. This was the second fight of the night and both these guys may not have had the best boxing experience, but they gave it their all with some nice back and forth action that lasted the entire five rounds of the fight. These two truly became warriors in the square circle fighting each other going back and forth with nonstop action. Ryan was looking worse for wear as he suffered a bloody nose several times but he never gave in and kept of fighting Alex going on pure instincts. Both were exhausted and at the end of five action packed rounds, Alex Ernst was the winner by Unanimous Decision and both men gained respect from the crowd and each other.

NUMBER 3. HARLEY OF EPIC MEAL TIME VS ARIN (aka Egoraptur) OF GAME GRUMPS

This was the eighth fight of the night and the Co Main Event of the card. I grew up watching these two in my teen years and to see them fight it out was something I never asked for, but glad I got. I've been watching Harleys training videos and surprisingly he took it seriously and it shows on full display in this match. Harley was patient, precise for a big heavyweight and gave some major combinations and uppercuts that did Arin in. While Harley put in the work to win this match, I don't feel Arin trained enough, though to be fair he accepted on five weeks notice so I give him credit for his efforts in the ring. If Harley does this again, he should go up against someone who's closer to his size and hopefully with enough time to train to compete with Harley.

NUMBER 2. HUNDAR OF MUSCLE PARTY VS. AB OF H3 PODCAST

This was the sixth fight of the night and let me just say, Hundar looks like a god damn Viking. Seriously, he's like a real life Kratos yet he sounds like a teenager, it's a little funny ngl. This match was probably the closest any of these fights came to a legit boxing match at pro level. Hundar and AB were both technical in the first half of the fight and they were landing clean shots. In the third round, Hundar unleashed the God of War and threw a right hook at AB's head knocking him down. AB beat the count and responded with his own right hook knocking Hundar down. Hundar beat the count and they battled it out till the end of the round. This fight was shaping up to be a true clash of titans and it made it all the way to the fifth and final round of the fight. These two gave it their all in the final round but in the end, Hundar went to the body and started weakening AB until AB couldn't keep going and the referee stopped the fight with a minute and four seconds left. Hundar won the fight by fifth round TKO, definitely one of the better fights and arguably the best fight of this night.

NUMBER 1. IDUBBBZ VS. DR. MIKE

The ninth fight and main event of this fight card, Ian (Idubbbz) put this all together in the first place so it's only right he finishes it off with a grand finale. Ian surprised us all coming into this, while we may have wanted him to win, I think we all knew that was highly unlikely considering Dr. Mike has been boxing for years. Despite that, Ian trained hard and took this seriously going in as an underdog against someone with far more experience and knowledge doing this not for clout or recognition, but for a good cause and a good time. It was clear Ian was losing all the rounds, but he never gave up and wanted to give the crowd an entertaining fight. It was suppose to go four rounds with three minutes each, but I guess they changed it perhaps because the fighters couldn't handle that type of condition? who knows. Either way this was a great fight, Dr. Mike was dominating, but Ian stayed in there to give a competitive match for the good doctor. While Dr. Mike won with a lopsided Unanimous Decision, at the end of the day, Ian was the true winner for setting this event up and providing a fun time for everyone. Everyone in this event won, the fans, the fighters, the charities, everyone. Ian never had intentions of winning the fight itself, look at the poster. The poster was foreshadowing what was to come and he knew this as well but it didn't matter since everyone had a fun time. For that, Idubbbz is truly a winner in my eyes and I thank him and everyone involved in making this possible.

Hope we get a Creators Clash 2 in the future, See Ya!

[astrangergivingthestrangewelcome]

So after finally. Finally getting around to finishing Moffat's Doctor Who era I think I fall somewhere in the middle. I'm not one of those who despise him and stopped watching Who because of him; I can think of several sci-fi concepts and character designs of his that were really quite interesting and well done. And I certainly don't think RTD was unto a god. However I really do think his critics have it right when they say his ego is his own worst enemy and the meat of his overarching stories fall apart under all of his "I'm so delightfully clever and smart look at me" showboating. There's also a lot of validity to complaints about how he writes companions. Amy and Clara with all of their seasons never wriggled into my heart the way Martha and Donna did after only their first few episodes. Even Bill Potts, easily the best companion of the Moffat era didn't quite cut it. Being the showrunner of Who isn't an easy job, and I think Moffat put all he had into it (which really does count for a lot, even with all my criticisms of Sherlock and Doctor Who, I have more respect for him than D&D), all the same I can't WAIT to start series 11.

[kjmellow]

Don't mind if I do teehehe

And I'm just actually going to go ALL IN on my own because I know I'll get asked like two of these tops and god knows I love ask games...

1) I think my first one was Vincent and the Doctor unless I'm mixing it up with my friend's first ever episode?? I totally remember catching just a single episode on TV at some point and then much later being mighty surprised it was what later became my most favourite show of all times lmao (although if you count spin-offs I used to LOVE K-9 before I even caught a whiff of Doctor Who's existence which kinda makes it feel like destiny; it took me a while to learn what a spin-off even was, so I'm pretty sure I've figured out it was this way after I've seen the entire show, probably altogether with the classic series - not sure if I watched them before or after all the spin-offs)

2) Season one, with Nine. I'm a diligent person, when I watch something, I take it from the top. On the note, my 12 yo self had a really hard time figuring out why the fuck he was ninth when, you know, it's the first season...

3) Boy does this question have a lot of answers. It used to be Ten, I feel like everyone's fav Doctor used to be Ten at some point, although when I look back at it I can't really see what's so endearing about this repeatedly kicked puppy who's now making a fucking comeback (#bringpertweeback) but he's the reason I now wear exclusively converse in the summer. Also, now most of RTD's plot decisions make me seriously cringe. Doesn't exactly add bonus points.

Then, it used to be Seven, and I have no idea why, maybe I just like comic relief characters (which he was, in a way, in the beginning), but he also was pretty damn dark. Also, I can barely remember what his episodes where about. Although Human Nature is probably one of my favourite DW books, actually.

I also like Twelve... He's just such a nice old-but-young guy going through different phases and then ending up being so tender and just nice, y'know. Also I love his era, especially the last season, so yeah.

4) Six, actually! Or so it used to be. Because of his ahem violent episodes with attempts to strangle poor Perry. But really, at this point there aren't really any Doctors I dislike, I feel more or less the same way about all of them, which is to say, I love them.

Except Eight. Actually, fuck Eight just for bringing romance to Doctor Who. Go to romance jail. Bonk.

5) 👏 stop 👏 romancing 👏 the 👏 Doctor 👏 I shit you not it was such a relief they didn't have any romantic storylines with Twelve (apart from Missy's kiss, which was hilarious, and River, which is duuuh she's his wife and it was purely platonic and wholesome). Snogging in every single corner gets old SO FUCKING FAST. Like, in the classic series the only romance was between companions and it is I think the most often-occurring reason they left the Doctor if memory serves (source: Whoology, there's a spreadsheet, I don't have it on me rn), and it was GREAT. Like Missy said in some episode, they're fucking Time Lords, not animals, they're alien, they don't have love and shit as a concept, they basically grow new Gallifreyans in a lab. As an ace I feel like making the Doctor have a whole fuckload of constantly changing romantic interests (ahem ten ahem) is just soooo weird and unnecessary, especially considering how it happened literally overnight (the night in question is the night Eight spent in the morgue yeah). And like..... I'm okay with the Doctor feeling stuff, like they did with Twelve and River, like it was actually wholesome, but jfc stop kissing everyone you see who are you captain Jack Harkness?? I'm still unsure of what to feel about Tasmin or whatever their ship is called, but so far I'm liking how the Doctor said she "doesn't really do that", good food, great angst, suck it shippers and stick your porn art as deep up your asses as it can go.

6) Classic who!!! Okay I know that I would probably more likely go rewatch something from nu-who if I have a spare minute, but that's only because there are no stories that last twelve fucking episodes. But classic who is just so good and so iconic, despite low budget, despite cinematographic conventions of the time, despite a whole lot of episodes being lost to time, despite literally everything it remains an amazing show made with love, evolving over time, with its own entire galaxy being established over the course of like 25 years... Can you tell I whore a thesis on it? I did. And I will write my master's on it if they allow me.

7) Why do I feel like I know where this question comes from? Hmmm one arrogant Doctor who didn't want to go or the other?.. Four has a pretty good story, but by jove there's a lot of him. Ten gets minus hundred points for making a pointless comeback and I don't give a shit about what they say it used to be my fav Doctor too okay but this is the third time the Doctor has this face over sixteen total faces which is WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK YOU KNOW. And if they ruin Donna's storyline where EXPLICITLY said she can't be involved with the Doctor or she would very literally fucking DIE from her brain exproling or whatever, and it's very much looking like they're doing exactly that (sorry! I've been pissed at role-players wishing to play Donna who has miraculously regained her full memories with no reprecussions for like nine years now! Give me a fucking break!)

SO ANYWAY now that I am thoroughly wound up, I'm choosing Four over Ten, although I just about equally don't care for them.

8) Ooof I think Thirteen, actually! I love the aesthetics. I think it's actually the one outfit I'd genuinely love to get my hands on to wear casually if it didn't cost so much while actually not being good quality 🥲 (in the meantime, I had a Ten-inspired blue suit for school uniform with red converse bc it's like the easiest shit to come by). But I also like the EXCESSIVE outfits. Six. The audacity. Seven. The question marks all over the place. Four. The bloody scarf (my favourite thing in my wardrobe actually when I got it my mum had to pry it from my hands bc I wanted to wrap myself up for the night)

9) Nine's. I mean, I get where he's coming from, it's just plain and boring af, and after all the previous Doctors, c'mon!

10) Ace! Love the let's-explode-shit energy. Best companions for a pacifist such as the Doctor, with him having to actually convince her NOT to blow things up, best interaction ever. Impeccable. Also I would've said Romana if I hadn't listened to Gallifrey... I loved the dynamic of two Time Lords in one TARDIS, but boy did presidency not do good things for her...

SHIT actually scratch that. It's Graham. He's the best. He carries food around. I just keep forgetting about this entire recent part of the show which is probably not a good sign.

11) It was a tough one, I had to spend like twenty minutes just thinking about it, but I think... Tegan. I literally only remember her incessantly complaining about how much she wants to go home (which isn't the first time in the series, but like Ian and Barbara at least were genuinely interested in what's going on on their adventures) and the pretty vague Mara storyline which really feels just like them trying to batter her up for zero reason before getting rid of the character. Close second is Turlough, he just doesn't feel like a worthy companion, but his storyline of this pathetic little coward being sent to kill the Doctor gives him extra points.

12) I SWEAR TO GOD I FUCKING CHOKED!!! WHY. Good thing I have an answer and don't have to rant AGAIN. Its Thirteen and Yaz SO FAR. If they ruin it with sappy kisses, it's gonna be Twelve with River, they're very close second.

13) Amy and Rory, but like post-marriage specifically. I hate how Amy has been treating him before and actually tried to snog Doc on the wall like right next to her wedding dress the night before the big day, but as a married couple they've actually become kinda wholesome.

14) Anything with more than one Doctor in it. And I mean ANYTHING.

15) Romana's pink outfit with a white scarf which is like Four's outfit but girlier. Just like the concept as a whole. A close second is Perry's dress from Time and the Rani, just because HOW FUCKING IMPRACTICAL it was :D

16) Four + Romana. Genuinely just love the Doctor who hates other Time Lords being paired up with a fellow Time Lord against either of their's will and them actually growing on each other. Am actively using the trope in my own roleplay when I get the chance hehe

17) Idk Weeping Angels???? Just for the sheer creepiness factor and how iconic they are.

18) We didn't really see that many of them huh esp in the older series where paradoxically there were more alien planet episodes I think. I would say it's Gallifrey (mainstream, I know, but that's literally the only actually well-known planet so yeah), but only the version of it from like the cutscene flashbacks and Ten's descriptions, red grass, silver trees and all, not the mildly-red-stone-desolate-plane we actually see in the show lol

19) Probably unpopular opinion at this point, but the Daleks. Simply because they're iconic and kinda saved the show in ye old days.

20) Remove the sheer cringe that was Ten's season finales with Martha and Donna. Doomsday was fine, but what the fuck was that meyosis shit and the magical winx fairy in the Master's horny jail.

DOCTOR WHO THEMED ASK GAME !

what was the first episode you watched/remember ?

what was the first entire series you watched/remember ?

who is your favorite doctor ? why ?

who is your least favorite doctor ? why ?

any complaints about the show ?

nuwho or classic who ? why ?

the tenth doctor or the fourth doctor ? why ?

favorite outfit of the doctor's ? why ?

least favorite outfit of the doctor's ? why ?

favorite companion ?

least favorite companion ?

favorite romance involving a doctor ?

what is your favorite romance involving a companion ?

what is your favorite serial/special ?

what is your favorite companion outfit ? why ?

who is your favorite doctor/companion duo ?

what is your favorite alien species ?

what is your favorite alien planet ?

cybermen or daleks ?

if you could change anything about the show, what would it be ?