#and like. people can and do relate to amy/clara/river

[dykepaldi]

why is there such a big thing in dw fandom that people think the companion needs to be relatable to the audience. do u not sometimes want to see someone in completely different circumstances/with different traits and flaws to u. personally i would find it incredibly boring if i could relate to every single companion

[phyyyyysics]

After finishing Doctor Who during Moffat's run, I think I see a pattern here for most (but not all) of his female characters choices in Doctor Who & Sherlock. I know people have already analyzed this before, but I want to do it myself so here we go.

There are primary three categories:

1. The first is the generic and the normal ones, according to him. Characters like Amy, Donna (silence in the library episode) from Doctor Who, Mary from Sherlock. These are the characters that will always stand with the good people, never straying, and whose life long dream is to settle down and have children. Mary of course is an outlier, because she had shot Sherlock and broke John's trust. But in the final season, it turned out that her hands had been forced, and she had been good all along.

For me, I think wanting to settle down to have a family of course is not necessarily a bad thing. I can't say for Mary and Amy because I couldn't relate to them personally, however, Donna's storyline in the Silence in the Library didn't sit well with me. When she was saved by the Computer, it sort of simulated a life that it thought she wanted. One where she had two beautiful children and a dotting husband. The problem here lies in the fact that she had been ridiculed and thought to be loud and brash and stupid all her life, and had been a temp for a long time. She literally ran to the TARDIS the second time she met the Doctor because she didn't like the life she had had, or the life her mom has been pressuring her to have. Can you see how reluctant she has been to pursue anything really? Do you really think her life-long dream, her secret desire is still to settle down and become a wife to someone? Maybe, but not before taking the chance to see the Universe with the Doctor. I actually have a feeling that finding a husband might have been on her list, but she could be doing that more out of obligation and societal expectations. Again, it's not a bad thing to want a family, but there's a recurring theme for his character choices that I can't help notice.

2. Second are the women who are smart and resourceful. These are the characters that are most of the time portrayed as sexy and intelligent, and most of all above all the others. Characters like Irene Adler and Mary (a little bit) in Sherlock, River and Clara in Doctor Who. I think there are many discussions we can have about the definition of strong, female, characters. However, I agree with many others that these women's lives all revolve around one man. And even if they are smart enough, we have to remember there will be one guy who can still tell them otherwise: which are Sherlock and the Doctor respectively.

3. The third type of women in Steven Moffat's writings are those who are too intelligent they become unpredictable and sometimes downright inhuman. Characters like Eurus in Sherlock, Missy in Doctor Who are in this category. They are extremely smart and morally questionable characters, and certainly, they have a lot of potential to explore. However, they are almost too smart that it becomes harder to relate to them. And since I don't think Moffat really knows how to deal with them, they are either put in a cage when they are being "naughty", or out of the cage at their male counterpart's side when they finally decide to stand with them, to be "good".

By the way, there is one addition that I think is relevant. It is fucking funny that with the way he wrote these women, they are most of the time too put together to really have any story to tell. From first glance, you wouldn't be able to really see what their backgrounds were like and what's on their minds, and as the story progressed nothing really developed. Since this is not good for story telling, he would give you some (in my opinion) unnecessary stories to compensate the lack of substances, such as family drama TM (the whole John and Mary arguments), or the boyfriend drama TM (why didn't you approve my choice of a boyfriend, Doctor? & OMG my boyfriend just been run over by cars because I said "I love you" to him). Those back and forth we didn't really see coming to distract us from the facts. However, this makes a lot of the stories feel disjointed and the time jump between episodes sometimes doesn't make sense. Also when the dramas are added, some audience (normally cis straight guys) can be like look, the main guys don't really care to deal with them and in comparison are way cooler, these girls just needed to be put in their places.

In conclusion, most of the women written by him are either categorized as:

(1) normal girls will -> get pregnant

(2) Smart & sexy powerful women will -> get beaten by the main character (who are always white, more superior and smarter)

(3) Unpredictable brainiacs (who deserve better) will-> get put into dungeons and cages 'cause they are crazy and "bad" (as in their beliefs are not aligned with the hero's). Oh and sometimes they can be sexy, too

[sundayinthcpark]

okay so i’m still scribbling down ideas and i’m kinda stoned and idk if i’ll ever manage to write this cos i have never rlly written anything like this (literally anything i’ve never written for one of these fandoms i’ve never finished a multi chap plotted fic i’ve never written an in-depth au like idk if i even could do this) but the other day my brain decided WOULDN’T IT BE COOL if Kingsman and UNIT were the same people. (and honestly MIB: International a bit too) but like. Kingsman Doctor Who AU. that’s mostly focused on osgate.

for whatever reason, the code name Arthur isn’t used and is instead replaced with The Doctor. why, idk. there doesn’t need to be a reason. just, when the doctor, the brig, and liz shaw all started this, he decided his code name was The Doctor and it’s been that way since

also the plot was: three different stories, spanning a couple different time periods.

first story (kingsman: the secret service) is very much just stolen ideas from what i know of the Cyber-Reality Big Finish stories. which admittedly about 80% of that (i did start listening to them. finally) is because of @technicallywrite’s fanfic 🫡 but i promise i am doing my research. but anyway like that cyber program instead of valentine’s program??? osgood thinking kate’s dead for like half the story adds some fun to it and i could add kate’s pov w whatever’s happening to her OR i could just. go off from Kingsman and do it closer to Big Finish and just call it good.

ideally: harry = kate; eggsy = osgood; arthur = 12th doctor; merlin = river

considering replacing jakobi!master w gomez!master for some extra fun? like it just could be fun is all.

also: focus is osgate but there is background stuff going on. 12/River/Missy ???? do some fun little twists get them all together i think they deserve it. also other knights/agents would be (possibly.) amy, rory, clara, rose, yaz, donna, martha, bill, sam, josh, gwen, ianto, maybe jack? not as important characters literally just names to fill in blanks. i have code names for them too just in case it’s needed as well as ships cos background ships r always so fun

also was thinking abt the possibility of: sarah jane is the lancelot being replaced. i don’t wanna kill her either but. it adds some fun messy stuff for kate cos i am always a sarah jane/kate truther but also establishing it all could be messy

also was considering just having sarah jane have been a past agent that kate’s father knew (will get into family history in a sec) and kate got to occasionally hear some stories about her OR sarah jane is kate’s aunt (basically they knew each other but sarah jane is gone now and kate struggles with that a bit)

cos kate’s dad was obviously part of Kingsman which is how Kate got recruited- sorta. (here is why i want sarah jane to be. important and not related to kate but i can’t change some of it) cos she technically still had to be recruited but sarah jane kept an eye on kate while she was in military training and actually recruited her having not realised who she was until after she had already decided

which is about to be what happens here cos. osgood is a rlly fucking good hacker and they can hack into p much any database okay so kingsman has been keeping an eye on them- not cos they’re worried that osgood will reveal them, just cos they kinda think she’s brilliant- and kate actually ends up running into them at a bar. where idk what but some kinda relatively easy to defeat alien shows up right and kate has to get rid of it and suddenly there’s a lot going on but kate is asking osgood to come to kingsman with her

and basically what osgood had been doing is kinda like. non-violent the beekeeper type shit like hacking elon musk’s bank account to send a billion dollars to palestine or some shit like just trying to improve the world in whatever ways right

and then osgood’s ends up joining kingsman (sorry but skip the ‘roxy beats eggsy’ plot line cos even tho i love roxy i don’t have time to figure out how to fit weird sexism into this especially cos not one man has actually been a part of this story yet) and proceeds to get sucked into the Cyber-Reality storyline

lowkey tho a) i need to learn how to write smut because i need them to hook up at least once probably pre-cyber like. anything. like they r attracted to each other. maybe that’s how kate learns about them in the first place is they hook up and osgood tells kate what they do with their life and kate decides to look into her work

(just occurred to me this may not be obvious but she/they osgood. possibly they/then doctor too cos i like fucking around w characters’ pronouns)

but anyway yeah i actually lowkey want the story to end with them not quite having figured themselves out but knowing they’re gonna do it together (😏)

but def positive ending cos i have not thought out Kingsman: The Golden Circle yet

i have figured out origins but not entirely how to make it follow a plot line yet but there’s a strong chance of it involving the third doctor, liz shaw, and the brigadier and possibly autons. liz = galahad; brig = merlin. and obviously it’ll have threebrig. but it’s a separate story i’ve barely thought about

also figuring out how to make the time jump from three to twelve but also still having time in there for kate to come around? it’s gonna be interesting for sure

this is so much rambling j am very sorry and i’m also very tired and i definitely could do better hashing this out and i’m working on doing better hashing this out i just also needed to ramble at someone. lol

[soulless-angel25]

Doctor Who Masterpost pt 2

[Hello! This is part 2 of my Doctor Who Masterpost. Part 1 can be found here. It is simply for ease of access to all of my various Doctor Who posts, of which there are many. Most reblogs will be spread across unless otherwise stated. (all of my riverrosetober stuff can be found through this masterpost and if you want to find the ficmas stuff it is here) Everything is under a cut. This goes from about halfway through September 2023 to very start of January 2024]

MY ART

Joker (SailforValinor's OC)

clararose + fic (written by Ghost)

riverrose

13rose

amyrose

donnarose

martharose

billrose

yazrose

missyrose

Joker (finished)

POLLS

Clara would've had great chemistry with (companions)

Clara would've had great chemistry with (doctor's)

What ship do you think won't be included?

Bill would've had great chemistry with (companions)

Bill would've had great chemistry with (doctor's)

Nardole would've had great chemistry with (companions)

Nardole would've had great chemistry with (doctor's)

do you like Rose Tyler?

how do you refer to Amy?

who should I draw Rose with? (ship art)

which fic should I work on

PROMPTS

detective rose AU

GENERAL/THOUGHTS

Doctor/River short fic

What's Rose's canon age?

Jackie & Rose dimension canon thoughts

People not finding Doctor/Rose romantic

Watched 13's first episode

S3 rewrite thoughts abt martha/rose

Humanish AU (jobs/occupations)

for how much I love doctor/rose

How much do you love me // count the stars

send a ship and I'll give my opinion!

riverrose work counter growing

doctor who legos

doctor who legos pt 2

"rose wouldn't get along with other companions" FALSE!

making my way through writing quick as possible

doctor/rose s1 v s2 parallels

working on drawing missy/rose

ANALYSIS/THEORIES

doctor who analysis video i found

MY FIC UPDATES/DISCUSSIONS

When flowers bloom

River & Amy short fic

Riverrose fic idea [collision]

Riverrose fic idea [two lives colliding]

actually plotting out a fic

Sneak peek for Collision

sneak peek of chapter 6

chapter 6 has been posted!

sneak peek of chapter 7

chapter 7 is out!

FIC RECS

HEADCANONS

Doctor Who poly-shape

Character gender + sexuality

^ plus pt 2

rose and depression

REBLOGS

Who is your Doctor?

martharose

9rose gif

Doctor Who: Resources

Ficmas 2023

favorite non-canon timepetals

1st character swear in nuwho(?)

One Has to Go (poll)

convinced ruby is rose's child

mylifeiscomics college au part 38

fem doctor art

martharose art

best random doctor/companion match-up

RELATED TO DOCTOR WHO

anyone have any fic recs?

[brilliantfantasticgeronimo]

idk about the others, but i thought this season was a blast lol (yes, even space babies. i think the hate for that one is wildly overblown and at least 60% ~cringe culture~ influenced). i can't speak for others, but the reason i want the tv show theory is not out of a "need" to explain away continuity errors or lack of development or depth (again, because i just don't agree w/ this idea that there's been a lack of development, esp in things like 15/ruby's). i don't need it out of a need to "explain away" errors.

the reason the tv show theory has a choke-hold grab on me is because it is:

1- post modern as fuck. the show has played with those aspects before (robin hood/historical characters in general being concerned w/ "their legacy", eleven/clara's solliloqueys, bits of character-as-narrator here and there, The Greatest Show In The Galaxy, iris wildthyme my beloved, first doctor's filming crew episode, etc) but now, if we do this as a literal plot, it could finally be jumping into the 21st century of aesthetic sensibility. calls attention to the text as a text. it brings it to a more current sensibility.

3- it plays with the mythology and magic theme. how do the gods know everything? well, because they watch the tv show (the toymaker has a video essay and they WILL share it to you doctor). if magic can be real then fiction can be real. the producers as the most powerful force. who's a fictional character's god if not their creater?. low key atheist vibe (if u enjoy that, if u don't you can invert it -> everything magic is real) we make the gods, not the opposite. etc etc. 4- it speaks to the ~intersexuality~ and ~audience participation in the role of creation~ of it all. we have mythologized the show so much, it became real. like the memory tardis, the props are not just props to us, they hold Significance. people see a police box on the street, and they think they could be whisked away in space. the audience / producer as both the doctor's ally / creator and their greatest nemesis (we take sadistic glee in watching character go through The Horrors).

5- it's been done before in other shows. with varying levels of success, but in general? tbh i always enjoy it, ever since i was a kid ("they know that i know!! omg!!!"). and as an adult, personally i love how it is done in xena, for example: "xena was a real-historical character" and thus the show was literally an adaptation of historical. that creates the room for so many stories and interpretations (for ex, t makes you question how much is being filtered / altered to make xena look better).

6- related to the point before... honestly, you could make the case that wanting texts to have some kind of diagetic play is not even new tbh. look at how all the early modern novels were based on "real writings". how sherlock holmes (Which is deep in this show's DNA) is basically framed as "a story withing a story" (watson's memoirs). also "this is the story of how i died", amy writing her memories, river's diary, etc. i would argue this is just a natural follow-up to those narrative devices.

7- it just makes sense for a show that is so steeped in the liminal space of real/the non-real. the tardis is "really" just a wooden box on a junkyard, this show is just a tv show... except when it isn't. it's about the make-believe of it all.

8-( haven't seen this whole thing yet, hence why i am leaving it for last but) it's fun but it is also low key scary, bc it plays into the tv gotchic aesthetic. which fits to dw borrowing of horror fiction / bringing in existential horror beats in general (cybermen, midnight, et al).

My actual biggest problem with the TV Show Theory (aside from the fact that it's blatantly just apologia for Space Babies being kind of shit) is well.

Look.

If you need everything about a story to be a metanarrative fakeout in order for you to like the story, maybe you didn't like the story. And despite being a known hater, I actually did like more of this season than I disliked. I don't think all of it was equally good, and the finale was pretty mid, but it was mid in about the way I expected, and Boom thru Rogue were mostly excellent.

Is it actually better if all of the good parts of Fifteen's run so far were fake and fictional and engineered, just to explain why things have felt rushed and underexplained and kind of dumb? Is it better to craft this wild intricate meta theory than it is to just admit that about half the season was a bit meh?

[doctor-who-binge]

I don't do DMs and can have a hard time with tone

If ya feel like following my chaos here, please know:

🟦 This blog was made for me. I'm not trying to change your mind on anything. I would go off on like essays of my opinion and shit to friends as I watched and wanted to stop bugging them with it incessantly. I always want to leave YT comments but just thats such a no, I only leave one occasional. Besides I can't keep track of my YT comment thoughts like I can with a blog. I'm hoping to get into the extended media as well so this gives me a ranty rambling outlet for that as well. Its why I share and comment on articles and YT videos. Its also why you can expect a fuck load of posts when I'm watching or whatever with no queue effort.

I'm planning to watch Classic soon. I also have some extended media to enjoy.

I'm experimenting with making the occasional gifs！

🟦 If you want to interact and chat about my views on posts or whatever: yay! If you don't, thats cool too. I don't do DMs

🟦 If you need my opinions before interacting:

While I enjoy Moffats writing the most (including when he wasn't showrunner) I think the Moffat & Davies #1 "Eras" are simply different and you don't need to tear one down to uplift the other.

This explains why I don't like Chinball's era— yes its very long but it is very thoughtful and genuinely evaluates the writing. Also it has chapters so you don't need to watch the entire video.

The Flux is awesome but was completely unfinished with massive loose ends. The doubling down on it without addressing loose ends makes it very annoying to me. But it had some of the best characterization of Chibnall's era. Vinder FTW <3

Favorite NuWho companion is Rory, second is Donna.

11 is probably "My Doctor," since that seems to be a designation people make for some reason. But I love the second and third series of 12.

Chib's destruction of Gallifrey solely by the Master, makes me burn with absolute fury.

Massive River Song fan

Anti-Timeless Child......... a lot

I change my mind a lot.

🟦 Some of My Headcanons:

Meta Crisis was not solved by Girl Power™

Rose Nobel's name comes from Donna's connection with Rose not The Doctors connected with Rose.

Elizabeth I x 10 had a life together?

Mels as their best friend didn't exist until after Big Bang 2, meaning she "grew up" with Amy & Rory in the timeline they never actually lived.

The reason Amy divorces Rory despite the enormous character building of the relationship, and why she doesn't consider adoption, is all related to PTSD.

The Doctor didn't forget the Gamma Forest girl, he simply hadn't met her yet by time she was dying— because time travel.

Clara never actually learned The Doctor's name.

Ashildr isn't that old

Ruth Doctor is between 2 and 3, the reason 3 falls out of TARDIS in 2's clothes is immense efforts by Time Lords/Division to hide Ruth's existence

Fez is definitely an SCP, safe class (jk?)

Only certain incarnations may notice 'something' even if that 'something' has happened across their entire life because *vague gestures*

Actually Canon: River isn't proto-Time Lord just because she was conceived on the TARDIS

Pick the canon: Time Lords are an aristocracy not a species. Gallifreyans who attend the academy & look into the time vortex, gain 12 regenerations becoming Time Lords. Perhaps children of Time Lords are encouraged or even forced to join the aristocracy. In fact, this is one of many many options when discussing Gallifreyens vs Time Lords, so its more so the canon I chose to go with rather than a headcanon. (Since I've never read any actual stories about looming I disregard it; I also disregard Timeless Child in this.)

Pick the canon: The Doctor's mother was the woman in "The End of Time" and she is not the same as the woman in "Hell bent." The writers endorsed us picking what we wanted in both case. Davies identified the first women as his mother in his original idea but it didn't land in the final script, so clarified it could be any trustworthy Time Lady. Moffat said he was leaving it to audience to decide if they are the same woman.

Random List for Me

All of the 1st Doctor's Serials & Episodes including the ones that were lost but are now on audio. LINK

Time Lord Victorious Media LINK

List of currently owned extended media LINK

Docket I'm working on LINK

Blog I like from: @sag-dab-sar-follows

Main Blog: @sag-dab-sar

[adarrhiannon]

Some vague thoughts about Rory’s commentary on the Doctor vs Danny’s commentary on the Doctor. Both characters try to run commentary on the Doctor and exist as the love interest of their current companion. And they both do make really solid points. Both also get offed in instances that make said companions reconsider some of their choices in relation to how they approach their time with the Doctor (though Amy and Clara go in very different directions). So superficially at least they serve a similar function here.

The thing is, despite the fact they’re both serving as that outside POV, I would argue that Rory’s writing is handled much better in this overall.

Danny is able to come to the conclusion about the Doctor being “an officer who orders people so he doesn’t have to get his own hands bloody” without actually seeing much evidence of this. The audience obviously knows enough about the Doctor to appreciate the points being made definitely hold some truth to them, but as Danny himself hasn’t seen anything along these lines at the stage he makes these comments, it means it comes off as a huge leap on his part.

Rory first says about the Doctor being a danger to those around him because they want to impress him in his first episode in the TARDIS (Vampires in Venice) so very early days for him too. However, he’s known Amy for years and seen the impact the Doctor had on her growing up as well as her jumping face first in the Eleventh Hour. Eleven’s first season also comes fresh after Ten’s solo phase so the Doctor’s hubris is still likely in a lot of the audience’s minds.

Danny is coming from a place of suspicion towards those higher in authority. Tbh, I'm not super convinced by how it was portrayed but Danny being so vehemently against those giving orders and using their soldiers as proxies and then him choosing to become a *teacher* very much reads like he became jaded when he was still in the army. As in, even before the entire situation with him getting discharged. Anyway, he's against the Doctor for a couple of reasons. One of these is jealousy over Clara (which tbh also comes from the Doctor’s side and isn't handled well by Clara herself) but the other is essentially Danny taking a moral stand against the Doctor and what he represents to him. This is the angle from which Danny comes with his criticism about the Doctor as “an officer”, speaking as a former soldier himself. But the way it’s presented ends up making it seem like Danny is making a leap out of jealousy and then using the moral objection to back it up.

Rory, meanwhile, is coming from the angle of worry about Amy mainly. He’s seen how Amy was affected by the Doctor. He later sees how others like River and himself are also impacted by the Doctor’s role in their life. He’s not out to make a moral point here, he just wants to protect those he loves.

So, in the end, you can follow through why both of them make the observations they do if you look at their life experiences. They're both talking about similar phenomena in terms of how the Doctor influences those around them. Their experiences influence the lens through which they interpret this. But as Danny’s points seem baseless with the info he’s basing his claims on, he ends up just being a spokesperson for the season’s meta. Rory meanwhile coming from a place of protection and being able to actually substantiate his claims ends up coming off more sympathetic and as a character in his own right. And then obviously Danny dies and his role is done and Rory also die-- survives long term and so is able to build up a proper character beyond his initial traits.

[falloutmelody]

updated rules and fandoms!!

hello hello, it’s been a while. i kinda wanna get back into writing more serious pieces, so i figured it was time to re-open my requests and post my updated fandoms and rules to see if anyone wants anything!! below you will find my new rules and my fandoms, alongside the characters i will write for!! please take a look if you want something and let me know!!

MY REQUEST RULES:

-i tend to only write one off pieces, but if i feel like a piece has potential, or tons of people seem to be really into a concept, then i am open to writing multiple parts!

-i tend to try and write my pieces from a gender-neutral stance. however, if you would like a specific gender of reader, please don’t hesitate to let me know and i shall specify that in the little summary at the start of the piece!

-all my pieces are x reader!! i don’t tend to use named ocs for my pieces, as i want my pieces to be accessible to everyone!!

-idk if smut pieces are even allowed on here anymore? but if they are, i can have a go, they just might be kinda bad bc it’s not something i have a ton of experience writing?

-i accept aus, sentence prompts, vague ideas, whatever you have. just remember that the more specific you are in your request, the better job i’ll do with bringing your vision to life!!

-for the characters below, assume i’ll write platonic (friendship), familial or romantic pieces for all of them, unless specified otherwise!! i am also open to having the reader be related to another character (e.g. an oc that’s one character’s sister and is romantically paired with another one!)!

-the only things i won’t write is stuff that is incredibly triggering, illegal age gaps and stuff that is obviously distasteful. anything that i think may be mildly triggering in a piece will be tagged at the start of the post!

-please be patient with requests!! my motivation to write does tend to go up and down, depending on my mood!! if it’s been like a month and i’ve not written your request, please don’t hesitate to send in a message checking up on me!!

MY FANDOMS AND CHARACTERS I WILL WRITE FOR:

CRIMINAL MINDS -david rossi [please send requests in for him, i love this man so much??] -spencer reid -aaron hotchner -derek morgan -jennifer ‘jj’ jareau -penelope garcia -emily prentiss -elle greenaway -alex blake -kate callahan -luke alvez -tara lewis -matt simmons

there’s some other more minor characters i’m willing to write for like will, so feel free to ask if there’s a specific character you want that’s not on this list! just please note i won’t write for gideon, strauss or any unsubs!!

CSI: NY -mac taylor -danny messer -adam ross -lindsay monroe -don flack -stella bonasera -sheldon hawkes -sid hammerback (will only write platonic/familial pieces for him)

will write for jo when i rewatch her seasons!!

CSI: MIAMI -horatio caine -tim speedle -eric delko -ryan wolfe -calleigh duquesne -alexx woods -yelina salas

might write for other characters when i get to their seasons on my rewatch!

DOCTOR WHO -the thirteenth doctor -graham o’brien (will only write platonic/familial pieces for him!) -ryan sinclair -yaz khan -dan lewis -the tenth doctor -the eleventh doctor -the twelfth doctor -the ninth doctor -rose tyler -martha jones -donna noble -amy pond -rory williams -clara oswald -nardole -bill potts -kate stewart -petronella osgood -river song

only tend to rewatch jodie’s seasons atm so i will be better at writing those characters!!

and that’s all for now!! if you would like to request something, please send me a message, including the following pieces of information: -the fandom -the character -your prompt -any other information that you’d like me to know! (i.e. if you want the reader to be a particular gender, if you want the reader to be related to a specific character, etc!!)

thank you for reading!! stay safe, and i look forward to writing some stuff for you!! <3

[if you have any questions about your request and whether or not i’ll write something for you, please don’t hesitate to message me and ask!!]

[capybaraonabicycle]

A Family Wedding - Part 4

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Rating: Teen

Summary: Jenny meets her mums’ friends and the wedding is drawing to an end

Warnings: Some innuendo and the dagger makes another appearance, also consummation of alcohol

Words: ~3000

AO3

Eventually, they made their way back to the party. The Doctor wanted to introduce her daughter to some of her friends and the Ponds had agreed that her and River couldn’t completely ignore their duty as hosts. Thus, Jenny spent the rest of the very long night talking to an endless number of people who were important to her mum in one way or another.

__

Bill and Heather immediately decided they were basically cousins and had to get together for space trips some time. Bill wrote her number onto a napkin and made Jenny promise she would get a phone so they could stay in contact. She also talked a lot about the eyebrows-version of her mum, saying it was a shame Jenny missed him. But at least now she got two badass mums and according to Bill, that was pretty perfect when it came to parents.

__

Missy, her mum’s best woman, casually mentioned she should abduct Jenny, as it would be the perfect leverage over her mum. This remark made Amy threaten her with the cake knife while Rory protectively put his arms around Jenny. Missy made a point of ignoring Jenny’s grandparents, promising Jenny would meet one of her regenerations again soon.

“Your mum is obsessed with me, Honeybunch” she said, trailing her nails over the blade of Amy’s knife thoughtfully, “I’m sure she will come running again with you in tow to foil my next brilliant plan. She can’t let me be on my own for a second. It’s quite embarrassing, really.”

She gave a little dramatic sigh at this, pushing the knife away to move past Jenny. “She just loves me so much.”

__

Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and Petronella Osgood were luckily part of an earlier version of UNIT than the one, Jenny had enraged. They were fascinated by her and she had to describe in great detail how the machine worked that had birthed her.

“Now, Kate” the Doctor warned her when she walked by and overheard, “Don’t you dare try building that device. I will come and destroy it, I promise you.”

Prompted by Jenny’s heartbroken gaze she explained why she was against the machine, recounting how it had been used to produce soldiers, dispensable to die in a day.

“Maybe I should build one then, the next time you are not traceable, Doctor” Kate joked to the Doctor’s affront, “Just so you’ll come running.”

__

Clara tried teaching Jenny the names of her Gallifreyan relatives. Apparently, she had met some of the Doctor’s family when she had been something she called an ‘echo’. It was quite confusing, really, because the Doctor kept contradicting her and neither of them were really sure how many siblings, nieces and nephews Jenny had in total. It was still great fun to see them argue whether the people they remembered actually existed and how they were related to her.

__

Captain Jack Harkness got as far as introducing himself to Jenny, when the Doctor already shot in between them.

“Back off my daughter, Jack” she growled, pressing both her palms into his chest to physically keep him from touching Jenny.

“Your daughter?” Jack asked, his eyebrows wandering up to his hairline.

“My daughter, Jenny” her mum presented proudly, just to return to her strict voice the next second, “And you are not to flirt with her.”

“I was just saying ‘hello’!” Jack complained which made her almost strangle him.

“Ianto Jones” the man next to Jack presented himself to Jenny very softly, considering the wrestling couple with quiet confusion and some distress, “His boyfriend.”

“Ah” Jenny said, grimacing, “So sorry for this.”

That made Ianto smile.

“Right back at you” he murmured.

__

Martha and Mickey found Jenny, when she was sharing a piece of wedding cake with River, expressing their relief that Jenny seemed welcome in the family. They talked about Donna for a while and Jenny learned that their friend had lost her memories after saving the Earth from Daleks.

Her mum recounted how when the Doctor first met her, Donna had been there, too. They exchanged a few stories about her, unanimously deciding they would have loved to know her better. Martha and Mickey said they sometimes checked up on her.

"Only from afar, though" Martha sighed. "She can't see us or else her memories might get triggered."

She and Mickey then told Jenny about their job, how they were freelancers now, hunting hostile aliens.

"Sounds fun" River commented and Jenny had to agree.

"You could join us some time" Martha offered, "Both of you."

"Really?" Jenny asked delightedly, grabbing River's arm in excitement.

"Of course" Mickey grinned, "It always pays to have some backup."

They added their phone number to Bill’s on the napkin and promised to let Jenny know the next time they had an interesting assignment.

__

“How is everyone immediately adopting me?” Jenny asked Yaz, Ryan and Graham, when they had proclaimed her part of the ‘fam’ as soon as they heard she was the Doctor’s daughter.

She had already gotten the invite to travel with Bill and Heather, Clara and Me and to live with her grandparents, Martha and Mickey, Jack and Ianto, Sarah Jane Smith and even the Paternoster Gang, although she had tried to avoid them after the pudding incident.

"The Doctor is family" Ryan shrugged. "Which means you're family, too."

The other two nodded in agreement.

“And we all know you can use the support with her being your mother” Ryan continued with a low chuckle, and Jenny stared at him with wide eyes.

“It’s nothing bad” he hurried to appease, “The Doctor’s great, she’s just…”

“The Doctor” Graham finished, and Ryan nodded as if all was said now.

“She’s a little chaotic” Yaz tried to explain.

Graham snorted, “Yeah, right, a little.”

“And irresponsible” Yaz added, “And most of the time you can’t understand a thing of what she’s doing or saying. And the things she does…they tend to go wrong.”

“But she’s wonderful” Ryan said and the other two nodded again.

“‘Brilliant’” Graham said with a low chuckle.

“She’s the best person I know” Yaz ended with a smile and Jenny found herself returning it.

“And you’ll have River and me travelling with you” Yaz concluded, gently nudging her with her elbow, “We’ll take care of you and among the three of us, we’ll also manage to take care of her.”

__

Jenny was just talking to a head in a box and a nice couple owning an antiquarian bookstore, when her mums approached her. They were exchanging conspirative glances and the Doctor was hiding her hands behind her back, so Jenny immediately decided whatever they were up to was more interesting than the blonde guy’s obsession with easter eggs. She excused herself and made her way over to her mums.

“River said you might still feel insecure about whether the TARDIS is your home” the Doctor said without greeting, “So, I got you a gift.”

She revealed a tiny package from behind her back with great flourish. It wasn’t much bigger than her thumb, obviously wrapped in leftovers from her own wedding gifts. Without knowing what was inside, Jenny decided it couldn’t have been more perfect.

“Thank you” she beamed and hurried to open her present.

Unfortunately, that was almost impossible for the amount of tape her mum had used. Now that she paid attention to it, it became apparent the Doctor had fought quite the fight against the tape - strips of it were also sticking to her suit jacket and her forearms. One even made its way into River’s hair and Jenny dreaded the moment she would find out about it. Luckily, she missed it when she wordlessly reached into her hairdo upon seeing Jenny struggling. She pulled out the mini dagger again, handing it over to her. With its help, the tape and wrapping paper soon were torn, and a silver key fell into Jenny’s hand.

“It’s for the TARDIS” the Doctor explained. “Now you can come and go whenever you like and stay as long as you like.”

“And once I’ve shown you how to fly her you can also use it to take the TARDIS out on your own whenever you like” River supplemented, and the Doctor glared at her.

“Don’t you dare encourage Jenny to steal my TARDIS!” she grumbled, “It’s bad enough when you do it.”

Then she turned and beamed at Jenny again. “But yeah, pretty much: Welcome to the TARDIS!”

Jenny felt herself tear up a little, clutching the key tightly. It was real! She had a family and a home and she was welcome.

She pulled both her mums into a hug, smiling when they embraced her tightly.

“Thank you so much” she murmured.

Suddenly, an aggressive flash blinded her.

“Oops, sorry” Bill said, lowering a vintage looking camera from her face. “It wasn’t supposed to do that.”

She fumbled with the flash a little bit until Heather took over and switched it off. When Bill raised her gaze again and noticed the whole family was still staring at her, she blushed.

“Don’t mind me”, she said. “I’m just repaying a favour. Have been taking pictures all night. You will want something to remember this day by, Doctor. And yeah, I recalled what you did for me with my mum and thought…I should do that for you, too.”

She smiled sheepishly and the Doctor looked like she was about to melt.

“That is a lovely idea, Bill” River found, pulling Jenny and the Doctor close again to pose for another shot, “You know what? We should get my parents and do a proper family photo!”

“Did I hear family photo?” Jack said, miraculously turning up behind Bill with Ianto in tow. “Can’t do that without uncle Jack!”

“Oh, they most definitely can” Missy chuckled, appearing next to him. “This is not about you, puppy. It’s just for real family members. Like me.”

She pushed past him, positioning herself next to the Doctor and facing the camera with a thin but content smile. “I’m ready when you are, Loves.”

“Uh, yeah, that’s not happening” Jack decided, joining River’s side and slinging his arm around her waist, pulling Ianto with him into the frame.

While Bill shot the photo, Jenny could see more guests taking notice, some approaching them fairly quickly.

“Seems like everybody wants to have their picture taken with you” River whispered to her and Jenny chuckled.

“I am 100% certain it’s about you and mum” she answered although she couldn’t deny she felt important in the middle of the frame that more and more people crowded into.

“You should be in the picture, Bill” the Doctor called out when Sarah Jane was ushering a couple of teenagers and a metal dog to sit down in front of them. “If anyone’s family, it’s you! Just give the camera to Nardole.”

“Yeah, thank you, Ma’am” Nardole frowned. “Always a pleasure to know how much you appreciate me.”

He still took the camera from Bill and she and Heather hurried to the space the Doctor and Jenny cleared between them. It was a little tight now as Missy refused to budge but Jenny just threw one arm around River and the other around Bill and smiled for the photo Nardole shot of them.

It took a while until everybody who wanted to be in the photo had found their place and someone had tracked down a waitress to take the picture. In the meantime, a lot of quirky photos were shot by and of various combinations of the Doctor’s friends. Later they would be glued to the walls of the TARDIS hallways and Jenny would come back to them often to trail the faces of her mums’ loved ones and remember the night.

There would be a picture of Mickey and Martha kissing with Amy photobombing behind them, a picture of Wilf and Rory having exchanged their suit jackets and beaming like idiots and a picture of Jenny, Bill, Heather, Nardole, Yaz and Ryan in a group hug that Graham took as a very blurry selfie. There would be a picture of when Jack had decided to hoist Jenny onto his shoulders and another one of when Clara, Ryan and Yaz had followed suit, respectively carrying the Doctor, Graham and Bill on their backs with varying degrees of success.

Then there would be a picture of Jenny with her namesake which had made them giggle way too much, and another picture that the other Jenny had taken of her with Vastra and Strax, because ‘no-one would see the difference’. Which was an even sillier joke but made Jenny understand how much she liked the Paternoster gang after all. Especially because Vastra and Jenny had promised her fencing lessons between the shots.

There would be a picture of her mums kissing both of Missy’s cheeks simultaneously while Missy wore a decidedly unimpressed expression, a picture of Kate, Osgood, Martha and the Doctor trying to evoke an air of semi-professionalism as ‘UNIT-representatives’ that was completely ruined by the mess of people goofing around behind them and finally the Pond family picture River had asked for. They had to take three versions: one featuring Missy, one Jack and one on which both had begrudgingly left them alone.

But Jenny’s favourite photo would always be the one they took in the end, before everybody dispersed and went on to enjoy the party. The big group photo, with her mums in the focus and everyone surrounding them. The photo they took while she was standing right beside them, between her grandparents, Rory’s arm around her shoulder and Amy’s hand in hers and the happiest smiles possible on all their faces.

__

Then it was finally time to leave. Almost all the guests had gone and Clara and Ashildr were collecting the last of them in their diner-shaped TARDIS. All that was left now were Jenny, her parents and her grandparents.

“We’re taking…the kid…with us” Amy said. She was slurring and Jenny presumed she had found another bottle of vodka.

“No, why?” the Doctor complained, clutching at Jenny’s arm. She seemed a little drunk as well, although Jenny couldn’t fathom how. There had been next to no alcohol in the pink drinks. “I’ve let you have her the whole evening already.”

“Jenny will come visit us soon” Rory tried to reassure Amy. His ductus was considerably clearer than hers, but he was swaying a little as well. “She has promised, remember?”

Jenny’s hearts swell a little when she understood Amy must have recounted their discussion on the balcony to him. They’d been talking about her!

“We’re still -taking her” Amy decided, “Or do I needo…- do I need to remind you …what happened in our wedding night?”

“I did” River supplemented smirking. Rory went very pale while Jenny shrieked, hiding her face in River’s shoulder.

Her mum chuckled, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

“Go with your grandparents, Love” she advised, pulling her into a hug and kissing her cheek, when Jenny looked up at her, “Have a splendid night at their place and we’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Thanks, mum” she grinned, returning the kiss to the cheek. Then she turned around to the Doctor.

“We’ll come pick you up first thing in the morning” her mum said, holding her tightly, “I promise.”

“I know” Jenny murmured, amazed by how sure she was of that now, “Have a good night, mum.”

“Oh, she will” River said. The Doctror spluttered and Jenny tensed.

“Mu-um!” she complained, giving her a stern glance. Still, she couldn’t help smiling, when she added: “I hate you!”

River threw her head back laughing.

“No, you don’t” she said.

“We’ll be there tomorrow” the Doctor repeated when she let Jenny go.

“For once…-I am hoping, sh-she will be a month late” Amy murmured, pressing Jenny to her side and thus swaying her lightly.

“How about breakfast at the Ponds together? As a compromise?” the Doctor offered, and Jenny nodded quickly.

“That sounds perfect” she said, and her mum beamed at her.

“Breakfast it is, then” she decided, “Don’t you lot worry, I can bring the custard creams.”

“Yeah, give us till noon, though, Doctor” Rory mumbled, “I’ll need a lot of sleep now.”

“We’re not goingdo - going to sleep” Amy complained, “We’ll have an afda-afterparty. Movies,… facemasks, goss-gosspip.”

She pulled a face at her own slurring which made Jenny chuckle.

“Yeah, you don’t really b-believe that either” Rory commented, gently taking her arm and steering her towards Clara’s TARDIS. He stopped himself to yawn loudly and reach for Jenny’s hand. “Let’s get all of us to bed.”

They waved goodbye and then Jenny took Rory’s hand and followed her grandparents to the diner. Before they passed the TARDIS, she turned around one last time, seeing her mums standing in the ever-setting sun on Darillium. They were facing each other, River’s hand cupping the Doctor’s cheek, the Doctor’s hands on her shoulders and talking in quiet voices. They seemed perfectly comfortable with each other, exhausted, but happy, like they had finally arrived home after a very long journey.

‘We all have’ Jenny thought, when they started slowly kissing and she turned around to her grandparents again, ‘We’ve all come home now.’

Hey :) Thank you so much for reading this series! This is the end, at least of the wedding and of the story, but I’m sure Jenny is about to have many adventures with her mums. Thank you so much to everyone who has left comments, you are all incredibly kind! <3

And thank you so much @elsaistherelifeonmars​ for letting me play with your story! <3

This fic is inspired by ‘The Wedding of River Song’. Go, check it out, if you haven’t already :)

[ssaalexblake]

I finished 11! I was never super into him during his run, i didn’t dislike him but i didn’t care much either, but during rewatch i actually came to like him a lot? I think hindsight is helpful here, because i could see the building blocks being laid that take the doctor further away from ten’s more toxic traits and actions, because for being Wildly irresponsible, 11 was actually making a concerted effort to Try to be better even if he rarely in practice succeeds. 

He tries to do right by Amy and Rory, and like i said, he may not always succeed and he may say stupid things but he honestly tried to make it so they’d have a healthy relationship with him. A town called mercy showed us shades of the doctor’s realisation that their actions have consequences, he even calls himself out for how ten acted around the master, which will bring us into s8 with Missy and 12. 

His relationship with Clara is also less *side eye* if only because now i Know full well where they go and it wasn’t happy go lucky masquerading as reasonable as much as it was the prelude to some meaty and self aware character plots to come with clara and 12. 

I can’t necessarily pick out things i’d say ‘wow i love that’ about it, but a vast majority of it was very watchable and i’m not actually looking for peak brilliance in dw, so i call this a win actually. Some episodes i Do really love, even if i actually don’t love the vincent one as much as everybody else? I find tthe fact that they kill the creature that’s just scared and disabled pretty... not great. But??? The Doctor’s Wife is my favourite, still. The vampires of venice was a totally forgotten jem, i Loved the ‘you should be in a museum... or mausoleum’ scrap of dialogue, McCrory killed that performance. 

Also liked Amy and Rory more as people this time, i actually think they’re easier to relate to now i’ve almost lived their age through? Didn’t really Get them back when i was in my early 20′s, couldn’t really place amy’s early 20′’s immaturity and the tension between her and rory because of it. Now it’s vastly clear that as we meet amy for the first time as an adult, their problem was that Rory had been made mature more quickly Probably due to his career choices and the gulf was wide until amy caught him up, which moved her from 11 to rory and so on. 

Though, I do believe the low point was either A) how he treats river, B) the use of the whole mystical pregnancy trope or C) that time 11 did a genocide but used humans as the weapons in it and forced murder upon like... everyone on earth. I’m still not sure if the narrative even realised either of those things were bad. I know 12′s resolution with River has him realise the damage he did to her, but it’s a bit Vague to the point that i know the doctor is Aware their behaviour was bad but depending on what the writers at the time may have thought was bad or not in their writing,still may not really be calling out everything that was a problem? 

11′s last few eps were deeply questionable from a writing standpoint, tbh, his very last episode was Much better than the three previous but they kind of spoilt it for me with the whole unnecessary and uncomfortably sexual nakedness thing that had like... No baring on the plot and just made what would have been normal, sweet scenes just creepy. They were so close on this one. 

The name of the doctor was a fine episode if i ignore any and all feminist ideals i possess and conveniently ignore that the plot of the episode isn’t Actually resolved at all and honestly, the 50th anniversary was kind of fun as well, except they used the zygon plot as a vehicle for the emotional story surrounding the doctors and their choice to destroy gallifrey and then... Totally abandon That plot as well when they don’t want it anymore. 

and that’s a shame, genuinely, because they really pulled him down at the uh... eleventh hour. Bad plot resolutions are better than No plot resolutions and they weren’t even giving us Anything. 

But all in all, i found very few episodes hard to get through and while it was a nightmare in terms of casual offensiveness increasingly as time went on, the episode morals themselves were rarely questionable if at times badly executed to the point it mangled the moral. The River Amy thing is a whole can of worms on its own, which would involve a detailed take down of the mystical pregnancy trope and it’s late so no, but it’s awful and should never exist and it did here. 

idk, i didn’t hate it, and i kind of did by the end of 11′s run back in the day, but my criticisms are more founded in actual critical thinking now and are ironically probably more scathing for the emotional detachment. I’m left with that frustrated feeling of ‘the bones are good but if it could just be Tweaked i’d properly like it’ mostly, i think. idk.

i rambled but that’s fine who needs sleep anyway 

[kendrixtermina]

About dw- same. I actually weaned off the show when Clara was there- I didn't like that they were changing companions from regular people to vague important mysteries. I saw episodes every here and there but havent seen any of the newest doctor yet- seeing the reaction to it though I'm glad I haven't! If you find some really good dw books, can you please share? I'd love to interact with the dw i knew and love again

Nah sorry, we don’t agree here.

I LOVE Clara. I LOVED her plot, I loved her character she’s my ALL TIME FAVORITE. 

She wast “reduced to a mystery” she was an interconnected whole of motifs and little connected details of which that plotline was only one part. 

I get that RTD was good at doing everyman characters - that was his strength, so it was a draw for a  lot of people; And I get that ppl who prefer that sort of story aren’t necessarily going to like the high-concept type of stories Moffat did, just because of personal taste. I for my part thought RTDs characters were a) shilled a lot and b) too linear, that’s why they were mostly 1 season affairs, there was a point A and A point B, one specific lesson and that’s it, not so much this wider field of associations and elements to play with. That said this is a personal taste difference; I still loved Rose, Martha & Donna and they’re iconic. 

I also liked that Amy, Clara & co had more edges. RTD’s had like cute relatable good girl flaws. Rose was a bit insecure, which is relatable; Martha had trouble asserting her own needs which makes her look giving, Donna was a tad abrasive and maybe had a narrow focus as the start but she got over the latter and the former is a strength when it makes her be assertive when needed. 

And that’s fine. Those are legit personality types, they’re interesting and good as basically good people - some people are mostly good, and they’re supposed to be heroes. I’m not for this cult of “flaws” as the ultimate mark of a good/realistic character.  

It’s a legit, good story. But it’s not the *only* legit type of story. I’m very much against this modern tendency in fandom that you can only empathize with someone if you can somehow convince yourself they’re an underdog.  

At the same time Moffat’s characters get the sort of flaws that have a bit more bite, lead to costly mistakes, actions that could lead them to treat others unfairly or make others legit dislike them - Stuff like Amy’s difficulty with commitment, Clara’s perfectionism, high standards and calculating streak, and River who’s somewhat crass and impulsive in the eps where she’s younger and even once she matures past that sort of keeps back her real feelings a bit.... 

The one most similar to the sort of characters RTD made would probably be Rory in that he’s a basically good person who just needed to be more confident. I don’t think Bill would fit either category, but she has a lot of presence with all her quirky questions & reactions & habits, and there was this mentor dynamic and the interesting premise with the tutoring etc and the particular way she stumbles into mysterious events... 

I think Moffat approached it not as making “a pov character” but  an interesting character, an interesting sub-story on its own that it would be interesting to have interact with the main plot. 

The classics had both what you might describe as “regular people” and more high concept stories like ppl from space or with wacky backgrounds. It was never the rule that they must always be like this one specific type of character... 

Also, what IS “ordinary”? What IS flawed? What is relatable or interesting to one person might be boring to another. 

The problem with Chibnall is that he couldn’t be farther from the other two inthat he’s not much about characters at all and even when he actively tries to give them traits or lines or whatever they’re bland and indistinctive and really not memorable. 

He has no idea that specificity, the sense of a personal story and inner consistency, as well as edges, are what make stories and characters appealing so he has no qualms doing a big retcon that really shaves a whole of that off from the main character making them at best and at the most optimistic, a completely different sort of character and at worst totally undermined.  

This is my opinion on the matter, at least; As I said, personal taste plays into it somewhat.

[incomingalbatross]

For the ask: 001: Doctor Who; 002: Wodehouse ship of your choice; 003: character of your choice from Psych.

Thank you!

Doctor Who

Favorite character: ...I mean, it has to be the Doctor. He’s the embodiment of Chaotic Good, and he’s so entertaining and absurd and so deeply good at the same time. Even if there are regenerations I like less than others, I always love the Doctor.

Least Favorite character: ...Rose Freaking Tyler. I don’t talk about her much, because I don’t want to inadvertently start something with anyone who feels differently, but this is not a Rose-friendly space.

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): Canon-ish: Ben/Polly, Amy/Rory, Martha/Mickey. Non-canon: Harry/Victoria, Jenny/the son of Kate Stewart (he only barely exists in EU, but the idea of the Doctor’s daughter marrying the Brigadier’s grandson is just really cute to me)

Character I find most attractive: ...Hm. The Eighth Doctor, maybe?

Character I would marry: Harry Sullivan. He’s a sweet, gentlemanly dork of a Naval surgeon with traditional values--what’s not to love?

Character I would be best friends with: The Doctor. Not so much because he’s the character most like me, but because he’s very good at Being Friends With People.

a random thought: One thing I really love about the New Series is the increasingly consistent trend--especially in Moffat’s era, I think?--of explicitly treating the TARDIS as another character. It’s been there implicitly for a long time, but they made it much more canon and I appreciate that.

An unpopular opinion: Missy is not the Master, and I’ll never believe she is. This isn’t even about her gender, but about her whole personality.

My Canon OTP: Ian/Barbara, from the First Doctor’s era. This isn’t exactly controversial--I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything, in fandom or EU, where they weren’t happily together--but I love them.

My Non-canon OTP: Master/Clara... Which is entirely the fault of my sister’s fics. I wasn’t expecting to ship them!!

Most Badass Character: ...There’s so many to choose from. Aside from the Doctor, maybe Sarah Jane? Aside from being one of the greatest companions, she got her own spinoff show in which it was established that she’s been regularly saving the world on her own, she adopted two children and began mentoring three more in her fifties, and she was generally amazing for five seasons.

Most Epic Villain: ...The Master gets highest points for Presentation (as Megamind would say), and the Daleks are the most consistently menacing... But I think Rassilon scares me the most. He’s the founder of Time Lord society, and he’s evil. 

Pairing I am not a fan of: The Doctor/anyone other than River, honestly. (Well, or his Gallifreyan wife from pre-canon days--I assume they were a good match, from what canon evidence we have)

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): ...A lot. Today, though, I’m going to say Sarah again. As said above, she’s a hero in her own right, and there’s no force in the universe that could stop her from having adventures. Reducing her to “female character pining after the Doctor and unable to get over losing him,” as they did in “School Reunion”, was a massive injustice to her character. (ESPECIALLY since their Classic relationship was not romantic. I mean, they’ve been shipped, of course, but their was nothing romantic in the writing or--IMHO--even the acting.)

Favourite Friendship: I think I’ve said this before, but the Doctor and the Brigadier. I love constant their friendship is, how much they’ve done for each other and respect each other, and how easily they fit back together every time they reunite.

Character I most identify with: ...I honestly don’t know. I love almost all of them, but I don’t think any of them click in quite that way, you know?

Character I wish I could be: Romana, maybe? She’s a Time Lady who traveled with the Doctor--that’s a pretty good deal!

Wodehouse Ship: I’m going to go with Mike/Eve here, for fun

When I started shipping them: As soon as the name “Jackson” appeared in Leave it to Psmith, I think. I trust and support Mike’s judgement. :P

My thoughts: I wish we’d, you know, seen them together. But I like that Mike has a wife he can take care of! I think that suits them both. (I also have a headcanon that Psmith went off--to the Drones, maybe?--and dug up dirt on Rollo, and that these discoveries were what pushed Mike to propose. Because he’s an honorable boy, and I think getting him to propose to an engaged woman would take some intervention from Psmith... Also I don’t like what we’ve heard of Rollo.)

What makes me happy about them: That they exist. That they got their farm, and that their best friends married each other, so the two couples can look after each other when they need to! 

What makes me sad about them: No content. :(

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: ...I’ve never read any fic of them that wasn’t written by myself or one of this Tumblr microfandom, so... Nothing, really!

Things I look for in fanfic: Anything of them interacting with Psmith/Eve is especially fun. (Someday I’d like to try the scene where they find out Psmith and Eve are engaged. Because A) if they’re told soon enough, it would be the same meeting where they share the news that they got the farm, which sounds delightfully chaotic B) last they knew, Psmith and Eve hadn’t even met, and C) the second Mike heard they’d met at Blandings, he’d know Psmith was behind getting them the money. Somehow.) 

My wishlist:

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: ...I’m sure there are other Wodehouse Protagonists who would suit them, but none come to mind. They’re good with each other.

My happily ever after for them: Hmm... For them to have lots of kids, and the Psmiths as neighbors, and play cricket with their combined families every summer. Margery can visit and be the fun aunt, and since they’re doing well financially maybe the Jackson parents will come live with them at some point? (I’d also like them to have a chance to help Psimth and Eve out of some significant trouble, since it’s usually the other way around... I don’t know what, though.)

Psych character: ...I’ll pick Henry, since I’ve been talking about him a lot lately

How I feel about this character: Good! He’s a good, though flawed, dad, and a good cop. (One of the few Lawful Goods in this cast, in my opinion.) He’s solid, and principled, and one of the few people who can really, truly keep up with/keep a hold of Shawn.

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: His wife, I suppose? I don’t remember being a big fan of her, but he clearly still loves her, and I’m a sucker for “divorced couple reconciles” anyway... So yeah, Maddie.

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: Shawn, of course. Henry just... he built his whole life around raising his son, and it shows with him and with Shawn. They’ve both affected each other so much, and I love that the show just shows them being more openly important to each other as it goes on.

My unpopular opinion about this character: I’m not sure what’s “unpopular” here... But I think his training of Shawn was less about wanting him to be a cop, and more about giving Shawn A) something halfway constructive to do with his racing brain, and B) the tools to survive whatever trouble he'd get into in the future. Because, even then, Henry knew Shawn was never going to stay out of trouble.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish Shawn had told him he loved him out loud, to his face, which I don’t think quite happened. I’m pretty content with Henry’s content overall, though, I think.

Favorite friendship for this character: I’m going to cheat slightly and say Gus. It’s not exactly a friendship, but I love the implicit history there, and the way that Gus is practically his second kid and they both relate to each other as such. (I am also highly indignant that the “Henry & Gus” tag apparently doesn’t even exist on AO3... Distressing.)

My crossover ship: ...I got nothin. However, I have decided that in a Star Trek fusion AU (sort of a crossover!) Shawn’s mom would be a Vulcan. That’s the closest I’ve got.

[beccaland]

Beccaland reads and responds to an article about Doctor Who that she really should have known better than to have read in the first place

You know how you KNOW you should never read the comments sections, but sometimes you just can’t help yourself? That’s usually how I feel about reading articles about Doctor Who during the past few years, except from a handful of trusted sources. Yet there I was this morning, checking my regular email from Tor.com, and out of a slightly-morbid curiosity, I found myself reading “How It Feels to Want to Watch Doctor Who Again” by Alex Brown.

Partly, I really am interested in the fans who are getting interested in Doctor Who again. They left for a lot of reasons, and really you can’t begrudge anyone’s waning interest in a TV show. And it would be far, far more silly to begrudge them regaining interest! I’m excited for the awesome changes that are coming on October 7th, too. And I am fully aware that not every era is every fan’s cup of tea. On the other hand, I also know that I’m frequently irritated by the shallow criticism levelled in order to “justify” some fans’ disaffection. So there I was. Reading an article I knew very well was probably going to annoy me, like a masochist.

And just because I feel like it, I’m going to quote a bunch of it and offer my own commentary. I’m going to be as fair as I can, noting where I think a given critique is valid, where I think it’s valid but still disagree, and where I think it’s the same old tired, inaccurate nonsense.

Here we go:

“I miss Doctor Who.”

ME TOO!

“There was a time when I watched it fervently, reverently, passionately. It was something I put on when I was stressed or overwhelmed or needed to be reminded of the good things in life. The relationship wasn’t perfect, but it was powerful and affirming.”

Yeah, I do that too, but I never really stopped.

“Until suddenly it wasn’t.”

I mean, sure. Doctor Who did something on a purely personal and emotional level for the author, and then it stopped. That’s totally fair.

This actually happened to me with the novels in the ‘90s–they just weren’t doing enough for me imaginatively or emotionally anymore to justify the challenge of finding them and the expense of buying them. It happens. (I still wanted Doctor Who in my life though, so I rewatched my VHS tapes instead, until they had degraded in quality to the point where that wasn’t very fun either.)

“The show twisted into something unrecognizable and unpleasant. And so I abandoned Doctor Who just as it had abandoned me.”

The really negatively loaded language here bugs me a lot, but this article is a personal fan narrative more than it is a review, and it’s impossible to refute a subjective response. Clearly, it’s true that Alex Brown and the show were no longer on the same wavelength. So, fair enough.

“If you asked me in 2016 if I would ever watch Doctor Who again, I probably would’ve shaken my head and sighed. The chances of the show making the kind of changes necessary to pull me back seemed slim to none. But here we are, fall 2018, and I am so excited about the Season 11 premiere that I can barely stand it.”

I’m really happy about everyone coming back. I share this excitement!

[I’m omitting a couple of paragraphs here where Brown describes more of what Doctor Who meant to her when she first encountered the show during an obviously extremely difficult time in her life. It’s really moving, and I find it relatable in some ways.]

“With the takeover by Steven Moffat in 2010, my relationship with the Doctor shifted dramatically. As much as I loved Doctor Who, I wasn’t blinkered to its myriad problems.”

See, my issue with this is simply that it implies that people like me ARE “blinkered by its myriad problems.” We’re not. But sometimes we disagree about what those problems are, or where the blame (and praise) for those problems (and their amelioration) properly lies. Hence this post.

“Trouble was, the annoying but tolerable issues were magnified into something unbearable by Moffat’s numerous faults as showrunner. Under Moffat, seasons went from episodic romps loosely knitted together by repeating themes—think “Bad Wolf” Easter eggs throughout the first season—to Lost-style mystery box seasons bogged down in an increasingly convoluted and grimdark mythology.”

I think it’s fair to say that the series 6 arc in particular was much heavier than previously attempted by the show, and this was a turnoff for some viewers. Personally, I liked it a lot conceptually, but I acknowledge that it could have been better executed. It’s also not representative of Moffat’s whole era; he experimented a lot with structure. That in itself was probably frustrating to some viewers–again, I liked it a lot, but that’s neither here nor there.

However, calling the Moffat era “grimdark” is frankly bizarre. It seems to confuse a shift in LIGHTING with a shift in TONE. The Moffat era’s TONE was, if anything, substantially more hopepunk than the RTD era (to say nothing of Torchwood, which Brown also professes to adore).

“River Song, Cybermen, Daleks, and the Master work best when used sparingly,”

Yeah, I agree.

“but Moffat dragged them out of the toy box so often that they lost their appeal.”

A criticism that (aside from River, for whom YMMV) applies equally to the RTD era.

“Even the Doctor suffered from too much focus. Doctor Who is a show that flourishes when it cares more about the people the Doctor helps than the Doctor. The Doctor is much more interesting as a character who drops into other people’s stories than when everyone else exists only to serve the Doctor’s narrative.”

This is a matter of taste, and on that level cannot be refuted.

But I’m not actually sure it’s true that the stories in the Moffat era focused more on the Doctor than was the case in previous eras. It didn’t seem that way to me. I suppose one could develop some way of objectively evaluating the validity of that premise, but I’m not going to go to that much trouble.

“Worse, women went from equals with their own vibrant lives to codependent followers.”

This is not merely a matter of personal taste. It is an assertion about content of the sort which could hypothetically be supported by evidence. If it were true. And it is literally the opposite of true. It’s a gross mischaracterization of the Moffat era companions, and moreover ignores the sometimes-problematic characterizations of the RTD era companions. I’m skipping the rest of that paragraph, which merely rehashes worn-out, shallow readings of Amy and Clara’s characters. I have nothing to say about those arguments that I haven’t said elsewhere before.

“[Moffat’s] seeming disdain for how fans interpreted the series,”

Showrunners SHOULD disdain how fans interpret their work. Or, more accurately, they should ignore it. Since fans are a motley bunch, the alternative would be a total lack of creative vision, either deeply bland or utterly fractured.

“for critiques of his own biases and bigotries,”

In reality, Steven Moffat demonstrated a remarkable openness to critiques of his biases and made steady progress in addressing them both in front of the camera and behind the scenes.

“and for the depth the show was capable of became a virus that infected everything.”

From where I sit, Doctor Who demonstrated far more depth during the Moffat era than during the RTD era (and some of the deepest scripts in RTD’s era were written by Moffat and according to RTD, barely touched by his editorial influence). I’m willing to consider the possibility that the RTD era displayed depths that I failed to perceive, but given the number of times I’ve rewatched it and the fact that I study texts for a living, I have to say I think that’s a long shot. I would welcome a persuasive analysis of the depths of the RTD era.

“I have never been one to shy away from dropping shows that I no longer like, but I held onto Doctor Who longer than I should have. I finally tapped out after the frustrating penultimate episode of Season 6, “The Wedding of River Song.” Reductive, repetitive, and boring, the episode encapsulated everything I couldn’t stand about Moffat’s storytelling.”

OK, Brown has got a point there. I love TWORS for purely personal reasons (it was just FUN, in the same way that the more crazy-ambitious failures often are in Doctor Who), but I’m under no illusions about its quality. In addition to being “reductive [and] repetitive” that episode was also rushed and full of holes. I didn’t find it boring, but that’s a subjective thing.

It’s a bit weird though that Brown claims to have quit watching Doctor Who at the end of series 6, since earlier she critiqued both Clara and Moffat’s “over"use of Missy, both of whom post-date Brown’s purported exit. Hmm. Seems like (as is not uncommon, in my experience) people who dislike Moffat base a lot of their dislike on mere hearsay.

"Although Moffat drove me away from Doctor Who, other factors kept me from coming back. A not insignificant chunk of my exhaustion came from the frustratingly limited diversity and the frequently poor treatment of characters of color—see Martha and Bill, plus the weirdness around the few major interracial relationships.”

OK, this is approximately half fair. There WAS a frustrating lack of diversity which continued well into Moffat’s era. Martha and her weird marriage to Mickey are RTD’s doing entirely. And the author claims not to have ever seen series 10, so she’s hardly in a place to evaluate Bill’s treatment (which, for the record, seemed pretty great to me–vastly better than in any previous era, anyway, though there’s no doubt that there is still room for improvement).

“Prior to Season 11 there had never been an Asian or South Asian companion despite the fact that people of South Asian ancestry make up nearly 7% of the population of England and Wales, according to the most recent census. Islam is the second largest religion in the UK, yet Muslims are also largely absent from the show, and certainly from the role of companion.”

This is a totally fair criticism.

“Moffat said it was hard to cast diversely without impinging on historical accuracy,”

Gonna want a citation for that one; I admit it’s possible he said something like that at some point but I feel like I would remember if he had.

“a notion that is patently false and wholly ignorant of actual history.”

A point which Sarah Dollard makes in the series 10 episode “Thin Ice,” with the enthusiastic approval of Moffat himself.

“To be fair, Moffat also admitted this claim was nonsense and rooted in a white-centric view of history and acknowledged that the show needed to do better…then made absolutely no changes.”

Thanks for being fair…almost. In fact he made substantial changes during his tenure, though most happened after Alex Brown quit paying attention. Seems to me that if you’re going to write an article for a blog affiliated with a major SF publisher, you might actually want to check your facts rather than relying on information that’s several years out of date (if it was ever true).

“And don’t even get me started on frequent Moffat collaborator and Who writer Mark Gatiss who infamously whined about diversity initiatives ruining historical accuracy because they cast a Black man as a soldier on an episode about Queen Victoria’s army battling Ice Warriors on Mars.”

Yeah, this I do remember. Ew, Gatiss! What were you thinking?

“Not to mention Moffat’s asinine declarations that we couldn’t have a woman Doctor becausehe 'didn’t feel enough people wanted it’ and 'This isn’t a show exclusively for progressive liberals; this is also for people who voted Brexit.’”

This is also the man who wrote the first-ever gender-changing regeneration (of the Doctor, no less!) in his comedy special, “The Curse of the Fatal Death,” the first female incarnation of a previously male Time Lord (Missy, who turned out to be incredibly popular), and the first official, non-comedy, on-screen gender-changing regeneration scene (the General, in Hell Bent), thus paving the way for even many of those non-liberal, Brexit-voting audiences to accept a female Doctor, and making it virtually impossible for the BBC not to do it without looking like total assholes (though by that point they were totally on board and needed to further persuasion).

But sure, go ahead and cherry-pick a couple of real-but-not-representative Moffat quotes to perpetuate your misogynistic Moffat pseudo-narrative.

[Cutting the rest of that paragraph because it adds nothing to the critique]

“Why can’t we have a trans or disabled companion? Why can’t the Doctor be a queer woman of color?”

These are totally legitimate questions, and we should keep asking them.

“Do you know what it’s like to be told by someone in a position of power that you don’t belong here? That you are an aberration, a glitch in the matrix, that including you would be so inaccurate that it would collapse the narrative structure of a fictional television show that features a frakking alien traveling through time in a police box?”

Yes. I do.

And when you dismissed Amy and Clara as mere sexist stereotypes, mere codependent hangers-on of the Doctor, you re-inflict that wound on me and many other fans, because you’ve been granted a position of power, a platform in the blog of a major international SF publisher.

“Hearing that message all the time from pop culture is hard enough, but to get it from my favorite show was heartbreaking.”

I feel ya, Alex Brown. This needs to continue to be addressed.

But I’ll also remind readers that the Moffat era, despite its still-too-limited representation, gave us more disability representation than any other era of the show up to that point.

“Cut to the Jodie Whittaker announcement in July, 2017. For the first time in years, I watched the Christmas special—live, no less. To give credit where credit is due, Moffat’s swan song exceeded my (very low) expectations and Peter Capaldi was as excellent as I hoped he’d be. Whittaker had almost no screen time, but what she did get left me with a smile a mile wide.

"On top of her pitch-perfect casting, Thirteen will also be joined by three new companions, one a Black man and another a woman of Indian descent. Plus, the Season 11 writers’ room has added a Black woman, white woman, and a man of Indian descent. Several women will also be directing. New showrunner Chris Chibnall proclaimed that the renovated show will tell 'stories that resonate with the world we’re living in now,’ and will 'be the most accessible, inclusive, diverse season’ ever produced.

"These changes go beyond tokenism and into real diversity work. The show isn’t just sticking a woman in the titular role and patting themselves on the back. Diversity can’t just be about quotas. It must be about inclusion and representation in front of and behind the camera. Marginalized people need to be able to tell our own stories and speak directly to our communities. The majority already gets to do that, and now that conversation needs to happen across the board. The show still has a lot of work to do, both in terms of undoing the status quo of harmful tropes and in laying strong groundwork for later casts and crews. Yet, somewhat surprisingly, I feel hopeful for the show’s future.”

I totally agree with these three paragraphs (except I had high expectations of TUAT, which were also exceeded). In fact these paragraphs are a big part of why I felt like this article was worth sharing. I just couldn’t do it without significant reservation.

“And isn’t hope what the show is really all about? Doctor Who is a story about the hope for a better tomorrow, faith in your companions, and trust that you’re doing the right thing. It’s about a hero using their immense powers responsibly and in order to benefit those who need it the most. The Doctor creates space for the marginalized to stand up and speak out, to fight for their rights against those who would silence or sideline them.”

I’m not totally sure that that’s ever really been true before, but it’s an ongoing aspiration that the show keeps moving closer to.

“For too long, that ideal was lost to puzzle boxes, bloated mythology, and trope-y characters”

No it wasn’t. See above.

“but with the appearance of each new Thirteenth Doctor trailer, my hope grows a little more.

"It’s not often that you find your way back to something you loved and lost. At first, Doctor Who was a touchstone during my trials and hardships. Then it became a cornerstone in the foundation of the new life I was building. For a long time I left it encased in a wall, hidden in the basement of my subconscious, untouched and unwanted. Yet here I stand, sledgehammer in hand, putting a hole in that wall. I have set free my love of Doctor Who as Jodie Whittaker cheers me on. October 7 can’t come soon enough.”

This sentiment is really lovely. Welcome back, Alex Brown, and every other fan returning to Doctor Who after an absence of any length and for any reason. It’s shaping up to be a great new era.

Please remember, though, when talking to other fans, that other eras meant as much to some of them as this one means to you, and for similar reasons.

To those who are leaving because of toxic discourse about previous eras making them feel like their presence isn’t welcome and/or participating in fandom right now will only cause them pain: I’m going to miss you. I hope your DVDs and Big Finish and stuff continue to bring you joy. I hope you’ll come back again when it’s safe to do so.

To those who are leaving because they don’t like the idea of a female Doctor and/or two POC companions: BYE BYE! To be honest, nobody will miss you, but nevertheless I hope that eventually you realize how silly and harmful your biases are. When you do, I hope you’ll come back to Doctor Who. And you’ll be welcome.

[fangirlingtodeath513]

Tagged by @supernaturalsbestcouple, thanks! 

Rules: Pick three fandoms, answer the questions and tag 10 people

my chosen fandoms:

1. Supernatural

2. Doctor Who

3. Brooklyn Nine- Nine

first character i loved:

1. Dean, easily. He’s such a charmer but when you get the glimpse beneath his performance mask, it’s beautiful

2. Okay so my dad watched DW when he was younger and introduced me to it during Tennant’s run so I’m gonna go with Ten, but with Donna as a super super close second.

3. Rosa. I adore her.

the character i never expected to love so much:

1. Cas. I think my love for Misha enhances my love for Cas but Cas by himself is a phenomenal and nuanced character.

2. Eleven. I was so so angry when Tennant left the show and I swore I wasn’t gonna like this stupid kid who was taking over but damn was he a good Doctor.

3. Holt????? I love him... so much??????????

the character i relate to the most:

1. Dean

2. Donna

3. Uhhhhh not really anyone? I guess the closest would be Rosa.

the character i’d slap:

1. I was gonna say Lucifer as well but he’s dead. Uh.......... eh, fuck it, I’m gonna go with John Winchester, even though he’s also dead. Fuck him.

2. I wouldn’t slap her, but I wasn’t fond of Clara as a companion. 

3. Jake. That boy can be dumb sometimes.

three favorite characters (in order of preference):

1. Dean, Cas, Sam

2. Ten, Donna, River

3. Rosa, Jake, Holt

a character i liked at first but don’t any more:

1. Hmmmm um... I don’t really think anyone? Most people have consistently stayed in the like or dislike group they started in

2. Twelve, but that’s not really his fault. The writing was so dull and overcomplicated, which is entirely Moffat’s fault. I’m so happy he’s gone.

3. Gina. I didn’t really like her to begin with, she grates my nerves.

three otps:

1. Dean and Cas, easy.

2. Ten and Rose, also easy

3. Jake and Amy, again super easy

If y’all wanna do this, feel free to say I tagged you and tell us about your fandoms, I always love seeing what other people are into.

[sprnklersplashes]

Hullo, saw your views on Rose, and I do agree a lot. I was wondering what you thought of the other companions, like Martha, Donna, the Ponds, River, etc?

I am glad you liked my thoughts. I’m sorry for keeping you waiting, but this ask prompted, wait for it, 2.5 thousand words on my love and appreciation for each of these darlings, because I do love them all.

Under the cut we go!!!!

Martha- Martha Jones walked away from all of time and spacebecause she wouldn’t do it with someone who did not respect her (no offense to10 but she deserved better than you) and that ladies and gentlemen is thedefinition of a strong female character. Even from her first episode I lovedMartha balancing doctor training with her incredibly dysfunctional family andinstead of taking a moment to break down and scream (which is what many of uswould do) she just gets on with it, a little sarcasm and eye rolling sure but she doesn’t let it put her down and doesn’t get bogged down in her stressful life. There’s also how she is a badass withoutneeding to be physically violent or use weapons. In fact I don’t remember a lotof scenes where she does use weapons (thought it’s been a while). She walksacross the Earth using nothing but her bravery and wits, she finishedShakespeare’s spell to the witches on the spot even when the Doctor couldn’t doit (also, Expelliamus, you babe, Martha), ended Joan Redfern with her knowledgeof the bones of the hand (which is some pretty complex information she whippedout off the top of her pretty little head), and talked down to the Daleks(which yes used a weapon but it was a weapon given to her). Whether she wasbluffing or not in that instance, that took some serious guts and homegirl didnot break a sweat while doing it. A small but beautiful moment for her is inher first episode where she says “How many people want to go to the moon? Andhere we are!”. She knows how scary the whole thing is but at the same time shesees the absolute beauty and knows how unique an opportunity it is, and that’sa beautiful thing for her.

Donna- Oh Donna Donna Donna. If there was ever a characterwho was more fitting of the ‘deserved better’ label, it’s her! I don’t think itis physically possible for someone to dislike Donna. Let’s get the obviouspoint out of the way first; best lines ever. I mean between “oi watch itspaceman” and “don’t get clever in Latin” she had some of the funniest lines onthis show. Now that that is out of the way, can we appreciate the hope she has?She sticks out with the belief she will see the Doctor again after the Runaway Bride, and I feel likeher changing her mind humanised her a lot. She said she didn’t want to butthen, things changed, because people change. I liked her taking matters intoher own hands re: Adipose and investigating thinking she could run into theDoctor there. Even from there, she is on equal footing with him. Now we move onto her compassion which is so lovely, especially towards other women, like MissEvangelista (and I love their relationship because I feel like Donna was comingfrom a place of understanding with her, knowing how it feels to beunderestimated, and making sure she thanked her and noticed her even if no oneelse did), Evelina, Jenny whom she immediately bonds with even when 10 isprickly towards her. She just wants to make friends with all the people shemeets and I think that’s an amazing character trait. Not to mention how she demands to be treated as an equal, no matter if it’s a UNIT soldier (”I’ll have a salute”) or an alien ( “Every bit as important as Time Lord, thank you very much”). Her growth was amazing.She didn’t acquire a lot of new skills, just the confidence to utilise the onesshe had! I am still so bitter and upset about her ending because she did notdeserve to have all her amazing adventures and development that came with thatstripped away from her.

Amy- Amy is “my first bb girl” in that s6 of Doctor Who wasthe first one I watched, and the first fandom I was in and Amy was my firstfavourite female character, so I am very protective of her. When we first meether adult self, Amy is desperate to shed the “Amelia” part of her, kick out thechildhood dreams, but even in season 5 we still see a sort of childlikeexcitement because she has not suppressed her inner child and that isbeautiful. She also has a lot of insecurities in her arc, shown in herrelationship with Rory-not in a “I worry that he’s too good for me” way but ina “I don’t know if I am ready for this level of commitment” way-which 1. imomade for a very relateable character and 2. Gave way for a whole level ofcharacter development, because by around the end of series 5/start of series 6she was wholly comfortable in that relationship. But even then she can’t sitstill as it were, she says to the Doctor that she can’t keep a job and, while Ido acknowledge is in part to the fact she is waiting for him to come back, sheis also finding herself, which right now, I relate to massively as a youngwoman. She doesn’t keep a job because she doesn’t know what she wants. Shemodels, she writes, she makes perfumes, she can’t sit still. Amy’s story islargely about growing up and learning to stand on her own two feet, and that iswhy it culminates in her choosing to go back in time with Rory. Now this is abit of my own personal thinking here, but to me Rory represents “normality”, anadventure free, dull life while the Doctor represented everything else. Thiswas her growing up and saying she was choosing normality, her “not a littlegirl anymore” moment. She doesn’t outgrow her flaws, she’s still very impulsivein season 7 but she learns to deal with them maturely. I imagine a lot of hertroubles come from the neglect she endured as a child and I curse Moffat fornot allowing her to deal with her trauma in a healthier way. But anyways, Ithought her growing into her own and maturing was lovely to watch.

River Song- Ah River, or as I like to call her “who my 13-year-oldself aspired to be”. She’s just, so beautifully complex. I think what I lovemost about her is she lives her life on her own terms. She takes a lot of risksbut she…. well I wouldn’t say doesn’t care but she certainly seems to thinkthey’re worth it. And she lived her life totally on her terms, even when shewas in jail! She just casually breaks out and in as she pleases, just waltzingaround like a babe! She also has so much confidence it’s inspiring. She’sclever and she knows it. She has most people wrapped around her finger, evenfrom her first expedition in the library we can see she is the (unofficial)leader. I don’t know if I would call her fearless, but she rarely showed fear.Vashta Nerada? Weeping Angels? She has got this. Plus, homegirl graffitied theoldest cliff face in universe like can you get any more iconic? She is alsogorgeous and she knows it. She has a great body and flaunts it because it makesher feel good and that’s a good lesson we ca all take away from her. I thinkthere is also a hugely tragic side to River. Every character on this show hadfamily issues; Rose lost her dad, Martha’s parents split, Amy was neglectedetc. and then there is River, who was kidnapped, tortured and brainwashed. Andyet she kept on fighting and as a child managed to fight her way out of anastronaut suit and braved the streets of 1960s New York as a child. And that’sjust the tip of it. I saw a post once that in the s6 premiere, when she isalone talking to Rory, in that moment, she isn’t just someone talking to a guyshe just met, she is a little girl running to her daddy and telling her she’s scaredand wants her parents, and it hurts god damn it, it hurts. Underneath thebravado, the flirting, the teasing, she’s scared. I am not amazed that she cameout of it a good person, I am amazed she came out of it sane. But she is such agood person. She managed to overcome her brainwashing and kill the person sheloves most, and then sacrifices herself in the library. One of my favouriteRiver moments is her moment with Donna when Donna asks “How come I’m not in thefuture” and River’s face (huge props to Alex here) just falls so much and thereis so much empathy in that scene. I also think her determination to rebuild herrelationship with her parents is so beautifully inspiring and we were cheatedout of scenes. I also think her past adds to her relationship with the Doctorsince he was likely the only person outside of her parents to care for herwhich is why she latched on to him (not saying that avoiding killing him was atall right, it was definitely wrong sorry bby girl, but it is kind ofunderstandable).

Clara- Oh Clara my Clara. If you couldn’t tell by my bio, Iam a massive Clara Oswald fan, and she is currently in a three way tie forFavourite Fictional Character Out Of Anything Ever (tied with Emma Swan andKillian Jones from Once Upon A Time). Where do I even start with her? Even fromher first episodes, confidence oozes out of her every pore and it is earned.From Oswin (who I fell in love with in 2 seconds flat) and her “total screaminggenius” to modern day Clara and “Clara Oswald for the win” she just knows howamazing she is and I totally love it. It’s not conceited arrogance, not “I ambetter than you” but “I am awesome and I know I am”. Now let’s move on to asimilar topic, baby girl is very smart as heck, even without the computerknowledge uploaded into her via Great Intelligence. She noticed the littledetails “a chimney that doesn’t blow smoke”, she thought on her feet “I’m theDoctor”/ “Your daughter, Skaldak”, she keeps pushing Bonnie and manages to stayequal with her by using her wits (sidenote, can we give all the awards to Jennain that episode because good lord), her whole time in Flatline (which isprobably my favourite Clara episode ever), with the clockwork robots she keptthem talking, risking her own life in the process because she knew how to.Also, right from the word go she is making it clear with the Doctor that she ishis equal and that she is the one in charge here, right from “come backtomorrow” and “see you next Wednesday”. This continues later in her arc “you’reone of my hobbies”. One of my favourite lines of hers is “I’m not a bargainbased stand in for someone else, I’m not going to compete with a ghost” and itjust sticks with me because she is there asserting her authority on the TARDIS,prepared to walk away right now if he does not respect her for who she is, andit is marvellous to watch. And then this comes back in 12’s run where she goesoff on him for abandoning her and I feel like he needed her to ground him andmake him more human. She is not afraid to call the Doctor out on his shit,whether it’s something big like in Kill The Moon or something relating to herdirectly, “speak for me again and I’ll detatch something from you”. Now let’smove onto another, beautiful topic, Clara and kids! We see this in the Bells ofSaint John how she gave up her plans to travel to look after Angie and Artieand then again in the next episode she comforts and all but adopts Merry Gallel,and her with young!Doctor, soothing his fears. It’s a little topic but it’s sobeautiful. She is also, for a lack of a better word, beautifully badass! Shehas stared down Cybermen, Daleks, Missy, all the Doctor’s greatest enemies, andnot blinked. That is how badass she is. She is also incredibly brave, rightfrom the start she volunteers to go into the Ice Warrior, she jumps into theDoctor’s timestream, she sacrifices herself for Rigsy. She’s a beautiful exampleof how bravery and fearlessness are not the same thing. Her dying words are “letme be brave”, which is a beautiful moment for her. There is also something somagical about her, so fairytale, the excited traveller. Her first request is tosee “something awesome”. She doesn’t care, she just wants to be impressed. She practicallydances when she arrives somewhere new. Underneath her no-nonsense “bossy controlfreak” exterior, there’s an excited young woman getting to travel. She ishugely flawed but she is aware of it, which I find amazing. She says in HellBent “I’d say I’m sorry but I’d do it again”. She is reckless and a littleselfish, and she knows it. Ultimately, it is what kills her, but it still makesfor a wholly unique and beautiful character.

Bill Potts- Ah my precious Bill. I think the quote either Moffator Pearl gave “she’s got her feet on the ground and her heart in the stars” (orsomething) is so perfectly her. She is just so open and in my opinion, we needcharacters like that, who smile through rainstorms. I mean, she wanted to go tothe future because she wanted to see if it was happy, which is kind of tragicbut also pretty beautiful when you think about it. I think the fact that sheshowed up at lectures even though she wasn’t a student was so great. All shehad was a love of learning even if she wouldn’t do anything with it, and yes, anatural curiosity about the Doctor himself. The Doctor says that when she doesn’tknow something, she smiles, which is another lovely detail on her character andagain shows her curiosity and just how much of a sunshine she is. There’s nofrustration in not knowing, it’s a new chance for her to learn. Her reactionsto everything around her are so amazingly realistic, calling the Victorianorphans “cute as”. I think her question to the Doctor in her first episode, “Doyou know any sci-fi?”, shows a lot about how she is the dreamer, the one whothinks up impossible scenarios and answers, she dares to think outside the box.Bill has such a strong mind that even being a cyberman could not stop her fromcaring and fighting back. Her teasing the Doctor is absolutely adorable and isreally her way of establishing her own authority on the TARDIS, unlike Claraand Martha, she doesn’t do anything where she demands his respect, she gentlyeases it out of him with her quirky teasing (“Time Lord, sounds posh”), notsaying one way is better than the other, just that it’s a cute and unique wayof her building an equal relationship with him. I think Bill is definitely oneof those characters we so desperately need more of in TV, little rays ofsunshine who want to make everyone else’s days brighter, who want to pushforward and achieve and try because why not, even if it won’t lead them anywhere,who wants to see if the world will still be a happier place tomorrow. And Ilove her for it.

[rawyld]

Taged by @stanfordblenderfun thanks

Rules: Choose any three fandoms (in random order) and answer the questions:

Doctor Who

Star Wars

Thunderbirds Are Go

First character that you loved:

Ian Chesterton from Classic Who because he was my first companion that I fell in love in back 2011

Han Solo (Harrison Ford and Alden)

Scott Tracy.

The character you never expected to love so much:

Third Doctor

C-3PO

John Tracy.

The character you can relate to the most:

Third Doctor because he’s a rebel against the Time Lords and doesn’t take orders well from authority

C-3PO cause he worries about everything like I do because I have Anxiety and like to state the obvious.

John Tracy because he hates social occasions like I and like talking to people without seeing them personally. I have High-Functioning Autism.

The character that I want to slap:

River Song, Rose, Clara and Amy Pond. Why because they are too whiney

Kylo Ren, Qi’re (Kira,) Anakin Skywalker too

The Hood.

Three favourite characters (In Order of preference:

Third Doctor

Han Solo

John Tracy.

A character you like liked first but don’t anymore:

River Song cause she wanted to kill The Doctor

Lando because of pansexual (hey don’t kill me for it, it’s my opinion.)

Lady Penelope Ward.

A character that you did not like at first but now do:

Clara Oswald

C-3PO

John Tracy.

Three OTP (Three of each:)

Ian/Barbara, Jo Grant/Third Doctor

C-3PO/Leia (or in my world Carrie Fisher/Anthony Daniels)

John Tracy/Me.

Tagging people @flyboytracy @tb5-heavenward