#danni ten regeneration

[camellcat]

I'm rewatching s1 again and I think it's so fucking funny how much every other doctor except nine absolutely hates guns. nine is SO excited to shoot that goddamn dalek. he is READY he is DOWN he is soooo for it. he points a gun at rose tyler and doesn't even think about it until she scolds him for it.

and then in bad wolf where he's incredibly comfortable about holding that big ass blaster. never gets onto jack about parading around with them either. just does not bat an eye. in fact he is threatening people with it, even if it is a farce.

the others would NEVER lol

[get-more-bald]

Brb. Getting my brain chemistry changed 👍

[heatwa-ves]

okay tell me a bit abt clara i need to know more abt my blorbo in law

YAYYY I did try to keep this reasonably short but I failed. and there's like 20 minutes worth of videos in here too but I hope it's still an enjoyable read

clara was introduced as a character in one episode and she dies at the end of it and people were like oh okay she's just a minor character in that one episode, and then later on it that series after the previous companion characters leave there's another episode with clara and it's in a completely different setting and the doctor (matt smith/eleven) is like huh. what. I saw you die on a spaceship why are you in victorian london. and she has no memory of him and is like lol what the fuck are you talking about. so they gallivant around and she dies at the end of that episode again with the exact same last words and at this point the doctor is getting a bit freaked out. anyway he ends up finding clara again in modern day london (because it's always fucking london. why is it never idk. bournemouth. let's have a character from bournemouth next.) and again she has no memory of him bla bla plot stuff happens and at the end of the episode he asks her to travel with him and she tells him to ask her again tomorrow because while everything in her wants to say yes she wants to keep control of the situation and have this be on her terms. anyway they travel together for a bit in what I refer to as dws flop era it's just. not a good season with the exception of maybe two episodes. but at the end of this series in order to save the doctors life clara enters his like. time stream? and so she's in so many places in his life to like. save him or whatever which is why there's so many versions of her all of whom die. the real her is fine tho. anyway a few episodes later the doctor is dying it's a really shit episode in my opinion but he regenerates into the next doctor (peter capaldi/twelve) and this is where things get good.

so when a doctor regenerates ofc their appearance changes but also some aspects of their personality do too for example nine who has been hurt by the war is healing and being loved and he becomes ten who's young and flirty and perfect for the girl he loves and then ten after going through so much emotional pain and loss regeneration is like healing and he becomes eleven who's happy and fun and then eleven after spending the final hundreds of years of his life in one place rather than travelling he becomes twelve who is older wiser and a little gruff and sarcastic but to clara this is a completely different man to the doctor she loved and she kinda hates him for it!! he also abandons her (not really but it feels like it to her) in a room full of robots who want to kill her and she has a really nice monologue etc etc more stuff happens and at the end of the episode she assumes he's abandoned her in victorian london but he comes back to her of course and then there's my favourite scene ever which is SO important for their relationship

they end up traveling together for a while and while they're not traveling clara works as an english teacher and ends up getting to know another teacher there called danny. I hate danny. which sucks because I like the idea and I like some of the things they do with him but he's SO annoying his only personality trait is that he's an ex soldier which okay fair there's a lot of similar themes throughout this series but that's all he is. he's an ex soldier there is nothing else to him. anyway their first date is kind of disastrous and clara storms out but then ends up meeting him in the past and also his descendant in the future and that makes her go back to the date and try to make it work even tho it really isn't. then they rob a bank this isn't particularly relevant but it is fun. by this point she is slightly spiralling trying to keep both parts of her life separate and working perfectly and she's kind of exhausted. then in a catastrophic series of events danny finds out about the doctor and that's claras not good very bad day but she keeps going. anyway then her and the doctor and one of her students end up on the moon and after a lot of bullshit they're left with the choice of if to blow up the moon or not. and here the doctor leaves her he says he's not human he has nothing to say and she calls him essentially a selfish asshole how can he say it's not his world when he breaths their air walks their ground and loves their people and she despises him for doing this to her and for putting her student at risk. there's also a 2014 tumblr cameo in this episode which is deeply disturbing.

at this point she talks with danny and she decides to stop traveling with the doctor. so they plan one last trip before she leaves for good and they go to the orient express in space! except of course it's not a nice relaxing trip there's murders and a mummy! Yay! clara meets and befriends another passenger called maisie who's one of my fav minor characters and they get trapped in a room and talk a lot and there's a line I love "it would be so much easier if we just liked the people we're supposed to like (danny) but then there wouldn't be any fairy tales (the doctor and the tardis and the whole universe)" which is confirmation for what was pretty obvious at this point; that clara doesn't actually love danny, she just thinks she should. again, control freak, wants a perfect life, this is what she SHOULD have but this is not what she wants. anyway turns out maisie will be the next to die and the doctor tells clara to lie to her that she can be saved. and this is only furthering claras hatred for him but she does it anyway (and so begins the doctorification. she becomes more and more similar to him which then leads to a whole arc later on) turns out he could save maisie but he wasn't sure if he could so he would rather clara think him cruel for lying to maisie rather than have her feel betrayed if he promised to save her and failed. and then there's this scene and she hasn't completely forgiven him but she's reminded of how much she loves him and "sometimes the only choices are bad ones, but you still have to choose" is perfectly reflective of her impossible decision in the last episode. after this danny calls and he asks if it's over and she says yes despite the fact she fully intends to keep traveling with the doctor. and thus begins the lying to danny! at the end of this phone call she hesitates and then says really loudly "I love you" to which danny replies out of focus and then it cuts to the doctor. and the actor confirmed she's saying this to twelve not to danny. insanity!!!!

and wow. all that was just on one episode. and the next episode is equally a banger!!! this one is entirely clara centric and it's more doctorification. the doctor becomes her little purse dog (he gets shrunk really tiny and can't do anything) and she takes on his role in investigating and leading people. there's a part where he asks what she's going to do and she says "lie to them, give them hope" and that's an oh moment because now she's doing exactly what he did last episode. it's brilliant. she also lies to Danny about how she's so totally not with the doctor lol and then through some very clever antics they save the day and she says "why won't you tell me I was good" and he says something along the lines of "you were an excellent doctor, goodness had nothing to do with it." banger line. moving on some more episodes happen and there's one where the earth is about to be destroyed and I do like this episode it gets a lot of hate but I don't think it's bad aside from a really weird anti meds sentiment which he would not fucking say. anyway! more clara danny interactions where she doesn't love him but thinks she should and there's a part where the doctor says he has a role because earth is his planet too which is a lovely callback to what clara told him before! we love a man who learns. and then more stuff happens and it gets to a point where clara decides she can't keep lying to danny and she plans to tell him everything but as they're on the phone he gets into a car accident on his way to see her and by the time she gets there it's too late.

she gets so upset and irrational and calls the doctor and there's these two incredible scenes anddd then the doctors childhood friend slash lover slash nemesis shows up and is like happy birthday babe here's a present (invasion of earth) there's not too much clara in this episode but she does (accidentally) tell danny to his face that the only man she'll ever love is the doctor. ouch. and then danny dies and clara lies to the doctor that he's alive and she'll be fine so that the doctor can return to his home planet and the doctor lies to clara that he's found his home planet so that she can live a normal life with danny but neither of these things are true and so they're just both pretty miserable for a bit. and then santa saves the day brings them back together etc etc lovely episode brilliant claraisms gorgeous ending scene but I've shown you enough scenes that I'll try and speed through this one

and so begins series 9 and their messy codependent era where they are both insanely hurt from the events of the last few episodes and losing danny and the return of twelves weird ex who he's still forever in love with. yay! let's go quickly through S9 first of all the doctor reunites with his arch nemesis (not the gay one from a few episodes ago) meanwhile clara is having lesbian hate sex without any actual sex involved and getting put inside of a dalek. then there's under the lake/before the flood which are some really nice episodes for twelveclaraisms they parallel the finale PERFECTLY but an actual discussion of that would take several hours and I don't wanna take up any more of your time. just know there's an incredible clara line "if you love me in any way you'll come back" some stuff happens they go to viking britain slash scandanavia it's unclear and I got really mad because there are electric eels featured heavily in this episode and they don't live outside of south america. anyway there's some really nice doctor characterization but that's not the point all that's relevant is he forces immortality upon a dying girl to save her and she grows to hate him for it. he gives her a second immortality thing in case "she meets someone she can't bear to lose." the foreshadowing is heavy handed. then clara gets impersonated by an alien then there's a bullshit episode that idr much about other than twelveclara hold hands and it's something along the lines of clara saying im not scared and the doctor saying i am. 💖 AND NOW. THE FINALE. THE TWELVECLARA EPISODES. MY ROMAN EMPIRE.

so there's three parts to the finale the first is called face the raven and clara gets a call from a friend of hers who I don't think I mentioned yet but anyway. he woke up with a timer counting down on the back of his neck and is freaked out so they investigate and discover a hidden alien village in, you guessed it, london! It's always fucking london. anyway the vibes are delectable it's soooo cool and here they run into the woman the doctor made immortal her name is lady me and she's essentially leading this village. turns out the timer is counting down to death and it's put on him because he's been framed for a murder etc etc plot stuff very good. it turns out you can transfer the timer to another person of they're willing and do clara convinces him to transfer it to her to buy them more time because reasons I forgot. turns out once the timer is transferred it can't be removed! and the doctor gets pissed he's threatened to bring hell down upon lady me if she doesn't do anything but clara tells him to stop and she's always been the only person he listens to. he goes to say something to her and she stops him and says "whatever you're about to say, I already know" and they have such a tender moment and then she steps out alone as the timer runs out and she dies.

the next part is called heaven sent and this one is about the doctor long story short he's trapped in a giant castle and is looking through it while hiding from this spectre of sorts born from his childhood nightmares. there's a portrait of clara on one of the walls and the show writers said on the back of the portrait is the clue to how he can get out but he can't bring himself to turn her face to the wall to see the back. sobs. anyway he journeys through this castle and at the end there's a massive wall made of a material harder than diamond between him and the exit and he punches the wall but nothing happens ofc because it's so thick. the spectre thing then has him on the brink of death and he drags himself back to where he entered the castle and through some sci-fi nonsense repeats the day. it's a timeloop yippee!!! the tiny tiny crack his fist made on the wall stays and so he repeats this again and again and again and again and he dies repeatedly in this loop making miniscule chips in the wall for FOUR AND A HALF BILLION YEARS just for the minute CHANCE that he could save clara. if I had to pick an absolute favourite doctor who episode it would be this one it is a masterpiece

and the final episode is called hell bent. the doctor emerges onto his home planet does some time travel shit and manages to find clara at the very moment of her death between her last heartbeat and extracts her from there. she's able to talk and move but she's kind of in stasis and half dead. he goes against his moral code in this moment and kills a man (she wakes up as a woman it's fine) because that's how dedicated he is to clara!!!! sobs.. they escape and travel to the end of the universe in the hopes that as they're so far from her point of death the stasis will end and she'll come back to life even tho this goes against the laws of time and could destroy everything he doesn't care because it's her. here they run into lady me again and she talks about how they've become so similar that they drive eachother to extremes. more conversations and stuff and the doctor says he plans to erase claras memory of him so his people can't find and kill her because she's a defect in the flow of time. Or something. and she goes FUCK no and attempts to reverse the polarity on the memory thing but they don't know if she succeeded and there's some very lovely moments meanwhile me is in the corner just standing there and they decide they'll press the thing together and one of them will lose their memory but they don't know who and clara says I dont think I'll ever forget you and the doctor says I don't think you'll have to. and falls unconscious.

he wakes up in america (jumpscare) and makes his way to a diner which he had been to before with previous friends. he talks to the waitress there and plays her a song and everything in the diner is another contender for best dw scene ever. he plays a song on his guitar and he says I think it's called "clara" and she says something along the lines of "if memories we have forgotten because stories, maybe some of them become songs" and the waitress is clara of course but he doesn't recognise or remember her and im stupid emotional just thinking about it. and she leaves and she along with lady me have to travel back to the point of her death and restore the flow of time atho they definitely have weird lesbianisms beforehand but that's beside the point. the doctor leaves and he sees the tardis is painted

and when I tell you I sobbed upon seeing this. I will never recover.

in his last episode one season later he ends up regaining his memories of clara right before dying and I sobbed like a baby. yay! anyway this turned into more of a twelveclara answer than just clara but I hope you enjoyed reading and you see why I'm so insane over them 🥺

[musicallyseducingallthehotties]

hey ninja guys i’m just wondering, how did u two meet?

<We met at ninja academy in 2004.>

<Ninja Brian saw him briefly every now and then, but didn't properly meet him until... that night.>

<Ninja Brian woke up one night and saw Danny banging a house plant in his apartment.

<He killed him afterwards and was planning to put the head in the trophy collection.>

<And throw away the house plant.>

<Then he heard girly screams.>

<Ninja Brian ran over to see something... strange.>

<Danny, alive, screaming in fear as the lower half of his body was reattaching itself.>

<Ninja Brian had found the perfect punching bag: A dumbass that could never die.>

<Over time, we grew closer and closer as friends.>

<When Ninja Brian hanged out with Danny, he saw potential in him. Potential that he could become a powerful ninja.>

<Someone that could finally rival Ninja Brian.>

<However, Danny was lazy and easily distracted... and extremely horny.>

<So we trained. Danny helped Ninja Brian by training with him and becoming stronger and stronger, and Ninja Brian helped Danny by being his wingman.>

<Then Danny discovered his chi.>

<Manipulation of Chi was an art that only a true ninja can master. Ninja Brian found it through his violent rampages many centuries ago.>

<Danny, found his through one pelvic thrust.>

<The shockwaves can induce feelings of pleasure, while Ninja Brian's chi can induce pain.>

<This redefined Ninja Brian's definition of chi.>

<It wasn't just rage and destruction. It was love. It was lust. It was peace.>

<Naturally, we exploited this new discovery for all its worth. This went on for YEARS. The only problem is that we didn't know when to stop.>

<One night, Danny rounded up an orgy of ten girls and a mime.>

<The chi-induced thrusts were so powerful that he inadvertently tore the fabric of space-time itself.>

<How that was even possible eludes Ninja Brian to this very day.>

<Anyway, the universe was falling apart. Dinosaurs fell from the sky. Samurai were attacking us. A king from the beginning of England's history was on a rampage.>

<We had no idea how to fix that.>

<Ninja Brian had to fend off a lot of dinosaurs while Danny was this close to being killed by the man who created England.>

<He was close to giving up.>

<Ninja Brian had a theory that Danny's constant regenerations were a manifestation of his determination.>

<So Ninja Brian told Danny that if he died, he would miss all the hot girls that he could bone.>

<And that was the moment when he learned how to manifest his chi into Excalibur.>

<King? Killed.>

<Only problem is that there is a giant hole in the space-time continuum and no possible way to seal it...>

<...right?>

<Danny suggested that if a thrust caused it to open, then another should seal it shut.>

<Ninja Brian said that it was a dumb idea that could never work.>

<...And yet, by some kind of miracle that Ninja Brian still can't wrap his head around, the hole got slammed and calked thus fixing the flow of space-time.>

<....except for the fact that England is now Sexland and all the months are sex-related puns.>

<And everyone is accepting that as the reality.>

<We left our ninja troop to our own accord, because there was no hope in hell that the circle would allow us back in when we were this close to annihilating the very fabric of the universe.>

<But Ninja Brian is ok with that.>

<He gained a new friend from all of this.>

<And honestly? I wouldn't want to change a thing.>

[witchofthemidlands]

Thanks to a ✨depression haze✨ taking its sweet time to vamoosh from my mind i am only now able to form words about the Doctor Who trailer.

Fifteen has been in the grand total of the last quarter of The Giggle, The Church On Ruby Road & (2) trailers & he’s my second favourite Doctor of all time. I. Love. This. Version. Abolish UNIT's flooring king & leave the bill for your younger self <3 Every time I think of Fifteen, I think back to 2021 where me & my housemate were standing in the kitchen saying based on our mutual love for Eric Effiong that Ncuti Gatwa would be a good Doctor Who.

THE MUSIC 🎵 CHANGES🎵 honestly I went feral as soon as it started playing. For YEARS I have associated different Bowie songs with Twelve, Bill Potts & Danny Pink so I was screeching like a person deranged.

Will say though considering The Goblin Song, the musical notes around Ruby & the trip to The Beatles I wonder if music will play a core theme in this season? Little things like words on posters & names said aloud throughout the first RTD era turned out to be vital elements so I’m wondering if we’ll get something similar like that again.

VERY happy to see Cherry & Carla back. I always thought they would be seeing as RTD clearly loves his companions to have families & love that he’s returned to writing about & showing the importance of found/adoptive families like he did for The Sarah Jane Adventures 😊 did not get great vibes from the “I’m still her mum, I need to know she’ll be ok.” Line & the promise but again it’s RTD’s writing, he made it seem like Rose & Donna would be dead within their respective seasons & both of them are thriving with their respective versions of the Doctor.

THE SHOT OF HOLOGRAM!TEN/METATEN/FOURTEEN/FOURTENTH?!? love them, love him LOVE THEM but I hope it's just an image or someone flickering through & showing Fifteen pictures of his past selves like they’ve done in The Eleventh Hour, Nightmare In Silver, Twice Upon A Time, The Timeless Children etc & not a “Fifteen & Fourteen work on a UNIT mission together via holograms.” To me at least, it seems a little too soon to do another multi Doctor story especially when it’s only Fifteen’s first season.

THE CALLBACK TO MARTHA JONES & BILL POTTS WORRYING ABOUT STEPPING ON THE BUTTERFLY 😂🤩😂 me & my mum laughed so hard at this but at the same time, it’s adding to my theory that “doing the salt” at the edge of the universe IS responsible for myths/legends/theories actually happening in the Whoniverse now like the salt, the bi-regeneration, The Goblin King because in the song there’s a line that gave me this theory the “he’s not a myth, he’s an actual thing.” This will definitely be me reading too much into it but that’s just the conclusion I’ve come to.

I saw Indira Varma in (1) frame 😳 I had IMMEDIATE ✨gay thoughts✨ she is so beautiful 😍 BUT she started turning into a creature & I am not & never shall be a monsterfucker (even though admittedly the carrionites had me questioning things) but it will be a TEST OF STRENGTH.

There was what looked to be a flesh bowl & I immediately thought of The Gangers & seeing as Moffat’s emerging perhaps they’re making their return. After what happened with Bill Potts, Danny Pink & certain favourite characters of mine from my second favourite book in the entire world back in 2020 I am on the ✨fence✨ about The Return Of Moffat but he is ultimately incredible at writing a good horror story so if he does another one episode horror that’ll traumatise me for life & after, fair enough.

The alienvenom being in the corridor near made me yeet behind my sofa so I’m looking forward to seeing that story.

I’ve seen horror films I’ve gone through an ACTUAL HAUNTING & still nothing prepared me from how i nearly expired when i realised that THERE'S SOMETHING STANDING IN THE BACKGROUND IN TWO RUBY SCENES 😨

I’m gonna talk about ✨the scream✨ @ the Ruby of it all in another couple of posts.

Saw the Tardis console sparking: immediately wondered if there was any left over coffee in there 😅

I AM GOING TO LOSE IT WHEN I SEE ROSE NOBLE AGAIN 🥹 MY BEST GIRL IS COMING BACK 🥹 Lovely to see Mel! Hope this means more Classic Who companions will return at some stage (for the sake of how funny it would be unleash a NewNewWho Doctor on Jamie McCrimmon whilst the actor is still alive & willing to be part of the Whoniverse)

Fifteen saluting in his regency outfit (In the realm of fanfic in my head I am imagining Captain Jack Harkness being on the receiving end of that salute) but maybe it’ll be Jonathan Groffs new character? Whoever they are I hope him & The Doctor have enough gay activity between them that’ll make my family members who don’t like Fifteen when they “come across as gay” uncomfortable <3

The weathered Tardis near the sea reminds me of The Ghost Monument. I hope they make a figure/pop of the weathered Tardis, I need it for my collection 😅 I hope we get a The Ghost Monument mention just to annoy my family who still actively talk about how much they disliked 13’s era.

I am going to go a new level of feral in May, Fifteen ily so much 🥹

[hetchdrive]

anyway back to Clara and Twelve. The thing is that I think Twelve is exactly the person Nine and Ten are afraid they are. And Rose and Jack and Martha and Donna, the Doctor loves them because they hold him to a higher standard than he holds himself, they make him better. But for that exact reason he ultimately finds reasons to push them away and leave them behind and justify that they’re better off without him, because he doesn’t feel that the good person they see him as is real (this isn’t true, goodness isn’t an inherent trait it is a series of choices and an action and they do make him good).

But Clara… he tries to get rid of her and she keeps coming back. He regenerates into someone, not who can love this woman who loves him, but into someone who no longer feels the need to pretend at goodness. Twelve is the person Nine and Ten fear they are because he doesn’t have to hide that from Clara. Clara sees the whole broken unpleasant mess of him and still wants to be there anyway (Rose and Jack and Martha and Donna also saw this but the Doctor is multiple traumas stacked together in a coat and wasn’t ready to accept that from any of them— a thousand year pass between Ten’s regeneration into Eleven and Eleven’s regeneration into Twelve).

It’s why when he asks her, “answer me honestly: am I a good man?” and she says, looking surprised, “I don’t know” I always wonder, does that matter to Clara? Does that figure into her interest in him at all? Or is her role as carer (“I care so he doesn’t have to”) sort of perfunctory, secondary to her thrill in the action and the danger and the power rush of it all?

And Danny sees what’s going on even though Clara can’t, tells her that he knows people like the Doctor becuase he served under them in the army. Understands why Clara loves it because the Doctor pushes her to be better and faster and stronger but one day, Danny thinks, he’ll push too hard and Clara will leave. I think the Doctor thinks that, too, that if he keeps testing and keeps pushing eventually she’ll realize it does matter if he’s a good man and she’ll leave, but when she tries to she changes her mind. He tricks her and he uses her and he lies to her and she still comes back and she justifies it as it being an addiction, but the truth is that she pushes him back. Nine and Ten desperately want to be something more than a soldier, more than the Last Time Lord, and Twelve wants to acknowledge that he always will be no matter how much he tries to run from that (a thousand years of running in between Ten and Twelve) and he wants someone there who sees and values that. Which is why the reveal that Missy found Clara and threw her his way is so delicious, just… *chef kiss*

[dannifielding]

Danni Regeneration AU

I had an ask, a little bit ago, who agreed with me that Danni appearing and regenerating for the first time in front of Ten and Donna would have been great.

Here’s the start. Expect more

“I know,” Rassilon said and his voice just really pissed Danni off. Even so, she felt herself moving slightly towards Koschei, a little scared of where he was going. “But you won't. I will give you the regenerations, you will take me with you and I will save her life.”

That was strange, and Danni frowned, confused. “Save my life?”

Rassilon's hand shot out before either of them noticed, a bolt of energy shooting out of his gauntlet and it hit her straight in the stomach. She screamed as she flew backwards, hitting the marble dome that housed the Eye with a crunch and she fell to the ground. Pain spread from the impact zone like tree branches, burning her from the inside out and her hands flew to her stomach as she held it in reaction to the attack. Her vision was white, her ears were ringing and everything hurt so much.

“Danielle!” a voice shouted, panicked and scared and she tried to focus on it, but she couldn't. All she could feel was the pain that her body was screaming at and the rabid warmth she could feel in her hands.

Koschei was on the floor next to her, cupping her face even as the dome opened like eyelids, slowly and groaning with the effects of being closed for so long. Her hands clutched her abdomen like it was her lifeline, but the red liquid was already soaking through her clothes. She was dying, and rapidly as well. He shot up, arm at the ready as his rage caused him the flash blue.

“What have you done?!” he screamed and Rassilon smiled evilly, which was something since he was the Master, and therefore the villain of any piece.

“Take me with you, and I can save you both,” he offered, like he was doing them both a favour and wasn’t the cause of the problem in the first place. “Without me, she will die.”

Koschei shook, torn between killing the man and trying to save Danni. He crouched, taking her roughly by her arm and pulling her up. She could barely hold her own weight, the light flickering in her eyes and he only had one chance. He hugged her tightly.

“Listen to me,” he whispered in her ear as she leant on him. “Look into the Eye for only a moment, press the button then close your eyes. I'll hold him off.”

“I'm not leaving you,” she slurred, her knees giving way and he caught her. He was so happy that he still had such a tight hold on her that she was ready to die than leave his side. However, there was absolutely no way that he would let Rassilon win. He was the Master. He always won.

“I'm right behind you,” he promised her. “Do it.” He turned to Rassilon, looking like he'd decided to accept. Rassilon obviously believed him, until Koschei pushed Danni onto the dome. “Never,” he declared and Rassilon's face dropped.

“Then you'll both die,” he retorted and Koschei shook his head.

“Not quite,” he promised. “Now, Danni!”

And as Danni forced herself to do as he told, one hand pressed on her stomach and the other poised over the big green button on the control pad, he began to fire as much energy as he could at the President.

Danni opened her eyes, looking into what could only be described as eternal, soul-destroying abyss and she pressed the button, her hand immediately shot out to grab Koschei, but feeling nothing but emptiness.

~0~0~0~

The Doctor was living the best life he had lived in a while. There was just nothing better than seeing the universe with someone by his side that enjoyed it just as much as he did. And boy, did Donna Noble enjoy life in the TARDIS. They both were grinning at each other, happily tired from their day exploring a monastery about 3500 years into Donna’s future, and a couple if lightyears away.

“Where to next?” he asked her. “A bit of sun? Or some greenery? I know a lovely little place where…”

Donna held her hand up, specifically the one with the bottle of wine in it. “Actually, I have a date with the sofa and this gift I was given by a couple of monks as an apology for almost locking you up.”

The Doctor frowned. “Wait, what? When did that happen?”

“When I spent ten minutes convincing them that you weren’t there to steal all the things you wouldn’t stop touching.”

He opened his mouth to protest, but then became too curious for his own good. “How did you manage that?”

“Oh, by just telling them that if you even thought something illegal, I would know and had permission to kick your arse.”

“Hang on a minute!”

She smiled her sweetest smile. “It worked, didn’t it, Spaceman?”

“That is not the point…”

He was cut off by a loud crash from the other side of the console. A golden light illuminated the opposite wall like a spotlight and Donna’s brows furrowed as she stepped towards it. “What on Earth is that?”

The Doctor reached out and grabbed her arm before she got too close. She glanced up at him and all of the fond happiness that was there had fallen away to a grave look. “It’s the heart of the TARDIS,” he told her.

“You mean, the thing that Rose looked into?”

He didn’t nod, instead he took a step closer himself. “Don’t look into it,” he warned. He had no idea what would cause the TARDIS to open herself up like that, but he knew that it wasn’t good, and it certainly had to be important. Something dangerous was about to happen and he needed to work out what, and fast.

There was a flash of light from within the golden glow, almost like the flash of a camera, and then a scream. A bundle of clothes and red hair skidded across the floor and hit the railings with a painful cry. The hatch on the console slammed shut and even though the levels of light returned to normal, the room felt almost dark in comparison.

He didn’t step forward at first, a little wary of what could travel through the heart in such a fashion. Donna, on the other hand, had no such qualms. “Danni!” she shouted, rushing over to the figure.

His hearts skipped a beat, and his eyes widened a fraction as he caught up to what Donna could see. Danni, on the floor, curled up like a wounded animal. He rushed over as well, dropping the floor next to her. Donna looked up at him from her friend, pale and terrified.

“Doctor, she’s bleeding,” she exclaimed. “What’s happened to her?”

“I don’t know, I’ve been here as long as you have,” he snapped rudely. He hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do. She was pale, a different pale to normal. She was curled up and clutching her stomach tightly. He needed a better look, so he took her hands in his, ready to move them away. Then he saw the blistering, scarred burn on her wrist. “Her manipulator,” he breathed.

“What? Did that thing do this?”

He met Donna’s eyes again. “No, it’s gone,” he replied. He turned back to her friend, the woman who had wormed her way into his hearts long before he was ready to admit it. “Danni, Danni, can you hear me?” he asked.

“Koschei?”

Her voice was weak, but the word was clear and he swallowed back the dread that the word brought up. Had she could from the Valiant? He remembered the state she was in at the time vividly, though, and she hadn’t been injured then.

“No, it’s me,” he replied and her eyes opened. He could tell she was struggling to focus on him and he tightened the grip on her hands. “Hey, Danni-Girl,” he offered gently.

“Spaceman?” she asked and he nodded.

“That’s me. And look, Donna’s here too.” He nodded to the other ginger, who smiled as warmly as she could.

“Welcome back,” Donna told her. “You’re going to be just fine. The Doctor can help.”

“I’m sorry,” she slurred back. “I’m so sorry…”

“Hey, there’s no time for that nonsense,” the Doctor pretended to scold. He lifted her hands out of the way. Her top was in tatters, and it was easy to see the damage underneath. It was a miracle she was even still alive? How was she still alive?

“I know, let’s get you to the medi-bay and get this sorted,” he said, keeping as calm as he could. “Donna, could you…”

He didn’t need to finish his sentence, because Donna was immediately helping him get her off the ground. She couldn’t hold herself up under her own weight and it was only the two keeping her from falling back down.

“Koschei?” she asked again, this time trying the find the other Time Lord. He could tell Donna was confused by the name, but he nodded anyway.

“He’s right behind you,” he promised, if only to keep her moving. “One foot in front of the other, and we’ll be there in a jiffy.”

They tried moving her, but she felt like dead weight between them. Donna was already tearing up, as if she knew what was happening, but he refused to let it end like this. He knew Danni had more to come. He knew they had more to come and he wasn’t about to let her die.

“Theta,” she moaned in pain. “It hurts.”

“I know, but it’ll be over soon,” he yet again promised her. “Just a few more steps.”

Danni could barely think. This must have been what it felt like when the Doctor was regenerating. It was as if she could feel each part of her body shut down. Her blood was no longer running and her limbs were turning cold and numb. Each breath felt slightly further apart, her heartbeat slowing down. She pushed away from them both out of reflex and stumbled away, into one of the railings again. It didn’t hurt as much as it probably should have.

“I think…” she muttered. “I think something’s wrong.”

“It is, but we can fix it,” the Doctor told her, stepping closer. She shook her head.

“No!” she exclaimed, suddenly very afraid of him coming towards her. She didn’t have long left. She needed to turn around. She found the strength, turning to face him. She knew Donna was there, but she couldn’t see her. She only had eyes for the Doctor. The Tenth Doctor, the one that she never had. She loved him so much.

“I think…” she started again. “I think you should stay back.”

“No…” he started, darting forward as she screamed. Her head flung backwards as she exploded. Every pore on her skin blew, every cell in her body burnt away. The Doctor could only stare, dumbstruck as golden light poured from her.

Then it stopped.

“Well,” she declared with a voice she didn’t recognised. “That’s new.” And her new eyes rolled back into her new skull as she dropped to the ground, unconscious.

[timelxrd-victorious]

Funny how the DW fandom is “collectively” crying that Chibnall’s era is bad and wants Moffat back, because that was “when Doctor Who was good”, apparently, when, uh. Hmmm.

So we're just going to completely ignore the whole entire very vocal section of the fandom that hated Moffat's era and his writing in general from the word "go", eh? All the way back to when Moffat was writing episodes in the RTD era (“The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances”, “The Girl in the Fireplace”, “Blink”, “Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead”) and the problems seen in his own era were evident even back then?

We’re just going to ignore Moffat

having all his companions “wait for” the Doctor (Reinette, Amy, Clara, River)

having the white female companions or one-off characters meet the Doctor as a young girl, become obsessed with him, and have that obsession become sexual and have the female companion sexually assault him the moment she meets the Doctor as an adult again, when for the Doctor it’s only been something like ten minutes (Reinette, Amy, Clara, River)

romanticizing stalking (The Girl in the Fireplace; Blink; The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe; Series 7B’s arc with Clara, The Pilot)

retconning the massive piece of worldbuilding and one condition for the revived series to be brought back in the first place by the BBC, which was Gallifrey’s destruction in the Last Great Time War (The Day of the Doctor)

having his two Black companions die and come back as Cybermen (Danny Pink, Bill) whereas Clara 1) splinters echoes of herself throughout history, 2) ends up dying for real but then comes back, and 3) becomes immortal and gets her own TARDIS.

making the Twelfth Doctor blind for two episodes as a means of cheap drama, when 1) Gallifreyans are primarily telepathic, 2) Gallifreyans as a whole are faceblind anyway; and 3) it wasn’t even handled that well

playing off Vastra and Jenny’s relationship (they’re married lesbians, with one of them being a Silurian) in Victorian London solely for laughs, along with any other hints of queer characters and relationships being played for humor

constantly setting up convoluted story arcs and plotlines that are spread out for multiple seasons and then never get any pay-off, or are tied up in the most nonsensical shoddy way possible (series 5, series 6, series 7, everything involving the Silence and the “mystery” surrounding the Doctor’s name)

had the Twelfth Doctor constantly interrupt and talk over a Deaf character played by a Deaf actor, which again, was played for laughs

taking shots at RTD’s era and characters whenever possible to make his own characters and plotlines look better and cleverer, including erasing the majority of RTD’s era from continuity via the cracks in time and then rebooting the universe (not to mention the blatant classism directed at Rose and the palpable disdain for the Doctor/Rose Tyler as a ship) (The Day of the Doctor, The Bells of Saint John, The Girl in the Fireplace, etc.)

playing off the mere idea of the Doctor regenerating into a female body as a joke (The Curse of Fatal Death, 1999) when the Doctor had already been established in the expanded universe and Classic series as nonbinary by Gallifreyan and human standards

used a whole episode to argue that all refugees are actually evil, an invasion force, and “don’t trust refugees or immigrants who don’t want to assimilate into the culture of the country they’ve sought refuge in”

had River Song’s character revolve entirely around the Doctor

Moffat was an absolute shite showrunner, and plenty of people stopped watching at various points during his era (I personally know quite a few who stopped watching during series 6).

Whereas Chibnall... *checks notes*

had an episode set during Jim Crow-era, segregated 1950s Alabama, pointed out how the racism of the setting affected three of the Doctor’s companions more than xemself, and flat out said that while dealing with the racist time-traveller, the best they could do was get history back on track without helping Rosa Parks

had another episode focusing on religious tension, discrimination, and the dividing up families and neighbors across borders that didn’t exist previously

drew on Classic series and expanded universe canon to add on to the Doctor’s backstory: specifically, canonizing the Cartmel Masterplan 

has the Doctor dealing with others around xem perceiving xem as a cis woman, even though xe was always nonbinary and never had really identified as a man 

Thasmin

has the Doctor and the Master destroy Gallifrey again, because bringing it back in the first place was dumb and the Doctor doesn’t really want anything to do with Gallifrey in the first place

I don’t know about you, but one of these showrunners and the way he writes episodes is a lot worse in how he handles material. And it’s not Chibnall.

I said what I said.

And no, I do not accept criticism.

[autisticsupervillain]

Fictional Throwdown Friday: Season 2 Finale

This Week's Fighters...

Pariah Dark vs Dan Phantom

Conditions:

Pariah Dark does not have access to Crown of Fire, only the Ring of Rage. Fight takes place in Pariah's Keep.

Scenario:

Dan manages to escape from Clockwork's Keep and begins planning his vengeance on Danny. Worried that Danny may have gotten more powerful while he was gone, Dan goes to Pariah's Keep to steal the Ring of Rage from him. Pariah has no intention of surrendering his power or kingdom to Dan and attacks him when Phantom accidentally wakes him up.

Analysis: Dan

Danny Phantom, real name Danny Fenton, was always destined to have an abnormal life. When his ghost hunting parents created a portal to the Ghost Zone, yound Danny Fenton was caught inside it when it started up, accidentally turning him into the half-ghost hero Danny Phantom. Unfortunately for him, in this timeline, his tenure as a hero was destined to end in tragedy.

After an accident at the Nasty Burger restaurant killed his family, Danny was forced to live with his Arch-Enemy Vlad Masters. In a rare moment of humanity, Vlad sympathized with Danny’s pain and offered to remove it for him. By separating his ghost and human halves, Vlad hoped to remove Danny’s painful human emotions.

It worked… too well.

Now free from his humanity, Phantom ripped Vlad’s ghost half from him and fused with it, transforming into the monsterous Dan Phantom. Destroying Vlad’s home and murdering his human half, Dan ventured out around the globe to begin massacring humanity in relish.

In terms of raw power, Dan is difficult to place, as he lacks any proper feats of his own from which he can be properly scaled. As such, I’ll need to make some assumptions.

As of Season 2, Danny’s most impressive calculated feat is the crater he created in the first episode while fighting the Lunch Lady, a sizable 533 tons of tnt.

Source:

Since Vlad Plasmius is shown to be far stronger than Danny at this point, even capable of beating him one handed, I’ll assume he’s at least twice as strong at 1066 tons of tnt. Seeing how Dan is both their ghost forms combined, his power should be at the bare minimum 1599 tons of tnt. Keep in mind, this does not account for Danny’s demonstrated ability to get stronger over time or the ten years that Dan has to develop his powers, so he’s likely much stronger than that, but this is the best number I can give him as those things aren’t really quantifiable.

Dan has demonstrated to have all the powers of his individual counterparts (as of Season 2 anyways). This includes his basic Intangibility, invisibility, flight, body manipulation, ectoplasm manipulation, body possession, and regeneration. Dan should be capable of regenerating from luiquification and being turned to dust, something that other weaker ghosts have shown to do and something Danny himself has done, and, unlike his halfa counterpart, Dan’s regeneration cannot be nullified by beating him back into human form. Dan can create holes in his body and swivel his neck around, has shown to generate storms with his presence (see the swirling sky during his fight with Danny at the Nasty Burger, which was not present before Dan revealed himself), and he can duplicate himself at least up to four times, splitting his energy between each duplicate. It is unknown if Dan can duplicate as many times as Vlad can in Season 3, but it is likely, meaning he can create enough duplicates to possess an entire town. He even retains Danny’s ability to sense nearby ghosts, although, it’s unknown if he has Danny’s later developed ice powers.

As far as powers unique to Dan goes, he can shapeshift to disguise as his younger self, can create portals to the ghost zone by himself, can forcibly fuse objects inside of people’s bodies, and can nullify the natural regeneration of most ghosts, such as when he broke Johnny 13’s spine or destroyed Ember’s vocal cords. What’s worse, is that as a result of his timeline eventually being erased, Dan now exists outside of time entirely so long as he has the Time Medallion on him, meaning he’s immune to time manipulation entirely and can freely time travel. However, taking this medallion away from him will likely erase him from existence entirely, as it’ll bind him to the rules of regular time again.

None of this is even counting his most powerful ability, his Ghostly Wail. This massive soundwave generated from his vocal cords is capable of descimating entire armies with ease.

As you can see, Dan is a hax machine with superpowers galore, but what makes him truly deadly is his knowledge of how to use them. While it’s shown that he does not retain Vlad’s memories (as he doesn’t know where Vlad’s ghost portal is) he does retain Danny’s, and thus has all the experience of fighting off the most powerful ghosts Amity Park has ever seen. Dan Phantom is most evil being to exist in both the human world and the ghost zone. A one man apocalypse who single handedly wiped out the human race, Dan Phantom is the most vile and powerful ghost young Danny Phantom ever had to face.

Analysis: Pariah

Countless centuries ago, long before most ghosts came into being, a terrible power came into being within the land of the dead. No one knew where it came from and no one knew who he was before he died, but they all feared his name. This twisted and barbaric Ghost King dominated all that stood in his way, forcing all to kneel before the wrath of Pariah Dark.

In desperation, a group of powerful and ancient ghosts banded together to otherthrow the tyrannical king, locking him away inside the sarcophagus of forever sleep. However, thanks to the shortsighted meddling of the villain Vlad Plasmius, Pariah Dark was awakened once more. And this time, he didn't intend to simply rule the dead. Both the Ghost and the human world would bow to him if he had his way.

Standing tall as one of the strongest ghosts on history, Pariah has all the powers of a typical ghost amplified tenfold. Intangibility, Body Manipulation, Ectoplasm Manipulation, and many more powers lie at his finger tips to be used at a moment's notice, but he rarely needs to step onto the field of battle himself. He can summon a horde of loyal skeleton warriors to fight by his side, invading and subjugating entire worlds at his command. Although, when Pariah does need to get his hands dirty, he has a variety of awesome abilities at his command to dominate his enemies.

Pariah is a giant on the battlefield, capable of gripping both Danny Phantom and Vlad Plasmius in a single hand. He can manifest storms with his face on them into existence, even in areas that nullify ghost powers and leave even beings as power as Vlad Plasmius incapable of using their powers. He can summon a mace to his hand and manipulate mid air to hit opponents from a distance. He can even warp space itself to teleport entire towns into the Ghost Zone.

But, the true reason Pariah is so feared has to do with his unrelenting power. Pariah Dark stands alone as the sole being in existence strong enough to command before the Ring of Rage and Crown of Fire. Upon his reawakening, the entire Ghost Zone fled in fear of him, completely powerless to stop him from destroying their homes. But most impressively of all, Pariah could, with a single blast, knock out both Vlad Plasmius and Danny Phantom simultaneously.

What's more, Pariah could struggle evenly against an ecto-skeleton equipped Danny Phantom who had only 10% power remaining, making him a solid ten times stronger than the halfa. That means, with every blow, Pariah is throwing around 5330 tons of power.

Pariah Dark stands as one of the most powerful ghosts in the history of the Ghost Zone, an apocalyptic threat which even the combined efforts of Danny Phantom and Vlad Plasmius barely overcame.

Fight Theme:

Throwdown Breakdown:

Much like Dan's last foray into the Throwdown arena, this fight is very much a hax vs strength fight, though not to the same extent. Since both fighters are ghosts, neither character has any inherent physiological advantages over the other. However, Dan still has a greater range of powers to help him contend with Pariah's superior strength.

Both are immensely stronger than Season 2 Danny, with Dan being 3x stronger than Danny while Dark is 10x. However, comparing the numbers that actually gives us, 1599 vs 3500, Pariah is only 3x stronger than Dan. That's a large gap, sure, but not an insurmountable one. Think of Danny's own fights with Vlad as a good comparison.

Then there's both characters familiarity with the other to consider. I feel Pariah is likely smart enough to recognize that that Dan used to be Danny, whereas Dan would have Danny's memories of fighting Pariah. Knowing just how much a threat the other fighter is would likely encourage each to fighter more cautiously than they do typically. Dan wouldn't me smugly mocking Pariah like he would Danny or Valerie, as they were comparatively helpless against him, whereas Pariah wouldn't be quite as much of an aggressive onslaught as he was when Danny fought him.

What makes this such a genuine head scratcher is that both characters have such good answers for what the other brings to the table. Pariah's skeleton army and Dan's ghostly wail counter each other out quite well. Not only do I not think Dan's ghostly wail could obliterate his entire army in one go, as even full power Ecto-skeleton Danny was briefly overwhelmed by their sheer numbers, but the Ghostly Wail is also liable to leave him open to attacks from Pariah or his telekinesis. Duplication solves that issue, but at the cost of making duplicate less powerful, worsening the already considerable strength gap.

Having said that, I think Dan is smarter and more skilled. Pariah has been conquering for longer, yes, but Dan has better fighting experience. During his time as Danny, Dan frequently had to outwit enemies far stronger than he was, taking down foes with countless years of experience over him with cunning and quick thinking, Pariah himself included. Secondly, he most consistently demonstrates clever and creative use of his powers, using his basic ghost skills in ways Pariah has never shown to do.

And finally, Dan's ability to nullify ghost regeneration is canceled out by Parish's resistance to ghost nullifying weapons, like when he created a storm inside the ghost shield.

The thing that just barely makes this Dan's fight however, is two major factors.

1. Dan's ability to get stronger the longer he fights, as demonstrated during Danny's first fight with the Fright Knight, going from harmlessly bouncing off the Knight to hurting him on equal footing. The longer this fight goes, the less useful Pariah's greatest advantage will be.

2. How both characters are viewed by Clockwork. We are never given any canonical proof that Clockwork is one of the Ancients that sealed Pariah away. That's fan speculation. As such, we don't know exactly how big a threat he considered Pariah. However, of the two of them, Dan is the one that he and the Observers deemed a big enough threat to retcon out of existence. Dan, not Pariah, is the foe considered important enough to alter the timeline for, even with all the chaos Pariah caused. The all seeing master of time considers Dan a much bigger threat than Pariah.

Having said that, Dan is going to come out if this fight battered and bleeding. The fight will be long and his victory would be hard earned and painful. It is entirely possible that Dan gets pounded into the ground before he can pull all his tricks. But, six times out of ten, the odds still favor Dan Phantom.

This Throwdown's Winner is...

Dan Phantom!

[toosmallformyowngood]

If you could choose a super powerful out of these 3 which would you choose

Perfect immortality. No need for sleep or food and no injury or sickness can hurt you you will regenerate.

The ability to pull out 10$ more than you need at any time once a day. Must be from a pocket on your person.

Danny Phantom powers. You get all his ghosty powers.

Hhh part of me wants to say the first one because no more chronic pain but in this economy I'm gonna have to go with the second because to cheat the system I could just go and try and buy a million dollar mansion, pull out a million plus ten dollars, and then "change my mind" mid way and just make off with a crap tone of money. Doing that every day I'd be so rich I could just afford to get actual medical care lmao

[ask-the-almighty-google]

oooh hmm... "heartbeat" or "heartsbeat" (lol... this fandom) for the WIP guessing game?

Static buzzed in his ears as Zack began counting down from ten to drop then down into the drill shaft, and he closed his eyes in anticipation before the lurching sensation had his stomach and heart jumping into his throat. This seemed to make the heartsbeat thundering in his ears even louder. The intercom crackled as Zack informed them they were no longer inside the oxygen field, and with shaking fingers he and Ida fought against the pressure to activate their life support.

Gonna be honest, I have misophonia and can’t stand the sound of heartbeats, so this one was tricky! I’ll post more under the cut!

“Now entering Night Shift. Your chosen track for transition is: ‘Ravel’s Bolero.’”

Classical music chimed pleasantly through the base as Rose made her way toward Toby’s room and patiently knocked. A few moments later the door unlatched and the man himself appeared looking far more haggard and unnerved than he had during the quake.

  “You alright mate?” She asked, blinking in surprise. He shrugged.

  “Just… tired. The quakes, they freak me out, I can’t ever get a good kip after,” he explained weakly. “Um… now’s not a good time for me to try and translate the pot shards I’ve got, running on too little sleep. Can we try tomorrow instead?”

“Yeah, sure,” Rose said, opening her mouth to continue when the door abruptly shut in her face and she held the bolt latch. “Rude…” she clutched at her head as that same disturbing presence from earlier bashed against her shields, emanating from below and into Toby’s room, and without a second thought she tore it straight from its hinges once the bombardment had lessened enough for her to move. Toby was lying on the floor, panting and clawing at his face, and without a second thought she slung him over her shoulder and headed straight for Habitation Three where she could feel tiny pings of distressed worry emanating from her Mate.

  The Doctor took one look at Toby upon arrival and deftly pulled out his sonic. Turning it to the dermal regeneration setting, he set to work patching up the man’s face.

“That presence again?”

“Think it psychically attacked him,” Rose admitted, biting her lip and frowning. “Just being near the event was excruciating. Don’t want to know what’s causing that, but…”

“But…”

“Whatever it is, it’s coming from down below.” They exchanged a look before glancing at the ceiling as Zach’s voice crackled over the comm system.

  “Danny, check the temperature in Ood Habitation. Seems to be rising.”

“Right, well after that I need a cuppa, gonna see what the canteen’s got in store,” she said, plastering on a brave face and squaring her shoulders. The Doctor nodded, easily maneuvering a shivering Toby into one of the booths and then moving to a table nearer the writing on the wall. Scootie smiled as Rose approached.

  “Help yourself. Just, don’t have the green. Or the blue.” She chuckled and moved on, and Rose fought back a smile. They looked about the same in age even if they weren’t, and it was all too easy to picture her running about the Estate with Shareen and Keisha fitting in nicely, the four of them together causing mischief just because they could.

  Shaking such thoughts away like pesky cobwebs, Rose stepped up to the serving window and hesitated. Scootie had said no green,  no blue… and there were no other options.

  “Brilliant… some of that, thanks,” she said with a grin at the Ood serving her, pointing at the unidentifiable blue mush. Even her superior senses had no idea what it was, though she supposed that meant it wasn’t technically food. Still, she’d had worse a few times. 

  “Would you like sauce with that?” The Ood asked politely.

“…I’ll have a go, yeah.” Her nose wrinkled slightly as what was clearly watered down Worcestershire mixed with Soy sauce was added to her metal tray. “Thanks. …I think. Um.” A new, braver attempt to smile. “I did that once, the dinner lady routine. Needed petty cash to get out of Napa, actually. Not that I’m saying you’re a lady, although…” the Ood telepathy was a very muddled, conjoined signal, and she got conflicting readings because the one in front of her overlapped with the rest on the base. “Well, you could be. Who am I to judge?” It wasn’t like the communication devices differentiated voices. They all had the same automated preset.

  Wonderful diplomat skills, dear.

Oh yeah, you give it a try. Rose rolled her eyes as the Doctor’s laughter echoed over the Bond and refocused on the topic at hand. “Do your people actually get paid, though? Do they give all of you money?”

  “The Beast and his Armies shall rise from the Pit to make war against God,” the Ood replied promptly.

“Sorry, what?” She said, blanching.

“My apologies,” it said, shaking its ball. “I said, ‘I hope you enjoy your meal.’”

  “…Yeah.”

“And on that disturbing note,” the Doctor said, pulling a still-steaming and fully serviced tea set from his coat pocket as she walked over, “spot of tea?”

“Eavesdropper,” Rose muttered, accepting her cuppa with little complaint and munching on a biscuit while he poured cream and dropped a few sugar cubes into his own, nibbling on a cucumber sandwich as he did so. “Still. Not like this trip has gone any different.”

“Mm. Happy Anniversary indeed.”

“Oh! Speaking of.” His head tilted slightly to the side before his eyes widened as she pulled a small silver-paper wrapped box out of her jacket and handed it to him. “Been keeping this for ages on the off chance I missed the date. Pays to be prepared. Happy anniversary.”

  “You… kept my Anniversary gift in your pocket just in case?” He asked softly, eyes shining as he accepted the box and held it almost reverently in front of him. She nodded.

“Yeah. Never wanted to not have it, ya know?” Contentment melted over the Bond as the Doctor leant forward and pressed a kiss to her lips before grinning like a little kid. “Go on, then. Open it.” Permission given, he tore through the paper and quickly opened the box before gaping with the widest smile and promptly plopped the new pair of brainy specs on his nose. These ones were owl-rimmed, a decent sort of mahogany wood and brass coloring, and they framed his face rather nicely.

“These are made with holo-glass,” he said, fascinated. “Can change between polarized and even night vision, or plain. Projects information on the inside, too…”

“Thought you could pair it to the Sonic,” Rose said with a shrug, tongue in teeth as she grinned. He blinked.

  “Sonic. Oh, yes… Rose, can I give you your present now then as well?”

  “Was hopin’ so, at any rate,” she teased. He rolled his eyes before producing a similar box wrapped in gold paper. “Love you.”

“These are incredible. Thank you so much, Rose. I… I really do love them, though certainly not as much as I do you.”

“You romantic you.” Peeling back the paper, Rose opened the box and felt her jaw drop practically to the floor as she pulled out a sleek new pink smartphone protected by a double-layered golden Wolf case.

“So you can call our friends, and… hopefully someday, your mother,” he said softly. “I know you’ve only used burners since you gave your old one away for Jackie to hear the recordings you made, felt it was time you had a permanent one.” He frowned. “Not like you can call anyone here though, I checked.”

“Well, when we get out of here, I can call,” Rose said brightly, leaning forward and nuzzling her temple against his. “I love it. Thank you.”

“As I love mine,” the Doctor sighed. The lights flickered as the base shook, and they all glanced upward at the dome shield for a few moments before Ida’s wrist com beeped.

“Zack, we got a problem?” She asked. Zack’s voice crackled back in reply.

“No more than usual. Got the Scarlet System burning up, might be worth a look.”

“You might want to see this,” Ida said, cutting the feed and walking over to the dome controls to peel back the protective shielding and opening the entire ceiling to show the black hole above them. “Moment in history.” The entire room stood transfixed at the sight as she pointed at an arc of golden-red energy being sucked into the hole. “There, on the edge. That red cloud? That used to be the Scarlet System. Home to the Pallushi… a mighty civilization spanning a billion years disappearing… forever. Their planets and suns consumed.” There was a breathless awe and respect in her voice as she spoke with reverence. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have witnessed it’s passing.”

“Uh, no, could you possibly leave it open a bit longer?” The Doctor asked softly when Ida went to close the shielding. She shot him a skeptical glance and he allowed a tiny smile to grace his lips. “Not long. I won’t go mad, I promise. I just… it’s not entirely gone yet. I feel like it deserves the proper respect.”

  “If you say so.” She was back to business. “Scootie, check the lockdown. Jefferson, sign off all the airlock seals for me.” Toby trudged after her as she exited through door eighteen, leaving Rose and the Doctor alone.

“What’s on your mind?” She whispered. “Trying to get a read right now is like trudging through tar in the middle of a hurricane.”

“We’re trapped here,” he mumbled, wincing as he bit his lip and ruffled at the hair at the back of his head.

  “They said they’d give us a lift. And even if they don’t, we’ll get the TARDIS back.”

“Rose, I can’t contact Gallifrey. We’re alone. And what if we do hitch a lift, what then? You’re a nomadic species, Rose. We don’t have enough money to charter a ship much less but one.”

“Then we sign on as crew,” she said confidently. “You as an engineer, me in security.”

“We’re stuck, Rose.” His shoulders slumped. “We might have to get a flat. Doors, carpets, curtains. You don’t want that any more than I do.”

“Much less a mortgage if we get a house,” she chirped. He groaned. “Oh, don’t remind me of the evils of capitalism…”

  “Hey, for better or for worse,” Rose said gently, cupping his jaw and caressing his cheek with the pad of her thumb. “You’re stuck with me.” A faint quirk pulled up the corners of the Doctor’s mouth.

“Well. Stuck with you, that’s not so bad.”

“No?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Nah.”

  “I love you,” Rose hummed. The Doctor blinked as he remembered something and winced.

“You’re in love with a murderer.” Rose bit her lip to hide a laugh as an image of the houseplant Barbara had asked him to housesit several months ago popped into his mind, absently pulling out her phone as it rang while she ruffled his hair affectionately and accepted the call.

“Hello?“

“He is Awake,” a deep voice growled. Startled, she tossed it to the floor with a yelp.

“Short-lived present, that,” the Doctor commented.

  “Yeah, well, it was possessed.”

“Fair enough. Screen broken?”

“Nope. I’ll turn it off and stick it in a bag of rice just to be safe.”

“I thought that only applied to when it gets wet.”

“Well, what else am I supposed to do with a possessed phone??”

“…Touché.” Danny barely glanced up as the Doctor and Rose strolled into Ood Habitation with false but well-practiced smiles plastered onto their faces.

“Ah, the mysterious couple,” he said with a smile. “Settling in?”

“So-so,” Rose hedged, coming up beside him and peering at the panel he was monitoring. “Bedbugs are a bit much.”

“Oh, yeah. Should have warned you about that.”

  “Danny, the Ood are telepaths, yes? What kind is it?” The Doctor asked.

  “Well, they only register a basic ten, they’re barely telepathic,” Danny explained.

“First off, the idea that humans could ever accurately measure telepathy when they themselves are not telepathic is laughable,” Rose sighed tiredly. “Second, not every species is the same, so there’s no way to accurately measure it. What’s a strong telepath for one is weak for another.” Danny blinked at the lecture as the Doctor smiled.

  “…Oh. Well, what do you want to know then?”

“Have they been acting strangely lately?” The Doctor asked. “There’s a sort of… malevolent force down where the drill is headed and it reached out and attacked poor Toby this evening. Seeing as the Ood are largely unshielded we wanted to make sure they hadn’t been affected. Psychic attacks can be most unpleasant.”

  “No, nothing like that, they’ve been… well, normal for them. You can check the readings, they haven’t gone out of their standard levels.” Danny leant out of the way as the pair studied the screen on either side of him and sighed. “You’re absolutely positive you’re married?” The Doctor shot him a glare and he conceded defeat. “Sorry. Just… curious.”

  “He’s right, which is the odd thing,” Rose murmured, worrying at her lip with her teeth. “Even at the time when we were in the mess hall and the Ood serving said… what he said.”

“An odd Ood?” Danny shrugged. “More common than you think. They’re not much like humans. Basically a herd race, like cattle.”

“Which gives you the right to enslave them?”

  “Oh, stop with that FOTO bunk,” he scoffed. “Everyone knows that they’re practically helpless, they don’t even tell us when they’re ill.”

  “Maybe they would if they thought anyone would listen,” Rose shot back.

  “What exactly did the Ood say?” Danny sighed, rolling his eyes.

“The Beast and His Armies will rise from the Pit to make War against God,” she quoted. He frowned. “And my phone, it said ‘He Is Awake.’”

“And you will worship him,” the Ood around them suddenly said in unison, causing the three to jerk in surprise.

“They’ve gone up to basic 30, well over 10,” the Doctor murmured, placing his new specs on his nose as he stared at the monitor.

  “He is Awake,” Rose repeated.

“And you will worship him,” the Ood intoned again.

  “Yeah, that’s not creepy at all,” Danny muttered, wide-eyed.

  We are so going to the Ood Sphere at some point and getting to the bottom of this, Rose muttered over the Bond.

Count on it, the Doctor whispered back. If he’s one of the more empathetic Ood owners in this era I would very much like to ascertain that the cruel ones no longer have their slave force. 

“We should probably check in on Toby,” Rose sighed. “If the Ood are like this, I don’t want to know how badly he’s been affected after that attack. Danny, keep a watch yeah? Something’s not right.”

“Trust me, I’m too curious to leave this now,” Danny promised as they made their way out of Ood Habitation and back toward the command center. The base shuddered and Rose groaned.

“What now?”

  “Emergency Hull Breach,” the computer intoned robotically. “Emergency Hull Breach.”

“Everyone, evacuate sections eleven to thirteen!” Zack shouted over the intercom as the base continued shuddering. “We’ve got a breach. The base is open. Repeat: The base is open!” The Doctor grabbed Rose’s hand as they ran, ignoring the rest of the announcement as they sought to move past the compromised sections.

  “Well, this is certainly a happening place,” the Doctor said with false cheer as the floor grating shuddered beneath the soles of their feet. They burst into Habitation 3 and all but crashed into Jefferson’s group as they ran into the corridor on the other side. “Fancy seeing you lot here.”

  “Keep moving!” Jefferson shouted, grabbing Toby by the scruff of his neck and hauling him through the door before sealing it tight. “You too, sunshine!”

“Breach sealed, breach sealed,” the computer chimed as the shuddering lessened to its usual amount.

“Somebody open a window or something?” Rose huffed as she gave Toby a cursory once-over. Aside from being battered and bruised he didn’t seem any the worse for wear.

  “Oxygen levels normal.”

“What caused the breach?” The Doctor asked as he glanced around the corridor and frowned. “Wait… I see everyone we’ve already had the pleasure of meeting, aside from-”

“Scootie,” Ida finished, eyes widening. She called up control on her wrist com. “Zack, we can’t find Scootie. She’s not with us. Everyone else is accounted for.”

“She’s in Habitation 3, but not responding,” Zack replied. “Make sure she isn’t unconscious.”

“Habitation 3. Right, well I don’t often say this, but I think we could all do with a drink,” Jefferson decided, clapping a shaken Danny on the shoulder as they all moved to open the door and entered into the Habitation area. “Scootie? Scootie Manista, report.”

“I don’t see her anywhere,” Ida said worriedly as Rose half dragged a shivering Toby to one of the booths and then turned to her mate as a chill went down her spine. Following the Doctor’s gaze, she swallowed and bit her lip.

“I’ve found her,” he said quietly. The room went deathly still as they all looked up and spotted Scootie floating above the still-open dome, her mouth open in a silent scream and her eyes blown wide open in terror clearly indicating what the last few moments of her life had been like before death in the vacuum of space. As they watched, she began drifting away under the pull of the black hole. “She was twenty, twenty years old,” Ida murmured, managing to keep it together despite her grief. Frontier space exploration made people hard, and she was no exception.

  “For how should man die better than facing fearful odds?” Jefferson quoted softly in memorial. “For the ashes of his father, and the temples of his gods?”

Horatius, T.B. Macaulay, the Doctor sighed mentally as pain washed over the Bond. Rose gently laid her head against his shoulder and felt the tension noticeably drain from his shoulders. Fitting, truly. I just…

Every time you see someone so young die, you see Adric, she summarized. He nodded. They both blinked as the base stopped shuddering entirely and the sound from below gave way to eerie silence.

“The drill, it’s stopped,” Ida murmured, collecting her composure and swiping moisture away from her eyes. “We’ve made it. Point Zero.”

~§§~

“What do you think?” The Doctor asked as Rose finished helping him into his suit. She sighed.

  “I wish you’d let me go down instead,” she muttered.

  “I need to find the TARDIS,” he said softly. Rose raised an eyebrow, about to retort that she could do that just as well as him, when she paused and felt along the Bond a bit more and placed the elusive emotion he was trying to shield from her.

“You’re not helpless, Doctor,” she whispered, lightly sweeping his bangs from his face. “You survived eight hundred years without me, I think that means you’re pretty durable.”

“It doesn’t feel like, it, sometimes,” he confessed.

“I never thought-” Rose cut herself off and forced a small smile. “I never thought you were. Holding your own like you do, I just worry you have a death wish sometimes. But… you need to do this, don’t you? Not to prove it to me, but to you?” He hesitated before nodding, and the smile widened. “Then go. I want that spacesuit back in one piece, you hear me?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” She nodded, following him out from the suit-up area as he joined Ida in her own orange spacesuit. “Reporting for duty, Captain.” “I should be the one going down, not you,” Zack sighed.

  “Your people need a leader, especially after losing Scootie. Remember that you’re doing what needs to be done.” The Doctor followed Ida toward the capsule and smiled as Rose gave his hand one last squeeze before letting go, allowing him to entire the capsule without her. I love you.Better with two?Better with you. Static buzzed in his ears as Zack began counting down from ten to drop then down into the drill shaft, and he closed his eyes in anticipation before the lurching sensation had his stomach and heart jumping into his throat. This seemed to make the heartsbeat thundering in his ears even louder. The intercom crackled as Zack informed them they were no longer inside the oxygen field, and with shaking fingers he and Ida fought against the pressure to activate their life support.

  Doctor, brace! The capsule’s about to-They hit free fall and then, after a terrifying few moments of falling into the center of the planet, everything went black. Rose cleared her throat as she let the Bond convince her that the Doctor was still alive, impatiently prodding at his sleeping consciousness and drawing him back into a state of wakefulness.

You okay?

Long drop, he sighed. Ida and I both lost consciousness on impact. Fine, though. Just bumps and bruises. Distantly, Rose heard Ida relaying something similar over the com to her team. Ida’s thrown a gravity globe, but this place is massive. A cavern that could easily fit an entire underground city in it.

Like Lord of the Rings? Or something else?

No, that’s a good comparison actually. Very rough-hewn, ancient, crumbling. I half expect ghosts to show up and tell me they only answer to the Heir of Isildur. 

“Hey, Toby, you’ve got a lot of work to do!” Danny called, drawing Rose out of their conversation. Toby nodded tersely.

“Good, good. Good.”

“Concentrate now, people,” Zack chastised. “Keep on the mission. Ida, what about the power source?”

  “We’re close,” Ida replied. “Energy signature indicates North-Northwest.”

“Doctor? You alive down there? Too much interference to get any pictures from the helmet cams.”

  “Ah, yes, hello. I was a bit… distracted.” Embarrassment flooded the Bond and Rose felt her cheeks heat at the subtle yet suggestive tone layered within the words. So modest, given that you know exactly how I feel being this intrinsically connected to you…

This is what I mean, flirting in peril, why is this our thing? Rose huffed in exasperation, desperately trying to dampen or ease the mood. She felt the Doctor chuckle in her mind before he relented his merciless teasing, though he left a single parting shot.

Well. It is our Anniversary, after all. 

“We’ve come this far, so picture or not, there’s no turning back now,” Ida declared determinedly. The Doctor groaned loudly and Rose outright laughed.

“Did you have to?” He whined. “We’re Jinxed now. It’s akin to ‘nothing can possibly go wrong,’ or ‘I have a bad feeling about this,’ or I dunno, ‘let’s trust Gollum.’ You’ve entrusted us to Gollum, Ida. I hope you’re happy.”

“Who the Hell is Gollum!?”

“It’s a reference to Lord of the Rings by Tolkien,” Jefferson sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Honestly, the lot of you uncultured swine not knowing your classical literature…”

  “Captain, Sir, there’s something happening with the Ood,” Danny reported over the com. “They won’t stop staring at me.”

“Danny-”“No, I know what you’re gonna say, but this is different. Their telepathic signal, it’s at Basic 100. Sir, they should be dead, but they’re just staring at me-”

“Danny, remember how I mentioned a malevolent telepathic force earlier?” Rose said worriedly. “Get outta Habitation and join us, lock it down. I think- I think that thing might be possessing their corpses.”

  There was a long period of silence as everyone digested this information.

  “…Is everything all right up there?” The Doctor asked uncertainty.

  “Yeah, yeah,” Rose said quickly.

  “It’s fiiinnnne,” Zack added unconvincingly.

  It’s not fine, Rose said privately. I can handle it, thanks to you strengthening my shields. It’s just. Ya know. Possible possessed zombies. Another day in marital bliss… He cleared his throat as he spoke aloud. 

“Well, we found something down here. Massive seal of some kind, perfectly circular. Seems to be metal, though with the other oddities on this mission I’m inclined to withhold stating that as fact. Thirty feet in diameter, at the least. Reminds me an awful lot of a trapdoor, which as Rose can tell you is one of my least favorite pieces of architecture.”

“We do a lot of… haunted house… tours,” Rose explained lamely at the odd look she was getting from Jefferson, who raised an eyebrow and then shrugged.

“The edge is covered in the same symbols we found on the pottery shards,” Ida added. “These look different. I wish we could send visual so that Rose could translate for us.”

“No need,” the Doctor said. “It’s a warning about unleashing Hell.”

“…Oh. Cheery. …Less inclined to want to open the thing now.”

“But you will open it,” a sinister voice snickered. Rose whipped her head around and couldn’t help but gape as Toby stood, skin unnaturally pale with the black symbols all over his face and hands, eyes blood red, a vile smirk resting on his lips as he stepped toward them. “These are the words of the Beast. He is the Heart that beats in the Darkness. He is the Blood that will never Cease. And now He will Rise.”

“Officer, stand down!” Jefferson.

“He’s possessed, you won’t get through to him,” Rose said, shaking her head. She could feel the thing inside trying to bash down her shields before giving up when she put some of her starfire into protecting them, withdrawing from the light with a snarl.

  “Mr. Jefferson, tell me sir, did your wife ever forgive you?” Not Toby - the Beast - asked. Jefferson stiffened immediately.

  “…I don’t know what you mean.”

“Let me tell you a secret. She never did.”

“Don’t make me shoot you,” he whispered. The Beast smirked, eyes glowing bright scarlet.

  “But how many can you kill?” He asked, opening his mouth in a silent scream that battered their eardrums as the symbols seemed to melt into smoke off of his skin and shot into the Ood. They turned toward the humans with Hellish glowing red eyes and Rose, despite herself, flinched. Toby, devoid of the runes, coughed and collapsed unconscious to the ground, the Presence leaving his body at the same time.

  “We are the Legion of the Beast,” the Ood intoned seamlessly, holding up their little translator spheres before them like weapons.

  I’m coming back up there, the Doctor said.

No, don’t. He didn’t attack until you and Ida found that door. That tells me that, not only will he not let you back up, but that you stand the best chance of figuring out how to defeat him down there, Rose retorted.

  “The Legion will be Many and the Legion shall be Few. He has Woven himself in the Fabric of your Life since the Dawn of Time. Some may call Him Abbadon. Some may call Him Krop Tor. Some may call Him Satan, or Lucifer. Or the King of Despair, the Deathless Prince. The Bringer of Night. These are the Words that shall set Him Free.”

“Run!” Rose shouted, pulling on Jefferson’s arm as one of the Ood reached out with their orb and electrocuted part of his security team to the point of death. The Ood continued to speak, but they were running and the words faded into the banging of their shoes on the grating of the corridors.

The Doctor gasped as the Seal began to open, the center dropping down and then outward in rings as it slowly collapsed in on itself much like a dying star before entire sections split apart.

“The gravity field, it- it’s failing!” Zack exclaimed. “We’re- we’re gonna fall into the black hole!”“The Pit is open, and I am Free.”I can’t believe we’re fighting the actual Devil on our Anniversary, Rose ground out as she ran. The Doctor winced. Yeah, things could have gone better. He’d been hoping for a picnic somewhere, being honest…

  …Not the empty blackness stretching below him like it was sucking away at his soul.

From Book 2 of the Something of the Wolf Series, which will be published on November 23rd, 2021.

[iron-parkr]

can you give me ten facts about my favorite space lesbian that i don’t know about?

Oh man I have no idea if there's anything about Callie you don't already know! Hmm...

Callie poses as John Smith's goddaughter in the 'Human Nature'/'Family of Blood' episodes (which foreshadows something later in the season with the Master 😈)

She hates being called Caroline

Callie can hear the Ood's song of captivity in 'Planet of the Ood' because, as the Doctor explains it, she understands the fear and anger and sorrow of being held captive

Callie makes an appearance during 10's little nostalgia tour just before he regenerates

Callie is Melody/River's godmother!

She likes to paint, and usually likes to paint the night sky

She never really had a plan in mind for when she got older other than "find the Doctor" so studying to be a teacher was almost as much of a surprise to her as it was to other people

Danny Pink is not the one who dies in 'Dark Water' and that's all I'll say ;)

She keeps little souvenirs from past companions in her room in the TARDIS like Rose's jacket and the phone Martha gave the Doctor

Even after Donna's memory wipe, Callie and Wilf meet up for tea on occasion

Thank you for asking!!

[sclfmastery]

Have Thirteen and the Master ever discussed the Year That Never Was? Tbh out of all their New Who interactions, that one seems the least "friendly enemy" to me.

I’m actually gonna gently disagree with you on that one.  

A lot about The Year and Simm Master’s interactions with the Tenth Doctor not only seem Best Enemies to me (at least in the sense of mutual pining and “I know what you’re really thinking/feeling behind your mask because we’ve known each other since childhood”), it’s even one of the REASONS why I ship Thoschei. 

--The Master mistreating Jack and the Jones family was abysmal and awful and frankly uncomfortable, but it’s unfortunately not unique for the Master to hurt the Doctor’s loved ones in order to make the Doctor succumb.  Missy’s treatment of Clara and her s/o Danny, down to turning him into a cyberman and trying to get the Doctor to kill her while trapped inside a Dalek suit, is a good example of another incident unrelated to The Year.  Not to mention Dhawan trying to off Yaz, Ryan, and Graham in a blazing crashing airplane.  And frankly if we’re going to even say Simm is still the cruelest, it’s how he treated Bill Potts that, to me, was his coup de grace of horribleness: again, a different incident.  Moreover, the only person done any physical harm was Jack, and that was done in a separate location where the Doctor didn’t even see (I know, “congrats, less of an asshole that you could have been,” but this IS the Master, and if he WANTED, he could have acted even more abominably).  

--Simm took care to give the Doctor food, clothing, a working wheelchair, and later, rather absurdly amusing, a teensy outfit for his shrunken ancient form.  He not once tried to do him physical injury, in fact taking care that he stayed alive to bear witness to the Master’s “glorious” plan. 

--I think we often misapprehend The Year as less friendly because for once the Master SUCCEEDS.  For once the plan is airtight and there’s no nearsightedness.  And we’re, lol, not used to that Thoschei dynamic.  --All the confrontations between them once Ten was restored: A) “I forgive you,” B) “I know you,” C) the WHOLE “REGENERATE!” scene where Ten breaks down more than with ANY other loss in the whole of his run (and there are very few other times in NuWho the Doctor does show negative emotion that intense, even given differences in the ways different regenerations express grief).  To me they seem almost inappropriately intimate together in front of all the other characters, given what Simm just did to them for over a year.  You get the almost palpable feeling that if no one else were in the room they’d be crying and kissing and making tearful, suspicious, but semi-earnest reparations.  See End of Time for that. It’s like an extension of a conversation that the Master’s death only temporarily waylaid. 

--A lot of people like to say, speaking of that, that the Master’s choice to die rather than travel with the Doctor is the cruelest thing he’s ever done.  Now granted I’m a Simm stan: a stan not of who Simm is, but who Simm COULD be, with better writers than RTD and Moffat on board (sorry to their fans, they’re often very good writers too! just....not with the Master.)  But hear me out.  The Doctor has just treated his competent adult intellectual equal and oldest friend as a kind of sideshow zoo animal to be locked away against his will, to be forcefully “rehabilitated” with “good” acts ( *aggressively side eyes the Vault arc*). Nothing is more important to the Master than his intellectual, physical, and emotional autonomy. I mean look at his moniker for one.  (shout out btw to @rhythmofwar @followthedrums13 @drummingncise et al for all sharing this view about our boy Simm).  So to have the Doctor exercise his OWN issue with control, by controlling people to “save” them, is genuinely dehumanizing to the Master.  Maybe he might one day want to reconcile, but not on THOSE terms. 

So, to finally get around to answering your question, lol: they have topically, superficially, discussed the Year, in terms of that final point.  In a verse with @mostincrediblechange, they’ve paid heed to the hurt they both caused when so ensnared in each other that collateral occurred, by naming their own secondborn twin children “Jack” and “Martha.”  But I agree with you, if you’re making a request for this kind of rp thread, that it needs to be talked about A LOT more.

Unfortunately it’s difficult, because BOTH Thirteen and Simm are adept at raising emotional walls.  She’s happy and whimsically aloof and “fine,” he’s brassy and defiant and “fine.”  Since he’s as confrontational, however, as she is evasive, he’s approached the issue for a follow up conversation before, and he’s likely to do so again.

Her having the conversation with Dhawan seems less likely just because...lol...so many more mutual mistakes have been made that they gotta deal with the new Timeless Child baggage, and the “strand a brown Master in the hands of the Nazis without a perception filter” baggage, and the “hey I used your DNA to make a bunch of frankenstein cybermasters” baggage.  

[alicedoessurveys]

Doctor Who Tag

yes im a nerd...

CHILDHOOD

1. Did you like DW as a child?

I was 10 when it came back on telly with Eccleston and the first episode with the autons scared me so much my mom wouldn't let me watch it again until a couple years later, but yeah my teens I was obsessed with DW... still am at age 25

2. Your age at the time of the revival?

10

3. First DW episode you ever saw?

‘Rose’

4. Did you have any of the toys?

I still have the eleventh doctor’s screwdriver... I used to have some of the figures but there in storage now somewhere

5. Which DW character did you play on the playground?

didn't play it on the playground

6. Monster(s) that scared you most as a child?

all of them! the ones that still scare me now are the Cybermen and the Autons... genuinely cant walk past a shop mannequin without being suspicious 

7. Joke/story you didn’t get as a kid?

as a kid, any of the innuendo type jokes

8. DW opinion that has changed since you were a kid?

idk I think I still have the same opinions

9. Who introduced you to DW?

parents

10. Did you like Sarah Jane Adventures as a child?

I LOVED SJA!! I miss that show, and Elizabeth Slade :(

DOCTOR

11. Who is your Doctor?

Ten was the doctor that made me fall in love with Doctor Who 

12. Your favourite Doctor?

omg why not just ask me who my favourite child is... (I don't have kids but you know what I mean) if I had to chose my top three are ten, eleven and thirteen

13. Least favourite Doctor?

purely just because he doesn't have enough episodes... nine...

14. Best regeneration?

none of them I hate regenerations :( they make me sad, im too emotionally invested in every single one

15. Do you like “Doctor-Lite” episodes?

they're not my faves

16. Who is the most human Doctor?

I think nine maybe? or twelve?

17. Best multi-Doctor story?

the 50th anniversary special 

18. Best Doctor monologue?

“Hello Stonehenge! who takes the pandorica, takes the universe. but bad news everyone, cause guess who? HA! You lot you're all whizzing about- its really very distracting. Could you all just stay still a minute because I AM TALKING. Question of the hour is, who's got the pandorica? Answer, I do. Next question, who's coming to take it from me? Come on, look at me! No plan. No backup. No weapons worth a damn. oh and something else, I don't have anything to lose. So, if you're sitting up there in your silly little spaceship with all your silly little guns and you've got any plans on taking the pandorica tonight... just remember who's standing in your way. remember ever black day I ever stopped you and then- AND THEN- do the smart thing... let somebody else try first.”

not copied and pasted, remember that from the top of my head... its always there waiting in my mind incase I ever need an epic monologue :’)

19, What do you think TenToo/MetaCrisis Doctor is doing now?

hopefully living his best life with Rose

20. Best Doctor/companion pairing?

ten and donna 

COMPANIONS

21. Favourite companion?

Donna, Clara, Amy

22. Favourite secondary companion?

is Mickey classed as secondary? idk

23. Least favourite companion?

Ryan

24. Best TARDIS Team?

Doctor, Amy and Rory

25. Most underrated companion?

Graham, but that may just be cause I love Bradders

26. Most overrated companion?

Rose... I like her but idk, I think she gets more hype than she deserves.. don't @ me

27. Favourite companion’s family?

Rose’s mom

28. Who should have been a companion but wasn’t?

idk I cant think of anyone

29. Favourite (canon or non-canon) DW universe relationship?

Amy and Rory

30. Who did you not used to like, but really like now?

wasn't keen on Bill at first but by the end I really liked her, same with Rory

EPISODES

31. Favourite episode ever?

girl in the fireplace

32. Least favourite episode?

most of Chibnall’s episodes tbh sorry not sorry 

33. Which episodes do you skip?

the regeneration episodes

34. Best two-parter?

Human Nature - Family of Blood

35. Historical, present day or futuristic episodes?

I like them all in there own way but I think present is fave, then historical, then future

36. Episode that will always make you smile?

all of them

37. Episode that will always make you cry?

Rory and Amy’s last episode :’(

38. Best run of episodes?

ugh I cant answer this theres too many 

39. Best cliffhanger?

the end of Spyfall part one when the Master reveals who he is... I was SHOOK

40. Favourite Christmas special?

Voyage of the Damned

SERIES

41. Classic Who or New Who?

new who

42. Favourite series?

four or five

43. Least favourite series?

eleven, I just cant with the writing

44. Which series do you skip?

none

45. Favourite series opening?

eleventh hour

46. Favourite series finale?

Doomsday

47. Best series arc?

Bad Wolf

48. Thoughts on series 11/12?

I adore Jodie Whittaker and her doctor, and although I think 3 companions is too many I do love Yaz and Graham (Ryan is hit & miss). I just think theyve been massively let down by the stories/writing... they’ve tried to hard to tick certain boxes and completely missed what Doctor Who is about for a lot of people.. an escape from the real world into these outrageous unbelievable but lovable fun alien adventures 

49. How much of Classic Who have you seen?

not a lot

50. Who should have had another series?

NINE NINE NINE NINE NINE 

MONSTERS

51. Favourite monster/villain?

the master 

52. Most creative monster?

Weeping Angels, whoever came up with monsters that look like statues and only move when you're not looking at them is genius 

53. Monster(s) that scares you most?

Autons, Cybermen, the creepy dolls from Night Terrors, the ones from Waters of Mars, Weeping Angels

54. Monster you think is too easy to defeat?

idk

55. Least favourite monster/villain?

absorbaloff

56. Monster you want to return?

The Master, I really hope that isn't the last we see of Dhawan

57. In your opinion, what makes a monster good?

being genuinely scary, 

58. Daleks, Cybermen or Weeping Angels?

Weeping Angels

59. Best Dalek story?

Daleks in Manhatten

60. Best one time villain/monster?

my brain has gone blank I cant think of an answer right now 

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL

61. Torchwood or Sarah Jane Adventures?

SJA

62. Favourite Torchwood Team member?

I haven't watched it all so I couldn't say 

63. Which Torchwood death made you saddest?

again, not watched it all 

64. Do you rewatch COE or MD?

huh

65. Favourite SJA Team member?

Sarah Jane

66. Mr Smith or K-9?

K-9

67. Maria or Rani?

Rani

68. Do you read the comics/novels or listen to Big Finish?

Nope

69. If you do, your favourite additional stories?

n/a

70. Do you like DW analysis (video essays, fan theories, etc)?

yes

DESIGN/PRODUCTION

71. Favourite piece of alien tech?

the sonic, I love how it is so multipurpose except for when it comes to wood 

72. Favourite piece of Murray Gold music?

I am the Doctor - gets me pumped every time 

73. Favourite TARDIS design?

Ten’s Tardis 

74. Has the 2005 era CGI aged well?

actually yeah, I was rewatching the ‘are you my mummy’ episodes the other day and my God when the gas masks emerged from the faces... ooooooof I was like omg how 

75. Favourite Doctor outfit?

eleven or thirteen

76. Monster with the best design?

not really a design more of a costume.. I live Dhawan master’s costume. that shade of purple, oof he so stylish 

77. Best show runner?

idk

78. Best writer?

Gatiss

79. Best opening titles?

eleven’s titles where the Tardis is flying and being zapped is cool but thirteens music hits different 

80. Will DW age well/stay popular in the future?

I hope so, I feel like its lasted this long surely it can last forever.. if the writers don't fuck it up... 

IF YOU WERE IN THE SHOW

81. Time period you’d want to go with the Doctor?

whatever time means Id get to wear the most beautiful costumes

82. Planet/place you’d want to go with the Doctor?

Galifrey, pre-desctruction

83. Doctor you’d most like to travel with?

any of them, please and thank you

84. Companion you’d most like to travel with?

donna, sceso a good laugh but also I feel like she’d look after me 

85. Monster you’d like to defeat/fight?

The Master 

86. If you could go back on your own history (like Father’s Day), where would you go?

back to when I was a toddler, I wanna see what I was like 

87. If you could ask the Doctor anything, what would you ask?

theres too many to ask 

88. Historical figure you’d like to meet?

Shakespeare

89. How do you think you’d meet the Doctor?

id probably be rescued from doing something stupid and then the doc would be like you know what the bitch clearly needs supervision she's coming with me 

90. Would you travel forwards or backwards in time first?

backwards

IF YOU MADE THE SHOW

91. Historical event would you like to see in DW?

Hamilton

92. Issue you’d like to see addressed in DW?

idk 

93. Who would you completely erase from the DW universe?

Ruth

94. One unanswered DW question you’d love to know the answer to?

where is Clara now?

95. Actor/actress you’d like to see play the Doctor?

Phoebe Waller Bridge (or Lin Manuel Miranda)

96. Actor/actress you’d like to see play a companion?

Andrew Scott (yes I did just basically recast fleabag and hot priest)

97. Is DW “too political”?

series 11 got a bit like that 

98. Which characters fate would you changed?

Danny Pink

99. What about DW could be improved?

I think ive made my options about Chibnall pretty clear... 

100. If you could write an episode of DW, any ideas for what you’d do

bring back Jenny, the Doctor / Daughter adventures they would have. I’m actually writing a fic about it if you wanna read.... here

[wheres-the-pool-ladder]

The Sycorax Killed and Saved the Time Lords, and Also Killed Clara

The title is mostly a joke, but hear me out.

Warning: Major Spoilers for a number of series finales.

Literally every New Who Master episode wouldn’t have happened if Ten hadn’t lost his hand in the sword fight against the Sycorax. Hell, a lot of New Who would be changed. There are several points in the timeline where the Doctor might have just straight up died.

Because Jack found the Doctor’s severed hand, and used it to track him. Jack finally catching up to the Doctor caused the Tardis to fly all the way to the end of the universe just to shake him off. This wouldn’t have happened had there been no hand to find. Which means they never would have come across Professor Yana, who wouldn’t have opened the chameleon arch and become the Master and then steal the Doctor’s Tardis. So the entirety of the three-part series 3 finally wouldn’t have happened, since the Master’s still stuck as a human at the end of the universe. (As an aside, The Lazarus Experiment wouldn’t have happened either, since Tish only got the job working for Lazarus because of Saxon. So she wouldn’t have ended up on the news, thus never prompting Francine to call Martha about it.)

Martha likely continued traveling with the Doctor, since she had left to be there with her family after the trauma they endured during the Year That Never Was. They may or may not run into Donna, since without the metacrisis, Dalek Caan doesn’t need to manipulate events surrounding her. Let’s say they do. Turn Left doesn’t happen since events aren’t converging on Donna. But all of reality’s at stake, so Rose would have to find another way of warning the Doctor.

Now, the show could’ve likely ended at series 4, since the metacrisis wouldn’t have happened without the hand, so the whole of reality could’ve ended up destroyed. But let’s assume they find a way to save reality since A) Dalek Caan had set the whole thing up to betray the Daleks anyway, and B) without the hand Ten would’ve regenerated into Eleven, who had managed to save the Earth from the Atraxi in 20 minutes without his sonic or Tardis while dealing with post-regenerative trauma, so he’d probably figure out how to stop Davros. Since there’s no TenToo, the Doctor probably wouldn’t leave Rose at Bad Wolf Bay, so she may end up traveling with him again. This may prompt Martha to leave since she might feel like the third wheel now that the man she fancies has reunited with the woman he loves. Donna would likely stay, since she doesn’t need to have her memory erased.

So we move onto The End of Time, which wouldn’t have happened. Plain and simple. The Master’s still stuck at the end of the universe, so the whole reviving him wouldn’t have happened. The Doctor doesn’t need to stall for time after The Waters of Mars (which probably wouldn’t have ended the way it did, as he’s likely still traveling with Donna and Rose), so he never marries Elizabeth I, so the very end of the Shakespeare Code doesn’t happen either. Liz One still remains the Virgin Queen, and the Doctor doesn’t regenerate, but they’re already Eleven, so...

Since the Tardis doesn’t get completely obliterated by the Doctor regenerating, he doesn’t crash into Amelia Pond’s garden and then end up returning 12 years later due to the Tardis repairing. Maybe different circumstances cause Amy and Rory to become companions, maybe not. If not, then River wouldn’t exist, so Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead never occurs.

Gonna skip series 6 for a minute and move onto Clara. Since the Master’s still stuck at the end of the universe, Missy isn’t able to give Clara the Doctor’s number. So Clara never travels with the Doctor and jumps into his time stream, becoming Oswin and Victorian Clara, so the Doctor never tries to find her in the first place. She also never ends up dying in the Trap Street. So the Sycorax started the chain of events that led to Clara’s death. The Doctor may have ended up dying in the Dalek Asylum if he hadn’t met Oswin. If he survives, the lack of Amy and Rory means he doesn’t end up in the Victorian period to mourn them, so he doesn’t meet the Great Intelligence. This would also end up changing Classic Who a tiny bit, since Eleven accidentally gave the GI the idea that the London Underground is a “key strategic weakness”, which they use in The Web of Fear. So The Bells of Saint John doesn’t happen either. Neither the GI nor the Doctor have any reason to be there. The Name of the Doctor doesn’t happen either, since the GI doesn’t try to enter the Doctor’s time stream, which means Clara would have no reason to enter it. Paradoxes are confusing.

Even if the Doctor had met the GI in Victorian London, this might mean the GI succeeds at rewriting the Doctor’s timeline. Let’s say he and whoever his companion is manages to find a way and move on.

If TNotD doesn’t happen, or they stop the GI, The Day of the Doctor might still happen. If it doesn’t, then the Time Lords are dead, so we can thank the Sycorax for the Time Lords being alive for a while. It would happen without Ten though, since in canon Ten is somewhere between The Water’s of Mars and The End of Time, so Journey’s End has already happened, and he’s regenerated in this universe. So we have 33% less bickering. Current Companion may still inspire the Doctor to try to save Gallifrey. If that does happen, then the Time Lords would still try to come through the cracks in time, prompting the Silence to try to kill the Doctor, and trying to blow up the Tardis would cause those very cracks in time. Paradoxes are still confusing. They probably wouldn’t be able to kill him at Lake Silencio, since River might not exist if the Doctor hasn’t met Amy. If he has, then that likely goes the same way as canon. If he hasn’t, maybe they would have succeeded in blowing up the Tardis, since the Doctor only noticed the cracks because he met Amy. So the Silence cause the universe to never exist, while simultaneous causing another paradox by preventing the very events that led to them blowing up the Tardis.

If they don’t succeed in erasing the universe, the Doctor would likely stay on Trenzalore longer than he had in canon, since he doesn’t need (or rather, doesn’t think he needs) more regenerations yet. He still thinks he’s got one left. He may end up regenerating into Twelve while on Trenzalore, which may end up triggering the whole gifting-the-Doctor-more-regenerations thing at some point down the line. So then we end up with Thirteen.

Post-Trenzalore, the Doctor doesn’t meet Missy. The Master’s still stuck at the end of the universe, and even if they weren’t, the Doctor doesn’t know Clara, so Danny’s death (if it even happens) doesn’t cause them to search for the afterlife.

Assuming DotD happens, since the Master’s still stuck at the end of the universe, Simm!Master wouldn’t have been able to leave Gallifrey, and never got stuck on the Monasian ship where he encountered the Doctor and Missy. So he never regenerates into Missy, and the Doctor never goes to the Mondasian ship to test Missy’s ability to be good. The Doctor Falls never happens, and Bill never gets turned into a Cyberman. This also means she never gets turned into a Pilot by Heather, so she never gets to go on adventures with her space girlfriend. The Doctor might have never even met Bill, since they’re not guarding the vault at St. Luke’s University. The Doctor doesn’t regenerate, but she’s already Thirteen, so...

Since they don’t regenerate, the Doctor doesn’t fall out of the Tardis and meet the Fam. Series 11 doesn’t happen.

Since the Master was never on the Mondasian ship, they never regenerate into the Dhawan!Master. So they never go back to Gallifrey and hack into the Matrix, learning about the Timeless Child. The Master doesn’t kill the Time Lords. So the Sycorax started the chain of events that led to the Time Lord’s death. The Doctor may or may not find out later, depending on whether the Time Lords keep “granting” them more regenerations just to keep the secret.

TL;DR: The Sycorax are responsible for every bad thing that’s happened to the Doctor from series 3 onward, paradoxes are super confusing, and the Doctor needs to up their sword fighting skills.

To quote Mabel Pines: “Time travel, man! Why you gotta be so complicated?”

[npdclaraoswald]

The thing is, Moffat is actually a good writer. And I don't just mean in the "he's great at oneshots but sucks at writing seasons" way that people talk about a lot. Because Twelve's seasons are amazing. Sure, season 8 is a bit rough around the edges, but 9 and especially 10 are phenomenal, imo. I think a big part of why Eleven's seasons feel so gilded is because Moffat was stretching himself far to thin trying to do both Who and Sherlock at the same time. Because if you just look at the basic themes for Eleven's era and what it's trying to get across, it actually works really well for the Doctor's character arc as a whole.

Ten went off the rails at the end. I know Nine gets the reputation of being really dark, but Waters on Mars was a genuinely upsetting episode because of Ten's god complex. And the Doctor realizes that. Even within that one episode, he realizes he's gone too far. But he doesn't actually cope with that, or with what drove him that far in the first place. And so we get Eleven, and he is all about Repression. The Doctor doesn't want to be Time Lord Victorious, but he also doesn't want to actually deal with his trauma, so he puts on a mask. He pretends to be a fairy tale, and he takes a little girl who looked at him as such along to tell him how fun and magical he is. And this stupid desire to be what is Good leads to his obsession with things being "cool" and with him trying very hard to be what an 8 year old's conception of a man is, hence the toxic masculinity and similar bullshit. He basically says as much in The God Complex.

And on top of that, he's still full of rage. He tries to hide it, but Eleven is the cruelest the Doctor has been in New Who. He belittles him companions constantly, he blows up thousands of Cybermen to send a message, he treats River horribly, and so on, and so on. And the narrative knows this. There's a reason he's the evil wizard in the Pandorica fairy tale and why The God Complex exists as an episode.

Why he's the Man Who Forgets.

And then you compare all of that with Twelve, acting pretty similar in the beginning, only this time without the fairytale mask, because it didn't stop the pain anyway. So Twelve finally sits down and listens. And you get Danny Pink calling him out on his bullshit. (Of course, Rory did this too, but Eleven wasn't ready to listen). And Clara, having just followed all of Eleven's bullshit, doe eyed and blushing, has learned from her time scattered across his timeline. She still sees him as a magical adventure, but (especially with the regeneration) she can take more of a step back and see him for what he really is as well. And she very nearly leaves him. Would have left him, if they weren't so similar.

So Twelve learns to actually sit down and think about his actions. No longer trying to live up to the image he's built up of himself or what a Good Man should be. Just trying to be kind, wherever possible.

Moffat wrote a long, complicated healing process of what the Doctor went through during the RTD era, which had its ups and downs, like it needed to have to be a good story. And it's what paved the way for Thirteen to be as similar to Ten as she is.

But that's only when you look at in broad strokes. When you actually examine any particular episode of Eleven's, it doesn't feel like it's part of this big bit of character development. The gender bullshit doesn't feel subversive, it just reinforces old stereotypes (Missy is similar. You can easily make a case for it being smart subversion, but it misses the mark just enough that you wind up feeling positive it's not intentional). It feels like it's trying very, very hard to be clever, but is missing the mark by a mile. The same way Sherlock does.

So yeah, a lot of why Twelve is so much better than Eleven is just Moffat maturing as a writer, and Capaldi's hand in shaping the character, and that just being the natural next step for the character, but I also think Moffat genuinely just overworked himself trying to do two shows, and that's the reason why neither can hold a candle to him at his best.

Also I think Eleven is a self insert for Moffat and once he stopped trying to make every girl in the universe fall in love with the Doctor the writing got much more mature

Of course, I could very easily just be pulling stuff out of my ass, trying desperately to get myself to not hate Eleven, but wouldn't it be nice if it all made cohesive sense?