#i won��t be surprise if other cast members leave the project

[singtheskyandfightlikehell]

BatFamily Headcanons: Stuffed Animals

In an attempt to productively combat my recent writer’s block, I’m practicing writing the batfam characters through short character study fics (which I will post once I make enough) and comparative headcanons. I might end up making short fics out of these, as well, since some of them got a bit long anyways

Today I decided to explore how many stuffed animals each member of the batfam (plus an adjacent character or two) has, what they think of them, how they got them, etc. I’ve got eleven characters on this list (and I’m still missing some, sorry)

Bruce:

Bruce put aside stuffed animals when he was eleven, deciding it was time to become serious. However, since acquiring children, he has been gifted a number of stuffed animals, ranging from a small and realistic brown bat to a child-sized bear wearing his cape and cowl. None of the children know this, but he keeps them all in a prominent position in his walk-in closet. Sometimes, when he has a particularly nasty fight with one of his kids, or he discovers something (like an injury) that they were hiding from him, he’ll tell the stuffed animals all the things he struggles to tell his children in the hopes that, one day, he’ll figure out how to express himself when it actually counts.

Alfred:

Alfred has no stuffed animals of his own, but he keeps the old, worn teddy bear that was once Thomas’ and later Bruce’s, alongside the somewhat lopsided bunny that Martha attempted to sew for Bruce when he was two. They sit side by side in a spotless glass cabinet filled with other memories that various members of the family have at one point or another attempted to cast aside.

Dick:

Dick has a pair of stuffed elephants, Eleonore and Zitka, and a teddy bear of his own, all from the circus. Most of the time they sit on the shelf under one of his nightstands, but when he has a particularly bad day, he’ll hold them all tightly until he falls asleep. If he’s crying, he finds it slows the tears to press kisses to the tops of their heads, or just smoosh his whole face into them. Sometimes, if he’s having a particularly good day – especially if no one else is sharing in his good mood – he’ll tell them about whatever made him happy. The rarest occasions are a bittersweet combination of both, the moments when he dwells on his happiest memories of his parents. When this happens, he is more likely to address them than his family, talking to them like old friends who were “there” for the things he’s recalling. It reminds him of the parties he would host as a small child, attended by his stuffed animals and his parents and sometimes other people from the giant family that was Haly’s, and for just that moment he’ll feel suspended somewhere between grief and content.

Barbara:

Barbara had lots of stuffed animals growing up, but as she got older, she gave most of them away. The only one she kept was a little otter that her father gave her for her first birthday. She doesn’t remember this, of course, but they have an old home video of that day which she’s seen a few times, and she know it’s one of her dad’s favorites to watch when he’s feeling nostalgic. She does remember the way she used to drag the otter with her everywhere she went when she was about four, and it’s so worn now that all of its original fluffiness has disappeared. She sets it up near her main computer and uses it in place of a rubber duck.

Jim:

When Babs decided she was too old for her stuffed animals, Jim was instructed to give them away at one of the Gotham children’s toy drives he helps run as commissioner. Only about half of them ever make it out of the house, because he keeps looking at them and remembering little moments that involve each of them. He has two boxes full of them that he swears he’s going to bring to the next drive, but he’s been swearing that for over ten years now.

Jason:

When Jason first arrived at the manor, he swore up and down that stuffed animals were dumb kids toys that he was way too old for. The first time Dick showed up at the manor after Jason was there, he brought a plush dog he’d picked up on the way there, unsure what to get his surprise new brother but not putting an excess of thought into it either. After all, he wasn’t about to ask Bruce what Jason might like. Jason made a show of scorn and tossing the toy in the trash, but when Dick was gone he dug it back out. When he was sleeping, he clutched the dog protectively against his chest like it might be snatched away at any time. When he wasn’t sleeping, he kept it hidden in a box wedged under a floorboard beneath the bed, alongside his other contraband. It was there when he died and it’s still there now. Every time he’s in the manor, he thinks about sneaking into his old room to retrieve it, alongside some of his other old belongings, but he never does. His reasoning alternates between not caring, being too old for toys, not wanting to set foot in his old room, and not wanting to get caught caring after all these years.

He does however have an obnoxiously long bright red snake that Roy won at some sort of archery carnival game while they were supposed to be tracking a suspect. He’d griped at Roy for wasting time with frivolous games, a complaint that was very on brand for their relationship. He’s pretty sure Roy saw through him, though, and understood the real reason he was so antsy to leave the carnival, given his soft apology later that night. He also recently acquired a floppy stingray, a gift from Lian for his latest birthday. She told him that she’d gotten to pet a stingray at the aquarium where she’d bought it, and it reminded her of him. Specifically, she’d said he was, “Kinda dangerous and maybe a little scary, but actually really soft to anyone who’s nice enough”. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that description, but the gift had a place of pride, resting atop an old model of his helmet that Roy had “defaced” with a sweet message that always made Jason smile.

Cass:

Cass grew up without stuffed animals, and was honestly a little confused at first about why she might want one. The first one she ever got was a tiny key-chain cat that was given to her by a little girl she saved. She was unsure what to make of the object itself, but she treasured it as a symbol, proof that she was doing good in the world. It was Steph who convinced her to look for more, to look for stuffed animals in her “style”. Eventually, she got two of the most different ones she could find: an iridescent octopus packed tightly with beans and made of a coarse fabric, and a large fluffy goose that squished like a cloud and was made of the softest fabric imaginable. She likes tossing the octopus lightly in the air to feel the weight of it, and faceplanting into the giant goose. She also has a big bear holding a plush heart that Steph got her for their first Valentine’s.

Tim:

Tim’s relationship with stuffed animals is a bit more complicated. He had five growing up: a dog, a bear, a lion, a rabbit, and a lamb. They had names, stories, personalities, and they were his friends (his only friends, at the time). When he was seven, he woke up one day to find them gone. His mother scolded him for his tears, explaining that he was too old for baby toys, and that his attachment to them would only hinder his path forward. For years, he felt ashamed whenever he thought of his grief towards them, because he knew they were just toys, he knew he was being a baby about it, and yet…

It wasn’t until he was fifteen years old and stumbled across an article about autistic people and the projection of feelings onto objects that he understood why he had been willing to sneak out at night to search through pawn store after pawn store and – once – the landfill in the hopes of seeing his beloved toys again. As a teen in the Wayne household, he knew he could get as many stuffed animals as he liked, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so after what had happened before. He got one giant, floppy moose, barely half a foot shorter than himself, that he clings to like an octopus when he manages to lay down, whether he succeeds in falling asleep or not. Additionally, on a night after Jason made amends with the family, Tim returned to his room to find a fifteen inch plush latte with a cute little face on the mug portion and a sticky note on top that simply read: Sorry for trying to kill you a bunch. My bad :) He keeps it on top of his dresser, and while he doesn’t really hug it, he did discover it was the perfect object for chucking at his siblings’ heads whenever the situation calls for it.

Steph:

Steph loves stuffed animals. While she never got any of the fancy brand name ones, or the luxuriously soft ones, or the hyper-realistic ones, her mom had a tradition of buying her one for every birthday, Christmas, and Easter. She soon had quite a collection, and – like Tim – she gave them all names and personalities. She played out complex scenarios with them and the few dolls she had, designing an intricate world of wild concepts and plots. She also used her stuffed animals to conquer her fears, like thunderstorms and darkness, by pretending they were all more scared than she was, so she had to be brave for all of them. Steph still has her whole collection, as well as quite a few “nicer” (though equally loved) ones that she has acquired from various Waynes. At this point, pretty much everyone in the Wayne family has given her a stuffed animal at some time or other. For a couple of years now, she has taken to posing with her massive collection and making fake family Christmas cards to send out to everyone she knows, where she will update them on the well-being of any plushie they’ve given her.

Duke:

Duke also has a great love of stuffed animals, although he doesn’t match Steph for quantity. He only had a few beloved animals growing up, all of which he’s held onto (a panda, a penguin, a turtle, a frog, a leopard, and a pikachu). Since being fostered by Bruce, Duke has taken to searching out and buying only the rarest stuffed animals he can find: an anteater, a platypus, a manatee, a sloth, and an axolotl have made the cut so far. Bruce knows about this and has taken to keeping an eye out for anything interesting whenever he’s out. After accidentally mentioning it at a gala one time, it has since become his favorite topic, as getting drawn into an intense discussion with Bruce Wayne about where to acquire strange plushies for his son elicits one of two reactions from his guests: delighted awws or hilariously awkward attempts to steer the conversation back to high society definitions of business and pleasure. At Duke’s request, a large shelf was built around the top of his room, so that all of his stuffed animals can sit comfortably and be clearly seen.

Damian:

Damian was much like Jason when he arrived at the manor in more ways than one, but his determination to prove himself above stuffed animals was certainly on that list. He sneered at his siblings’ attempts to treat him like the child he swore he wasn’t. And honestly, even after he began to lower his walls just a little, he still wasn’t particularly fond of stuffed animals. Sure, he privately thought they were cute, and sure he might (might) find himself holding one at night if it happened to have been left in his bed by an annoying sibling, but in general he preferred live animals to fake ones. Real animals had personalities and feelings, fake ones did not, it was as simple as that, no matter what Stephanie claimed. But as time went on, Damian found himself acquiring a small army of stuffed animals against his will. Some of his siblings (Jason, Tim, sometimes Duke) gave them to him because they found it funny to watch him growl about how he was not an infant in need of deceitful comforts. Some of his siblings (Dick, Cass, sometimes Duke… sometimes his father as well) would give them to him because they knew he liked animals so they assumed he’d like imitations of animals as well. Steph would just give them to everybody, every now and then. But regardless of motive, Damian soon found his room overflowing with stuffed animals that were moderately cute but ultimately pointless.

It wasn’t until a patrol a few years after he’d taken on the mantle of Robin that he discovered a solution. Tim had hidden a tiny stuffed bear in the medical supply compartment of his utility belt, a felt bandage wrapped around its little head. He hadn’t been wounded, but the young girl he’d rescued had been bleeding from a wound that looked worryingly dirty. The bear had fallen out of the pouch, right into her lap, and she’d stared at it with wide eyes, surprise halting the flow of her tears. She’d held onto it the whole time he disinfected her arm and bandaged it, and afterwards he had insisted she keep it. For the first time that night, she’d smiled. After that, Damian began taking a few of his many stuffed animals out on patrol with him, ready to hand out to any and all injured, lost, or otherwise traumatized children once he’d rescued them from their troubles. Eventually he began running out of toys he’d been gifted, even though he kept getting new ones, so at some point he begins to regularly sneak out for the sole purpose of acquiring stuffed animals to hand out. He never tells his siblings, but he suspects they’ve found out anyway, when the presents they give him drastically decrease in size.

[kuratoki]

Changes 6.5

Annyeong~ So it’s been a long time since Changes was last updated...was it? Honestly I can’t remember >< I’ve been wanting to post more consistently so instead of posting a chapter time I finish one, I decided to finish the whole story instead and this post means...CHANGES IS COMING TO AN END!! I’m thinking no more than 3-4 more chapters before I get started on the SEQUEL! Distance

Depending on the flow of things, I may post every other day as I bust out the sequel and another fic that I have in the works so I can post them co-consecutively but we shall see...anyways, thanks for supporting Changes ^-^

Also I think I may have bias switched six times this comeback. Just saying.

Do you agree that things change in time? Well four years abroad would tell wouldn’t it?

Pairing: Reader x Jeno ft. NCT

Words: 4769 (Why was this longer than the last chapter T-T)

Warning: Mild swearing

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 6.5

“So are you guys thinking about joining the club?” Doyoung asked.

After school activities were done and a large group of people which consisted of various members of the NCT Dance Club and a few others were at a restaurant to welcome Renjun, Chenle to the school as well as welcoming back Sicheng.

“WinWin said we had no choice.” Chenle answered, “He said it was part of the transfer requirement.” 

“Transfer requirement.” Taeyong said, using his fingers as air quotes, “It’s your choice but from what we’ve heard, it’d be great to have you both. I heard you aren’t a dance major Chenle.” 

“I’m a voice major.” Chenle said and pointed at Renjun, “He’s the dance major.” 

“Speaking of dance,” Renjun said wiping his mouth, “Jeno, I heard you won the National School dance competition as a junior soloist last year.”

Jeno looked up at the boy mid bite and nodded his head.

“Are you planning on competing again this year?” Renjun asked curiously and you looked at Jeno with the same curious look, wondering if he too was planning on competing. 

“I’m still deciding.” Jeno said, mouth full of meat before swallowing, “I might just compete in the group dance this year. Give someone else a go. Why do you ask?”

“Just curious. I heard through some friends that you really stole the show.” he said with a small smirk that Jeno picked up on and his eyes narrowed, “Wish I saw it myself.” 

You looked at Renjun, wondering what he meant by that and the bright smile your friend gave you made you suspicious. It was that, I’m going to do something stupid but I also know what I’m doing smile. First he cut you off in the library and now he was asking weird questions.

“Yea! Jeno’s dance was one of the best I’ve ever seen him perform.” Mark said hyping him up, “It was so emotional yet so powerful. Totally deserved the national title.” 

Many people around the table agreed and Doyoung almost looked like a proud father.

“Must’ve been about someone then.” Renjun said with a nod, “You know what they say, the piece comes out more meaningful when it’s meant for someone else.” 

 “It’s like how Y/N’s contemporary piece got her the role of Omlgmlsml” Chenle started but you were quick to lean over and muffle the brunette boy with a steamed bun and the look you gave him told him to shut up.

Renjun turned to look at you in shock, he knew what Chenle was going to say and he was surprised you didn’t tell any of your friends about it.

“You never told them you were THE Odette?” Renjun gasped and curious heads turned towards your conversation as your friends around you stared at you in shock, making you smack your head down on the table. This was not how you wanted your biggest secret to come out.

It wasn’t that you didn’t want anyone to know. You were still healing from your sprained knee at the time of auditions and despite all the late night practices(doctor approved) with Renjun, you weren’t confident. Even when Renjun said you were a shoe in for the part, you felt like you couldn’t do it. In the end you skipped the audition. What you didn’t know was that Renjun already had a plan B and that was what got you the role. 

The day the roles were announced, you were floored to see that you got the part of the Swan Princess herself. When you asked the casting director how you got the role without auditioning, he had told you that your audition video made most of the team cry and they couldn’t not have you as their Swan Princess. 

You knew Renjun was behind this right away and you wondered what video he had submitted on your behalf. Of course you couldn’t be mad at him even though he went behind your back. He was one of the few who knew that your dream was to play Odette in the Swan Lake Ballet production and thanks to him, you were able to achieve that dream.

The production consisted of the top ballet dancers of the junior level and students all over Europe auditioned for various parts. It was a grueling process that took several months and many students waited anxiously for the results. Once the roles were announced, the new cast would spend half a year in London practicing before performing for sold out shows in one of London’s most well known theaters. 

The year that you were in the production, the producers wanted to do something fun and made you wear an elaborate Swan mask throughout the production. On the promo poster  the only persons name who was not mentioned was yours and the picture was of Renjun as the Prince and you wearing that swan mask. Only those who attended the shows would’ve seen your face but tickets at the time were limited. You would think that you’d invite your friends along with your parents to at least one of the shows but no, you only invited WinWin and his family along with your parents. This was your best kept secret. What you didn’t know is that it was also known as the best portrayal of Odette performed by a junior.

“You were Odette?” Hana asked with wide eyes, “With Renjun?” 

“Mhm.” you said muffled.

“But Renjun was the Prince for the Select Junior Ballet performance…” Jisung said looking down before he looked at you in shock, “W-Why didn’t you tell anyone?” 

“What’s chicken little getting at?” Yuta asked looking around the group and Renjun had the urge to smack you in the face but reached over and started to shake you violently instead.

“Are you serious right now? I get that you wore a mask for like half the production and your name wasn’t even in the program for surprise sakes but it’s literally you in the promo poster they’re using to promote the ballet even now!” he raged, “Why didn’t you tell anyone?! Were you that embarrassed to dance with me?! Your nickname was fucking Swan Princess for fucks sakes!” 

“Stooooop!!” you whined, sitting up straight and attempted to stop Renjun from shaking you as your stomach had yet to settle, “You know I didn’t want the attention. I wasn’t going to audition and then you went and submitted the tape behind my back.”

“We promised that we’d audition together!” Renjun growled, “And what do you do? Not even show up for the audition. Thank goodness I made that excuse that you were sick and they let you send in an audition tape instead.”

“Which you broke into my apartment to get.” you growled back, “The key I gave you was for emergency’s only.” 

“Yea and that was an emergency.” Renjun argued, “You were already set for the part and I was not going to put the hours of practice we put into it to waste!” 

“I only rehearsed with you because you wanted to audition!” you exclaimed, agitation evident in your voice.

“Guys cut it out.” Chenle called out from his seat fed up with his friends behavior, “This is why people still think you hate each other!” 

During the time, Jeno, Jisung and Jaemin could only observe your bickering with Renjun like a ping pong match. It was a side of you neither of them was familiar with and truth be told, Renjun was the only person who was able to bring this side out of you.

The two of you met on the first day of practices your first year and truth be told, you didn’t like each other right away. The two of you came into the academy under high recommendation from your previous schools so the expectations for you were high. In the beginning, the two of you would discreetly argue over the smallest of things, Renjun always acting more superior. It wasn’t till you were paired for a project that you had to suck it up and get along. 

You found out that when you weren’t arguing or being nitpicky over the others posture, you actually had very decent conversations. He also had this weird side which you weren’t sure if you should be taking seriously or not but in the end, the two of you became as close as bread and butter. 

“So this is a normal thing?” Jisung asked Chenle and the boy nodded.

“There’s something wrong when a day goes by where they actually agree on something. But he’s her Ying to his Yang and they both brought out the best in each other.” Chenle said eyeing his two friends who were now getting harassed by Hana for not inviting her to such an iconic performance, “He helped her heal.”

“Jeno?” Jisung asked curiously as he looked at Jeno, who was looking somewhat annoyed with the way Renjuns arm had yet to leave your shoulders and you, who was completely immersed in a story Renjun was telling. “Renjun helped her with the piece?”

“He helped her get her emotions out.” Chenle corrected, “The choreo was all her. She performed it for her end of year recital and ended up winning first place that year...she was supposed to come back the year after and claim her spot back but she got into the accident and gave it up to second place.” 

“Who was that?” Jisung asked and Chenle was shocked he didn’t know.

“Wong Yuwen, Yukhei’s sister.” he answered and thought again, “I still find it coincidental that it was Yukhei who caused her accident that summer though...I know that the girls didn’t really get along since Yuwen saw Y/N as competition from day one” 

“Yukhei’s sister? You guys know Yukhei too?” Jisung asked again, his eyes wide and Chenle gave him an odd look from all of his questions but Jisung had good reasoning for it.

“Renjun was the one who introduced Yukhei to Y/N. We all knew each other in China and Yukhei came with me since his sister attended the same school when I visited the first time. We spent a lot of time together...well Y/N spent a lot of time rejecting Yukhei so..” Chenle said and noted the look on Jisungs face, “You good bro?

Jisung’s mind was boggling. It couldn’t have been a coincidence could it? He knew that you had won first place in your schools competition, he even knew bits and pieces who Renjun and Chenle were but never ever had you brought up knowing Yukhei on that personal level. He just knew that you had met briefly before camp the first year and that you rejected him once. Outside of that, he had no idea why Yukhei loved to bother you so much but now the pieces of the puzzle were coming together.

Jisung shook out of his thoughts and gave Chenle a reassuring smile and thumbs up. This new person seemed to know a lot and Jisung was curious to what else he knew about your association with Yukhei.

“Oh yea, I forgot to ask. Where are you guys staying?” Hana asked once everyone had finished eating. 

“We’re both staying at a house my family bought recently nearby.” Chenle answered, “If I remember the address correctly, it’s not that far from Y/N’s.” 

“That’s so cool, you guys are all in the same neighborhood.” she said, referring to you, Jeno and Jisung, “Well, Jaem and I are gonna get going. We’ll see you guys tomorrow.” 

“Do you guys need a lift?” Jaem asked, swinging his eyes around one finger while his other hand was interlocked with Hana’s, “I’m gonna take Hana home and then head back to Jenos.” 

“I heard there was a Moomin Cafe in town and there’s still a few hours till it closes.” Renjun said and turned to you, “Care to join me? It’d be great to touch base on a few things.” 

“I’d love to watch you weeb out for a few hours.” you said giggling, knowing your friends obsession with character, “There’s a few things I wanted to ask you as well actually.” 

“Perfect, lets go then.” Renjun said,“It was nice meeting you all. We’ll see you all tomorrow.” 

You gave the group a quick wave and Hana quickly hugged the two of you before you looked at Renjun and the two of you set off, with your arm looped through his.

A few hours later, you walked through your door deep in thought from your conversation with Renjun. The two of you discussed a lot in a short period of time, from a potential reunion with the rest of the cast of the Swan Lake to information regarding Yukhei. 

Waving at Sicheng and Yuta(who you assumed would be a regular in the house now that Sicheng was back), who were currently digging into a piece of the chocolate cake you made the night before for Sichengs return, you made your way up to your room. Because you were so deep in thought, you literally screamed when you walked in and saw Jeno lying on your bed,hair pushed back, glasses perched on the bridge of his nose and reading a book.

“SORRY, I FORGOT TO TELL YOU HE CAME OVER.” Sicheng yelled from down the stairs, there was no apology in his voice. 

“What are you doing here?” you asked, hand over your heart as you tried to calm your breathing.

“Jaemin decided to bring Hana over instead of taking her home and I wasn’t in the mood to listen to the conception of Baby Na.” he responded, looking at you from the corner of his eye, noting your concentrated look and your lack of reaction to his joke, “Everything okay? How was the cafe?” 

“Everythings fine.” you said distractedly, putting your things away, “Renjuns a Moomin weeb so this was like a dream come true for him. It was nice to catch up since we really haven’t talked in months minus the odd text here and there.” you said, forcefully shaking your thoughts from your mind and paid attention to the person on your bed who was currently looking like he just walked out of Mens Athletic.

It was obvious he showered before he came over since his hair was still slightly damp and pushed back while he was dressed in black sweats and a white wife beater. It was a nice sight for the eyes.

“Are you planning on staying long?” you asked curiously and Jeno looked up from the book.

“Am I intruding?” he asked back and you shook your head. 

“Of course not.” you said quickly, “I just wanted to know how many pieces of cake I had to bring up.” 

“Three.” Jeno said holding up his fingers and giving you that reserved for special people eye smile, “The one you made a few days ago was so good and with Yuta downstairs, there probably won’t be any left in the morning.” 

“True.” you said, grabbing a few things, “Be back in a bit. I’d tell you to make yourself at home but you seem to have done a good job at doing so already.” you snickered as Jeno waved, going back to the book from your shelf he had immersed himself in. 

“Don’t be long.” he said, settling himself into your bed, “Do you want to watch a movie?” 

“Sure.” you said looking behind you as you stepped out the door, “My laptops on my desk. The password hasn’t changed. If you still remember that is.”

Jeno looked up when he heard the bedroom door shut and marked the place in the book he was reading, before putting it down.He made his way over to your desk which was decorated with stationary and few pictures from the past and present. 

The ones that stood out were from his fifth birthday party where he had a mouthful of cake and you had the happiest grins two five year olds could muster while “Say cheese!" was being  yelled at you in four different directions. 

There was another one where Jaemin and Jeno were at some beach and they had you lifted in their arms during a big family vacation that the three of you somehow managed to convince your parents to have after weeks of begging. Jeno remembered that day more than any other vacation memory since seconds after that photo was taken, you were thrown into the ocean.  He remembered the grovelling he and Jaemin had to do since you decided to ignore the two for the rest of the day.. He chuckled to himself at the memory, remembering that despite the one hiccup,  it was one of the best vacations he’d been on in his life. 

Before he could press the power button on your laptop, a polaroid under your keyboard caught his attention and Jeno couldn’t help but feel his heart swell when he realized when it was from. It was a photo of the two of you that Jaemin took during a break between dance classes when you were in middle school. 

The two of you were leaning against the mirror, Jeno’s arm wrapped around your shoulder while the two of you watched something on his phone. Your head was resting on his shoulder and he was resting on top of yours. He remembered Jaemin showing him the photo, telling him that this was when he knew the two of you were meant to be more than friends. Jeno brushed it off at the time, but he couldn’t help but think how right his friend was in this present moment.

He looked to side when he heard your phone buzz and a text from someone showed up on the screen.

[9:55pm] E.T - Think about it...It’ll be fun, just like the old times. I’ve got your back Princess~

Jeno’s lips formed a straight line at the text and was tempted to check the message himself. He had an assumption as to who this “E.T” person was and fought the jealousy that bubbled inside him. You and Renjun were friends and he had no right to feel this way, he didn’t know your friendship but he couldn’t help but let that fact bother him. Were you and Renjun closer then the two of you let on or was it just his paranoia?

A few minutes later, you walked in, freshly showered with a tray that consisted of cakes and hot chocolate along with a bowl of marshmallows, a big satisfied smile on your face.

“I took like a quarter of the cake and I think Yuta growled at me.” you said placing the tray on your desk before picking up your phone and reading Renjun’s message and responding, making Jeno question what you said since you rolled your eyes.

“Yuta is aware that you’re the only one who can cook in this house right?” Jeno asked, taking the cake from your outstretched hand, his face in pure bliss after taking a bite, “You can always give his portions to me you know. Now that my parents aren’t here, I think I’m gonna starve.”

“Isn’t that the reason why Jaemin is staying with you? So you won't starve?” you asked with a lifted eyebrow, knowing that his parents had just left to meet with your parents somewhere in Europe. 

It was a blessing and a curse that your parents enjoyed travelling, it meant that you and Jeno had grown up travelling together during the holidays and you always had someone to experience new things with. It may have been the main reason why your friendship with Jeno had maintained its strength during your transition from children to preteens despite the differences in personalities. 

“With the amount of time he spends with Hana, I probably will.” Jeno snorted moving slightly when you settled next to him on the bed, “Did you know that he’s serious about her?” 

“Good” you said, taking a bite of your chocolate cake, doing a little dance when you felt the velvety texture of the frosting on your tongue, “Cause from how our talks are going, she feels the same.” 

“Ah…Young love...” Jeno sighed, leaning back thinking about his two friends before his eyes caught a small album on your bedside table that hadn’t been there before, “What’s that?” 

Following his gaze, your eyes landed on the album and Jeno saw the excitement in your eyes and you put down your plate to reach for it. 

“I found this while I was cleaning my room a few days ago.” you said handing him the medium sized album that contained so many memories, “I’ve been waiting for you to come over to show you.” 

Jeno opened the album and was greeted by a sense of strong nostalgia. It’s contents familiar but distant memories of your combined family travels. They lasted from when the two of you were three to about the age of thirteen, where dance became more important and you were both enrolled in your respective summer programs and the year after you left for Europe.

“I can’t believe you still have these photos.” he said, slowly flipping through each page, chuckling to himself at certain photos that caught his eye “This is like a decades worth of history.”

“I couldn’t believe it either.” you said, resting your head on his shoulder so you could look at the photos too, “It made me think of all the carefree days we had. It sucks that we only went to tropical destinations. I think I would’ve liked Europe as a child.” 

“Did you travel a lot while you were abroad?” Jeno asked, still looking through the photos and felt you nod against his shoulder.

“Renjun and I did a lot of that during the small breaks we had when we realized that we could actually tolerate each other” you said, looking through your phone for a specific picture, “We would travel to different places by train and spend a few days exploring. Depending on the holiday, our trips lasted several days to several weeks.”

“Just the two of you?” he asked, looking down at you from the corner of his eye, frowning at the sound of the China Princes name once more.

“Mhm.” you said and smiled when you found the photo you were looking for, “Chenle, Sicheng and Hana joined us once during winter break and we spent two weeks in Germany before we met my parents in England for Christmas. Outside of that one time, it was just Renjun and I. A travelling photographer passed our cabin while we were headed to Paris to watch Swan Lake and asked Renjun if he could take a picture and told us to hold the pose. It's still my favorite to this day..” 

You flipped your phone around and showed Jeno the picture on your phone where you and Renjun were seated in a cabin on a train. The two of you must’ve been on your way to some sort of event since you were both dressed in semi-formal wear. You were wearing a long sleeved emerald dress and black tights and black boot heels. Your head was resting in your hand and you were looking out the window. Renjun, who was wearing a dress shirt and vest, was looking at you with what to Jeno looked like admiration? Adoration? Passion? A sketch book rested on the table and Renjuns hand was in mid sketch. Had you known that he was sketching you at the time?

He thought the long sleeved dress was different but brought out the more mature aspects of your figure with how it hugged you in all the right places and made your legs look longer. The beret that rested on your head while your wavy hair was thrown over one shoulder completed the look and Jeno decided that he liked seeing you in hats.

His eyes narrowed when he realized that the drawing in Renjuns sketchbook looked familiar and he looked at a painting that you recently hung up.

“Is that painting of you?” he asked and saw the wistful smile on your face.

“Yea...Renjun enjoys doing art in his free time and painted that for me after our fifth trip together. The photo itself was taken only during our first trip but he worked on it for quite some time after that. He told me that he’d been looking for a muse for a while and all the travelling did it for him. I was floored when he gave me the painting, I think I cried a bit too..” you said thinking back to your travels with your best friend from abroad.

“There was always something missing though…” you muttered quietly and Jeno almost didn’t hear you.

“What’s that?” he asked, eyes still on the painting and wondered what it would be like to travel the world with you now that you were older.

“You.” you whispered looking down, “I guess a part of me always wondered what you’d think of the places I’ve gone and what it’d be like to experience what I did with you.” 

A smile made its way to Jenos face as he wrapped an arm around your shoulder, pulling you snug against him and trapped you in his arms. He was glad your head was on his shoulder since it was easier to hide his blush this way. He was giddy to know that you often thought of him during your travels and even though someone else was your travel companion, he was still on your mind.

“One day,” Jeno promised, “We’ll go together and you can show me all your favorite spots you’ve been to. We can even take a summer and travel Europe by train if you want. I think that’s what our parents are meeting up to do. I saw them plan the trip and heard them talk to your parents over the phone about it. Seems like a lot of fun.” 

You looked up at Jeno wide eyed, had he really just promised that he’d travel all of Europe with you? Why was he saying things like this so loosely? Did he know that when he acted so nonchalant but sweet like this, it made the butterflies in your stomach flutter?

“Y-You want to travel with me?” you managed to stutter out and he gave you a look with furrowed brows.

“Of course. You’re the only travel buddy I had for most of my life and we have five years to catch up on. I wouldn’t want to experience those things with anyone else.” he said confidently, looking down at you, moving his arms to wrap around your waist and you felt him play with your fingers when your hands met his, “A trip with just the two of us.” 

“A trip with just the two of us.” you agreed quietly, settling into Jenos embrace and felt his arms tighten around you, the chocolate cake forgotten as your eyes drifted close. 

You weren’t sure what was happening with your friendship. These nights had become a thing after you had woken up completely jet lagged and Jeno had so happen to be coming back from a late night bathroom run. He’d seen your light on and texted you to see if you were alright since you were in the house alone.

When you told him that you couldn’t sleep, he had come over and the two of you spent hours watching Netflix; thankfully for the two of you it had been a weekend.

After that, Jeno came over whenever he was bored, he even helped you clean the house when Sicheng said he was coming back. You constantly wondered why he’d spend time with you when he could be out with Jisung or Jaemin; though Jisung spent a lot of time playing video games at your house just as much as Jeno did. He just said that he was lazy to socialize which totally didn’t make sense since he could be a social butterfly around the right people.

You just knew that over the short time you spent together, your heart would beat faster whenever he was around at school and now you were partnered for the project so spending time together was inevitable. 

Little did you know, Jeno was working hard to show you that he was serious about you and you only. He just hoped that whatever he had planned didn’t backfire, especially with the arrival of one Huang Renjun.

[darkzorua100]

Well safe to say, episode 89 didn’t play out the way I hoped it would. Soulburner ended up pulling out the win, to no one surprise, and Windy ends up burning to death. Yeah...have fun with that one dub. Now I stated that if this was going to be the end result, I was not going to be a happy camper because Windy NEEDED this win far more then Soulburner did, for his own credit and for the plot. However, because of one simple detail at the end of this episode, what could have been me just going on the rant has instead now me viewing this episode as what I like to call Pandora’s Box and a time bomb.

Currently we’re going through a bit of a despair at the moment in terms of the writing in my eyes. One of the main reasons why I thought Windy should have won this duel was because currently Team Playmaker has the numbers advantage. We need more causalities from his group to even out the playing field. To have Spectre be the only loss from this group because of Ignis plot armor and Revolver being freaking Revolver would just be stupid in my eyes. Windy also needed this win because they have been building up a Revolver vs Windy rematch. To not have that be delivered after all that talk of revenge from Windy seemed like just a waste. To have him beat someone like Soulburner would not only give him some MAJOR credit as a duelist, but it would also make him a threat if he actually went to challenge Revolver right afterwards.

Then there is Soulburner’s sides of things. He needed to lose this duel because one, he just needs a lose at this point, but the main reason why I wanted him to lose this duel was because what are they going to do with him if he was going to win this duel? Lightning is already short on members. He already lost Haru and now Windy, leaving only himself and Bohman. He even had to bring in Kusanagi to duel Playmaker and Revolver still hasn’t even dueled yet. Keeping Soulburner in the mix just didn’t make sense to me because if Windy won, he would have went to challenge Revolver and lets be real here, he would have lost that rematch and would have been killed there. Blue Maiden is more then likely going to lose to Bohman, leaving only Playmaker and Revolver left to challenge Lightning and Bohman in what I would guess a tag duel. Clearly there is a problem if Soulburner is still around. But like I said, one simple comment and action changed everything and is what I like to call the hope that is remaining inside of Pandora’s Box. Well maybe not hope for the characters in the show but hope for me as a viewer. 

Are we actually going to get a Soulburner vs Revolver rematch?

At the end of this episode, when Windy was being burnt to death, Flame absorbed what was left of Windy’s data. However, before that, Windy made a vow that he won’t let go of his hated, and he was cursing Soulburner and Flame. Now this could have been empty words, as Flame stated that AIs don’t have curses, but I seen and read enough fiction to know what this amount of lingering hated always leads to. Nothing ever good. Windy’s death doesn’t just make the anger disappear. Death only intensifies it and it is going to leave a mark on something. I’m willing to bet that Windy’s data is going to end up having some kind of effect on Flame, a virus that is going to run wild and corrupt his whole system. Now who knows what kind of effect that in turn could have on Soulburner. As seen with Spectre and Earth, the Ignis and their Origin are connected. If one is affected by his virus, the other will probably be as well if only from just the fact that Windy cursed Soulburner as well as Flame. And if Soulburner isn’t affected by their connection, whose to say that Flame won’t corrupt Soulburner’s program himself? Soulburner is just a digital avatar that Takeru’s using afterall. If Windy really wants to break these two of their bond, that’s truly one way he could do it. And if Windy can get into Soulburner’s system, it wouldn’t be like he would be brainwashing him into doing something he doesn’t want to do. I feel like Windy would be attaching himself to Takeru’s own anger and intensifying it. Takeru’s rage has been such as focus point as of late when it comes to his character. He has so much build up anger inside of him that’s just waiting to be taking advantage of and unleashed. 

This is why I can very well see us getting a Soulburner vs Revolver rematch. Takeru hates Ryoken. He blames him for everything that has gone wrong in his life. Even after what Yusaku told him about him being the one to save them from the Hanoi Project, the hated isn’t just going to instantly disappear. Add to the fact that this will be Windy corrupting him. Another being who hates hates Revolver. Windy wanted nothing more but to take revenge on Revolver for almost destroying him but was made to duel Soulburner instead. A part of me is starting to wonder if Lightning deliberately made Windy duel Soulburner, knowing that something like this could end up happening. If the hated alone isn’t going to cause some kind of virus to form inside of Flame, keep in mind that Lightning was the one to heal up Windy after he was almost destroyed by the Hanoi’s virus. Who knows what else he might have put into his data while doing so. Like a Trojan Horse almost. If Windy won, that’s one less threat to worry about and if he lost, Lightning ended up with a stronger pawn to take his place. And like I said, it wouldn’t be like brainwashing him into doing something he doesn’t want to do. Soulburner wants to beat Revolver and Windy would only be pushing that desire to the top of his prioritizes list. In a way, we would be killing two birds with one stone, getting a Soulburner and Windy rematch against Revolver. 

Of course this is all speculation at the time being but I honestly don’t see why else they would be keeping Soulburner around if something like this doesn’t happen. Sure we could end up with a Soulburner vs Blood Shepherd rematch or Soulburner vs Spectre match up, since we know Lightning still has their data somewhere, but I honestly don’t see Soulburner losing to either of those two and I don’t see us getting a Disaster Trio team up against Lightning and/or Bohman as the final battle of the season, regardless of how awesome that could end up being. Lightning needs all the Ignis to complete his master plan, meaning that Flame is going to have to be killed off at some point, meaning Soulburner has to lose, and what better way to have him go out then by losing to Revolver, which is the most realistic lose this guy can end up getting at this point. 

But yeah as for the episode itself, it was okay. Besides that ending foreshadowing a LOT, the duel was just meh. I still hate the fact that Lightning’s group can use Skills during Masters Duels, it is such bullsh*t on so many levels, but the Xyz Summon, which came out of literally nowhere and has no explanation for, was freaking awesome. That animation was incredible. And that was just for a Rank 3! I want to see Soulburner Xyz Summon something with a higher rank now or Pendulum Summon. Oh my god, him Pendulum Summoning with that fire theme of this is going to be glorious if it actually happens. Still think Revolver is going to be the first to Pendulum, maybe during their duel if again it happens.

As for the preview, Blue Maiden vs Bohman. Regardless of Soulburner’s win, I still don’t see Blue Maiden winning this duel. I haven’t heard or seen anything of the cast list yet for this episode so I don’t know what to expect going forward into this duel but hopefully it will be a good one. 

[kurtty-drabbles]

Evil movie au (the final)

N/A: Do I want to end this au? Yes, but this will be an opening end.

@djinmer4 @dannybagpipesarecalling @sailorstar9 @discordsworld @look-ma-no-hands336

Stryker knows his project is not complete, there are many flaws and problems with the design, yet, the war is coming and he needs his weapon to end the pest once and for all, the mutantkind can´t continue to breathe.

“I can´t breath either knowing people like you are still alive” Psylocke shows up as Nightcrawler and the others such as Mystique are present in his lab along with dozen of dead guards.

Nightcrawler has his blades ready, and Stryker knows he won´t live longer, yet, despite that, all he can do is smile. “You may kill me, mutie, but I´m the hero here and my Sentinel is ready and set in motion…I´ll save the world” and to conclude the man adds “the first target? The X-men´s school” and laugh maniacally, a cliché he has the mind to understand, but, deep down, he can enjoy the irony, it was a combined work with Prof X, Moira and himself that lead to the creation of sentinel and now the sentinel will end the X-men.

Kurt cuts the man´s head, no one is complaining for real and Betsy is trying to contact the X-men, but, what do you know Jean Grey has a huge grudge against Betsy(trying to sleep with her boyfriend and now fiancé was not a savvy moment in her life and she is not sorry)

Emma Frost shows up with the others kids that were locked in this facility, the most horrible aspect of it, is that the kidnap means nothing for the project, Stryker was so lost in hate that he couldn´t distinguish human to mutant and half of those kids are humans and are equally afraid.

“So, I take the X-men will have problems again?” the White Queen asked as Raven notice 3 brunettes girls that are too similar to Raven. “Kurt, before teleporting and going mad, relax, I´m the White Queen for a reason” and smiles as she gives the conclusion “The Sentinel has many, many flaws and the biggest one of it…”

_____________________________________________________________________- Jean Grey was drinking coffee with milk as she enjoys the calm moment, until, she let the cup drop and frowns deeply, muttering the words “Danger” she send a message to all the X-men seniors and to her surprise she send a message to Kitty to join her in battle, they are going to be attacked by a sentinel.

Kitty is not thrilled by this, getting a chance is not the same as wanting to be attacked by the Sentinel, however, the sentinel was unfinished, a rough draft that still can cause harm. Scott uses his laser to prevent the Sentinel to come any closer.

Storm´s power wasn´t enough to destroy the sentinel in one go and Jean Grey is making shields, Scarlet Witch is not in the school as she is spending more and more time with the magical group. Pietro is with her this time and Jubilee is in a mission to track Laura Kinney.

Logan arrives and asked Jean to throw him at the Sentinel as his claws can talk with the machine, sadly, the Canadian was wrong as while the Sentinel is a rough draft the skin, so to speak, of the sentinel is not fragile and is made of adamantium turning his claws useless.

Nightcrawler arrives in one brimstone smoke and says he knows how to defeat the sentinel. “Katzchen, do you still know how to mess with computers? Because the sentinel can be deactivated internally, I know, sounds silly but Stryker is a stupid man” Kurt explained as Jean is still protecting them.

“I´ll teleport you to the top of the sentinel´s head and you´ll unplug the line that connects the sentinel” Kurt speaks more serious this time “I need someone to make the sentinel be still for 5 minutes” Kurt adds as his teleportation have limitations.

Kitty nods “I can do this in five minutes” and if she can smile as she´s thinking on dirty jokes then she´s still alive. Jean using her powers communicate to Storm, Scott and Logan about the new plan and they vow to make the sentinel not move an inch and in all honesty, Ororo is doing a better job.

Once Kurt teleport Kitty inside of the robot, she can see the myriad of lines and unplugged, slowly the sentinel manages to fall apart, as the Sentinel is about to fall to the ground, Kurt takes her out in a nick of time.

Kitty is fine and the robot is not, that´s what matters.

Magneto somehow caught the word of the failed attempted of taking the X-men´s lives was enough to make Magneto see red, much to the Enchantress´s delight as he killed Tony Stark in one go. A man using an iron suit is nothing against the master of magnetism.

Thor was not an easy target, but, Magento manages to beat him, sadly, Hulk is a force of nature and Magneto lost to the green monster, and the green monster wants to avenge his fellow friend, Enchantress is not counting with the fury of Hulk.

Yet, Quicksilver saves Magneto and Scarlet Witch is using her spell to calm Hulk and Dr Strange is now facing Enchantress that is much more than a pretty blonde. “Too late, Strange, Magneto already killed Tony Stark and the president of the US, and Thor is out of my way…I can do whatever I want now”

“You went all this trouble to do what you normally do in your free time? Also, the president of the US is still alive” Dr Strange reveals as the should be the corpse of the president turns out to be an illusion. “Scarlet Witch is really good with those spells, and is a bit ironic as you made your whole life an illusion didn´t notice the most basic one”

Thor rose from the ground, a bit hurt, but still ready to fight and is not pleased with Enchantress. “How?”

Dr Strange just shurgs “ Magic?” and cast a portal to send Enchantress to her prison, much to Thor´s dismay as he wanted to make the vile woman pay, but, now Odin will decide her destiny.

Meanwhile, Magneto is looking at his children in shame. Lorna is there as well, looking grateful at her new siblings(Magneto did talk about Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver) and is worried for Magneto´s sake.

“Do you still want to kill to prove your point?” Wanda asked as Quicksilver is gazing at his father as if expecting him to go insane at any moment and tries to murder anything and, that didn´t go unnoticed by him.

My kids really think I´m a monster.

“No, Wanda, no, I just want to go home, killing won´t help…I know this now, too many mistakes were made and now I want to do something for mutants, not bring a war, I want to give them a home. I want to create Genosha. A home for all mutants” Magneto confessed and 2 of his 3 kids aren´t completely convinced by this plan and Magneto understands.

Jubilee is in Mexico, Professor X receives a cry for help from a young mutant named Laura Kinney who is being held captive in this small facility, Jubilee is an X-men and very competent in combat and manages to infiltrate and locate the young girl, who, by the way, is not defenceless as she has killed 2 guards and is looking for the way out.

“Hey, I´m an X-men!” Jubilee speaks and Laura just growls and Jubilee is having a flashback to Logan. “I´m here to help you” Laura is not believing until Jubilee pouting show some tricks with her powers and the guard number 3 is not going to bother anyone.

Now, Laura is listening.

“I´ve come from the X-men, there´s a place where you can be safe, where people like us can be happy and learn how to use our powers” Jubilee speaks and the young girl is liking the idea “there´s also a mutant very similar to you”

“Really?” now she´s on board on this idea. And gives her hand to Jubilee as both girls are walking away from this place. She´s mentally talking with Professor X that everything is alright and is calling to Jean to said the mission was a success.

Laura giggles at the image of a tired red hair and the image of a defeated robot. “I missed my coffee”

Much later, the reveal of Rogue did make Bobby be relief they are over, which by the way, prompts Kurt´s fist to accidentally meet his face, by sheer accident. Scarlet Witch arrives with her twin brother as Jubilee is carrying a small girl who has claws and is ready to fight anyone.

In the admits of all this confusion, Jean Grey admits she made a mistake and if Kitty Pryde still wants she can now be an X-men. In Kitty´s opinion, the way this was handled was poorly, it is was she wants someone to fill Rogue´s role.

“I´ll think about, thanks Jean” Kitty replied and goes to her room, after a long talk about the sentinels and how the Avengers are with one less member and how the president of the US was saved by two mutants prompts a shift in many things and,for the first time, is a positive for the mutants.

Kurt is still around and asked one question. “How are you?”

Kitty only replies. “scared and confused”

Kurt then asked once again. “If you wanted to leave the X-men, do you know that my doors will be always open?” Kitty only smiles and thanks to him as right now she does not want to think about X-men or Hellfire. She just wants to relax as Kurt lays down next to her and makes all the other problems go away. They are just watching TV and there´s a domestic feeling in this that is sacred for them.

[abumblebeeat221b]

I knew this was eventually going to happen, but something is telling me that this is the very last Steven Moffat interview he’ll be doing in which he is talking this much about Doctor Who  - and which I’ll add to my interview archive.

So, please do me the favour and treat it nicely.

Steven, I think I'm right in saying that this year's Doctor Who Christmas special has begun production.

No, we've got the read-through on Thursday. I'm just doing a new draft at the moment, which I hope to finish tomorrow. I'll get that to the production office for Monday morning and then probably fiddle around with it a bit. Then I think we start shooting a week on Monday.

I've misunderstood. So pre-production started a couple of weeks ago.

Yes.

Once you've finished this draft, what else is there for you to do as head writer on Doctor Who?

Oh, we have to make the show! I mean, it's not that I write it down and we just sort of stop at that point. We've got to get the whole show made. The actual shooting of Doctor Who is monstrously complex. It's the most complex show I've ever worked on. Every day you've got something like green screen, prosthetics or a stunt scene. There's hardly ever just people sitting round tables talking – which I intend to write for the rest of my life. That's much easier. So it's a long, complex process and the script keeps... Well, it's hardly my only job but the script will have to stay flexible throughout that process as things fall out or don't work, or as new ideas happen. So there's quite a lot to do. And then there's endless post-production. On Doctor Who, that's like making a whole other show. The show we actually shoot can look terrible – just Peter Capaldi shouting at a green curtain. That's what you get for an hour and you have to sign it off and say, “Yeah, that looked fantastic!” Then all the CGI comes in, they grade it and score it and eventually it looks like proper television. But the Christmas one won't be that terrifying because, unusually for us, the new team take over after that and we've got really quite a lot of time to work on this one. But Episodes 11 and 12 of this series of Doctor Who going out now are nowhere near completion. Episode 8 is on shortly – I expect you all to leave this interview at a designated moment to go watch it. Episodes 9 and 10 are finished, and then with episodes 11 and 12 we're still getting effects through, and we're still scoring them. It's very close to the wire.

Do you know when your last day will be?

Yes, but I've forgotten. I think 11 July is when we stop shooting but that's hardly the end of everything. If I were to nominate the very last time I turn up and do a showrunnery thing for Doctor Who, that will be the press screening of the Christmas episode. By then, Chris [Chibnall] will be working with a new Doctor and a new production team, so I'll be like a live archive, a fossil, revived and lurching round the place, hanging desperately on to former glory and launching the Christmas special. I think that screening might be on 15 December, and that will be me absolutely finished – in every sense.

What do you know about what's to come after that?

Oh, practically nothing. One of the very few bits of advice I gave to Chris was, “It's almost impossible to keep a secret on Doctor Who but rule 1 is that you don't tell anybody anything unless they absolutely need to know.” In this case, I don't need to know what they're up to. They're zeroing in on their casting choice, scripts are in the works and, to be honest, Chris is already really the showrunner and I'm the relic. I've got one episode to worry about but he's got years of Doctor Who ahead, so he's really doing the job now. I'm just going round waving at the crowd. When I first took over from Russell [T Davies], he was doing all the public stuff and I was doing the job. I remember thinking – as I think now – that that's a good division of labour. One person can go round being fatuous in interviews and the other person can do the actual work. I prefer the fatuous bit.

As if Doctor Who wasn't hard enough, you thought, “Let's do another show at the same time...” But Sherlock has come to a natural break if not an end, so what are you going to fill your time with?

Holidays. Drinking... I don't know that Sherlock has finished. People keep saying that, and that it's come to a natural end. But what does that mean on a show that we hardly ever make? Just that it gets marginally slower in production. I kind of assume that at some point we'll show up again, but that's what I assume at the end of every series. When Sue [Vertue, his co-producer – and wife] has to reassemble Sherlock, it's like arranging a reunion party. It's, “Hello, how are you? What's your diary like?” When you're talking to [stars] Benedict and Martin that can be an issue. But I assume we'll go again. We didn't end it on a big cliffhanger this year. I suppose that's the only difference. But more or less everyone's alive that needs to be, so if we want to go again we absolutely can.

Is there a project waiting for you that's not Doctor Who or Sherlock?

It would be pretty grim if there wasn't, wouldn't it? But I haven't a specific one. I've had a particularly hard year on the two shows. I've done three new Sherlocks and 14 new Doctor Whos in the space of about a year. That's madness so I just want to go and lie down. I do have a few things in mind, though I haven't chosen one yet. Mark [Gatiss] and I have a project that we won't do next, either of us, but that we're very excited about. We've spoken to various people about that and they're pleased with it. That's not the same as Sherlock or any part of his world but I suppose you could view it as a a stable-mate. So we have another project, another joint piece of absolute nonsense, that we both fancy working on, but neither of us will work on that next. Our brains need a bit of a rest.

Can I take you back to when you started work on TV Doctor Who? What happened in December 2003 – did Russell ring you, or speak to your agent, to see if you were free for the Christopher Eccleston episodes you wrote?

Around the time that Russell was announced as doing the new series, I got his email address from Paul Cornell and emailed him my congratulations in the hope that he would remember my address. He emailed straight back saying, “Look, if it goes for more than six episodes” – ha ha, six episodes! – “then I'd like you to write some.” I didn't take it that seriously but thought, “Well, that would be great.” Then I got the phonecall from my agent – it's about the only time my agent has been the person to tell me I've got a job. I was asked if I'd do the two-parter, which became The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances. That was thrilling. I can tell you exactly when that was: it was 10 December, the night of the British Comedy Awards, which we were just leaving for when I got that call. A long time ago now. I was genuinely so excited.

You won an award that night [Best TV Comedy for Coupling].

Yes.

And also met Doctor Who.

That's right, I also met Peter Davison that night. But I couldn't tell him, or anyone, that I'd just got this job. I couldn't tell Doctor Who, so I just came across to him as a slightly crazed fan – an opinion that I don't think he's ever had occasion to revise. So yes, that was a brilliant night and as you say we won an award. But it was nothing compared to, “I'm actually going to write, 'Interior: TARDIS'.” I was properly excited about that. Above all, more than getting the big job on the series afterwards or anything else, it was that moment, when I knew I was actually going to write proper television Doctor Who. I'd done The Curse of Fatal Death, the Comic Relief sketch, many years before – again, with Sue. One of the main reasons I went hell for leather on that was that I thought it would be my one and only chance to write Doctor Who. In a lifetime of bad predictions, that might have been my worst. But yeah, that was a brilliant night.

I remember speaking to you in a pub in 2005, about three weeks before the first episode of new Doctor Who went out. We asked how you thought it would do, and you said something like, “Well, we're proud of what we've done and the hope is that by the time we get to my episode, Doctor Who hasn't been shunted to Sundays – that it's gone down okay and is still on a Saturday night.” How surprising was its success?

That's probably a better question to ask Russell, Julie and Phil [the executive producers of the 2005 series], who were much more in the firing line in those days. I sort of had the absolute conviction that it would be a success because I wasn't right in the firing line in the way that they were. I'm sure they were properly terrified. I think we all knew that the first episode would get a big audience because every time they hauled out anything with the name Doctor Who on it, it would get, I don't know, around 10 million viewers. So it felt like it was going to be a hit. But it became bigger than we thought it would. I remember Russell saying at the press screening for the last episode, The Parting of the Ways, “Oh, we'll get 10 years out of this.” We're at 12 years now, which is fairly extraordinary. And yes, by the time it came to my one, it wasn't on a Sunday and I'd already done a draft of my next Doctor Who. And we'd already lost a significant cast member. That kind of thing was terrifying – again, more for Russell and Julie, who knew more about it. They had this huge monster hit and they knew they had to find a new lead. Nowadays, we're all used to the idea – everyone is used to the idea now of regenerating the Doctor. But can you imagine? You're one series in and you have to change the lead! Absolutely terrifying.

Speaking of changing leads, when did you know, or first start hearing whispers, that you'd be the one to replace Russell?

Honestly? I'd worked it out. Sue kept saying, “Oh, they're going to make you do that bloody job.” I think that was around the time of The Empty Child. I was like, “No, why would they ask me?” I sort of didn't want to think about it. But as I looked around the room, I thought it would probably be me. That sounds grotesquely conceited, but I just thought, “It's me, isn't it?” Then I stopped thinking about it because I was really, really enjoying the job of showing up just once a year on Doctor Who, doing a lot less work than Russell. I'd watch him being shunted out of rooms and into other rooms. Just as he'd be walking towards you, saying “Hullo!”, he'd be dragged off to do some other work. That's my life now and Chris's life in the immediate future. So I thoroughly enjoyed those days. But I just didn't get it when it came. I think they spoke to me twice before I really tuned in on what was being said. Jane Tranter [the BBC's then Controller of Drama Commissioning], I think at the read-through for Voyage of the Damned [which took place on 2 July 2007] came up to me and said, “At some point, you and I will have to sit down and talk about the next five years...” Again, I told Sue this. I said, “They're very keen on me at the BBC.” But I hadn't realised that of course she meant Doctor Who and I was being offered the job right there. Then Julie Gardner started talking about Russell leaving and what they were going to do next, all while looking very hard at me. That was in LA at some point – I think it was the TCAs [the ceremony for the 23rd Television Critics Association Awards was held on 21 July 2007]. But it wasn't until I got the enormously long, persuasive email from Russell that I realised what was actually happening and I had to start thinking about it. You'd think that would be an incredibly easy choice because it was the job I'd wanted all my life, I already loved the show and it was a huge hit. But it paralyses you when that email arrives. You're aware what it's going to do to your life – and I wasn't wrong about any of that. I remember that about a week before getting that email I saw David Tennant at a concert and said, “It must have been great when you were offered Doctor Who. You must have been so excited.” And he said, “Um... It's more complicated when it's real.” “Oh, bollocks,” I said, “you were just thrilled, weren't you? You just said 'yes' straight away and were on to designing your costume.” He said, “I didn't, I didn't – I was just confused.” About a week later I was in the same state of confusion. I don't know that it's meant to happen, that when you're in your 40s – as I was then – the job you specifically wanted when you were eight shows up. That's ridiculous. That's like discovering that, yes, you can be Santa's elf. It's unusual.

You said most of your predictions about the job were right. What do you wish you could have told or warned yourself at the time?

I'm not sure because I had watched Russell go through all of that. For him, I think some of it probably came as a bit of a surprise. For me, I was at reasonably close quarters and saw someone I knew reasonably well going through exactly what I was about to. Helpfully, he'd written his utterly terrifying book, The Writer's Tale, with Ben Cook. If you've not read it, it's about his time making the show. That was like moving into a really creepy mansion and discovering the diary of the previous occupant, and it's like, “Dear god, they were never found again!” I suppose there was part of me that was so shocked and horrified at all the work I would have to do that I kind of just did as I was told. I slightly worry that – he says, sitting here – keeping a lower profile might have been more agreeable for someone like me. You get very visible in a job like this and I'm not absolutely sure how much I like that. But I say that in front of an audience. When it comes down to it, I've been through this thought experiment. I sat with Chris on the night I was talking him into taking the job, saying, “Here are the things you will really need...” I'm not telling you what they are but they're all very dull, just how to organise your life a bit – or how to fail to organise your life but in the most constructive manner.

You had to recast the Doctor. Was it a given that David Tennant was leaving?

It was. The first thing I was told was that David was leaving with Russell and Julie. They had – as they put it, cheerfully – a sort of suicide pact. That was great: “Welcome in, we've got a suicide pact and there'll be plenty of space for you.” But then that got taken away again because David phoned me up and said, “So, you're taking over...” I said, “I thought you were leaving.” He said, “Well, maybe. But maybe I'm not.” He went through a huge, prolonged wobble, really. I chatted to him a lot and in the end he listened to my ideas and decided not to do it. (Laughs) He went and did a show by Chris Chibnall instead – and quite right. I think he'd 90 per cent made up his mind but because we're quite good friends there was a moment of thinking, “Should I or shouldn't I?” Eventually he decided that it was time for him to go. Three years seems to be the amount of time Doctors do these days – and I suppose mostly it was in the old days as well. But that does mean I took his resignation. I was the person who received David Tennant's resignation. And Matt Smith's resignation. And Peter Capaldi's resignation. There should be some sort of special therapy for a grown-up Doctor Who fan whose heroes resign to him. I don't want any more Doctors to quit. It's terrifying. It's like Santa saying, “I've had enough!” “No, Santa, that's terrible – come back.”

Are the resignation letters long? I'm sure you can't share what's in them.

They weren't letters but meetings. I had a phonecall with David, I went out for a boozy lunch with Matt and I had dinner with Peter. Obviously, in Peter's case I was already off so that was slightly different. But it is quite a thing when you have to sit opposite someone who is tearing themselves apart about leaving this role they love so much. But you're saying, in all three cases, “Are you sure? What else will be as good? It'll all be despair and misery after this. You'll just be doing ads. You'll be doing Tom Baker's voiceovers. Think again.” None of them has not regretted it.

Let's talk about the casting of Matt Smith. He auditioned for the part of Watson in Sherlock.

Yes, the first time I met Matt Smith, I think he was the very first person through the door for Dr Watson on Sherlock. We'd already cast Benedict and Matt came in. He gave a terrific audition but of course he's far more Sherlock Holmes than Dr Watson. He just doesn't seem like a Dr Watson. But I was looking for a new Doctor at the time, and the idea of him as Doctor Who did flit through my brain a little bit. But the thing about Matt is... Well, Mark Gatiss said at the time, “Matt's  absolutely nuts. He's completely barmy.” Of course, he fitted the other role on Sherlock perfectly. So the very first time I met him, I turned him down. A few days later, he was either the second or third person through the door for Doctor Who and just stormed it. He just romped it. There was never a question after he gave his audition. We should have stopped at that point because it wasn't going to happen again with anyone else. And he'd barely seen the show! He just came in and he was Doctor Who straight away. I'd been bracing myself for months of it and there he was, on the first day.

At that point you'd written at least some of The Time of Angels – the first episode you shot. That has all the stuff between the Doctor and River Song, so were you thinking of an older Doctor who'd be more of a match for Alex Kingston?

I assumed that we would go older. But remember, David was in his 30s when he did Doctor Who and nearly 40 by the end. It's not like the Doctor is incredibly young or anything. I think by then I'd written almost three episodes – The Eleventh Hour, The Time of Angels and most of Flesh and Stone. Yes, you are thinking, “What's it going to be like?” I think I sent an irritated email to everybody about the names we had on the casting list saying, “Look, you're sending me all these youngsters. There isn't a 27 year-old on the planet who won't look as though he'll just get stuck in Alex Kingston's teeth.” And there wasn't – it was a 26 year-old. I was like, “Is that going to be okay? I don't know.” But then it's meant to be a ridiculous relationship and it sort of works. And such is the schedule of Doctor Who, Matt only looked 26 for about two production blocks. You go look at him in The Time of Angels and compare him to, say, The Vampires of Venice, and you'll see the truth of our schedule etched savagely on his face.

When Matt left, I was working on a kids' magazine and we did a spread of all the regenerations. What that means is you see, right next to each other, all the Doctors when they began and when they left. You go, “What have they done to these poor men?”

One of the very last things that David Tennant did as the Doctor was some promo photographs for his last episodes. He was telling me this, I think at a Radio Times party. He said to them, “Ah, come on, why am I doing this? I just do this [strikes a pose], then I do this [strikes another pose] and then I do my hands in my pockets. I've only got three poses so why are you bothering to photograph me again? Just put a different background in.” And the photographer said, “But David, you look so much older. Look at your face.” David's standing there going, “That's my life you're casually referring to!”

Matt Smith's first series ran from April 2010, and Sherlock started later that year, so were you making the first series of Sherlock at the same time as Doctor Who?

Yes, and that's an incredibly bad lifestyle choice. Yes, there was a moment where – I had it last year as well – I was doing both. It's horrific. There's nothing good about it. By the time you get to the end of your rushes – you watch all the rushes from Doctor Who and then all the rushes from Sherlock – half the day is gone. I always tried to be really careful about rushes, which is the stuff we shoot on a daily basis. I found it very difficult. There's nothing clever about doing that.

They were shot in the same studios, so were Matt Smith and Benedict Cumberbatch meeting up, going for drinks...

What a lovely impression you have of the studio we shot in. I suppose they could have nipped down to the garage and bought a Topic together. It wasn't really like that. It was a big blue shed on a wintry hill somewhere and I assure you that neither Matt Smith nor Benedict Cumberbatch socialised much in that area. But there were two great things I remember about that. There was the TARDIS in one studio and in the neighbouring studio had 221 Baker Street. I remember Mark and me wandering from one to the other and he grabbed my arm and said, “It's a map of our brains!” I've also got a really bad photograph of Benedict and Martin sitting in the TARDIS – but it's really atrocious. And then I've got the only photograph that exists of Benedict in costume and Matt in costume together, with me spoiling it in the middle. We were doing a photo shoot for Sherlock of all of us, but mainly of Martin and Benedict. This was long before we knew Sherlock was going to be a hit, and before Matt had been on television. And Matt came through the studio in his full regalia as Doctor Who heading for his set. I knew it would be the only time it ever happened so I said, “Can I have a photograph?” So I've got a photograph of me standing there between the two of them, spoiling it. That photograph is regularly available on the internet, but do you know what they do? They cut out my face so you can put your face in. Not Benedict's face, not Matt's face, just my face, carved lovingly out. A space for anyone. A disposable element to this photograph. I was so proud. Thank you, the world.

I'd put my face in there. I'm glad to learn of these photos, because there's a photo from the 1980s when there was a fire alarm at TV Centre, and Sylvester McCoy and the Doctor Who cast are mixed up with the cast from Allo! Allo! But my favourite example is the film Frankie and Johnny, where they wanted Al Pacino to open a door and react with surprise. So they went into the next studio and got Kirk and Spock from the Star Trek film shooting there to stand, in costume, behind the door. So Al Pacino opens the door and does a brilliantly confused face...

Really?

Yeah. And nobody thought to take photographs, so I'm very glad to hear there are photographs of this meeting. Anyway, Matt Smith was a very successful Doctor and you then had to recast him. Peter Capaldi visited the set of An Adventure in Space and Time in, what, January or February 2013 and had a long chat with David Bradley about having always wanted to visit the TARDIS. Did you know at that point Capaldi was going to be Doctor Who?

He was in our minds but he certainly had no inkling of it. I think we had the first, vague conversations about who it was going to be... I independently asked Mark to give me a list of people. I'd thought of Peter Capaldi and Mark drew up a long list with Peter's name at the top and a big space underneath because he thought it should be him. But Peter had no clue nor any suspicion that he was under consideration while he was farting about posing with Daleks and the TARDIS. Obviously, I knew he was going to have plenty of opportunity to do that.

I should be handing this over to the audience, and I'm sure there are people who'll want to  ask about Bill, the companion from this year. Where did her character derive from? I assume the first thought with a new companion is that she must not be like the last one. But Bill being a black gay woman made headlines, so at what stage did that come in?

It didn't arrive like that. Honestly, as most writers would attest, it started with a tone of voice. I wasn't thinking of a contrast with Clara particularly but I thought there was something about Peter's Doctor and Jenna's Clara that was, in a very attractive and charming way, quite rarefied when they were together. They were quite regal, these two super-brains off being rather refined. They probably read poetry at each other, albeit she'd do it in a Blackpool accent and he's Scottish. But you had that slight sense so I wanted an earthier tone of voice. Before I thought of anything else, I wanted somebody like that. So I started messing around, writing scenes. Separately, looking at our record, our skinny white cast, I also thought, “We can't keep doing this so let's just make the decision that she is not going to be white. Just not – we won't even look at anyone who is white.” But that wasn't an element of the character, it was just, “Come on, we have to sort ourselves out on that.” As for the gay thing, it would have been an absolute cliché to say, “Let's cast a black lesbian.” I never thought of it that way. I'd written a scene for the audition where she talks about a boy she fancies but that didn't feel right. I didn't know why it didn't feel right so I kept on messing around with it. The way you hone in on a character is like that. I tried making it a girl she fancies – and the scene worked. It was actually quite good. So for that reason and no other she became gay. But what we said at that point was, “We don't even use the word.” She's completely relaxed and casual about it, as most young people are. They're much smarter than we are and have ceased to worry about any of this nonsense. I was worried at the very beginning because it became a newspaper story when Pearl happened to mention it in an interview. It caused far more of a storm than we intended or planned. Anything that happens, you can more or less be certain was not what we planned. I thought maybe that's what would happen: people would just write about Bill as “the gay one”. But they didn't. Well, the Daily Mail did but that's what the Daily Mail does. Every other paper did exactly what we hoped, which was to mention she was gay but she wasn't “the gay one”. She is Bill who is funny. I don't think I've seen the word gay applied to her for weeks now, so that's great. And she's absolutely charmed the nation, she's become a star in a few weeks. I saw Pearl presenting a BAFTA just recently. That's astonishing when you see that happening – absolutely amazing.

I could carry on nattering but I'll open it up to the audience. Is anyone feeling brave? There's a very keen hand over there.

I don't mean to make everyone's hands go down, but there are two questions that we're not doing. No, there will never be a Doctor Who/Sherlock crossover and I have absolutely no idea who the new Doctor is going to be – or what they're going to be. It's not my business. So those two, you're not allowed to ask!

[Question] Have you ever considered making the Doctor a woman?

That's what I just said – I'm not answering. (Laughs) Listen, I'm quite serious about this. Obviously, I made the Master into a woman and so it's part of the continuity of the show. But can you imagine for a moment being Chris Chibnall right now? I know what it's like so I don't have to imagine. The entire world is shouting in your ear about who or what or why should be playing Doctor Who. Shut up and let him get on with it! It's really stressful. If you get that decision wrong, you're beheaded – by the Queen. That's the law if you get the wrong Doctor Who. So let them get on with it and I am not expressing any opinions out of deference to my good friend and successor. It's his problem.

[Question] Do you think you'll ever come back to write an episode or two of Doctor Who down the line?

I can't predict the future but I probably won't. I'm quite surprised to be saying that but it feels like an ending, like I'm done. Maybe in a few years I'll suddenly want to. In the short term, which is really quite long, Chris has to get on with it. Imagine if you've been the boss of something for a while and someone else takes over. You can't loiter round their office saying, “Can I do that bit?” You let them have a fresh take and get away from the relic from the archives claiming that everything has gone to crap now they've left. You don't want that. So maybe some time in the future.

You made a point of asking Russell to write for you, didn't you?

Yes, and Chris has been on at me. Look, the moment you're stuck with the prospect of having to get all those Doctor Who scripts in, you're not saying no to anybody you think might be competent or able. You say, “Please, for god's sake.” Russell's a genius so I wanted him but he was tired and made it clear from the outset that he wasn't going to do it again. I thought, “You bastard.” But now I'm in the same position, I'm thinking, “Well, time's up.” I've done my bit. I don't know that I've got anything else left. Such as it was, that's what I have.

[Question] Do you have any plans for what you're going to be doing after Doctor Who?

Hawaii. And probably quite a lot of gin and tonic.

[Someone shouts out] What about LA [for conventions]?

I don't know. I will be in LA and I'll be in San Diego. In terms of projects, I've got the thing with Mark that might happen when we want to do it. But I was trying to work out with Sue when the last time was that I didn't have a deadline. It's certainly over 10 and probably over 12 years ago. When I say “have a deadline”, I mean “find myself already late for a deadline before I start”. I arrive at the beginning of a script saying, “How many days late am I already?” So I'm quite looking forward to that not being the case, and a chance to just sit and think. There are things in my head and I'm looking forward to writing something that isn't either Doctor Who or Sherlock – because that will be the first time since about 2008.

[Question] How did you come up with the names for the Sycorax, the Adipose and Raxacoricofallapatorius  – if you did come up with them?

Well, I didn't. Russell did. Do you mean how did he think of the names, or the ideas for those monsters? The names. Adipose, Sycorax, Raxacoricofallapatorius  – I said it! Russell loves a tongue-twister – and that's not just scandalous gossip, I'm referring to the words. You just think of cool names. I haven't come up with any names as good as those so the next time I see Russell I'll ask him how he came up with those ones. I'm much more prosaic: Weeping Angels.

[Question] Will you watch the new series of Doctor Who with Chris Chibnall as showrunner?

Of course I'll watch the new series of Doctor Who! I know why you ask. Will it suddenly seem like I've been displaced and what the hell is this show doing without me? I was fairly used to watching it before I did it, so that's not a problem. But yes, I think there'll be a few moments where I go, “Oh god, I was that dispensable.” Of course, you wouldn't be human if you didn't do that. At the same time, Doctor Who, personally and professionally, has always meant far too much to me for me to allow it to become some sort of open wound that I can't ever go anywhere near again. I want to get back behind the sofa and watch it with the rest of you. I want it to be something lovely in my life because it has been, as a show both to watch and to make. I'd like it to be the show I used to make that I still love. So yes, you bet I will.

[Question] How do you make the decision to do something scary – the behind the sofa thing – without it being too terrifying for children? I watched the episode with the statues and, frankly, I was petrified!

Well, I'm a coward. I can't actually watch properly scary movies. Mark Gatiss loves them and is always recommending really scary films to me. I'm always saying, “Why would I watch that? I'd be frightened and I don't enjoy being frightened.” So I think if it's scary for me, that's probably all right for an eight year-old. You're referring to the Weeping Angels in Blink, and I suppose they're not scary to me because I made them up and yes, people seem to have been scared. But at the same time with the scariness in Doctor Who, it's not just about monsters. It's about the man who fights monsters without becoming one. Now, that's a very important story to tell children. Children already have monsters in their nightmares, whether or not Doctor Who is on. All that Doctor Who adds is a man who fights them without being one. I think that's the most important story you can tell. We haven't added monsters. And honestly, pull yourself together – it's for eight year-olds. Really, sort yourself out. The Weeping Angels, are you kidding? “We'd invade Earth but a moth saw us and everything's off. Don't look at me! Too late!” Ridiculous.

[Question] Do you think you'll do any cameos in Doctor Who?

No. It would spoil it for me and for you. I am really terrible at acting. It would be an offence to me. Many years ago, I did a kids' show called Press Gang and they made me go around in the background in a couple of them. Oh, I hated it. They make you do stuff over and over again. I just got so bored. I kept trying to escape. Then Peter Davison made me “act” – I use the word in its broadest definition – in his beautiful The Five(ish) Doctors. I was in that as myself, a part that proved to be out of my range. I hated doing that. I discovered I couldn't learn lines. I spent the entire thing with a clipboard that I pretended to consult, which had all my lines written on it. But I did discover something else. The people around me on that had worked for me for years – years! – and it was the first time they ever called me “sir” or got me a cup of tea. Being an actor was much nicer in that sense. It was suddenly, “Mr Moffat, would you come to set now?” It was like, “You've known me for years! A cup of tea? Wow!”

[Question] I always enjoy the historical stories – Pompeii, Shakespeare, things like that. Is there a historical period you would have liked to have done an episode about but never got round to?

Well, I always try to avoid the historical ones because they meant I had to go and read something – you couldn't just make it up. Of course, the first two I did were World War Two and then Madame du Pompadour. I had to read, oh, several lines – it was shocking. Even then, I think I got everything wrong. I think they were great great settings but I was always that particularly lonely kid who only wanted Doctor Who to have more spaceships in it, more silvery things, robots and uniforms, and people going, “Stop those robots!” But without doubt, some of the best episodes are things like Vincent and the Doctor.

[The person who asked this question] That's my favourite.

Yes, it's a beautiful episode by Richard Curtis, it's wonderful. You're right to like them but I was never desperate to do the research.

[Question] Would you consider returning to sitcom?

Possibly. I did quite a few years of that, and I've now done quite a few years of Doctor Who and Sherlock. I'd quite like to write something completely different, only because – it's a weird thing – expertise makes you dull. The longer you do something, the more on-the-shelf solutions you have to all the problems you face. You get very expert and slick but you also lose that becoming rawness you had when you were just messing about at the beginning. I vividly remember writing The Empty Child, which was the first non-sitcom I'd written in probably a decade, and having absolutely no idea what I was doing. I was wondering how a fright worked, how you constructed a fright, how you did this kind of exposition, how you constructed a scene without a punchline, and trying to use what limited comedy skills I had and apply them. I was thinking, “Well, you need a punchline but it's not a funny punchline.” I remember working out that a fright is like a joke: it's concealed set-up, concealed set-up, predictable but surprising result. That's how a fright works, with exactly the same structure as a joke. I'd quite like to do something so different that I'm floundering again, that I have none of my microwaveable meal plot solutions. That's making me sound really cynical and I don't mean to be. The more you do something, the more expert you get but you can get duller as well. I'd like to test myself again.

[Question] How do you start scriptwriting?

Do you mean how do you start writing a script, or how do you become a scriptwriter? In one sense, you've never had it so good if you want to make a film. If you have an idea for a script, you were always able to write it – just write it. But now, if you want to make it, you've got more camera and editing equipment on your smartphone than we used to have to make Doctor Who until quite recently. If you make a really good film, you've got somewhere to put it. You don't have to get a distributor, you can go to YouTube or any of the other online services. Look at me, talking about the modern world as if I knew anything about it! You can do all those things, so don't hang about. The measure of being a writer, a scriptwriter, a film-maker or TV-maker isn't whether you get paid for it but whether you make it. If you want to do it, what's stopping you? Why are you sitting there listening to me? Go and do it. I used to make little films on 8mm. They were rubbish, absolutely terrible, but they did feature a Doctor Who/Sherlock crossover – the only one I'm ever going to make – with my sister playing both parts. Go do it. In one sense, you've never had it so good. In another sense, you've got a lot of people who aren't really experts lecturing you from the internet every day. Turn that off. But go make it.

[Question] Where did the idea for Heaven Sent come from, a Doctor-only episode?

Heaven Sent was a Peter Capaldi solo episode, where he's trapped in a giant castle and has to punch his way through a diamond wall for 4.5 billion years. Now I say that out loud, what was I thinking? It had always bothered me about teleporters in sci-fi that it seemed you just got burned up and a copy of you was made. But then that's what happens in real life anyway, over time. You're not made of the same stuff you were a mere seven years ago, so that's kind of okay. I'd also always had the idea of repairing yourself with a teleporter. And I started to think, “What can we do with Peter? What's specific about him?” I'd written the big speech he makes in The Zygon Inversion and I thought, “If there's ever a character who could be on their own for an episode just talking to themselves, it would be the Doctor.” The Doctor's always talking to himself, whether or not there's someone else in the room. I felt that if anyone could pull that off, it would be Peter Capaldi. He could suffer enough for an entire cast, with one anguished look from beneath those brows. So I thought that could work. And again, a little like I was saying earlier, I wanted to do something so difficult I didn't know how to do it, so I'd have to invent a way to write it in the hope that it would be good. I'm not saying it was but it was different. It's one of those episodes no one ever gave a bad review to because they were frightened. They just thought, “It looked awfully difficult so I can't criticise that. That person worked tremendously hard: well done. But I hope it's normal next week.”

[Question] Who do you prefer out of Smith and Capaldi?

[After a horrified “Oooh” from the audience.] There is no possible preference. They are better than each other. No, you don't need to make a list. You're going down the fan route. Don't ever make a list of preferences, just say they're all brilliant. They're all equally great. Or, if you must have a preference, how about a different one every day? Today is a Jon Pertwee day! Today is a Tom Baker day! You don't have to have one. Personally, I could never choose between them. They're all brilliant and the genius of Doctor Who is that it allows the character to change so much that it is maximised for each successive Doctor. Genuinely, hand on my heart, my favourite Doctor is Doctor Who. Have you seen the other doctors? They all just cure illnesses and hang around hospitals, and never fight marauding aliens. They wouldn't know what to do with a robot. So no, no preference. I couldn't have one. They're both amazing.

[Question] What's your favourite monster that you created and what was the inspiration for it?

I'd have to say the Weeping Angels because they were so successful. That's an influence. I really liked the Silents and the idea of monsters you can't remember. And I quite like the monks that we're all missing on television at the moment. But no, I think it's the Weeping Angels. Where did I get from? We were at a hotel in Dorset and there was a graveyard next to the hotel. The church was closed down and the graveyard gates were all chained up with a big sign saying, “Unsafe structure.” That seemed really frightening. I went over and looked inside, and saw all these leaning gravestones and one lamenting, weeping angel. I thought that was really creepy and strange, and wondered if that was the unsafe structure. So a few years later I wrote it up as Blink, including the chained-up gate which we had at the very beginning. A few years after that, I said to my son Joshua, “When we're back at that hotel, let's go and look at that graveyard because in there is the original Weeping Angel.” But it wasn't there! I'm not making this up. It was gone – oh no! Now, there are two possible explanations. One is that Weeping Angels are real and we're all doomed – unless a moth sees them. Or, I misremembered and in my fake memory created the Weeping Angel in that graveyard. Maybe I saw it somewhere else. Assuming that was the case, I looked up “weeping angels” on Google Images. But all I ever get are pictures from shows I've made. So I don't think I invented the Weeping Angel, that idea of the angel with wings, and its holding its face in its hands. I saw that somewhere but I can't find it now because I cannot get through the forest of Doctor Who photographs to the original. So that's where it came from – or possibly it's real. She [the woman who asked the earlier question] would be in trouble.

[Question] Can you describe what it was like being the showrunner during the 50th anniversary and writing the special?

It was hell. It was awful. I remember going to a meeting where I said – and if you're ever at a meeting like this, don't say this – “It'll be this year's Olympics!” But without the money.” The level of expectation from just about everybody was so insane. The BBC were saying, “Well, obviously, this is going to be huge – but you can't have any more money.” Every fan in the country – and I know a lot of Doctor Who fans – was raging at me about not including William Hartnell. I was trying to explain that he just doesn't answer his texts. He doesn't; I've tried to get in touch. I was so stressed and miserable when trying to write that episode, trying to make it both a party and a decent story with some dramatic integrity to it, and trying to satisfy all the different Doctors. Matt and David had very big roles, but David would say, “Am I just the comic relief in this?” And Matt would say, “David's got all the jokes!” So I'd say, “Do you want to swap?” And they'd say, “No!” I can't remember anything so stressful. There was a moment one evening when I was going to phone up Ben Stephenson [who'd succeeded Jane Tranter as Controller of Drama Commissioning] at the BBC and say, “I can't finish this. I don't know what I'm doing.” Sue persuaded me to wait until the next day. Sadly, I listened and continued to work. I can just about watch it now without wanting to vomit but it was terrifying. I was very relieved that it went down so well. That was a lovely thing.

[Question] Do you have a favourite episode from your time in charge?

Oh god. I love Vincent and the Doctor. That's a wonderful episode. There are lots I really like. Maybe I'd choose Vincent and the Doctor because it was such a tremendous thrill to get Richard Curtis to write Doctor Who. But there are quite a few... Tonight's! That's my favourite. Get out and watch it. Go and watch tonight's – the one that's on right now, which I am competing with. Me and Britain's Got Talent are ranged against Doctor Who tonight. Please all watch it before 2 o'clock in the morning because that will count in the overnights.

[Question, from a child] What's your second most favourite monster?

Okay, right. I haven't actually told you what my favourite monster is. I said that my favourite monster I've created is the Weeping Angel but my favourite monster overall is of course the Daleks, because they're best. And they're here and I don't want to argue with them. My second favourite monster isn't the Weeping Angels, either. The Cybermen are my second favourite monster. I'm a traditionalist, you see. I don't hold with all this new Doctor Who malarkey, I like the old show. What's your favourite monster?

[The child] It's either a Weeping Angel or a Dalek.

You're wrong: it's the Dalek. No, thank you. I'm very flattered and pleased that you think the Weeping Angels might be as good as the Daleks. They're not but I'm glad you think so. What do you think of Cybermen?

[The child] I don't really think I've watched that one.

[From next to the child] He's only just starting watching.

Oh right. But they're all on iTunes. Come on!

[From nearby] He's only seven.

Yeah, that's enough time.

[From nearby] Could you choose one for him?

Oh. Maybe The Tomb of the Cybermen, with Patrick Troughton from 1967. Yes, Cybermen are great. They'll be on in a few weeks, the Cybermen. That's quite a good episode. Look out for Cybermen. And watch lots more Doctor Who. Education? No, Doctor Who.

[Question] Were there any episodes that didn't turn out how you originally envisaged them?

Well, I suppose that's true to a greater or lesser extent of all of them. At some point, every writer on Doctor Who envisages 18 million clanking monsters coming over the hill. And then it's one monster coming over the hill, saying “You 18 million, stay back there – and keep your helmets on for no particular reason. I will go and discuss this with the Doctor.” So to some degree all of them. But the amazing thing about the Doctor Who production team is that they pretty much do anything we ask. Very often, things come out better than I thought they would. As I was saying earlier, it's hard on Doctor Who. When they finish just shooting and editing it, it looks terrible because it then needs so much repair work from the CGI, the lighting, the sorting and grading, and the music to make it the bold and brilliant show that we know. There have been some, though I'd never name them, where I felt they weren't what we set out to make. If I say what those episodes are I'd upset people – including me. I'd probably just cry in front of you. But there are other episodes that came out much better. They soared. I remember being worried about The Doctor's Wife for a while and suddenly it just zoomed to the front. So mostly it's better than I think and those occasions when it's worse I'm not telling you. I'll leave a note after my death.

We've time for one last question, so can we hear from Doctor Who right at the back?

His beard isn't canonical.

[Doctor Who] The beginning of this year's series didn't have monsters in, it had oil that wanted to get home and badly programmed robots. Was that a concious decision, not to have a monster-of-the-week?

Well, it did have monsters. It had a rationale for the monsters. If you saw a puddle that followed you home, you'd think it was a monster, Doctor. If you saw smiley-faced robots that turned you into skeletons, you'd probably think that was a monster, too. I've never really understood the idea – and think it's bad writing – when you say the monsters are just evil. When as a writer you decide the monsters are just evil, you have not shown up to work. A monster wants something that it probably shouldn't want. Why and what for and what's happening? If monsters are essentially just coming in and shooting everybody, the Doctor has to become a soldier and that's his least interesting look. If the monsters seem to be soldiers rolling and clanking over everybody else but the Doctor is clever and says, “No, look at it from over here, from their point of view,” and you see that while what they're doing is evil they are something much more interesting and intractable than evil, then they have a point. Understanding that the people opposed to everything about you and your way of life may have a point is far more terrifying than believing in evil, and puts the Doctor at the heart of the story as opposed to just running around blowing things up. Which I also like. But also, at the beginning of this series he offers the universe to Bill. He says, “Come with me, I'll show you the wonders of the universe.” And it occurred to me that in most Doctor Who stories what he then does is lead companions down tunnels where people try to kill them. So I thought it would be fun if she saw the nicer face of the universe first and the Doctor in his most loveable form, where he's the man who repairs that which has gone wrong, before we introduced her to really, really nasty stuff. Again, I always say, I want to know why the monsters want that. The stupidest fairy tale of all is evil. It's not that there aren't evil things happening but saying that people or monsters do evil things just because they're evil isn't writing and isn't clever, because that's not how anything ever works.

Thank you very much, Steven Moffat.