#in comparison to other doctors with other companions he loved just as much

[nicollekidman]

i think about this every single day btw...... the doctor and his companion (told as a horror story)..... the way this happens many many more times until she's finally Wiped.....

[the-fiction-witch]

Life

Media Doctor Who

Character The Doctor (Eleventh)

Couple Doctor X Reader (Prior Companion)

Rating Sweet Af

This is a lil trial so if you like it! let me know!

I scrubbed the bottles and cups with my sponge and hummed to myself when I perked up as I heard the unmistakable sound. I set down my dishes and headed out of my little house to see the familiar blue box on my garden grass. The door opened and he stepped out looking almost exactly as I last saw him but there was more gravity to his eyes, more darkness there than I had last seen. He wore the same suit his hair the same and he smiled at me.

I chuckled as I put my hands in my pockets, "Been a while since I saw you doctor,"

"Did I inspire you?" He smirked as he looked at my outfit,

I looked down at my outfit, my little white sneakers, my black leggings, long sleeve white t-shirt, blue pinafore and white headband in my hair, "Somewhat." I shrugged putting my hands in my pockets, "How long has it been for you? Since we saw each other last?"

"...I don't know," he sighed, "I'm fairly convinced... a few months, a few years, It's hard to keep track of these things."

"Six years."

"Six?"

"Six years since you left."

"...God I've wasted time." He sighed running a hand over his face,

"It's alright, I know it passes quick for you,"

"It never gets any easier. To see how people change when I come back." He explained,

"What are you doing here?"

"... a bit of a farewell tour, I had to come visit one of my favourite humans."

"Quiet the compliment, Tea?" I offered,

"Pop the kettle on Y/n." He smiled so I led him into the house, "quiet the place,"

"Well I had time," I laughed, "You still take Three sugars?" I asked as I went to the kitchen and began to make two cups of tea the basic reflex of it all coming back to me even after six years to make the two teas as perfectly desired,

"You still remember? Still, care?"

"Hard not to care about a man you spent so long of your life flying around space and time with," I laughed handing him his tea and taking my own having a seat on the sofa,

He had a sip and sat down beside me and we chatted between the sips of tea, "what have you been up to then? the last six years."

"Living I suppose, It's a little strange to just come back and settle into a normal life after everything... I mean... You took me to the edge of the universe. To the beginning and the end of time. To sights and sounds, I'd never even imagined... And then I come back and ... get a mortgage"

"Ugh normality," he grimaced,

"It's not all bad, I've built a decent if... dull life by comparison."

"You miss it? Travelling?"

"I miss it. But... life goes on. I'm happy."

"I'm glad to hear it." He smiled, "That you're enjoying it,"

"I am." I nodded,

"Do you ever think of about going back?" he asked,

"I don't know," I answered, "So much has changed,"

"You like living here then? No more living out of suitcases and the tardis' wardrobes exploring the ends of the universe."

I giggled, "No, no more of that. I like living here. Built a career, a life, filled my house with trinkets from adventures."

"quiet the life, all that's left is a wedding and a baby,"

I did my best to save face but, "I uhh yeah... divorced so."

"Oh... sorry. I-"

"It's alright, don't worry over it,"

"I am sorry, really I am sorry," he said as he took my hand, "I don't mean to bring up bad memories,"

"It's fine. really." I nodded squeezing his hand,

"Anything else I should know I missed?"

I smiled and squeezed his hand tugging him with me as I set down my mug, I led him upstairs to the bedroom I let him go and headed inside to the room filled with stary wallpaper, sweet blue fabrics, the shadow of the star lamp on the ceiling, and the little crib to the side, I leant on the side of the crib and he came over to have a look too.

He smiled and leant on the crib with me too, he laughed and looked down at him.

"This is Danny,"

"Danny." he smiled, "I love it, perfect name, brilliant name," He smiled, "May I?"

"So long as you don't wake him, doctor," I laughed picking Danny up and handing him over,

"Ohhh Hello," he smiled as he held Danny in his arms, "You're my new best friend aren't you Danny,"

"Ohh I bet he will be," I smiled, "He loves stories about you,"

"He does?"

"Of course, he loves them. there his favourite stories for bedtime," I smiled, "Ohh almost forgot, he'll get grumpy without his favourite toy." I laughed as I took Danny's little crotchet sonic screwdriver from the crib and let Danny hold it in his little hand,

"You made it for him?"

"Yeah, I figured he'd like it."

"Maybe, he always waves it at the light switch when he wants them turned on,"

"Like his own little sonic screwdriver," he chuckled, "He'll be ready to head off through time and space pretty soon,"

"I think so," I laughed,

"You're a very good mother to him Y/n,"

"I do my best," I laughed,

"You must be, he loves your stories, loves his toys gets his beautiful eyes from you,"

"I kinda hope he didn't get much from his father,"

"Was his father that bad?"

"He was a jackass. some men are."

"Some men are." He chuckled before he pulled out his screwdriver pointing it to the starlight and after a few seconds, the cheap white star and moon-shaped shadows turned into vibrant colours and views of the stars of planets, stars, and galaxies full of colour and life, moving gently with a spin and sweep across the white ceiling.

"You-"

"My little gift. for Danny," He smiled, "so he can look up at the stars,"

"Thank you," I smiled,

he set Danny back in his crib to sleep, and we headed back to the sofa,

"Why are you here doctor?" I asked,

"Visiting." He smiled,

"You haven't visited once in six years, why not?"

"Because I missed you, I miss everyone but... I missed you most."

"Thank you, I missed you too."

"did you ever think that you'd be a mother back when we were travelling? Or did you ever think about it when travelling the universes, settling down and having a child?" He asked,

"Admit it very rarely entered my mind. So much else going on." I explained holding my mug in hand and stroking it between my fingers, "But it had always been there the desire to settle down and have a child."

"You deserve to finally rest and raise a child, life is hard and it's nice to have a little bit of hope and peace in your life. I just hope that you are truly happy that you are finally able to settle down somewhere and be content,"

"I am happy," I nodded, "But... can I tell you a secret?"

"I won't tell a soul,"

I blushed running my hands along the curve of the mug, "I always thought It would be with you... Settling down I mean. Crossed my mind more than once over all those years to imagine a room in the Tardis with a crib and a universe's worth of toys, and a baby... with you,"

He blushed a little, "Really?" He asked, "We went through so much together and now you're telling me you were really thinking about settling down with me,"

"I did. Guess I was a stupid little girl then..."

His smile widened, "You weren't stupid,"

"No?"

"No, and if it means anything. I was thinking about it too."

"What?"

"I did,"

"why didn't you ever tell me?"

"All of time and space... I never found the time," He said, "but I did always wonder about what would have happened if we did just settle down and have a nice quiet little life together,"

"it would have been nice... It must have been hard then ... To just leave me here?"

"I wanted you to stay with me... that's the thing, that was the hardest for me, it was extremely difficult leaving you. I wanted to stay and stay with you forever,"

I finally met his eyes, "Wanted? or still want?"

he didn't answer leaving us in silence for a moment before his hand gently took my cheek and his lips pressed gently against my own, I blushed hard and softly kissed back, until he pulled away his nose against my own,

"Do you really need me to answer that?"

"...More than anything,"

"Yes, it's always been yes. always will be yes." He smiled as he happily kissed me again, I kissed back excitedly until we pulled away.

"If it is still what you want," I whispered, "It's here waiting for you,"  

[ralexsol]

watching "Listen" from 12 and then directly afterwards "The Devil's Chord" from 15 was the wrong decision on my part. it only made the devil's chord that much more painful. like listen isn't like an insanely good episode or anything but it. actually feels like a sci-fi show. and it has a very touching ending with clara and kid doctor.

a better comparison would be with "Robot of Sherwood" from 12 vs. devil's chord. they're both the 2nd episode of their respective doctors, with the plot being the companion's "i've always wanted to go to-" dream. both are EXCELLENT companion dreams: robin hood and the beatles. both have INSANE levels of potential for shenanigans between people of legendary status and doctor + companion. but um. one is done incredibly and the other is. not.

Robot of Sherwood: start in the TARDIS with doctor & companion. wanna see robin hood, oh but robin hood is not real - and wow, an idea held by a character in the intro scene will actually play a key role in both the comedy AND emotional charge for the entire episode! for the rest of the episode, you have robin hood as the 3rd protagonist in TONS of scenes, with iconic characters as his merry men and the sheriff making appearances. and look, an actual sci-fi thing going on! the guards are robots and they're stealing gold for their spaceship! cool!! and then the emotion-based ending of the doctor and robin relating over being legendary heroes who will only be remembered as such.

The Devil's Chord: start in unknown location with piano guy and his student. that's fine, it's setting up the plot, sure. get some fun piano playing and holy shit okay the villain is right here and just immediately showing their entire hand and purpose?? okay so they're killing people because they want music to themself. okay, they seem cool enough, there must be some interesting thing about them that we'll learn later. switch to TARDIS, wanna see the beatles, let's go!, montage of them watching famous musicians be shit at EMI studios. oh hey it's george martin the producer of the beatles thats fun!! annnnnnd he has more lines than ringo and george combined and this is basically the last time we will see half of the beatles! um. okay. i am dead serious half the beatles have about 2-3 lines between them and they only speak in 1 fucking scene. there's a cool scene with paul & doctor and ruby & john, i really liked how they explained the disappearance of music and the inherent terror everyone seemed to feel of the maestro (the villain) coming to get them. the scene on the rooftop is cool! im a pianist and i love orchestral music so i really liked that. but i was so terrified she was going to start singing at any moment because i cannot handle any more cringe-worthy songs in this show i just can't. this is not a musical. anyway, the whole episode falls apart when you realize oh the beatles arent actually what this episode is about and oh the maestro is literally just the character that you saw in the intro scene and they have no twist motive and no emotional charge and yeah they're the toymaker's kid so they're a "force of nature" and not an alien with cool science and they just want allll the music. and then there's long "fight" scenes and then john and paul save the day without saying a single word in a 15-second long total shot. and then there's a fully fever-dream level dance and song montage.

i dont know too much about peoples' opinions on 15 so far cause ive had spoiler tags blocked for months, but from what i HAVE seen, it's been really positive. am i blind? am i stupid? am i bigoted????? why dont i like the vibes of this season?? maybe im just spiraling because ive been so hyped to watch the beatles episode as a beatles fan for MONTHS and just can't cope with ringo and george being written out. ive only seen 3 episodes w 15. i so hope it gets better. please let it be better. if they do another musical number i will kill something. i will spontaneously combust.

[rapha-reads]

OOooooh my goodness, Doctor Who goes full mythology *full body shiver*

I'm aware it's not the first time, but from what I'm reading, Sutekh appears in only one TV serial before today, and all of his other appearances are in audio, comics and prose. And without doing too much research (edit: I ended up doing too much research), every episode that somewhat touched on the spiritual/mythological before never put the deity at the center of the story (except the pantheon of discord, but the Tardis Wiki article on it isn't very long and I already have done enough research for today). Like, "The Satan Pit", remember, who cares that Satan was chained on an asteroid somewhere in space, that wasn't the point. Interesting to note, "The Satan Pit" was not written by RTD, but did you notice how Carla Sunday was the first one to name Sutekh before anyone else, and call him "The Beast"? The Beast being one of the name of the Devil? And the Egyptian God Set, or Sutekh, having been conflated with the Devil when Egyptian religion met Christianity...? Clearly RTD and his writers have done their research. By the way, the Devil article on Tardis Wiki is fascinating. But unless I read too fast, none of the several Devils, Satans and Beasts the Doctor has encountered are part of the Pantheon of Discord, though Sutekh does use the name Beast too. Go figure.

Anyway... Not really a point to my ramblings. I don't want to do a full review of the episode just yet, I want to wait for the second part. But Set was my favourite Egyptian god as a kid, I've always thought that he's too easily cast as the evil god when polytheist pantheons usually do not have a single figure of evil, but gods representing concepts that can be used for evil (the way Loki in Norse mythology is a trickster god but his representations today turns him into a demon, demon here holding the monotheistic, abrahamic meaning of the word; note to self: check out the academic literature on comparisons and parallels between Loki and Set - how much syncretism at work here?).

Ahem. I don't know where I'm going with that. To revisit later, when I've had time to put my thoughts in order. Things to point out:

Carla calling the shade surrounding the Tardis "The Beast" before anyone else could start to guess anything - something fishy is going on with her.

Mrs Flood. Everything about her.. Is she a Sutekh cultist, like in the old episode "Pyramides of Mars"? Is she another Harbinger? Is she another, last surviving Time Lord?

Is the storm only coincidental, or is it going to be important in the next episode? By which I mean, is it a normal storm, or are we talking locusts and cricket plague storm? (Or sand-of-time-storm, ba dum tse)

Speaking of Harbinger, kinda sad Harriet isn't an actual character, she was cool.

So does this mean that this Susan was another Harbinger, or an avatar of Sutekh, who took on the name to mock the Doctor? EDIT: checked the Tardis wiki, she was an actual woman who was later possessed by Sutekh and turned into his puppet. Okay, one mystery solved.

The way Kate looked at the Doctor after the death of the security officer in the Time Window. Oof. That. That hurts.

The way Mel is not surprised at all by the Doctor's meltdown, and knows exactly how to stop him from spiralling down and getting back up. That's Companion Experience here.

Ruby and Rose immediately becoming the best of friends. Yes please!

Oh, music talk! Did y'all notice that the Saxon theme was played when Susan's prompter started going haywire? I recognised the melody but couldn't put my finger on it, just knew Murray Gold was playing us a throwback, until I read the Tardis Wiki page about the episode. Quite nice!

Okay, I already have 10 different Tardis Wiki tabs opened, I'm gonna calm down before I start writing an entire thesis about Doctor Who and Mythology. .. Do you think there's already thesis like that? I would love to read that.

Apart from all of that, it's kind of a weird episode, though, isn't it? The Doctor usually never seeks out trouble, and they hardly ever ask for help. Like, they don't just pop in for a visit, or to use UNIT's tech unless a crisis has already begun, or UNIT themselves called them in. At least in New Who, main TV episodes, I can't remember one instance of the Doctor appearing in UNIT's HQ or where their former companions are of their own volition (in Class, he appears in Coal Hills, because the Shadowkin are already here; in the Sarah Jane Adventures, I haven't watched it, but Tenth comes to help Sarah Jane because she's trapped in a Time Loop, and later Eleventh is a plot point himself; same in "Day of the Doctor", UNIT calls him in, crisis already ongoing). The Doctor appearing in UNIT HQ, saying "alright, here are two mysteries that I want solved today and y'all are going to help me", that's very new. And maybe very welcome...? If it makes the Doctor reconnect with former companions, and start popping in for tea and scones, that would be nice.

[eddiezpaghetti]

Hallo! Like many other people, I found you thanks to the incredible piece on why Byler IS GONNA be endgame. In your second/response post on this matter you briefly mentioned Supernatural, Teen Wolf and Sherlock, and I was wondering if you could make direct comparisons to these cases and explain how exactly they differ from Byler. If you knew about these shows while they were still airing, did you also strongly believe or at least had a bit of hope that those ships would become canon? If no, what are the main differences that make ST's pair so unique? If yes, do you believe you overlooked/assumed things back then that you now account for better? And sorry if this is an annoying or repetitive question, I imagine you've gotten a bunch of similar requests and you might want to distance yourself from the topic alr + from what little I know about those 2010s shows I can already kind of predict the answer myself thanks to your definitions of queerbaiting v queer-coding v accidental romance, so I guess this is more of an excuse so I get a chance to read another one of your masterful posts, apologies for that hehe <3

Honestly, I used those examples because they're really well-known in general, not because I'm an expert on those pieces of media. A piece of media I probably know better on a personal level that did queerbaiting isn't even a great example because it was just on such a small scale, but definitely still held true under "We're doing this simultaneously to pander to and make fun of queer people," but no one was too invested because it was with a minor character, so no one cared much, and no one really believed was going to happen. Tonally, though, it matches up with the other examples, and it's another piece of shit that came straight outta Moffat's ass. Uhh...

Yes, that's James Corden. Not relevant. The important thing is that this is a scene that works as an example of what The Queerbaiting Tone™ feels like.

If you haven't seen Doctor Who--first of all, how did you find Tumblr, but more importantly--this character was in a whopping two episodes. Minor character, had a love interest, but his relationship with the Doctor was still remarkably, like, intimate?

The doctor's companions never joined him on the episodes he was with this character, they were roommates for a while (oh my god they were roommates), they had the whole one-sided-rivals thing (Corden's character was jealous of how the Doctor seemed to charm everyone around him while the Doctor just wanted Corden's character safe and happy), there was a goddamn scene where Corden's character got poisoned and the Doctor nursed him back to health complete with staying at his bedside and gently brushing the hair out of his eyes and all that shit... And the second episode Craig (I just remembered the character's name--shut up, it's been a while) was in happened because the Doctor was informed he was about to die and he decided Craig was someone he wanted to see just one last time.

Then the above scene happened.

And you can see that, like, it's blatantly a joke, Craig mentions he has a wife, he's such a minor character that no one actually believes he's going to romance the Doctor and run away with him, but all of the genuine moments between them still happened. This is still a character the Doctor (normally a ~mysterious~ character) chose to have a goddamn Vulcan-style mind-meld with.

And, again, this was a joke. The punchline is the idea of them being gay. Hilarious. Two men being in love. Absolutely ground-breaking humor.

Queerbaiting is just that scene, and those two episodes of Doctor Who, but with a much longer buildup to the punchline. The longer that buildup is, the more real it feels. The more effort is spent on it, the more you want to believe it's too much effort to be a joke. And the more space is spread about between them, the harder it is to remember all the little micro-jokes the big joke is made of.

And again, Byler has never had that. Stranger Things has never had that. I'd love to show every goddamn scene with a queer character or queerness mentioned in the show just to prove that it's not the same, but that's hard because it's harder to show the absence of something than the presence of something. It'd take too long. And the sincere scenes that do make up Will and Mike's love story, those are between the jokes with queerbaiting. Again, there was a scene in Doctor Who where Craig got poisoned and the Doctor stayed by his bedside and made him tea and did his work for him in the meantime so he wouldn't fall behind. But, again, that's between jokes.

Mike and Will have never developed their relationship between jokes. They're not a punchline. There's no joke here. It's only Mike desperately calling Will's name through the radio when he hears him singing. It's only Mike saying that meeting him was the best thing he's ever done. It's only Will tearfully telling Mike that he wanted to play games with him for the rest of his life. It's only Will giving Mike a veiled confession by projecting his feelings onto El. Over and over and over again, it's sincere, sincere, sincere, sincere, sincere.

Their closeness isn't funny, it's just love. And that's the difference.

[thebibi]

Saw a shitpost about Jack quit his job to join Van Helsing in vampire hunting and I went, huh. And in the Oct 28th entry specifically, there are jokes about Jack becoming Van Helsing's personal assistant/secretary. Kind of like how Mina quit her job to become a lawyer's assistant-- I mean wife.

So now I'm musing over these parallels between Jonathan/Mina and Van Helsing/Seward.

Even though the late 1800s were a changing era, wives were still largely expected to exist in a separate sphere from their husbands. The Harkers, however, make a great working team.  Mina is a school teacher by profession, but she gives up that job to become Jonathan's wife. Mina also actively learns skills that will help Jonathan in his work as a solicitor.  Its not a burden, she really enjoys it. She even uses legal jargon during her funeral speech. Jonathan collects information and Mina compiles it.  They confide in each other. When Mina decides to type up her husband’s diary, she does so with an eye for legal affairs.  You can say Mina is going above and beyond what is expected of a wife, she really is Jonathan's partner. When Jack says "they are hard at it", they are not just in love with each other, they have great work ethic.

The only other two people who share this closeness, are Van Helsing and Seward, who are both doctors. There are some parallels between their relationship and the Harkers.   Mina learns skills like shorthand to be able to work with Jonathan, and Jack learned how to lockpick, breaking and entering, to assist Van Helsing. Their skills complement their companions. When Van Helsing takes out his equipment to stake Lucy, Jack is stimulated because he too is a doctor, while Arthur and Quincey look appalled.  In comparison to how the Harkers write everything down, Van Helsing dictates and Jack orally records.  They confide in each other.  Whenever the professor is unsure about something, Jack gives him a safe space to express his opinion and supports him.  As Van Helsing realizes what really happened to Lucy, he asks they be united, and later, he moves into the asylum.  And even though Jack has a full time job, he prioritizes being Van Helsing’s helper. They give up their individual careers to work together.  Kind of like a marriage.

Going back to the Harkers, this makes them all the more unique because their partnership and work ethic actually blurs the Victorian concept of "separate spheres". They, as a team, share just as much in common with work colleagues than they do as simply husband and wife, which is amazing. As for the doctors, well, they are so close they can communicate with a glance and have no boundaries in the bedroom, so you can argue it swings back into "married".

[my-ghost-monument]

thinking about rtd v chibs today, in terms of growth. when I realised that chibs had wrote my most upsetting torchwood ep, the finale to s2 where he brutally kills two characters, I was nervous for his dw conclusion. especially considering that in torchwood, tosh's death narratively serves only two purposes: to further the comparison for Owen, dying unfairly while she who had long pined for him dies too, like oh how tragic, these loves parted; and for shock value. Much like most of Tosh's character, she's often side-lined for others and never given as much depth as she should, and I always felt this extended to her death, which unlike Owen's felt cheap.

But in his dw finale, I felt like he had understood how to bring across great heart wrenching pain which served both of the characters perfectly. First, while the Doctor is killed technically, there's no brutal wow! shock! to it, and the same goes for Yaz's exit. Yaz is given agency in her ending, if not priority as her end was less 'guaranteed' (as in we always know the doctor will die, it's the whole point). The Doctor too is given time and respect to face the unfairness, and is allowed her own agency in how she meets it.

To compare to rtd: in a word, Donna. Donna's ending is honestly whip-lash, and there were so many ways to make it an actual tragedy, and not just shock value ending. Donna had to lose her memories, fine! But why reduce her back to what she feared the most, which is a cruel bitter taste for the audience. There could have been an idea where she could keep her growth, thinking she'd gone into volunteering and ending up helping people - oods could become refugees in her mind, the shadow proclamation becoming police or something. Something that would still be so sad and devastating, seeing a woman who was so bright unable to ever stand upon the universe again and declare it safe, but something where she would still get to be the person she'd become. This or something similar would be satisfying, whereas the reduction? it's cruel. It's a creator making a journey and then smushing it because it makes the doctor more upset.

I feel like this is the thing. Chibnall has grown as a writer across the years, but so far, what's been released for rtd's new era? he's literally going back, with the same doctor; the same companion; the same initials, look and age for his newer companion. even now, to the same series number. It doesn't give me faith in his ability to grow and change at all.

[fruitylittledrink]

//contains Fionna & Cake e8 spoilers

I know nobody cares about my opinion but I've been seeing a lot of posts about Simon and Betty as either 'toxic' or 'perfectly healthy' and I wanted to write down what I think as a big-ass Petrigrof fan.

Betty is probably the biggest red flag for watchers because she's literally the definition of madness throughout AT. On Mars, she was shown how her life would change if Simon never stopped her from getting on that bus and her past self is like "it's too late to save YOU" but we could save Simon; Magic Woman was devoted to Simon with complete disregard for her own life - a situation that began long before the madness started. And that time she almost killed Ice King in Elements to try to bring back Simon, felt guilty about it, but was still going through with it before she was stopped - BE NORMAL.

I think the craziest part is when Simon used Hambo to talk to her about how she was about to leave him and she asked "But where would I go without you?" LIKE GET SOME FRIENDS??

And their LOVE SONG. She wanted him to succeed - she let him take all the fame for the Enchiridion (it makes me so happy they revealed why Betty was in that photo but hiding in the car - my GOD dude their lore is like years-in-the-making) cause she wanted him to achieve recognition. In a way it makes sense, her career barely even started, she's already admired him for years, she sees how others disrespect him, she likes working with him. Couple that with their chemistry and mutuality and I understand why she chose him over her trip. She must have fallen too fast too quickly. Then she gave up everything for his sake - he already had plans in his career, she hasn't even started.

Meanwhile, Simon is almost oblivious to this imbalance. I feel like the best example of this is the small pause after he says "I want you..." before "...by my side." The writers put specific emphasis on him saying he wants her by HIS side as he drags her in a hug away from her own life/career. He even says "What? No! Why would I-?" after Fionna asks if he went on the trip with her. I've heard people saying that he sees their story through rose-tinted lenses and I can see that. It's just a love story to him cause he didn't give up much in comparison - he just gained a companion. But what should he have done? Betty was so fucking down, she wanted him more than she wanted to go on that trip. He wasn't manipulative, he just found the love of his life (and BOY is it a damn long life) and didn't want to let her go. (He just found love with her too early really but it's better than never loving her at all (which might be a Winter King situation))

They both obviously love each other and I wouldn't even call it damaging, they support one another and want to keep each other safe (I mean I wouldn't say their mutual obsession is healthy but I gotta give these straight couples something or I won't be engaged). I don't think there's an age gap since you can start a Grad program at any age. Being called Doctor by a Grad student isn't the issue either - it's more of being an experienced researcher with an inexperienced admirer. Betty is a grown-ass woman but I think she should have let herself chase her own dreams instead of following her love's. She probably didn't even know what she wanted out of life before meeting him. And then they met each other and they found happiness together and it's like what more could you want without sacrificing what you have? And if you lose the ONLY thing that gives you happiness, why wouldn't you give up everything to get it back?

AT is depicting grief and loss from the view of blind devotion and I'm so /fucking/ for it.

[what-if-queen-camilla]

Chapter 11

Guys, it's happening!!!

04th August 1987- Part 2

"What do you mean 'the baby's coming?" Now it was him being in panic. She surely didn't intend to give birth right here and now…?! "I mean what I said, you idiot!", Camilla snarled, closing her eyes as the next contraction painfully yerked through her body. "I'm not a fucking midwife, Milla!", Andrew snarled back, looking at her in total desperation. She couldn't be serious. She couldn't have the baby here and now, with only him by her side, he was a man, he had no idea of these kinds of things, what on earth was he supposed to do? "No, but you're a fucking soldier so please start behaving like one, you wannabe Silver Stick in Waiting!", she almost screamed at him, not in order to be rude but in order to encourage him because she knew he could do it. Of course, this wasn't the birth any of them had been expecting or hoping for but sometimes nature had the weirdest of ideas and she'd rather have her baby delivered with the help of her husband at home than in the car on the way to hospital. "W-What… shall I do?", he asked, looking at her like a little boy on his first day at school. "What would you do if I was an injured companion of yours?", she countered and noticed in relief how this comparison seem to work: "I'll get you somewhere safe and quiet … and then get some… clean towels, sheets and blankets, hot water…" "Yeah…", she confirmed, desperately holding on to him when she was, again, struck by the next contraction. "You can do it, Andy! I know you can! Please…", she whispered and he gently lifted her up and carried her over to her bedroom again, placed her there and then rushed downstairs to go and fetch the other things. While Camilla tried to prepare herself and the baby as good as possible with some breathing exercises, her husband managed to organise everything they needed, including a tiny little glass of champagne for the mum-to-be. He had heard once that it made the birth easier but it was going to be her decision eventually; he was just trying to make it as comfortable as possible for her. Before returning upstairs, he called the Ambulance in Swindon and explained their situation and they promised him that a doctor and nurse would be there within less than an hour. 'Less than an hour…', he thought, shaking his head, trying to overshadow his anxiety with irony and emptied his own, not so tiny, glass of champagne in one go. "Alright, old man.", he said to himself when looking into the mirror in the staircase gallery. "Seems like you're going to be a midwife tonight."

The good thing was that none of them was afraid or ashamed in any way as they were still husband and wife, parents, a family and there was nothing breaking new to it all, even when Andrew helped Camilla getting rid of her nighty and spread her legs apart so that the baby would find its "way out" as smoothly and naturally as possible, there was nothing he hadn't seen before and nothing that'd have made either of them uncomfortable. "I'm so glad that the children aren't here.", Camilla sighed between two meanwhile immense painful labour contractions. "So am I!", Andrew nodded. "Imagine how they'd be making fun of their old dad playing midwife…" Almost tenderly, he dabbed her forehead with a towel and almost accidentally stroked her cheek. "I'm so proud of you.", he whispered and Camilla wasn't sure whether she'd rather laugh or cry about this unexpected declaration of love but was hit by another heavy labour contraction before she could have thought twice. "Okay, Andy…", she declared when the pressure to push became almost unbearable, bravely pulling herself together. "It's time now… it might take me a few pushes but… as soon as you see her head…" "Don't worry, Milla, I'll have it.", he assured her and once more she thanked God for having sent him to her in this very situation. As much as she loved Charles, he'd never have been able to keep as calm right now as Andrew but it helped a lot and she knew they were going to make it together.

It didn't take long until the head became visible and "midwife Andrew" was in charge gently holding it up while the mother gave another few pushes until the baby finally arrived, announcing herself with an enormous cry, which eventually made the mum cry, too. She didn't cry in pain, she cried in relief and in thankfulness that everything had gone so well and the baby seemed alright. Quickly Andrew wrapped the little girl up warmly in a clean towel and carefully cleaned her little face as Camilla told him to, before he placed the little bundle on his wife's chest. "Hello little one!", Camilla greeted her newborn daughter and kissed her softly on her forehead. "I'm your mummy and I love you so much.", she whispered teary-eyed. How beautiful her little daughter was, how absolutely perfect from head to toe… "Shall we thank Daddy for being our hero tonight?", she asked her, invitingly looking over to Andrew who seemed a bit awkward and overwhelmed, having watched the moving scene from the edge of the bed. "B-but what about… the… afterbirth?", he asked insecurely, looking at the umbilical cord that was still connecting mother and child, but Camilla shook her head. "Let the ambulance deal with that later. Come here." Sighing Andrew did as commanded and carefully laid down beside her. It felt strange to be so close to her again but not in a negative way, especially not after what had just happened. They had delivered a baby together. A wonderful, beautiful, perfect little baby which would hopefully be happy and healthy for a lifetime and have a glorious childhood in their family. Everything could have been perfect, if only he'd been the real father. "Sush, Andy. You're her daddy. You literally brought her to life. She's yours just as she's mine." These wonderful words made him tear up as well and, overwhelmed by emotions, he couldn't help leaning forward - and kissed her…

[twojamie-o-clock]

Finished “an ordinary life” from the early adventures. Audio 1.4 I believe. And….wow. At first I was worried it was going to be boring or a bit all over the place (kind of like how the anachronauts flip flopped everywhere although I loved that) and I was very much surprised. It was definitely unique and I like how diverse the first doctor’s big finish is in that sense.

Spoilery review below.

1. Steven & Sara getting trapped in a domestic setting, having to live together, starting quite literally an ordinary life….I’m eating that up okay. I loved their dynamics with the other family, as well as their exposure to the struggles of the 20th century, especially regarding racism and misogyny. I wish both of those were explored just a tad more but it might have been for the best given big finish’s track record with feminist stories (I’m looking at you prison in space/the suffering). I liked how Steven & Sara, because they are being written in 2014 and not 1966, can be given different views on these subjects by being horrified at the primitive aspects of humans before their time. Not just for their characterizations as good humans but also for their bonding as being the odd ones out in this time/place.

2. Steven & Sara’s separate stories. Steven settled in very quickly to life in London, working his own job with Michael until they face trouble, living in the apartment, and while it’s hard without the Doctor, he’s adapting and above all enjoying it. Meanwhile Sara is itching to leave, although she appreciates the company of the family. Her whole police officer scene was kind of hilarious but also frustrating that they didn’t go into how her encounter with 60s values was nothing she should have been prepared for.

3. Steven & Sara as a family. Going back to Steven adjusting, you can clearly see in the audio how badly he wants this normal life. I kind of see Steven’s narrative of being. well. haunted by death. as Sara-centric as I’m sure we all do, although Katarina was obviously the first death. Because he hasn’t seen her nor anyone else die the only reason he could want to settle down is because he simply wants to. He’s not running from the danger of the tardis, or their travels, or the Daleks. He’s running to something he wants: a life with Sara. This actually makes me want to kick and scream and throw up because doomed x haunted is my favorite thing ever and I am sobbing thanks.

Steven mentions staying in London, back before they find the Doctor, and Sara simply protests that this life would never suit the Doctor, nor could she settle down “with kids” because of her life in the SSS. I’m not sure if this was supposed to imply social duties she still retained - such as, not having children - or something biological which kind of gets to a deeper level of headcanon of future taskforces such as her own that aren’t warranted in this post. I do like to see their conflicting views again, not quite as foil-like as their blind obedience v. unceasing questioning, but more in how they are changing in comparison to their past selves. I’m starting to sound pretentious so I won’t act like this is going anywhere other than Sara being a strict solider who now sees the rest of her life in the TARDIS facing the world (with Steven) vs. Steven who is seeing the appeal of a stable life with Sara.

This kind of elaborates/becomes verbal at the end of the audio when Steven says he can recover his memories of the antagonist more sharply if they stay back in London for a few more months. He’s very obviously seeking the stability of life outside the TARDIS. Sara shoots this down immediately, probably without realizing, and unlike Vicki, Ian, or Barbara, Steven just chooses to stay with her in the TARDIS. I think this makes them the ultimate companion duo I’ve seen so far because one is choosing to stay with the Doctor for the other. Up until now, in companions before Steven, we’ve only seen people *leave* the Doctor for others/better things. Ian and Barbara wanting their home. Susan and Vicki staying for lovers. But Steven wanted stability with Sara. He wants the TARDIS life with Sara. And no one will ever be happy because they don’t communicate but whatever 🥰

4.(yikes) the antagonists. When I first heard Steven likening them to mushrooms I was a bit disappointed because, in my timeline of listening to his audios, that makes this his third big finish story involving alien, hostile fungus and it’s getting a bit tiring and a bit concerning. I wasn’t blown away by the clones/mind control/hive thing because it felt too adjacent to too many other Doctor who aliens, such as the Zygons or the time mushroom in Upstairs. But seeing how much the tv show leans on audio stories for inspiration I’m not gonna be picky about that. I did like how they were simply trying to survive, that it felt halfway between benign technology gone wrong & malicious aliens rather than either or, AND how Michael’s family dynamics slowly built up as foreshadowing. I would give these creatures incorporated into the story a 8/10 but on their own a 5/10.

Overall if I had to rate this one I’d give it 8/10 simply because Steven and Sara were displayed so well here. Hinting that Steven wants a settled life but will choose Sara over anything…anyway I love their relationship so far in audios because nothing is verbalized except for some mistakes in the anachronauts.

P.S. for big finish Steven x Sara audios I’m only disappointed because a lot of it is just them already having their connection and then the miscommunication/supposed one-sidedness of it all. I haven’t actually heard an audio where the relationship is developed, only where it’s commented on - aka peter purves narrating how steven feels or how they hold hands, but not as many scenes showing their dynamic as a whole, save for the end of the anachronauts. Anyways I still love them and I’m so glad they have eu media. Bye!

[smillingcartoonist]

Jodie Whittaker is announced to be returning as the Doctor in her own series on Big Finish, and then we can finally see Jodie properly at as the Doctor !!! This is a another big rant/rambling on Chibnall run on Doctor Who !!

Ok, Honestly, let's get this out of the way, I do think that Jodie Whittaker as incredible miscast as the role of the Doctor !! too be fair she as not given much to work with anyway, but that's in general, not only by Chibnall but his own swat of mediocre writers, so for three seasons we have this actor just being there !! Jodie is a good actress, she can say the dumb shit that is given to her without laughing !! but at the same time, it just that, she is just doing the best of what she can with the material that is given to her and not much else, she never elevates in any way, so if anyone don't remember anything of any of those episodes, well there is not much that stand out anyway to be remembered out side of the dumb stuff !!! Her Doctor as also done dirty !! Not only having the most of generic of personalities, that is just Tennant but water down a lot, we also amazing moments of The Doctor being talk down by a Trump allegory, saying that capitalism is fine actually (love that one), Throwing the POC Master to the fucking Nazis and thinking much about that later, and not given a shit about her friend having cancer or not !!! Great stuff Chibnall !! if all really he wanted as to assassinated the Doctor Character then that is the only thing he was doing right !!

Comparisons are at play here, we can compare these low point of the new series with the low point of the classic series, the Colin Baker years, honestly there is not much to compare here, sure the stories during this time where bad, but they at least have something in them !! an idea, a theme being explore, the Chibnall era have nothing !! just a dull boring 50 minutes of dead air to fill that slot every Sunday night !! Colin Baker of course was also not done very well by his first impressions, being incredible arrogant and constantly mistreating his companion and even chocking her during a manic attack in his first story, all that mostly is attributed to script editor Eric Saward not really liking Colin as the lead !! But even there Colin Baker manages to give an incredible acting performance (he is the best thing in Twin Dillema, his over acting there is what carries anyone to watch that story)

Colin Doctor's as actually "Done Right" as some say, when the Big Finish audios started to happen, If you don't know this piece of trivia about Doctor Who, and how could you not, Colin Baker was fired by phonecall !! they didn't even have the decency of telling that he was the show to his face !! Colin didn't show up to do his regeneration scene, the brief moment we his Doctor in Time and The Rani is actually Sylvester Mccoy in a wig. So It's a surprise that he came back to play the part again in the audios, for me at least, and also surprise to see Jodie return as well, maybe there she can prove me wrong, that she can actually play this character and do the part right !!

Along side Jodie returning we have Mandip Gill as Yaz, I rather prefer someone else doing another character, Yaz is boring, well to be fair, like everything else during that run, Yaz was done dirty, well she was not even done for like two season !! Yaz is a non existence character in the show that only have her development in her last season !! that another thing they have to do right !! I believe they did do Peri and Mel right on the audios, especially Mel, how most of her time in the show her contributions where to scream really loud at the end every episode !!

Also we got Jo Martin coming back as the Fugitive Doctor, that needs to be back on the main show if they want to make that character relevant in any way, and not wasted Jo Martin !! It's so funny they put her in that banner with the other Doctors, like imagine explaining who that is to a person that just started to get into this show !! and also we have Sacha Dhawan playing the Master again, meh !!

So we can all wait for that coming redemption for Jodie's Doctor in July... 2025, sigh !! well plenty of time for me to figure out how to get my credit card to do international online purchases.

Also, recently a new River series just drop, a new set of adventures of River after she die !! how is that possible, she was cloned and upload all her memories from library !! Now there is a dumb idea to rival the Timeless Child !! what are the chances of Jodie Doctor meeting this River in her adventures ?!! it's not a question it definitely gonna happen !!!

[walks-the-ages]

"Favorite Doctor Survey" Update February 11th, 2023, ~9pm Eastern Standard Time:

[ID: a screenshot of a pie chart which has a multitude of colors in sections, the largest being labeled with percentages of 23.3%, 16.3%, 11.6%, and two are labled 7% while the rest are not labeled. there is a list of Doctor Who incarnations off to the side with color coding which trails off. end ID]

So far, we have 43 votes, and right now, the 8th Doctor is in the lead with 10 votes, aka 23.3%!

I am extremely delighted with this fact, we need more people to appreciate the Eighth Doctor ~! For anyone who is unaware of it, the Eighth Doctor is not limited to just the 1997 TV movie and a few minutes in Power of the Doctor--

--oh no, this Bestest Boy Ever has not only over a hundred audio dramas (and counting!!) on Big Finish, but also at least 74 Novels to his interation! If you do not know the Eighth Doctor yet, now is your excuse to go watch his movie on the web archive and then dive into the world of Big Finish to experience his adventures with Charley! :D

*Ahem* So, onto the next "Favorite Doctor!"

To no-ones surprise, the Twelfth Doctor, played by Peter Capaldi is holding steady in second place, with 9 votes!

There's a slight error in the graph because I realized I'd forgotten to add his actor and year to the 12th doctor listing and the answers already submitted didn't get edited, so Peter Capaldi's 12th Doctor is not just the dark teal 16.3% you see above, but also the dark blue right underneath it which is the first 2 original votes before the updated info.

In 3rd place, appropriately enough, we have the Third Doctor, played by Jon Pertwee! He currently has 5 votes, aka 11.6%!

Everyone seems to love his dynamics with UNIT, being earthbound, and his fatherly/grandfatherly relationships with his companions-- not to mention his chemistry with The Master!

Tied for 4th place, we have the Sixth and Second Doctors, each with 3 votes, aka 7% !

One, Five, Nine, and Ten each have 2 votes,

Four, The Valyard, The Shalka!Doctor, Eleven, and Thirteen all have 1 vote each,

and so far we have two write-in answers: one vote for "The Lethian Campaign Assassin" (an extremely intriguing wiki article) and one vote for the Master!Doctor from Power of the Doctor :D

Let's keep those votes rolling in! I pretty much have no time limit on this poll lol, i'll just post periodically when there's a significant number of new votes or if someone else takes the lead!

In the meanwhile if you haven't taken the survey yet, here is the link to cast your vote:

And if you'd like to see what all the hype is about for the Eighth Doctor, here is a link to a gorgeous fan-made upscaling of the movie, which was posted to the archive by the uploader-- you can stream it from the archive (make sure you set it to 1080p and give it plenty of time to buffer!)

Or, even better, download the mkv video, and use VLC media player or a similar open source program so you can adjust the playback speed to around 96% for the proper pitch and speed!

When they were doing US to UK conversion they uh. lol they fucked up the framerate so to fix it the movie was sped up on release, so watching it without adjusting the playback speed will make everyone sound like chipmunks comparison to their normal voices, but can also cause some motion sickness from the weird, fast framerate

! So I highly reccomend downloading it so you can adjust the playback speed a custom amount! Oh, and don't forget to favorite to show the upscaler some love for their hard work, they made it into a beautiful masterpiece! [ it literally looks better than my physical dvd i bought years ago lol]

If you'd like to dip your toes into some other, slightly more obscure Doctors featured on this survey, I also have a link to the 4k Upscaling of "the Scream of the Shalka", an animated Doctor Who episode from 2003, which was never continued (on screen at least; it has one short story sequel written available online, "The Feast of the Stone"!

Scream of the Shalka, in 4k HD, again, thanks to fans taking the time to upscale things!

Scream of the Shalka short story sequel:

(please note for fellow Shinigami-Eyes users, there is no transphobia in the short story, the entire BBC website is now universally marked red in shinigami eyes)

[denimbex1986]

'Doctor Who drew in a peak of 6.2M viewers for Ncuti Gatwa's much-anticipated debut as the 15th Time Lord on Saturday.

The third and final special to mark the sci-fi series' 60th Anniversary saw David Tennant's brief return to the role end when he regenerated into Sex Education star Ncuti, 31.

However, all was not as it seemed as a huge twist saw both versions of the Doctor remain on screen, in a huge move away from tradition on the long-running show.

The much-anticipated episode pulled in around 4.5million average viewers with a peak of just more than 6million, according to new overnight ratings.

In comparison, Jodie Whittaker's last ever episode as she bowed out of the role only racked in 3.6million average viewers with a peak of 4million.

Ncuti's debut came when 'creepy' returning villain The Toymaker, played by Neil Patrick Harris, shot David's Doctor through the chest, forcing him to regenerate.

The Toymaker had turned human beings on Earth mad, before challenging the Doctor to a deadly game - which put the planet at stake - forcing the Time Lord to accept to try and save Earth.

Shooting the Doctor, The Toymaker said: 'I played one game with the First Doctor, I played the second with this Doctor, so your rules declare that I must play the third game with the next Doctor!'

His companions Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) and the returning Melanie Bush (Bonnie Langford) ran over to support him as he regenerated, with fans expecting that to be the end for David's character.

Melanie reassured him: 'You're going to be someone else, it doesn't matter who, because every single one of you is fantastic!'

While David tearfully said: 'It's time, here we go again! Alonzee,' as he expected to be replaced, but a huge twist saw his character remain alongside his new incarnation.

As he remained after the regeneration, he asked Donna and Melanie: 'Could you, pull? It feels different this time,' and as they yanked on his arms, Ncuti shot out of him and the two Time Lords stood alongside each other in a massive twist.

Making his hotly-anticipated debut, Ncuti's Doctor shouted: 'No way!' as he laid eyes on David, moving away from tradition which normally sees one Doctor replace another upon regeneration.

David said: 'You're me,' while Ncuti replied: 'No, I'm me. I think I'm really, really me! Oh-ho-ho I am completely me!'

When asked what had happened, Ncuti's Doctor said: 'Bi-generation, I have bi-generated. There's no such thing, bi-generation is supposed to be a myth, but-!'

The pair of Doctors then used their talents to face off with The Toymaker together and incredibly managed to beat him at his own game, sending the villain out of existence forever.

David's Doctor said: 'Best of three, and my prize, Toymaker, is to banish you from existence, for ever!'

'No, you can't. But I - not fair, please,' the Toymaker said, before giving the ominous warning: 'My legions are coming.'

However, it appears that it is not the end, as a mystery hand was seen picking up the Toymaker's gold tooth as it was left behind - after The Toymaker had told the Doctor how he defeated villain The Master and trapped him in the tooth.

After banishing The Toymaker from the world, both David and Ncuti's versions of the character stayed on screen, and went back to the TARDIS with Donna.

David asked Ncuti: 'How's this going to work, you and me?' as the huge twist saw two Doctors remain after a regeneration for the first time ever.

Ncuti told him: 'You're thin as a pin love, you're running on fumes,' before urging him to slow down and 'stop' rather than running and travelling in the TARDIS.

Ncuti then paid tribute to a whole host of former companions, including the late Elisabeth Sladen, who portrayed Sarah Jane Smith and sadly died in 2011.

'Sarah Jane has gone, can you believe that for a second?' Ncuti said as they sweetly paid tribute to the iconic actress.

Ncuti then told David's Doctor to try and lead a life of his own, to which David said: 'I've never let the TARDIS go, never, that would hurt.'

In another huge twist, Ncuti managed to transform the one TARDIS into two separate time machines as a 'reward' for them winning the game against The Toymaker, under his rules where games override logic.

The episode ended with Ncuti heading off for more time-travelling adventures in the TARDIS, while David stayed on Earth with Donna and her family in a sweet happy ending for David's character after he briefly returned to the role.'

[variousqueerthings]

SO Hungry Earth/Cold Blood happening. I understand what these episodes are saying and doing and I quite enjoy a fair bit of them -- I think they're overall quite underrated in this season in favour of flashier episodes, however the politics aren't quite all there

I think this episode is one thing if you haven't seen classic!who and another perhaps if you have... slightly. mainly in the sense that it's essentially telling the same story as back in s7/Jon Pertwee's era, so there are comparisons to be made about what it's choosing to add to that story

back in that story ofc the Brigadier killed the Silurians that existed there, and in this one the Silurians are pretty antagonistic...

sexism rank objectification (female character is ogled/harassed/turned into a sex joke by the doctor and/or a lead we’re supposed to root for and/or the camera): 6/10

sexism rank plot-point (lead female character is only there to serve plot, not to have her emotional interiority explored): 5/10

interesting complex or pointlessly complex (does the complexity serve the narrative or does it just serve to be confusing as a stand-in for smart, this includes visually): 8/10

furthers character and/or lore and/or plot development (broader question that ties into the previous ones, at least two of these, ideally three should be fulfilled): 6/10

companion matters (the companion doesn’t always have to be there, but if the companion is there, can they function without the doctor– and overall per season how often is the companion the focus or POV of the story): 3/10

the doctor is more than just “godlike” (examines the doctor’s flaws and limitations, doesn’t solve a plot by having it revolve entirely around the doctor’s existence): 9/10

doesn’t look down on previous doctor who (by erasing or mocking its importance, by redoing and “bettering” previous beloved plotpoints or characters, etc.): 10/10

isn’t trying to insert hamfisted sexiness (m*ffat famously talked a lot about how dw should be sexier multiple times, he sucks at writing it): 9/10

internal world has consistency (characters have backgrounds, feel rooted in a place with other people, generally feel like they have Lives): 8/10

Politics (how conservative is the story): 6/10

FULL RATING: 70/100 (if I can count….)

high ratings on the whole!

OBJECTIFICATION: Overall not too bad + there are several interesting women in this, of which the only one who's got any sexy-related jokes made about her... is Amy

so they step out of the Tardis and the Doctor announces Rio, except they accidentally landed in Wales, and therefore Amy is wearing... NOT a miniskirt, but minishorts. because she dressed for Rio (as if she would have dressed otherwise according to show-canon)

this is then the source of several jokes about how she's not dressed for the weather, because she dressed for Rio. Otherwise, pretty chill

PLOT-POINT: Amy's feelings are not really central to the story... until the end....... at which point Rory is swallowed by the crack and Amy tries desperately not to forget him, but of course she does

now this is of course where we're at subjectively with Amy/Rory, but I don't buy their relationship, which went from pretty bad to ride-or-die without any real reason for Amy's change of heart (or indeed Rory believing in it) -- when we see her trying to remember Rory they put in scenes of their past, there's not really... much to show. because the show hasn't given them real moments. one of the "bits that establishes their deep love" when she's trying not to forget him is when she was so uncomfortable being associated with him on a romantic level that he had to pretend to be her brother

However if we look at before that/assume they are deeply in love. there's an interesting thing that's happened where Rory really wants to protect Amy and is angry that the Doctor "allows" her to be in danger (both in Venice and here), but then of course it's Rory who ends up dead and forgotten

that's kind of sad. bit sexist, because again, Amy is not a part of this journey that Rory's having, but the underlying Stuff is sad

also camerawork: for some reason we're not really following Amy through the grief she feels about Rory dying, when she's screaming at the door, the camera is on the Doctor's face. it's the Doctor watching Amy lose her fiance, not... Amy....

COMPLEXITY: it's quite simple, sets up the conflict and then the denouement, and it's really mostly about how people react to the situation more than anything

CHARACTERS/LORE/PLOT: we get a continuation of a plot from 1970, which is fun! and reintroduces the Silurians. the crack returns at the end, it seems to be stalking them... wonder what that's all about (I say, pretending I don't know)

character dynamics... eh, not so much. the main Thing in that is that Rory is killed, but there's not much of Amy and Rory before that on the whole, or Amy and the Doctor, or indeed the Doctor and Rory

COMPANIONS MATTER: Amy gets captured and then she escapes and then she gets captured again and then they let everyone go and then she sits at the table to talk about the future of Silurian/human alliances, and she's definitely not qualified and for some reason the director thought that her putting her head in her hands didn't make her look bored and out of her depth, and then they run away and Rory is killed and she forgets because of the crack in the wall *deep breath*

Rory for his part is... there. and then gets killed/erased

the other characters in this episode are the weight -- the people who have opinions, who have ideas, who make decisions (for good and for bad), who are emotional anchors, etcetcetc. Amy and Rory aren't really important to it, they could just as well not be there, but for the ending which could have been inserted into any episode

“GODLIKE” DOCTOR: definitely just a guy! we love that! and he makes a few mistakes (takes his eye off Elliot the kid), and apologises, and really just wants everyone to get along!

PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO: It directly talks about the previous time Silurians and humans met and says that the humans killed them, which... yeah, is what happened. I don't think it necessarily needed more than that, especially considering they're different people to the ones they met before

"SEXINESS": Are we free at last? of witty sexiness? (maybe that's just Chibnall). Lost a point for Amy's final line though

INTERNAL WORLD: I quite like the Silurian set-up. it's especially fun on top of the previous episode, giving the Silurians more scale across the earth

the human characters also feel connected and interesting and like their dynamics matter

POLITICS: listen, they're talking about... sharing the earth. which they both have claim over. I think it has very good intentions, but its issue lies in the fact that I'm watching it in 2023 and it's therefore quite simple. but I believe in its beliefs! I like that it's trying to explore this. but yeah, it doesn't quite manage stick the landing

I think some of the experimentation storyline has uncomfortable AF connotations, especially considering the Doctor is like "well as long as you're only dissecting live adults and storing the young in a slowed down life-cycle so you can study their growth, that's good guy science"

also Amy being like "what about all these places that are deserted" and talks about places that have historically had indigenous people living there... but then Amy shouldn't have been there to begin with

I really like the characters who very consistently are like "lol no, we don't like humans/Silurians" and their minds aren't changed and they do indeed fuck it up at the end

the Doctor telling Elliot "let it be known, this planet is to be shared." this episode literally takes place in the 2020s. fascinating. what to do with all this. I'm not sure the episode quite knows

FULL RATING: 70/100 (if I can count….)

SO ON THE WHOLE: where this episode does good is on the other characters. I'm a big fan of them. It's a part of the world-building, which generally works for me, and is further cemented by being a loose continuation of a classic!who plot

where it doesn't work so well is the companions, who don't really fit into the story and are just tagging along and aren't given emotional dynamics that then lead into the supposed tragedy of Rory dying

the politics have both good and bad elements, but on the whole I like what it's trying to do, even if it doesn't quite manage it

also noting that Amy seeing herself in the future doesn't track with hers and Rory's eventual actual fates, I believe.... but I guess M*ffat can get away with it because everything is unfixed

[onewomancitadel]

I think what's funny about being a very dedicated romance lover is that there definitely times where I actually don't want it in the thing I'm into or at the very least I don't want it to be bland and really boring. I get it, Zelda/Link shippers go way back, but the gestural relationship was always way more interesting as a chaste knight/lady dynamic, and it's just lazy leaning into cutesy wholesome rivals-to-lovers shenanigans. (There are no intended TOTK spoilers in this post). It could not be there, and the story wouldn't really change in BOTW (or indeed even Skyward Sword); it's not achieving overly much except finally leaning into the (ostensible) inevitability of Link and Zelda getting together. Meanwhile - yeah - if I have to draw comparisons, any implicit Beauty and Beast dynamic to Link and Midna actually transforms Midna's character arc and the ultimate tragedy of her disappearance (and inability to reconcile their partner dynamic with who they both are and the nature of the Zelda myth).

Similar to that vein I really don't like companion romances in DW, which is why I feel that (even though she was polarising) someone like River Song was more interesting if the Doctor had to have a romance, but I always preferred the Doctor as a sexless figure/professor/parent type thing. Idk, the companion romances were very clumsy and uninteresting (which is why Donna remains one of the best companions - despite the fat single woman jokes, ugh, I can't believe people say only Moffat's run was misogynistic) and just obviously there to pander to a more familiar format of storytelling by the time of the reboot (self-insert Doctor with a sexpot companion). This is why I really don't like the Thirteenth Doctor's casting as an attractive (relatively) younger woman, just because it's really apparent they weren't thinking too hard about who would actually be appropriate for a Doctor. I don't know if that makes me unfeminist (I don't even like Tennant's Doctor, and Eleven works because he's unconventional) or something, I'm not sure - I think they did her wardrobe well enough but I just can't get over the casting there (and I know she has some sort of a companion romance, again, which it seems like they didn't even commit to with a female love interest, which says a lot. What I'm really getting at here with Thirteen is that I would've preferred a less conventional actress for the Doctor).

But it really comes down to motivated versus unmotivated romance, and sometimes we're not even really talking about the same thing - fluffy superficial shit (and yeah, you can definitely argue Doctor/Rose isn't superficial, but to me it does break part of the identity of DW and the Doctor's dynamic with the companions, and the characterisation of that relationship is exhausting and so fucking boring) is just fluffy and superficial, but from a storytelling perspective I want to be thinking about what these romances achieve narratively. If anything I think what is, say, critical to writing a companion romance with the Doctor is that it should by nature be fraught and taboo, and despite Rose's parallel-world disappearance the nature of them having feelings for each other is just a foregone conclusion and the will-they won't-they shit is just boring romcom bullshit. I find the Davies era mostly unwatchable because of this nonsense now (and then Martha gets saddled with that bullshit too, which brings down her entire run as companion).

I enjoy romance which is narratively justified and I find it tedious and boring when it's shoved in my face where it's inappropriate, which is fucking hilarious because that's a common detraction to the romances I enjoy. But we know it's assigned as a bad faith criticism in these circumstances and rarely do they explain why it doesn't work. But in writing romance, what I think is valuable is asking what it achieves on multiple levels - character, plot, theme - and whether it belongs there, particularly tonally.

I understand it's not a popular opinion (Zelda/Link and Doctor/Rose are huge ships in the General Audience alone, and the reason I think the former especially has been leant into is for an obvious reason) but I think it's worth considering critically for where romance does and doesn't work, because even if those ships are nominally popular, sometimes things are just popular because they hit familiar tropes and feel inevitable and cute.

[nehswritesstuffs]

How come in some DW circles it’s considered wrong to say that 12 and Clara were intentionally written and performed as a romantic relationship and that this just gets misinterpreted or unnoticed?

So, uh, I was cleaning out my drafts and found a couple of DW/Whouffaldi meta-asks I answered but never published for some reason??? idk why but this has been sitting buried at the bottom of the drafts for, like, over a year and a half, and I feel it's important to post, all things considered. The other one will come later, but that one's only, like, half-done, so it's with any luck. This is going to be long and long-winded, so brace yourselves. There's notations.

So, the thing about Twelve and Clara is that there are many directions from which they got a lot of flack where they should not have, especially in comparison to other Doctor/Companion pairs. Getting to talk with younger fans who were not in fandom at the time, or with generally newer fans who have entered the game late, it is really a puzzle to them, whether they ship it or not, how and why this deep division took place. My perspective is obviously from someone who ships it, but also saw some absolute bullshit go down.

More under cut:

We had, in no specific order:

People wanting Twelve to be mean to Clara bc they hate her (????) and wanted her to be abused until she left

PROFESSIONAL REVIEWS dunking on Capaldi's age as though it's a bad thing (it's not)

People being really grossed out because there is a noticeable age gap between Capaldi and Coleman. Lots of blowback was based on how overdone and predatory older man/younger woman can be, which, true, but overdone and predatory Whouffaldi is not and there was more than nuance missed with this one

The same people from the point directly above forgetting this is a space-fantasy and that the 2000yo alien is making eyes at a 28yo adult, not the 800yo alien making eyes at a 19yo child, BECAUSE ONE OF THESE IS GROSS AND FOR SOME REASON IT WASN'T THE LATTER

Again, when people were writing PROFESSIONAL REVIEWS, they refused to acknowledge that there was even a hint of anything despite the fact that they supposedly both had eyeballs and watched s8/9

Multiple people involved with the show, including Steven Moffat and Jenna Coleman, said there was a deep and intense love between Clara and Twelve. Peter Capaldi basically said as much, but he was much vaguer, which I imagine is mostly because he is very much blissfully married and the awkwardness that might come with that. I don't blame him for such, and although it should be a non-issue, some people use that as backing against the Whouffaldi ship, which is very rude of them.

There were actually really intense ship wars in fandom during s8/9...? Like the Twelve/River fans were fcking fierce when it came to declaring that theirs was the superior ship(1), and then you get the Doctor/Master fans(2) and that entirely separate debacle. I honestly don't know how the Whouffaldi fandom would have survived had it not been for the PCap fandom in general, who were on average much less concerned with ship wars and much more concentrated on quenching their thirst.

There's more, but that gives you a taste into what's gone on. The biggest problem from all of this was that the people who were writing the articles and making the complaints and starting the wars were altogether a very small minority of people who watched the show. However, this tiny group of people, thanks to the specific platforms given to them, were extremely loud. They were able to join forces with the Not-My-Doctors who had long-ceased watching the show(3) to make a larger chunk of "fandom" than they really were, able to artificially inflate the noise, as the NMDs just trusted everything the group of what was essentially hate-watchers said was fact.

Let me tell you: entertainment media is largely interpretative and that was not fact.

With such a loud counter-presence, the Whouffaldi fandom was really sort of loathe to give up easy, and as they reexamined and revisited and overanalyzed the content, we were able to come to our conclusions time and time again. This kind of pissed off the hate-watchers and the NMDs and they dug in their heels. They took a storyline that pushed the definitions of what love is and, when all they have to say is "meh, it's possible, but not my cup of tea", there is repeated denial and insistence on the father-daughter angle(4) as the only angle to the point of being destructive. There were reasons as to why the show was doing poorly in the ratings during the Capaldi years, and it had nothing to do with Whouffaldi, or Capaldi, or Coleman, or Mackie, or Moffat or any of the other "usual suspects'" in a singular form.(5) That instead lies with the Beebus, which has been jerking around the show since 2009(6), and seems to be not doing that again, but ONLY in regards to the "new" showrunner(7) who's getting the show after Chibs and not anything else that's been happening post-2010.

All in all, Whouffaldi as a romantic ship is either seen as a delusional sicko fantasy, or one of the most shat-on romantic ships in the entire show, and to mention one of those opinions in a crowd of the other opinion means that you might just get your ass verbally handed to you. Yeah, it's all fiction and doesn't matter, but the amount of shit that's gone down because of it has drawn distinct lines in the sand and idk if anyone is willing to cross it right now... I mean, especially now, given everything that's happened and this is now a nine-year-old ship that hasn't been represented/acknowledged on-screen for years, but... yeah.

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Auxiliary Notes

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(1): My personal stance is that Twelve/Clara is the better of the two in general, but that the Twelve/River we got should have been loads better, and I want to know who it was who was making the final calls for THoRS (Moff or someone higher), because I did want to see Twelve/River, bc those actors are just really good, but that episode felt too much like a Monkey's Paw prank to be legit. Best THoRS ending should have been Twelve leading River to their table at the restaurant and there's Eleven, and he gets to spend the twenty-four uninterrupted years with River, but eh what do I know.

(2): As someone with siblings, as well as acknowledging how much weird sibling energy the Doctor and the Master exude over the multiple versions I've seen, please don't come at me with excuses for what would essentially be an incest ship. Just no. I love you all, but some of you are disappointing me with your sins.

(3) It is very common for certain NMDs to have stopped watching at the end of 2009, or, alternatively, after the Ponds left the show. These are often people who have dangerous settings on their nostalgia filters and low amounts of media literacy. This brand of NMDs often are fans of Ten and/or Eleven, claiming they're their favorite "because he's so quirky", despite the fact they were... not... that... quirky... really. Many of them also hate Moffat's writing for [insert reasons here], despite the fact when you ask them to list their favorite episodes, Blink and Girl in the Fireplace are in their top five. They also have an extreme overlap with the fans that the show is attempting to court back with The Second Coming of Russell, despite the fact those fans really be out there wanting more Ten/Wose when that is the horse that even its creator acknowledges has been beaten to death.

(4) I worry for you if you thought that eye-sex Twelve and Clara kept having was how fathers and daughters are supposed to behave. Did you see any glances like that between Twelve and Bill? No? Well guess what: TWELVE WAS BILL'S SURROGATE DAD. THERE'S YOUR FATHER-DAUGHTER STUFF RIGHT THERE.

(5) Ratings, which have been a garbage system of proving a television show's worth since recording via VHS became widespread(1), were effected way more by the fact that there was often shoddy advertising (as though all the budget for the next few seasons went into the 2014 World Tour marketing blitz), weird changes made to the broadcast times at short notice, and the fact that iPlayer/VOD/recordings aren't counted alongside people who tuned in when it was airing. While it's true that consumer watching habits are changing, and that's fine, but the shift was much weaker back in 2014-2016 and that's only the UK ratings. Other countries that got a stable broadcast schedule or people who simply binged tend to have a greater outward acceptance of Twelve, despite the fact their population also will contain NMDs of varying levels.

(5.1) It actually can be argued that the garbage nonsense about ratings has only really been a thing whenever it is most convenient for the people running the television network, considering there are shows that in the past have done poorly and were allowed to continue, and shows that were doing very well with a loyal fanbase and axed for no reason whatsoever, other than some whim of a higher-up at the company. Compare the American shows M*A*S*H (which was actually a disaster in the ratings to start) and Green Acres (which despite not being a top-30 program had enough of a loyal viewership that it should of been saved during the Rural Purge of 1971, but wasn't).

(6) I have reason to believe that the channel that is in charge is just a giant NMD in of itself since Tennant (first) left the show, despite the fact it's their cash cow, based on how they've been making moves deliberately meant to be divisive and tear the show down, all the way back to casting Matt Smith. How effective they were with each move is debatable, but yeah... there's a lot of ways you can say that the channel itself is an NMD, to the point it becomes less of a coincidence and more of an aggressive pattern.

(7) It still both disappoints me and does not surprise me how things have been going lately and it's part of why I'm over in my corner being petty and ignoring what's going on in canon, bc they can't even let Gatwa have his time to shine without being overtaken by overdone and overrated.