#john dorney i love you

[geronimomo-spd]

did they say in the audio that he's aro too or did they just say he experiences romantic attraction but not anything else? sorry i have no money to buy the boxset lol

he declared he feels nothing of the sorts! they explain the differences between someone who feels romantic and more sexual attraction, and then River is like "oh doctor! you told me you feel nothing of the sorts! you are looking for someone who doesn't have romantic feelings in particular abd here you are!"

(because River and him talked earlier about them being husbands and wife of course, and he was like "a wife??? me??? not now or ever! I don't do that sort of stuff! couple things that is")

so then when he looks for someone who does not feel romantic attraction to save the day later, river makes him realise that's him! so he uses that to win the day!

so yeah!!! offical aromantic doctor!!!!

hoped i explained it well hehe

[quantumshade]

Just so you know, you can’t ship NineRose romantically. Nine is canonically Aromantic.

sorry i don’t take things as canon if they’re written by the same guy who wrote river song sexually assaulting five.

partly joking but not really. the way big finish wrote this story has one episode call the doctor aro (by john dorney, mentioned above), and have him solve the problem of the episode with his lack of romantic attraction, and two episodes later (by tim foley, who i also have beef with) basically has nine and river call their relationship romantic.

i know being aromantic is a spectrum and something complicated and different to each individual, and i would love it if the show (or surrounding media) made an effort to explore this with the doctor, but i. don't think it's done super well here. like. on one hand it could be saying nine didn't love rose*, which i dislike and also goes against what we see in the show, or it could be saying he needed to just Meet The Right Person, which i also dislike for very obvious reasons. and either way you slice it, it confirms the doctor has feelings in the future for river (which i agree with) but it basically says the only reason the doctor doesn’t have those feelings Now is because he’s aro (with the implication of “aro For Now”). not because he. yknow. just met her. or he just got out of the time war and he hates himself. dorney just kind of bungles it, which is very disappointing because nineriver could be such an interesting dynamic, romantic or not.

i guess i just do fundamentally disagree that the doctor’s sexuality really changes all that much body to body so it really ends up feeling like “he just hasn’t Met The Right Person Yet”.

*if you personally don't think this love is romantic then that's totally fine! if you prefer to read them as queerplatonic partners or what have you then you absolutely should. personally i do think it's romantic love -- specifically allegorical queer romantic love, given how it's written in the show -- and i don't think it's a moral wrong to read it that way.

tl;dr i dislike this writer and how he handled nine and river's relationship and i think how he handled nine's romantic attraction (or lack thereof) specifically in Swipe Right really kind of sucks. that story alone contradicts the doctor being aromantic by saying that they feel romantic attraction in the future, and then the third episode in the set by foley also contradicts the doctor being aro in the present. i know stuff with sexuality can change over time, but that doesn't really feel like what was being done here. it feels more like the stereotypical thing a lot of media does that basically says aromanticism has to be fixed or is a temporary thing.

i also think telling people they can't say two characters were in gay love because of a pseudocanon side story most people have not listened to and costs a lot of money is a weird way to interact with people you don't know on the internet. i like romantic readings of doctorrose and doctorriver, sue me.

[danielfeketewrites]

DOCTOR WHO TOP 10 - 9th Doctor

Ninth Doctor. I love him, you probably love him too. He's great. Let's go.

10. The Cruel Sea

Rob Shearman's very weird comic strip. Admittedly, I love it to bits. While I think Shearman wasn't entirely sure about what he's doing, the result is still by far ninth Doctor's best DWM comic. (Okay, I also really like Scott Gray's Monstrous Beauty, it just didn't make the list.)

9. The Beast of Babylon

I love xenofiction and Doctor Who should do it more often.

8. The Sin-Eaters

Ninth Doctor's Titan comic book run by Cavan Scott is on the whole pretty solid. (And preferable to ninth Doctor's 2005 DWM run, which just has too much Gareth Roberts to be any good.) I can definitely recommend the whole thing. Not everything in there is amazing, but there's a lot to like about it.

This story is my personal highlight of the run. Twisted, clever, and fun. The Sin-Eaters just slaps.

7. The End of the World

The moment Tainted Love starts playing, you know you're in for something amazing.

I just love this episode... It's the first episode of New Who that really gets to show off the scope of "the alien" in this universe. I adore the creativity of it, the energy of it. And Lady Cassandra O'Brien.Δ17, of course. So many iconic moments in this one.

6. Bad Wolf / Parting of the Ways

The big finale, of course. Huge, emotional, epic... but also featuring some biting satire about the landscape of television. The perfect finale to the first series.

5. The Stealers of Dreams

My favourite ninth Doctor book. It's kinda Cartmelian in it's premise, but also deals with the new reality for the eu - Doctor Who being back on TV. This is a stunning Who novel and it should get a lot more attention than it does. Steve Lyons is awesome.

4. Monsters in Metropolis

Historicals about film history are great and there should be more of them. Also, this one made me cry, so there's that. I love Monsters in Metropolis so goddamn much, thank you John Dorney.

3. Planet of the End

After listening to the first series of Big Finish's The Ninth Doctor Adventures, one gets a pretty clear sense that Respond to All Calls is the strongest of the four boxsets, by a pretty wide margin.

My favourite of that boxset has to be Planet of the End by Timothy X Atack. There's just something about the size of the ideas in this one... Fred is an amazing character, the Incorporation are truly villainous... Just thinking about this one makes me want to listen to it again.

2. Dalek

Rob Shearman resurrects Daleks. Well... just one, to be precise. But it's all he needs to craft one of the greatest Dalek stories every. Every line is gold, the story is poignant and meaningful, the characters are memorable... And it's a Base Under Siege story where the monster is trying to get out instead of getting in. What more do you want?

1. The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances

What else could it be? Steven Moffat's Hilarious & Horny Horror For Children, also known as The Empty Child two-parter, has become such an iconic and defining bit of Doctor Who. I feel like everyone loves it and for good reasons. It's absolutely deserving of all the hype and acclaim. And... You know... Everybody lives!

[quipxotic]

There is a Big Finish sale going on featuring Mark Strickson, aka Vislor Turlough, aka the worst assassin ever in Doctor Who and one of my favorite companions. 

If you don’t know where to start with his stories, here are a few of my favorites that are part of the sale:

Loups-Garoux - The Fifth Doctor and Turlough face off against werewolves. I’m not sure if this really counts as a good story, there’s a lot of weirdness in both the plot itself and the storytelling, but I love it regardless. It’s an audiodrama I think about all the time and feel compelled to listen to on a fairly regular basis.

Cobwebs - The reunion of one of the crowded TARDIS teams as an older Nyssa rejoins Tegan, Turlough, and the Fifth Doctor. Just a really fun, creepy time travel story.

The Cradle of the Snake - Because this is a Mara story, a lot of people get to play evil versions of themselves and seem to have a great time doing it. 

The Jupiter Conjunction - I get the sense this isn’t a favorite of most fans, but Turlough has a lot of good character moments here, particularly involving his somewhat (understandably) fraught relationship with the Fifth Doctor.

Gardens of the Dead - One of my favorite Short Trips, this one is set early in Turlough’s time in the TARDIS and really digs into the contradictions of his personality.

The Kamelion Empire - I love (love, love) this story. Not only is it well written and well acted, it helps make sense of some of the most bizarre parts of the Fifth Doctor’s time on TV.

Nightmare Country - One of the Lost Stories, meaning it was something they planned to film for the TV series but for some reason it never got made. And you can see why in this instance, because this would have been a really ambitious story for the 1980s. Still, it’s a fantastic audiodrama and one of the best featuring the team of Tegan, Turlough, and the Fifth Doctor.

The Blazing Hour - My headcanon is that this is set late in Turlough’s time with the Doctor because their relationship is surprisingly supportive and solid here. Also this is just a great story that does an excellent job recreating the feeling of the TV show while also being bigger than anything they could have pulled off at the time.

The Light at the End - A fun, multi-Doctor story featuring some of my favorite Classic Who companions. Also, John Dorney is in this one in an acting role rather than a writer/editor one.

Devil in the Mist - I’m not sure this is the best story if you want to get a feel for Turlough (he’s good, but not the focus here), but it’s a great showcase for Kamelion and Tegan.

Singularity - Another one that I’m not sure is a good story. The villains in particular are very annoying, but Turlough gets to do a lot of interesting things here and has some wonderful, memorable lines.

Zagreus - I can’t recommend this as a Turlough story since Mark is playing a different character here, but it is among my favorite (and one of the most buck wild) Eighth Doctor stories.

[being-of-rain]

Been binging a ton of Big Finish recently. Mostly the UNIT new series, but also some random stuff like the latest Classic Doctors New Monsters. And I just came here to say how fantastic the two Dream Crab episodes are in that!

Together In Eclectic Dreams has some very fun twists. Some of them you may be able to see coming, but I just love an episode that plays with the Dr Who formula a bit. I want to recommend this ep for one surprise character in particular, but the fact that I didn’t know they were coming made it all a bit more weird and fresh and... dream-like I guess!

When I saw that If I Should Die Before I Wake was credited to ‘John Dorney from a story by Jacqueline Rayner,’ i.e. two of the all-time best Dr Who authors, I thought it was either going to be a bit of a mess from having more than one writer, or it was going to be wonderful. And I’m happy to report it was the latter! I don’t know how much of the episode Dorney planned and wrote but he obviously did a heck of a good job preserving the original ideas, because the whole thing just screams Jac Rayner in the best way possible. The combination of those two authors makes for an episode that’s just hilarious line after hilarious line. It made me think how well Rayner’s style fits Eight and Charley, and then made me check her writing credits... she’s written for Charley with Six, but somehow she’s never written an audio for Eight before! Injustice!

I’m very much looking forward to the next set in the series. Not only because of another Jac Rayner episode, but also David K Barnes is writing two episodes about the Silents, presumably with Seven and Eight! Which is exciting for all sorts of reasons. The bad news is that it doesn’t come out for another year. Big Finish why do you announce things so early, just to taunt us??

And one more thing- I dearly wish that Big Finish wouldn’t feel the need to put every TV character possible on every one of their covers so they just becomes promo shot line-ups, but at least they can sometimes do it in ways that are actually good now. Rafe Wallbank is the cover artist for the covers here, as well as the latest River Song and Eighth Doctor covers, and they’re some of the best from Big Finish in ages in my opinion (yes, I have opinions on specific Big Finish cover artists now, something so niche that I haven’t heard anyone else even acknowledge it.)

[fiotrethewey]

Hello!! Not sure if this is a hard question to answer, but may I ask how it that you managed to get a writing job with big finish? A million congratulations to you by the way and wonderful job with war room!

Hello! Thanks for asking! And thank you for what you said about War Room, it is my pride and joy! My writing jobs with Big Finish have spawned from one interaction in particular, so I'll share that story with you now.

Back in 2018 I attended Big Finish Day here in the UK. At the time I was in the middle of releasing my first short story in an anthology set in the 1950s and my fan artwork was doing well in the fandom. At this event there were many producers, writers and script editors but I was too nervous to go up to anyone regarding work. After all, what would I say? It was amazing enough to just meet people like Andrew Smith and John Dorney and tell them how much I'd loved their writing.

So the most I did was go to the Writers Panel. Alfie Shaw was a semi new producer then, on the panel answering questions and he was talking about the short trips producing that he had taken over. Eager to know about how they found new writers, I asked him during the Q&A section of the panel. Unfortunately, he misunderstood the question, and answered more about the plots. I was still happy with what he said and thought nothing of it.

That was until he found me later in the convention, and apologised to me as he realised he had misunderstood the question.

"You wanted to know how we find new writers, right? Why? Are you interested?"

I explained that I was, that I had been writing for charity anthologies and was about to release a short horror story. He told me to get in touch with him when they were starting the process for short trips as they like to use new writers for the short trips to try them out.

Instead of me contacting him, he contacted me to pitch. That led to my subscriber short trip A Song for Running which was released Christmas 2019. After that, I was asked to work on Master Thief which was another short trip about the first TV Incarnation of the Master for Time Lord Victorious, then a short story for Benny Summerfield in the Christmas Collection.

It wasn't until after that that the new producer Heather Challands asked me to write full cast audio drama. I never in my wildest dreams thought it would be for Gallifrey.

Who'd have known little me would get to write Narvin after getting to post with Sean the following year?

I hope that answers your question!

[riversofmars]

I have listened to Doom Coalitions but also that was a couple years ago so I’m definitely down to being reminded of why it’s great

Well then, dear Anon, let me shout it loud for the people at the back that serious need to check this out!

The set up: Eight, my sweet summer child, fresh off the horrors of Dark Eyes, finally not dealing with Daleks for once but his own people! Yay for Time Lord schemes! Mixing Classic and NuWho elements and tying into the canon: alluding to the Time War, bringing in new and awesome Time Lord characters, as well as the Monk, River and the Weeping Angels. It's a vibe!

The Eleven: What a villain! I mean, a Time Lord that has all his previous regenerations still in his head?! Seriously, one of the best ideas BF ever conceived!

The companions: Are not interested in the Doctor romantically? Yes, wonderful! Are extremely capable, strong women who can hold their own? Yes, I'm here for it. Have a go at the Doctor when he's being unfair and hold him accountable? SIGN ME TF UP!

River! Bringing the sass! Being completely awesome as usual but for once also super independent from the Doctor? Outstanding. Also, flirting with the companions as much as with her husband? Yesss!

The TARDIS Team in general: Dr. Sinclair, Dr. Chenka, Dr. Song and The Doctor.... Intelligence is sexy af! Also, they're all canonically queer in one way or another and just... YES.

The plot: compelling and tight af! I mean, literally, plot points from 1.2 being wrapped up in 4.4 to such outstanding effect. The tension and the stakes building the way they do? *chef's kiss*

Some of the best stand out episodes of all of BF: The Red Lady, Absent Friends, Ship In A Bottle. Need I say more? John Dorney you brilliant mf.

The cast: I'm not being funny but... Paul McGann, Nicola Walker, Hattie Morahan, Mark Bonnar, Alex Kingston, Robert Bathurst, John Heffernan......

So, in conclusion, it's simply one of the best thought out and executed DW stories ever. Eight is a brilliant, engaging Doctor. His companions are well rounded, relatable and admirable characters who you will fall in love with within minutes. The villains are compelling af. River gives it that NuWho feel and the Time Lords bring the Classic magic. Wrapped up in outstanding writing, imaginative plot and exceptional acting performances... it's everything you want it to be and more.

And for those who haven't listened to it yet... You can get the first episode free! There is no excuse not to give it a go!

[collecting-stories]

The House Party - ep.03 - JJ Maybank

Summary: Things start to heat up as the week reaches its midway point and you make a decision that changes everything.

A/N: Mild smut at the very end of the chapter. 

The S’week Masterlist | Outer Banks Masterlist

///

You weren’t sure how many times you would have to brush your teeth to get the taste of last night out of your mouth but the three times you already had clearly weren’t enough. It wasn’t alcohol, in fact you’d woken up more sober than you expected to be, almost leaning off the edge of your bed, tucked into your blanket, with JJ laying on top of the bedding beside you. It was all very ‘one motel bed’ trope-ish but you’d both been so exhausted last night that you couldn’t even enjoy the implications of it. An ice cube tray of melted aloe vera sat on the night stand and you brought it down with you to the kitchen to refreeze when you decided coffee might help the taste that wouldn’t leave your mouth. 

To put it the only way you knew how, a way JJ would have definitely put it, you tasted kook trash every time you swallowed and it wasn’t going to go away anytime soon, at least not while Rafe was two houses down from you. 

“Morning,” Pope voice half startled you as you entered the kitchen to find him sitting at the island eating cereal. 

“How is it possible that you look so normal?” You asked, grabbing a bowl for some cereal yourself. Breakfast was a good distraction from your phone and the taste in your mouth. 

“You mean as opposed to John B and Sarah who decided to parent trap it on a floatie in the pool?” He asked, turning for emphasis to look outside where your best friend and her boyfriend were indeed asleep on a floatie in the pool. 

“Exactly.” 

“I’m not a big drinker.” He shrugged. “What about you?”

“Am I a big drinker?” You asked. 

“No, how did you end the night?” 

You nodded your head slowly, realising what he was getting at with his question. “JJ was sick, I figured it was better to come back here than make him stay at the party.” 

“Sure.” He agreed though it sounded empty, “did you hook up?” 

“What?” 

“Look, I know how JJ parties, he’s my best friend. And I know what his ‘senior week plans’ were before Sarah hijacked them to come down here. I wouldn’t put it past him to alter them. You know, have sex with as many girls as he can in the keys. Host included.”

“We didn’t have sex.” You replied. 

He stared at you for a full minute, not saying anything, as if the look on his face alone would crack you into admitting some misdeed. And it probably would have if any had occurred. 

“We didn’t have sex, I swear to god.” You reiterated. “It is what I said it is. JJ was throwing up in the bathroom and I brought him back here so he could rest. That’s all that happened.” 

“With JJ.” Pope scoffed. 

“Whoa, where’s the displaced animosity coming from...pretty sure you’re in my house.” 

“Yeah and JJ is my best friend. I don’t want you stringing him along for the week cause you’re bored and you wanna make your ex jealous or something.” Pope replied.

“You literally just got done telling me that JJ wanted to sleep his way around s’week but I’m the bad guy in your head because of some proposed plan I have to ‘make my ex jealous’?” You questioned. “That’s un-fucking-believable.”

“It would be if I hadn’t seen you in the hallway with your ex right before you left with JJ.” 

“You’re delusional. My ex who? Just cause I was talking to some guy-“

“You weren’t talking and it was Rafe.” 

You shut your mouth, lips pressed together in a line as you tried to think of something to say. Sure, it was common knowledge amongst your friend group that you and Rafe had been hooking up for the better part of two years but that was over and you really didn’t think it was the kind of thing that pogues talked about. And you trusted Sarah not to have blabbed about it to anyone else. 

“How’d you know-“ 

“How’d I know you and Rafe were a thing? Sarah’s not the only one here that knows you. I’ve seen him at your house before when I delivered groceries, not so hard to put two and two together.” 

“Well me and Rafe are over.” 

“You didn’t look over.” Pope challenged. 

“Oh well, thank you for interpreting two fucking minutes of my life and deciding how I feel about something.” You snapped, “I didn’t want him to kiss me okay, I told him to leave me alone. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to you that the word no isn’t exactly a part of his vocab.”

Before Pope could say anything back the sound of footsteps on the stairs caught your attention. Both of you looked toward the staircase in time to see JJ appear, shirtless with just a pair of swim shorts on. His shoulders and chest were red but not as burnt as his back, which you caught a glimpse of as he trudged passed you, not in the high spirits he had been yesterday morning. 

“Dude, your back looks painful.” Pope commented, staring at the expanse of angry red skin that looked more ready to blister than anything. 

“It feels painful too.” JJ grumbled. So far he was 0-3 with vacation. He was stuck in this kook house (which really wasn’t so bad but he enjoyed bitching about it), he was sunburnt to hell, and he’d wasted an entire night of partying throwing up from sun-poisoning (though that worked out in his favour too because he definitely enjoyed the part where he sat on your bed and you rubbed aloe ice cubes on his back and basically took care of him). 

“Guess the beach is out of the question?” Pope asked, getting up to put his bowl in the sink. 

“I can go to the beach.” 

“You definitely can’t.” You replied, coming around to look at JJ’s back. He was sitting on one of the stools, slumped over. “You shouldn’t get anymore direct sun on your back.” 

“Oh cool, I’m so glad I came all the way down to fucking Florida to sit in a house all day and do shit.” 

“Sorry man,” Pope said, though he made no offer to stay at the house. Yesterday had been great and he was looking forward to going to the beach again today with Kiara. John B and Sarah had mentioned tagging along but he knew they’d eventually go off to do their own thing. 

“We could go to the boardwalk?” You offered, ignoring the look that Pope sent your way. You knew he was just being a good friend, looking out for someone he cared about, and it made you wish that Sarah knew enough to do the same for you. 

“What will we do on the boardwalk?” JJ asked, curious enough that he wasn’t immediately rejecting the idea. 

“There’s a water park there and an arcade, plus you know, tons of food.” You shrugged, “I know you wanna go to the beach-“

“I can be persuaded.”

“I think you already have been.” Pope commented. 

The three of you turned your attention to the stairs as Kiara came down, already dressed for the beach. When she saw the three of you in various states of sleepwear she rolled her eyes, “hey Kie be ready early so we can all go to the beach together.” 

“Technically, Sarah said that and she’s passed out in the pool still.” Pope replied, pointing out the glass doors to where the floatie was still carrying John B and Sarah on the water. 

“Let’s wake ‘em up then.” JJ slipped passed you, winking, before he ran outside, jumping into the pool and landing directly on top of John B and Sarah. 

You, Pope, and Kiara rushed to the doors in time to see the floatie flip over, all three teens going under as Sarah shrieked and John B tried to grab any part of the inflatable raft. Sarah surfaced immediately after JJ, throwing her body on him and wrapping her arms around his neck as she tried to push him under. 

“You asshole!” She screamed when JJ ducked under the water, twisting in her arms and grabbing her waist so that he could throw her off him. 

You watched them for a minute longer, as John B finally got involved, before heading back into the house and going upstairs to change. You’d left your phone plugged in the bathroom outlet while you were sitting with JJ and you picked it up now to check your messages. Two from Rafe and one, unsurprisingly, from Topper. It’d been him at the end of the hall that called Rafe away from you. 

-You okay?- was all the text said and you quickly responded. 

-Nothing happened. Thx-

You deleted the messages from Rafe without looking at them. You could hear everyone come in the kitchen, footsteps on the stairs as John B, Sarah, and JJ came up to change. You pulled on a crop top and some shorts, pocketing your phone before hurrying downstairs. 

Kiara and Pope were back to hanging around the island, talking to each other about their plans as you entered. 

“Hey, do you guys wanna meet up later on the boardwalk?” Kiara asked, “we could do dinner or something?”

“Sounds good to me.” You replied, grabbing your backpack from the chair and making sure that you had everything you needed. “There’s a pizza place near the South street entrance that has incredible food, plus it’s super cheap.” 

“I do love cheap food.” 

-

You had locked your shorts and your backpack in the rented locker of the water park along with JJ’s backpack before the two of you headed for any of the rides. Both your phones locked away in your backpack, cutting you both off from the rest of the world for however long JJ felt like staying at the water park. 

“So? Where to first?” You asked as JJ stopped in front of a mounted map of the park. It wasn’t as big as Dorney or Six Flags but it was pretty expansive for being an extension of the boardwalk. 

“Shush, I’m consulting the map.” 

“Consult the bones,” you said and JJ laughed, casting you a glance before going back to the map. 

“Come on,” he grabbed your hand suddenly, having zeroed in on a ride titled the constrictor, 450 feet of enclosed water slide and the two of you were going down it. 

He weaved his way through the crowd of people, leading you closer and closer to the line for the slide. Most people were at the beach on the weekdays which meant a shorter wait line, something JJ was happy about. It was bad enough he was spending his day at some dumb water park with you, he didn’t want to have to wait in line too. Although, he hadn’t let your hand go yet. 

“Should I mention before or after we ascend these stairs that I have a mild fear of heights?” You asked, taking the raft that was offered to you by the water park employee. 

“It’s fine,” JJ assured you, “here go ahead of me.” 

“How does this help?” You asked as you stepped in front of him onto the first stair. 

JJ shifted his raft under his arm, pressing it against his body and holding onto the railing while he used his other hand to hold you, fingers brushing the skin above your bikini bottoms as he held your waist. “See.”

You bit your lip and took a deep breath, “yeah I see.” 

The rest of the way up the stairs JJ kept his hand on either your waist or your back. He wasn’t too thrilled with heights either though focusing on the peach bikinis bottoms you wore, little pineapples polkadotting them. He could imagine you totally smacking him in the face of you knew but he’d take his chances. 

As sly as he might’ve thought he was being you knew he was looking. When you turned around at the first platform before the stairs twisted you caught him looking down, eyes darting up quickly when he realized you were looking at him. You didn’t say anything, just turned back around so he wouldn’t see the satisfied smile on your face.  

“You ready for this?” JJ asked as you stepped onto the final platform, JJ stepping up behind you.

“I’ll see you at the bottom Maybank.” You replied, stepping over to your slide while JJ got set up at his.  

You liked waterparks for the lazy rivers and the wave pools and those crazy contraptions for kids that looked like towering pipes and dumped water on you. Even the log flume was fun. But giant enclosed slides that shot you through winding loops for endless feet until finally dumping you in a pool? Not your favorite. But as you looked over at JJ, who flashed you a thumbs up, you were having trouble thinking about the things you didn’t like.  

The slide was over before you knew it and you were climbing out of the pool, JJ standing on the side waiting for you. “How did you beat me?”  

“I’m like speed racer,” he said, making a wooshing sound as he glided one hand under the other like a wave.  

“Well, speedracer, what next?” You asked, taking off your soaked shirt and wringing it out as you followed JJ back to the map. “Are we consulting the map again?”

“What you think I memorized it?” He asked, looking back over his shoulder at you and grabbing your hand when a woman with a stroller tried to squeeze between the two of you.  

-

By the time you and JJ met up with Kiara and Pope and made it back to the house Sarah was already setting up for a party. John B had obviously been enlisted to help as he was trying to adhere light stripes at the top of the wall in the living room.  

“What’d you do rob a liqour store?” You asked, grabbing the leg of the ladder he was on when he leaned to far to the left.

“Feels like it.” John B replied, “Sarah filled a cart. We’re either having a party or she’s turning into everyone’s alcoholic grandmother.”  

“We’re having a party!” Sarah called, coming in from the pool area, “it’s exactly what we need.”

“Why do we need to host a party?” Kiara asked, looking back at JJ and Pope but they just shrugged, obviously not willing to get involved.

“Because morale is low here people.” Sarah replied, “and it’s senior week, duh.”

“Duh.” You repeated, raising your eyebrows and grinning at JJ who laughed. Sarah watched the interaction skeptically, as far as she knew John B’s best friend had complained of nothing but a bad time. Now he was joking with you like the two of you were friends.

“Can I talk to you,” she grabbed your arm to pull you out of the room, “Pope hold the ladder!”

“Oh cool the bathroom.” You muttered as she dragged you into the hall powder room, shutting the door behind her and trapping the two of you in the crammed space. “What’s up?”

“What’s up? What’s going on with you and JJ?”  

“Didn’t we do this literally yesterday?” You questioned, “I said then and I'll say now, JJ and I are barely friends.”

“Except when I texted Kie earlier cause I couldn’t get a hold of you she said you and JJ were on the boardwalk together.”

“Oh, oh my god Sarah, you’re right, something is clearly ‘going on’ because I went on the boardwalk with someone instead of just ignoring the people living in my house.” You rolled your eyes at her accusation that something was going on though you sincerely hoped something was.  

When she finally released you from the bathroom the two of you resumed getting ready before you changed into something more appropriate for the party. NC parties were slow going in the early hours until they finally picked up, mostly just crowds of people crammed in an empty rental or spread out on the beach. House parties in the Keys happened a little more erratically. People showed up while it was still light out, hanging around the pool drinking and shit talking until it got dark and they all migrated inside, drunk off their asses and louder than necessary.  

You had moved the table and chairs in the dining room and pushed all the furniture back in the living room for good reason because the minute the sun went down it felt like everyone was spilling back into the house for part 2. You were in the kitchen, ignoring most everyone there, watching JJ set up a shot for Kiara.  

“Is it lime and then salt or salt and then lime?” He asked, glancing at you.  

You were leaned against the counter beside him and Kiara was on the other side with Pope, who already said twice he wanted no part in this. “Lime first, how else does the salt stick right? I don’t remember...I know how to do a body shot.”

“Are you offering?” The grin on JJ’s face as he asked had you practically melting in your spot.

“Guys!” Kiara leaned across the island, snapping her fingers, “can we please just do the shot!”

“Right, sorry.” You apologized, grabbing the bottle of tequila to pour for them.  

While the three of you were talking Pope spun in his chair, observing the louder parts of the party that was raging on the first floor. There were a few people lingering in the kitchen with you, mostly to be closest to the alcohol, but otherwise everyone was contained to the living room, dining room, and pool. When he looked out the glass doors to the pool area he frowned, “hey guys, look who showed up.”

You looked out the door to see Topper on the patio chatting with some local. “I’ll be right back.”

“Can we just enjoy the party?” Pope called though you were already slipping out the door.

“Top,” you called not caring that you were interrupting him, “can I talk to you?”

He apologized to the girl before placing his hand on your back and leading you further away from the party, stopping once the two of you had stepped onto the sand path down to the beach. “Look, someone texted Rafe about the party alright.”

“Well I don’t want you guys here.” You replied, “you weren’t invited by me and it’s my house.”

“Hey come on, you know me alright, I’m not trying to start anything-”

“Doesn’t sound like the Topper I know.”  

“That wasn’t me alright, Sarah made me a little crazy, I'll admit. But I’m over that.” Topper replied. “I don’t understand why you and Rafe broke up and suddenly you can’t hang with any of us.”

“Are you still friends with Rafe?”  

“That’s not fair, we’ve been-”

“I don’t care. You know what happened. You want me to be friends with you Top? After what you and Kelce did. Look, thanks for last night but I don’t need your guilty conscience looking out for me. I need you to get your boys and get the fuck out my house.”

“Putting on the tough act for Topper?” Rafe’s voice came from behind you and you closed your eyes, jaw tensing at the sound.  

“It’s fine man, we’re just talking.” Topper replied, stepping closer to you.  

You opened your eyes and turned around to see Rafe and Kelce standing there, “actually I will tell you the same thing I told Top, get the fuck off my property.”  

“Damn,” Rafe whistled, “you start hanging with the pogues and suddenly you think you’re tough shit.”

“Hey man, let’s just forget it.” Topper said, getting between you and Rafe.

Rafe put his hand on Topper’s shoulder, guiding him out of the way, “you go ahead, I need to talk to my girlfriend.”

“Ex-girlfriend.” You replied, “I said we were done and I meant it.”  

Pope had been watching you talk to Topper from the kitchen door and when he saw Rafe and Kelce join the two of you on the catwalk he’d broken up JJ and Kiara’s shot game to tell them something was going down and you were out there alone.

“Maybe she’s just talking to them.” Kiara shrugged, “I mean, she is a kook. Her and Rafe used to date too so...”

“She dated Rafe?” JJ asked, eyes wide at the implication.

“Oh yeah, she broke it off a couple times but they always got back together.  Sarah told me she thinks they might get back together again.”

Pope frowned, thinking of the way you had looked this morning when he accused you of doing just that, “I don’t think so. We should make sure she’s okay.”

“I’ll get John B.” Kiara replied, making her way to the living room to find John B and Sarah.  

JJ and Pope meanwhile, headed outside, coming up behind Kelce just as you told Rafe that you were never getting back together with him. You saw the two of them passed Kelce’s shoulder and your best at a subtle shake of the head, a silent ‘please go back inside’. But Topper saw them too and alerted Rafe to their presence.  

“Kelce wasn’t lying Maybank, you really have turned into a guard dog haven’t you.” Rafe said, turning his full attention on JJ. Topper pulled you to the other side of the path and pushed you behind him as Kiara, Sarah, and John B walked up.  

“Fuck off Rafe, you aren’t welcome here.” Kiara cut in before JJ could reply.  

“I didn’t know you owned the place.” Kelce challenged.

“I already fucking told you to go!” You said, “so go!”

Rafe only smiled, looking at JJ still, “what pair you guys make man. A bitch and her dog.”

Without warning JJ lunged forward, shoving Rafe back and swinging, trying to punch him. When Kelce tried to grab him John B intervened, getting Kelce in a choke hold. It took a second for all six of the boys to become involved in the fight as Kiara urged Sarah to call the cops. Rafe punched JJ, sending him back into the sand and getting on top of him, hitting him repeatedly while Topper held off Pope and John B and Kelce fought with each other.

“Stop it,” Kiara grabbed at Topper, trying to pull him off Pope and Sarah just stood there frozen.  

You went for Rafe, trying to push him off JJ. When you grabbed his arm he pulled away only to throw his elbow back, colliding with your stomach and sending you to the ground. It was all the momentum that JJ seemed to need to shove Rafe off him and get the upper hand, kicking him in the stomach a couple times.  

“Get the fuck out!” He shouted, spitting on your ex-boyfriend.  

Topper let go of Pope and grabbed Rafe’s arm, helping him up and pulling him away, Kelce breaking away from John B and following them back to theirs, away from the party. The six of you stood there in silence, trying to process what had just happened.

“Some party.” Pope finally said and Kiara glared at him.  

“Didn’t I say this week would be shit.” JJ said, looking over at you before turning and heading out toward the beach.  

“Let’s just go back inside.” Sarah pleaded.  

“Why were they even here?” Pope asked, casting a glance your way.

“Topper said someone texted Rafe about the party.” You said, “could have been anyone...he’s been down here with me before, he knows some of my Keys friends.”

“Whatever,” Kiara cut in, “we have three days left and I would love if we could just, not see them again for 72 hours. Is that possible?”

“I hope so.”

-

“I had a feeling you’d still be out here.” You said, walking up behind JJ on the beach. The light from the houses behind you did little to illuminate the night. The waves were lapping up the sand at JJ’s feet and he made no sign that he even knew you were there. You dropped the blanket you had around your shoulders and sat down, not bothering to straighten out the corners. “I know you’re pissed-“

“I’m not pissed.” He said, digging his heels in further. “I just...you and Rafe, seriously?” 

“It was different, at the beginning.”

“That’s just an excuse.”

“Maybe but...I was 14 when we first started dating and I really thought he liked me. But, he just liked that I was insecure and he tries to remind me of that every time he sees me.” You explained. “Rafe being down here doesn’t change what happened at the water park, I didn’t just kiss you because of him.” 

It’d happened during the lazy river ride that you had forced JJ to go on. He had spent most of the ride pushing your innertube with his foot and trying to tip you until it finally happened and you went over, sputtering to the surface and trying to grab at your inflatable tube as passersby tried to avoid the two of you. You’d pushed his innertube over in retaliation and he’d abandoned it to grab you and try to dunk you underwater.

Serendipitous maybe, as you twisted in his arms, turning to face him, he’d leaned down and kissed you.  

“He keeps showing up.”

“I didn’t invite him.” 

JJ looked back at you before rubbing the heel of his hand across his cheeks and sniffing to get rid of the literal waterworks he’d been two seconds away from. This wasn’t the vacation he had signed up for. And maybe there had been some good parts so far but the complicated bits were starting to outweigh everything else. Still, he shifted back so he could sit on the blanket with you; a step in the right direction you hoped. 

“What’s in the bag?” He asked, looking over at the backpack you’d carried all the way out here with you. 

“I didn’t think you would want to go back to the party so I brought the party with me.” You replied, unzipping the main compartment to reveal the alcohol you had swiped from the house. “I don’t know if you wanna party with me-“

“Shut up and pass me a beer.” 

You smiled, grabbing a beer from the bag and handing it to JJ. Without warning he grabbed your wrist and pulled you toward him, leaning back on his other elbow as he did. You caught yourself, pressing your hand into the blanket to hold yourself up and realizing you were hovering over him. 

“I, uh-“ you stammered, licking your lips briefly before JJ let go of your wrist and put his hand on the back of your neck, leading you into a kiss. You kissed back, ignoring the feeling of the beer bottle cap scratching your hand as you shifted to be closer to JJ, moving your knee between his legs so you were almost straddling him. 

“Are you sure?” You asked when you pulled away to move your hand from the beer bottle. You frowned when you glanced at it, holding it up so JJ could see the cut. He took your wrist, kissing over the small cut on your palm. “I’m not really good at casual things,” you admitted.  

“Is that what this is?”

You shook your head before leaning in to kiss him again. While you held yourself up with the hand that had been cut by the beer bottle your other hand moved to JJ’s stomach, fingers slipping beneath his shirt and dancing along the soft skin of his abdomen, just above his shorts. His grip on the back of your neck tightened ever so slightly as he held your face to his, pulling out of the kiss for the briefest of moments to look at you, “Are you sure?” He repeated your question though it had a different meaning.

“Yeah.” You nodded. It was dead on the beach this time of night and you were far enough down toward the water that no one could really see you from the houses though that didn’t stop this from being the most daring thing you’d ever done.  

JJ shifted so that he was laying back on the blanket, pushing the backpack away from his body as you straddled his waist. His hands went to your hips, running over your ass and settling on the backs of your thighs when you leaned all the way forward to kiss him, bodies practically pressed together. You kissed along his jaw and down his neck, sucking a bruise into his skin. JJ’s breathing picked up as your right hand moved between your bodies, fingers unbuttoning and unzipping his shorts before you slipped your hand beneath them, grasping him. JJ bit down on his lip as he moaned, the sound coming up from his chest.

You pulled away from him, cool air rushing between your bodies as you sat back on your heels. He watched you, heart pounding in his chest, as you put your hands on the waistband of his shorts, ready to pull them down, “God, why are you not in a swimsuit.”

“Excuse me for not knowing I was gonna get lucky on the beach.”

“I’m gonna leave you on the beach for saying that,” you teased.  

JJ’s hands held you in a vice grip, squeezing your hips, “not a chance.” He replied. He ran his hands up your sides to the hem of your bralette, fingers nudging the fabric up and you caught on to what he wanted, obliging him by lifting the top up over your head and tossing it to the side.  

Your original plan of action went to hell though you could be upset when JJ wrapped his arms around your back and sat himself up, knocking you back and laying you down so he could hover over you. You wrapped your arms around his shoulders as he kissed you.  

“That was a neat trick.” You managed as he mirrored the hickey you’d left on him on your own neck. He smiled against your skin as his right hand moved across your stomach, fingers brushing against the underside of your breast. His mouth travelled down from your neck, kissing between your breasts before moving to the left, tongue darting out to flick over your nipple. His fingers twisted your other nipple at the same time and you tensed, hips shooting up to try and create some friction with his own. He sucks another bruise into your skin, just below your left breast before moving back up to kiss you.  

The new position made it easier to get his shorts and briefs down and you manage to push them down to his thighs after you rid yourself of your own shorts. JJ leans his forehead against your collar, looking down at you with a sly smile. “No underwear?”

“I was in a hurry to get dressed.” You insisted, “now shut up.”

“I’m not the chatty one.”  

“I’m not - holy shit!” You cursed as he slipped his hand between your thighs, coating his fingers before rubbing your clit. His middle finger circled the bundle of nerves before slipping down inside of you, just barely offering anything before repeating the cycle. When he kissed you he slipped his tongue in your mouth and you bit down gently, not enough to hurt him but enough to getting him going.  

You tried to press yourself up into his hand but he pushed you down, slick fingers digging into your skin as he pressed you against the blanket. You whimpered when he pushed his hips into yours, his dick rubbing over your clit and you grip his hair as he tilts his head down to kiss and nip at your breasts again.  

“Please, Jay,” you begged, unashamed and completely oblivious to your surroundings as he lined himself up and thrust in to you. He stilled for a moment once he was completely in, savoring the feeling of you until you tugged his hair. “Move.”

“God, you’re so desperate for me.” He teased, kissing beneath your chin and along your neck.  

Finally he moves, thrusting into you. His pace quickens and you wrap your arms around him, digging your fingers into his back. He groans from the almost pain of the feeling, his hips hitting yours harder to give back as much as you’re giving him. You pulled him closer so that you could kiss him again. You’d be lying if you said that you had been on edge with JJ all day. That every touch and smile, the kiss in the lazy river, it all felt like foreplay as he thrust into you now, slipping his hand between your legs to rub your clit as he did, pushing you closer to the edge.  

“JJ,” you whimpered, muscles in your stomach clenching as you felt yourself approaching your high.  

JJ pressed his face into your neck, biting again at your collar, “I know,” was all he said, repeating it again when the rhythm he’d built up wavered slightly as he felt his own release approaching, “I know.”

One hand fisted the blanket beneath you as your release hit. You came, his name the only thing you could think of, and he came right after, the feeling of you tightening around him enough to pull an orgasm out of him. JJ held himself up on one arm, trembling above you, still connected as his hips still, his eyes on yours.  

You sucked in a breath as he kissed the tender skin of your collar, red from his teeth, “have you ever gone skinny dipping?” You asked.

“Not in the Keys.” He replied, letting his upper body fall against you as well, all of him pressing into you.  

“When I can move again...want to?”

-

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[terryballs]

My favourite Doctor Who writers

10. Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is one of the most talented people to ever write for Doctor Who. Of course, talent alone is not enough - Douglas Adams, Alan Moore, and Naomi Alderman all miss out on this list. What makes Gaiman special is his fairytale, fantasy approach to the show. He has big ideas, full of heart, and I am always delighted by them.

Why isn’t Mr Gaiman higher up on the list? Simply because he has only done four stories. One of them, “The Doctor’s Wife”, is an all-time classic, while the others are at least good. With a couple more stories, Mr Gaiman would surely be higher.

9. Paul Magrs

Coming in at #9 is one of the most important writers of non-televised Who. Paul Magrs has written nine Big Finish Main Range stories (most notably “The Peterloo Massacre”), three Companion Chronicles, and two Eighth Doctor Adventures, including the exceptional “The Zygon Who Fell To Earth”, as well as a huge number of spin-off adventures.

It’s in print where Magrs really flourishes, though. It’s quite hard to get across just how influential Paul Magrs has been. Firstly, his three books in the Eighth Doctor Adventures range - The Scarlet Empress, The Blue Angel, and Mad Dogs and Englishmen - are hugely ambitious metatextual delights. These stories introduce Iris Wildthyme and the Smudgelings to the Whoniverse, and have each inspired their own spin-off series, collectively called the “Magrsverse”. Iris’s parody of the Doctor is a rip-roaring delight whenever she appears - and as you know, she’s famous for it - and will prove a lasting legacy for Mr Magrs.

I suppose, at this junction, I should mention Lawrence Miles, who has had a similar influence, but I just don’t find to be quite as good a storyteller as Magrs.

8. Rob Shearman

You probably know Rob Shearman for “Dalek”, the first good New Who story. What if I told you that “Dalek” is Shearman’s worst DW story?

The titles of Shearman’s audio plays are enough to send shivers up the spines of those who have heard them. There’s “Jubilee”, the loose inspiration for “Dalek”, which explores the Daleks as fascist iconography. There’s “The Holy Terror”, where the Doctor and Frobisher the Penguin Shape-Shifter have a similarly horrifying experience with a religious cult. There’s “The Chimes of Midnight”, possibly the definitive Eighth Doctor story, and “Scherzo”, itself perhaps the most experimental story in Doctor Who history, and “Deadline”, in which the villain is Doctor Who itself.

Like many of the writers on this list, Shearman has an eclectic back catalogue full of obscure oddities. But few people have quite his capacity for knocking it out of the park.

7. Chris Chibnall

It’s true that Chris Chibnall’s work before becoming showrunner is inconsistent at best. “42″ is bad and “The Hungry Earth” is uninspired. “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” is a fun romp, while “The Power of Three” is a great story that is let down by the ending which had to be re-written hastily due to unforeseen production issues. And Chibnall’s contributions to Series 11 range from “fine” (”The Woman Who Fell To Earth”) to “bad” (”The Battle of Ranskor Av Kolos”). But in “Pond Life” and “P.S.”, Chibnall shows that he knows how to write affecting character beats.

It’s in Series 12 that Chibnall really takes things up a step. His stories become sprawling and ambitious: globe-trotting thrillers crammed full of ideas. He’s still occasionally guilty of trying to throw too many ideas in, but his love for the story really shines through. There’s barely a weak moment in Series 12, and that’s largely because Chibnall himself steps up to write or co-write hit after hit after hit. It all culminates in the epic three-part finale, “The Haunting of Villa Diodati”/”Ascension of the Cybermen”/”The Timeless Children”, a hugely ambitious story that crosses space and time and pulls together disparate elements from the history of Who. It’s a million miles from “The Battle of Ranskor Av Kolos”: a fan-pleasing story that is truly epic.

6. Vinay Patel

Why is Vinay so high? Good question. Thinking about it, I can’t really justify this placement. Patel reliably produces great stories - “Demons of the Punjab” alone marks Patel out as a great, and to follow it up with “Fugitive of the Judoon” shows that it wasn’t a fluke. But Mr Patel has only got four stories to his name - the aforementioned TV stories plus “Letters from the Front” and “The Tourist” - so for similar reasons to Mr Gaiman, a high position is difficult to justify.

So instead, let’s give this position to Terrance Dicks. Mr Dicks has a bit of a reputation as more of a “jobbing” writer than someone like Chibnall or Shearman, Terrance Dicks was, first and foremost, a script editor. Yes, he co-wrote “The War Games” and was the sole writer for “Horror of Fang Rock”, but he’s best remembered for script editing the Third Doctor era (and part of the Second Doctor era), as well as producing an absolute mass of Target novelisations. But that’s not all - Mr Dicks has written original novels (VNAs, EDAs, and PDAs alike), Quick Reads, audio stories, two stage plays, and even the Destiny of the Doctor video game.

Sure, Mr Dicks didn’t burn as bright as Mr Patel. But his contribution to the Whoniverse is unparalleled.

5. Nev Fountain

Comedy writer Nev Fountain has written several of the very best Doctor Who stories. For some reason, these stories tend to centre around Peri (Fountain is married to Nicola Bryant). “Peri and the Piscon Paradox” is the best Companion Chronicle by far, due to a combination of great acting by Bryant and Colin Baker and Fountain’s sizzling script. “The Kingmaker” is an outrageously funny historical with incredible dialogue and multiple ideas clever enough to carry a whole story.

Frankly, those two alone should be enough to convince anyone of Fountain’s brilliance. But there is so much more - “The Widow’s Assassin”, “The Curious Incident of the Doctor In the Night-time”, “The Blood on Santa’s Claw”, “Omega“... if you like Doctor Who, make yourself familiar with Nev Fountain.

4. Robert Holmes

More than anyone else, Robert Holmes is responsible for the esteem which the Fourth Doctor is held in.

Holmes first wrote for the show all the way back in Series 6, with “The Krotons”. He wrote the very first Third Doctor story, “Spearhead From Space”, in which he also introduced the Autons. They reappeared a year later in “Terror of the Autons”, which introduced Jo Grant and the Master. In “The Time Warrior”, Holmes introduced the Sontarans, a pastiche of imperialism.

It was in the Fourth Doctor era that Mr Holmes really made his mark. He took over from Mr Dicks as script editor. In his own right, he wrote “The Deadly Assassin” and “Talons of Weng-Chiang”, but he also turned “The Ark In Space”, “Pyramids of Mars”, and “The Brain of Morbius” into usable stories, even appearing in “The Brain of Morbius” as the Doctor.

After stepping back from script editing, Holmes returned as a hack to write stories like “The Caves of Androzani” (probably the most popular story in Classic Who) and “The Two Doctors”, before dying shortly after his 60th birthday.

3. Jamie Mathieson

Putting Mr Mathieson above Mr Holmes really shows my bias towards New Who, but honestly, I’d rather re-watch “Mummy on the Orient Express”, “Flatline”, or “Oxygen” than any of Holmes’ stories. Mathieson is very inventive and extremely good at maintaining pace and tension. I’m sure we’ll get more stories from him in the future, but the ones we have so far should be used as inspiration by anyone wanting to writing exciting Who.

2. John Dorney

It is hard to exaggerate Mr Dorney’s contributions to audio Who. He may lack the external fanbase of Mr Gaiman, the influence of Mr Magrs, or the legendary status of Messrs Dicks, Chibnall, and Holmes, but make no mistake, Dorney is exceptional. In almost every range he tries his hand at - Lost Stories, Novel Adaptations, Third Doctor Adventures, Fourth Doctor Adventures, Fifth Doctor Adventures, Dark Eyes, Doom Coalition, Ravenous, Time War, Companion Chronicles, Short Trips, Jago and Litefoot, Missy, UNIT, Diary of River Song... Dorney reliably writes the best story in the set.

In particular, Dorney’s stories are notable for the way they focus on character drama. Look at stories like “A Life In A Day” or “Absent Friends” for particular examples of stories that use sci-fi concepts to draw emotion out of characters, particularly the stoic Liv Chenka. Other highlights of Dorney’s include “The Red Lady” and the “Better Watch Out”/”Fairytale of Salzburg” two-parter.

1. Steven Moffat

What more is there to say? Moffat is truly exceptional, reliably writing the best stories in TV Who for several consecutive years. The classics are too numerous to list, but the stand outs amongst the stand outs are “Blink” and “Heaven Sent”/”Hell Bent”.

Some of Moffat’s best work comes away from TV. The minisodes “The Inforarium” and “Night of the Doctor”, the novelisation of “Day of the Doctor”, the short stories “Continuity Errors” and “the Corner of the Eye”, and lockdown stories like “Terror of the Umpty Ums” are Moffat deep cuts which deserve to be held in the same regard as his great TV stories.

Moffat’s imagination lead to him creating multiple iconic monsters - foremost amongst them, the Weeping Angels and the Silence. Moffat emphasised the use of time travel within the stories themselves; other themes in his work include memory, perception, paradoxes, identity, sexuality, and responsibility. He is, without a doubt, the greatest Doctor Who writer, and I am so lucky to have lived through the period where he was active.

[gnawteamusings]

Take Me, Take My Son

For:  @grilledcheesewrite​

Premise:  John Seymour’s little sister wants to marry for love, and proposed to a poor noble.  The noble’s father, Ian Crane has come to ensure that John doesn’t prevent the match from moving forward.  The noble’s father is likely going to wind up spread over a desk and drilled.  

Starter:

“Lord Ian Crane, for you sir,” The butler announced, showing the older man into the grand library of the Huntly country estate. John Seymour, the 7th Marquess of Huntly, did not rise to meet his sister’s potential father-in-law. Did not even look up from the papers he was perusing. He had told Amelia he was a fool for proposing rashly to the Crane boy.

Particularly since John has only this morning received the Baron’s finiacials from the family solicitors. The fellow was mortgaged to the hilt. A bad investment. The solicitors assured him Amelia‘s inheritance would right the ship. Yet other than a title and a small manor near Wales, Charles brought little to the union besides her beauty.

Looking up, he felt a smile curl the corners of his lips. Clearly, Charles had gotten his looks from his father, if the handsome specimen standing in his library was any indication. Standing up, he comes around the desk and extends a hand, “Welcome to Dorney Court, Crane. You’ve come quite a long way from London. What may I do for you?”

[erika-de-claire]

{Beating Heart Bride Cosplay @ The Adelaide Zombie Walk}

//Wowie Another mun post!\\

//So, At the Adelaide Zombie Walk, I updated my Beating Heart Bride cosplay (what’s new at this point) and cosplayed her to the walk (last year I only did a costest of the Tokyo bride there), this was back on October 13th (I *may* have gotten the date wrong) but due to a few months of absolute craziness, I was inactive and unable to share\\

//Taken by Mcmitch07 on Instagram, Skirt, Heart and Candle edits done by me with photog’s permission! original is below!\\

//Check under the read more for more photos!\\

//I had to edit my heart in a few of these pictures. While I LOVE that my heart flashes in the same order as the animatronic on the ride, It’s hard for photographers to get a snap of when on the main setting, when doing shoots or standing still, I put it on a stationary setting so it can be caught. I turned my candle off at this point as it was early in the walk and I wanted to conserve the battery until we reached the bigger crowds. As for the skirt...well..Endometriosis causes bloating a lot of the time and that was a bloating day for me\\

//Selfie from before the walk!\\

//Photo by Stephen Muller Photography/Terry Dorney on Instagram and Facebook...fun fact! This photo came third place in the City Camera House (a camera shop in my town) Zombie Walk photo competition and got featured in the stores for all of October! it also won them a pretty big voucher too!\\

//Photo by Scott Carpenter on Facebook\\

//Photo By Davina Joy Photography on Facebook and Instagram, you can get a glimpse of the backpack I managed to hide!\\

//Photo by John Goodridge NKDEye Photography on Facebook\\

//Photo by an event goer, it’s Emily next to Constance’s Projection effect! (Connie, I love you, but they need to fix your projection at DL...) \\

//Photo by Bailey Trestrail Photography\\

//You can find all my cosplay content at:

@sweet_tea_birdie on Instagram AND Tumblr

Sweet Tea Birdie and Sweet Tear Birdie Cosplay on Facebook

And tagging my usual buddies: @theenderdraco @beatingheart-bride​ @theheadlessgroom​ @impysprite​ @jilltheamazing​ @asktheghosthost​ @askthehatboxghost​ \\

[pers-books]

I was tagged by @thisbluespirit to post about my seven comfort films. Alas I don’t watch films often enough to have any comfort films, never mind seven of them, so instead, have my seven comfort Big Finish audios (yes, I am THAT much of a nerd!) NB: Despite the numbering, these are in order of me remembering them - apart from the first. That’s definitely #1!

1 - The Light at the End - Nicholas Briggs (aka The Voice of the Daleks

Featuring Doctors Four through to Eight and their companions (Leela, Nyssa, Peri, Ace, and Charley respectively), this was Big Finish’s offering for the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who. And I love it an insane perfectly normal amount.

2 - The Four Doctors - Peter Anghelides

Featuring Doctors Five through to Eight (as this came before BF finally managed to woo Tom Baker into the fold). It’s a bonus release that’s only available if you purchase a subscription. 

3 - Robophobia - Nicholas Briggs 

This is a solo Seventh Doctor story that introduces us to medtech Liv Chenka (Nicola Walker), who’ll later go on to become a companion of the Eighth Doctor (as requested by the TARDIS herself, as revealed in the fourth part of this quadrology, Black and White.) It’s set on a ship that originates from Kaldor, as featured in the Fourth Doctor story Robots of Death. And I love it an insane perfectly normal amount.

4 - The Red Lady - John Dorney

This is the second in the Eighth Doctor boxset Doom Coalition 1 (there are four boxsets in this story arc) and introduces us to Eight’s newest companion, Helen Sinclair (Hattie Morahan).

5 - Absent Friends - John Dorney

This is the first story in the third Doom Coalition boxset, and it never fails to make me weep. I love it an insane perfectly normal amount.

6 -  Better Watch Out/Fairytale of Salzburg - John Dorney

These are the second and third stories in the second boxset of the Ravenous story arc and is a not-quite-Christmas story (since it’s set around Krampusnacht, which is on December 6). It’s a two-parter and features Eight, Liv, and Helen - and Helen, especially gets to properly shine! I love it an insane perfectly normal amount.

7 - Someone I Once Knew - John Dorney

This is the fourth story in the fourth The Diary of River Song boxset and it features River Song and the Fourth Doctor. It features an absolutely bloody brilliant speech from River to an alien guy who’s been hounding her through Time and Space wanting her to be his wife (AS IF!) that is a perfect summary of how women are NOT obliged to do anything just because a man fancies them. (And yes, the speech is written by a man.) I love it an insane perfectly normal amount.

And yes, I DO love the writing of John Dorney an insane perfectly normal amount, thank you for noticing!

[sophieiles]

#BigFinishDay as always was amazing. I have the best friends I could ask for. I love being part of this community. It’s really like coming home. Thank you to everyone who took part and who came to make the day super special.

I still can’t believe I cosplayed for the first time as an ATA girl and came second ❤️

So here is some of the photos I took on Big Finish Day (or we’re on my camera) . Which actually isn't as many as others haha. <3

Also. Last thing!

A Special shout out to Matt Fittton who was asked by Mr John Dorney to give me his copy of the Rocketmen Script because he couldn’t make it.

I almost burst into tears. This really was the audio that got me into Big Finish in a big way ❤️ I cannot be more honoured.

[danielfeketewrites]

DOCTOR WHO TOP 10 - 5th Doctor

And now for the fifth Doctor...

Oh, dammit! It's 2024 already... Can we just pretend that I managed to do all of these in 2023, like I originally intended?

10. The Tides of Time

A big epic at the start of the fifth Doctor's DWM run, Tides goes to some weird places and I really like it for that.

9. Omega

While I think it's safe to call it the weakest of the 40th anniversary villains trilogy, I still think it's bloody good and Nev Fountain isn't appreciated enough.

8. The Curse of the Scarab

As a nerd who's into film history, I really think Doctor Who should be doing stuff like this more often. I really love this one. It's the start of the Ground Zero Threshold arc. It's also probably my fave out of that arc.

7. Enlightenment

Doctor Who trilogy finales... aren't necessarily bad but they usually aren't the best. The Last of the Time Lords, Hell Bent, Castrovalva, The Giggle... I don't think any of these stories are bad and they all have their fans. I personally like most of the stories I just mentioned. But I'd wager finding Doctor Who fans that love them over both of the preceding parts of their respective trilogies would not be an easy task.

That's not the case with this one. Enlightenment is rich, lovely, vivid, well-written, and just overall really great. It's a crime that Barbara Clegg never wrote another Doctor Who story...

6. The Caves of Androzani

I think everyone knows that Caves is amazing. It's only at number six because I feel there are two TV stories with Five that manage to do something more interesting... And also there's some eu stuff that I need to shout out like the pretentious eu fan that I am...

5. The Elite

Sike! You thought there weren't other Barbara Clegg Doctor Who stories? Ha! Alright, it's not actually a Big Finish story by Barbara Clegg. It's written by John Dorney but adapted from an unmade TV script written by Clegg. Trust me - this one is a masterpiece.

4. The Moderator

After Dave Gibbons had left DWM, the comic strip was stuck in a rut imo. The stories just sort of waddle around... But not this one. No, the last fifth Doctor comics to be released during his era is an absolute blast. An outpouring of neat ideas, masterfully illustrated by Steve Dillon. I would be lying if I said that it's the most well-plotted thing ever... But I love this one to bits anyway.

3. Kinda

Gonna hand over the next two entries to people who are slightly more qualified...

"Kinda above all things. You give actual drama to actors and you see what they can do with Doctor Who. It's head and shoulders over most of the things around it. In the 1980s, fanzine writers spent a lot of time trying to decode it. But the whole point of drama is to get your mind working and to get you involved in the mystery and to do a bit of work. Kinda is functioning on the level of a Play for Today, which is so completely different to where Doctor Who was at the time."

-Paul Cornell, DWM 542, p. 31 (New Who writers on their favourite 1980s Doctor Who scripts)

2. Snakedance

"Snakedance manages to be even cleverer than Bailey's Kinda the year before. I was 12 years old when it was broadcast, and the brilliant ways it plays upon the 20th anniversary's nostalgia, upon the way the Doctor is perceived - and the shocks, and the wit - had a profound effect on me. I remember watching it over and over on my parents' new VCR machine, and deciding I wanted to be a writer."

-Robert Shearman, DWM 542, p. 31 (New Who writers on their favourite 1980s Doctor Who scripts)

1. Circular Time

Admittedly, I'm cheating a bit with this one. It's four stories in a trench coat. But they all deserve the top spot and I'll explain why.

Confession: I used to really dislike the fifth Doctor. While Peter Davison is brilliant, I always thought his Doctor was a bit... flavour-less? Beige? Not that interesting? Most of this top 10 is formed by eu stories, so you can already see that I'm also not a big fan of this era as a whole. Even the really popular ones like The Five Doctors or Earthshock don't do much for me. So yeah, I was a fifth Doctor hater.

Then I fell in love with the fifth Doctor because of Circular Time. Well, specifically because of 'Autumn', which made me reconsider basically everything about the fifth Doctor. But I don't think 'Autumn' would work as well if it wasn't a part the larger patchwork. 'Spring' gives us a peak at the rules of regeneration and Time Lord politics that feels unique and intriguing 17 years later. 'Summer' is a historical romp that deals with the inherent anachronicity of the Doctor. And 'Winter' reframes this incarnation's final destination in a way that's cold and dark, yet sweet and hopeful. Together, these stories radically shifted my perspective on the fifth Doctor. You owe it to yourself to give them a listen.

[barrylyndonrising]

Things I want the New Series to do in the future

I’ve compiled a list of things that I’d love to see the TV series do in the years to come, from kisses to the past to new, unchartered journeys. Please be free to tell me what you agree or disagree on!

Bring Rachel Talalay and Graeme Harper back, if they’re available. They are arguably the two best Doctor Who directors in history, having given us serials/episodes that are incredibly cinematic and visually creative.

Katy Manning as Iris Wildthyme is a pretty much perfect casting choice, so why not bring the adventuress into TV? I’d love to see her, wth her double-decker TARDIS, mingle with Thirteen. Bonus points if you bring Panda too!

Similarly, I’d love everyone’s favorite private eye Whifferdill Frobisher back! I know visualizing him for TV in love action would be challenging, so why not do an animated episode with him in it?

Writers from the expanded universe of DW are often responsible for the best of stories told within the show’s continuity. Jonathan Morris, Jacqueline Rayner, Lloyd Rose, Kate Orman, John Dorney — the list can go on, but I really want the TV show to be blessed by their contributions!

A return to the Land of Fiction is all I ask for. Please.

Remember the leaked Cyberman design for the cancelled 30th Anniversary special, The Dark Dimension? Yeah, that design is awesome. Bring it back.

John Smith VFX is extremely talented, and is a huge asset to the show. Why not catch two birds with one stone and finally resolve the Valeyard’s storyline? Bring back Colin Baker, Lynda Bellingham and Michael Jayston to voice Old Sixie, Inquisitor Darkel and the Valeyard while JS animates them! (Incidentally, actor Gillian Jacobs looks almost exactly like Peri Brown.)

I think the Viyrans would look cool on TV. Imagine something akin to The Tauranga Conundrum, but more exciting and meaningful.

Final idea: how about the show pull off a reverse Season 7 and put the Doctor on Gallifrey for an entire series? It would be a new venture for the show, and I bet Jodie Whittaker would revel in the chance to show her Doctor’s metal. Imagine — Thirteen (for whatever reason) re-entering Gallifrey’s politics and slowly rise to prominence? I’d gladly watch ten full episodes set in a beautifully realized Gallifrey, with its cloisters and elegant architecture. I’d love this season to tie continuities, or at least acknowledge, the events of Big Finish’s Gallifrey. If Brax, Narvin — even Romana! — appear, I’d squeal with delight.

[isagrimorie]

[reactions] Diary of River Song - Series 3

I’m in the third boxset of the Diary of River Song and I have mixed feelings about the boxset.

I’ll go through this one by one.

The Lady in the Lake by Nev Fountain

On Terminus Prime, clients choose their own means of demise. Something exciting, meaningful, or heroic to end it all. But when River discovers that there are repeat customers, she knows something more is going on. She begins to uncover a cult with worrying abilities. Its members can apparently cheat death, and that’s not all they have in common with River..*

The hype about the third boxset for River Song is that it was one of the best and this story certainly deserves that praise. This was an amazing story. The emotional stakes kept getting higher and when we reach the climax of the story and see how it ties back to the start. It’s chef’s kiss

River discovers that Madam Kovarian cloned her and that her other clones, are for some reason visiting a death planet to die. It turns out her clones had no idea who they were. And about regenerations, somehow formed a death cult. River desperately tries to stop her clones from dying but fails until the last.

And I’m not going to say what happened to the last because wow, what an emotional gut punch.

A Requiem for the Doctor by Jac Rayner

River has joined the Doctor and his friend Brooke on their travels, and they stop off in 18th century Vienna. Brooke thinks history is dull. Until people start dying. Mozart’s legacy is not just his music. River has more than one mystery to solve before a killer is let loose on the people of Vienna – and on the Doctor.

This is where my issues with the boxset comes in. At the end of the first story, River mentioned that she just wanted to see the Doctor and didn’t care which Face she saw.

This turned out to be the Fifth Doctor.

Mostly, I liked the story. River joins the Doctor and his new companion, Brooke. We never heard of Brooke before, she sounds young and enthusiastic and seemed to have knocked about with the Doctor for a while, so River coming to mess with their dynamic is understandable.

The problem comes in, for me, is when River starts to drop anvils about her relationship with the Doctor and Five is only confused and befuddled with River.

I’ve said often enough, that I have an issue with River claiming to love all faces of the Doctor. Because while the core of the Doctor is still the same no matter the regeneration, Post-Time War Doctors are different from Pre-Time War Doctors.

Eight/River is the dividing line for me because Eight straddled the line of Pre and Post-Time War.

Also, no one person can love another person in all stages of their lives — I really believe in right time and right place. Hell, even River herself believed that in Forest of the Dead:

River: You know when you see a photograph of someone you know, but it's from years before you knew them. and it's like they're not quite finished. They're not done yet. Well, yes, the Doctor's here. He came when I called, just like he always does. But not my Doctor.

River in Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead has affection for Ten, and is attracted to Ten but River wasn’t in love with Ten. Because he hasn’t become the man she falls in love with yet.

Ten has yet to go through the heartbreak of his decision to mindwipe Donna, nor has he gone through the crucible of his actions in The Waters of Mrs, or even confronting Rassilon and then the act of deciding to let Gallifrey fall again. Or even, his decision to give his life for Wilf.

Those decisions and actions matter it helped shaped the Doctor to who they will become in the future. And that man was the man River fell in love with.

In the end of this Brooke is revealed to be an assassin (and if anyone is familiar with the River naming system, already suspect who she might be) and attempts to kill the Fifth Doctor.

River stops Brooke in time and saves the Fifth Doctor with her love. And — sigh I think the writer was attempting to replicate the speech in Husbands of River Song but the problem is — the writer is several thousand leagues off. And River proclaiming the Doctor was the love of her life because he is the Bestest Kindest Man in the Universe doesn’t work. The declaration of love doesn’t have Moffat’s deft hand with language and it felt more like a sledgehammer.

My Dinner with Andrew by John Dorney

Welcome, Mesdames et Messieurs, to The Bumptious Gastropod. The most exclusive, most discreet dining experience outside the universe. For the restaurant exists beyond spacetime itself, and the usual rules of causality do not apply. Anything could happen. It is here that the Doctor has a date. With River Song. And with death.

This story was trying to emulate Moffat’s complicated and fun timey-wimey nature and sometimes it works. Madame Kovarian finally comes into the story, and Brooke, surprise, surprise is another of River’s clones.

There’s a real uncomfortable moment when River kisses Five, who is unused to these kind of advances. And doesn’t seem to be receptive, she kisses him to make him forget. In a world where there’s RetCon (and that’s also problematic too) I am not fond of the way River kept using her forgetting lipstick kisses.

Earlier in the time line, River meets Andrew. He looks exactly like the Fifth Doctor except he has (I think) a Northern accent. There are robots with holographic shells. And a restaurant that is outside of Time.

There’s a couple of fun moments running together but the most that I really love is River’s deep hatred for Kovarian. Brooke ends up killing the Doctor and ends up regenerating. Her next regeneration looks very much like Mels from Let’s Kill Hitler.

(Still with me?)

Kovarian and Brooke capture River and bring her back to base.

The Furies by Matt Fitton

Stories of the Furies abound across the cosmos: vengeful spirits hounding guilty souls to death. Madame Kovarian taught them to a child raised in fear, trained to kill, and placed inside a spacesuit. Kovarian knows the universe’s greatest threat, the Doctor must be eliminated. An assassin was created for that purpose. But if Melody Pond has failed, Kovarian will simply have to try again…

This story was — I wish it was better than it was. It could have been really ripe for a great story since it’s about River confronting Kovarian but they barely scratch the surface of their issues. Kovarian has created four-five more River clones, and they’re all aware of River.

They have an unspecified number of regenerations. And different personalities. After regenerating, Brooke has become a little unstable and out of a fit of anger kills one of her sister-clones and blames River for it.

The ghost of the Fifth Doctor is haunting Kovarian because she killed the Doctor too early in his timeline and the universe is falling apart.

It is interesting to me how much of the mythology of the Doctor to the clones is informed by Kovarian’s experience with the Eleventh Doctor in the Battle of Trenzalore. She is so sure the Doctor is a demon, and evil, and the source of all ills. She’s so blinded by her hatred and fear of the Doctor she passed it on to the clones.

The ghost drives Kovarian mad, the other clones realized the murderer was Brooke and River wins the other clones over — even Brooke. She goes back in time and grooms Andrew (the Fifth Doctor lookalike) to die in the Doctor’s place.

The story ends with the clones going out in the world and Brooke staying to become Kovarian’s jailer.

I was dissatisfied with this because in the first story River expressed the need for family. The story even mentioned Amy and Rory and it was interesting how River said that she thought Amy couldn’t get over losing them and it’s why she stayed away. This is a sad thing to think about and I don’t think that’s at all what Amy and Rory wanted.

River doesn’t introduce her young sister clones to her parents, which I think would have helped a lot. But she also leaves them behind even though she said that she was tired of being alone.

Honestly, I wish this story lived up to the first story. It could have been if there was another round of edits and tighten it up. Alex Kingston’s performance, is of course, always top notch.

Nina Toussaint-White (Brooke 2) was also really good but the story failed to really mine the story for what it could have been.

Overall this boxset is a mixed bag with interesting concepts I wish the writers would dive deeper more — like all the issues River has because of her upbringing. I think Big Finish is capable of it. River vs the Masters story, especially the last with the War Master where the War Master exploited River’s susceptibility to mind control. And in the Eight of March where it explored River’s insecurity and Leela had to bring her back down. If they could just laser focus on it — it would be amazing. Honestly, I keep hoping for the caliber of work in Doom Coalition here because River deserves a really great boxset.