#ood companion

[leebee287]

OOD COMPANION PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

Things Classic Who had that Modern Who needs more of:

Scary-looking friendly aliens

Companions who aren't humans from the modern time period (I.e. aliens or human from the future/past)

Idiot companions

Medieval planets

[aq2003]

how is 42 boring. doctor who video essayer are you out of your fucking mind

[slippingbetweenthestars]

Man, I’m thinking about the Ood. The way they’re introduced, the way the slavery bit is just glossed over, the way it comes back to haunt everyone.

But also the fact that literally none of the ‘consumers’ knew. There were people believed that there was no ethical slavery, and who defended the ood’s rights, b ut the ordinary people didn’t know that they were forcibly lobotomized and cut off from their hive mind. And it’s so easy to be in the dark! Would we expect this deep space exploration crew to have visited the breeding and production sites? To have done investigative journalism to learn for themselves? On a practical level, that’s not what we expect of most people in today’s day and age.

In the dark version of the timeline, though, Donna and the Doctor’s foray into Ood liberation happens chronologically before The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit, and the word didn’t get out enough for people to know. Or worse, it got out and people didn’t care or dismissed it as fake. (these darker versions presume that either there were multiple hive-brains or else that some other form of control was created so that the freeing of the hive brain didn’t free everyone)

[mbat]

oh the absolute excitement of watching the doctor have a little bit of a power trip. sad it wont continue cause man the way that could be so fun

[starlightbright]

RIP Ricky September they had to kill you because it would have been unrealistic to not keep you on as a companion 😔

EDIT: I've noticed some people taking this post really seriously, so to clarify: no, I don't think Ricky was literally a perfect uwu anti-racist angel. This post was mostly a joke about how he was running around doing companion shit and, most of all, how the Doctor and Ruby both thought he was a hottie. My actual feelings about Ricky are that he's a complacent white liberal. Character reading under the cut if you want an explanation.

I do think the implications of making him unplugged from the racism bubble, paralleling him with the Doctor (man who shows up with knowledge about history and technology and guides the other character through dangerous situations), and directly contrasting to Lindy (including being open to trust the Doctor without second guessing him the same way Lindy and all her friends did) are supposed to be that he wasn't like the other people there and is thus LESS racist since racism comes to be what defines their society. I've seen some people basically ask "then why'd he move to White People City?" but within the text it's actually Rich People City; the reason everyone there is white is because systemic racism financially benefits white people. Making him LESS racist is NECESSARY to giving his death any meaning - because if he definitively would have called the Doctor a slur and walked away, then the Dot killing him quickly was a mercy kill because we KNOW all the other residents are going to die in the wilderness.

THAT SAID, I also don't think he was a progressive anti-racist. Do you know what Ricky actually is? A white liberal. He might disengage from the White People Bubble, he might not be outwardly cruel to black people, but he's still surrounded by people who are and benefits from a system where ONLY WHITE PEOPLE ARE RICH. The culture might be fucked, but he still benefits from it without doing anything to actually fight it. It's like how many a white liberal will read about the history of slavery, feel sad about it, and then be uncritical of prison labor. If Ricky was meant to be progressive, there'd be something, ANYTHING in the text about how he's tried to educate his followers on their society's problems, but it got deleted. He is COMPLACENT.

That's sort of the point, I'd say, since the theme is about how priviledged white people put themselves in a bubble of people like them and choose to look away from what's wrong in society. Those people become complacent at best with no effort to actually speak out or change things. Hell, even within the text, Ricky SEES a problem others are looking away from (the slugs eating people), but only tries to fight it by making a TikTok about it and becomes complacent again, accepting that people are just going to be eaten.

So tl;dr: no, I don't think the white liberal kid literally would have been a companion. I think if you stuck him in the Ood episode, for example, he'd have shaken his head when he found out about their plight, maybe made a TikTok with sad music playing over footage of them, and then said "welp, nothing else can be done." I think it's FUNNY to imagine another companion that the Doctor and Ruby both are giggling like schoolgirls over.

Also I kind of thought he was ugly - no offense to the actor but the makeup they had him in combined with the lighting and closeups made him look way older than 27 so he gave off this uncanny "how do you do fellow kids?" look.

[aleck-le-mec]

I just rewatched David Tennant’s doctor regeneration into Matt Smith scene and I totally forgot that the Ood sing him a song as he goes. It’s one of the first times in a long time where he’s alone it’s Christmas, he’s scared and struggling to stand and “the universe sings him to sleep”. Even when he doesn’t have a companion the whole universe sings him to sleep, he’s never truly alone the universe is thanking him for his sacrifice and care in his last moments.

[khruschevshoe]

You know what? I'm gonna say it. As someone who is asexual and on the aromantic spectrum myself, I'm a bit tired of the Doctor Who fans who all say that Donna is the best companion of Ten's just because they were best friends and nothing more and that automatically makes her the best companion of RTD and for a lot of you, the best companion overall.

Listen, I LOVE Donna. Adore her. And I also think that her friendship with the Doctor is amazing. But it has always rubbed me the wrong way that the companions who have a romantic interest in the Doctor (and let me tell you, there is textual evidence for every one of them that the feelings were reciprocated in some way) are somehow considered lesser BECAUSE of that interest. That just because they fell for the Doctor means that their relationship with the Doctor is cheapened in some way.

I personally think that just as platonic relationships should not be considered lesser than romantic ones, the same goes in reverse. Amy, Clara, Martha, Rose, River, and Yaz's feelings may have some weak writing decisions attached to them, but so does Donna.

Personally, I love Donna's character arc/the tragedy of her ending, but I've always felt a little disappointed by the fact that her becoming the DoctorDonna in Journey's End was not predicated on her strong characterization/choices (Ala Planet of the Ood/Fires of Pompeii) but by "fate" pushing it to happen. It's honestly more Dalek Caan than Donna making all that happen.

This is NOT to say that I don't love Donna, but just to say that the fact that she had no romantic feelings for the Doctor doesn't automatically catapult her above the rest. Romantic feelings can lead to just as interesting, well-developed character arcs/complicated dynamics as platonic ones can, from the creator/created reciprocated question mark wanting but unable to choose each other over everything dynamic of 11amy to the fascinating destroying each other saving each other one taking all of the emotional toll but honestly craving that prophet-god relationship of 10martha to the shaping each other making each other kinder and braver reminding each other there is hope dooming and saving each other of 9rose to the full dooming each other but running straight at it full tilt because we are purposefully ignoring the turn back now signs of 10rose to the batshit insane codependent reflecting each other refracting each other who is Orpheus and who is Eurydice of 12clara to the there was always someone else in the room keeping us apart but you somehow became my whole world and I knew you from birth to death and we will never be anything more than a shut door of 13yaz to the you doomed me and saved me and you hate me but you might have loved me once and i will spend the rest of my life devoted to you dynamics of 10jack 11river and 12river.

Every relationship is interesting and personal preference might steer you in a certain way due the character arcs/ending preferences/etc., but elevating one over the other because the companion wasn't "foolish" enough to fall in love with the mad genderfluid alien in a box who ran away with you and stole you away to the stars doesn't sit well with me. Romance doesn't cheapen a relationship just as it doesn't automatically make it the ultimate relationship, either.

[morganas-pendragons]

ache | fourteen

this got away from me sooooooo quickly, I hope you like it!

The first time you met him, he didn't have to tell you how old he was. You were well versed in reading people. In distinguishing those hidden details between the lines, between the cracks of the person, and recognizing the little things no one else could bother to care about.

You knew he was old. You didn't know he was forever. You didn't know that he'd been running for so long that he'd never allowed himself to learn how to stop. To plant his feet in one place, to inhale, to exhale.

You didn't realize how much he craved you. How he craved you like the oxygen he has not breathed in since Gallifrey. Since the last time he allowed himself to simply exist without having to flee to the next destination.

The Doctor. The man who keeps running, because he dare not look back.

But with you... when he left you...

Oh, he did. You just didn't know.

Kate Lethbridge-Stewart found you in the aftermath of the Doctor's departure. You were sitting on the park bench where the TARDIS had last dropped you off, knees drawn to your chest and eyes blankly staring at the spot in hopes the box would materialize.

It never did. Every time you sat here and thought about it, about him, your chest ached so badly. Like it was seeking the oxygen it had been deprived of.

She'd sat beside you and waited until you turned your head to acknowledge her, "Whatever it is, I'm not interested. I'm waiting for a friend to come back."

There's so little hope in your voice. You know he's not coming back. You know, but you hope, because The Doctor can ease that ache in your chest and breathe that air back into your lungs.

You wish you hadn't been so impressionable. He'd flashed those marvelous brown eyes and that charming smile. That was all it took.

And when he'd laid those bleeding hearts in your hands, you'd let the blood run through your fingers and held them close to your chest. You'd protected them. Cherished them.

And then you'd thrown them back in the TARDIS. Left to fend for themselves. Left to bleed again.

The ache just won't go away.

"Your friend is a notorious runner," Kate remarks. "The likelihood is slim. However, I do have an opportunity for you that you could consider.. where he may show his face sometime soon enough."

You heard her out. She told you about UNIT, about The Doctor and his involvement, and you took the job when she offered it to you.

You saw him from afar multiple times after that. You never saw Ten again, but Ten would see you, parking the TARDIS out of sight multiple times before he changed faces because just seeing you eased the ache in his chest that had settled there when you were gone.

Then the one in the tweed with the bowtie. He was clever. Sweet. Kind. You saw him several times. Marveled at him from afar.

The ache got a little bit easier to deal with.

Then the next one. So much older. Older and angry and lonely and so, so ready to give up. That companion who'd gone with him sought you out the first time they came to UNIT together. Almost like she recognized you.

Turns out, Clara did.

"Hi," You turn to acknowledge the younger woman from your spot at your desk and smile warmly. "My name is Clara. Forgive me for the intrusion, but I have to ask you something."

"Come on in," You wave to the open chair with an empty hand and settle your tablet on your desk. You'd been reading up on the Doctor and all UNIT had gathered on him since you'd joined. There was a lot to sift through. "What can I do for you, Clara?"

"I thought you looked familiar. Then I remembered," She reached into her pocket and pulled out an old photo. You froze instantly at the sight and leaned outward to inspect it. "He's got a picture of you on the console."

It's definitely you. You and Ten and Donna, weeks after you'd joined them on the TARDIS, wrapped in your parkas and Ten in his trench coat on the Planet of the Ood.

"That is me," You whisper. Clara softened as you ran your fingers along the edge of the picture, turning it over to read the inscription on the back. That's Ten's handwriting. It's not yours. It reads, When the ache was gone. "I used to be just like you. I was so..."

Clara waited. She waited, but your voice never came, because then she was saying, "I just wanted you to know something. He talks about you. He hasn't done it a lot, but you're the only one he's got a photograph of on the console. I see the way he looks at it. And he's mentioned you a few times. The Doctor told me once that he's been in pain since you've been gone. And I don't think it's going to stop."

And then she's gone, and you're on your own again. She didn't even leave you the photo. She just leaves you to collect your thoughts and the fact that The Doctor has not been able to move on from you.

Silent tears track down your face. You would give anything to touch him. To hold him, to run your thumbs reverently under those ancient eyes, and just... tell him how loved he is.

But you can't.

He keeps running away.

***

He stops cold when he sees you inside of Unit HQ. You're standing there behind Shirley, so beautiful, and so very alive. He's only just come back from Soho.

From the Toymaker. From the nightmare, from the constant reminding that he failed you, failed them, failed all of them. All the ones who died.

"We hired Y/N as a liaison. Turns out hiring your companions has proven to be quite beneficial. They are something of experts, after all."

And then there's Mel, and it's all just too much because there are so many people in this room who love him. He doesn't deserve that love. There's too much weakness in this room. His hearts are bleeding everywhere and The Toymaker knows his weaknesses.

The Doctor will not let the ache infect him again. Not when you're standing less than three feet away from him for the first time in fifteen years.

You have no time to react before he's in front of you, and you can smell him, and he's everywhere and his fingers are lacing with yours.

Something shifts inside of your chest.

"I have so much to answer for," He murmurs lowly enough only for the two of you to hear. "And I know there's no universe in which you don't hate me for what I did-"

His whole affect shifts into something of despair when you step forward to fill the gap between you and grip his chin between your thumb and finger. There's so much pain in those eyes now. Pain from inevitable losses, pain from what he's done to you, pain from existence.

You just want to take his ache away. If you're going to do anything with the precious amount of time you two have, you are going to take those bleeding hearts back into your hands and fix them. And then you are going to hold him.

You are going to hold him with your bloody hands - because when does anyone who is ever associated with The Doctor not have blood on their hands? - and refuse to ever let him go.

It makes your ache less. It makes your pain less.

"There won't ever be a single instance in which you could make me hate you," You admit. "And you will have all the time in the world to tell me why you made me leave."

"The Toymaker. He... He preys on weaknesses. He will know. He always knows."

And it's on that moment that you see something you almost never saw with his Tenth face: Fear. He is terrified. That unnerves you.

Without thinking, you stand on your tiptoes and cradle his face in your hands as you kiss his forehead. It's tender. Reverent. Mel and Donna try not to gape as The Doctor leans in closer and remains there until you pull apart.

"Then don't let him," You say firmly. "And you go out there and you win."

***

"I'm all sonic and Timelord. Take that away... what am I? What am I now?"

Donna is reminded of one of the earliest trips she'd ever taken with Ten. Among the very first where she'd realized that he had fallen in love with you. There's faint memories of Pompeii, of the aftermath, when you'd followed The Doctor into the console room after he'd stormed in there asking the same question.

That time you'd answered him with all the gentleness she answers him now, "Take that all away, and you're still a good man."

The few moments that you get alone with Donna give her the opportunity to fill you in on what she'd learned from being inside The Doctor's mind. She tells you about Eleven and Twelve and Thirteen, about the ones who died, about The Flux. You hear all of it.

What makes the ache unbearable is the fact that when Ten died, he died alone. And that's the worst part.

Because you'd broken your promise that he'd never be alone again. Despite the fact he'd forced you out, you'd failed him.

And now here you stood.

"Hey," Donna's hand rests on your shoulder as your eyes flicker over to the Doctor, who now stands mere feet in front of the Toymaker. "You'll be with him soon enough."

Seconds after she says it, the air is pierced by a scream as the galvanizing beam activates, and it is shot straight through The Doctor. Mel's hand is going white from how hard you are gripping it.

"I played one game with the first Doctor, the second game with the second Doctor, and I will play the next game with the next Doctor!" The Toymaker exclaims boldly.

You don't realize you're the one screaming until the beam turns off.

He falls to his knees. The last time he'd done that that you had seen was when you walked out of the TARDIS. Defeat. Resignation.

You wait for the regeneration energy to appear. You're about to lose this face, again, and there's not a single thing you can do about it. Not until Donna's voice speaks up again and shouts, "He's not dying alone!"

"You can do what you like to me," You're speaking before you can stop yourself. "But I'm going to be with him. I keep my word. And I won't fail him again."

Mel nods her confirmation to both remarks. You steel your expression as you pursue Donna and Mel toward the Doctor. You cannot be falling apart right now. The ache is not allowed to consume you when it is him who is about to die, to change, to become another man.

Everything in the world around you disappears when you meet those eyes. Those kind, sad eyes that have always looked at you with such reverence and devotion. Those are the eyes of a man who you would burn the galaxies and all within it if it gives him some peace.

The words are on his tongue, so ready to be said. The ache has made the weight of keeping those words to himself unbearable.

He knows though. In that moment, he knows. He will love you eternally. No matter the face.

"It's okay," You say confidently. "It's okay."

"It's not dying."

"But you're going to be someone else." Mel interjects. The Doctor's eyes travel between the three of you. His former companion, his best friend, and his love. "It doesn't matter who. 'Cause every single one of you is fantastic."

He meets your eyes head on, and you rest a singular hand between his hearts.

"Here we go again," He murmurs. "Allonsy."

***

There are two of them. Two Doctors. The older one, the newer one, wears something you've never seen on The Doctor. He wears the mark of acceptance. Or peace.

Probably both.

But the way he looks at you? Oh, the way he looks at you. It's like he knows something that you and the younger Doctor don't know. When The younger Doctor and Donna approach the newest Doctor after the Toymaker is defeated, you stay behind to let them have their moment.

Until Fifteen looks back and motions you forward the second Fourteen's head falls into the crook of his neck. He already knows. He already knows, and he’s asking you to come step in. To be his sanctuary.

You suck in a breath and approach, bridging the gap between The Doctor and Donna to tenderly run your hand up his spine. He can’t see you. He can’t see you, but you can see him, and his entire being trembles at your touch.

“How many people died?” Fourteen asks again. You swallow the knot in your throat and meet the older Doctors dark gaze, to which he winks at you and gently turns his younger self around so that way his face is buried in your neck instead.

“They’re right.” You whisper, threading your fingers through the hair at his nape as he pulls you impossibly closer. The older Doctor presses a finger to his lips and tugs on Donna’s arm to give the two of you a moment of privacy. “It’s not your fault. None of this, none of the ones who died, are your fault. You want to know why?”

He allows you to lift his head from the crook of your neck. Your fingers trace the curve of his jaw until you’re cupping it in your hands, and the urge to kiss him until the ache disappears has never been stronger.

The Doctor asks with such a hesitation that is so unlike him, "Why?"

And it's then that you realize: For all the time this lonely harbinger of death and destruction has existed, when was the last time he stopped? When was the last time he lived?

"Because we choose to. We choose you. There were so many of us, so many of us who wanted something better then the simplistic life we get here on Earth."

The Doctor shakes his head. "Humans are not and have never been simple-" You press a finger to his lips and quirk a brow, playfully daring him to continue.

"You come and urge us away in that brilliant little box of yours with promises of a better life. An exciting life. Regardless of the dangers to ourselves, we always take it, because of you. We take you in all that you are even when the Oncoming Storm dares to rear his ugly head. Ancient. Timeless. Infinite," You tenderly run a thumb under his eye. "You love so much... but don't let yourself be loved in return. You don't let yourself be thanked. That's why. We love you because you're selfless, because you're you."

The Doctor hates how wrong you are. He wants to believe those things about himself, but he is by nature a selfish man.

"You are too good to me." He whispers in your ear, lips brushing your temple. You hum thoughtfully and reach under his vest to playfully squeeze his hips.

"Because you're deserving of goodness too, my love."

In the doorway behind you both, The older Doctor smiles. This is exactly the thing, the people, that his younger self needs to heal from all that damage. All that pain and loneliness.

And eventually, he too will wear the mark of peace that this new body has been granted.

***

"Do you know why I think this face came back? So you could stop. So you could come home."

The Doctor has been absently sipping at his drink for the greater part of thirty minutes as he basks in the sunlight and the joy from the group gathered around the table. Mel is just barely leaning into him, enough for her warmth to seep through the fabric of his shirt, and Donna is grinning brightly as Rose tells the story of when The Doctor took her to Mars.

In the distance, Wilf's shotgun goes off as he misses yet another mole attempting to emerge from its burrow.

It is the most peace he's had in millennia.

"Hey," Donna's voice softly calls from his left as she nudges his side with her elbow. "Where did you go?" Ten had this blank look of devastation and haunting that he wore quite often when she'd ask him a question about his past, or about where he'd come from. He lived in his memories. Memories about Gallifrey. About his companions.

This time though, it's you.

Before he can properly reply to Donna, there's a voice shouting from inside the house. His brow furrows. All of the family is outside. So who-

"Donna! For God's sake, why does your house have little to no counter space? There's only four of you! Where am I supposed to put this food?"

The Doctor sucks in a sharp breath. "Is that-"

"Don't worry, I didn't say a word," Donna assures. "But yes. Now go."

She says it with such demand that he has no choice but to trust her and stands to his feet. The Doctor wiggles his toes in the damp, warm grass and takes his empty glass inside to refill it.

There you are. Right there, in all your splendor, muttering curse words under your breath as you work to create space for the desert you'd brought at Donna's request. He's at a loss for words.

That's a first.

"Donna, if you're just standing there gaping-" You whip around and lift an accusatory finger, eyes wide as The Doctor's gaze flickers down and back up to yours playfully. "Doctor."

"Hi."

"What are you doing here? I thought you'd have flown away by now."

Be brave, Doc. Be brave.

Your eyes follow the path of his hands as one comes to rest on your jaw, then the other, until you find yourself drawn impossibly close and only mere inches from his lips. "Between you, Donna and my older self... Think I figured it out."

"Figured what out?"

The Doctor's fingers tangle in your hair then and tip your head upwards. "Why I was coming home," He whispers. "The long way around."

The sigh of relief that escapes from both of you as the ache finally, finally leaves makes all of the pain worth it. All the heartache. The loneliness.

It's all worth it if he gets this.

"I love you." The Doctor murmurs as you pull apart. The smile that rewards him could rival the brightness of Gallifrey's suns, and he thinks he might be able to do this kind of life after all if it means he gets to see that smile. Forever.

"I love you too." You reply, resting a single hand on his chest. "The ache..."

"What?"

"The ache." You breathe. "It's gone. Guess I must've needed a Doctor to fix me up."

Donna turns her head to gaze at the open kitchen doors as laughter pours through, and The Doctor emerges with you carried on his back. You take your place in his lap easily enough once he sits down.

Yeah. The amnesia.. the missing years, the adventures... It had all been worth it.

Those bleeding hearts that have spent millennia broken still beat, messy stitches holding as they take their rest within their cage.

Healed. Fixed.

No longer aching.

[weggggs]

It annoys me a LOT whenever people say shit about Fifteen crying all the time.

One of the key points of the 60th specials were that the Doctor was not okay, but pretending he is. He had collected so much trauma over the years, but is trying as hard as he can to pretend that he's perfectly fine.

And even before that, the Doctor has found themselves in a plethora of incredibly distressing situations, situations that companions, and probably most people, have found themselves in tears over.

If you were in the Doctor's position being able to hear the Ood's song constantly in Planet of the Ood, you probably would have cried.

If you were in the Doctor's position erasing Donna's memory, you probably would have cried.

If you were in the Doctor's position when you found out Clara took the chronolock, you probably would have cried.

And sometimes, the Doctor does cry. And most of the time, he keeps a stoic front, but that doesn't mean he's truly okay.

But Fifteen is different. Fourteen staying with Donna's family and taking the time to rehabilitate himself has lead to Fifteen being far more open with his emotions. The reason why Fifteen has cried so much is because he is a Doctor that is no longer trying to keep a stoic image. He's allowing himself to show and be in touch with his emotions. And truthfully, I like that a lot more than the alternative.

[arcade-gann0n]

btw can I just point out that we were shown zero nice aliens the season? Like the only aliens that were shown on screen that weren't evil were the doctor and the slugs (but that's subjective)

Usually one of the first space adventures with a new companion establishes that there are kind aliens out there. Think the first episode where rose goes into space and there's the nice tree lady and the nice blue technician lady. think martha in gridlock meeting the face of bo.

*yes I know the face of bo isn't an alien, but the companion doesn't know that at the time and has no reason to suspect otherwise

think donna meeting the ood. amy learning about the star whale. clara meeting vastra and strax. bill meeting puddle lesbian.

ruby is the first main companion that i can think of who never met a peaceful alien besides the doctor. realistically i cant imagine her take away from her time in the tardis being anything but 'all aliens are evil but the doctor is the only exception'

edit: i didnt count the vlinx because thats during rubys last adventure of the season, and im specifically talking about early introductions to non scary aliens

[tinkerbitch69]

All valid points, OP, very valid points.

But have you considered…

He’s an ood. In a tux. Called BRIAN!!! <33333333

Who is your favourite companion?

TOURNAMENT MASTERPOST

propaganda under the cut

Bernice Summerfield

no propaganda submitted

Brian the Ood

no propaganda submitted

[go-to-the-mirror]

[ID: The ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) and Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) on a crowded street in “The End of the World.” The Doctor smiles and looks down at Rose, and Rose smiles and leans into his shoulder. Text reads, “I love my companions.”

The tenth Doctor (David Tennant) and Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) on the balcony of the hospital in “Smith and Jones.” The Doctor is leaning on the railing, looking out and Martha looks at him while speaking. Text reads, “I love that they are so young.”

The tenth Doctor and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) in the TARDIS in “Planet of the Ood.” They are talking to each other and are both excited. Text reads, “And so full of life.”

The tenth Doctor and Astrid Peth (Kylie Minogue) in “Voyage of the Damned.” The Doctor is kneeling down and looking down at Astrid, who is falling down into fire. Text reads, “And that they will still die first.” /End ID]

(quote)

[casasupernovas]

thinky thoughts on the rtd era:

when nine regenerated into ten, it was like he regenerated using rose as an imprint but he only got a rough imprint of humanity, the image of it - youthful, enthuastic. but it's just a facade because underneath is the cold, aloof, dark, mysterious alien - still. the image doesn't convince rose at first but through a act of heroism and bravery, ends up being so convincing rose doesn't see a problem with it...until she forgets that despite the youthful nature of the face, they are much, much older and thus have had a long life outside of her, before her and will after her. until the parts of her that are supposed to stand out like compassion and kindess blur in with the alien and instead turn into insensitivity, detatchment and inconsideration.

and rose now wants something that isn't real. the doctor isn't going to settle down with her. he never does. she would never say it but it's what she wanted. when she says the doctor isn't going to slow down so neither will she there is something so desperately sad in the statement. but either way after rose's departure, ten is the equivalent of the chick leaving the nest for the first time. or more like a chick who was pushed out of the nest.

enter donna and martha. and regarding the racnoss, it's like donna encountered the child in the middle of a huge meltdown. his safety blanket is gone. he needs to learn and grow. so enter martha.

like a long-suffering carer who gets little thanks she helps to scrub off the rough edges, teach him things, take care of him, protect him from danger, goes above and beyond. but as all care givers who are taken for granted or give care to someone who doesn't really want it despite knowing they need it, they are taken for granted. and they have to start looking after themselves because it's draining them.

then enter donna, who reaps the benefits of the advice she gave him. though i doubt when she said he needed to find someone to stop him, she meant to find a companion and use them like a stress ball, to put it nicely. he's not perfect but no one is, but this time, it's his turn to help grow someone into their best self. but donna's story is slightly different.

donna gets into a lot of situations with the doctor that are, well, terrifying for her. she does good in pompeii, because she does help save people. but when she sees the ood she's devastated and when it's revealed they were slowly poisoning someone to turn them into one of them donna doesn't know who's in the right anymore. with the sontarans, she's scared out of her mind and with jenny she is the one teaching the doctor to be more open minded ...but by the time the daleks move earth, donna is the only one out of her depth and plaintively terrified.

but then the solution is clear. to survive this she needs to be more doctor like...literally.

all of 10's companions are all doctor-fied to varying degrees. rose's doctorfication makes her cold and unsympathetic, and jackie comments she's starting to be less like herself and more like the doctor. rose thinks this is great. jackie is clearly doesn't. martha jones' doctorfication is major both metaphorially and literally, with her being a medical student and taking the reigns for most of their travels. donna noble is the companion who gets the doctorfication to the highest degree. she literally becomes him and it kills her.

but im racking my noodle as to what the takeaway is. because it appears that donna's self plus the doctor is exactly what they needed to sort the situation...but it's like an almost monstrous/frankenstein take on the balance between what the doctor needs in a companion and why the companion needs the doctor. it's not lost on me that the doctor and donna become hybrids in the episodes where they confront biologically engineered mutants revived from the literal chest cavity of their deranged creator.

so. what gives? and the moment, i don't really have an answer. it's all a bit bleak.

[the-elusive-soleil]

Silm x Doctor Who: Maglor

Flashback to many centuries of local time before Maedhros' drop point, when the Doctor (Twelve) finds Maglor lamenting on the beach. He doesn't say anything, just goes and fetches his guitar out of the TARDIS and joins him, playing accompaniment. Maglor doesn't notice at first, because the guitar wailing sounds so much like what's already in his soul. When he eventually does register the Doctor's presence, he wants to know what this strange new instrument is.

The Doctor, of course, has a plan. He's been planning to come do something about Maglor ever since Maedhros left, but first there was Rose, and then Martha and Donna happened, and then he always meant to do it during the time he was alone but then it was too late, and then there were all the complications with the Ponds and River and the Impossible Girl. Well, now things seem to be more or less stable and Clara isn't a resident companion, so he has the space to go get Maglor.

Maglor is drowning in guilt. He believes that he's lost all his family and his adopted children, and that there's no fixing it, and that he deserves it. The Doctor only has so much patience with this and no more. His attitude is basically "you experienced and did awful things, so have a lot of people, you're not actually the worst monster in the universe, what matters now is whether you're going to choose to sit and sulk uselessly or whether you're going to choose to make a positive impact on the world".

Slowly, as they travel, Maglor starts to engage. He builds up increasing evidence that he can contribute something positive to a situation. It doesn't fix or change what he did, but it's better than what he was doing before.

He starts to write music again, too - songs for the different places they go and the people they meet, songs for the TARDIS and the Doctor, songs of his brothers' adventures with the Doctor before.

(The Doctor doesn't tell him yet about precisely when he traveled with Maedhros. Maglor assumes that, since this is a time machine, Maedhros must have gone and come back at some point during his lifespan, like the rest of their brothers. He doesn't blame the Doctor for not saving Maedhros or any of the others, thinking that they chose their paths and there was nothing to be done.)

He finishes the Noldolante. He learns an incredible variety of new instruments and takes notes on their construction. He gets introduced to the Ood and sings a long time with them, and it's the most beautiful and cathartic experience of his life.

When he's sufficiently healed, he asks if he could go see Elrond again. The Doctor obliges, taking him to spacetime coordinates he's been saving up. He won't leave the TARDIS with Maglor, saying it could get existentially tricky, but sends him on out. There's Elrond, delighted to see him - and there's Maedhros.

So Maedhros and Maglor both end up leaving off the travel and staying with Elrond. The Doctor brings Clara to visit them a couple of times (and maybe they get some elven-wisdom advice to get it together regarding their relationship, averting the Danny Disaster).

In the end, Maedhros and Maglor sail west with Elrond, and reunite with their family, finally getting to share their stories.

[oceanwithinsblog]

started watching doctor who s5 yesterday and i got curious ~

i'm letting the poll open for a whole week, please reblog and share !! i don't have many dw mutuals on tumblr but i'm genuinely curious to find out which season is most loved by the audience / fandom and why ^^

ps. i've enjoyed every season so far tbh, i think my fav doctor is ten but i'm looking forward to catch up with the episodes i still have to watch <33

pps. as for the companion, it's quite hard for me to pick one as my favorite because i've really liked everyone >.<" but i do wish donna had more screen time (i miss her so much already)

ppps. also my fav aliens / creatures up to now have been the oods, i really hope to see them again !!!

[transgenderdoctorwhomst-old]

i'd love to hear your thoughts on the doctor's sudden telepathy of his companions, if you would like to share. i think this might be something that nine and ten don't do as much? because war reads clara's mind a little bit if i remember correctly, i feel like nine would stop the telepathy because he is trying to put up more of an emotional wall, not get too close etc, and ten would feel sort of guilty about it? eleven reading people's minds whenever he likes (or even accidentally) seems like it fits his character a bit more?

(from @lost-tardis-room)(its a side i can't send asks from it)

i understand the sideblog pains, this blog is a sideblog-

war reading clara's mind makes sense, he's in a war. not using his basic time lord abilities to gain information would be a waste

nine definitely feels like he would refrain to distance himself, after the war it's easier for him to not feel other minds brushing against his, i think.

ten seems to stick to touch-telepathy strictly, based off the madame de pompadour episode he seems VERY uncomfortable with the concept that his thoughts might leak out. he seems to care a lot about making sure people know when he's doing any telepathy, likely because he doesn't want to alarm them or be invasive. he tries to keep using it to medical diagnoses, basically. (on the other hand, it's entirely possible he's constantly hearing the chatter of peoples minds, just chooses actively not to focus on it. he makes a comment once in Forest Of The Dead that's like "she has over four thousand people in her mind! that's like being in my head!" which brings up SO many questions that will not be followed up on)

eleven cares much, much less about if he's being invasive. or rather, has a much different sense of what might be considered acceptable. plus, i think he just genuinely forgets not to skim over peoples thoughts? he likes knowing things, he likes knowing what to do to give people a certain impression of him. he makes sure to catalogue the information he gets from reading minds as stuff not to mention, to play dumb about, i think. and to figure out what random social cue he's completely missing (so he can decide if he wants to "have a sudden realization" or keep playing the role of silly ditzy doctor).

also, eleven already has a habit of physically going through someones timeline to learn about them, in multiple instances. reading minds to get basic information about someone or nudging some things to the surface of kate's head because he's too awkward to talk about the brigadier completely lines up, that's basically nothing to him.

the doctor also absolutely never mentions having the ability to read minds without touch telepathy, at least as far as i know. we can infer in the show they can, since the doctor can hear the Ood singing telepathically, but that's a bit different from hearing the thoughts of one regular human person.