#she has all that history with him and it shows that travelling with the Doctor isn't always fun

[how-masterful]

On rewatch of the Power of the Doctor, one plot point I wish they'd changed was the Daleks being involved with the Masters plan. Keep them in the episode so we can have the 'big three villains all in one episode!' for the marketing- maybe have their drill plan be due to an external factor, or just general Dalek shenanigans. But keep them out of the Masters plan. Let him have no clue they're there.

Theres so much power in the way the Master looks terrified when the Doctor gets that message with the Dalek coordinates. We know in hindsight he's acting but it could have been so much more impactful if he wasn't. Folks tend to forget the Master was personally executed by the Daleks in the TV movie and he fled the time war to the end of the universe and hid from them as Yana. We even saw how badly Missy reacted to finding herself on Skarro.

The Master has such strong and untapped Dalek trauma, it would add so much dread to the presence of the Daleks if the master of all characters was seen as visibly afraid of them, building them up to be a threat like they were in the stolen earth and even resolution. To the Master, the Doctor already has the upper hand in being the timeless child, now she's teaming up with the same race that he fears. Plus it would've given Yaz some deeper emotional conflict where she finds herself struggling to trust the Doctor because she's finding out she's keeping so many things a secret from her, like having past companions that she'd left behind and teaming up with Daleks- and that these secrets are scaring even the Master. It could have even been used as a way for the Master to convince Yaz he's the 'better' Doctor- he promises her he won't keep secrets anymore. Sure we'd lose the hilarious Cyber- Dalek side eye during his Rasputin dance number, but it'd make up so much more in emotional weight.

[hylianane]

I’ve read Time Traveler Zoro AUS far more interesting than anything my feeble little mind could cook up on it’s own, but I’d still love try to play around with the premise and give it my own spin.

I’ve read two in which Zoro loses the crew in a great tragedy, so he goes back in time to save them, and the greatest source of tension in the story is the way he tries to hide all the future knowledge he maintains from the others, while still trying to rewrite history. It’s so good and thrilling. But. Yet. However.

I’m reminded of the scene in Sabaody in which Rayleigh offers to tell the crew about the One Piece, and Luffy furiously rejects him. Says he doesn’t want a boring adventure where he knows the ending. And though I don’t recall Zoro saying anything in that moment, I think he would agree. So in this Time Travel AU, when Zoro goes back in time, he does so with the idea that this second try isn’t for him. He wants to help, but if he gets on that boat, he won’t be able to keep himself from giving Luffy all the answers in hopes of saving his life, and that would ruin his Captain’s dream.

So let’s imagine Luffy. At seventeen years old, he sets out on a journey through the Grandline to become the King of the Pirates. He has his navigator, his sniper, his cook, his doctor- all his friends by his side. And things are challenging sometimes, but always fun. And he gets lucky.

He gets lucky a lot.

Sanjj tells him it’s a guardian angel, but Luffy’s not so sure. There’s something at the back of his mind, an itch behind his ear. He starts to notice signs of a certain presence everywhere he goes, a mysterious someone who seems to always want to beat him to the punch, but also seems to never finish the job.

Like back in Orange Town, when he met Nami and fought the Buggy guy, the Clown complained about his knife thrower being put out of commission by a bounty hunter right before the fight. Or in Syrup Village, when Captain Kuroo called for reinforcements two of his officers were a no-show, their crewmates reporting that it was as if the Nyaban Brothers had disappeared into the night. When Luffy met Sanji at the Baratie, he’d felt a tension build within him as he listened to all the rumors of the Greatest Swordsman in the World having been seen nearby. But then, the tension is cut abruptly when Don Kreig walks through the door instead, announcing that he’d escaped the Warlord when some suicidal swordsman intercepted his chase.

In Whiskey Peak, Nami tells him about how she saw a cloaked figure take down 100 hundred bounty hunters without making a sound, as if trying to not disturb the Strawhat’s sleep. Luffy thinks he might’ve seen such a figure from afar when taking a leak, but he can’t be sure. In Alabasta, Ace keeps throwing looks over his shoulder as if searching for someone, but always telling Luffy there’s nothing to worry about. Vivi is shocked to discover someone took down Baroque Work’s Number 1 in a duel a night before their arrival at Alubarna. When Robin joins them at the end of it, she seems shocked to find the crew only has five members, instead of six. But she doesn’t seem keen on elaborating why just yet.

The only place that they haven’t been followed to by this Mystery Guy (as Luffy has taken to calling him) is Skypeia. Almost like he couldn’t figure out how to get up there.

And still, the whole time Luffy’s there he can’t stop thinking about him. Looking left and right as if between the clouds and the trees he’ll catch a glimpse of Mystery Guy’s face. Nami says it’s ludicrous to think that all these instances can be chalked up to same guy. Usopp tells tall tales of how they’re being stalked by a man who fell madly love with the Great Sniper’s good looks, or sometimes he tells tales of how they’re being followed by the ancient God of Fortune, or sometimes it’s any other grandiose tale he’ll accept before he accepts that it’s just a guy, just a Mystery Guy, who is real and Luffy knows it.

He knows, and he’s a little obsessed with it. And it’s not always great. He loses sleep, wondering who are you and do you know me and do i know you and stop getting in my way and why don’t you do it more and do you want to join my crew and i need you to watch me and i need you on my crew.

(Meanwhile, on his end, Zoro is planning how to stop the tragedy that will befall his family. But in the meantime he doesn’t want to just be dead weight. He doesn’t want to be apart from them. He may not have a place on that boat anymore, but he can’t have his Captain fighting his battles. He can’t let his friends go unprotected. So he’ll protect them, protect him, in silence, from afar, always one day head, always knowing what’s coming next)

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

NERD!MIGUEL IS SO REAL I LUV HIM <3333

NERD!MIGUEL IS THERE I KNOW IT

Like...You saw what he said to Gwen when she called it a watch (which IT IS).

[omg she's so tiny small next to him]

He's a NERD. He thinks this stuff is COOL. He's WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO ASK.

Like I imagine he's used to it by now - people's eyes glazing over when he begins to explain something technical or program-y, like Lyla's algorithms or the Multiverse Anti-Glitch feature of the watches.

He's put SO much work into all of this, the whole facility and the tech.

He made Lyla himself, but he knows that most people aren't really interested in that. So he's learned to simplify things.

If you ask a question, like how he made Lyla - he'll answer it basic and to the point.

_-_ 'She's an AI. She's my assistant and the notification system within your watch.'

He probably won't even look up from his work, thinking it's just the routine questions everyone asks before moving on to the next thing.

BUT IF YOU ASK FURTHER - Miguel's like

Because it's not often someone actually like...does that.

It's probably very rare that someone shows interest in his technological, engineering, or physics studies - all of which he's INCREDIBLY talented at and actively working on

You ask him how long it took him to make her, he says a year or two.

You tell him how impressive that is and BOOM NERD!Miguel.

He's telling you how her voice detection took the longest, and how her multiverse-monitoring probability algorithm was something he had to tweak twenty thousand times.

You compliment him about the design of the watch, he's like

_-_ 'I still have the protypes.' And he's ready to show you different ones, different shapes and materials he considered using, but eventually ruled out through experiments and tests

AND DON'T GET HIM STARTED ON THEORIES OH GODDDD

You mention the words 'String Theory' or 'Time Dilation' around him and you will NEVER hear the end of it.

He has so many opinions on it he's never had the chance to share.

Ideas and theories about things like fourth dimensions, worm holes, black holes, and dozens of other theoretical scientific concepts.

I mean, he MADE time travel. He is an EXPERT in that stuff.

I would KILL to have a Time Travel Movie Marathon with Miguel.

Sitting on the couch and watching things like Back to the Future, and he describes what they got right, what would be impossible, how it could work in theory.

He probably talks through the whole movie, and picks each one apart. You watch Doctor Who and he WILL NOT SHUT UP.

He's probably AMAZIINNGG at math.

Like math IS science. It's the answer for science. So he's probably a natural master.

You can be like 'Miguel, What's 34% of 12,967?' - Without blinking he'd be like

_-_'...I'm guessing 4408, or something? I don't know, am I right? Ask Lyla, don't ask me.'

But you don't need to ask Lyla cause HE'S RIGHT

HISTORY TOO!

I mean... the man time-travels. I think he'd have at least a good grasp on history, and time periods. Thinks like ancient roman historians and how their thoughts effect modern science, and how certain events effected the flow of time throughout history.

I imagine he finds it so fascinating, seeing the vast differences that can span in universes, just from one small change. Maybe he even finds comfort in it, seeing how histories and stories have a natural flow in a way fiction can only hope to imitate.

I love me some Nerd!Miguel.

I wanna get in bed with Miguel and by that I mean I want to sit next to him as he sits in bed reading a book on the Theory of Relativity with reading spectacles and a mug of sleepytime tea okay

A Miguel who runs up to his partner like 'Read this,' and he's all proud as he hands you a notepad full of numbers. But to him it's a formula he's been working WEEKS on, one that'll make Lyla run smoother, and everything much easier and he wants you to think he's cool for it

A Miguel who spends date nights watching NatGeo documentaries for fun

NERDY NERD MIGUEL DORKY MILD NERDY MIGUEL

[bi-bard]

I'm Back Between Villages, and Everything's Still - Tenth Doctor Imagine [Doctor Who]

Title: I'm Back Between Villages, and Everything's Still

Pairing: Tenth Doctor X Reader

Based On: The View Between Villages - Extended

Word Count: 1.516 words

Warning(s): bad parents, mention of bad childhood

Summary: A further look into the trip that the Doctor and (Y/n) took to (Y/n)'s hometown. The one place that (Y/n) never wanted to walk into again.

Author's Note: I had to reread what I wrote for the first part this because it has been a hot minute that story came out.

PART ONE HERE

STICK SEASON [WE'LL ALL BE HERE FOREVER] - NOAH KAHAN WRITING CHALLENGE MASTERLIST

---------------------

I expected showing the Doctor around my hometown to be more terrifying than it was.

At first, my steps were heavy.

I didn't know where to go. I didn't have many roots left in that town. My biggest fear was being recognized and stopped by someone that I never wanted to see again.

But after a while, I found myself relaxing.

I was able to find some joy in the places that we were going. I was able to tell small stories. Not all of them were entirely happy, but it still felt good to share them.

I had spent a long time trying to hide my history from not just the Doctor but myself. Being able to look back at it was almost healing. Especially when there was someone holding my hand.

"I have one place that I want to visit," I said as the two of us walked back to the TARDIS. "If that's alright."

"It's your trip," he replied. "Where are we going?"

"To see my parents."

He paused for a moment. He must have seen the fear on my face. "Alright."

We got into the TARDIS. I told him where to go- and to park down the road from the actual house- before I sat down on one of the benches. I felt my leg shaking, heart pounding, and breathing becoming shakier.

"(Y/n)..."

I looked at the Doctor.

"We're here," he said. "We don't have to do this. We could go."

"No, no," I shook my head. "I... I need to see them."

He nodded.

"I mean... After spending so long running through time and space, I could at least let them know that I'm alive."

He grinned a bit.

"Oh, by the way, they don't properly know anything about you or the TARDIS or aliens or anything... just that I've been traveling."

"As long as I don't get slapped."

"Has that... Has that happened when meeting someone's parents?"

"... sometimes."

I slowly nodded.

"Come on," he said excitedly, sticking a hand out to me.

I stood at the end of my parent's driveway for longer than I care to admit. The Doctor didn't walk forward without me. He stood next to me with his hands shoved in his pockets.

"Are you ready," I asked as if I wasn't the one stopping us.

"Whenever you are," he replied, smiling at me.

I stepped forward. My feet felt heavier with each step. I had a million thoughts going through my head and none of them felt particularly good.

I knocked on the door and took a deep breath.

The door opened and I found my mom standing on the other side.

A wide smile crossed her lips. "(Y/n)!"

I felt a sigh of relief escape me as I hugged her back. I thought that I would be met with the door closing in my face or some kind of angry rant. I guess that I saw it as comforting that she hadn't bitten my head off already.

Most of the visit was perfectly fine. My parents met the Doctor- who very kindly introduced himself as John Smith to help me- and they seemed alright with him. They seemed to be okay with my traveling and they wanted to hear about it.

Nothing could have beat my grandmother's reaction.

She stormed into the house after my mom called her. I was dragged into the tightest hug that I had ever been given and then met with a million questions.

It was nice.

I was starting to relax. Take a few deep breaths and feel like everything was going to be just fine.

And then, dinner.

We had sat down together. There was small talk. Everyone seemed to be eating in peace. Nothing gave me any indication that the night was going to take the turn that it did.

"So, John," my dad spoke up. "Do you hide (Y/n)'s phone or was it a shared decision?"

"Dad," I snapped immediately.

"What, it's an honest question," he shrugged.

"Bullshit," I replied. "Is it that hard to believe that I did something that you didn't like on my own?"

"What are we expected to believe when you never call," my mom asked.

"Why do you think that is?" I countered.

I felt the Doctor reaching over and grabbing my hand under the table. I assumed that my anger was somewhat new to him. I wasn't one to be explicitly angry. I would usually hold it in.

To be fair, the things that we confronted never felt quite so personal.

"Oh, is this about that stuff from when you were a teenager?" my mom pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Stop calling it just 'stuff'," I shouted.

"Always need to overreact," my dad muttered.

That seemed to open a can of worms that refused to be closed again.

I felt as if my throat was closing up. I couldn't even fight back against the rant of disappointment and annoyance and bullshit.

I closed my eyes at the comments and the growing arguing. My head was pounding. My chest felt tight and heavy. My eyes felt as if they had been cemented shut. I couldn't look my parents in the eyes if I wanted to. I had started digging my nails into the Doctor's hand, which I was certain was going to hurt him.

"All of you, hush!"

The table fell silent as my grandmother raised her voice for the first time that evening.

I finally lifted my head again. I found her already looking at me.

"Step outside with me, darling," she instructed, pushing herself out of the seat. I followed her. "The rest of you sit here and pull yourselves together."

I followed her outside to the porch. She guided me to the porch swing, sitting next to me with my hands clasped in hers.

"I'm sorry that you had to deal with them, dear," she said. "I can't believe that they are surprised that you don't see visiting them as important when they behave like that."

"It's... It's alright," I shook my head. "They were right. I just ran away with no warning. I never call, never visit-"

"Because of their actions," she replied. "What they did and what they refused to do. And because this place isn't enough for you. And that's okay."

I sighed. "You spent your whole life making a life here. So did my parents. I... I just like I've been ungrateful."

"No, no, not at all," she shook her head. "This place was enough for me and your parents. It never was for you. I know that. You were always bound for something better than this. Your parents are scared of that and it caused what you saw tonight... what you've seen for a long time."

There was a long pause.

"Tell me... are you happy traveling with that man in there," she asked.

I nodded. "Yeah... I really am."

"Then go with him," she pushed. "And call me from wherever you're visiting. Your parents can't guilt you if they're hearing everything from me... I'd like to see them try."

I chuckled.

"I love you, sweetheart. And I love the person that you've grown to be."

"I love you too."

She leaned over and hugged me. I closed my eyes as I hugged her back. It was the first moment of pure support I had ever been offered regarding my traveling. And it was everything to me.

We both leaned back when the front door opened. The Doctor stepped out and offered us both an awkward smile.

"Sorry, I don't mean to intrude, but I think I was just adding to some of the... tension in there," he explained.

"It's alright," my grandmother replied as she stood up. "We were just wrapping up."

I stood up with her.

"I suppose you both are off, then?"

I looked at the Doctor, who was already looking at me for an answer.

"Yeah, we are," I said, looking at her.

"Good luck, sweetheart," she touched my arm.

"Thank you," I mumbled.

She stood on the porch and watched us as we walked away. I glanced back when we made it to the end of the driveway. She waved at us with a wide smile on her face. I waved back at her.

I grabbed the Doctor's hand as we walked down the street toward the TARDIS. He didn't respond, merely making sure that our fingers were still intertwined. The walk was silent. It was a nice change from the chaos earlier, which still had my ears ringing a bit.

Once we made it inside the ship, the Doctor dropped my hand, going to start flying us out of there.

"Doctor," I said after a minute.

"Yeah," he asked.

I jogged over and wrapped my arms around him. I closed my eyes and hid my face in his shoulder. He hugged me back, letting out a quiet sigh as he did so.

"Thank you," I muttered. "For everything."

"You have nothing to thank me for," he replied just as quietly.

Oh, how wrong he was.

---------------------

Navigation Guide

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Some Original Characters

[algebraicpizza]

If the Straw Hat Pirates were on social media:

this has probably been done before but idc

Luffy doesn't have an account (he doesn't know how to use a phone) but Nami and Usopp run a tiktok where they take videos of him getting into street fights, climbing on top of statues in public, or running all-you-can-eat buffets out of business. He has no idea he's become popular online. There's a subreddit that compiles every sighting.

Zoro streams his workouts on insta but often forgets to turn off the stream, leading to everyone seeing his completely empty apartment. His chat is full of simps but he doesn't actually know how to open it and never connected it to his bank account to receive donations. He's been invited onto various podcasts but has never responded to any of their emails. Most of his workout advice is just to lift heavier weights.

Nami is actually not a hot tub streamer, but she constantly jokes in her just chatting streams that the next stream will be one. Clips of her raging in Valorant have gone viral several times in spite of how she preaches kindness and respect, but she's always managed to get away with an apology video. She secretly posts on 4chan to argue with her haters.

Usopp is a variety streamer who's an absolute god in every shooter he plays. He trash talks like crazy in voice chat and several of his questionably true rants about how he's the best player ever or going to show up at his opponent's house have become memes. Sound clips of his terrified screams while playing horror games have become memes as well, and he hates it. He's actually active in his community discord, and frequently reacts to its meme channel.

Sanji posts recipe videos, clips and screenshots of which regularly do numbers on twitter for how amazing they look. The restaurant he works at requires reservations six months in advance because of how much he's boosted it's profile. A reality show once did an episode on him that revealed not just the way he belittles chefs who fuck up, but the biased treatment he gives to women. He can't shake that reputation, but is trying to be better. He's recently moved to tiktok and gotten a brand new boost of fans.

Chopper first appeared as an expert guest on various podcasts, and then started youtube videos explaining basic medical concepts. But somehow, fan comments convinced him to start making videos like "Doctor Plays MINECRAFT for the first time?" He believes every single fake rumor about Herobrine.

Robin posts her history lectures online and is beloved by students around the world for how understandable she makes complex topics. Her videos are very popular as unintentional ASMR. Otherwise, she mostly avoids social media, but you'll occasionally see her networking on academic twitter and vagueposting about how hard she works and how much she wishes things were easier. Secretly, she's active on AO3 and is known for her hundreds of angsty hurt/comfort fics in just about every fandom you can imagine.

Franky runs a DIY engineering youtube channel where he posts the most insane inventions. His titles are all along the lines of "POLICE SHOWED UP AT MY HOUSE? SUUUUPER TRUCK WITH MOUNTED CANNON BUILD!!!" He does AMAs on reddit every year and ends every single comment with SUUUUUUPER.

Brook is a popular musician online, but doesn't have a youtube channel of his own. He's known for rock covers of classical pieces and his concerts sell out completely, but the only videos of him are posted by fans. The only way he actually communicates with fans is on facebook, where he's active to this day, mostly to post puns.

Jimbei hosts a political podcast where he talks primarily about minority rights, but he takes on guests with a variety of views for the sake of open debate. He's ratioed political figures on twitter many times. He travels frequently and posts about it on his blog.

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

I’m not familiar with Dr Who so why do people dislike Lindy?

(Spoilers for the new season if anyone is not caught up)

Ooh boy, this one is a doozy.

So, first thing to understand is that Doctor Who is a do-everything show. The protagonist is an alien called The Doctor who periodically changes his face (therefore the show can theoretically go on forever.) We currently have our first ever Black Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa. The Doctor travels in space and time. One episode could be about earth history, the next could be an alien planet. And they’ve had some weird ones.

Lindy Pepper Bean is the stereotypical white girl and that’s very much on purpose. living on a planet called Finetime. Yes, that is it’s actual name. A bunch of rich humans sent their kids there to serve as a vacation spot where they only have to work two hours a day. The rest of the time they are connected to a social media hub called The Bubble, which acts as a hologram obscuring their vision and it literally gives them directions on where to walk since they can’t see. When Lindy turns the Bubble off, she finds she has forgotten how to without it.

The Bubble is controlled by this floating computer called The Dot, and everyone has one. The AI has grown sentient over time, and it’s ultimately revealed that The Dots have grown to hate their human masters and wish to kill them. If you’re thinking this is a commentary on social meda, or on the dangers of AI…just wait. It gets worse. Finetime is exclusively white. Was that just a lack of diverse casting? Oh no. Let’s talk about Lindy.

Lindy is extremely selfish. She is arrogant, superficial, and rude to most people. Especially The Doctor. She is constantly condescending to him. More so than his (white) friend and companion, Ruby. This is not unheard of. The Doctor is a genius who often struggles with socializing, people don’t always like him. But in this episode, he and Ruby are presented as equals and they’re both just trying to save her life.

Lindy shows her true colors when she, without hesitation, throws another character named Ricky under the bus. After he saved her life and shieldee her from The Dots, after he told her to go without him, she stops them from attacking her by revealing information that she knows will cause the Dots to kill Ricky instead. Ricky was entirely innocent and one of the more enlightened people on Finetime, choosing to read books rather than use The Bubble.

Lindy shows absolutely no remorse for this and never faces any consequences because nobody finds out it happened. She lies through her teeth and says Ricky just went back to help more people escape The Dots. But the real kicker is what comes next.

The Doctor offers to save the survivors, who would otherwise be doomed. They refuse his help. He has a space timeship that could evacuate all of them. But they won’t go with him, because he is “not one of them.” Lindy singles out The Doctor, she doesn’t include Ruby in this judgment. According to her, talking to him onscreen was tolerable, but in person is just too much. They don’t ever directly state that it’s about skin color, but the subtext is painfully clear.

TL;DR: Lindy is selfish to the point of using other people as human shields, incapable of even walking properly thanks to her social media addiction, has an overall rude personality, and (this is the big one) she’s fucking racist.

[adventure-showdown]

What is your favourite Doctor Who story?

TOURNAMENT MASTERPOST

synopses and propaganda under the cut

Zagreus

Synopsis

Zagreus sits inside your head

Zagreus lives among the dead

Zagreus sees you in your bed

And eats you when you're sleeping.

Propaganda

ok so, its the 40th annivercery!! its not offical as the show was off the air at the time, but still!!!! every single companion and doctor actor Big Finish managed to get they got!! but do they play their parts? ...actually not really! here we have the end of an arc that two seasons coming, Charley and 8 has been through a lot, and at this point their story comes to a starteling and rather horrid conclusion! (OR IS IT?) Charley, who has been rescued from death by the eight doctor, rescuing her when he was not supposed to, has been through a lot, and even as that got solved last episode, by saving her from becoming a portal of death to galifray (a long and better constracted story XD), the doctor and the tardis has sufferd a huge explosen of an anti time bomb! making the doctor to become infected with an anti time infection! making him concive himself as the childhood time lord rhyme known as Zagreus! so now he must distory the entire univerce hahaha, because apperently Rassilon, ie one of the og creatorss of galifray socity wants to make the doctor into Zagrues so he can use him to distroy his emenies!! by distroying him body and soul!!! but what's this??? his former selfes as random people around the time stream coming in with the steal chair????? all led by a very rightfully annoyed Charley because the doctor refused to kill her as she asked because she loves him???? what the fuck will happen next!! all led delightfuly by Romana and Leela, and K9, and a rather jealous and EVIL tardis played by the Brigadier himself!! in between this 3 HOUR LONG epic and delightful advanture, apart from the absolote chaos of the event, you will get a suprisingly beutifull speaches filled with exploration of the meaning of love, of friendship! of a love so strong that it shall forfit between dimantions and also canon, the doctor explores what it actually means to be in love with a companion! and Charley, explores what it means to love him even more strongly back! what it means to be the doctor!! and the fact that the distruction of the tardis is actuall the thing stopping him from completely losing himself to loss and grief 😭, the absolote hammering in of the fact the coraption of time lord scoaity and Rasilon's bigotry, and finally someone understands that if you corrupt the Doctor, you have the absolotle potancial to distroy the entire univerce!! Paul Mcgann screaming for amazing hours, as he has the best time playing the baddy and people who are not the doctor!! India Fisher as Charley giving it her all and being amazing at it!! (also the fact that this delightful story is the leadthrough to one of the most terrefying stories of doccy who history, Scherzo! as it explores the themes of this story in a much more detailed way! but that's a horrefying story for another day XD) (@geronimomo-spd )

The 30th anniversary special is overly long and complicated but mostly it is INSANE ! Alice in Wonderlands, giant animatronic rabbits, Vampires and an evil doctor who hAMS it up,,,,that and 4 different doctors as well as TONS of companions plus the Briggs who is actually the TARDIS. it makes no sense! Compels me tho. Everyone says it with me : Zagreus sits inside your head Zagreus lives among the dead Zagreus Sees you in your bed And eats you when you're sleeping It's the best anniversary special day of the doctor whomst ? (@gnougnouss )

Scherzo

Synopsis

Once upon a time...

There were two friends, and together they travelled the cosmos. They thwarted tyrants and defeated monsters, they righted wrongs wherever they went. They explored the distant future and the distant past, new worlds and galaxies, places beyond imagining.

But every good story has to come to an end.

With no times or places left to explore, all the two friends have now are each other. But maybe that's one voyage too many. Maybe they'll discover things they'd rather have left undisturbed... hidden away in the suffocating, unfeeling, deafening brightness.

Once upon a time. Far, far away.

Propaganda

It’s a great and fucked up dissection of the Doctor and Charley’s relationship, with a healthy dose of body horror (anonymous)

you will never look at the handshake emoji the same way again (october)

Really creative concept. Puts 8 and Charley into a situation where they have to confront their relationship and what they mean to each other while dealing with an incredibly engaging creature. I can't name an audio that suits the medium better and Ive been consuming Big Finish at an alarming rate. Also noises™️ (anonymous)

Absolutely INSANE episode back when big finish was allowed to get WEIRD weird it has everything: heartfelt discussion about the doctor/companion relationship, love, cannibalism, body horror, the exploration of a very alien world. All of this while making full use of the audio medium in a story that could simply never have been done anywhere else. It's a must listen for everyone. (@gnougnouss )   

[brilliantfantasticgeronimo]

empire of death thoughts+reactions part 1

previously onnnn (super short sdlkfj)

HOP ON, COWBOY

sdlkjs morris a literal 13 year old having guns on his lil' scooter thing.is UNIT ok.

omg even the vlinx TOT

the birds will sings again!!!!!!

dust of death mmm delicious alliteration

"im sorry there's nothing we can do. we're dead" vibes

loving this action sequence ngl

WATCHA TALKING ABOUT

maybe is not [insert character]. maybe mrs flood is just an old lady who is Like This.

"my true name" "ur true maker" whats her true maker if not RTD!!! / clowning

"we've got worse problems" that's gonna come back to bite him skdfljdskl

does anyone remember the clara / 1 paintdoktahwho comic "dont take that one. take the tv"

thats what im thinking ot

(askdjlad UGH my iplayer stopped so i refreshed and while skipping to the place i think i spoiled my self for susan ?? TOT sutpid internet stupid preview skipping thumbnail function grrrr) im not a tardis smasher in general but the memory tardis….. would. maybe

"remember it harder" i would be a useless companion here tbh. memory of a goldfish.i would doom the earth.

IT'S A TV SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IT'S TELLING THE STORY OF YOUR LIFE

I MADE A JIGSAW OF YOUR HISTORY SDKLFJSLKJF

AAAAAGHHH

sdflkdfj sutekh spining in the vortex. 2 cute

the temple……….. tardis as the thing in the hill meta INTENSIFIES

"so many secrest" um TIMELESS CHILD FUGITIVE MEMORIES FOBWATCH????

oh ok i jut got spoiled for the clip OF susan sdlkfjdskl FALSE ALARM FOLKS

"never yours again, never"

my angels of death………………..

"i find that good" i feel they did this same exact phrasing once for a "death is beautiful" monster like this but i cant remember which story?

also, flux? flux anyone? 13 vs entropy itself?

"i am an extinction event" OOF

(oh this clicks on why the doctor clings sm to living / immortality despite how much it hurts)

memory is a time machine TOT idk but that Hits Harder

"sutes" dlkjfslfk cute

"and doesnt it feel good?" holy shit

yayy mel's not dead yet

MEL GRABBING SIX'S COAT IM FINEIM FINE IM FINE

(idk why but that's what's made me cry slkfjsd)

"ruby roo" sdkljsfd

lasdkj if a regular tardis is 6 people driven then a memory tardis is probably meant to be piloted by every single doctor and companion ever

"meleanie b" TOT (doctor trait unlocked: when 15 is stressed he intensifies on the cutsey nicknames)

CHEKOV'S INGELLITEN GLOVE !!!!! damn i thought for a second about putting that on my bingo card but didnt skldfj

i like that the subtext of "when disaster comes, he's there" / "the tardis is an ommen of death" & "he has one constant companion… death" isn't literally being stated as being "sutekh did it lol" lol cause that would feel a lil cheap. i think instead rtd took a smarter choices of keeping that subtext, but keeping it that stricly speaking what sutekh did was just putting the susan copies everywhere.

73 yards……………

omg wait so in a memory tardis u can remmeber anything to existence………….. what if heiimagines susan at the end

(MOLECULAR BOND ROGUE CALL BACK?)

73 yards…………. HOW DO U KNOW THAT. I JUST DO. SHE'S JUST GOOD AT CONVERTING UNITS DAMN. LET RUBY BE GOOD AT UNIT CONVERSIONS DOCTOR.

ohh wait so this connects perception filters and 73 yards. put on a pin on that (and presumably……. taking down the perception filter is what happened re: ruby? that's why people ran away? people saw beyond her perception filter to the elderitch abomination bellow?)

"you've landed on earth a 100th times" is probably a huuude understimation lol

"she was reborn stronger each time. this monumental figure" dr. who as a cultural institution meta

shots outside the tardis my beloved

1999….. the movie... 2005 …. obvious. 1066 was the fire of london right? with 5?

this is rlly working for me ngl. dr who is all about death meta but it's literal but it's not

and a lso the whole. when u are a time traveler everyone is already dead. we must be like ghosts to u . etc etc

telos… THE OOD SPHERE noooo

mel being like "well…. at least 1% of the universe is fine. that's all right then" .

this |5 "it's all my fault" beat feels a lil' weird until u remember [all the traumas] / flux trauma and then it's like yeah i getchu doc i too take everything bad that happens as proof that it is my fault even tho, factually, it makes no sense as a reaction. trauma/depression girlies united.

THE SUN IS DEAD. rip 42's sun.

omg thank u sutekh for finally fixing that over-blue colorization in the unit set. not all heroes wear capes tbh.

aaaand the end.

fade to black.

doctor who is done! we can all go home and become trekkies everybody. congrats!

[pastanest]

A/N: just some fun headcannons I thought of for different regenerations of the Doctor with each other’s companions :)

Doctors With Each Other’s Companions

Ten x Clara Oswald 

there is only one reason that these two could not spend more than the 50th anniversary special together: the bisexuals would’ve spontaneously combusted

no but fr 

if they had one full conversation they’d flirt themselves into an outerspace hotel room in approximately 4 seconds 

the tension is palpable 

the HEIGHT DIFFERENCE? I have been found deceased in a sewer pipe

no but seriously a show with these two couldnt be PG 

Eleven was all flustered and bumbling when Clara flirted with him but Ten?? OH, he is SMOOTH AS BUTTER WITH IT once he’s gotten a bit more accustomed to it

The Oncoming Rizz, if you will

Nine x Donna Noble 

these two would probably never get anything done bc they’d be arguing all the time in an epic war to out-sass each other

and Donna would win every time

and Nine would never admit it

if there is ANYONE that could put any Doctor in their place, it’s Donna Girlboss Noble

imagine Nine yelling for Donna like Ten did too, iconic

I’m not sure Nine could cope with Donna for a whole series just in terms of keeping up with her but I think for however long they were travelling together, it would be the funniest pairing in Doctor Who history

Twelve x Martha Jones

first of all, the racism that Ten allowed Martha to experience when he made himself human and chose the time period they’d hide in?? Twelve would NEVER, we saw how he protected Bill!!

second, she would’ve been saved from heartache with this version of the Doctor

Twelve would actually appreciate Martha, in ways that the heartbroken Ten couldnt 

the fact Martha is so smart and has such a vast medical knowledge? Twelve is ALL about it

he’d meet Einstein just to say “Martha Jones is smartest person in this room, after me.”

he has no regard for whether that’s technically accurate or not

Twelve has every faith that no matter the scenario, Martha Jones is smart enough to figure out a solution 

very biased and does not care

Nine x Amelia Pond

now hear me out, this is an odd combo, but ENVISION IT

Amelia Pond would soften Nine like sun on snow, especially if they had the canon meeting of her and Eleven 

he’s more inclined to be blunt, but I think Amy would become his exception in a similar way to Twelve x Clara

like Nine will go on a rant about how stupid the human race is, but then ends it with “-except for Amelia, obviously.”

he roasts Rory to no end, the two of them are the ears and the nose

River Song slaps Nine more than any other regeneration of the Doctor and that’s canon

and if it had been Nine in a Good Man Goes To War, let’s just say his name would no longer be…

Eleven x Rose Tyler

listen listen listen, I KNOW Rose already got two regenerations of the Doctor but it will never be enough for me Im such a whore for Rose’s dynamic with the Doctor I wont take any criticism goodnight

if her relationship with Ten continued with Eleven?? UMM

Rose would be jealous of River to begin with but they’d become besties in no time bc River has obviously heard all about her and is like “You stared into the heart of the Tardis? Slay x”

Eleven and his boyish antics, his bubbling excitement and ridiculous dress sense would have had Rose Tyler GIGGLING

also Eleven could charm anyone, including Jackie Tyler, it’s canon she thinks he’s utterly adorable and actually keeps a supply of jammy dodgers in the cupboard just in case they pop round 

Twelve x Rose Tyler 

SO CUTE 

Rose and her daddy issues, fixed by the lovingly-grouchy grandad that is Twelve? HAND IT OVER RN

also the Scottish accent saying “Rose” would scratch the brain 

similar to Twelve x Clara, except with the canon additions of Captain Jack and Mickey Smith

obviously, Captain Jack still tries to flirt with the Doctor and calls him a “silver fox” and Twelve is like >:( but internally he’s twirling his hair and kicking his feet 

and he forgets Mickey’s name entirely

forgets he’s there, actually

“When was the last time he said something that showed a shred of intelligence? As far as I’m concerned, he’s a vaguely familiar pudding brain.”

[lambcow]

My Plan for the Upcoming Twilight TV Show so that it's actually Good

I heard recently that they're doing a Twilight TV show. The rights are out there at the very least. Who knows when it will happen and what network will produce it where, but it's going to happen.

But here's my thing - they're going to do it wrong if they do it the way I think they will, which is anything like the timeline of the Books/Movies. As a hardcore Twilight fan (yes I'll admit it, I spent a long time in fandom as a preteen, okay? It was my first online fandom and the first fanfiction that I wrote) I have Opinions(TM) about how to make the show in a way that would make it interesting. Stephanie Meyer had interesting ideas and I stand by this! There's a lot of untapped potential in the series and I think if they did it right it could be a really, really cool show! But there's not much going on if we just rehash the same events of the books over again at an episodic level.

No.

I present to you, not the TV show "Twilight", but the TV show "Cullens", which starts off with Carlisle Cullen as he has come to America when he finally starts to build his Coven.

This is NOT the story of whiny Bella Swan and her falling in love with Edward and becoming a vampire over 4 books or 5 movies, but rather the story of a man who has already spent over two centuries as a vampire, struggling because of his love for humanity as he finds purpose and meaning as he builds his family. We follow his story as he collects his coven.

We truly open on the show when Carlisle finds Edward dying of Spanish Influenza and decides to turn him for humanity's sake because he would die and because he as a man is lonely and this boy is so young, only 17, and Edward's mother begs him to do whatever he can to save her son and who knows, maybe Carlisle's been watching him and he sees him like a son already too. Maybe we get flashbacks to Carlisle with the Volturi for those 20 years he stayed with them in Italy back in the early 1700s, who knows. The fact of the matter is, that Carlisle is a doctor at the hospital where Edward is, and for whatever reason that we as an audience are compelled to understand in this first and important episode is Carlisle is finally done being alone and craves family and Edward resembles that for whatever reason, so Carlisle gives in and turns him. The next several episodes are an arc about their relationship as we deal with newborn Edward. We know how hard it is to adjust to being newly turned. After he calms down, Edward then has to confront his mortality and that of his family, we see him start to remember his family and confront those memories. More flashbacks to the Volturi as Carlisle explains what being a vampire is to Edward etc.

We follow the pair then as they travel around with the cover story that Edward is Carlisle's nephew. It's three years later when Esme enters the picture. What we know already is she attempted suicide and Carlisle turned her to save her - and that they have history since Carlisle treated her for a broken leg some ten years prior when she was 16 years old. Fast forward to now and she's gone through an abusive marriage where she ran away from her husband several times, most recently after getting pregnant, and has just lost her baby due to a lung fever. At her wit's end with all of it, Carlisle finds her after she jumps off a cliff attempting to end her life. They end up falling in love and getting married after she is turned. That's several episodes I'm sure. GREAT ARC. But Esme struggles with blood lust, which is a great transition into the conversation for what happens just a few years later with Edward...

We can tie more vampire politics into the show (especially the Volturi into it) when Edward goes through his Ripper phase when he decides he doesn't want to drink animal blood like Carlisle teaches him. The two fight but what can Carlisle do? Maybe there are other vamps around as well to cause extra drama. Who knows? It is a TV show, after all. He goes off on his own and that's a whole plot. I'm sure the network could find some interesting ways to make this dramatic for a few episodes and keep enough plot points alive. Add in some new OC's and side characters. Remember the Denali clan? When do they start being formed? There's not a lot of context on them, just that they're close with The Cullen's. Maybe we get some of their story and interaction here. Maybe Sasha (the original leader who was killed by the Volturi for creating an immortal child) reaches out to Carlisle at some point near the beginning and this is when they all become vegetarian vampires together before the whole Denali clan is formed too.

Fast forward to when that arc is resolved. Edward is back with Carlisle and Esme and the peace is back. Now, we get Rosalie... Now, the thing with Carlisle, is he doesn't turn people just to turn people. He's very moralistic. We learn that all the time about his character. I'm sure our little trio has traveled on from Chicago and is in New York where they encounter Rosalie Hale who was assaulted nearly to death by her husband and all his buddies. Carlisle is somewhat of a matchmaker here and hopes Rosalie and Edward can keep each other company for their immortal lives... it makes me wonder what episode and background we can throw into the show here. Did Carlisle know this girl in any other capacity? Why are his dad senses tingling about Rosalie anyway? That's gotta be an arc.

Anyway, turns out Rosalie is not only not interested in Edward, but she's only really interested in staying with the Cullens because being alone forever would get lonely, so she stays with them... but that's after her revenge arc because Rosalie Hale is a certified Bad Ass. She goes after her Fiance and all his Dude Bros and takes them all out, and I can just imagine her executing this flawlessly as a vamp. I do wonder if Edward reads her mind about her plans and asks if he can help her, though. Eventually, she gives in and it's Sibling Bonding(TM) at its finest. It's this bonding that convinces Rosalie to stay with the Cullens after all, and that's that.

Next, we get Emmett. Now, this is a fun one! Because we get Emmett who starts pining over the gorgeous Rosalie Hale when they move to this new place. I'm not sure it says where they are, but I digress. Do we have a bit of the Bella/Edward vibes here? Are there warnings of "don't let the human close"? Is this around the time when we've just had the Denali arc and are reminded of the human child being killed? Is Carlisle having flashbacks? What is the drama? Make it interesting, TV people! Is Edward mad that Rosalie is flirting back? Is it harmless? Who. Knows. -- But then, it doesn't matter because Emmett is getting mauled by a bear in the woods and... wait, why is Rosalie even there? Why does she even find him? Hmmm, seems like she's following him around protectively ;) well- whatever the reason and drama, Emmett is near dead and she saves him and brings him to Carlisle to be turned. The reactions of the coven... the reactions of the town, of his family, of his friends, the drama. Make it interesting, once again, people! This is TV gold! It's cliches and everything you want for TV, c'mon! And then, of course, since they were already practically in love already, they really can be together, but now they have to leave because Emmett is supposedly dead and the Cullens are complicit in that for some reason too perhaps. So they get out of dodge and where do they go now?

If you guessed Forks, Washington, you're right. It's the first time and it's time to get into the legends and deal with The Wolves(TM). It's all about the Quiluetes and it's time to make a treaty with The Pack(TM). Ephraim Black is Jacob's great-grandfather and the leader of the tribe. Whoooa boy. I can think of sooooo much they can do with this,. And just how long do the Cullens stay in Forks the first time around? It's a whole arc. Maybe it's a season. We get some good wolf content. We get some pack dynamics. It's great. We get some beef between Rosalie and the wolves maybe, because there's obvious dislike between her and the wolves later and it's gotta be for a reason more than just their smell, I know it. So, several episodes there. Maybe even some fighting. I know it ends with a treaty, but that's not easily won. Maybe it's Rosalie they found first and one of the wolves attacked her before they were able to make talks for peace. Yeah. I can see this season being really fun.

So, after all that goes down, maybe there's something with the Volturi? Something with the Denali? They do end up staying with the Denali Coven for a time. Maybe they go somewhere else for a little while after they've overstayed their welcome in Forks. Sometime around the 1940s they leave. During the 1950s Jasper and Alice wander upon them and at this point, I fully believe we would get a several-episode arc of Jasper's origin story with the Civil War and the Newborn Army - but they've gotta make it interesting somehow, so there's gotta be a parallel conflict in the timeline that makes it relevant, like I keep saying, make it interesting. Who knows where the Cullens are living right now at this point, but there's crazy everywhere and they're vampires they're practically magnates for danger and chaos. Make something up. Family drama, vampire drama, whatever you need. Where are more of those OCs. And don't forget! We have all the covens and vampires from the battle in Breaking Dawn that we can draw on at ANY point in the show for extra vampires to make any of this interesting as well! Make. It. Make. Sense. How does Carlisle know everyone all the time??? Add spice, add interest, and make the Cullens well-connected in a way that makes sense!

Once we get through Jasper's origin story, we get how he and Alice met, which of course is that Alice saw him in a vision. Alice is such a fun character.

And what do they do in the interim 60 years until Bella? Um, not really sure, but we can find some filler or we can time skip. Not like we haven't been doing that anyway. I also have this vague idea that the whole first few seasons are vaguely a la How I Met Your Mother where they're always telling the story to Bella or Renesmee or someone anyway -- oooh telling the story to Ren would be cute actually... that has potential. Grandpa Cullen telling his granddaughter about how all the family got together. That's adorable, whether you like Renesmee as a character or not. Tell me I'm wrong... Anyway, so then maybe it's like, "So what about mom?" or something and we jump to the actual plot of the Twilight books.

But we don't just get the Twilight books, we get the full in-depth. We get the shifters in La Push full with Emily and Sam and Quil, Embry and Jake, and Paul and all the bois, we get the whole story from Bree Tanner on the side as that develops. We get random check-ins with the Denali clan, because that's relevant! We get Edward's perspective on things as well when he meets Bella and how he runs away to the Denali clan because he's dead lusting for her blood! We get complex feelings and all the arguments about it! We get Rosalie and Edward fighting because isn't she being hypocritical about Bella?

We get the Volturi and more drama from the throne room as they learn about the Cullens and their drama just like we have been following Volturi drama on and off all series long. We know the personalities of Caius and Marcus and their dynamic with Aro. We've already heard the origin story of Jane and Alec and we know how brutal the terror twins are. We get the Volturi women Sulpicia, Athenedora, Chelsea, Heidi, and Renata. Don't even get me started on Demitri and Felix and my headcanon of their epic friendship. So, yeah, Volturi stuff.

All of it comes to a head at the final battle in Breaking Dawn just like we know but with so much more meaning than ever before because of the rich history we have from seasons upon seasons of "The Cullens" or "Cullen" or whatever you end up calling this show. It's amazing, it's beautiful, we've laughed, we've cried, we've become a family over and over again and Carlisle has a family and this is his family and he is happy.

Will they make it like this? Probably freaking not, but this is my one request to the universe. Don't make a "Twilight" TV show. Make a "Cullen" TV show.

Please.

[bengiyo]

Be My Favorite Ep 6 Stray Thoughts

Last week, this show put me on my back foot when it asked me to be kind. So much of last week was about people choosing to be kinder to one another and that choice paying forward for the recipient. Kawi is building a genuine friendship with Pear. Pisaeng went to a gay club for the first time and saw Max. Max read the baby gay for being self-centered, but then softened it with good advice. Kwan encouraged Not to give Kawi just a little bit of encouragement after asking him to sign the book she had already panned. They subverted the rooftop confession by having Kawi gently turn Pisaeng down. Kawi actually sang and now is part of a band. I’m actually invested in this show now. Was not expecting that.

Hey, Kawi’s smiles are starting to look genuine.

It’s sad that this is probably the first time Kawi ever expressed his worries about his dad.

I know we better save Kawi’s dad’s life. Kob Songsit is one of the most reliable BL dads.

I like that Max is a prickly queer. You gotta establish boundaries with baby gays because they can glomp on way too hard.

Oh. I see. Pisaeng’s family isn’t just rich, they’re “comfortable.” Curious how Max will feel about Pisaeng having a complicated relationship with his mom, or the reveal that anyone with that level of wealth is involved in crimes.

Pear’s house was used in Dark Blue Kiss and Bakery Boys I’m pretty sure.

I am having a lot of feelings about this scene with Pear asking her dad to help Kawi’s. I’m sick, and one of my friends reached out to his doctor parents to get me into care. I don’t think I’d be alive without their help.

Oh, Kawi. Now is the time to be strong and tank the embarrassment. It isn’t bad that Pear knew what you wanted to ask. It’s actually good that Pisaeng told her. She was there as an advocate with you. The mission is your dad’s health, not your ego.

Okay, I do like this show finally acknowledging that all these arguments people have are so loud that other people definitely know what they’re saying. I love Max.

Max is speaking my thoughts. I will let him write the rest of this post.

“I will not apologize for doing what I thought was best to help you with a serious problem. However you feel about it, I will accept it,” is really something I think we could use more of in the West. I feel like we as Americans are obsessed with ‘winning the conversation’ as a concept, and I think it makes us inherently combative.

This Kawi reveal about the source of his anger is giving, “I’m angry at myself.”

Not sure where I sit on Pear and Not as a pairing.

I get how repressed Kawi is and everything, but don’t kiss a man who has confessed to you while you’re drunk. There’s no turning back now. And then he falls asleep! This messy spaghetti ass boy!

Pisaeng going from an emotionally-complicated queer encounter directly into a closeted conversation with his mom as he has to figure out in the morning how to explain Kawi’s presence is giving me intense emotional flashbacks.

Okay, this show broke me. Pisaeng is not stupid. Pisaeng has always known who he is. His mother manipulated him deep into the closet when he was 15, and he knows it. His mom is using his own community against him. Some of you may be shocked that his mom has gay people turning on each other, but there is a long history of the police infiltrating gay spaces and threatening people convictions to turn them into informants. This is the sickest thing I think we’ve seen in a long time from GMMTV. I am deeply appalled. I will have to blog about this because this is so evil. The weaponization of our own community into surveilling and reporting on each other makes me so angry. That she is also publicly progressive enough that a person like Max admires her also infuriates me.

Nevermind. Fuck Not. Why is he speculating about Kawi’s sexuality to Pear? This is not how you flirt.

Ah, we’re back to the time travel portion of the plot. I’m curious what Pisaeng does with this knowledge.

I like Pisaeng. Despite everything going on, he’s still focused on the important thing: Kawi’s dad.

I do think it was important for Kawi to speak directly to Pear’s dad about getting help for his father, and not letting it just be a favor Pear begged for.

I’m so glad Kawi went to Pear as well to apologize for running out on her. She’s incredibly understanding and I hope she finds happiness and fulfillment.

I often talk a lot about the relationship with gay boys and their moms, but I also have strong feeling about boys and their fathers. Kawi admitting that he feels no need to improve himself if his dad won’t get to see it hits me to my core. I love my dad. He and I get along great. I need to call him later today once I watch Strange New Worlds. I get this.

I don’t mind Pisaeng letting Kawi know he’s willing to wait for him to sort his feelings.

I am going to have to write a separate post at some point this weekend. I am not in the read headspace now to talk about the rage flowing through my veins right now at a businesswoman with political ambitions gaslighting her own son into staying in the closet, and then using her own queer employees to surveil him. For those of you new to marginalized spaces, enforcement organizations have infiltrated our spaces forever and turned our own people against us. This was especially easy queer spaces because white men were threatened with losing access to whiteness. I cannot overstate how evil this is and how unexpected it is for me to have a GMMTV show NOT from Golf going directly into this.

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

Doctor Who, but Chronologically: 41

Well. Holy shit.

It's 1955, and hot on the heels of the incredibly socially important episode about Partition, we get one of the greatest episodes this show has ever produced: Rosa, co-written by Malorie Blackman.

(Funnily enough, once again, this dumbest of watch orders has triumphed - this close to Demons in the Punjab, you feel emotionally prepped for Rosa. "Ah yes," you think. "A much-needed and blindingly important historical episode that educates white British people in race relations. One of the functions of Doctor Who."

You still aren't ready.)

I mean this without hyperbole: of every episode, book, comic, radio show, and everything else Doctor Who has ever produced or had a hand in, this one makes you feel the imminent danger to the companions the most, and on a level that none other ever has. We get Whittaker, Ryan, Yaz and Graham back as they all go to Montgomery Alabama, the day before Rosa Parks stages her sit-in protest, and sweet Christ on a stick they do not pull their punches in making every single white person into a raging cunt of epic proportions. They do not shy away from stressing that Ryan could be lynched at literally any time and it would be legally sanctioned. They are not coy about citing the real-life murder of Emmett Till - murdered for daring to speak to a white woman - within seven minutes of the opening credits, after a white man physically assaults Ryan and snarls that he will have him "swinging from a tree with a rope for a kerchief, boy".

It is visceral and shocking and completely out of the normal tone of this show. Part way through, Ryan chooses to go off alone because his spine is apparently made of fecking titanium, and I honestly don't think I relaxed for the rest of the episode (although it leads to a fantastic scene of him meeting the leaders of the civil rights movement, including Martin Luther King Jr, and I really mean that it is FANTASTIC). I've watched companions be menaced by everything from statues to large pepper pots to fucking Bertie Botts; I've seen them trapped in drifting spaceships, partially turned into birds and fish, stuck in the Blitz, slaughtered in the Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve, melted, possessed, infected, mutilated, and threatened with compulsory roller derby membership. I have seen it all and then some. Some I have seen in more than one iteration.

This is the only episode where I have been genuinely frightened for one. I've aged, Tumblrs. 73, I am now. Wizened.

Anyway. You know the story of Rosa Parks sitting on the bus and refusing to give her seat to white people. This episode does cover that, but it does so through the medium of an awful time travelling neo-Nazi, complete with Richard Spencer haircut, who has been released from intergalactic prison Stormfront Stormcage and decided to use a vortex manipulator like Captain Jack's to come to 1955 and stop the Montgomery Bus Boycott from happening. There's a nasty scene where he tells Ryan he's doing it to stop Ryan's "kind" from "rising above their station", so when I say he's a neo-Nazi, I am not pissing about, and nor was this show. (Ryan shoots him with a time gun in the end that sends him to a prehistoric past trololol enjoy that, conservative, you people love The Past)

The TARDIS team spend the episode trying to nudge history back into place so the protest can happen. It's genius, really - super simple sci-fi plot, so the focus can be on the social issues. There's a beautiful conversation between Ryan and Yaz about the way they both still face racism in the present day, and the way Ryan has to constantly police his emotions and faces police discrimination even now; but, also about the nature of social change, and the importance of looking forwards and fighting the good fight. There's also a great scene when they first get on a bus - Ryan is forced to sit at the back, but Yaz doesn't know where to sit. The driver lets her on at the front, but she's not white - so which box do they want her in? "Does 'coloured' just mean black in the 1950s?" she asks, having been accused twice of being 'Mexican'. It's a subtle performance, but the indecision of it - guessing if she's endangering herself or not - is shown to be genuinely distressing.

God, fuck, this is such a good episode. It's absurdly good. They fit so much in 42 minutes, while still making it a Doctor Who episode and yet not shirking on any of the fundamental issues. And the writing is still deftly done - there's a dry humour that they intersperse throughout as a palate cleanser that never undoes the impact of the social stuff, like some stupid MCU LOL NOT REALLY bit of obnoxious bathos; instead it's a foil for the serious stuff, making it that bit more impactful. And! A rare Sexy Lamp Test pass for all three companions! That does not often happen in Chibnell's run, so shout out there.

Anyway. ANYWAY. I could honestly write a whole scene by scene breakdown of this episode complete with citations and explain in exquisite detail how much I love it, punctuated with "We laughed at this bit, and then cried at this bit, and threw shoes at the screen at this bit" but uhhhh, that is not the point of this project. So I shall stop.

Plot threads! Any answers? Not really. A few things we've seen before though, like the vortex manipulator, that was fun.

And apparently there's a big prison called Stormcage that puts anti-violence implants into its inmates' heads before release! That's fun. Good to know that policy.

“She” (an unknown person) is returning (perhaps River returned as Missy. Maybe Me? Maybe Clara???!)

There is something on Donna’s back

An entire planet, Pyrovilia, just… disappeared, somehow. (Maybe because the TARDIS is exploding??? Saturnine was also lost, and that WAS because of the TARDIS exploding. The lion man’s planet was also lost but he was a bit of a knob about it if I’m honest. The Thijarian planet was destroyed by some sort of impact)

Amy is maybe dead (she’s not)

The Doctor has been cubed (he’s out, but how?)

River is possibly blown up  (unless she’s Missy. Nope: she is definitely not blown up)

The TARDIS has blown up  (It’s fine now. Except it’s sort of melting now because it’s corrupted, but it’s fine again)

The universe appears to have ended  (the universe is back again)

The Doctor has employed(?) Nardole

(And Nardole was “reassembled???” Nardole had glass nipples and invisible hair?? WHAT THE FUCK IS HE)

There’s a vault in the TARDIS and it contains Missy but we don’t know why (sometimes she knocks for the bants)

There’s an immortal Viking girl now. Her name is Me and she’s now looking after the people the Doctor abandons

Why was Rory entirely unconcerned by the entire world suddenly going silent when that is Not Normal and should have been, at the very least, extremely disconcerting?

What did the Doctor do to Queen Lizzie One?

Why is Amy seeing a one-eyed woman in a vanishing window? (She’s with the Silents, but we don’t know why Amy saw her)

Why is Amy’s pregnancy inconclusive? (Maybe because the baby had Time Lord DNA?)

Who is Sarah-Jane Smith?

How is the Doctor Bill’s teacher and why/where does he have an office?

What is going on with the Cyber War and the Cyberium???

What happened with the Other Cyber War?

What happened with the Third War that deleted the void?

Why does Rose seem particularly important?

What order do these Doctors go in? (Eccleston, Tennant, uncertain, Smith, Capaldi, Whittaker)

Which companion just… forgot the Doctor, and how?

Yaz and Vinder are about to die as Mori/Mwri/Muuri

There is a Lupari shield around Earth.

What’s a Time War?

What’s the Rift?

What’s Bad Wolf?

In which war did the Doctor become a war criminal, and how?

Who is the Master?

Why has Amy forgotten Rory? How did she forget a Dalek invasion?

Is Rory plastic or not?

Why is the Doctor sulking on a cloud?

How exactly does the Doctor have a cloud?

What exactly happened with Strax to, uh, tame him?

Which friend killed Strax?

Which friend brought Strax back?

Where did this lesbian lizard and human couple come from?

What happened with Clara as Souffle Girl and the Daleks?

How does Clara actually join?

Why so many Claras?

Why is Missy apparently in robo-heaven?

Why is probably!Missy pushing Clara and the Doctor together?

What is Trensilor and what happened there?

Who is Handles?

The Doctor is about to be dissolved by a beautiful geode man

The universe is being crushed by the Flux

Will the Doctor open the fobwatch?

Sontarans are invading Earth again

Who is Kate?

Who is Osgood? Another name of Clara’s again?

The fuck is the deal with the Grand Serpent

Does Martha get to go to an ice cream planet with 12-fingered massage aliens?

How did the Doctor forget Clara?

Who is Bill’s puddle girlfriend Heather?

How did Nardole die?

When does Bill get Cyberman-ed and die?

When does the Doctor shrink and enter a Dalek called Rusty?

Whittaker is falling to her death rn

Was that ring relevant?

Does anyone know the Doctor’s name?

When did Yaz talk to Dan about fancying the Doctor?

When did Dan talk to the Doctor about fancying Yaz?

What’s happening with the bees?

What happened with Donna’s ex and a giant spider?

What war wiped out the Daleks, and is it one of the ones already mentioned?

What did the Doctor mean when he said “The (Daleks) always live, while I lose everything?”

If Dalek Caan is the last Dalek left why are there more now?

How did the rest of the Time Lords die?

How and why did Amy melt?

What’s the question that will make silence fall?

Why do the Silents… want silence to fall?

How and why are Silents at war with the Doctor when he… hasn’t even heard of them?

How does Hitler get out of the cupboard?

What’s the significance of fish fingers and custard?

Why does the Doctor feel guilt about Rose, Martha and Donna?

What happened with the space whale?

When does Rory defend Amy for 2000 years?

How does the Doctor survive River

How does he erase himself from history

Did Captain Jack lose his memories to the same people as the Doctor? What did he lose?

When did the Doctor send the Daleks into a void to save the universe?

What’s with the weird crack in the wall and is it affecting memories?

Why do Amy and Rory think the Doctor is dead?

Is Matt Smith’s Doctor a tree racist?

[layaboutace]

Clara Oswald and River Song are strange in that they are completely unrelated characters, yet have similar character traits and a unique relationship with the doctor. they are also similar in their rather inconsistent writing, with Clara having a terrible opening and disappointing ending, with an amazing in-between, and River having an amazing opening and ending, while having a terrible in-between.

clara was so disappointing from her first episodes, zero chemistry with matt smith and just a terrible plot line that showed absolutely nothing about her personality, she was so underdeveloped that they could simply switch her job from nanny to teacher out of nowhere and nothing would change. however when the 12th doctor showed up, its almost like she regenerated as well into a better more realistic character! not only does she have an entire seen life outside of the doctor, but the doctor effects her and brings out her worst character traits. she tries to be like the doctor and her curiosity becomes carelessness and her sharp wit becomes pathologic lying to her boyfriend, she becomes reckless and somewhat cruel, immitating the man that she used to criticize for having those traits, she becomes addicted to traveling with the doctor, and to the doctor himself. its very interesting in how it effects the doctor as well, because no matter how deep clara gets into her dark side, the doctor is always by her side, helping her, even when she betrays him, even when she does something stupid, hes always read to be by her side. their dynamic is complex and in many ways toxic, and its very interesting! the ending of season 8, with clara lying to the doctor about danny coming back, and the doctor lying to clara about finding gallifrey, would have been a perfect ending, its them looking at each other and hugging, to hide their true faces, what the doctor had taught clara to do. last Christmas, the season 8 Christmas special, would have also been a perfect ending, the doctor and clara going on one last adventure in a dream, and the doctor reuniting with an old clara was beautiful, as the two opened up to each other about their lies. then it didn't end and surprise its another dream shes actually young. i don't like this at all, but i really like what they did at the end of season 9. face the raven is claras 3rd perfect ending, its the drastic conclusion to all the negative traits her relationship with the doctor has brought out in her, and she pays the price for it, dying tragically attempting to be clever. and then it doesn't end. heaven sent was a perfect finale for this, with the doctor battling with grief before overcoming it. except he didn't now its time for hell bent, and messy conclusion with some of moffats worst moffatisms all in one episode with messy themes and a terrible ending. i like the idea of clara traveling on her own, I don't like her evading death, yes she will die eventually, but still becoming doctorlike wasn't her end, it brought her to come back and then mess with the mind wipe device, making the doctor forget about her, she in the end is rewarded with effective immorality and a tardis of her own for being like the doctor. the doctor isn't even rewarded for being like the doctor thats often what makes him so lonely! its so sad because she had 3 perfect outs and for her actual ending it was completely flubbed of any thematic closure for a happy ending with immortal clara.

Similarly, river song has a rocky history of quality. silence in the library is an amazing opening, and it perfectly sets her up as an engematic reccuring character by making you ask the right questions while making her an actual intriguing character, unlike season 7b clara who often came across as a plot device. however after that she completely falls apart. she is a femme fatal written by a straight man who wants her to step on him. she is in love with the doctor and her whole life revolves around him and she lives for the few days she sees him and she loves him so. she have zero chemistry with matt smith, something she shares with most people interacting with matt smith, so I don't buy their Romance, I don't buy that they did the dirty, seriously i hate that in season 5 11 was pretty definitively asexual but after that hes kissing lesbians without consent and making innuendos with his sonic screwdriver! Her story is also makes no sense, its overly complicated the way moffat loves to write things and has zero emotional payoff. her being amy and rorys kid is something that i don't like as a concept, but if it was done well i could roll with it, but its not done well and has zero emotional pay off for anyone involved. this is compounded by the second twist that mels, Amy and Rorys best friend since childhood who was literally never mentioned until now, is actually river, who can regenerate! not only do amy and rory not have a reaction to it, but afterwards its just never mentioned and they just roll with it??? its just incredibly poor writing, im sure river is better written in the big finish stories, but in the actual stories, shes one of the most poorly written characters in the show. however, she has an amazing ending. the husbands of river song is an amazing episode that shows river as a character who has an interesting life outside of the doctor, she has amazing chemistry with capaldi, and is just a really fun episode, with a sad but satisfying ending to rivers story. honestly both these characters suffer from some of moffats worst qualities in his writing, and while i would say river got the worse end of the stick, clara is still let down by her terrible introduction and ending

[themculibrary]

Sam/Steve Masterlist 4

part one, part two, part three

American values (ao3) - orphan_account T, 6k

Summary: Sam likes Steve. Steve likes Sam. But Captain America’s never dated a guy before.

And The Reasons We Were Singing (ao3) - impertinence E, 25k

Summary: Sam's had a lot of unexpected experiences and has dealt with a lot of shit. But all of that pales in comparison to what happens when he and Steve find Bucky.

(Or, Sam becomes a part-time therapist, falls in love, and gets some closure. Not necessarily in that order.)

be careful (ao3) - haveufoundwhaturlookingfor G, 885

Summary: Sam has an accident in his and Steve's new house, and Steve has to call for an ambulance.

Beyond Late (ao3) - mrs_d E, 3k

Summary: There was still a light on in Sam’s bedroom window. Steve had been getting nothing but Sam’s voicemail since he left four days ago to meet Tony and the Avengers in California; either Sam had been very busy, or he was angry with Steve, and Steve was getting more certain which it was every second he hesitated on the porch.

for the sake of prisoners and the flight of birds (ao3) - everybodylies G, 10k

Summary: Sam returns from his second tour in not too good of a shape. He’s down a wingman, working for his cousin, and ignoring his friends. On top of all that, he’s started talking to a bird…

Hypothermia (ao3) - thecommodore_squid (orphan_account), Wolviecat M, 34k

Summary: "He's a veteran."

"You've talked to him?"

Sam shook his head. "I can tell," he said firmly, tone booking no room for argument.

Natasha's gaze was critical and clouded with a vaguely ominous shadow. "You have to be careful."

AKA A Canon-Divergent AU in which Steve becomes homeless, and nothing is as it should be.

If You Also Want To Tell The Truth (ao3) - impertinence E, 33k

Summary: Diplomatic incidents happen all the time, but not all of them end in marriage. And not all trips to alien planets involve a mysterious killer. Sam and Steve are having all kinds of new experiences lately.

long awaited reunion (ao3) - haveufoundwhaturlookingfor G, 1k

Summary: Sam walks into the kitchen and flicks on the light. He looks up, and he startles as soon as he sees that there’s a man sitting on his kitchen counter. Sam instantly reaches for a knife, ready to protect himself.

“Who the hell are you?” Sam demands, pointing the knife at the man. Then he stops, because holy shit, that’s Bucky Barnes. It’s the man that he and Steve have been searching together for over a year now. Here he is, casually sitting on his kitchen counter. “Bucky Barnes.”

~

In which Bucky shows up at Sam and Steve's apartment late one night. Steve happens to be on the other side of the world.

Luck and Love in the New Year (ao3) - NachoDiablo T, 3k

Summary: Steve gets domestic while preparing for the new year, with perfect results... eventually.

many the miles (ao3) - CapnWinghead T, 4k

Summary: After months of radio silence, Sarah Wilson travels to Brooklyn to track down her brother. When she arrives, she finds Sam living with a tall blond guy that seems to know more about him than she does at the moment.

Not How It Works (ao3) - starrdust411 T, 51k

Summary: In that moment Steve felt like a drowning man pulling everyone down with him and of all the things Sam could do, hugging him was probably the most absurd.

On Your Right (ao3) - thingswithwings T, 5k

Summary: Sam puts the Trouble Man soundtrack on repeat, like a talisman at first, when he thinks that Steve might die. The doctors are grim and serious, claiming that they did what they could for him, removing the bullets and stitching his insides back together. A few hours later, the doctors' faces get less grim, more confused, and a few hours after that, they're throwing their arms up in the air in frustration and grinning with triumph at the same time, because apparently the Super Soldier Serum is worth more than just the fastest mile in human history.

Sam spends that time beside Steve, in the position he's gotten used to after only a couple of days: on his right, waiting to see where he'll run next, ready to get his back.

Playlist (ao3) - copperbadge T, 6k

Summary: A lot of songs have been written about Captain America. Sam owns most of them. Steve's relationship with them (Steve's relationship with everything) is complicated.

or

Sam and Steve explore pop culture and pine for each other while trying to rescue Steve's messed-up best friend.

Practice (ao3) - astolat E, 3k

Summary: Steve hadn't asked Sam why he'd come along, but if he did, Sam could tell him that hanging out with him was just plain relaxing.

Press (ao3) - mardia T, 5k

Summary: “So thanks to this interview, everyone thinks we’re dating,” Sam says, her voice flat. She looks up from the front page of the New York Post. The cover is a paparazzi photo of her and Steve out at the Indian restaurant last night, sitting together cozily at their table with the headline “America’s Heroes...America’s New Power Couple?”

Tony glances over her shoulder as he walks past the couch, and says, scoffing, “That headline’s awful. They should’ve at least been able to make a pun out of Falcon.”

The Candle In Your Window (ao3) - mrs_d M, 17k

Summary: Sam had been tracking Nomad for six months now, as the guy cracked security systems that were supposed to be impenetrable. Nomad had stolen over $100,000 in cold, hard cash from corporations that missed the money about as much as Sam would miss a nickel that fell out of his pocket — not that that stopped them from demanding back every penny, of course. Nomad then turned around and gave most of that money away to charity within forty-eight hours, making Sam’s job even trickier.

So here he was, in the choir loft of a Catholic church on a snowy Friday night, hoping to catch a criminal. And his mother accused him of having no social life.

The Road Toward (ao3) - AltZFic E, 36k

Summary: It’d gone like this: Steve Rogers approached Sam on the National Mall and then Steve approached Sam at the VA and then Steve kissed Sam. And then two days later, Steve Rogers approached Sam again, knocked at Sam’s back door with Natasha Romanoff at his side and asked for Sam’s help. And since then… well, Sam’s – let’s just put it this way: no one would be surprised to hear Sam say that it wasn’t really how he’d imagined the last few weeks going is all. Signing on to help Captain America, getting back in the sky after all that time, standing at Steve’s side as Steve’s world started to crumble and collapse around him, and then helping Steve bring down SHIELD, saving the world like Sam Wilson was some kind of freakin’ superhero. And then, after all that, then nearly losing Steve just a few days after they first met.

"I've had to put up with a lot?" Sam repeated, crossed his arms over his chest, smiling. “Yeah, I guess that’s one way to describe the last week.”

the weather outside is frightful (ao3) - haveufoundwhaturlookingfor T, 1k

Summary: Sam is staying in the cabins with Bucky. On the way back from a trip to the town, Sam finds himself in the wrong cabin, but there's a blizzard outside and there's really no choice but to bunk with the stranger during the blizzard.

you can see it with the lights out (ao3) - defcontwo M, 4k

Summary: “Will you believe me if I tell you that this is a normal thing that happens between two guys that are friends?” Sam says, and yeah, he’s pretty sure that that came out as weak as it sounded in his head.

Steve leans up on one elbow, looking down at Sam, that same crinkle around the edges of his eyes noticeable even in the gloom of the motel room light. “I know it’s been seventy years since I last had sex with a man but I’m still pretty sure that’s bullshit, Wilson.”

Sam Wilson falls in love. Like everything else, it's a process.

[midwestmade29]

It's a Wonderful Life 💙

To Anonymous: Whew, this one's a doozy, but worth the read! Thank you again for your request. I hope you enjoy what I came up with 🥰

Word count: 2,174 Divider by: Me 🙂 Original Anonymous Request: Can I possibly send a Christian x Female!Reader request? Maybe the Reader and Christian end up pregnant and she has to relinquish her title and the request is basically following them through their pregnancy and the after math of a complicated pregnancy and their lives as Parents (as well as juggling parenting Isla as well)

Due to the topics covered in this story, minors do not interact. If you're not 18+ years old, please KEEP SCROLLING.

Some topics and scenarios mentioned in the story may be upsetting/and or triggering for some readers. Read at your own discretion.

Disclaimers: (Complicated) Pregnancy, mention of sex, hospital stays, illness (flu), mention of gestational diabetes, medical testing, (medical) shots, preterm labor, labor pains, bedrest, cesarean section (surgery), postpartum recovery, caring for a newborn.

An OB (obstetrician) is a doctor who cares for the mother and baby throughout pregnancy. They also deliver the baby.

A baby in a breech position means they are upside down. (Feet first instead of head first)

C-section (cesarean section) is a surgical way to deliver a baby.

“Well, what’s it say?” Christian asked nervously. Your eyebrows knit together the longer you stared at the pregnancy test in your hand. “I’m not sure. Do you think we waited the full 10 minutes? There’s not really anything showing right now.” The two of you walked away after you sat the test back down on the bathroom counter, deciding to wait a few more agonizing minutes. Christian sat on the bed while you absentmindedly tossed things in your suitcase for your flight that was leaving early in the morning. You and your shiny AEW Women’s World Championship were set to appear on Dynamite tomorrow, which was something you had been looking forward to, but your headspace was somewhere else now. “What’s going through your mind baby? Talk to me,” Christian asked softly, motioning for you to come and join him on the bed. He wrapped you in his arms, embracing you tightly as your head rested against his chest. “Just worried, I guess. We have a lot on our plates right now with everything. We’re traveling every week, sometimes multiple times a week all while juggling our home and family life. I’ve only been the Women’s World Champion for a couple months. My championship reign will be cut short if I am pregnant,” you sighed as Christian tightened his embrace. “If the test is positive, will you not be happy about it? Concern laced Christian’s every word. “I’m conflicted! Torn between the happiness of expanding our family and sadness for my career. I feel like I was just getting started showing everyone what I’m made of you know?” Your thoughts were a jumbled mess, but Christian did his best to calm them. “I know baby. It’s a lot to take on right now, but we’ll make it work. We’re in this together, every step of the way! As far as your career goes, your fans will miss you, but they will understand if you’re absent for a while. Just think of the epic comeback you’d make. It would be the biggest and most anticipated in company history!”

It was hard to miss the two pink lines that were now visible on the white plastic stick sitting on the counter. Christian’s blue eyes were focused on you while you were processing everything. “Y/N? Are you okay?” he asked. You nodded your head yes, joy replacing all your previous concerns and doubt. Seeing the positive pregnancy test changed everything in an instant! A switch had been flipped as the reality of the situation set in, easing the sting you felt about your career. This baby was so much more important than anything else! You threw your arms around Christian’s neck, and he held you tightly as he spun you around. Images of a little blue-eyed baby danced in your mind and the thought made your heart swell! When Christian sat you on your feet, a certain little girl crossed your mind, prompting you to ask Christian a serious question, “How do you think Isla will take the news? She’s been an only child for almost 10 years now. Do you think she’ll be upset?” “I’m sure she will have her own sentiments about it, but overall, I think she’ll be excited! There’s only one way to find out…”

Telling Isla she was going to be a big sister went extremely well! You had come up with the idea to order a custom puzzle for the 3 of you to put together to tell her the big news. You had taken a picture of a heart she had drawn for you some time ago and uploaded it on the puzzle website, editing her design slightly by putting the words “You’re going to be a big sister!” in the middle of it. Within a few days, the puzzle was delivered and the 3 of you put it together after Isla got home from school. When the last piece of the puzzle was set in place, she let out a loud shriek! She wrapped her arms around your neck squeezing tightly before running over to Christian and jumping in his arms. She started rapid firing questions at each of you, making you and Christian laugh at her excitement. “Is it a boy or a girl? When will its birthday be? Can the baby sleep in my room?” she rambled on. Could she be any cuter?! Telling her was the easy part. Breaking the news to your fans live on Dynamite was a different story.

Standing in front of a live camera and telling the world you had to relinquish your Women’s World Championship was incredibly hard for you. You choked up placing it in Tony Schiavone’s hands as it seemed to mock you with its shimmer and shine when you did. Dynamite cut to a commercial break, relief washing over you now that your announcement was over and done with. You let out a rush of air once Christian closed the door to your dressing room and you walked over to him needing to feel his strong arms wrapped around you. “I think that went well; all things considered. You’re amazing Y/N. You know that, right?” he spoke gently. “Thanks for supporting me, Christian. It means the world to me! Now, our next adventure begins. Baby Cage will be here before we know it!”

Days turned into months in the blink of an eye! Your baby bump was very prominent now, and Christian loved it. He always had his hands on your belly! Whenever he had the chance, he would lay his head on your lap and talk to the baby while planting soft kisses against your skin. Late one night while you and Christian were tucked in bed, he fell asleep with his head next to your stomach. You ran your fingers through his hair while you reminisced about your pregnancy up to this point. You remember how his eyes lit up when the monitor showed the baby at your first ultrasound appointment when you were 20 weeks pregnant. Both of you were mesmerized as you watched the little baby you created together wiggling around on the screen, and how you both got teary eyed when the ultrasound technician told you “It’s a boy!” You’ll never forget how nervous Christian was the first time you met with your OB doctor. He wanted to ask her if the two of you could still have sex despite you being pregnant. You could instantly see the relief he felt when she told him yes! A chill ran through you when your mind wandered back to the time you were admitted into the hospital because you were extremely dehydrated and sick with the flu. It was the longest 3 days of your life! You recalled the next hurdle that came when you failed your gestational diabetes screening at 24 weeks into your pregnancy. The test came back as positive which meant a second more invasive test had to be done. Thankfully your results from the second test showed that you didn’t have it!

The scariest moment of all came late one night when you started having intense pain in your lower half. Christian rushed you to the hospital after you called your doctor, and she told you to come in to be monitored. “You’re in preterm labor,” your doctor explained. She went over the details of everything that was going on calmly, “It’s too early in your pregnancy to deliver now. You’re 33 weeks along and the goal is to be at least 39-40 weeks for a safe and healthy baby. I’m going to administer medicine that will reduce your contractions, ultimately delaying your labor. I would also like to administer 2 steroid shots that will help the baby’s lungs mature faster in case we have to deliver early. I’m very confident that we will be able to halt your labor and keep that little guy safe and sound inside until we’re ready to meet him!” The air in the room didn’t feel quite as heavy after the doctor explained her plan. When she gave you and Christian time alone, it was obvious that he was shaken up. “I’m in good hands baby. I fully trust the doctor and her plan. We’ll get through this together and our baby boy will be okay!” you reassured him while giving his hand a light squeeze. The discomfort you felt from the shots the doctor gave you was ultimately worth it when your labor had successfully been stopped. You were eventually discharged from the hospital with strict orders from your doctor. You were placed on bedrest and could no longer travel with Christian unless it was to a place that was pre-approved by the doctor. No exercising or heavy lifting either. The couch and your bed were your new best friends! Whatever you needed to do to keep the baby secure, you were going to do it.

Ready or not, here he comes! At 38 weeks pregnant, it was time to finally meet your baby boy. You had met the goal your doctor set for you after your preterm labor scare! Your last ultrasound showed a healthy baby, and he was measuring right where he should be. Everything was going well until another curveball was thrown your way. Your doctor had come to check on you when she noticed something was off. “Was the baby breech at her last appointment?” the doctor quietly asked the nurse. They conversed for a few minutes more before the doctor directed her attention back to you. “Okay Y/N, the baby is in the breech position. To safely deliver him, I must do an emergency c-section…” her words started fading away as you got lost in your own thoughts. Emergency? Surgery? Must move as quickly as possible? Christian could tell your thoughts were in a downward spiral the longer you blankly stared past the doctor. He took your hand in his and kissed your knuckles, speaking calmly when your eyes locked onto his. “Y/N, I promise I won’t leave your side! I know this isn’t what we planned on, but you got this! You’re incredible baby. I’m in awe of your strength and courage!”

Never did you think that the sound of crying would be music to your ears, but hearing your son wail after he was born was the best thing ever! You had successfully delivered a healthy 6lb, 4oz precious baby boy! Christian was over the moon holding his son in his arms for the first time. It was a moment that you’ll never forget! As soon as you were taken care of and wheeled into your recovery room, Christian brought Isla in to meet her baby brother. “He’s soooo cute!” she exclaimed. She was smitten with him right from the start! If she could’ve held him all night, she most certainly would’ve. You and the baby were able to go home just 2 days after delivery. Recovering from your surgery was rough on all of you since you were healing, and you still had restrictions and things you just couldn’t do. It frustrated you not being able to do simple tasks and having to rely on everyone else to do things for you! Christian encouraged you to give yourself some grace, especially after everything you went through your entire pregnancy. Deep down you knew you would bounce back; it would just take time. 6 weeks into parenthood you were starting to feel a little better. Your body was healing, and your son was growing and changing by the minute. Just yesterday you and Christian took Isla and the baby to the zoo, it being one of your first outings as a family of 4. Isla had settled in to being a big sister well, but that’s not to say there weren’t pangs of jealousy and rough patches. This was a major adjustment period for all 3 of you, but the love and adoration each of you had for one another remained strong and continued to grow as each day passed!

You quickly learned that parenting was a juggling act! You and Christian dividing your time and attention between two kids, each other, and AEW was extremely difficult. Splitting yourself between 3 people that rely on you was hard. Having to put your career goals on the self (for now) was hard. Making sure Isla was getting the love and attention she needed and deserved was hard. Taking care of a fussy baby in the early hours of the morning with little to no sleep was hard. Finding alone time with Christian was hard. But, at the end of the day when you tuck Isla in bed and she tells you she loves you, and when you watch Christian rocking your baby boy to sleep in his strong arms from the doorway of the nursery, it eases the stress the difficult days bring and makes everything you went through to get to this point worth it. How did you get so lucky? It definitely is a wonderful life 💙

[frodothefair]

New OC for Expats, let's go!

Ok, this wasn't even that hard! I was in the shower, and came up with a character sketch for my movie-star OC for Expats. What do you think? (Any similarities to real people, living or dead, are purely incidental).

Meet Elliot James. He is a Hollywood actor who got his start as a child star, but came to prominence when he appeared in a fantasy epic loosely based on events in early Medieval Britain, where he played a sweet, heroic squire who saved the day, but ended up giving his life in the process. Afterwards, he became a household name and in demand for everyone's epic or period piece anywhere, and while this was certainly very nice, it was somewhat disappointing to be typecast, so he tried to seek out other roles -- in indie films, horror movies, and genre cinema.

In rapid succession in his early 20's, he played a sick WWI veteran in a period piece with a plot like Flowers of Mordor, a prince in the medieval French history franchise Les Rois Maudits, a young Louis XIV, King Francis in a movie about Mary Queen of Scots (ok, yes, a lot of Frenchness here), and Nikolai Rostov in War and Peace. He also played Pip in Great Expectations, and Link in a cinema franchise of Legend of Zelda, and was one of the brothers in a multi-season Regency-era show similar to Bridgerton. He came to see his period piece and fantasy work as a "Jury duty" of sorts, but did it to please the fans and because he had some difficulty saying no. In the end, however, he put his foot down, and instead of taking the role of Jim Hawkins in Treasure Island, which he was all but being bribed to do, he insisted on auditioning for Blind Pew and Israel Hands.

Why does he get typecast playing young literary and historic characters, you may ask? Well, this is because after age 20, he looks like he essentially stopped aging. He is also short and slightly built, and looks like he stepped off a renaissance painting. He has striking hazel eyes that look like liquid gold, and naturally curly dark blonde hair.

In terms of personal history, he hails from South Dakota, from a long line of ranchers and early settlers to the area of Swedish and German extraction. (Hello, inspiration from Mr. Nisilë's white heritage). His mother raised him and his sister alone, and he has a very loving, down-to-earth and supportive family of origin. However, work as a child actor gave him a lifelong hair-pulling habit, to the point of trichotillomania at times, and he is completely unable to grow a beard of his own as a result.

In his personal life, he gets together with a fan named Marina who is an immigrant from Ukraine and has both Ukranian and Russian heritage. They connect over his upcoming work on War and Peace, and impending trip to Eastern Europe to film it. (This is obviously well before the present day). During his (very ample) free time, Elliot enjoys collecting and listening to vinyl records, attending live concerts, traveling as incognito as he realistically can with his distinctive looks, and watching off-off-Broadway plays (or whatever the LA analog is for this). Ironically, he has never been in a play himself, except for a school play at a very young age.

With his girlfriend and later wife, he is a total sweetheart, and his mental illness helps him understand hers. He is also a complete and utter goofball, slightly disorganized in his household and self care, and unassuming and slightly awkward whenever the cameras are off. The weirder the topic of conversation with him, the better.

His partner, Marina, works as a medical malpractice lawyer who defends doctors, and has a crazy, domineering mother who both loves and dislikes Elliot, and belittles his work behind his back, comparing him to old Soviet actors who she thinks are the true greats. However, she has no qualms about accepting gifts and financial assistance from him. (Guess who this is based on, haha).

Elliot never went to college himself, but he paid for the college education of his sister and Marina's law education. The only thing he asked for in return was that Marina and his sister share the particularly interesting things they learned whenever they could.

What do you think?

@konartiste @emmanuellececchi