#tegan rants

[boyslugs]

i feel so bad.... i went to goth nite w my liege, had a blast, all good, right? wrong, they couldnt sleep because apparently i snore quite badly. like "go get that checked out" concerned apparently. i feel SO BAD 😭😭😭

[boyslugs]

i used to appreciate no name but its owned by galen fucking weston and loblaws and weston can eat shit and rot. the fact that people are starting to go "oh wow funny brand" so much more about no name is INCREDIBLY suspicious considering a lot of canada is in month two of boycotting all things loblaws (including shoppers drug mart, if you're on the west coast like me where most things are actually sysco or sobeys). make your own no name shit.

theres a popular brand in canada called no name brand and it manufactures everything you can imagine in a grocery store and it kind of makes me feel like im in a world no one bothered to do much world building for

[cringecompanionapologist]

Some Observations About Tegan

I have the classic fandom problem of paying more attention to the boys than the girls. I know. But here's some stuff about a woman. Well, not really, since it's above a dynamic between that woman and a man, but it's not in a romantic sense, so maybe that helps? I don't know.

But I do wanna say some stuff about Tegan.

Looking at both the show and fandom response to the character, I can't help but think that Tegan is one of the most screwed-over companions in the history of Doctor Who. The same could be said to some extent of every Saward Era companion (Adric, Nyssa, Tegan, Turlough, Peri, and Mel), but it's frustrating with Tegan in a way slightly different from the others, especially among Five's group.

Every companion from this era was screwed over by the writers, the fandom, or both in their own unique way. Some of it was fixed in hindsight, especially with Nyssa, favorite companion of Peter Davison and beloved of Big Finish that she is. By the time we get to Peri and Mel, it feels like the companions were being set up to fail and doomed from the start. Adric and Turlough, as male companions, have to fight an uphill battle to justify their existence, especially since they both break away from the traditionally male companion role of "handsome man of action who does the fight scenes and convinces women to watch the show".

Tegan was the most "normal" of Five's companions, which is why she stuck around for as long as she did. She could fill a sort of generic companion role that you couldn't convincingly do with the alien companions. She had more in common with the audience. But, having her just exist to ask "What's that?" over and over didn't do much for her characterization.

Looking into the show's history and what the team behind the scenes seemed to want to do with it at the time, it all sort of makes sense. Most of the writers seemed more interested in sci-fi concepts than in characters. The characters were kept generic to avoid distracting from the worldbuilding and complex plot exposition. This is probably how Five got his reputation for blandness. A lot of televised Five stories have the Doctor as a generic Doctor and the companions as generic companions. They didn't have to be written this way. They had personalities. But most of the writers had little interest in actually using them.

The isn't as big of a problem in EU media. You got a new generation of writers with more interest in the characters, so the characters got developed in a way the show never really let them. However, that doesn't mean that the EU just came in and made everything perfect. This applies to pretty much every character but the way it applies to Tegan is interesting. It's my belief that Tegan, though written well at times, was never utilized in the way that would've worked best.

To explain what I mean by that, we'll have to step away from Tegan for a moment and look at the Fifth Doctor. Since the Doctor is the main character for most eras of the show, the companions are usually written to compliment them in some way. The male companions of the 60s were made into action heroes because that was something the Doctor couldn't do. The companions often have different moral positions from the Doctor, creating situations for them to learn from each other. The plot of the early seasons was basically all about the balance of the worldviews of the Doctor vs. Ian and Barbara. And from them, the basic ideas behind how companions are supposed to work were established.

But, as the Doctor regenerated, you ended up with different personalities and different skill sets. The Second Doctor had better social skills than the first and was often easier to get along with. He occasionally needed his companions to call him out, but the tone of it had changed. Compare The Edge of Destruction, where the Doctor is definitely in the wrong and needs to learn to listen to Barbara, who talks some sense into him, to The Evil of the Daleks, where Jamie calls the Doctor out for lying to him and risking his life, but the audience is given enough context to know that the Doctor is doing the best he can and tried to avoid risking Jamie to the point of offering himself up in his place, making the situation more of a misunderstanding. The Doctor was being dishonest, but he put more thought into Jamie's safety than Jamie was aware of. The conflict is now far more two-sided.

We could go into the whole history of this process, but I think I've made my point. Now we've got to ask how this applies to the Fifth Doctor. Every Doctor sort of serves as a response and contrast to the previous one. Two is more socially aware than One, but this awareness allows him to manipulate people and be more dishonest. Now we look at how Five contrasts with Four.

The important thing here is actually a trait of both Three and Four that Five seems to lack, but that he doesn't really know how to solve problems without, something I could describe as a Vibe of Authority. Three and Four could show up in a room full of strangers and make them all shut up and listen to them. It was in their force of personality. Five doesn't have this trait. He tries to make people shut up and listen, but they don't and then people start dying.

The thing is, the Doctor is perfectly capable of saving the day without the Vibe of Authority. We already know this by Five's time because Two pulled it off easily. He was a funny little man in shaggy clothes. When he showed up in a situation, he didn't feel like an authority who needed to be listened to. He was just a traveler who happened to be in the neighborhood, noticed that there seemed to be some trouble, and now he's curious. Two would often stay on the sidelines, ask questions, learn about what was going on and the motives of everyone involved, and only take action once he already knew everything and had been around for long enough for the locals to realize that he knew what he was talking about. They'd notice that the people who dismissed him tended to be killed by monsters more than those who listened to him, and they started listening.

Some Doctors have the Vibe of Authority and some don't. Some are a bit more vague about it. 3, 4, and 6 definitely have it. 2 and 7 don't and know how to get by without it. The new series tends to give the Doctor the Vibe of Authority or the ability to gain that authority with one good speech. Midnight is about what would happen in 10's usual Vibe of Authority failed him. 13 has the same problem as 5 with the added implication of sexism being involved. 15 has the Vibe of Authority unless racism is involved.

So you end up with three (2 and a half, really) lose categories of Doctors with Authority, Doctors that lack Authority and can make it work, and Doctors that lack Authority but can't make it work and thus suffer. 5 invented this category.

The thing is, the audience wants to see the Doctor save the day. A few tragic failures here and there are memorable. You have the occasional Midnight where things don't work like they're supposed to, the occasional Dot and Bubble where it's all outside the Doctor's control, and it works. But, if it happens all the time, it's just depressing. You don't wanna have too many be losses in a row. You'll notice that Midnight and Dot and Bubble are both stories where a Doctor with Authority gets into a situation where their authority is compromised. This isn't the norm for them. But, with Doctors like 5, people not listening and dying tragically is the norm. It's very cynical and no fun.

So, how do we get around this? Companions. If the Doctor can't take control of the situation himself, you get a companion who can do it for him. Get everyone to shut up and listen to their friend the expert.

Tegan is perfect for this. We see it from the very beginning. In Logopolis, when she ends up in a situation, she tries to take charge. This clashes with Four's authority, but that's not a problem with Five. He thinks it is, because he expects to be treated like Three and Four, but instead of trying to be like them and failing, he could learn that Tegan could help him out. The flight attendant keeps the passengers calm and instructs them on what to do in an emergency while the pilot sorts out what's wrong with the plane.

In this format, Tegan is a sort of update of Barbara designed for a Doctor like Five. The Doctor has to learn that, despite her being an ordinary human, she's someone worth listening to. They develop a sense of mutual respect and start working as a team. They get into situations. The Doctor is the one who knows how to fix it, but Tegan is the one makes sure it gets done.

If you look at Castrovalva, you can see that Bidmead, season 18's script editor who wrote season 19's first story on the way out, seemed to be aware of this. It's kind of funny that Bidmead basically wrote the instructions for how to manage the new TARDIS team into the script and either no one noticed or no one followed them.

Tegan takes charge and keeps the group together. Nyssa is the STEM genius who handles the technobable. Adric is the show's connection to the past, connecting the Doctor to Tegan and Nyssa kind of like how Susan connected the Doctor to Ian and Barbara. Also he can sort of fly the TARDIS with his math powers.

But, instead, we got Tegan being portrayed as an obnoxious complainer, Nyssa as a borderline non-entity, and Adric refusing to get along with anyone and none of his skills amounting to anything.

Between this and Frontios, which gave Turlough an arc without being his introduction or exit, Bidmead was obviously one of the most competent writers of this era.

Anyway, this is the part where I blame sexism.

This TARDIS team set-up would be based on its own version of The Edge of Destruction, a crisis that gets everyone working together for the first time. Specifically, it would involve the Doctor learning to listen to Tegan, like the First Doctor learned to listen to Barbara.

Yes, the third story of the Hartnell era was basically about the Doctor learning to listen to and respect a woman. Yes, the Hartnell era is dated, and that includes its treatment of women, but by Classic who standards, it was one of the most progressive eras in that regard. You started off with Verity Lambert as producer, a woman with a major role behind the scenes and it pays off. Yes, the women screamed a lot and needed to be rescued sometimes. Susan was particularly bad about this, despite having the potential to not be. But, Susan is recognized for her intelligence. Ian and Barbara are treated as equals and treat each other as equals. The Doctor learning to respect humanity is somewhat based in respecting Barbara in particular. By The Edge of Destruction, Ian had called the Doctor out on his bullshit multiple times. The Doctor would behave better for a little while, but he kept being a bastard. It's Barbara calling him out that causes him to change. Basically, when the Doctor thinks about his love and respect for humanity and how great humans are, he's thinking of Barbara.

Tegan was basically Barbara for a new generation. An ordinary human woman who was still intelligent and capable as a leader. But, Tegan's more assertive side was consistently portrayed as something annoying, with the implication that she needed to shut up and listen to the Doctor. It's the opposite of what you got with Barbara twenty years prior.

And, though Tegan has been given more depth and written sympathetically, this aspect of the character still hasn't really been recognized. To my knowledge, there still isn't a story where the Doctor has to put aside his pride and listen to Tegan. And I think that's kind of sad.

A lot of new series companions (especially Donna) have worked to make up for this. It's not the 1980s anymore. But we can't fully dismiss this as "people from the past sucked" when the show was more progressive in 1964 than it was in 1984.

Anyway, tldr: Tegan deserved better

That's all I got.

[lonely-space-ace]

*smacking the doctor upside the head* YOU HAVE GIANT FAMILY YOU DUNCE JUST GO SAY HI TO THEM MORE THAN ONCE A DECADE

[vizzyturlough]

Bro Turlough has so much trauma, we don’t even know what happened at home or how he was treated on Trion. But thinking about it, he saw his mother get killed, he was publicly humiliated by being exiled, he was separated from his family, sent to Earth where he struggled to breathe and comprehend everything. He feared Earth because he knew what weapons humans had and he was scared about humans attacking themselves. But before he was exiled he was obviously forced to take part In war, he was an older brother to Malkon and was necessarily a icon. But during war he obviously saw some disgusting things like dead bodies and felt so much pain. I have this sort of obvious head canon, that he was bullied in school…obviously cause his hair colour and he was probably smarter than all the other boys. He was literally willing to kill somebody he didn’t know to get away. But when he knew Deela on Trion, he felt free and he actually loved her but seeing her on the floor bleeding out and struggling to breathe gave him a realisation that nobody can know about this, at all.

[partywithponies]

Looking forward to a future DW comic or novel about the new, secret companion support group called "What The Fuck, Doctor", featuring Liz Shaw, Martha Jones, Ace McShane, and Yaz Khan, and sometimes their morally dubious associate Adam Mitchell.

[saraquinwhatsupwiththesocks]

anyway I fully forgot who Tegan is even with lol. wasn't that kind of a secret back in the day? in old times

[lesbiten]

some companions are definitely the doctor's exes but if i ever see any describe most of the people at that meeting as exes they can catch these hands. i think they only person in that scene i'd describe as an ex is yaz.

what weve learned is no one is allowed to have opinions about doctor who characters because they are wrong

[thesauceofawesome]

i feel the same, tho i havent seen the first doctor

jamie was so silly and a really nice person, he cared about people, and he and the doctor were best “friends”

Jo was so sweet and badass, im so jealous of her suits😍😍 also i think she was good at getting out of knots so that rocked. Her end sucked tho, she got married off?

Leela was also awesome, i gotta rewatch her because i dont remember much but she was so good with weapons

i loved Romana ii she was pretty and very commanding, she had that cool blue thingymabob

Nyssa Tegan and Adric are equally awesome, Tegan was also very cool, i was so excited when i found out she was bisexual. Adric was super smart and a huge troublemaker, and Nyssa had awesome hair. Tegan and nyssa were also very close (archeologists say they were best friends;) )

Mel just bullies the doctor and who wouldn’t love that? i mean come onnn carrot juice?? What did he do to you?? Shes very perky and excited

Do i even need to say it for Ace. she fucking BLEW SHIT UP AND WIELDED A SWORD she gave no fucks and she had a ton of patches and buttons

8 was so different , like why did you kiss her thats weird nobody ever does that why did you make it different

My favourite companion for each Doctor (Classic)

First: Polly or Ian

Second: Jamie (Though I adore everyone of his companions)

Third: Jo

Fourth: Leela

Fifth: Nyssa

Sixth: Mel

Seventh: Ace

Eighth: Grace

(Pls tell me yours?<3)

[boyslugs]

cant win em all but damn why did my first date back on hinge have to be THAT bad yeesh

[wileys-russo]

alanna kennedy req, she has BIG bf energy ! where AK has been way too fuckboy-esque around their friends and reader (who she is in a known situationship with/will they or won’t they ever label it) calls her out on it, and probs forgives in the end whatever she says (letting hot girls gaslight you support club ?)

dirty little secret II a.kennedy x reader

mhmm lans is mad underrated dirty little secret II a.kennedy x reader

"-then there's the girl from the bar, the coffee shop barista, the dance instructor, the physio-" you rolled your eyes and did your best to tune out the blondes insistent bragging of all of her current escapades.

escapades you knew she'd made up, lying her ass off in order to try and impress your team mates and friends in camp, everyone now back on national duties.

she was forever determined to keep up the big tough fuckgirl act which you could never understand, much preferring who she actually was behind all that, not that she gave many people a chance to see it.

"why do you let her speak like that?" you glanced up from your food as hayley sat beside you with a raised eyebrow, subtly nodding her head to the table behind you where alanna was still ranting and raving to the group about how hard it was to have so many flings on the go.

"she can do whatever she wants raz she's not my girlfriend." you shrugged, picking at your food and glaring at ellie who snuck a piece of bacon off your plate. "el!" you scoffed as she repeated the action, protectively covering your plate with your arms.

"oh sorry thought you were perfectly happy to roll over and let people take whatever they want from you?" the younger girl challenged sending you into a silence. "nice." hayley nodded her approval, high fiving the blonde as you sighed.

"she doesn't take whatever she wants from me. you make it sound like i don't have a backbone!" you defended yourself with a scowl, the silence from your two friends all it took to further wound your already fragile pride.

"okay, ouch." you mumbled, going back to picking at your food. "babe we know you have a backbone. thats why its so frustrating to see you don't use it or stand up to her for the way she carries on!" ellie tried again, a little gentler this time as tegan and charlie joined the three of you.

"what are we talking about so quietly?" tegan whispered mockingly, instantly picking up the strange vibe about the table. "how dopey here lets lani treat her like a dirty little secret." hayley shrugged bluntly as you turned and punched her, hard.

"what the fuck ow!" the brunette gasped, hitting you back with a scowl as a few of the other girls turned to glance at the commotion, your body whipping back around as you heard alanna pause, her curious gaze fixated on the back of your head for a moment before she resumed.

"would you like to say that any fucking louder raz?" you warned quietly with a glare, answering the onslaught of questions from your friends before you grew tired of it, shutting the conversation down as you all finished and headed toward the gym for strength training.

~

"she's looking, again." ellie smirked as she spotted for you, watching as to her count for now the eighth time in the hour alanna was caught watching you.

"its not illegal to look el, all humans have eyes." you sighed, growing tired of her constant pointing it out. "yeah but not just everyone looks at you like they wanna tear all your clothes off and-" your grip on the bar slipped at that and you choked as it half landed on your neck, the blonde hurrying to grab it off you and helping you rack it back up.

"ellie!" you hissed, smacking her leg with a glare. "what? it's true! plus its not like its hidden knowledge that the two of you have hooked up. actually most of us expected you both to come to camp all cute and coupled up." the younger girl shrugged carelessly as you rolled your eyes.

"would you please shut up? i'm tired of the topic all together!" you snapped, only able to push down how the situation really made you feel for so long when everyone else was always poking and picking at it.

"sorry darls." the blonde winced apologetically not having realized it would affect you so much, swallowing the speech she wanted to give you about how you deserved to be treated better because if anyone knew that already it was you.

"i need to go to the bathroom. wait till i'm back before you even try to lift that!" you sternly warned the defender who you knew all too well, ellie waving you off with a huff as you made your way toward the toilets just outside the gym.

you heard the footsteps follow you out, but knowing all too well who they belonged to you refused to give her the satisfaction of turning around, ducking right into a cubicle to do what you needed.

you'd hope she'd take the hint and leave but you looked at her with a sigh as you stepped out and she was still waiting, leaning against the sinks with a toothy grin.

"ignoring me today are we?" she challenged, having texted you several times throughout the day, all of which you'd left on read.

"surprised you even noticed. your phone must just be blowing up with texts from the...what was it?" you paused after washing your hands, stroking your chin thoughtfully.

"oh yes with the girl from the bar, the coffee shop barista, the dance instructor, the physio? i'm sure one of them will happily text you back lani!" you smiled sarcastically, drying your hands and attempting to leave but a hand wrapped around your wrist.

"come on babe you know that's all just bullshit for the girls." the blonde laughed, seemingly unbothered at how that was almost worse. "well most of it. that cute new city physio does have a little crush on me!" alanna grinned wolfishly, tugging you to stand in front of her.

"congratulations. clearly she's not had a conversation with you yet or else she might come to her senses and realised what a piece of work you are!" you huffed, yanking your hand back from her grip.

"piece of art i think you mean babe, sculpted by the gods themselves." the blonde smirked as you grimaced, not finding her at all charming today.

"just please leave me alone lani. seriously i'm so over all of this hot and cold shit with you, you're a head fuck! you snapped, again trying to leave but once more she stopped you, instead now moving to block the door with her body.

"what do you mean hot and cold shit?" the taller girl frowned making you let out a bitter bark of laughter. "you can't be serious?" you scoffed at her in disbelief as she stared on silently, clearly awaiting an explanation.

"lani when its just the two of us you're so sweet. we go out together, we spend nights together, you shower me with gifts and compliments and i have your undivided attention. you treat me like you would if i was your girlfriend." you paused, the last word leaving a particularly bitter taste on your tongue.

"but then outside of that little bubble around any of our team mates and friends you act like some sort of horny teenage boy! bragging about all of these girls who practically fall to the floor with how badly they want you, and then you go on and on about all this great mind blowing sex you have with them. but then how they mean nothing and they know that but they just keep running back to you!" you pouted mockingly.

"all of those girls which are made up! why is it so hard for you to let that stupid egotistical reputation go and just admit you're having sex with me! and that you clearly have feelings for me. everyone saw us hook up in the bar after the asian cup anyway?" you crossed your arms firmly with a raised eyebrow.

"and who said i have feelings for you then hm? what makes you think you're so special?" she bit back taking you off guard a little, your face falling as hurt flashed across it momentarily.

"you think you know me so well but you haven't got a clue about what i feel or why i do anything. end of conversation!" she snapped with a scowl. "fine. end of whatever the fuck this is then!" you bit back, finally using your back bone as her eyes widened in shock.

however the chance for either of you to speak again stopped as the door swung open and smacked alanna in the back, a tiny body sprinting on through.

"harley don't run-" tameka stopped seeing the two of you, sensing she may have just interrupted something as she scooped her daughter up who reached out for you.

"everything alright?" the older woman asked, directing the question more so toward you, having known you long enough to see something was off.

"just fine." you mumbled, taking the opportunity to dart out of the bathroom, shooting harley a smile and squeezing her hand, only letting out a deep breath you'd not realised you'd been holding in until you were back in the safety of the gym.

clearly you needed to work on your poker face as ellie also immediately noticed something was up, having had a teasing remark laying in wait on her tongue having seen alanna follow after you toward the toilet.

"hey. what happened?" the blonde asked quietly with a frown as you shook your head, gesturing for her to lay down so you could spot her on the bench press. "darls what-"

"later el." you cut her off with a thin lipped smile as she hesitated but eventually nodded, settling on the bench as you busied yourself assisting her, pretending like you couldn't feel another blondes eyes bore into your back for the rest of the session.

everyone having a few hours break now until your next training session outside on the pitch you surrounded yourself with a wall of your team mates at all times, knowing so long as you did alanna would leave you be.

your bad mood lifted as you spent time with harper and harley, adoring the fact that camps were now a family affair as you, kyra and ellie chased the two small girls around the hotel playing a game of tip.

"well i think someone will sleep very well this afternoon, thank you kindly ladies!" tameka laughed as she scooped up harley, marching her off for a nap as harper had already fallen asleep on a beanbag, squished between kyra and charlie as they played mario kart.

"right. out with it then, what happened in the toilet?" ellie pulled you aside and away from the main group, hayley quick to follow having also picked up that you were out of sorts. the three of you sat outside on a picnic table in the sun, your body laid atop of it sunbaking as they sat on the benches either side of you.

with a sigh you relayed the conversation that occured, both your friends not hesitating to rip into their fellow team mate for her harsh words. "you have to cut it off after that. if she wants to remain friends and keep the peace the least she can do is apologise and acknowledge her actions!" ellie scoffed as you merely hummed.

"you are going to cut it off after that, right?" you whined as hayley pinched your thigh when you didn't answer her. "i don't know! probably?" you groaned, covering your face with your hands.

"probably!" "she's really convincing sometimes." "oh my god have some self respect!" "i have self respect! i also just have...needs." "dude! the letting hot girls gaslight you club is not one you need to be a member of." "but she is hot." "so are you! you could find someone else hot who actually treats you like a person."

"fine! i'm just gonna ignore her. if i don't let her grovel then i can't forgive her." you decided, both your friends exchanging looks of disbelief you missed, the conversation quickly changing as you instead spent the rest of your final hour catching up, all three of you now playing for different clubs since hayley had left city.

you stuck to your word, mostly.

you avoided alanna like the plague for nearly the entire second training session, someone upstairs clearly smiling down on you in good fate as the two of you weren't partnered up for anything.

until it was time for a few six on six friendlies to cool down and of course her team was your first opposition, the two of you now unable to avoid one another given you were offense and she was defense.

now you knew football could be a hands on sport, you'd played it long enough to have given and gotten enough. but the way alanna's hands seemed to settle on your hips or your torso, and the way she pressed her body into you each and every time she marked you up, was overkill.

but to your surprise it seemed to have the opposite effect as normal, and rather than having you blushing or swooning a little, you found it only wound you up further. her harsh words ringing in your ears from before as you lined up for a corner and once again she pressed into you, your jaw clenched and you went right up for the header, your elbow unfortunately making contact with her stomach as the ball spun into the back of the net and she hit the ground.

the whistle blew for the end of the session at that and you turned, seeing thankfully no blood and no real lasting injury beyond her being winded. "what the fuck was that!" the blonde spat, a few of the girls helping her up.

"its a contact sport and you were clinging onto me like wrapping paper, sorry!" you shrugged, not really sorry at all as ellie hid a smile and draped her arm over your shoulders, the two of you heading back in toward the training centre.

"a little harsh maybe, but nice." ellie mumbled, holding out her hand as you smacked yours into it with a small smile, the two of you heading up to your rooms to shower and change, having a couple of hours to yourselves before dinner.

dinner itself was less painful than breakfast, busying yourself once again playing with harper and harley you were far too distracted to notice if alanna was off on one of her 'look at all these girls who want me' tangents.

she'd messaged you again a few times since the toilet, none of them an apology and none of them you gave a second thought to reply to, still having left her on read as you had been all day.

which is why it really wasn't much of a surprise when a few hours later came the barrage of texts almost begging you to come to her room and hear her out, the way your phone was constantly lighting up not lost on you or your friends.

"oh my god she's relentless. just go!" ellie groaned after you glanced to your phone screen for the fifth time just a few minutes into the mario kart tournament you had agreed to. "remember, hold firm. you deserve to be treated right!" hayley warned quietly from beside you as you nodded.

"and, self respect!" ellie warned less quietly making your eyes roll as you headed out of the rec room and back up towards the elevator, punching in the right floor and taking your time making your way to your final destination.

you hadn't even knocked more than twice before the door swung open, alanna sighing a little in relief seeing it was you, her texts still unanswered she'd begun to give up hope. "make this quick, its my turn next on the switch." you mumbled, moving past her and into her room.

"well?" you raised your eyebrows as she awkwardly stood in front of you, kit out in a grey drew hoodie and a black pair of nike shorts. "i'm sorry." she started simply. "for?" you pushed.

"what i said earlier. i didn't mean it i was just angry and i lashed out and that wasn't fair on you." she continued, rubbing her face and taking a seat beside you on the bed, not missing the way you shuffled across leaving a healthy distance between you two.

"angry about being called out on the shitty way you treat me or your shitty dismissive attitude about whatever this is?" you pushed again, face still bent into a frown as the blonde sighed. "both. you weren't wrong i do act one way when its just us and one way when its around the girls but i don't mean to! i just, i've not had a serious relationship in ages and i don't know how to go about it." she sighed making you scoff.

"thats bullshit lani and you and i both know it. you just get much more satisfaction having everyone think you're so popular and desired after and lusted over rather than admitting you like me, just one person!" you called her out again, this time causing her to scoff.

"thats bullshit!" she denied with a shake of her head. "awesome. have fun with all your imaginary girls then lani!" you smiled bitterly, standing to leave as she shot out to grab you before you could. "i'm sorry! i'm sorry okay." she groaned, pulling you back down to sit on the bed.

"i just don't get why this is so hard for you! most of the city girls are all happily in relationships and even if you want to deny it most of them know we hook up too. al asked me the other day if we were dating and do you know how humiliating it is to basically admit i let you use me!" you shook your head and pulled your hands from her grip.

"i don't use you!" she was quick to argue, frown knitted into her eyebrows. "yes you do. its exactly like i said lani when its just the two of us you're happy to treat me like you would a girlfriend, we sleep together, we're always at one anothers houses, you take me out for dinner and you fall asleep on my lounge after watching movies all day-" you paused to collect yourself.

"-which clearly satisfies you in some way. but then you're too much of a pig headed coward to actually make it into anything more than a dirty little secret and that feels like shit! i'd understand a little more wanting to keep things between us if you weren't out or you didn't want the girls to know you were seeing a team mate but thats so far from the truth and it hurts alanna. you have no issues parading about all these fake girls and how happy you are to fuck them over but you can't admit that you treat me just the same way!" you spat honestly, unloading months of guilt and wondering and overthinking about everything.

"so what, do you want me to ask you to be my girlfriend then?" the blonde questioned cluelessly as you threw your head back with a loud frustrated groan.

"no lani! i want you to want me to be your girlfriend, and not feel the need to keep up this stupid reputation that girls don't mean anything to you beyond sleeping around and you're incapable of feeling anything for anyone. because you know the longer this will they, won't they bullshit continues the more i wonder if you actually are capable of feeling anything for anyone other than yourself!" you snapped with a huff, again getting up to leave.

"get off!" you warned seriously as she hugged you tightly from behind again preventing you from leaving. "i like you. i do, really." she mumbled with a sigh, your eyes rolling. "sure have a funny way of showing it!"

"then let me show you, give me another chance. when we get back to manchester i will take you out on a proper date, i'll wine you and dine you and i'll ask you to be my girlfriend. properly!" she spun you around, staring down at you pleadingly and you hated how much she really had you wrapped around her little finger.

"fine." you gave in with a sigh, hating yourself just a little more as the taller girl exhaled with relief, pulling you into a tight hug as you couldn't help but wrap your own arms around her torso, relishing in the small act of intimacy.

"where's mac anyway?" you mumbled into her chest, pulling away and recognizing the familiar look in her eyes. "cait's room, they'll be awhile." the blonde grinned and within seconds you were laid down on the bed and she hovered over you, lips gently sucking on your neck as your eyes fluttered closed.

"lani we should really-" you started, words swallowed by her mouth finding yours, one hand creeping up your top as the other gripped your chin allowing her full control over the kiss. "later babe, just relax." she mumbled into your ear as you sighed, giving into her advances and trying to ignore the warnings from your friends lingering in the back of your mind.

it would appear that you were still very much so a member of the letting hot girls gaslight you club, in fact it seemed you'd purchased a season ticket.

[milfygerard]

ok but really i think we as lesbians have to have a discussion about tegan from tegan and sara going on a very long and cryptic rant about the nature of closeting and specifically the experience of hooking up with someone closeted and awkwardly stopping and starting multiple times mid-rant and talking about how she should talk about it and then ending that weird cryptic vague rant with "and i really hope taylor swift doesnt marry that football guy

[grapes-are-kinda-weird-ngl]

headcanon that the fifth doctor is the one who swears the most

like he looks so nice and chill, then one day he bumps his head on the inside of the TARDIS console whilst doing repairs and his companions (i'm thinking tegan, nyssa and adric era) all startle at the sheer number of curses in different languages streaming out

dude feels like the type of guy who'd rant and rave about shit whilst he was alone, and then stop as soon as someone walked in and fix them with a polite smile and a 'hello! how can i help you?'

[cringecompanionapologist]

Random Thoughts on a Very Specific Thing: When Companions Choose Companions

Okay, so, off the top of my head, this has happened four times in Doctor Who's televised run. I'm not familiar enough with EU companions to say anything about what happens there.

Companions have become companions for a variety of reasons. The new series has this idea that the Doctor only travels with "the best" and they usually choose their companions. The classic series had a lot of Companions via Circumstance. Dodo and Tegan thought the TARDIS was a real police box and just walked in at the wrong time. Ben and Polly saw the Doctor enter the TARDIS, got curious, followed him, and then he took off before noticing that they were there. Victoria and Nyssa both lost everyone close to them and became companions because they had nowhere else to go. Ian and Barbara were straight-up fucking kidnapped.

There have also been several stowaway companions. The Doctor didn't invite them, but they Insisted. There are very few classic series companions the Doctor chose. In Logopolis, Four even goes on a rant about it. It's actually a big stand-out moment when One invites Vicki to join him and this would go on to be a bit uncommon. Three had Liz and Jo basically assigned to him by UNIT. That's why companions were often called assistants back in the day. They were basically lab assistants. It was literally their job.

I could go on and on about this, but this thing is supposed to be about the four companions that were chosen by another companion: Jamie, Peri, Ace, and Adam.

Yes, I'm counting Adam for this, not because he completely counts as a companion, but because he was invited to be one and basically failed his test run.

Here There Be Spoilers for the episodes these companions debuted in and probably more.

It's funny how the four examples here are split down the middle. The blondes, Polly and Rose, chose companions to come with them, while the gingers, Turlough and Mel, chose companions to replace them. It also splits down the middle in that Jamie and Ace became the definitive companions of their Doctors, while Peri and Adam didn't work well with the Doctors the joined, with Peri not having much time with 5 before constantly bickering with 6, and Adam just failing completely.

I think some of the reason for this seems to be based on the mindset of the companions that picked the companions. Polly and Mel were mainly thinking of the new companion when they chose them. Polly realized that Jamie was in a rough part of history and maybe it would be nice to take him out of it. Mel spent a while bonding with Ace and realized that she could use a Space Dad.

Rose wasn't really thinking when she invited Adam along. She basically did it because she thought he was cute. 9 was never into it, just humoring her, and then they both sort of ditched him on his first trip to the far future. Look, Adam made his own bad decisions and shouldn't have been a companion, but he also shouldn't have been left completely unsupervised in an unfamiliar time period. He got that stupid computer thing in his head because it was basically required to do anything around there, and then decided to be stupid with it.

Meanwhile, Turlough was thinking of the Doctor. 5 didn't handle Tegan's departure well and admitted to being depressed. When he realized he was going to have to leave, Turlough was aware that the Doctor shouldn't be left alone while already feeling depressed and abandoned. So, he assigned Peri as a replacement.

The actual scene where Peri becomes a companion has 5 clearly reluctant. Either he's decided that he wants to be alone or he's just not that interested in her specifically. Turlough telling Peri to keep an on him probably factored in to him accepting her. Strangely, like with Adam, the Doctor took on a new companion whom he didn't like to humor another companion. The difference was that Turlough chose a better companion than Rose did, so Peri stuck around and the Doctor warmed up to her. That also connects to motivation. The reason Adam was the only truly bad choice is that it was made for stupid reasons. Polly and Mel were thinking "the Doctor would be good for this person". Turlough was thinking "this person would be good for the Doctor". Rose just didn't think.

This isn't me bashing Rose, by the way. Everyone's allowed to make bad choices. But, I admit, comparing her to three random classic companions in this situation doesn't make her look good. Rose was a good companion for 9. Her relationship with 10, no matter how much one might enjoy it, might not have been the most emotionally healthy for them. But, she still was a good companion for the most part. She just doesn't have very good judgement when it comes to who makes a good companion.

Also I did sort of accidentally parallel 9/Rose and 5/Turlough. I did not actually mean to do that.

[doctorhomo]

im literally so so SO fucking sick of how the women involved with doctor who STILL get treated nowadays. i saw a youtube video of a convention with janet fielding, and the main things people were saying about her include:

complaining about how she distanced herself from the show after she left in the 80s (no mention of how she actually came back for a charity skit with colin baker, but i guess that's not important when you hate her.) she actually left acting altogether in 1991 to become a full time agent, which was a lot of why she didnt return to dw until the early 2000s, since she thought being an actor while also representing actors would be a conflict of interest

complaining that she DID come back in the early 2000s and is now more involved with dw again, assuming it's because she's getting paid. yeah, sometimes people do work because they get paid for it. also, she clearly enjoyed her time on the show, she likes doing behind the scenes stuff and continuing to be tegan so i literally dont know what the issue is here

complaining that she has criticisms of the show whenever she goes off on a "feminist kick". i feel like i dont need to go further into detail here, but i will! what i specifically saw people complaining about was how she thought a lot of the female characters were screamers who had to be rescued by the men (for sure a generalisation, but absolutely a fair one) and (gasp) complaining about having to wear high heels and film in a quarry. perfectly reasonable!!!!! why the entire fuck would tegan STILL be wearing heels every single day when EVERYWHERE they go is a massive danger zone????

my favourite was someone complaining that she "slagged the show off without even watching it", meaning that she criticised some portrayals of female characters throughout the show but said she wasnt watching during ace's run. if she doesnt wanna keep watching she doesnt have to? david tennant did an episode of fish hooks but i doubt he watched the show for the rest of its run, do we give a fuck about that? no? moving on

in conclusion, if a woman says she thought some female characters in a show you love are stereotypical, that she didnt like wearing high heels on rough ground and mentions that she doesnt really watch the show much anymore and your immediate reaction is to get pissy about feminist rants and say you hate her, i really and truly think you're watching the wrong show. and i wholeheartedly believe things would be better if you kept your bullshit opinions to yourself.

[blueberry-bar]

Info dumping about my two Hachetfield ships I have effort to right for right now‼️‼️‼️ gonna rant abt the other later

Brooke X Sophia

Just hear me out on this one, I’m 99% sure they’re both like 17-18 and they’re both fire lovers.

So they met in lunch detention, and Sophia immediately has a fat crush on Brooke

And Brooke is an oblivious mess but she thought Sophia was pretty and casually compliments her. And ANYTIME that she complimented her Sophia’s face was on fire (heh pun)

They were supposed to go to homecoming together by Sophia got suspended for burning in girl’s bathroom so in revenge Brooke set it on fire again during homecoming.

I need a ship name for the sillies

Richie X Tegan (stupid oc one)

They’re like an obnoxious couple who make out in the hallway like they ARE pda.

Richie is the most unhygienic man ever and Tegan is like “WOAH 🫣🫣😍😻😻 HE’S SO FINE!!!”

Richie got with her by ranting about Naruto and he compared her to Misa from death note or something and she thought that was the sweetest thing ever (she has no idea what death note is)

Also if richie survived npmd they’d get to be happy and go to homecoming together <33 I hate bichie but they are funny to write for