#the little things between the Doctor and Yaz were just

[alienjaes]

I just watched "The Power of the Doctor" finale (Jodie Whittaker's final special), and I have FEELINGS. And a stuffy nose. From crying about the FEELINGS.

Also as always i'm jealous of her outfit, it's just so good, especially the boots.

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

things 10 does that make yaz feel like oh yeah this is her doctor alright: flying the tardis, when he gets all nerdy abt sciency stuff

things 10 does that make yaz stare in stunned disbelief: flirty as fuck?? timelords this timelords that

things 10 does that make yaz zone out for five minutes entertaining fantasies that are confusing in the way only things involved with time travel can be: brainy specs

[galaxysupreme17]

Together Again

13th Doctor x Wife!Reader

Y/n - Your Name

H/c - Hair Color

Y/n's eyes flutter open. With a strong intake of breath she sits up and looks around. The last thing she remembers is the explosion and Bill bringing her back to the Tardis, before she passed out. Y/n is a different form of a time lord.

She is a healer. Meaning the she can heal her body and anyone else. Therefore she doesn't die and can stop people from dying. She grew up with the Doctor and they had many adventures together. Eventually those adventures caused love to blossom between the two.

Y/n has been through every regeneration. Every new face. Of course this never bothered her. She has loved each new doctor because she knows deep down that her doctor will never change. Now as she sits on the floor of the Tardis, Y/n can't help but wonder where her doctor is. Why the Tardis seems to not be stabilizing.

  Sighing, the h/c woman stands, grabbing her side in the process in pain. She slowly walks to the console before heavily leaning on it. "Where are we?" Y/n wonders loudly. In return the Tardis gives a low groan. This causes the woman to scoff and roll her eyes. "I do not need attitude from you" Y/n sighs as she sits down on the floor and lays her head against the console.

Y/n sits there running her glowing hand over her side trying to heal her broken ribs as much as she can. Definitely going to take longer than that to heal. As she does so, y/n tries to figure out how she is going to find the doctor and if she can get the Tardis to stabilize.

Y/n eyes become to heavy for her to keep them open. Slowly she closes her eyes as she lets sleep consume her.

Hours later the doors to the Tardis open slowly. The doctor steps in slowly looking around. "You've redecorated" the doctor states with a soft smile. Just then she notices a figure laying on the floor.

Gasping, the doctor runs over to the figure and lifts her up into her arms. "Y/n" she says softly. As gently as she can, the doctor shakes the woman in her arms. Steadily, Y/n's eyes open. After registering who was holding her, y/n breaks into the biggest smile. "Y/n" the doctor sighs out. "Doctor" y/n smiles.

Quickly, y/n wraps her arms around the doctors neck and let's a few tears fall. "I thought I lost you again" y/n whispers. "Who? Me? Course not. It's going to take a lot more than that to be ride of me" the doctor states causing the other woman to laugh.

Just then someone clearing their throat grabs the attention of the two women on the floor. "Oh! Right!" the doctor stands up, pulling y/n with her. "Welcome to the Tardis fam!" the doctor smiles. "Care to introduce us doctor?" Ryan questions.

"Oh right! Sorry bout that! Fam, this is Y/n, my wife. Y/n this is the fam! Ryan, Yaz, and Graham" the doctor introduces everyone. "It's lovely to meet you all. Hopefully the doctor wasn't to much trouble" Y/n smiles at them all.

"Sorry... You have a space ship...And a wife??" Graham questions with wide eyes. "It's also a time machine" Y/n adds as the doctor wraps an arm around her wife. "Right that makes sense. But you're married? And you're the Y/n the doctor kept talking about?" Yaz asks with a smile.

"That would be me/that would be her" the doctor and Y/n answer at the same time. "Right how about we get you lot home" the doctor walks over and starts up the Tardis. A little later as everyone has settled in, Y/n was standing looking at the readings on the Tardis when she feels a set of arms wrap around her.

"I was so worried. Last I saw you, well you were on the ground barley breathing" the doctor whispers softly. Y/n turns around and looks up into the doctors eyes. "Well now I am here and so are you. Neither of us is going anywhere. Together again" Y/n smiles as she leans in and kisses the doctor.

"I love you," the doctor smiles. “I love you to the moon and to Saturn," Y/n smiles. The doctor grabs Y/n's hand and pulls her off down the hallway of the Tardis.

[billpottsismygf]

Rogue

Oh wow, I have some complex feelings to work through with this one. Up front, really fun idea and very funny script and performances. There were quite a few moments that had me laughing out loud (the shed, the OK exchange) and I love the whole set up of these aliens who want to cosplay as humans in the regency era. It also connects nicely with Rogue's love of DND. I feel like I might have missed something when they seemed to know that the Duchess was a Chuldur, but I'll see if I catch that on rewatch or not.

As always, I adore Ncuti here. He's so funny and charming as the Doctor, but I particularly loved that we got to see his darker side here. It was only a glimpse, but that line about 600 years being a long time to suffer was quite chilling and very reminiscent of the "he was being kind" speech from Family of Blood. Indeed, it is quite a ruthless end for the Chuldur! They're sent to a random "barren" different dimension! It reminds me quite a bit of the relocation gun from Rosa and how much it was shown to be one of the worst things you could do to someone (and Ryan uses it on the white supremacist guy). Brutal!

Ruby and the Doctor didn't get to spend much time together this episode, which is a shame because we haven't seen all that much of them together for three episodes in a row now. I can't help but think it's a sad consequence of the tiny episode run that we barely get to see this Doctor and companion interact, so although I loved the Doctor calling her his best friend, and I especially loved her giving him a hug at the end and making him deal with his emotions, I don't feel that connection as much as I'd like to. Equally, when he's devastated to think she's been killed, it would have hit so much harder if we'd seen them build up a real relationship. They have a lot of natural chemistry, so you still very much believe them as best friends, but it feels like we're missing a bit of the depth there.

Okay, now, the romance! I was quite apprehensive about this one because it looked like there might be something going on between the Doctor and Rogue, and that was further fueled by a comment Millie Gibson made in an interview about this episode showing a different side of the Doctor. The reason that made me apprehensive is entirely down to my personal preference, which is that I like it when the Doctor is more a-spec. As it turned out, this episode managed to be both better and worse than I worried. Better in that it was beautifully acted, had fantastic chemistry, and I loved the scandalous gay dancing (very reminiscent of the Torchwood episode Captain Jack Harkness). Worse in that it wasn't just something happening to the Doctor, that he's swept up in, but instead something he's actively pursuing.

Again, this is entirely down to my personal preference for the Doctor's characterisation, but the way that this pushes further than other instances of romance/kissing/etc. upsets me a little. It reminded me somewhat of The Girl in the Fireplace in places - inviting him to see the stars; the tragic ending - but the difference with that one is that she kisses him. I don't know, it's a relatively small distinction but one that matters to me. The Doctor has had romances before, and the more overt they are the more I dislike them (eg. all the River Song stuff), and nowhere has the Doctor more actively flirted with someone new, expressed attraction to them numerous times and deliberately kissed them than here.

On the other hand, it's very gay and I have to like it at least a little for that. It gives us a more obviously queer Doctor than Thirteen and Yaz and they had a whole arc! (Not to bash Thirteen and Yaz; I actually quite liked how that went down in the end, but again that's due to my preference for an a-spec Doctor, which jived very nicely with Thasmin.) Obviously, this doesn't invalidate any readings of the Doctor as aro and/or ace, especially as that can mean many different things, but it messes with my personal view of the Doctor's sexuality, and how I prefer them to be portrayed. For me, if the Doctor is going to participate in sex or romance, I'd rather it be understated and uncertain or unintended from the Doctor's end. Now I know what to expect from this one, I may become desensitized to it with time and enjoy it more for its merits. Still, I can't change the fact that it's just fundamentally not what I want from Doctor Who the character.

Misc

I love that the battle mode for the earrings came back. I wondered if it would when it was first mentioned, then promptly forgot about it entirely.

The comparisons between Rogue and Captain Jack Harkness are obviously numerous, and it's very funny to me that Jack would definitely be pissed off that he lost out on kissing the Doctor like that to someone who was basically a carbon copy of him.

More singing, since people are taking note of that. Love a bit of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory!

I was cringing a bit while the Doctor was dancing to Kylie, but also glad he got to do that after the Master has had several camp pop dancing moments.

Speaking of Kylie, I wonder if the Doctor has ever noticed her uncanny resemblance to Astrid Peth.

We got a nice little flashback with Carla telling him to keep Ruby safe as well, which reminded me a lot of Jackie.

The faces of the Doctor's various incarnations looked a little strange. I couldn't actually tell who some of them were meant to be. Am I crazy or was one of them Richard E Grant, like from Scream of the Shalka (and the Great Intelligence)?

I said this already in another post, but it was dedicated to William Russell and I criiiiiied!

[kendrixtermina]

Boom

Ok, this one FUCKS right out of the gate.

Seems like we’ll be talking about the evils of the Military Industrial Complex, currently all over the news. Im here for it.

There’s a lot of worldbuilding packed in the opening sequence conveyed through the characters’ interactions.

I like how they take a moment to have Ruby be stunned at the sky even after she’s been travelling with the Doctor for a while. (*war flashback of Yaz & Ryan just going ‚alien planet man‘ & moving on.*) That’s how you make phantastic things land, you show ppl reacting.

& the Doctor needs a while to realize that it would be stunning to her cause he’s pretty used to this but then rattles off facts about the planet. Like… this is what characters who aren’t plank of woods is like.

Wow, Ruby is a very for realsies ride or die real one, isn’t she?

Like, you see why the song she picked in the last episode was the one she wrote for supporting her friend.

That’s quite the knife twist to have the little girl show up at this point, though i wonder how she left the camp undedected.

Very like the doctor to think of asking how the mine works when cornered

Ah, that’s a neat callback, remember back in series 1 how in ‚Dalek‘ it was said that time travellers carry around atron energy?

Or, another anglican Marine episode, big soace time event can plug the time crack?

Only in this case it’s a downside.

Turns out the mine explodes harder for time travellers and the guy who happened to step on it has probably travelled in time more than anyone else in that universe.

Ruby continues to be a quick thinker with the distractions.

OH FRICK

...well. Took no more notes until the end of the episode, which speaks for it, even though I found the whole romantic subplot between the two soldiers a bit flat, unsubtle & cheesy, as is the thing with using the father’s AI duplicate to stop the machines, even if I get the message that was intended.

But I like the twist that they were fighting air &it was all due to the AI activating that the company had rigged in its favor, and the emphasis on puzzling things out.

& the recurring motif of the Doctor talking to the companion to ‚think out loud‘.

It’s interesting to have reached a point in history where rather than getting, like, skynet or something speculative, the evil AI here is is based on the way that it’s actually used by greedy companies IRL in reckless ways.

(This is how you actually do the aesop of ‚its not technology that‘s evil but how ppl use it’, rather than whatever kerblam was supposed to be.)

You gotta commend them for how relatively small stakes the episode is and how much of it is just juicy character drama (the moment with ruby telling the computer to tell her about her "next of kin" in desperation was quite emotional), how it’s almost all in one location, & like… since the Doctor’s thing is talking his way out of situations, it’s an interesting experiment to have an episode where he’s stuck in one place & has to try & solve the plot by talking.

[rupphiremoyo]

Wow! Some More Yasammy Headcanons

Because y'all deserve it ✨

Yaz and Sammy are hopeless romantics. They love doing things for each other to show how much they care. Yaz likes to surprise Sammy with a bouquet of her favorite flowers for no other reason than "a pretty girl should have some pretty flowers." Sometimes she'll even add a cute little drawing to it because she knows it never fails to make her girlfriend smile. Sammy likes to surprise Yaz with random gifts she knows she will use like new sketchbooks, new drawing pencils, and compression running socks, because 1) she loves her and likes to see her girlfriend happy; and 2) the look Yaz gives Sammy when she opens her gifts make her heart feel all warm and gooey.

When they moved in together, Sammy started to leave love-filled sticky notes in places she knew Yaz would find them. "You are so beautiful!!" (stuck to their bathroom mirror), "You got this baby!" (hidden in Yaz's gym bag), "For my favorite girl" (on an orange Gatorade in their fridge), and "I love you" (waiting on Yaz's pillow in their bedroom). Yaz adores and collects every single note.

Yaz insisted that she wanted to learn how to lasso so she and Sammy could share a hobby. But holy hell she's terrible at it. Like so bad at it. The first time Yaz wound up to lasso the training dummy, she missed so badly that she ended up knocking over Sammy's dad's grill instead. Yaz was mortified and Sammy almost had to be hospitalized for laughing so hard. It took a lot of coaxing and a ton of kisses for Yaz to pick up lassoing again. And even though she's still not the greatest at it, it's one of her favorite activities they do as a couple.

Yaz and Sammy had their first official date a month after they were rescued. They wanted to have it much sooner, but between all the media outlets wanting to cover their survival story, the countless visits to the doctor's office, the six months worth of homework they needed to catch up on, and adjusting to their lives back home...the girls just couldn't find the time.

But once things started to go back to normal, Yaz and Sammy immediately made plans for their first date. A few FaceTime calls and one plane ticket later had Yaz flying down to Texas to spend the weekend with Sammy.

They totally had one of those emotional airport reunions where the second they saw each other nothing else mattered but them. With luggage in hand, Yaz raced through the crowd and made a beeline towards her girlfriend. Sammy excitedly caught Yaz in her arms and held her tightly as they twirled in front of baggage claim. Sneaking kisses and murmuring "I missed you" and "I'm so happy you're here" over and over again.

After much thought, the girls decided that they wanted to have a very normal first date. No life-threatening situations. No running for their lives. And especially no dinosaurs. So they decided to go see the newest Esther Stone movie and then have a nice, romantic dinner afterwards.

When the evening came to a close and both girls were nervously standing outside Sammy's front door, Yaz turned to Sammy and pulled her into kiss that left them both breathless. With smiles on their faces and their first official date over, Yaz and Sammy eagerly looked forward to their next date and their future together.

[fandoms-in-law]

I've seen so many posts I disagree with over different points about gender and the Doctor from yesterdays episode and it basically comes down to the way the Doctor presents does impact him a lot and he doesn't always remember that.

Until Thirteen the way the Doctor presented was male, his body always was, and that was what he was used to, the privileges that come from appearing male in a human world.

The Twelth Doctor knew this, knew times had changed, and especially in his time with the First Doctor the differences there were abundant, he'd progressed and yes, was beginning to feel himself above gender in the same way he's always held himself above humanity intelligence wise.

Then came Thirteen and the constant lessons over how being female limits, controls and dictates our lives. She called it an upgrade, just like Missy did if I recall correctly, but still expected to be treated the same. When that didn't happen she couldn't hold herself above gender because the times she went to, especially back in time, but often in the modern world too, gender presentation was put in her way.

The Doctor at the point of her regeneration was letting go, and had multiple times had to learn to accept things she didn't know, things she could know but also knew would hurt to learn, and has that pocket watch of who she is, given to the TARDIS. She let go of the need to know everything, understand everything.

And now the Fourteenth Doctor, The Tenth Doctor returns, and it's clear that he's not acting like a newly regenerated Doctor, no confusion, no figuring out who he is, and most importantly plenty of similarities to the Tenth Doctor. Hell the main change is he's more willing to say he loves someone which make sense. He regenerated after admitting to love Yaz.

But Ten doesn't let go.

If the Tenth Doctor went through the things the Thirteenth Doctor has he'd have opened the pocket watch. He wouldn't have accepted a history he doesn't know, not with the answers right there.

You could point at River and his meeting of her to argue that, but Thirteen dealt with an unknown past, not an unknown future.

Donna and Rose's talk about letting go is reminding him of the scenes he lived immediately before regenerating, of how she let herself go for the next person to come. That's what they did too, except they let go of power, she let go of the family she had been chasing and clinging to through her series.

And the Tenth Doctor was the Doctor who built himself a family, even when he left them behind afterwards. Donna spoke about visiting, coming for coffee, almost like the Eleventh did with Rory and Amy, and then with Clara, then Twelth sort of managed with Bill.

Donna and Rose took on the Doctor's up to date memories by how they spoke but they know more than ever that the Doctor is a different person between generations. And this Doctor doesn't understand letting go a lot of the time, only understand major goodbyes so she asks for visits even while it's clear she doesn't believe he'll do them.

Personality not gender is focused on in both these comments.

And the Fourteenth Doctor is already focusing on questions, demanding or constantly bringing up the need for answers over why this face has returned. He's not accepting it, not letting it go.

I got sidetracked a little here, but it comes down to, the Fourteenth Doctor isn't acting like a new regeneration, he knows who he was when he had this face before and is trying to fit that mindset, while being surprised by the things he's learnt in the meantime having changed him showing in his personality too.

[quantumshade]

hi i feel the question must be asked - thoughts on the soundtrack and scoring from 13's era as compared to murray gold's work?

sigh... honestly? complicated. i have a lot of feelings and many of them are contradictory.

i'll start with this: it's one of my personal favorite things about thirteen's era, though admittedly the bar is low. i think segun akinola is an incredibly talented composer and when his music is good, it's GOOD. i loved all the times he played with the beginning and end credits to suit the episode, like in demons of the punjab and village of the angels, that kicked ass every time. i really appreciate what he brought to the show, i just wish.... hm. how do i put this. i wish his talents had been utilized better.

like. here's my absolute favorite song from the era. it's unbelievably great. it slaps so hard when played in the show AND when listened to in isolation.

and thirteen's full theme? one of the most gorgeous character themes i've ever heard, and it suits thirteen really well.

but a lot of the other stuff.... i just feel kind of meh about. i've listened to all of the scores all the way through in order to complete my ultimate doctor who playlist, and one thing i noticed is that there's a lot of songs on the album that just kind of feel like four separate songs stitched together with like 30 seconds of one droning note in between. at one point, i took notes on one of the songs to try and explain my feelings about it.

that was in regards to this song:

try listening to the song with my commentary if you get the chance, it's kind of the easiest way to see/hear what i mean in this post.

anyway here's an example of a song with very little of the silence that was boring bothering me so much:

"I'm Not Giving Up" is over 3 whole minutes shorter than "All Is Ending". can you guess how much silence there is in "All Is Ending"? (hint: if you guessed about three minutes and fifty-two seconds, you'd be correct.)

i listen to a lot of different orchestral music. i haven't run into any other composers who do this with full album releases, and it just kind of confuses me? i'm not a music theory person, so if there's some reason for this i wouldn't know it, but it makes some of these songs kind of suck to listen to in a playlist. if they were cut down into separate songs, i'd be far more enthusiastic.

the other thing i'm not crazy about are the character themes. the doctor, the master, the cybermen, and the daleks all have recognizable themes, and they're pretty good. except... imo all of them except the doctor's are massively overused. i don't think this is inherently akinola's fault, nor is it a problem exclusive to thirteen's era -- i seriously cannot listen to murray gold's "I Am The Doctor" anymore because of how much the show overused it, despite it being objectively a pretty great song.

but other than those four, did you know there are character themes for the companions? because i didn't until a couple weeks ago, and like i said, i've listened to all of these songs front to back with careful analysis AND seen all of these episodes at least twice each. i never picked up on these character leitmotifs 😭😭😭 i would say that that's on me for not perceiving them, except i know i'm not the only one. pretty much everyone i've talked to has been surprised to hear there are character themes. if you're curious, here's a youtube series exploring those themes and when they're used. it's a good, informative series with well made videos, but the whole time i was just kind of frustrated that i wasn't able to really pick up on these motifs. even now, i can't remember what yaz's leitmotif sounds like. i honestly have no idea, i would have to go back to the video and check. it just doesn't stick into my brain in the same way, say, donna's theme or bill's theme do.

furthermore, this is graham's theme. the whole thing. this is all of it.

for comparison's sake, here's rose's theme.

and if that's not the perfect microcosm of how these characters feel to me like. in terms of complex characterization and interesting arcs and feeling like real people. complex themes aren't always better, that's not what i'm saying -- more that the companions aren't really allowed to be important in the same way that they used to be.

graham's theme doesn't appear until episode four. and then doesn't reappear until the last two episodes of the series. meanwhile rose's theme is like. so recognizable from the very first note & it plays at crucial moments (first example off the top of my head is the ending of The End of the World). clara's theme is so recognizable that it can play in a scene that doesn't feature her at all After she left the show and yet in a way that completely evokes her presence. you couldn't do that with the thirteenth doctor's companion's themes, and even if you did, the audience uhhh. probably wouldn't notice!

i struggle to articulate my feelings about akinola's music, especially in comparison to gold's. gold's music is so important to me and i genuinely rank him among the best composers ever. i really, really like segun akinola... when he's allowed to make any noise. but most of the time with the sound mixing his music just fades to the background to the point of silence, forgotten entirely, and it's a shame.

tl;dr i dislike how akinola's songs are cut in the released albums, i think a lot of those songs needed to be cut down a little bit from the versions in the episode, and some of it probably could have stayed unreleased. i do wish his character themes were more recognizable, and i wish the ones that were recognizable weren't overused to the point of annoying me. i think he's a fantastically talented composer, and most of my problems with how his music on the show is used are not inherently his fault. i vastly prefer murray gold's music, but that's more a testament to how much i love murray gold than any amount of dislike of segun akinola. i'm excited both for gold's return to who and to see what akinola does next. if you prefer his music to gold's, i totally get you and i'm kissing you on the mouth. most of this is just personal preference!

sorry for how long this got. the doctor who soundtrack is, like, the ultimate autism topic for me. i'd love to talk more about it, feel free to send me asks or whatever anytime :3

[seldomscilence16]

Whumptober day 31:

"I thought that I was getting better."

Emptiness | setbacks | "Take it easy."

Fandom: Camp Cretaceous

Prompts: vaguely all

Short and sweet with a hint of Whump. Rewatched the last episode and was like 'damn tv 7 my ass' for the millionth time. Anywho, a short piece on how trauma bonded kids would not just return to normal the minute they return to their loved ones. I think it probably took them awhile to get to the time skip point in which they were. I may rewatch and do some rewrites or missing moments or added moments lol. This show was just too good.

TW for Panic attack (vaguely) and thoughts of death (mostly just near death experiences they faced, but also a little idealization in there.)

…

Darius doesnt like making assumptions about his friends. The island showed him exactly what damage that could do- even when he hadnt meant to, hadnt known he had been, but it was no excuse- he made a promise to himself to treat them right. His only friends.

So when his nightmares come back with a vengance, he doesnt breathe a word. They all went through hell and back on those Islands, they were all slowly settling back into their lives, they practically lived at eachothers houses- rotating through them because between their parents and themselves, they need the ability to verify the safety of eachother- but Darius sees them adjusting, trying to take back their previous lives with the new knowledge they have. And Darius had been right along with them, writing about their experiences and the lessons learned-

But now here he was.

He awoke quietly, far to use to the need of stealth and the light sleepers around him, he could still feel the hot wet breath of death encompassing. Its hard with a trembling body, but he manages to make it around the other sleeping teens and to the bathroom down the hall. They're at Yaz's house this time around, her mother's room on the second floor while they reside in the basement so hes not worried about her hearing him.

He slides down the wall as soon as he closes the door, theres soft moonlight coming from a small window above the shower, but the room remains mostly shadows. Theres cant be light, it will attract-

No. There could be. He just has to stand and hit the switch, because there is power here and no dinosaurs. He stares blankly at the cabinets instead, what use would light do him anyway? He was just gonna sit here like a lump anyway. He didnt need any light other than the moon, shining off tile, while he sits doing nothing. There is nothing productive to do now, no planning or night watch, no fighting bad guys or identifying dinosaur noises. Just his own breathing as a dream that mixed reality and his worst fears, plays over and over in his mind.

He had made so many mistakes.

He can think of so many instances where something he did had put one of his friends in danger. Things that had them almost dieing, heck Sammy practically had! And Ben, and Brooklyn, and Yaz and Kenji and Doctor Mae and-

And so many people had died.

Ones perfectly fine killing kids.

And others… who had just come to a park to have fun.

He had come so close multiple times too, but… if he had died instead of one of the others than, would that have been so bad?

Kenji rolls over, eyes squinting open, expecting to see the familiar form of his sleeping brother, the empty space that meets him instead has his heart rate spiking and his breath catching. He sits up- too quickly, it startles everyone else, but Darius is GONE- eyes tracking the entire room before he's reminded his brain of the fact they are NOT on the Islands. Darius hasnt been eaten by dinosaurs, but the panic still lingers that they CANT FIND HIM.

"Maybe… he just went to the bathroom?" Sammy offers, although shes already starting to stand.

"The lights off." Yaz is already standing at the hallway, "Doors closed though."

Kenji ventures forward first. Brooklyn close behind, and the others just behind her.

He knocks lightly, frowning further at the lack of response, he glances behind him and gets several nods, opens the door slightly. As expected, it's dark inside, the moon's glow barely illuminates the figure against the wall.

Darius doesn't react to his presence, his stare is blank, body motionless except for the slightest breath. It's terrifying to see such an emptiness in usually such bright eyes. There's raised red marks on his hand, wet and crusting with blood, Kenji's lips purse sadly. Swallowing thickly, he reaches out a careful hand, touches his knee lightly, expecting the flinch,

"Take it easy." He says softly, "You're safe."

It takes several moments, all of them crowded together on the floor of the bathroom- Ben actually sitting in the tub to make more space- allowing Darius the time he needs to come back to them. When he finally makes eye contact, it's hesitant, as if waiting for something.

"Hey bud, how you feelin?" Kenji's voice is gentle, nothing extra in his voice, his eyes hold a worry to them- they all do- but no judgment or anger.

Darius wants to tell them he's fine. That he's sorry. That it's nothing and they can go back to sleep. That everything is proceeding forward as it's supposed to. He opens his mouth to say just that,

"I thought that I was getting better."

That is not what he wanted to say. Seriously brain what the heck?? He can't be bringing them down like this-

"Hey, you are, we all are Darius. Setbacks are normal, and together we can make sure they don't last long." Brooklyn's soft voice breaks his thoughts, and his head snaps up to stare at her.

"You want to know my first thought when I couldn't find you?" Kenji asks, drawing his attention next, the curious look has the corners of his mouth twitching up before they fall again, "I thought you might of been eaten, or being chased, I-" he swallows the emotion, blinking back the wetness in his eyes, Darius reaches out and takes his hand.

"Sorry." And he means it, puts as much emotion as he can into the word, directing it at the room at large.

They were all healing. They all had moments of weakness. But they were a team, they had each other's backs, and for every step backwards, someone would be there to pull you forward again.

[kate-les-bridge-stewart]

So my buddy @timeandspacenovelist created a little au that I decided to build off of and it kinda turned into a sorta spaghetti western breaking bad with osgate and thasmin lol

This is a classic spaghetti western setting, late 1890s in small town USA

Yaz is the sheriff and 13 is her deputy

Graham runs a local saloon that basically acts as the town square

Ryan is one of Grahams bartenders

Dan runs a local barber shop

Three of the masters are the main bad guys in town; dhawan, missy and simm

They run 3 of the biggest criminal organizations in the whole eastern USA

Missy runs a massive illegal drug manufacturing operation, Simms group acts as the distributor for said drugs

Dhawan runs a hitman group and also just acts as the military for the other two groups

All three of them work as a triple alliance

12 is the undertaker and the main medical doctor in town

Clara, amy, and bill all work with 13 and yaz to help fight crime and solve cases

Osgood is the local gunsmith/weaponsmith and shes renowned across the country as one of the best in her field

One thing about osgood though is that very little is actually known about her...

Kate is a seasoned military veteran who's known as one of the best sharpshooters/snipers of the century

She settled down in this town for retirement (and also to be with osgood) but she occasionally helps yaz and 13 with cases

9 is the town mayor (since he seemed the most competent out of 10 and 11)

Clara acts as a negotiator and the detective that does most of the interrogations and interviews

Amy and bill act as sorta spies or investigators

Bill also looks for, stores, and bookkeeps evidence for cases

River runs a brothel and gives yaz and 13 tips on any criminals that come thru there. She may also do a bit of vigilante work on the side 😏

Remember how I said theres very little known about osgood? Well, theres a reason for that...

You see, osgood has a bit of a naughty streak to her.

She works with every major criminal organization on the eastern US. She acts as a bank for them to store and hide their assets and money

She also manages shipments of any supplies the groups might need, mainly weapons or drugs

She organized a certain level of mutual cooperation amoung all the criminal groups and sometimes helps negotiate any major disagreements between them (but only if they threaten to cause harm to the system she built)

Kate knows about this and often helps serve as her bodyguard

Osgood obviously wanted to conceal her identity so she uses the code name "Medici" as a reference to the de Medici family of italy, known as one of the richest and most powerful families to ever exist (they were so powerful cus they formed the first bank which made them reeeeeally influential as you can imagine)

I'm gonna add to this soon but I just wanted to jot down the main points of this au first

[madrac]

i've finished season 11 of doctor who and i loved so many things but at the same time it feels like it should've been the first "draft" of the season, to be polished before actually making it. thirteen is amazing, she's got a bit of eleven but in her own way (somehow less goofy but also with +100% funny faces), the companions are lovely and some episodes were really good story-wise, but at the same time some choices are just ? not smart?

Like i love yaz to DEATH but the overarching story about tim shaw and grace serves ryan and graham's stories, so she's barely relevant (though the episode about her grandmother was one of the best this season). my point is. That three companions at the same time are too many. And by having so many you don't get to flesh them out properly . Graham as an old man has a lot of comedic potential that's barely used, even more considering his and Ryan's reluctant relationship. The only source of humor in this season has been the doctor, but it's hard to have really funny bits when jokes don't bounce between people a little. I just wish we could've gotten more fam(ily) dynamics between the doctor, ryan and graham, since family is a theme for the season, clearly.

On the other hand yaz and the doctor have a wonderful chemistry by themselves and to be honest i would've loved a few episodes (maybe even a whole season!!) just for the two of them. but Yaz doesn't really fit in the family/mourning theme, at least for season 11, and so it allf eels a little fragmented. Idk they're all lovely as i said, just not so spectacularly fleshed out and written. Also i say all this but Im going to eat concrete i just know they'll break my heart anyway

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

"she didnt take much notice of you last time" theyre so fucking cute

[13thdoctorposts]

I’m just gonna say it… I really enjoyed Legend of the Sea Devils (LotSD). I wish it was longer, or that it wasn’t the only Sea Devil episode in the 13th era, but I would say they are positive criticisms not negative ones. This is because I enjoyed the Sea Devils, I enjoyed Thasmin, I enjoyed Dans ridiculous pirate costume, probably more then I should have, lol. I like the guest cast, and really enjoyed the look and feel of this episode, who doesn’t love pirate stories? And of course 13s and Yazs costumes, *chefs kiss* I like the whole episode. Maybe I’m far too basic for the scholars of Doctor Who Fandom on Twitter and that’s why I like this episode when dwtwt (Doctor Who Twitter) clearly doesn’t and can’t help but harp on with their negative opinions. I get it some old Sea Devils episode was released today but why can’t you say how much you loved that with out bringing down LotSD?

Maybe someone should let them know 13s era is over and they have 2 shiny new doctors to play with, so just move on from everything you hate about 13 like a normal person would do who didn’t like something. Considering it’s done and none of them have to rewatch any of the episodes again, like maybe let it go so the people who liked it don’t have to avoid posts not even about 13s era because you have to make sure you get in your quota of negative 13 tweets for the day on all posts about Doctor Who.

For me it was a great episode because I felt like I could read between the lines. To me the Doctor was trying to work through her thoughts about Yazs feelings, her feelings and the situation they were in. She was clearly interested, again to me that’s what the flirting, or attempt at flirting, lol, was about, she was exploring her thoughts and feelings. It is hard when your head and your heart want different things. By the time we get to the end she’s decided to follow her head instead of her heart because she knows she doesn’t have time to work through this with Yaz, her time is limited and she’s trying to minimise harm. Sometimes following your head instead of your heart is the most selfless thing you can do. But she still lets Yaz know her feelings which is huge for her because let’s be real she’s told Yaz very little of the things that haunt her. Making this quite a big deal that she not only acknowledges yazs feelings, she acknowledges her own feelings, she acknowledges what she wants, and she acknowledges why they can’t have it.

Now this episode may hit different for me because I come from a time of Xena, Warrior Princess, where everything was subtext, and granted more subtext then we got from Yaz and 13, but being sapphic at that time you had to develop the skill of reading between the lines. I think people are far more use to people being super out and proud in shows these days and so this episode may have been lacking in comparison for some people. But Yaz was 19 when she boarded the TARDIS and she’s been through a lot, her feelings changing from idolising the Doctor to loving the Doctor, it’s not surprising she doesn’t know when that transition actually happen because it probably wasn’t a light bulb moment. And you know what? That’s ok and that’s valid, you don’t have to be out and proud and confident at 19 or 22 or 25 or however old Yaz is at that point she can acknowledge how she feels. So going into the Sea Devils to me were just a fun background story to the main event which was the Doctor working through her feelings and Yaz finding the courage to ask why they couldn’t be together.

And you know what Jodie and Mandip were fantastic in this episode, I was completely sucked in by their performances, the way they looked at each other during that underwater date/non date, they both said so much without a single word. it felt honest and believable, gut wrenching and because I didn’t feel lost in understanding this episode I felt like a lot of things were put into place and resolved. Even if I personally would have like them to have chosen to be together, I get the logic as to why they can’t. It’s heart breaking but when is a Doctor Who love story not heart breaking?

You may have a different opinion of this episode and that’s completely fair, but the people on dwtwt being snarky and crappy just make the dw fandom not a fun place to be because you’re not really welcome there if you don’t have the group think of 13 bad. And since this is a family show where Jodie might be a kids first doctor and they might love her, it’s really a crappy place for a kid to come if the want to be apart of the doctor who fandom.

It’s ok not to like something, but once it’s gone and you have your fav doctor, companion, and show runner coming back why not concentrate on that instead of bringing down something you never have to watch again.

If you have reach the end of my ridiculous verboseness thank you and if you like LotSD don’t listen to the critics cos I don’t think that episode was made for them.

[theshadowofthedoctor]

[It seems you have access to another one of Helena's journal entries]

[Previous journal entry]

[There is only entry available.]

Well, its been awhile! First, Bill's dead. She died, I spilled my entire hearts out to her after she died. Well.. more so like after she was converted.. into a Cyberman. She resisted it though, I love loved her for that. She didn't even realize she was a Cyberman until dad talked to her about it. She's with Heather now though, but even if she wanted to be with me.. no I doubt it. I should've never thought I was going to be hers ever.

Anyway, uh.. I regenerated, so did dad. We lost the TARDIS, landed in Sheffield, met some new friends: Ryan, Yaz, and Graham! They all were super helpful during the post regeneration sickness. God I was a wreck, and according to Ryan The Doctor was even worse. I like Ryan, hes nice. and he's smart. Like incredibly smart. Genuinely very smart. Ryan's related to Graham, and went to school with Yaz. I feel bad for Ryan and Graham, I was the reason Grace (Ryan's nan and Graham's wife) died. I got distracted by The Doctor going up against Tim Shaw, speaking of that future me, please look up The Stenza.

Tim Shaw cheated and used technology he wasn't supposed to have for this leadership role thing, The Doctor didn't say much on that, and well the technology he was using was going after the crane The Doctor was on and well Grace, in a way, sacrificed herself. To keep Ryan safe, because he was in the same crane The Doctor was on.

Yaz, she's a police woman, she's very nice. Broke the law a couple of times for The Doctor and I. She was very helpful when i tripped and smashed my nose, and very very helpful on Desolation. Speaking of Desolation, that was a fucked up planet. Genuinely fucked. Absolutely fucking fucked. DO NOT want to go back. That's where we found The TARDIS. Speaking of We did in fact lose mom. I regenerated mid air, probably why I don't like loud noises. Speaking of, please keep an eye on that too. See if the loud noises thing is common between regenerations. like a permanent trait, because i could handle loud noises last time. Maybe my ears are more sensitive this time.

OH WAIT photo! The Doctor says I look like River a bit, but I don't look as much like Missy. I like that, I think. Especially after everything that happened, that'll be another entry. Might just be its own journal book honestly.

Anyway, Graham, he reminds me a bit of dad, the Scotsman. He's sweet and nice, but a little rough around the edges, probably because The Doctor and I shot him into space by accident, well to be fair we also shot Ryan and Yaz into space too. That's how we got to Desolation. OOH Speaking of! Mom looks so cool! Her console room is all crystal themed and its so cool. There's a custard cream dispenser for mom, I think that's her little thing, like how Bowtie had his fish fingers and custard. I'll have to try it, new face, new taste buds new everything really. Hopefully I still like it. I promised him I would eat some every once in awhile.

Anyway this seems a little long, I know The Doctor is trying to get Yaz, Ryan, and Graham home. I think we just landed though. I'll write more later.

[ofpineapplesanddawns]

I don’t have a specific prompt in mind but do you have any ideas for Ten/Fourteen and Phileas meeting each other? Chaos travelers dynamic! Wahoo!

Have I ever mentioned that I actually wanted to write a short fic where Phileas and friends run into the Doctor, Martha, and Donna for a little adventure?

Well, this isn't the same thing, but I think this might be a fun idea to work with!

Let's go with Fourteen for this, since I like making content for them. (I don't remember the exact years that Madam Vastra lived in Victorian London, but I'm not here for accuracy, Fourteen is gonna meet a man who is technically a book character).

On with the fic!

--

The Doctor smiled as they passed through the streets of Victorian London. Yes, they'd been here so many times over the years, but it was always nice to stop by for a visit. They did have friends who lived in this era after all.

They had heard the most curious news from Madam Vastra when they had come over for a long overdue tea party between them and their friends. She had told him about a man who has been considered the first Englishman to travel the world in eighty days.

It had taken the Doctor a moment to register who that was, and they had gotten excited. They'd never been able to catch any of the exciting trip of Phileas Fogg before! They always seemed to land at the wrong time, just missing him and his friends in their bigger destination spots.

They wondered if maybe he was still here in London, that there was a chance that they could catch him. The Doctor knew that not too long after his return to London, Fogg and his friends had taken off to find an ancient sea creature.

The Doctor walked about, trying to find the typical locations that Phileas Fogg frequented and soon gave up. They needed a break, maybe a drink? It was a bit chilly, a nice cuppa would do! And when was the last time they'd stopped in Victorian tea house, or even a coffee house?

Hmmm... had it been with Yaz? They couldn't remember, but they found themself entered a coffee house he found just a moment later and glanced about. It wasn't too busy here, seeing as it was the late afternoon.

However, someone caught his eye.

Seated at a table by himself, looking over a newspaper with a cup of tea before him, along with a small tray with all manner of things to prepare said cup, was the Doctor.

Well.

No.

Not the Doctor, but someone who looked just like him. Madam Vastra had smiled and made a comment that Fogg was a man with a face that the Doctor would recognize the moment they spotted it. She wasn't wrong.

Grinning, the Doctor approached. "Is this seat taken?"

Fogg glanced up, opening his mouth to say something, but stopped and stared instead. The Doctor's grin grew as they winked. "Like lookin' in a mirror, isn't it?"

"I... is this a trick?" Fogg asked, nervous, but strangely fascinated.

"No trick, just the universe having a laugh, I suppose." They scratched the back of their head, ah, an old habit from their previous time with this face. "Are you Phileas Fogg?"

Fogg nodded, clearing his throat. "Yes, yes I am. I am to guess you've heard of me from recent exploits?"

"Oh, yes!" The Doctor plopped down in the chair across the table. "You're amazing! The first human to fly over the Alps! You were able to get a train to cross over a broken bridge that was practically being held up by the equivalent of paperclips and rubber bands! And the stuff you did in India and America? Amazing!"

"Uh, thank you?" Fogg smiled awkwardly, clearly not used to so much attention and praise all at once.

"You're welcome." They held out a hand. "I'm the Doctor, by the way."

The hand was taken for a very quick shake and Phileas tilted his head. "The Doctor?"

"Yeah, that's my name."

"I feel as if I've... heard the name before? It's a title, is it not?"

The Doctor grinned. "Yeah, in a way."

"How curious. Ah, any particular reason as to why you have decided to talk to me? Not that I'm trying to send you off, but..."

"Oh, yes! Hold on a mo', I completely forgot!" The Doctor dug into their coat pocket, trying to locate the proper item. They pulled out a few odds and ends, setting them on the table, much of Fogg's confusion and amusement as the strange collection.

"Found it!" The Doctor smiled, holding up a device, then held it out to Fogg. It was small, square, metallic and plastic. "I heard rumors that you're going to go on a sea voyage, to look for a mysterious beast of legend. Well, as someone with a lot of experience with such things, use this."

Fogg took it, looking it over with interest. "What is it?" He had a look in his eyes that screamed he wanted to tinker with it. The Doctor could apperciate that.

"It's a device that goes 'ding' when it is within a hundred meters of a massive, aquatic life form and the dings get louder and faster the closer you are to it. It can also tune a piano and a harpsichord."

They got a strange look from Fogg for that. "Thank you? But why would you have such a device?"

"Because." The Doctor reasoned, grinning. "And I think you can get a better use out of it than me, I can't wait to read about what happens!" He stood up from the table. "Best of luck, Phileas Fogg."

"Oh, uh, same to you? Not sure why I said that, but I feel like you're about to embark on your own journey."

The Doctor's smile faltered a little, but they chuckled, shoving their hands in their pockets. "I get the feeling that you're right about that."

[kendrixtermina]

Another thing where Chibnall fucked up is that unlike previous showrunners, he never really tried to sell us on the companions as important deuteragonists who have cool stories in their own right.

I mean the classics sometimes had the problem that they would come up with cool character concepts but then under-utilize them / not think of anything better to with them than having the villains kidnap them again, but still it was attempted to have them be interesting & contrasting, for example they would follow up a sour snarky character with a cheerful one.

And in the pre-chibnall new series in particular, they've always had distinctive dynamics planned-out arcs. You couldn't swap one new series companion for another & still get the same episode. They were damn near the main characters.

With most of the companions we've had so far you could say what they'll do if you throw them at a given situation:

Donna would stay grounded & look for the common sense solution, Rose would usually comfort someone who's upset & discover crucial info that way, Martha would keep a cool head, start trying to puzzle things out and try to help, Clara would take charge & try to get the situation under control, Amy would just charge into it based on intuition, Rory would remain unfazed, tag along but also point out the danger, Bill would be curious and voice some unusual question or observation...

What do Yaz, Graham, Ryan or Dan do? Mostly just make corny jokes & follow the Doctor around, defaulting to whatever she does... You could swap 90% of their lines with none the wiser cause it exists mostly to prompt exposition while failing to imbue it with meaning & stakes..

They rarely ever act of their own accord, make important, plot-changing decisions or even react much to what happens to them. Nor do they really get one on one scenes with the Doctor or bond emotionally (except Ryan and Graham, sometimes, in the stiffest, corniest way possible), and no just having the characters TELL us they like each other is no substitute.

And if the characters don't seem to care, well, the viewers won't care either.

Even the Yaz having a lesbian crush thing which you'd think would be a really big aspect of her character, was apparently a suggestion by Mandip & Whittaker themselves, which means that Chibs had absolutely no plan for his characters expect just being... there, until it was time for them to go. So little plan he could just throw in a major thing like that. I mean I'm glad he did cause else it would have been ever blander, but still.

You'd think that with a big group of characters you could flesh them out by having them disagree about what to do, play different roles and react in contrasting ways, but that idea never occurred to Chibnall.

Let's compare the introduction of the "fam" to... not even the new series, but the very first serial from the 60s. Some aspects of it seem dated in hindsight, I could've done without the screaming & the Red Indian line, but still all four main characters are distinctly established & make meaningful decisions. The story would not turn out the same without any of them present:

Barbara is introduced as being worried about a student & shown to be responsible & intuitive. She decides that they should check on Susan, and later that they should save the caveman rather than just escape, more or less setting the story in motion.

Ian is introduced as brave, unflappable and inquisitive. He's the one who proposes taking bold action, moving the plot forward, but he is also more calm about it the whole time & continues to do so in a scary unfamiliar situation.

The First Doctor is introduced giving nonsense answers and trying to bullshit his way out of a situation. We see that he is quite cocky & guarded, but also tends to think his way out of situation. While he tends to respond to fear & pressure by bluffing, we see that he is still frightened underneath. (it is when he admits this that we get the first bonding moment between him & Barbara) His contributions to the plot are to take off with the teachers on board (half to avoid being discovered & half cause he's offended they don't believe he had a spaceship), and then later he solves the caveman murder.

Susan is shown to be quite smart, but also very timid, and she describes her time hiding out on earth as the happiest in her life, showing that she would maybe prefer a quieter, more stable life than the one she leads. She's probably the most passive character, seeing as she's the youngest, but since she likes and trusts both the teachers and the Doctor, she's essential to keep the group together until everyone else starts trusting each other.

Note that at no point does anyone say "Ian is brave & unflappable" or "Barbara is responsible & intuitive", rather we are shown, not told.

Now, what are we told about the fam, and just as important, how are we told?

Yaz wants more challenges than her job offers. We are told this because she just states it out loud.

Ryan & Graham don't get along, but Graham would like them to. We know this because Graham explicitly tells us.

Ryan is frustrated because despite ppl's encouragement, his disability presents real limits. We know because he tells us so.

..okay? Kinda unsubtle delivery, but it's a start. All of this could have potential if it's developed more, especially the last thing. You could make interesting characters with these basic points.

But what happens then?

The plot is advanced not by character decisions, but by a bunch of random coincidences: The Doctor just crashes into them, Ryan just happens upon the onion, Yaz just happens to be on duty when he calls etc.

The main characters learn that they've been implanted with bombs... and barely react. Ryan reacts more when his phone is erased for the sake of a "phone obssessed millenial" joke than to learning he's about to die.

Imagine if they had Ryan complain about how he'll die & that is yet another unfair thing in his life, or: Graham chooses at this moment to act protective on Ryan. Or: Yaz tries to keep a cool head & control the situation, maybe having some friction with the Doctor's attempts to do the same but also impressing her. Just gimme any character/emotion, Chris!

Notice how they show Ryan having a youtube channel... and it's the blandest, most generic thing ever. This was THE opportunity to characterize him: What videos does he watch, what videos does he make, does he have a distinct username? No, it's just his name with some numbers. They just wanted the video framing device, so he has a youtube, but they don't think about what it says about him.

Remember for example, how Clara picked 'Oswin' as an username (short for Oswald for the Win), & how this shows that she is confident and a bit vain.

Now imagine if they had Ryan pick something with a relatable downtrodden millenial vibe, or had him reference internet culture. Just anything that characterizes him in any way.

When we get character scenes at all they feel sort of tacked on & removed from the plot, like the plot stops 5 minutes for Ryan & Graham to have a scene, and while the plot is happening everyone becomes a plank of wood walking from location to location.

That's the worst thing to do, especially in sci fi when you have wild fantastic things happening! The plot and the characters should always be connected: The plot is made to challenge the characters, and the characters reactions give the plot weight.

Any time a Dalek showed up in RTD's run, everyone panicked, even the normally level-headed characters - and that's how they sold that these pepperpots are a big deal. Donna being needed to save the universe is designed as a counterpoint to her self-esteem issues. Martha has a problem with prioritizing herself, so the plot throws her in taxing situations untill she realizes that she can't keep doing this.

We care about River meeting the Doctor out of order because she emotes about it. We would care much less about the puddle person if she wasn't Bill's girlfriend trying to keep her promise. We wouldn't care as much about the timecrack if it hadn't eaten Amy's fiancé. As phantastical as the impossible girl thing is, on the character level it has a pretty simple meaning: The Doctor owes clara a debt & wants to thank her but is also suspiciou cause he's jaded from past losses, and we then explore how his character responds to this situation.

In Chibnall's writing, this connection is absent, and so neither the plot nor the characters manage to really land emotionally. So much ppl stopped watching cause it was just bland flavorless & not exciting anymore.