howthebestwaslost-blog

[howthebestwaslost-blog]

Like before, Series 15 of Doctor Who only having eight episodes is bad for it. Series 14 just about held it together, but that's because the finale didn't strongly hinge on the Doctor-Ruby relationship. In constrast, the Doctor-Belinda ends up being a big deal. The problem is that said relationship does not develop in a way that actually makes sense or feels organic.

Let's review the Belinda situation in each episode:

The Robot Revolution - Belinda is kidnapped to another planet by evil robots sent by her ex-boyfriend. She watches a woman who trusts the Doctor implicitly die right in front of her. By the end, she's not fond of the Doctor and his dubious ways, and wants to go home.

Lux - Belinda gets caught up in a fight with a malevolent god, on her second "adventure". She immediately admits that the Doctor's life terrifies her. In return, the Doctor says he might not be able to get her home. Overall, she is still not thrilled.

The Well - Belinda literally almost dies, because getting shot in the chest is the only way to save her from a parasitic monster that would otherwise drive her mad. She is directly confronted with her mortality, and is again terrified.

Lucky Day - Belinda isn't really in this episode.

The Story & the Engine - Belinda has apparently mellowed out enough to be okay with the Doctor visiting his buddy instead of proceeding with getting her home (tangent: how does this make sense in the Mother Belinda timeline?). She laughs at a guy and seems to have gotten over her previous worries. There's the hook that she sympathises with the Doctor's need to find a place where in fits in, but that would be more effective if she were already warming up to him.

The Interstellar Song Contest - Belinda spends most of this episode believing that the Doctor is dead, and thus she is permanently trapped in the future. In the Mother Belinda timeline she presumably has an even worse reaction. Then she sees the Doctor torturing a genocide survivor, and still ends the episode by saying she thinks the Doctor is cool. This should lead into the nadir of Belinda's relationship with the Doctor, but instead it gets brushed off and woah finale cliffhanger.

Stepping out of the reviewing for a moment, and I think it's already clear that Belinda undergoes a sudden personality shift between The Well and The Story & the Engine. Part of this is probably just poor management where the "not hyped about the Doctor" aspect of Belinda's character wasn't passed onto the non-RTD writers. But it still ends up mangling the overall character progression. If you want Belinda to start liking the Doctor, there needs to be an episode that can make that happen.

Moving on:

Wish World - Belinda... isn't meaningfully in this one. She's been hollowed out to act as one of Conrad's perfect housewives, a fate that is both horrifying and yet somehow very boring. Other than having a bit of a scream, Belinda does nothing proactive, being pulled around by the plot. When she "betrays" the Doctor to the doubt police, it's because she's playing out a role. Rather than, say, her having a subconcious distrust of the Doctor because of all the bad times she had travelling with him.

The Reality War - Belinda remains hollowed out, her entire character being compressed down to "Mother". After sitting half the episode out, she's suddenly super buzzed to be hanging out with the Doctor and having his fake baby. You know, the guy she watched torture someone the last time she was actually herself. Although Belinda might still be in wish mode while Poppy was around so Real Belinda is even less in this episode. Then finally we get Mother Belinda, a character who didn't exist until the Doctor invents her (theories to the contrary are wrong).

Overall, Belinda has a highly disjointed "arc" if you can even call it that. She doesn't develop, but rather shift between several characterisations, and it's rather jarring. And the worst part is, you could probably fix it with two more episodes, and wouldn't you know it, Belinda isn't in one episode, and is replaced with a puppet in another.

There is too much trying to happen in Series 15 compared to the actual amount of time to make it happen. (I'll even tick everyone off by saying Flux worked out better than this, and that only had six episodes while originally being planned for ten.) I also think the episode ordering adds to the problem, as Belinda gets the worst end of adventures with the Doctor first, which should be enough to put anyone off. But no before the finale even starts she's suddenly cool with the Doctor.

I suppose the conclusion is that Belinda ends up being more of a plot device than a character, which is bad. I don't even know what else to say because this is really more of a rant than an "essay".

[howthebestwaslost-blog]

So he got stranded on Gallifrey and needed a job. Checks out.

Hi I'd like to talk to you about your tardis's extended warranty

[howthebestwaslost-blog]

These are adding actual years to my lifespan

“You know, I am capable of cooking without burning things,” Rogue said, only slightly petulant as he watched the Doctor deftly pour spices into a bubbling pot.

“I never said you couldn’t, babes,” the Doctor said as he looked away from the pot for a moment to glance at his husband. He met Rogue’s eyes at first, but then his glance slowly moved downward to trace over the rest of Rogue’s body. Rogue scowled at him even as he grinned internally.

“So that’s why you wanted me sitting here,” he said dryly, keeping the amusement out of his voice with some difficulty. He never failed to be amazed by the way the Doctor looked at him, even after all the years they’d been together, even in the most common of domestic situations - the Doctor at the stove in the Tardis’s small kitchen, and Rogue sitting on the edge of the kitchen counter across from him, legs crossed as he leaned back on his hands. It’s a gaze that made him feel seen in every way possible, and so, so loved at the same time - as though of all the sights in the universe the Doctor had ever seen, he’d never seen anything as wonderful as Rogue in the current moment.

Of course, Rogue knew he looked at the Doctor in the exact same way, but that was different.

The Doctor grinned, not the least bit fooled by Rogue’s frown. “I did tell you that I could handle dinner, and all you needed to do was sit there and look beautiful,” he said, completely unashamed. Rogue rolled his eyes.

“You’re going to burn dinner if you don’t stop paying attention to me and start paying attention to the food,” he said, pointing at the pot. It was, in fact, threatening to boil over onto the stove. The Doctor, catching sight of it, cursed briefly and hurriedly turned down the heat on the stove, quickly stirring in the next of the ingredients for the recipe. Rogue let himself smile broadly at the sight as soon as the Doctor was no longer looking.

When, a few minutes later, the Doctor turned back around, Rogue didn’t bother to wipe the grin off his face. The Doctor crosses the space between them in a few strides, dramatically drapes his arms around Rogue, and pulls him into a slow, lingering kiss. Rogue’s hands drift down to the Doctor’s waist, pulling him even closer.

“You’re still going to burn dinner if you keep this up,” he murmured against the Doctor’s lips. The Doctor smirked.

“Totally worth it,” he said, and Rogue can’t help but agree.

[howthebestwaslost-blog]

Hi!!! You're back with prompts, nice! Can you please write something with Rogue?

Rogue isn't entirely sure where this dimension is. He'd tried to work it out when he'd first arrived; he'd sat and stared at the stars in a bid to triangulate his position in the universe, before realising that these weren't stars or planets or asteroid belts that he knew, and that he was under a different sky entirely to the one he'd left behind; the one he'd flown through and lived under for his whole life.

The planet itself isn't awful; it's hot during the day and cold at night, with everything red-hued and covered in a thin layer of fine dust that he'd long since given up on attempting to remove from his body. It's now engrained in his fingernails, the whorls of his ears, his hair, giving him a slightly strange burnt orange hue that startles him when he catches his reflection in the sparkling streams that bisect the plains and rocky terrains.

The Chuldur have long since disappeared over the horizon; banding together and forming their own encampment before heading off in search of the local life forms. He's not entirely sure they made it; he's met the planet's tall, scaled indigenous beings, and they make no mention of the aliens. He trades with them, communicates with them, learns how to survive from them, and in exchange they treat him as a sort of pet or mascot, a fascination, something curious and intriguing, like an exhibit in a museum or a zoo. Still, they seem genuinely fond of him, and he's grateful for that, even if he lies awake at night and wonders how he can leave this place and return to his own universe.

He thinks of the Doctor when he imagines this; thinks of him so often that he can no longer put a quantifiable estimate on how frequently. Sometimes there might be whole hours in which he doesn't hold him in the forefront of his mind, followed by more hours of guilt for the perceived transgression of forgetting. Sometimes, in contrast, he spends days dwelling on the mysterious stranger he'd risked his life for; sometimes, he wonders if it was worth it, and feels guilty for even considering the notion. He thinks about their inevitable reunion, for it will come, he knows; he thinks about the life they might lead, running around the universe together.

It keeps him going; it burns in him, a fervent wish, a hope, a dream.

[howthebestwaslost-blog]

[howthebestwaslost-blog]

couples tshirts that say "god won't let me die" and "I'm god"

[howthebestwaslost-blog]

Guys he just wants to sing 🥲

Jonathan the Wet 🫠🫠🫠

Source: https://x.com/groffsource

[howthebestwaslost-blog]

Live feed of me still waiting for the hidden camera people to jump out after that terrible joke of a finale

[howthebestwaslost-blog]

Still convinced that somehow Conrad squeezed his miserable podcaster ass out of the script and wrote at least the second half of the finale

if you asked me a week ago how i thought 15 would die i would have guessed succumbing to his injuries after rescuing rogue from hell and dying homosexually in his arms but. no. instead he dies forcing a baby onto a woman who has never shown interest in motherhood. great...

[howthebestwaslost-blog]

DOCTOR WHO (2005) 1406: Rogue

[howthebestwaslost-blog]

Current mood: going insane over the Dalek target novelisation 🙂

Robert Shearman: Dalek, BBC Books, London 2021

[howthebestwaslost-blog]

👆 This one 💕

Here’s also a collection of season 2 finale fix-it fics (four works so far - everyone is welcome to add their own! If you have already posted one, edit - add to collection - and search for Doctor Who (2023) Season 2 Finale Fix It Fic)

Here’s more - no particular order, and I’m still working my way through all possible tags to find and read them all 😄 (this is only the Rogue ones, I’m not obsessed or anything, I just think he’s neat)

I’ll probably reblog again with more:

God Loves You (Not Enough To Save You) by paocai

In A Thousand Lifetimes by JustAShark

if you won't grieve me (you won't leave me behind) by rivers_2nd_wife

I belong with you (not the Earth and not the sky) by rinvie

seeking a chaotic good time by apolloadama

Someone tell Lady Luck that I’m stuck here by Humanzoul

Stay forever and ever and ever and ever by Anonymous

Not The Fire Lapping Up The Creek by Muzzledjaw

Would actually be so cool if someone had a collection of fix-its centred on other characters who were completely assassinated in the finale and could reblog with that?

Super disappointed in the Doctor Who finally. But this is what fan fiction is made for!

I'd love any recommendations that come to a better conclusion. Or anything about Fifteen finding and reuniting with Rogue.

I don't want to write my own, but I will if I have to.

[howthebestwaslost-blog]

[howthebestwaslost-blog]

Pros: Won’t monologue like my current one. One Sarcastic Bitch™️. Who’s hot?

Cons: Might leave in the middle of the session to hunt down - hold on, that belongs with the pros too

[howthebestwaslost-blog]

Someone get this man a chew toy

Hamilton Tony Awards rehearsals from Morgan Marcell, Carleigh Bettiol, Emmy Raver Lampman and Renee Elise Goldsberry.

[howthebestwaslost-blog]

AMEN.

the point was she wanted to get back to may 24th at 7:30 am cause she had a shift. she had a shift that she needed to get to cause she was a nurse and god knows hospitals don't function without them. she had a shitty flat with annoying roommates, and she drank expired milk for dinner.

she wanted to go back to that, not cause it was extraordinary, but because it was hers. she had carved a life for herself where she could help other people and it was enough for her.

she didn't need the stars, she didn't need some far away galaxy to tell her what she'd always been. and she definitely didn't need another doctor to try and show her what she's known all along.

she wasn't someone's daughter, she wasn't someone's mother. she didn't have to go back she had to be something for someone else, she wanted to go back because she wanted to be something for herself.

the point was... she wanted to get back to may 24th at 7:30 am cause she had a shift. how could you ruin that for her so completely?

[howthebestwaslost-blog]

Happy 1 Year Anniversary to these two and their bullshit