#and i also think i missed one of jodi's specials

[sherlock-is-ace]

oh god i have to fit 174 episodes in 110 days if i want to rewatch all of doctor who before the 60th anniversary special kdjfghkg

[wholesome-supervillain]

Oh boy I just realized again that my favorite character (the Doctor) is really traumatized

Poor girl’s dealt with so much just this season I think she’s emotionally holding herself together with scotch tape

And she’s lost so many people she’s reluctant to attach herself to yaz and now there’s the centenary special and I’m pretty sure yaz is going to be killed off or something (because let’s be honest she would never leave) and if it’s true that’s going to hurt So Much and the doc’s never fallen in love with a young companion since Rose and now that she’s finally healed almost enough to love a human again there’s going to be more trauma

RTD I beg you please be kind and let him face his feelings in an actual healthy way this time aaaa

[morgana-larkin]

Me againnnn lmao I have another request could u do Melissa x reader where reader is normally quiet but someone brought up their special interest and everyone is kinda weirded out coz reader gets so happy and starts talking about it and sharing facts and stuff but no one except Melissa knows reader is autistic and someone says something mean to reader and she gets upset and Melissa comforts reader and also stands up for her (as always no pressure I’m so so so happy! u r the first person that iv come across who writes fics about Melissa and autistic reader I get so happy when I see a notification from u i literally jump up and down with happiness and your fics really help me to accept im autistic coz I’m still trying to come to terms with it anyway hope u r doing well🫶)

OMG YES! Info dumping! I love it. And I’m so glad my fics are helping you. Feel free as well to message me directly if you ever want. So my other obsession besides Lisa Ann Walter, is Doctor Who and Jodie Whittaker, so of course I chose to have the reader talk about her as the Doctor… I regret nothing 😊. I went a little extra at the end but I’m too gay for Melissa to care. Anyway, I enjoyed writing this so thank you for the prompt and I hope you like it! As always, not edited in the slightest.

For everyone, feel free to keep sending me prompts, and I was thinking about writing a one shot about Cheesy as there’s not enough imo. Let me know if I should or not.

Title based off the song from Shrek 3 and the Italian word stronzo means asshole.

Thank You for Letting Me Be Myself

Warnings: someone is mean to reader, reader struggling with having autism(small part)

Words: 2.3k

You’re sitting in the break room at the table with Barb and Melissa. You get up to get a coffee and when you do you hear someone starting to talk about Doctor Who and you perk up.

You turn around to see Jacob, Mr. Morton and another teacher talking about it. “You guys watch Doctor Who?” You say and they stop talking and look up at you. Normally you’re quiet and don’t really say much as you’re recharging before you go and have to teach your kiddos again.

“Yes, do you watch it?” Jacob asks you and you nod with a big smile. Melissa looks up at you and sees your smile and she can’t help but smile herself. She’s had a crush on you since about 4 months after you started and it’s almost been 9 months that you’re working here.

“Well come here and share your thoughts about it.” Jacob says and you walk over to them, coffee in hand.

“What exactly is your discussion about?” You ask them.

“About the first female doctor, the 13th doctor.” Mr. Morton says and you keep smiling.

“She’s my favourite doctor! Like she’s so enthusiastic and passionate and she just loves everything about what she does! And she’s so funny too, it’s just a joy to watch Jodie play her!” You start and they look at you confused, wondering why you’ve always been quiet but now you’re talkative.

The truth is, you're autistic and the only one that knows is Melissa and she promised not to tell anyone since it’s your secret not hers. You told her because you felt like you kept missing social cues or taking things too literally, so you wanted someone in your corner to help you and she had no problem doing that for you. She looks at you talking so passionately about your favourite show with a smile and heart eyes before going back to her phone, secretly still listening to you.

“And her Tardis is so amazing, oh and her companion’s compliment her so well, and her outfit looks amazing. Did you know that Jodie helped decide on the outfit to support the LGBTQ community since she’s a huge ally. And also…” and you keep going on for about 5 minutes about how much you love the 13th doctor and her era on Doctor Who. Until the other teacher, you don’t know their name, the one Mr. Morton and Jacob were talking too, says something.

“OMG! Would you please shut up!” He says and you quickly shut your mouth. “I preferred it when you didn’t speak at all.” He says, glaring at you. And you look down at the ground, embarrassed before running out of there.

Melissa looked up when he started speaking and is now getting up and walking over to them. “Hey! Don’t talk to her like that. You should count yourself lucky that I won’t contact one of my guys on you.” She says and looks at Jacob. “Why didn’t you say anything?!?” She says to him “or you?” She says to Mr. Morton.

“Sorry Melissa, it all happened so fast.” Mr. Morton says and Jacob nods in agreement.

“You should be ashamed of yourself!” She says to the teacher that was mean to you.

“Hey, we were just sitting here talking about it until she cuts in and starts talking about everything that we weren’t even discussing. And she wouldn’t stop talking.” The teacher says , only making a deeper hole for himself. Melissa glares at him.

“I don’t care what you think! There’s better ways to do that!” She says to him.

“She shouldn’t have talked so much and knew that it was too much.” He says, still trying to defend himself.

“She’s autistic you stronzo!” She yells at him and then realises that she just told your secret and has wide eyes. All 3 of them look at her speechless, now understanding that you got excited and were info dumping and didn’t mean to talk so much. Melissa turns around and walks out of the break room and goes to find you.

She ends up finding you in your classroom crying on your chair, hugging your legs. She knocks on the door, “hey y/n it’s me, just wanted to come check on you.” She tells you.

You get up and unlock the door then open it. Melissa’s heart breaks a bit when she sees you. Eyes puffy, red and watery, tear stained cheeks and red nose from you blowing your nose.

“Oh hun.” She says and you walk back to your chair hugging your legs again. Melissa walks in and closes and locks the door then walks over to your desk. “Hey, he was an ass, he shouldn’t have said that to you.” Melissa tells you and crouches down and you look at her.

“No, he’s right, I was talking too much. I shouldn’t have gotten involved in their conversation. I just got so excited,” you tell her and you sniffle a bit.

“Hun, it’s understandable, I know how much you love Doctor Who. You have nothing to be ashamed about.” She tells you and grabs your hand. “Btw I might have accidentally told them that you’re autistic. As in I told them and called that teacher a stronzo for you.” She tells you. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to slip out, I just got angry that he was mean to you.” She says, rubbing your hand with her thumb.

“It’s ok, they would have found out eventually. But this is another reason I don’t engage in conversations, cause I might talk too much.” You tell her. Melissa gets up and opens her arms out.

“Come here.” She tells you and motions to hug her. You put your feet down on the ground and then hug her waist since you’re still sitting in your chair. “Why don’t we go back in there, finish lunch. And then after school you can come to my place and I can make you some food and we can watch whatever you want.” She suggests and you look at her surprised.

“Really?” You ask her and she nods. “I would love that.” You tell her and she smiles. She helps you up and then unlocks the door and opens it for you. You both walk out and she sees you’re nervous about going back. She puts an arm wrapped around your back and her other hand on the arm closes to her and rubs it, providing comfort for you.

You get back in and when you enter everyone stops and looks up at you. Melissa can feel you immediately tense up. “What are all youse looking at?” She says and glares at everyone. Everyone immediately looks back down to their phone or food and continues what they were doing. Melissa leads you back to the table where Barb is and Barb gives you a comforting smile.

The teacher that was mean to you gets up and comes over to you. Melissa sees him coming over and glares at him, almost daring him to hurt you again. He has his head hanging a bit, looking embarrassed and stands beside you and you look up at him.

“Hey y/n, I just wanted to apologize to you. I shouldn’t have said what I said to you, I’m sorry.” He tells you and you nod your head at him. You’re too overwhelmed right now and can’t speak. You finish your lunch without saying another word and Melissa keeps glancing at you, worried about you.

You finish up the day quietly. You get the kids to work on their book report so that it’s silent and you don’t have to talk much. At the end of the day, when your last student was picked up you glance over at Melissa down the hall. You taught first grade so your classrooms are close together.

You can’t help but stare at her. She’s bending over and offering one of her students a high five before waving bye to them to go with their parent. You decide to leave now while she’s distracted, you think that maybe it wasn’t the best to get Melissa involved in your situation and shouldn’t have told her you’re autistic. So many people have had to accommodate you or help you and you feel like you should be able to do it yourself now that you’re an adult.

Melissa sees you look at her with a sad expression on your face before leaving. She can’t help but feel like maybe you won’t come over to her place now. When her last student is leaving with their parent a couple minutes later, she practically books it to the parking lot but sees your car is already gone.

She drives home and gets to work on cooking dinner, hoping you’d show. But then she gets a text from you saying that you won’t be able to make it tonight, and she sighs. She researched autism when you told her a few months ago and she knows that when autistic people get overwhelmed, they hide themselves away. She offered for you to come to her place to de-stress with food and tv, so she does the next best thing. After she finished cooking, she packed it into a container, and brought it with her to your place. She went and knocked on your door.

You answered it not too long later with leggings and loose shirt on. “Melissa? What are you doing here?” You ask her.

“Well since you won’t come over to my place, I thought I’d come to you.” She says with a warm smile and you now feel even more guilty for cancelling on her. “I brought over food I made. So either we can eat here or we can go back to my place. Choice is up to you.” She tells you with a shrug. You decide to go to her place and when you get there she gives you your favourite hoodie of hers and you sit on the couch. You’ve been to her place before and you told her that the plastic felt weird to sit on and she removed it the next day so that you’re comfortable when you go there. “Hey, you don’t have to speak but I just want to know that you’re ok.” She says and you nod. She gives you a plate of the food and you see that it’s her spaghetti and meatballs dish. Your favourite food of hers and you smile at her. She joins you on the couch, sitting next to you and then hands you the remote so you can decide what to watch, you decide on Shrek 3.

You watch the movie while eating, with Melissa right next to you, you in her hoodie, and you finally feel like you’re calming down. You put your head on her shoulder after you put your empty plate on the coffee table and she wraps her arm around you. You continue the movie, quoting some of the lines, and when it plays the ending scene with puss and donkey singing thank you, Melissa gets an idea. She guides you up and leads you to the empty space beside her couch and starts dancing with you. When the chorus comes on she sings it to you “I wanna thank you for lettin me be myself…again” She sings and you laugh. When she says the line again, she spins you while singing. The second chorus comes up “come on sing it with me.” She tells you.

The both of you sing it while dancing “I WANNA THANK YOU FOR LETTIN ME BE MYSELF…AGAIN.” You both sing at the top of your lungs. When it ends you’re both laughing and she hugs you.

“Thank you for letting me be myself.” You tell her and she looks at you with a warm smile and places a lock of hair behind your ear before cupping your cheek.

“It’s not a problem hun, it doesn’t matter to me that you’re autistic you know. You just think differently, and that's alright.”

You look in her eyes and you lean forward and kiss her. Melissa kisses you back and moves her hand from your cheek to the back of your head and places her left hand on your waist. You pull back and look at her with a smile.

“You kissed me back.” You say to her and she nods. “Why?”

“Because I like you. I have for a few months now.” She tells you.

“For how long?” You ask her and she thinks about it.

“Around the new year.” And you look at her in shock.

“But that’s after I told you I was autistic.” You tell her, putting the pieces together. “You knew I was autistic and you still like me?” You question her.

“How would you being autistic make me not like you?” She asks you, confused.

“Because I’m different than other people and have struggles because of it.” You tell her like it’s obvious.

“So? Everyone is different in their own way and everyone has their own struggles.” She tells you. “For example, I have trouble letting people in, because of trust issues. And I can have a short temper too.” She says and you look at her with so much love in your eyes. You kiss her again and she doesn’t hesitate to kiss you back.

When the person says “you may kiss the bride” , she doesn’t hesitate to give you a kiss then either. With a huge smile, she brings you closer to her and gives you a kiss, as wife and wife.

Taglist: @esposadejoyhuerta

@imaginesmultifandoms

@idonothingalldays-blog

@sexysapphicshopowner

@dvrkhcld

Let me know if you want to be added! 🙂

[the-red-thread-that-strangles]

IV.

Akai Shuichi: Did you elope. [03:45 a.m.]

What Shuichi really needs is to lay this mystery his mother so graciously imposed on him to rest. The sooner, the better. So here he is, reaching out in the vague hope that just maybe this meeting wasn't actually about him. It's possible, after all, that one of his siblings did something to upset their mother, and she ended up giving all of them an earful. Letting her dismay be known, as is her speciality.

In that scenario, the most likely culprit is his lovesick little brother. He, after all, does have a partner he's even engaged to, and from what Shuichi has seen from Shukichi's fiancée, she might be prone to rash actions while under the influence.

It does not make too much sense, not really; Shukichi has always been the sibling most aware of social sensibilities, the one with the easiest time dealing with their mother. But at this point, Shuichi's grasping at straws.

Because it can't have been about him, judging by his mother's surprise.

Haneda Shukichi: Without telling the best man? Hardly. [03:47 a.m.]

And just like that, he's back to square one.

.

Shuichi might not have the best relationship with his mother, but he knows for a fact that she's not the type for arbitrary courtesy calls. She's all business, all the time. It's a miracle Masumi has a sense of humour at all, and he's yet to be convinced that's not entirely thanks to Shukichi's influence.

Therefore, Mary must have gotten it into her head somehow that there is someone in his life he has purposefully kept from meeting her. Not that she is wrong, conceptually - if he did have a partner, he'd spare them the headache that is dealing with Akai Mary.

The thing is, there is no one like that in his life. Shouldn't be, can't be. Not again. He's learned his lesson.

.

If in doubt, break down what you know about the case, and extrapolate from there.

Considering his mother only just now came out of hiding, he feels reasonably safe in the assumption that she did not make the relevant observation herself. Instead, it seems more likely his darling sister said something that ticked her off - enough that she figured she needed to confront him about it. Therefore, he needs to analyse possible partners in his surroundings, with a focus on those that Masumi knows. As an extension to the parameters, his family is aware of his cover as Okiya Subaru, whose contacts must also be examined. This has cost him enough time. He will get to the bottom of it, now.

.

For anyone who knows their history, Jodie would be an obvious candidate. Not that he still loves her, can't say that he has in years, at least not romantically.

He's been told he's supposed to feel guilty about what he did to her, but he can't help comparing this slight to some of the things he's done while undercover. He always comes away thinking at least she's still alive. At the time, he gave her the best he could: the truth. It might not have been pleasant, but it's certainly better than the lies and secrets he's buried under, these days.

She has, since his return to the US, made it abundantly clear, on several occasions, that the way he broke up with her was 'tactless, heartless and cruel, even for you, Shuu' and 'you better be eternally grateful Camel and I agreed to still work with you.' And to be clear, he is. They make for a decent team. Time and again they've proven they'll have his back. Sure, they have their weaknesses, but so does he, and in the end, they pick up each other's slack. It's good enough.

The irony of learning to appreciate a good team from a criminal syndicate is not lost on Shuichi - even if technically he learned it from two PSB agents. He's definitely not still sulking because he couldn't get Scotch on their team as some sort of remote consultant; the bureau was adamant, and probably right: He can't be in witness protection and working for the FBI. The less connection he has to this case, the better. Still, some days, he finds himself missing Scotch's level head and Bourbon's ingenuity.

Getting sidetracked. Focus.

He's been careful not to mix his Okiya identity and the FBI. That knocks out Jodie - and Kir, for completion's sake. Masumi doesn't know them, and if he has his way, she won't for a good long while. Their work is far too dangerous to get her involved. Plus, letting her meet Jodie would give both of them too much blackmail material.

Hm. Who does Masumi know, actually?

There's her classmates, Mouri Ran and Suzuki Sonoko, who came by the Kudo manor for a while to help him clean it up. While the latter seems a bit taken by Okiya Subaru, both of them are half his age and he really hopes he has been nothing but the perfect gentleman to them. Even if they weren't, though, theirs is a mess he would really rather not deal with. He's got to assume Masumi is more aware of the specifics of their love lives. He can only hope that, aside from the occassional meddling on Conan's behalf, he would prefer literally anything else over being involved with teen romance.

Hm. While on the subject of the Kudo mansion, Kudo Yukiko has been around to help with his disguise and learning to cook (though Furuya and Haibara have assessed that it is barely edible, so he has a long way to go still). She's a known fan of the Scarlet Agent, and surely it's not difficult for Masumi to figure out that movie is based on his life. Still, the girls haven't been around since the Kudos have officially returned, so it's seems rather unlikely Masumi would be aware of their relationship.

He's not going to think about his little cousin as an option. Masumi is smarter than that.

At this point he's really reaching. There's a couple of undergrad engineering students who have requested private tutoring the few times he's been at uni, some in desperation, some in obvious flirtation. He's denied them all. His engineering degree might not just be for show, but he really can't involve civilians in his business. Besides, Masumi hasn't followed him to university. As far as he can tell, at least.

If he's going into barely acquaintance territory, Furuya asked him once or twice to meet in the vicinity of café Poirot, too injured to stray far. He'd been complaining about Masumi giving him odd looks and stalking him, so she might have been watching them run into Enomoto Azusa. That had been a stilted conversation, even for him. Furuya's coworker had been a stark reminder of happiness that could have been, in a different life. Thankfully, perfectly diplomatic Amuro had cut the conversation short, insisting they had places to be.

And with that, he's reached the end of the list of women in his life. Some of them he'd even consider friends, but none of them particularly warrant the term partner, not even professionally. He hasn't had one since Scotch. Jodie could count, maybe, but the term implies a pair and he's been working in that team for so long that in this case Camel would also have to be considered- wait.

His mother is not the kind of person to use cutesy monickers like 'girlfriend', so he figured 'partner' was a professional catch-all. A work partner wouldn't warrant a reaction like that.

It's a little obvious, in hindsight.

Rei who came by with coffee when the girls were baking in the Kudo mansion.

Rei who complained about Masumi following him.

Rei who has been wearing the family sweater.

Oh.

.

Okay, so. Shuichi can see how Masumi arrived at her conclusion, however wrong it might be. For people like them, the fact they're meeting at all is probably the biggest indicator. They've shaken her tail off pretty consistently, so she wouldn't know they don't actually spend that much time together. And that Furuya is rather insistent on the fact that he's a reluctant ally. Not a friend. He still throws a fit whenever he realizes he's done anything exceeding the minimum amount of cooperation (there's a lot of fits).

The headache is back with a vengeance.

He should have listened to Furuya's concerns, intervened before. But he was kind of supposed to be dead.

Shuichi needs to have a talk with his sister.

.

Like Shukichi had promised, no one in their right mind wants to watch the early afternoon screening of Poultrygeist Two - The Plot Chickens. It's a good thing then that 'in their right mind' describes neither Masumi, who is somehow weirdly invested in trashy horror flicks, nor Okiya Subaru, newly minted horror movie connoisseur, as of two days ago. They reconvene inside.

"A pleasant surprise to meet you here, Subaru!" She smiles cheekily at him, grins.

"Miss Sera, was it?" He nods, and ignores her for the moment, turning to watch the screen. In his pocket, he flicks a portable signal jammer on. Nobody is supposed to know who they are and that they are here, but they can never be too careful.

Okiya Subaru continues staring at the screen until the movie starts, in an eruption of gore, splatter and the violent clucking of chickens. It's way too loud. Perfect cover.

"You two have to stop bothering Amuro." It seems wrong to call him that, but it would be even worse to give away Furuya's identity. Shuichi loves his sister, but she already knows too much and really isn't careful enough about it. Furuya must not be exposed, especially not at this critical junction.

"Oh? You want him all to yourself?" Masumi grins, devious. A reckless proposition, if he's ever heard one. Nobody could contain Furuya Rei.

"It's not like that." He shakes his head, trying to get the message across. "You don't want to get on his bad side." An annoyed Furuya is a vicious Furuya, Shuichi could provide extensive testimony to that effect in court. If she doesn't stop, he'll find a way to force her to. And Shuichi isn't sure he would oppose Masumi leaving the picture until the BO is dealt with.

Masumi's eyes narrow, pensive. She's got good instincts, possibly better than his own. Surely she must've noticed Amuro's dazzling smile sugar-coating what usually amounts to orders you shouldn't refuse. The way steel slips into his eyes when he's on a case, how he doesn't stop until he has his answers. The skills that do not fit in with a waiter-slash-detective.

"If he's that dangerous, why do you keep him around?"

A good question, if he's being honest. But in the end his perspective doesn't really matter. Rei leaves him little choice. If he didn't love his Japan so much, he would've followed Shuichi to the end of the world, and probably beyond, already. Now that he's back, there's no chance he could escape for long.

"Work."

Judging by his sister's raised eyebrow, she doesn't seem to believe him.

"Uh-huh. And that's why you gave him your sweater?"

Not her too with that inane piece of clothing. Why does it always circle back to that?

"As I said, it's not like that. He needed it. He's just not managed to give it back." Which, considering Furuya's general tendency for payback in a timely manner, probably means Shuichi won't. It's been months. That's fine. It's not like he is attached to it. And it suits Furuya.

It doesn't look like Masumi is convinced.

"Look." He's just a little bit exasperated. "You followed him to find me, right? You did, well done. Now stay away from him." She's better off far away from Furuya. To be completely honest, she probably should stay away from the both of them, tainted as they are. But she's family, and he can't quite begrudge her reaching out. He tried the same, after all.

She frowns at him, scans him and then, slowly, a grin spreads over her face.

"Alright, if it's that important to you", she agrees pleasantly, and he's about to breathe a sigh of relief when she adds, "on one condition."

"Name it."

"It's my birthday in a month. You're celebrating with us."

It's not a terrible trade-off, but Shuichi has a gut feeling he'll regret having said yes when all is said and done.

They end up actually watching the rest of the movie, and it's frankly kind of nice to spend some quality time roasting a shitty movie with his little sister.

Case closed. Finally.

.

As he sits awake that night, running surveillance from the sniper's nest in the Kudo attic, he wonders how things got to this point.

For years now he's carefully kept his distance to Furuya in order to not get caught in the blast radius when he inevitably explodes and takes as much as possible down with him.

Because somehow, Rei has never gotten the memo to distance himself from the job. A bleeding heart like him that cares too much, too quickly, and lets his emotions dictate his actions is a terrible choice for an undercover agent. He should be dead three times over in a criminal organisation, and yet. And yet.

Shuichi knows, first-hand, the determination it takes to carry on, despite all their work takes from them. What he buried to keep going might possibly, one day, be recovered. But Rei? He immolates himself for the country he loves so dearly. So the world can be brighter, the people safer. In the end, all that will remain of him is a burnt-out shell, nothing but ashes left in his wake. How much further can he go, until he runs out of fuel?

In the years they've known each other now, things have never been easy between them, but Shuichi's never been the one to wish him harm. It was Bourbon who wanted Rye dead, saw him as a threat. Then Amuro Tooru wanted Akai alive, the last thread connecting to Scotch. Shuichi is not quite sure what Furuya Rei wants with him, now.

To be kept so close he's mistaken as Rei's partner is foolish. And a privilege he'd never thought possible.

He's standing side by side with a dying star, and all he wants is to watch it burn a little longer.

.

Sweater weather AU masterpost

[circular-time]

More The Power of the Doctor tidbits from LI Who panels before I forget.

Major spoilers to some of the big reveals in that story, so I'm gonna cut this, just in case.

The scenes with Ace and Tegan speaking to their hologram-Doctor were a bit complicated: their Doctor(s) weren't there on the day (and at any rate Syl couldn't have climbed up where Sophie was; that bit was a real cave),

Janet was stuck with a PA reading Peter's lines while she acted her heart out to a camera.

But Sophie asked if Barnaby Edwards could crawl out of the Dalek where he's usually ensconced and read Sylvester's lines. So he perched on a rock out of her line of sight and performed the scene with her, and with that she could "see" Sylvester in front of her. As you may know, I'm fond of Barnaby, as apparently is Sophie; so that made me go 🥺

Sophie drove to Cardiff from Birmingham to Cardiff the day Sylvester was recording his parts at his request to read HER lines, although she wasn't recording them. She did that, went back to the trailer, then said, "Hang on... I don't wanna go!" So she went back and asked if she could watch.

The director soon asked her— saying she certainly could refuse! — if she would mind reading some of the other parts. "Rather!" She wound up "Sitting on that rock, being all the Doctors, and Jodie would come in and do her bit!" She said Janet and (I think?) Jemma were there for part of the day as well, so it turned into a sort of Doctor Who convention, especially because a lot of the crew themselves were fans.

Oh right. When she and Janet FIRST arrived... first of all a lot of the crew was too young to have seen them, so they were surprised at the warm welcome. But also, they were invited to enter the TARDIS before anyone else. Because you really do enter it through that door. And so Janet and Sophie went in first and got to play with the console. "You could actually push the buttons!" "When you moved a control, it didn't break off in your hand!" Janet: "I had TARDIS Envy."

A fan asked Janet how Tegan survived the fall, saying that was the one thing she didn't understand in that special. Janet: "The one thing!?"

Sophie's husband knew, but her sons didn't. Except one asked why she was going to Cardiff SO MUCH to film Blu-Ray extras. "You really want me to tell you?" "No, I don't want to know!" The second son almost caught on: "Mom, why is Ace's jacket not in its usual place in your closet?" "I've loaned it to someone." (Not a lie, it was with the costume designer in Cardiff.)

Sophie keeps some bits of Dalek she busted plus the jacket. Also that gorgeous painting from Ghost Light, although she had to find a new frame since the BBC kept that, It's in her guest room, and people assume it's an ancestor!

Janet grumbled at Sophie wanting to be an action hero (she was hoping to rice s motorcycle since she missed out doing it on TV before but was thrilled at the parachute jump). Janet's knees were not happy with running up and down stairs (my arthritis had noticed that). They both had doubles, but Sophie insisted on doing everything; she was having far too much fun.

Both of them were positively gushing about Sacha Dhawan's acting and his Master being "utterly unhinged." A bit of a challenge for them, since they're used to acting with rehearsals, whereas now one just meets the other actors, may do a quick bit of blocking for the camera, then go, and you simply have to respond via improv with no idea what the other actors are planning.He altered his performance slightly every take, giving the director different things to play with.

As I mentioned in another post, Janet was worried because she hadn't acted in 35 years (with Big Finish they have scripts in front of them) and wasn't sure she could memorize. She flubbed the first line, let out "an Australian expletive" and Jodie said "I'm going to like you."

The director kept pushing Janet to make her initial confrontation with the Doctor more angry/cranky. Every time she did it, he'd say "more" and she'd ramp it up a notch. She was a little worried about it, but in the theater Tegan's cranky lines got laughter and applause, which relieved her, because she always thought Tegan was rather funny.

The companion group gathering was a joy. Katy sailed in with carrot cake. Originally there was supposed to be a laptop on the empty chair with some othet companions. Sophie liked fans' suggestion it was for Sarah Jane.

William Russell is really struggling with dementia. His daughter brought him, and the "family" of companions kind of looked after him. He got stuck apologizing over and over after spilling his drink, but John Bishop sat down with him and repeated his lines with him to help him through. (It sounds to me like there may have been another that was cut.)

Jodie didn't have any scenes that day, she just couldn't stay away. (there's a bts group photo with her.)

[winedark]

tagged by the lovely @sumire-no-nikki — thank you so much!! ☀️💙

1. The last book I read:

a thing of beauty by peter fiennes. it's a travel book following someone travelling through greece + relaying it to ancient greek mythology. i love the concept but i think he missed the mark, it was a pretty entertaining book and it was, on occasion, informative... but i can't say greece was in focus as opposed to this man's stream of consciousness. and lord byron.

2. A book I recommend:

weatherland by alexandra harris. beautiful beautiful book i have looked up at the sky so much more since i read it

3. A book that I couldn’t put down:

jane eyre.... need i say more <3

4. A book that I’ve read twice (or more):

the odyssey!!! i've read it about 4 times since picking it up in uni and i will probably reread it in the near future. thats my home

5. A book on my TBR:

crime and punishment! i always want to start it as my first read of the year and never do, so maybe i'll just enjoy it as a light summer read <3

6. A book I’ve put down:

a lot of the time i will put down a book fully intending to pick it up at a later date, however if we were villains by m.l. rio was so dull i made it like 30% in and gave up. sometimes i get mad when i remember that i spent money on it

7. A book on my wish list:

my wish list is impossibly long but one book that comes to mind is little weirds by jenny slate, i'm hoping to nab it before i go abroad later this year as it feels like such a good book to read by the lake (last years choice was um... the bell jar 💀) i don't know the first thing about the book but i do love jenny slate

8. A favorite book from childhood:

i loved my sister jodi by jacqueline wilson. i remember being the same age as the protagonist (10) as i read it and which only seemed to make the book more intense and life-like, the imagery really stuck in my mind.

9. A book you would give to a friend:

most of my friends who read and i don't (seem to) have similiar tastes... but i think the fran lebowitz reaader is a very good book that would appeal to a lot of people!

10. A book of poetry or lyrics you own:

i have the collected poems of odysseas elytis! he is probably my favourite poet, i could do nothing but read his work for the rest of my life and be content

11. A nonfiction book you own:

i'm gonna be honest — most of my books are non-fiction! i buy a lot of history, archaeology and travel books. i'll give a special shout out to a very specific book, which is eva crane's the archaeology of beekeeping. genuine prized possession.

12. What are you currently reading:

i'm presently reading iberia by julian sayarer. honestly i'm not enjoying it that much, he's a good enough writer but i'm not learning a thing :( this morning i finished the entire section of portugal and i couldn't tell you anything about it. this guy just wants to write about his bike lol (i will be inspired to find better books on iberia - maybe get more specific or find people better connected to the place*).

13. What are you planning on reading next:

papyrus by irene vallejo! it has very good reviews and it sounds so so fascinating. also i need to step away from travel-history-culture books til i find something GOOD

tagging: @caernua, @lestogrifoni, @camelliagwerm, @lavampira + @fluentisonus <3

[ieatsmallorphansnamedtom]

What the Townies Watch on the Television

Stardew brainrot going wild. Clint doesn't get a fancy colour because he doesn't deserve one. <3 Unlike Krobus who doesn't get a colour because he's special and lovely.

Bachelors:

Sam: Something in relation to urban mysteries like UFOs and monsters like Bigfoot. He'd watch shows about ghosts too but he's too scared. Also, those 'Top Twenty Fails' shows!

Elliot: History shows, obviously. They're great for references and also just super entertaining overall! He also dabbles in the occasional gardening show to help him take care of his seasonal flowers.

Sebastian: I feel like he barely watches TV, but when he does it's something comedic. Think Stardew's version of Seinfeld. Any of that trashy TV to pass the time.

Harvey: Like Elliott, Harvey's a big fan of the history channel. He also loves those urban mystery shows that talk about missing vehicles because he gets to learn about all the ins and outs of how they worked.

Shane: He'll watch anything except for the news and romance. The news is too depressing for his already endorphin-drained mind and romance shows feel too trashy. He just has the sports channel on in the background whenever he's doing something.

Alex: We all know the answer: sports. But he's also a fan of the cooking, gardening, and antique shows! That's all thanks to Evelyn. And George has forced him to become used to all his depressing channels, though he tries to avoid that.

Bachelorettes:

Penny: She loves children's shows and antique shows like the Antique Roadshow. They just give her a wonderful feeling of nostalgia and warmth inside.

Leah: All those repairing and art shows. If only she knew Bob Ross... She would be in love. She is also an avid enjoyer of gardening and cooking shows. They give her great foraging tips!

Abigail: Children's shows. But where Penny is more aimed at the littler kids cartoons, she likes the stuff around the age things like Danny Phantom are aimed at. Stardew Valley would also have a ton of monster hunting shows that she loves.

Maru: Science shows, duh. Absolutely anything to do with science - even those UFO shows and lost city programs. Even if she thinks they're fake, she has fun debunking them. She's also a sucker for a good romance series.

Emily: Sewing shows, repair shows, art shows, dance competitions - anything artistic. She's the one who watches the news, so Haley doesn't have to. She handles the stresses shown on there a lot better than her sister.

Haley: She's not really a fan of TV. It's a lot of her aimlessly scrolling through channels of trashy TV programs until she gives up and something grabs her eye. What she usually settles on are some fun ghost hunting shows.

Other:

Jodi: She barely gets time for television. But when she does, she likes to watch kids' shows with Vincent or a good drama. Something to distract her from the business of her life. She's also heavily invested in the news in the hopes of knowing how her husband is.

Vincent: Kids shows, obviously! He's eight, what else is he going to watch? Ever since his father left, he's been banned from watching the news so as not to worry him, but he's caught sneak peaks by listening in on his family's commentary anyways.

Kent: For the years leading up to and the first year of the farmer's arrival, Kent couldn't watch television at all. Being a soldier in the front lines and all. But when he got back, he really got into the lighthearted stuff. He needed a good distraction.

Robin: Woodworking shows; specifically, treehouse building. She just thinks it's so cool how people just decide to put these grand houses in trees of all things. She also loves romance and drama series.

Demetrius: He's not one for TV. He tries to avoid it due to how depressing and dependent it can make you. When he does watch it, he's watching the movies.

Marnie: Funny fail videos. She's a sucker for funny cats. And of course, there are the animal shows. She loves shows like Better Homes and Gardens.

Jas: Once again, kids' shows. Her and Vincent are obsessed with them. She also caught a glimpse of a murder mystery show and was entranced. What can I say? She's a bit of a Wednesday Addams.

Evelyn: Baking, gardening, and antique shows. She also loves travel programs. It makes her all happy to see people having a good time. And she gets to daydream about travelling the world.

I would give all my money to let her go on a cruise. </3

George: All the depressing stuff. Murder mysteries, missing person cases, the news, all of it. Then he acts like that doesn't fuel his horrible mood. He's just using his cynical feelings to survive at this point and needs fuel.

Pam: She hates it, but she's addicted to the news. She also loves to watch royal and historical dramas. It makes her happy to know that it's not just her that's suffering (even if those other people are fictional).

Pierre: The Art of the Deal /hj. Nah, he's watching all that conservative stuff. Also loves those shows where they renovate and sell houses. He just wishes he could own a big house like the people on the show.

Caroline: Cooking shows and meditation classes. She needs a bit of a breather, so any programs aimed to help relax are appreciated. She also studies the fitness programs for her classes with the other townies.

Linus: He doesn't watch TV. Firstly, he lives in a tent, and secondly, television isn't all too good for you.

Clint: Romance shows that he self-inserts himself into aka pretends he's with Emily. I'm sorry I just don't like Clint. Also, metalworking.

Rasmodius/Wizard: He doesn't watch TV. Ever.

Krobus: He likes any shows, but particularly fantasy dramas. He gets to enjoy the creativity of humans AND study their social systems.

Leo: He never used to have television, so it's all very new to him. But like the other kids his age, he's all about the children's network.

-~-~-

[minervacerridwen]

I’ve got some big news!

See this cool new science fiction anthology with short fiction, poetry, and art that celebrates human neurodiversity? The one called The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters?

Well… It includes a short story written by me!

I’m so proud that my story is part of this new universe. The book celebrates human neurodiversity, with a focus on own voices stories told from the perspective of folks who are neurodivergent themselves, featuring autism, ADHD, PTSD, OCD, synesthesia, anxiety, and more. Representation is so important - I personally can't wait for this anthology to come out!

About 45 creators have worked on this book, including Cat Rambo, Tobias S. Buckell, M. D. Cooper, Ada Hoffmann, Jody Lynn Nye, and my Atthis Arts friends Clara Ward and Stewart C. Baker. It was edited by Anthony Francis and Liza Olmsted, with cover art by Barbara Candiotti.

You can preorder it now, and directly support all of these creators, on Kickstarter. The campaign will run until May 13. Please don’t miss it! Aside from the ebook and paperback edition (with a discounted early bird price!), you can add an original sticker, tote bag, or pin to your hoard, order bundles of books from Thinking Ink Press, and even acquire a special hardcover edition with slipcover that will be exclusive to this Kickstarter.

From the campaign:

“The Neurodiversiverse is for anyone who loves science fiction that stretches the mind!

In fact, when we first voyaged to your planet, we noticed that some members of your species coped better than others with the symphony of thought process found across the galaxy. These beings, whom many of you call neurodivergent, have diverse thinking styles enabling extraordinary responses to mind-bending situations. 

Since your species communicates with words and images for enjoyment, we thought collecting stories, poems and art describing neurodiverse encounters with aliens would not only provide entertainment and edification to lovers of science fiction all across your globe, but also would facilitate our attempts to infiltrate your society. 

The realized form of that collection is our science fiction anthology, The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters!”

Read more about the Neurodiversiverse here!

[yeonchi]

A different take on The Power of the Doctor

Jodie Whittaker's final episode of Doctor Who, The Power of the Doctor, premiered one year ago today. While it was one of the better episodes of the Chibnall era, it heavily relied on memberberries from the 80's while making no effort to address lingering plot threads, most notably the Timeless Child arc. Earlier this year, I saw this post from @armageddon-generation about how they would rewrite the episode as a tribute to the Chibnall/Whittaker era instead of the classic series, and in doing so, expand the special into two hour-long specials. Off the bat, this could work as a Christmas/New Year Special, or put Part 2 on 23 November for the 59th Anniversary. The OP put in quite a few good ideas, but there were some gaps and omissions here and there, so in this post, I'll be sharing my take on armageddon-generation's take on The Power of the Doctor while also adding in some things myself.

Part 1

The space train at the start is replaced by Karvanista, Bel and Vinder, who are transporting the young Ux Delph from the Series 11 finale (instead of the Quaranx, and yes, I am spelling it that) when they are attacked by the CyberMasters. The sequence presumably goes similarly to the original before the Doctor rescues Karvanista and co. In the TARDIS, Karvanista gets angry at the Doctor and when Yaz asks why, she tells Yaz about Division and her past as Ruth way before the original where she only found out (kind of) towards the end when she appeared. Dan has a heart-to-heart with Karvanista, which leads him to leave TARDIS. As Dan is taken back home, the Doctor restores his house (thank you) before she leaves with Yaz and the others.

The Doctor tracks down Delph's life signs to the Cyberplanet, which is actually Gallifrey, transformed and transported by the Master using his powers. As the CyberMasters attack the Doctor and Kate calls her back to Earth, leaving her unable to rescue Delph, who is being held in Tecteun's lab. The Doctor tells Karvanista and co about this and he offers to investigate the Cyberplanet in a subship, thereby taking Vinder's place in the episode.

Ryan and Graham were slated to replace Ace and Tegan in the episode, with Gabriela, Jake and Adam returning from Praxeus. Now, Tosin Cole was busy filming in the US after leaving the series, but yes, we'll assume that he was able to reprise his role here. Regardless, there is a glaring omission here, and that is Ravio, Yedlarmi and Ethan from the Series 12 finale. OP puts Gabriela and co travelling the world with Graham, but I think they should be with Ryan while Ravio and co are the ones travelling with Graham.

So Ryan (and co) investigates ZAIA Enterprise VOR from Spyfall, which should have collapsed after Barton went missing, but instead it is leading a worldwide tech revolution; on top of that, history has changed so that technological advancements happened far earlier than they did. Meanwhile, Graham and co are investigating the missing seismologists and the missing paintings (because why not). They are revealed to have been in contact with Kate Stewart at UNIT who calls the Doctor and that's where we get the reunion of the companions, or rather Ryan for the time being.

The missing paintings were defaced to show Nikola Tesla's face instead of the Master as Rasputin; the Doctor learns that Tesla became very successful after the Master saved him from financial ruin, taking over Thomas Edison's factory in the process and causing the technological advancements as a roll-on effect. The Doctor and the others see the Master's message just as Graham informs Ryan that he and his group are headed for the same university in Naples where the Master is, leading the Doctor to rush off with Yaz, Ryan and co following. Graham and co are captured by the Master before the Doctor arrives with UNIT. Graham is reunited with the Doctor, Yaz and Ryan while Gabriela, Ravio and the others stay with UNIT in Naples to deal with the dead seismologists, which is where we leave them for now. As the Master is put into UNIT custody, the Doctor has Graham and Ryan stay with Kate at UNIT HQ to guard him while she heads off with Yaz.

During this time, the Order of the Custodians from Resolution have been in contact with the Doctor as they deal with a Dalek incursion beneath the Earth. They infiltrate the Dalek base in the Bolivian volcano and meeting with the Doctor and Yaz, they give the former a chemical weapon that can kill Daleks (tested using samples from the recon scout Dalek), but the Order are killed and the Doctor is captured by a Dalek puppetering her, managing to get the Order's weapon to Yaz in the process before she escapes in the TARDIS.

Karvanista's subship crashes into the Cyberplanet and it is here that we get a brief cameo from Paltraki, who made it his duty to keep the Ux safe and is checking in with Karvanista on the progress. Karvanista gets impatient and uses the phone that the Doctor gave Vinder to contact her.

Ashad and the Cybermen appear from the Kasaavin realm. In the ensuing fight, there is a scene where Graham confronts Ashad about how the fear of death makes people human and I think it'd be nice to have, but I wouldn't know where to fit it in. The Master manages to escape to 1920s Wardenclyffe, where the Doctor has been brought to. There, the Doctor learns that the Master had also been using Tesla to construct the regeneration chambers he would use for the forced regeneration in an effort to spite the Doctor for failing to save him from the fate history dictated for him. Part 1 ends with the Doctor's forced regeneration.

Part 2

The Master's rampage in the Doctor's body is expanded here, leading a jailbreak in the Judoon prison and inciting Zellin and Rakaya's bet in Can You Hear Me? Tesla is shown restraining Yaz during these scenes, but she manages to overpower him and escape, locking him and the Master out of the TARDIS before responding to Karvanista's call.

The Guardians of the Edge scene cuts out the classic Doctor cameos in favour of an appearance from Ruth. It is here that we finally get some kind of closure from the Timeless Child arc by addressing the Brendan visions near the end of Series 12; at some point, after being recaptured by Division, Tecteun finally grants Ruth's request to leave and uses the Chameleon Arch on her to reset/limit her regenerations and memories, leaving her as a male Time Lord baby who would go on to become the Doctor. As much as I hated the Timeless Child being the Doctor, at least we got an answer to it.

The hologram implants activate in Yaz, Ryan and Graham, giving them some scenes with the Doctor. Ryan and Graham head up to the roof with parachutes, but Graham turns back at the last moment and decides to help Kate instead, thereby taking Ace and Tegan's roles in the following sequences respectively while also giving a highlight to Ryan's dyspraxia.

There is a bit of a modification to the Cybermen strategem here; when the Daleks detonate the volcanoes, UNIT would evacuate civilians to their strongholds, where Cybermen would be waiting to trap and convert them. Yaz saves Ryan and drops him off in the Bolivian volcano. To further emphasise Ryan overcoming his dyspraxia, I think he should be the one to destroy the volcano alone with the Order's weapon and the hologram Doctor guiding him. Or better yet, for an optional bonus, why don't we have Kane and Bella from Orphan 55 make an appearance here, going to Earth's past so they can help avert events that would contribute to Earth eventually being something like Orphan 55. It would also give them closure by showing that they managed to survive the destruction of the Dregs and also briefly reuniting Bella with Ryan before quickly leaving. There weren't any others good enough who could have helped Ryan in that scene but Kane and Bella did come to mind as another loose end.

At the same time, Yaz would pick up the Master and Tesla before going back to Wardenclyffe. While Yaz went out of the TARDIS with the Master and Tesla, Karvanista would stay hidden inside before coming out and shooting the Master after the Ruth hologram tricks the CyberMasters into shooting each other. Yaz uses the CyberMasters' regeneration energy to degenerate the Doctor into her old self. We then get a Thasmin kiss (OP's idea) while Karvanista has a heart-to-heart with the Ruth hologram, giving him closure while also alleviating his resentment for the Doctor.

Meanwhile, Gabriela, Ravio and the others fight off the Cybermen at the UNIT stronghold in Naples while Graham would save Kate from being converted before she self-destructs all the UNIT strongholds, trapping the Cybermen in them. The Doctor, with Yaz, Karvanista and Tesla, now freed from the Master's hypnotism, goes to pick up Graham, Kate and Ryan and they go to deal with the Cyberplanet Gallifrey.

The Doctor frees the Ux Delph and leaves him with Karvanista so he, Vinder and Bel can take him to where he was originally meant to be going, while also not wanting him to stress himself even further given what he went through. While the Doctor gets to work in the Master's TARDIS, Tesla (and Delph) helps Karvanista fix his subship before going back to work the controls in the Doctor's TARDIS alongside Yaz, Graham, Ryan and Kate. Karvanista and Delph successfully escape in the subship while the Doctor and her companions freeze the erupting volcanoes on Earth and transport Gallifrey back to its proper place in space, disintegrating the Cyber constructs with it.

The Doctor leaves the Master's TARDIS and prepares to leave Gallifrey, ready to make peace with the loss of her past as the Timeless Child and leave it all behind, but the dying Master returns to his TARDIS and uses his TCE to fire a laser beam at the Doctor (whether from the TCE itself or from the lamp atop the Master's TARDIS), knocking her out and triggering her regeneration. OP wrote it so that the effects of the forced regeneration was the cause of her eventual regeneration, but it left the Master with an unsatisfying ending so I adapted the original scene without the destruction from the Cyberplanet being disintegrated.

Yaz comes out, brings the Doctor back to the TARDIS and lays her on the floor before she takes everyone else home (well, she takes Tesla back to Wardenclyffe then drops everyone else off in Croydon). The Doctor regains consciousness, realises that she is regenerating and they have ice creams on top of the TARDIS. Just before Yaz is dropped off, OP wrote another Thasmin scene, gifting her the hologram implant in a projector Yaz had in Survivors of the Flux to round off her character development, praising her for what she did on her own while telling Yaz to carry (a part of) herself with her.

The ending scene with Graham's Companions Anonymous is replaced with a dinner celebrating Yaz's anniversary of running away from home as shown in Can You Hear Me? Yaz's sister, Sonya, is there, along with her parents Najia and Hakim and grandmother Umbreen. Ryan, Graham, Dan and Diane are there as well, having been invited by Yaz in addition to Aaron (Ryan's dad), Kate, Gabriela, Jake, Adam, Ravio, Yedlarmi and Ethan. The Doctor's extended fam is now Yaz's extended fam and support network as Yaz begins to tell them about the Doctor, calling back to Ryan's opening line in the Series 11 opener.

The Doctor's regeneration is witnessed by the Thijarians before they disappear again, leaving the Thirteenth Doctor to regenerate into the Fourteenth Doctor.

tl;dr

OP's changes and additions

The 90-minute special is expanded into two hour-long specials

Karvanista takes over Vinder's role in the story, though he and Bel make an appearance

The Quaranx is replaced by the Ux Delph, being transported on Paltraki's request

Ryan and Graham replace Ace and Tegan's roles in the story

Gabriela, Jake and Adam return from Praxeus

The Winter Palace is replaced by Wardenclyffe and Tsar Nicholas II is replaced by Nikola Tesla, who plays a more significant role alongside the Master

There is a sudden acceleration in Earth's technology as a result

The Cyberplanet is actually Gallifrey transformed using Delph's power

The rebel Dalek is replaced by the Order of the Custodians, who have a weapon that can destroy the Daleks

The Cybermen appear from the Kassavin realm and they attack all UNIT strongholds

The Master's rampage across the universe as the Doctor is expanded

Ruth is the only Guardian of the Edge shown and we get some closure to the Timeless Child arc

All UNIT strongholds are destroyed by Kate to trap the Cybermen within them

Ruth appears again to give Karvanista closure

Tesla (and Delph) helps repair Karvanista's subship

Extended Thasmin scenes

The Doctor's extended fam becomes Yaz's extended fam

The Thijarians bear witness to the Doctor's regeneration

My changes and additions

Ravio, Yedlarmi and Ethan return from the Series 12 finale

The missing paintings are defaced with Tesla's face instead of the Master's

(Optional) Kane and Bella return from Orphan 55 for a short cameo

Gabriela and Ravio et al help defend the UNIT stronghold in Naples from the Cybermen

Delph is freed and is left with Karvanista - the Doctor's plan with the two TARDISes returns Gallifrey to normal

The Doctor is still killed by a laser beam thanks to the Master, but it's not Delph's fault because he's already gone by this point

Once again, The Power of the Doctor was a decent send-off to the Thirteenth Doctor akin to an anniversary special, but it heavily relied on memberberries from the 80's without addressing the Timeless Child storyline. OP contends that the episode would be better if it were a tribute to the Chibnall/Whittaker era and I agree with it, though there were some aspects of their pitch that could have been improved upon, hence me making this post.

The Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials are coming in November, which isn't long to go now. There is also a Christmas Special coming up as well in December (the first since 2017) and Series 14 is expected follow in Spring 2024 (again, the first since 2017 or even 2011). My schedules for those months have been reserved for Doctor Who to be the focus because I intend to review the RTD2 era. We're still waiting for the exact airdates, but hey, at least we knew the specials are coming out sometime in November this year for two years, so that's a plus.

[denimbex1986]

'The Doctor finds themself wearing a familiar face for the first time in their 2,000+ years of existence. Donna Noble and her family are suddenly in the middle of a world of aliens and spaceships for the first time since her memories were wiped by the Doctor fifteen years ago. Despite Donna’s lack of memory and the Doctor’s best efforts coincidence or destiny has thrust these two one-time best friends back together. This is where Doctor Who’s 60th Anniversary Trilogy of Specials – “The Star Beast,” “Wild Blue Yonder,” and “The Giggle” – begin. Russell T Davies has returned as showrunner! David Tennant is back as the Doctor! Catherine Tate is back as Donna! Not having to wait for the Blu-ray release to rewatch episodes for the first time since Jodie Whittaker debuted in “The Woman Who Fell To Earth” has me basically living on Disney+. And what’s struck me most as I’ve watched these specials again and again is how beautifully they present the mirror of friendship using two characters, two best friends, who find themselves at existential crossroads with their identities...

Theresa used to have a little poster hanging in her classroom which said, “You become like the five people you spend the most time with. Choose carefully.” And wow has my analytical part spent a lot of time thinking about that! Our friendships certainly shape us. Our friends also serve as a mirror which reflect who we are in a very intimate way, both in whom we connect with and how we are within those relationships. The Doctor and Donna share such a relationship and for all the Meeps, Wrath Warriors, Not-Things, and Toymakers, watching them reconnect across this trilogy of specials was my favorite part of the 60th anniversary experience :).

As Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary was a trilogy, I’m going to address these themes with each in turn! So feel free to read this as one unified piece or just read about the specials you’ve seen or are most interested in exploring.

Doctor Who: The Star Beast

If friendship is a mirror, to lose our memories of and/or connection to a best friend means our reflection is incomplete. We struggle to see ourselves as we once did. When we first meet Donna in “The Star Beast” with her mother Sylvia (Jaqueline King), and meet her daughter Rose (Yasmin Finney) and husband Shaun (Karl Collins) for the first time (okay, yes, Shaun was in “The End of Time Part Two” but it was just for a moment and we only see him from a distance), she is still very much Donna. Though it’s clear she feels the shape of something missing in her life.

Sitting at her kitchen table, Donna tells Sylvia, “Sometimes I think there’s something missing. Like I had something lovely, and it’s gone. And I, I kinda look to the side like something should be there but it’s not. And I know I’ve got Rose and Sean and you and the biggest sausage roll I’ve ever seen and frankly I should be happy. I should be really happy. But some nights I lie in bed thinking…what have I lost?” We are the sum total of our memories. Without one or some (or all?) we’d still be ourselves…but undeniably different. And having a sense of the something you lost would have to be a restless way to live.

But the Doctor can remember and, when I think about it, I imagine that would be harder. He knows he lost this brilliant, beautiful best friend. All the feelings he had for her live on in his hearts, surrounded by the dull ache of loss. For me, that one seems worse. Donna longs for something she lost but the Doctor knows who and what he lost.

The Doctor, having regenerated into a familiar form, is also anxious and unsettled. Though he is clearly happy to be back in his old body again! Many people online have pointed out how he emerges from the TARDIS in London with an energy very reminiscent of the opening of the 2008 Christmas special, “The Next Doctor.” It feels so happy! He’s smiling as he wanders through the street. At this moment, those anxious and unsettled parts are unblended and he’s able to enjoy the beginning of this new life, a half hour or so after his regeneration. But when the Doctor meets UNIT’s new scientific advisor, Shirley Anne Bingham (Ruth Madeley), he beings to speak openly about the confusing nature of his regeneration:

The Doctor – “Eh, it’s all a bit mad, don’t you think? I don’t know who I am anymore.”

Shirley – “Well, you look like the Doctor to me.”

The Doctor – “Well, exactly, the one in the skinny suit. After that I wear a bowtie. After that I’m a Scotsman. And after that I’m a woman.”

Shirley – “But that’s your future. You can’t know that. It’s forbidden.”

The Doctor – “I regenerated. And she became me.”

Shirley – “You got your old face back?”

The Doctor – “Yep.”

Shirley – “But why?”

The Doctor – “Eh, that’s what I’m worried about. Because I’ve got this friend, called Donna Noble. And she was my best friend in the whole wide universe, I absolutely love her. Oh! Um, do I say things like that now?”

Shirley – “Sounds like a good thing to say.”

The Doctor – “But Donna took the mind of a Time Lord into her head. I had to wipe her memory to save her life. If she ever remembers me she will die. So what happens next? I get this face back and the TARDIS lands right next to her. I turn around and there’s her husband. Then a spaceship crashes right in front of her. It’s like she’s drawing us in….the universe is turning around her again. I don’t believe in destiny but if destiny exists, it’s heading for Donna Noble right now.”

The Doctor doesn’t understand who he is anymore but he instinctively begins to try and sort the question of his identity through Donna. He is wearing his old face. The “universe is turning around her again.” There must be a connection. And it’s because of Donna he realizes he’s the sort of person who says things like, “I absolutely love her.” He says much the same about Wilf: “I loved that man.” For the notoriously closed off Time Lord, this willingness to be open and vulnerable is remarkable growth. And I’d wager that Dan (John Bishop)’s gently yet insistently pushing both the Thirteenth Doctor and Yaz (Mandip Gill) to own and voice their feelings for each other plays a role in the Fourteenth Doctor’s newfound openness :). And that makes me so happy!

Uncertainty aside, the Doctor and Donna quickly fall into familiar rhythms. As the Meep threatens all of London, the Doctor does what the Doctor does and Donna instinctively springs into action beside him. With the lives of nine million people at stake, Donna freely volunteers her life to save the others and the Doctor, with great pain and frustration, allows her to do so. They each make their own ultimate sacrifice – Donna in giving up her life and the Doctor in killing his best friend – to save Rose and all of London. This is who they are.

But Donna lives! Because the Meta-Crisis was passed down to Rose! What was too much for one human to hold becomes a shared inheritance. Donna’s survival also brings the dawning of greater comprehension:

The Doctor – “We’re binary.”

Donna – “She’s not. Because the Doctor’s…”

The Doctor – “…male…”

Donna – “…and female.”

Rose – “And neither. And more.”

Rose’s role in the Meta-Crisis allows the Doctor and Donna to articulate the full nature of the Doctor’s identity with greater clarity than ever before. In a beautiful moment, Donna and Rose chose to “just let it go.” Donna has her memories back (and she lived! (yay!)). Rose is finally herself. But the Doctor is still uncertain as to why his old face returned.

Onboard the TARDIS he brushes that question off but tells Donna, “I really do remember though, every second with you. And I’m so glad you’re back ‘cause it killed me Donna. It killed me, it killed me, it killed me.” Donna ask, “We can have more days, can’t we? I mean why is it such a big goodbye with you? Why is it one last trip? ‘Cause you visit, with my family. We could do outrageous things like have tea, dinner, and a laugh. And Rose’s school play, well maybe not that, she can’t act, she’s terrible, I don’t know how to tell her. But the point is, you’ve been given a second chance. You can do things different this time. So why don’t you do something completely new – and have some friends?” Tentatively the Doctor replies, “Yeah. Maybe. Yeah.”

To me this feels like the key to the entire special. Similarly to his saying he loves Donna and Wilf, the Doctor is being open and vulnerable in telling Donna, “I’m so glad you’re back ‘cause it killed me Donna. It killed me, it killed me, it killed me.” Donna, comfortably settling into her new old self – restored memories alongside the person she’s become with her family – notes the Doctor has been given a second chance to do things differently with this face. While the Eleventh Doctor visited with Amy and Rory and the Twelfth Doctor did with Clara, it’s not the Doctor’s usual m.o. and you can see the reluctance on the his face. Fear of the Twelfth Doctor’s weariness, expressed at the end of his life – “A life this long, do you understand what it is? It’s a battlefield, like this one, and it’s empty. Because everyone else has fallen”[1] – is evident. But he doesn’t give a hard no! Perhaps the Doctor is willing to change, at least for Donna, his best friend in the whole, wide universe.

Doctor Who: Wild Blue Yonder:

The reflection friendship shows includes our deepest fears, anxieties, and insecurities. Beside a friend with whom we feel safe we find a place to open, be with, share, and – sometimes, eventually – heal the wounds and traumas which fuel those fears. When a seemingly out of control TARDIS drops the Doctor and Donna on an abandoned spaceship at the very literal edge of creation before dematerializing on its own, they are forced to see this reflection of themselves through a glass, darkly, in a horror-tinged version of friendship’s mirror.

The Doctor – “I’m sorry, Donna. The TARDIS was out of control. It’s taken us to the edge of the universe.”

Donna – “So what’s out there?”

The Doctor – “Well, that’s difficult – for you – because if the universe is everything than the concept of an everything having an edge is kind if impossible. But that’s the language of 21st century Earth and you don’t know anything yet. I’m not being rude, you just don’t. When you discover Cambodian flat mathematics, you’ll discover it’s possible.”

Donna – “What?”

The Doctor – “That. Nothing. The edge of creation. Absolute nothingness.”

What’s funny is I think about this all the time! Theresa tells her students the Big Bang left the universe hurtling outward as it literally expands into nothing. She explains we can’t conceive of nothing because we’re things so we’ve evolved the ability to understand other things. We can conceive of darkness or emptiness or vastness or space but we literally can’t wrap our heads around nothing. We’re not wired that way. The first time I heard her say that I fell in love with it! I even use her example as the frame for talking to my students about how we can never fully conceive of God as infinite transcendence.

All this is to say, I think about the literal edge of creation and absolute nothingness A LOT. And I love it as the setting for an existentialist horror look into who and what we are. Both the Doctor and Donna have their own sense of self shaken, just as its taking a more solid shape, and they need to find strength and security in the other.

This is so human and I love it. Just yesterday, Lauren took a half day and we got lunch, hung out, and ran errands all afternoon. My last two weeks have been hard (work is still taking more from me every day and my emotional exhaustion is overwhelming) so Lauren wanted to be sure we had some time together. I was eager to see her – I always am – but a part of me felt bad because she was taking off work because I’m a mess. I was talking about this part with Kalie when she smiled and reminded me, “That’s what people who love you do. It’s what friends are for.” My day with Lauren was so beautiful and so restorative. It filled me back up! Pushed to the brink of existential despair, hunted and haunted throughout this ship, the Doctor and Donna can only do the same, regrounding themselves in each other – something the Not-Things intentionally try to destabilize.

The Not-Things take their shape so the Doctor and Donna never know if they are talking to each other or the Not-Things. Sometimes they are near perfect copies, others a ghastly perversion. When the Doctor asks them, “Where did you come from? You’re not part of the ship, are you? Did you come from outside?” The Not-Thing Donna says, “We came from the Nothing.” The Not-Thing Doctor says, “We are not things.” Then with malicious intrigue the Not-Thing Donna adds, ���But you, you are not nothing.”

I love the different levels of fear here! First you have these dark, twisted, and at times monstrously disproportioned copies of the Doctor and Donna chasing them. Then the Doctor and Donna have the fear and anxiety of never being sure who they are talking to – their best friend or the Not-Thing. Then you have (what I would argue is) the more disquieting and disturbing fear of your best friend not being able to recognize you. Thinking of yesterday, one of the things that makes Lauren such an important friend is she’s safe – I can share anything with her and I know it will be received, honored, and cared for. There is nothing I can’t tell her. I get all sorts of anxious, as it affects that safety, if I imagine talking to Lauren but not knowing if it is Lauren. And that deep, pervasive anxiety turns into an almost painful fear to imagine Lauren not recognizing me as it seems to imply (even though it’s all a result of the Not-Things machinations) the friendship, the closeness and security we share, isn’t what we thought it was.

Dancing between that anxiety and fear, the Not-Things attack. The Not-Thing Donna rips open the trauma of the Doctor learning they are the Timeless Child and the destruction caused by the Flux.

Not-Thing Donna – “So where are you from?”

The Doctor – “No, we’ve done that. We talked about that, back there out loud. All four of us know it’s Gallifrey.”

Not-Thing Donna – “Except…it’s not.”

The Doctor – [pause] “What d’you mean?”

Not-Thing Donna – “You don’t know where you’re from.”

The Doctor – “How d’you know that? How does anyone know? How does Donna know?”

Not-Thing Donna – “Back on Earth, when I was the Doctor Donna, I saw your mind. I’ve had fifteen years without you and I saw everything that’s happened to you since and oh my God, it hurt.”

The Doctor – [tears in his eyes] “You’re saying this to break me down.”

Not-Thing Donna – “We haven’t stopped. To talk. We haven’t had a chance. It’s always like that with you, running from one thing to the next but I saw it. In your head. The Flux.”

The Doctor – [voice shaking] “It destroyed half the universe because of me. We stand here now, on the edge of creation, a creation which I devastated, so yes I keep running – of course I do! How am I supposed to look back on that??”

Not-Thing Donna – “It wasn’t your fault!”

The Doctor – “I KNOW!”

Not-Thing Donna – “I’m sorry.”

The Doctor – [plaintive] “Donna, is that you?”

Not-Thing Donna – “Yeah.”

The Doctor – “All those years, I missed you.”

On the one hand, the Doctor’s guarded. He knows the Not-Thing Donna would work to break him. On the other, he desperately hopes it is Donna so she knows but he doesn’t have to say it and he can be vulnerable with her without the struggle to get past those protector parts which hold his trauma close. With tears in his eyes and his voice breaking, he goes to hug her and the Not-Thing Donna dissolves into a puddle and laughs at him.

The Not-Thing Donna twists a knife in the trauma of his loneliness, insecurity around his identity, and guilt of all those he couldn’t save. While the Not-Thing Doctor strikes at Donna’s sense of self-worth.

Trying to prove she’s really her, Donna says, “I was born in South Hampton ‘cause my mum and dad where there for the weekend visiting my Auntie Iris. My mum was nine months pregnant but would Iris come to her? No she would not. So I arrived in South Hampton which allowed my mother to say I was a problem from the day I was born. And I’ve now come to the edge of the universe to discover I’m still dealing with that. So you can copy my memory but there’s only one person who can understand my family like that and that is me. I’m definitely Donna.” When Donna notices the tie the Not-Thing Doctor took off to prove he was the Doctor had disappeared he says, “Oh, I see. When something is gone it keeps existing. [bending over backwards to crab walk in the creepiest way possible.] Auntie Iris! Mummy and Daddy! Ya-da-da-da-da-da-dah! Why does he travel with someone as stupid as you?” And he chases her out of the room.

Beautifully, it’s the existence of our polarized parts that allow the Doctor to cut through the Not-Things’ deception. As someone who spends a lot of time aware of and being with my own polarized parts, this warmed my heart :).

The Doctor –“You think you’re stupid?’

Not-Thing Donna – “Of course I do.”

The Doctor – “That’s very Donna.”

Not-Thing Doctor – “That’s so Donna. That’s my Donna.”

The Doctor – “Except Donna does not think she’s stupid.”

Donna and Not-Thing Donna – “Oh I do.”

The Doctor – “No, Donna thinks she’s stupid and, sometimes, she thinks she’s brilliant. She thinks both. Because that’s the astonishing thing about people from our planet – they can believe two completely different things at exactly the same time.”

For a moment, the Not-Things freeze and the Doctor and Donna run into each other’s arms. Once they are sure who’s who, the Not-Things begin to strike at humanity’s nature to shake their faith in what they are as they attacked their sense of who they are.

Not-Thing Doctor – “We drifted here, in the lack of light, passing no time. But we would feel it – from so far away – your noisy, boiling universe. We wanted to travel there, to play your vicious games, and win.”

The Doctor – “If you existed here, no shape, no form, no purpose, then what’s made you so…bad?”

Not-Thing Doctor – “The things we felt, they shaped us. Carrying across the dark. We could hear your lives of war. Blood and fury and hate. They made us like this.”

Donna – “We’re more than that.”

Not-Thing Donna – “Love letters don’t travel very far.”

Oh, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this scene. Is it real? Or rather, are the Not-Things telling the truth? Donna overtly rejects it and it undercuts everything the Doctor is always saying about humanity. Soooo, did the violence and hate of our universe shape them as they moved from the nothing into existence? Or are they trying to get in Donna and the Doctor’s heads to break them down? Or is it both?

Ultimately Donna and the Doctor realize the Not-Things need them to be afraid so their bodies and brains move faster which is essential for the Not-Things to copy them. I think that’s an interesting commentary too, on how our fears shape us and reveal our identity. Donna is shaped by a lifetime of insecurity her mother helped cultivate just as the Doctor is shaped by not knowing who he is and his guilt over what he couldn’t stop.

Despite all the head games of existential horror, Donna and the Doctor stop the Not-Things, leaving them to die in the fiery furnace of the exploding ship. Back on the TARDIS the Doctor tentatively, nervously, and trying to project an aura of casual indifference, asks if Donna could remember what the Not-Thing Donna knew. She doesn’t. Donna says it’s too much, like looking into a furnace. So the Doctor pulls inward again, desperate to talk about it all but unable yet to voice his trauma out loud. Lovingly, Donna presses the issue, “C’mon. Where have you been since I last saw you? What’s happened?” The Doctor brushes it off, “Eh, you know, the usual. Robots, chases, waterfalls.” But Donna keeps the invitation open, “Oh, okay. But what really happened?” The Doctor takes a long pause before simply saying, “A lot.” Donna asks if he’s okay before another long pause when the Doctor assures her, “I will be.” Donna asks when and the Doctor tells her, “A million years.”

With “The Star Beast” the Doctor and Donna joyously reconnect, finding there fuller sense of self in their reflection with the other. In “Wild Blue Yonder,’ they seek the safety friendship provides as they are forced to face their deep insecurities under the terrifying spotlight of the Not-Things. Though, given the horror vibes of the special, I’d say it’s key scene is the moment the Doctor incorrectly chooses the Not-Thing Donna to take onboard the TARDIS. As it dematerializes Donna screams, desperate for the Doctor to come back. With tears falling down her face she stares at her own death, knowing she’ll never see her family again, and feels the gut-wrenching, soul-shaking pain of not being recognized – of not being seen – by someone she loves so much and is so loved by in return. When the Doctor realizes his mistake and returns for her, they embrace in the safety of the TARDIS. The traumatized looks on their faces show what they endured. In that moment they desperately need to be held by someone with whom they feel safe, someone who understands, someone who sees and loves them as they are.

Doctor Who: The Giggle:

The reflection of ourselves we see in the mirror of friendship is a fuller reflection of who we are than we are able (or willing) to see on our own. Our friends often see when we’re hurting and when we need help before we are willing to own and admit it. They often see who we really are when we hold ourselves in guilt and shame we needn’t carry. The beauty of this is our friends can help us see all that, too. And this is exactly what Donna does for the Doctor when the Toymaker (Neil Patrick Harris) escapes his exile outside of existence and returns to this realm looking to destroy humanity with the most malevolent of games.

With violence erupting all over the globe as every human being on the planet suddenly believes they are right and won’t be told otherwise, UNIT comes to collect the Doctor and Donna. At UNIT HQ in central London, they are greeted by Shirley Ann Bingham, Kate Stewart (Jemma Redgrave), and Melanie Bush (Bonnie Langford), who travelled with the Sixth and Seventh Doctors. They realize a giggle imbedded in every screen since the very first television broadcast is what’s unleashing all of humanity’s darkest impulses.

The Doctor and Donna head back to 1925, the date of the first recording of the puppet Stooky Bill, to try and find answers. Leaving the TARDIS in 1920s New York, Donna tries yet again to get the Doctor to open up.

Donna – “So, what about Mel?!”

The Doctor – “Haha, she’s brilliant, isn’t she?”

Donna – “Yeah but I just keep thinking, all this time, you’ve never mentioned her.”

The Doctor – “Donna, I’m a billion years old. If I stopped and talked about everyone I’ve ever met we’d still be in the TARDIS yapping.”

Donna – “So you talk about no one ever. You just keep charging on.”

The Doctor – “Yes because I’m busy, like now.”

Donna – “Of course you’re busy every second of every day. I mean look at us now, we haven’t stopped. I saw you Doctor. I got a glimpse inside your mind. And it’s like you’re staggering. You are staggering along. Maybe that’s why your old face came back. You’re wearing yourself down.”

The Doctor pauses, decides to ignore her point, and redirects the conversation to finding the shop which sold the Stooky Bill John Logie Baird used in his first television transmission.

Much like Lauren did for me yesterday, Donna can see the Doctor’s hurting. She sees he’s exhausted, burn out, and run down. Though, unlike my response to Lauren, the Doctor is unwilling to acknowledge what Donna sees. The reflection is too clear, too accurate for the Doctor’s comfort. So instead he chooses to look away from the mirror Donna provides and instead focus on their mission.

Following the Toymaker into his realm, the Doctor’s desperation becomes more and more apparent as he and Donna race down endless identical hallways lined with endless identical doors. The Doctor’s façade begins to break a bit. The fear and the vulnerability begin to show. While he’d rather not own this (as evident by their conversation on the street outside the Toymaker’s shop), the Doctor can hold it back no longer. Donna is safe so he’s honest.

Donna – “Yeah but, you always say…”

The Doctor – “Oh, what do I say? What do I say?? What do I say?? ‘Cause I’m always so certain. I’m all sonic and TARDIS and Time Lord, take that away. [with tears in his eyes and doubt on his face] Take away the toys…what am I? What am I now? [with fearful resignation] I don’t know…if I can save your life this time.”

Donna – “It’s not about me.”

The Doctor – “Oh yes it is.”

Donna – “Well, maybe I’ll save you. You big idiot.”

With all these vulnerabilities, insecurities, and fear shining back at the Doctor, Donna gives him a place to be safe. She reassures him that protecting her isn’t what it’s about and she may just save him this time. Often our closest friends, the ones we love the most and are loved the most by in return, aren’t “just” the ones who can see when we’re hurting and need to be saved but they are the ones who we’ll let save us. This is the relationship Donna and the Doctor share.

They find the Toymaker and the Doctor challenges him to a game, a game he loses. This leaves the score at 1-1 as the First Doctor beat the Toymaker when they met and the Fourteenth Doctor just lost to the Toymaker. Back in 2023, they prepare for their final round at UNIT HQ. The Doctor – and this is such a Doctor thing to do – asks the Toymaker why he’s “so small.” Then he invites the Toymaker to leave this planet and these games behind to travel the cosmos with him so they can be “celestial” together, playing infinite games across the universe for all eternity.

The Toymaker considers…before blasting the Doctor through the chest and saying, “I played the first game with one Doctor. I played the second game with this Doctor. Therefore your own rules have decreed I play the third game with the next Doctor!” Donna comes forward telling the Toymaker, “He’s not dying alone. You can do what you like with me, I’m gonna be with him.” Mel agrees, “And so am I.”

Donna – [taking his hand] “It’s okay.”

The Doctor – “It’s not dying.”

Donna – “I know, but…”

Mel – “You’re gonna be someone else. It doesn’t matter who. ‘Cause every single one of you is fantastic.”

The Doctor – “It’s time. Here we go again. [several deep breaths] Allons-y…”

This is such a different attitude than the last time this face regenerated! It shows all the growth the Doctor went through in his Eleventh, Twelfth, and Thirteenth incarnations. And it shows the place he was able to get to with Donna by his side, creating a safe place for his fears and guilt, pressing him in loving ways to open up, and always reminding him of who he really is. Instead of seeing it as dying, now he assures them he isn’t dying. He is serene instead of angry. He says allons-y (“lets go”) instead of I don’t want to go.

As regenerations go, it was a beautiful one. Or it would have been. Instead the Doctor bigenerated.

With regeneration energy flickering around him, Donna and Mel, under the Doctor’s instructions, each grab an arm and pull…and the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Doctor split in two! My head is already spinning with thoughts here but I don’t want to lose the thread. That’s the story for another post.

Like Theresa’s sign said, we become like the people we spend the most time with so we much choose carefully. Reunited with Donna, who has consistently urged the Doctor to open up and talk with her – always insistent but always lovingly – we see the new Doctor bearing Donna’s imprint. This Doctor, the Fifteenth Doctor, seems to have finally healed from all the trauma of the Time War. He has finally learned a lesson the Twelfth and Thirteenth Doctors hadn’t learned even after the Eleventh Doctor changed their actions in the Time War and saved Gallifrey. As the Fourteenth Doctor glumly looks out over London, the Fifteenth Doctor and Donna come up on either side of him.

Fifteenth Doctor – [putting his arm around the Fourteenth Doctor] “Hey, we did it.”

Fourteenth Doctor – “But how many died down there?”

Donna – “It’s not your fault.”

Fifteenth Doctor – “You can’t save everyone.”

Fourteenth Doctor – “Why not?”

Fifteenth Doctor – “Come here. [pulling the Fourteenth Doctor into his arms] I’ve got you, yeah? It’s okay. I’m here.”

The Fifteenth Doctor kisses the Fourteenth Doctor’s forehead and looks him in the eye. Then he puts his arm around him again, as does Donna. They all walk away, arms around each other. With Donna’s influence (and carrying the echoes of everyone they’ve loved and everything they’ve learned over the last 1,100 years since they wore that face) the Doctor can finally hold their wounded part (or, as the case may be here, regenerated self) carrying all that trauma and tell them I’ve got you, yeah? It’s okay. I’m here. They can now comfort and hold themselves alongside Donna as they heal in the way they’ve needed Donna to do for them.

The key scene here comes back in the TARDIS, as the Fourteenth Doctor assures Donna and his new self he’ll be alright. The Fifteenth Doctor corrects him, “No, you’re thin as a pin, love. You’re running on fumes.” Donna agrees, “That’s what I keep saying.” The Fourteenth Doctor protests, pointing to the Fifteenth Doctor, “But you’re fine.”

Fifteenth Doctor – “I’m fine because you fix yourself. We’re Time Lords. We’re doing rehab out of order.”

Donna – “He’s saying you need to stop.”

Fourteenth Doctor – “But I don’t know how.”

Donna – “Well, I can tell you. Do you know what I did, when you went flying off in your blue box, space man? I stayed in one place. And I lived. Day after day after day.”

Fourteenth Doctor – [rolling his eyes] “That would drive me mad.”

Donna – “Haha, yeah, it does. But you keep on going. And that’s the adventure. The one adventure you’ve never had. ‘Cause I’ve worked out what happened. You changed your face and then you found me. Do you know why?”

Fourteenth Doctor – [quietly] “No.”

Donna – “To come home.”

Reflecting something the Doctor is not quite able to see himself yet, Donna finally pieces together the reason the Doctor’s old face came back. This face – the one whose final, heartbreaking words were, “I don’t want to go” – is the one the Doctor returns to when they are finally – finally! – ready to let go of the trauma of their past. And they return to their best friend in the whole wide universe and restore her memories. She then takes those memories and she, along with her daughter, sorts how to solve the Meta-Crisis problem on their own. And now, after Meeps and Wrath Warriors and Not-Things and Toymakers and a historic bigeneration, the Doctor is finally ready to come home.

Russell T Davies, the man who created the Time War and brought Doctor Who back in 2005 with a Doctor suffering PTSD and wrapped in survivor’s guilt – a Doctor who has been on a long, slow journey of healing over their last six incarnations – is finally ready to hold and heal their wounds so they can let go of their trauma. One incarnation goes home, surrounded by their family, to do just that. The other incarnation, the future one that’s already benefited from that work, is off to adventure in the sort of carefree and devil-may-care way the Doctor hasn’t felt since the Eighth Doctor entered the Time War! And the Doctor never could’ve gotten here without Donna, just as she never could’ve found her way back to her full self, memories and all, without the Doctor. What a beautiful note to end Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary on! It’s a beautiful reminder of the power and importance of our friendships, too.'

[jazikatxox-inthestars]

Let me preface this by saying that I come from the place of being a HUGE 13 fan, but I have also been critical of certain aspects of the writing in her era and wish they utilized her skills better. Generally, I think most people were way too hard on her seasons. Also, I've only watched the first new one so far... (I've heard at least the second is better but after this I don't want to get my hopes up just because it looks amazing...)

About to say something controversial for the Doctor Who fandom but I am so mad that y'all complained for YEARS about the 13th Doctor's run and now we have been delivered this in its wake 😂💀 I wasn't a fan of every choice made during her run either but I was very uncomfortable with the way she was held to a far higher, impossible standard than any of the male Doctors that came before. Now we're going to act like this heavy-handed, beating people over the head with the punchline writing is somehow going to "save" the show?? I mean just because it could have been worse doesn't mean it was great, this is RTD and we've seen him do good work for years. I respect that they want to do new things, but I think they're really missing the subtlety of certain things that have made this show extra fun over the years.

I will reserve final judgment until the whole season is out but I think they're doing a disservice to the actors with some of this material, because the Christmas special was funny and great, this isn't a problem with the new actors at all.

Our man Ncuti deserves better, hopefully they give him the chance to really shine in this role the way they never fully seemed to let Jodie. 🥲

[llumimoon]

📓 :]

hehehehehe hi Babs!!! <33333 hope ur day is going well :]c

I'm gonna share my switched au with you 😤 namely the first half of it !!! (since ik Nyx has written a little bit of the second half so I'm gonna keep the details of that more of a secret hehe)

The premise of the switched au is more or less swapping the plots/ideas of the two seasons! So the odyssey dads get a teen coming of age adventure and the kiddads have to go on a rescue mission through Faerun to save their kids (the s2 teens but a little bit younger)!!

I came up with this AU a long time ago and obviously didn't know how season 2 would play out so the odyssey dads adventure goes a LOT more off the script and I think its a lot of fun tehehe

It starts off with Darryl, Glenn, Ron, and Mercedes (shes a main character here 😤) being put together for a group project on a field trip, and accidentally getting sucked through a portal to Faerun! Simultaneously, Hen has decided to run away from Oakvale and has JUST managed to sneak outside of the borders when BAM a bunch of inter dimensional teens show up.

They don't exactly get off on the best foot at first, I actually drew Hen and Mercedes first meeting here bc its SO FUN LOL but eventually Hen agrees to help them find a way back home (leaving out the fact that it's because he's on the run from HIS home.)

I came up with teenage Hen's personality before I got a taste of it in the liveshow but I was ON CLOUD NINE when we found out his canon personality specifically because of this au LMAO EMO TEEN HEN IS CANON NOW BABEYYYY

He's also like, freshly cracked egg in the sense that he's just realized he's trans so it's very fun thinking about how Mercedes (who's already socially transitioned) helps him out :3c In general hencedes is so damn cute in this AU !!!!! She's the first one to crack his moody broody persona by making him laugh himself silly over a dumb pun she made.

Also find Hen and Glenn's dynamic to be fucking hilarious. Bros will be bros who kick absolute ass and smoke weed together and maybe kiss sometimes. Yk all things you do with the homies 😎

There's just SO DAMN MUCH within this AU even with it being split into two parts I feel like I can't get into it all without this post being a mile long LMAO but all the other (future) spouses are involved even Terry Sr., the main villain is Bear'ry BUT Willy IS ALSO THERE. Because he died when Ron was in middle school and he's in highschool in this ! So while he's not AS powerful as in canon he's still definitely a problem they have to deal with.

The part I enjoy the most in this half of the au though is DEFINITELY the group dynamics. It's delightful 🥺 I know I've mostly talked about Henry's relationships but that's cause I'm biased LMAO there's a lot of other stuff going on like Ron bonding with Samantha and Terry over the phone in another dimension and Morgan forming a club to search for the missing teens because she's realized no one is giving a fuck about Ron and Glenn, there's the whole thing with Darryl and Carol being soo early in their relationship and having this massive distance put between them, not even mentioning TEENAGE JODIE.... THERE'S SO MUCH.

But if I were to simplify it down to the main five group dynamic, it's Ron saying he's kinda hungry and Darryl goes to grab some of their rations, Glenn is holding a piece of bread and Hen is using his flaming sword to toast it while Mercedes is making a special jam recipe with some random magic forest berries and Darryl comes back to this all and goes OH MY FUCKING GOD WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING ???!?!????

[oreolesbian]

okay—thoughts on the tennant reveal

for one: a lot of people are calling tennant the fourteenth doctor. he’s not. just…full stop, he’s not. he’s confirmed for only three episodes of the next season. ncuti gatwa is the fourteenth doctor.

two: for fans of jodie’s run (of which i would include myself!), i’ve heard of lot of people saying that introducing tennant takes away from jodie’s final episode and ncuti’s first episode. and while i understand that feeling—every regeneration episode is meant to be a fresh start, an overshadowing if you will. especially when it’s a switch between showrunners. as the head writer leaves, they leave open big gaps for the next showrunner’s planned storyline to keep viewers engaged. it’s smart marketing. think of the big switch from rtd to moffat or the switch from moffat to chibnall. huge tone shifts bc, as many dw fans consider, these are eras of the show—new starting points that basically soft reboot the show.

three: doctor who has always relied on references to its past material. even in ten’s run! there were callbacks to older seasons from the original series—they brought back sarah jane—they even did crossover episodes between companions. it’s not that shocking of a thing to see old doctors come and go

four: every regeneration scene is always trying to one up the previous. as an audience we know what to expect from regeneration scenes so the writers are constantly trying to think up twists to catch us off guard. the doctor regenerating into a past regeneration? yeah! i’d call that a surprise! do twists make for good writing—not really—but it’s not new for doctor who and it certainly isn’t done with some malicious intent towards jodie or ncuti. plus—most of this is set up for the 60th! the 50th had huge plot lines with old doctors meeting each other too!

finally: introducing tennant back and rtd as a showrunner is exciting for a lot of people. does nostalgia come into play here? absolutely. but it is undeniable that under rtd, the show was super strong. moffat ran during the infamous superwholock era, but the show notoriously lost a lot of viewership post-matt smith’s run. jodie’s introduction + the introduction of a new showrunner picked viewership up a bit more for sure..but once it became clear that chibnall’s writing was…subpar at best..viewership declined. hence why we saw them pulling out all the stops in series 12 to bring viewers back, and sadly giving jodie barely a final season and more a series of specials.

i do genuinely believe that under chibnall, regardless of who was playing the doctor, this would’ve happened anyway. jodie was a magnificent doctor, and her portrayal is by far not the reason why people have disliked her run and look forward to rtd’s writing. rtd has done more than just write a very beloved era of doctor who. he’s also just a very strong showrunner/writer in general. is he perfect? no! but he has a strong track record which fans know of and trust..which gets them back.

so he brings back tennant and catherine tate to bring people back in—for marketing security—and then he gets to go all out with a new era…starring ncuti! this fresh spark is exactly what the show needs, regardless of what you thought of the past three seasons. and does it suck that we have to draw on older seasons to make that happen? of course. but will it (hopefully) lead to some amazing stuff down the line? i do genuinely think so.

so please don’t take people the wrong way when they say they’re excited for the new era of doctor who. it’s not to undermine jodie in any way, and she will be missed. she, in my humble opinion, deserved a stronger showrunner for her run, just as i believed peter capaldi deserved better marketing for his season (cause there was some decent writing in there. series 10 is super underrated).

here’s to a new doctor! ncuti gatwa, i’m ready for you king! 👑

[slurrmp]

the backrooms ✰ whittaker!master x disaster!reader.

a/n: this is some hot garbage i tell you what. but, due to the fact that the special will be released monday (australian time) - and jodie will be leaving us, have some rather bad w!master :))))) but i’m bringing back disaster!reader because i have missed her, so that’s a plus. she’s here to torment the master again. also a continuation from THIS old ass prompt.

warnings: swearing, general master nonsense.

Arriving in the safety(?) of her TARDIS, she had told you to not wander off. Told you to stay in the console room. To stay put. That’s where she could keep an eye on you and where you wouldn’t get into any trouble. The effects of the evening where still heavy on your brain and you were trying your best NOT to throw up on the floor. Knowing that would probably only make the Master and her TARDIS pissed. The feeling of the fishes hands against your body sent a shiver through your body. The pit of your stomach rumbled and you pressed a hand over your mouth. God you were going to regret asking the Doctor to let you stay at that bar.

You did your best to listen to the Master. Staying put in the console room was something you didn’t want to defy her on. Because of course she terrified you. But you didn’t think you could hold in the food and alcohol that you had consumed merely an hour ago, down any longer. The Master had disappeared down one of the many halls that connected to the orange lit room - left you standing in a corner near the entry.

Pressing a hand against your mouth again, you looked to your left and then right. Both were entrances to what you assumed where endless hallways and you picked at random. One arm wrapping around your stomach as you tried to find a bathroom. It didn’t take long rushing down the hallway, that the TARDIS finally took pity on you and let you find a bathroom, just in the nick of time.

As you fell against the floor, you emptied the contents of your stomach into the toilet bowl, before you rested your forehead against the rim of the seat and groaned.

“Never again,” You muttered a wince spreading across your face as the after taste got to you. “If the Doctor decides to go and do another one of his marathon running trips, tell him to fuck off and leave you on the TARDIS.” Another groan as you fell back against the tiled wall. The coolness of everything was a relief, before you fell forward again and threw up once more. One more groan, before you came to the realisation that there was nothing left in your stomach. (You flushed the toilet don’t worry.)

Heaving yourself up off the floor, you leaned heavily against the wall - using it for balance and staggered over to the sink. Hands gripped onto the basen, before you stared at yourself in the mirror, you couldn’t help but gag once more. You looked awful. Bags were heavy under your eyes and the colour in your cheeks was gone, you looked more grey than anything now. Heaving out a deep sigh and turning on the tap, you stared at the running water for a couple of seconds.

You could really do with a shower, but you had no spare clothes to change into and you really didn’t want to wear puked on and alien bloodied clothes again. Splashing the cool water against your face, you felt semi alive again before you grabbed the towel that hung on the hook - drying your hands and wiping down your face. Before you buried into it and screamed.

Finally letting go of any tension that was still in your body, you calmed down and you finally noticed that the pounding that you could constantly hear, was the headache starting to get louder in your head. God you could really use two advile and sleep. Looking at yourself once more in the mirror, you tried your best to brush down your wild hair. Giving up when you couldn’t, you stepped out of the bathroom and into a room that wasn’t the hallway you had entered from.

This hallway had an ugly shade of yellow wallpaper and was endless. It looked like it went on for miles. Hallways upon hallways, all with that same ugly yellow wallpaper. “What the fuck...” You murmured to yourself, turning around to go back into the bathroom, only to realise that the door you had JUST come out of, was now gone. Your whole body froze. That - wasn’t supposed to happen, this has never happened before. Whipping back around, you stared out into the vastness of this room. “No - no. No this is not happening. You are NOT doing this to me.” Your legs finally woke up and you started to walk in what you assumed was forwards.

The low hum of the fluorescent lights barely hanging on to the ceiling was burying deep into your brain - making the headache you had developing to feel worse. You had never see this room before - no matter how many times you had been aboard the Master’s TARDIS, this room had been seen before. Maybe the TARDIS had finally given up on you - throwing up in the bathroom was the last straw for her and now she was going to kill you slowly.

You had no idea how long you wandered, hand dragging along the wall, so that you could at least keep yourself ground to reality - in case you decided to zone out and lose track of were the hell you where going. It felt like hours. Always the same hallway, always the same wallpaper, the same humming of the lights. You knew that TARDIS’s were endless, but this seemed just a bit excessive.

Like it was intentional.

It wasn’t long until a low mechanical noise broke the silence. That humming seemed awfully familiar - but it had been the only thing different within this room in the last fifteen minutes. So of course, like the walking disaster that you are, you decided to chase after it. A voice breaking through your headache, it was gravelly and mechanical. “Eggs -” it kept repeating that word. That was a strange thing for it to say, unless they were craving eggs. Maybe you were craving eggs.

Your hand had continued to run along the wall, like you knew you would get distracted, you lost where you had come from and where you were going. It wasn’t long until you ran out of wall, your hand fell down by your side as you came to a turn. Your body took it and then abruptly froze once more.

In the middle of the room sat ... a ... a dalek.

“Oh shit -” Was the first thing out of your mouth. It’s eye stalk snapped up and landed on you.

“Egg-” It repeated. Oh you’re so thick. So thick and drunk still. That nauseous feeling in your stomach returned. “Egg...” It was blue, one of the master race, how the hell did it end up here? Inside a TARDIS? It looked battered and broken, the panels on its body had all but fallen away and the glass on the stalk was cracked but you knew to never underestimate a dalek, especially one of the master races - that could disintegrate one of its own with just a shot. “Exster-” Backing up, you realised what the thing was trying to say.

“No thank you.” Your feet kept you backing up - hand finally finding the wall once more, as the thing barely began rolling forward. “Do not exterminate me.”

“Extermin...” It kept rolling forward, until your back hit the ugly yellow covered wall. This was it - this is how you died. In a room filled with the SAME thing over and over again. Well, that’s what you thought, until you felt something grab a hold of your forearm, the scream that tore through your throat was brutal and loud, and absolutely embarrassing when you start to think back on it later.

“You stupid girl!” The voice echoed around your head, it was like a spot light from a lighthouse - guiding you back to shore. The hand gripping you tightened, and the distorted voice coming from the broken dalek, that kept calling “eggs-eggs-extermininate” was slowly making its way closer and you couldn’t help but slam your eyes shut as you curled against the wall.

It had all looked the same, the same room - the same walls over and over again. The same buzzing coming from the lights on the ceiling. You couldn’t have found your own way out, no matter how much you wanted too.

“Ah-Ha! Got you!” It wasn’t long until you were suddenly being pulled backward. Your whole body falling and tingling as you slipped through the wall. “I’ve told you time and time again…” Your eyes opened slightly, trying your best to recognise your surroundings, when they landed on her standing in front of you - that fiery look in her eyes. “Do NOT wander off and don’t put your nose where it doesn’t belong.” Eyes snapped open fully, as a heavy gasp escaped your lips - hands flailed slightly before they came to clutch at your hair.

“What the hell is that place!” You managed to find your voice. Tears welled in the corners of your eyes as your hands moved from your hair, to the sleeves of the Master’s coat. She was quiet for a few seconds, eyes squinting down at you.

Your grip tightened, not even noticing that she was carrying a pair of clothes. Is that why she had left earlier, to GET you a pair of clothes for you to change into, so that you didn’t smell like alcohol, puke, piss and alien blood?

“They’re called The Backrooms.” And that’s when the chill ran down your spine. What the hell was it doing on her TARDIS? “And they are dangerous.” NO SHIT - Your name was oh so soft on her lips - which helped to pull your attention back onto the Time Lord. “I told you to stay put.” Her free hand came up and pulled one hand off her jacket, and then she forcefully shoved the spare clothes into your grasp.

“I’m sorry -” You started fumbling over your words. “I had to puke...” You said it so grossly that the Master actually winced. Her nose scrunched up and you tried not to find the entire thing adorable. “I had to find a bathroom and then when I stepped back out - I found myself ...” Another shiver ran down your spine. The Master frowned before her head tilted up, staring at the ceiling.

“That wasn’t very nice.” She muttered and you knew that it was to the TARDIS.

“She tried to kill me again ...” It was a statement more than a question and the Master couldn’t help the devilish grin that crossed her lips. “What the actual fu-”

A hand covered your mouth, as you where pushed back into the wall. Brows furrowed over your forehead as a soft squeak left you, the Master pressed a finger to her lips. “Don’t say another word ...” Her hand moved to grip your chin and your name came out of her lips, which still managed to cause the hairs on your arms to stand on end. “Go find your room -” Brows raised, but hands where still holding parts of your head. “Yes -” You knew that nothing further would be mentioned about why you have a room aboard her TARDIS. “The TARDIS will behave now,” Hazel eyes cut upward again and you swear your heard the time machine laugh. “Go take a shower, get that awful smell off you and get changed.” The hand clutching your chin slowly retracted, moving to her side. “I have to drop you off to your precious Doctor in an hour.”

That had you perking up immensely and you didn’t miss the way that the Master’s eyes darkened ever so slightly by your sudden change in mood. The hand that had covered your mouth moved away and you finally let go of her, clutching the change of clothes to your chest. “Thank you, Master.” You said it with as much sincerity as you could muster. The alien blood caking to your body was starting to get distracting. “Thank you for saving me. Twice tonight.” The Time Lord gave you a look, a tsck leaving her, before she turned on her heel and stalked away.

Huffing you stood straighter, clothes still clutched tightly to you. Turning your head, you heard the low hum of the TARDIS and another door appearing next to you. “This better not be another fucking endless hallway -” You mumbled to yourself but as the door opened you spotted a bed. “Thank god...” turning you made your way into the room - door slamming shut behind you.

What a strange day.

[sphylor]

Ramble about a special interest, now, go I wanna hear

🫰🫰🫰

okay okay okay so!! my favourote book series of all time ever literally ever is called the chronicles of st marys by Jodi Taylor. i literally love it so much UGH andni havent read any of the books in a while so my memory is a little rusty but it is definitely a special interest of mine fhshhfj. basically its about this group of historians who "investigate major historical events in contemporary time" (time travel). its actually incredibly respectful in the way it handles it too.(spoilers under the cut)

it mostly focuses on british history for the most part (its a british bookseries) but they do visit troy, the battle of agincourt in france, constantinople (during the sack might i add which. yeah. that was a stressful moment for sure....) etc etc. its so fucking funny like it has me in tears laughing whenever i read it but its literally do devastating at the same time (my favourite book in the series, "and the rest is history", made me cry 8 times in one read through because of how tragic it is...). but its really well written and researched and youd think with like 14 books in the series, multiple short stories and a spin off sister series it would get a bit stale but honestly it doesnt. the characters are so full of life and, well, character.

speaking of the characters. theres Maxwell who is the main character and who we see everything unfold through the eyes of. shes so funny and witty and doesnt know when to stop which can be her downfall sometimes. she acts a lot through anger and does things very impulsively especially in the beginning. it can lead to some very funny moments (like the time she drove her boyfriend's car into the lake when he gave her the cold shoulder and was rude to her (neither of their faults tbh its complicated fhdhhf)) i see a lot of myself in Max. theres a lot of hurt masked by anger inside of her. shes the reason why i chose the name Max fjdhhf

she faces a lot of struggles as well... but its okay because her best friend Tim is there to save the day (and piss on her a couple of times accidentally). He is my favourite character 100% hes funny in a smooth and charming way. literally such a puppy dog i just want to ruffle his hair and give him treats. also have i mentioned that all of these characters that work at st marys are 1000000000000% audhd like these goobers are so neurodivergent i love em all. but yeah Tim is a proper gentleman super sweet and caring and always there for you but also he ends up going through so much shit and it breaks him it fucking destroys him and its so sad to see...

Markham is my next favourite little guy hes such a little guy a little skrunkly wunkly woo a grimey little goober. his characterisation is pretty weak in the first couple of books but he soon becomes really important and fleshed out. hes the court jester the class clown the village idiot. super funny but he also has a tragic past and when he gets serious he gets serious. while Max and Tim were historians, the ones going out of jumps to different time periods to collect data, Markham is security. he makes sure the st marys building is safe and secure and also goes out on jumps with the disaster magnets also known as historians to make sure they dont get into trouble (its actually more like to get them out of trouble at the very last minute when they inevitably do get themselves into trouble tbh djbfhdj) hes indestructible. hes been shot, blown up, fell off of a 3 story tall burning building, frequently has some sort of illness like mange or worms, and the only bit of permenant damage hes recieved is that a chunk of his ear is missing.

then theres Leon... i have a love hate relationship with him. hes Max's love interest. original Leon from the first 3 books is fine i guess...... he does a lot of shitty things but so does Max honestly.... and their relationship gets ruined over one event where really Max was in the wrong but what she did was understandable... still incredibly morally wrong but yeah.... and neither of them stopped loving each other even when they were apart. and then. and then book 3 throws a massive curveball and kills him off. they never made up with each other. and then Max is rescued from being kidnapped by a younger version of Leon from before they met each other and its rough because this Leon is in a very bad spot and not doing well At All. hes almost a completely different person from who Max knew. and she has to convince him that life is worth living. she knows how the rest of his life will go already. she knows he'll meet her and be happy for a while. and she knows that this is the last time she'll ever see him again. and that she cant even say sorry to him now. and that he will never know what this meeting truly meant to her. its fucking heartbreaking and i ugly sobbed every time i read it. and then she dies gets plonked into a different universe (long story) and in this universe shes the one who died and Leon lived. now this Leon i absolutely love to bits hes so sweet and kind and caring. they both know how lucky they are to be given another chance and theyre not going to screw it up and they really do make it work between them.

theres do much more i could ramble about. like Dr Bairstow and Clive Ronan... or Dr Dowson and Professor Rapson and how those two are totally in love... or how Guthrie or the time Max got stuck in the past... but 14 books is a lot to cover fhshhf I'll leave you with the fact that i actually have a signed copy of one of the books which i am super super happy about !!

thank you for giving me the space to ramble <3<3<3

[seismologically-silly]

so i've thought about the dr who 60th specials and wanted to write my thoughts down:

i had fun. there was stuff in each episode i liked, but stuff i think could have gone better. the concepts were there, but i think sometimes the execution was a little iffy. i'll detail how i would have done this in the readmore

first of all, we keep the practical effects. no pure cgi here no sirree.

(also) first, we'll start at the 13/tenthree regeneration: david wears jodies's clothes for his first adventure. non-negotiable. at some point he and donna have a trip to the tardis wardrobe and help him find his outfit (like ten but not ten. like this face! donna can keep her snark at his suit but it's more playful). not sure how we would do this without breaking the pacing of the tardis reveal/coffee disaster, but this is an outline i do what i want. no post-regenerative weirdness from the doctor, which is remarked upon.

the star beast: pretty good. i like the doctor saving the world with the power of transgender, so we're keeping that. we're taking out the "male-presenting time lord" bit though. donna and rose survive either by being two people and being able to take the metacrisis or by being human and letting it go. and we don't need rose to be deadnamed. rose is rose.

wild blue yonder: no notes! this was a good episode, i wouldn't tweak anything.

the giggle: the big controversial one: i enjoyed it when watching it. it had stuff in there that cater to me. reality-bending villain, shirley-anne bingham, the fifteenth doctor, all bangers. maybe we do something about the german accent though. on the subject of the toymaker: what was the point of these specials? to be the 60th, yeah, but like. all together? why are THESE the 60th? the toymaker comes from the dungeon dimensions (i've been going through discworld and that'll be apparent, sue me), and he's very likely bored there. he's going to want to play with the doctor again. maybe he sees dhawan!master committing regeneration shenanigans during power of the doctor and decides to take advantage. maybe he's the REASON dhawan!master is committing regeneration shenanigans. thirteen is talking to all those older selves anyway, maybe the toymaker wants to wind the clock back. play with one again (he misses and gets ten again, but he liked ten anyway and can work with that. he also liked ten's dynamic with donna. HEY WAIT-). it can't be that hard for the toymaker to make sure the tardis lands so the first person tenthree sees is donna. it'll be fun to see if he kills her, anyway. or maybe he's like us for the first two episodes and doesn't want her dead and is rooting for her to live. he could be more active and help the metacrisis stabilize or be us, doesn't matter. but then tenthree throws the salt and invokes a superstition at the End in wild blue yonder, and the toymaker can go from Audience to Participant FINALLY.

note: i'd probably split the giggle into two. we could have spent more time with john logie baird, more time with the toyroom, and DEFINITELY more time with Mel. i was overjoyed to have her there, but she could have been any other character and the giggle would have remained the same. if mel's going to be in this story, let's make her a part of the story.

mel works for unit, she's seen some amazing things with the doctor, and was a regeneration companion, she could be set in the toymaker's sights. he starts messing with her, and calls the tardis and tenthree and donna back for another game. let's make him more active in the plot. not sure how the tv storyline can stay, but if we're attached to it we can figure it out. anyway. plot ensues.

we keep the confrontation on the roof. tenthree is still killed by the toymaker. he regenerates into fifteen and things are amazing (ncuti is in david's clothes bc that's how this works after the harnell/troughton regeneration. i'm no unnaturalist but i INSIST on that). Going into the EU a bit to explain what i'm doing here: in Death in the Family, the Seventh Doctor faces a being not from this dimension who can rewrite the rules of reality. familiar? (not the toymaker) seven is killed. dead. no regeneration. but he's got some loophole that lets him be an echo and take his companions to different places and times so that can work on his vague plan to bring him back. shortly after getting them started, this echo fades away. i'm thinking we do something like that. whether because of the toymaker's influence, regeneration being Weird after the thirteenth even with the timeless child, or anything else, fourteen is around for a bit longer as an echo to help fifteen get his bearings. we still have our high-stakes game of catch, doing some character building for fifteen and trying to figure out what the hell just happened, and fifteen is the one who throws the ball outside of the toymaker's reach. he has his first "i am the doctor" speech and claims his prize as the toymaker's banishment. celebrations. we cut to tenthree so is smiling at his friends. he's partially see-through. the echo is fading. he looks at his future, secure. he looks at his friends, safe.

"Let's do this right, this time," he says, more to himself than anything. he turns to the doctor and straightens- it's obvious he's in a lot of pain, but he's steadfast. "This is my prize- i wish you to have a good future. have a good life, Doctor. Remember to tell your loved ones you love them."

He walks over to Donna and gives her the biggest hug she's ever received. He ropes Mel into it as well. And content in the arms of his friends his family, where Ten didn't want to go, Tenthree lets his echo fade peacefully.

The Doctor sees his friends struggling with having him fade to nothing in their arms, so he walks over and completes the hug. They don't let go for a long time.

Cut to the TARDIS. The Doctor is getting ready to go. Donna and Mel, and maybe Shirley-Anne and Kate are next to him. "Any of you want to come with?" he asks. "Big universe, lots to see. Another whirl?"

They look at each other, and with regret, shake their heads. "We've got to tell our loved ones we love them," they say. Fifteen deflates for a moment, before standing straighter and giving them a wink and a wave. Before he can fully disappear into the TARDIS, Donna grabs him.

"But you'll be coming round to visit though. Not letting you say no! Next Friday, 5pm, my house, okay?"

The Doctor laughs and gives her a big kiss on the forehead. "I'll see you then, love."

But first, off to Everywhere.

(we're keeping the jukebox)