#even sonic screwdrivers get switched out

[rystiel]

usually i’d say all shows should come to an end eventually. but doctor who? this shit’s lasted 60 years, it better fucking last 60 more

[mizgnomer]

Behind the Scenes of The Giggle - Part Six Excerpt from Benjamin Cook's DWM #597 Interview with Catherine Tate (with guest appearance by David Tennant)

"Do you know, we went to an escape room with Neil? He loves them. It was his birthday while we were here…” [ Neil Patrick Harris ] celebrated his 49th while filming Doctor Who in Bristol last month. By day, he donned the Toymaker’s tux and shimmied gleefully on the streets. By night, he took David and Catherine out to dinner, then on to Worlds Collide, Bristol’s best – and only – Doctor Who-themed escape room. Players are given 60 minutes to work out how to close a tear in the fabric of spacetime, before the Cybermen break through (the Toymaker has fought the Cybermen!!). “He’d booked it out,” says Catherine. “He’d shut down the whole place [for the night] and they let us in.” “Proper Hollywood,” says David. “Innit, though! That’s old money, that is,” she laughs. “And Jodie [Whittaker’s Doctor] turns up,” says David. “She was on a PA. As if –” “– as if she’s calling you. And there was a scarf. And a sonic screwdriver.” “And a Cyberman.” “A Cyberman head, yeah.” Aren’t Catherine and David… you know, overqualified for a Doctor Who escape room? “I was quite hopeful,” he says. “I thought, these are puzzles I’m going to be able to solve. But then–” “There were chess pieces,” says Catherine, in much the same tone of voice in which Donna once informed the Doctor that Santa’s a robot. “I mean, oh my God! Sorry, but how the hell –?” Neil was brilliant at it, though. “He was annoyingly good.” The Toymaker and his games are quite notorious. “Yes, because then he went, ‘Let’s do another one! We’re gonna do the World War Two room.’ That’s when I came to life.” “It’s true,” says David. “I loved that one. It was great. We were spies and we’d infiltrated a Nazi bunker.” “It involved a bit more role play, didn’t it? Very Toymaker. And zome outrageous ack-sents!” “But after the Doctor Who one,” says Catherine, “it was clear that Neil and David were better at it. There was a clear division between the coulds and the could-nots. So Neil and David went into one room, and me, [executive producer] Phil Collinson, and Charlie [De Melo], who plays… is it Charles Banerjee? [glimpsed in last year’s Christmas Day trailer, rushing through the rain towards Mr Emporium’s toyshop] – went in another room. I’d said to Phil and Charlie, ‘Let’s cut the deadwood and go into a room on our own.’ You do it against each other, and see who gets out first. “So me, Charlie and Phil had a right old laugh,” recalls Catherine, cracking up, “while David and Neil went off and… got out much quicker. Midway through ours, they’d already finished and were watching us scrabble around trying to get out of our German bunker.” She chuckles at the memory. “Then suddenly through the PA comes: ‘DONNAAA!!!’” David says nothing, but he looks very pleased with himself.

Also, from Charlie De Melo's Instagram:

I'm struggling to think of a stranger evening than one, last June, doing a @bbcdoctorwho themed escape room, with The Doctor, Donna and the Toymaker. David and Neil, it turns out, are *very* good at escape rooms. The rest of us, less so. They rushed around the room, picking up clues and turning switches and all manner of other things, whilst the rest of us looked on, utterly bemused (& a little tooty in my case). So on they powered. Leaving us scratching our heads in a room full of disembodied Cybermen ones. Before confusion could give way to frustration, the tannoy crackled. It was David. They'd somehow managed to finish the entire thing whilst we all had stood still where we'd been left. Although he'd lost his lilting, melodic, Scottish brogue. He was now The Doctor. And in the Doctor's voice he began barking orders at us, talking us through the puzzles and guiding us out of whatever wibbly wobbly mess we were in and back to the safety of Bristol. "Donna! Quick! You have to get them out of there, the Cybermen are coming!"

For other posts in this set, please see the #whoBtsGiggle tag. The full episode list is [ here ]

[gracesimp]

Sonic Duties

tenth doctor x fem!reader

Summary: the doctor teaches his companion how to use his sonic screwdriver.

just some short fluff tbh :') and maybe a little...suggestive? ;)

If the Doctor wasn't piloting the TARDIS, he was working on her. And if Rose was being honest, she didn't believe that the Doctor had the slightest clue of what he was doing. Sometimes her and y/n even doubted that the ship needed repairing, the Doctor just coming up with that excuse to kill off his boredom when the girls' asked for a relaxed day.

Today was no different. Rose decided she wanted to pop back home for a short visit to see her mum. Y/n tagged along to say a quick 'hi' to Jackie, but a quick greeting involving the eldest Tyler would last at least an hour, so, the Doctor did what he always did. He got to work.

As predicted, an hour had passed before his companion rejoined him. He failed to hear the door opening as he was positioned under the ground railings, on his back with his sonic working away.

"Whatcha doing?" Y/n asked, evidently scaring the man as he jumped, dropping his screwdriver and making it fall on to his head as he groaned. Y/n held a hand to her mouth, trying her best to contain her giggles as the TimeLord hopped out from under the grating, rubbing his head with narrowed eyes.

"Don't do that! I may have two hearts but I'm just as good as dead if one of them stops!" He exclaimed.

Her giggles became louder and she pushed his hand away from his forehead, dragging him down gently by the neck as she placed a gentle kiss to the non existent bump. "You big baby."

"It hurt!" The Doc defended before rolling his eyes as a smile took over his face. He grabbed Y/n's hand, dragging her towards the wires his was fixing. "I'm just sorting out the wiring so that the radar gets more accurate reads. Wanna try?" He asked, holding his sonic out to her.

"Me?" Y/n pointed at herself, an unsure expression taking over.

"No, her behind you." Completely oblivious, Y/n looked around the room, finding it unoccupied baring the two. The Doctor smiled fondly. "Yes, you."

Bouncing on the balls of her feet, she raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?" This earned a chuckle as he nodded his head. "Course I'm sure. I trust you. C'mon." He lead her by the hand to under the floor, revealing multicoloured wires exporting short sparks.

"Okay, so, psychic link." He said, pressing the sonic into her hand, allowing their fingers to breeze past each others as a slight shock ran through his veins. "Point and think!"

"Okay!" Y/n smiled, glowing with confidence as her head disappeared under the floor, leaving the man standing tall on the ground, unable to see his companion from the small holes in the grating. A few seconds later her head popped back up, all previous confidence having disappeared. "Doctor.."

"Mm?"

"...What do I think?"

His smile falters a little and he rushes to get her back on her feet. "Actually, let's try it on something easier first." Y/n moans but complies, rolling her eyes when the Doctor rambles on about 'one wrong move ripping the fabric of space and time' or something along those lines. He interwines their fingers, pulling her forward towards the console.

"Aha!" Y/n looks up, watching as he fiddles with the monitor, pressing some buttons on the side of it. "Okay! Beginners practice! Just turn the monitor on. Easy Peasy - before you know it, you'll be a pro!"

"Do you reckon?" She smiles widely while the Doctor squeezes her hand.

"Course I do!" He nudges her with his elbow. "Right, just press this button," he steps behind her, her back pressing into his chest as he guides her finger to press on the button, smirking slightly as her breath hitches. "Point," He lifts her arm up, facing the switched off monitor. "And think." he whispers into her ear, sending shivers down her spine. Y/n curses internally, very thankful he was teaching her the ways of his screwdriver and not the psychic paper.

The blue light reflects on the blackness of the screen. For a few seconds, nothing happens. Just as she was about to give up, noise starts coming from the monitor. Shortly after it was accompanied by a video of her favourite film.

She jumps up in triumph, joining the doctor in his laughter as he wraps an arm around her, pressing her into him as he shakes her left and right.

"I did it!"

The Doctor offers her a cheeky wink, scrunching his nose proudly as a blood runs and taints her cheeks. "Never doubted you!"

[crownjewel123]

I’m requesting a 15th!Doctor x Rogue fix it fic where the Doctor uses the psychic circuit to find Rogue and there’s a cute reunion between the Doctor and Rogue where they decide to travel together and Rubys there like “awww” a lot of fluff hurt/comfort maybe some tears and a kiss! Thank you so much have a good day!

Combining your request with @flamboyantbisexual’s since they’re rather similar. I hope you enjoy, I just finished the episode myself :)

That couldn’t be it, right?

They had lost plenty of people, for good. Almost everyone he promised to protect, it was like he was signing off on the execution himself when he promised.

The Doctor, they weren’t the type to give up. So why was he?

It is what it is, brush off the dust, and keep swimming. Just like Dory always says.

But why? Why should they keep doing this? How does he continue to do this? He thinks, maybe he’s too old to let it just roll off the shoulders so easily.

And, they had just met him. Just truly, honestly, properly met Rogue. Why, then, did it sting like they had always known?

The joke about the screwdriver, the cabinets, Rogue reminded him of someone long lost.

And pulling the gun on him on the first meeting, telling them to find him. It was all so familiar, so similar. Just like how they had met here at her ending. Went back, uploaded her to the library.

Except this time, someone remains, not just a consciousness.

They look down at the ring on his finger, the Hermes symbol glaring back at him. The sign of a traveler, the sign of a medic. How ironic that they were both.

Ruby smiled sadly at him from across the room, as he twists the silver accessory around his finger. Silent as they relax in the stillness. They didn’t normally do stillness.

“Doctor, what’s on your mind?” Ruby asks softly, worry in her eyes as they rest on his furrowed brow. They know she has his best interest in mind, he’s thankful for his best friend. She doesn’t let him brood in the silence alone, or just push on like it’s nothing. A healthier approach in all honesty.

Like a light-switch in their head, they snap their fingers.

“I know how to find him!” They jump with a grin, slipping the ring off.

“Doctor?” Ruby raises a brow, excited though wary. Where had his mind drifted off to now.

“His atoms may be difficult to find, but this ring- I’m certain we could use it to track his bio-diversity to the void he’s trapped in,” The Doctor beans and there’s a certain giddiness to his demeanor. Ruby visibly brightens, gesturing for him to go on.

“How?”

“I’m going to use the Tardis’ psychic circuit to cross examine his atomic signature, and trace him to the void he’s in with the Chuldor’s,” a small tray slides out from the console with the flick of a switch. They delicately place the ring, sliding it back into place, and the Tardis lets out a ding. Then, her engines begin to churn to life.

“But isn’t it possible you’ll bring a Chuldor aboard by accident? Do you think they’ve decided to cosplay as him?” She’s excited, but she doesn’t want to get her hopes too high. She wants them to be safe- well safe as they can be. His grin widens.

“I would worry, except, Rogue has been in the Tardis, which means he’s contracted her neuron energy,” the Tardis is moving beneath their feet now, shifting swiftly through the vortex. “I could beam him up here without ever setting foot outside- the time vortex is sure to have rubbed off on him even in that short amount of time.” They both exchange a giddy laugh.

And as they soar and the engines ring their tune, it’s not long that they’re grinding to a halt- he would never turn those brakes off.

With a sonic to the console, there’s a small ding, as a gasp escapes from Ruby. A small sound that echoes behind them, and they turn.

There he is, like the moment he had zapped himself away. Beautiful blue eyes, and suit clinging to him just like that very night in 1813.

“I knew you’d find me,” there’s tears brimming in Rogue’s eyes as he smiles back at him. Overcome by emotions the Doctor can’t begin to unwind, he jogs over and pulls him into a tight hug. “I never doubted it for a second.”

“How could I resist? Love a good challenge, saving a damsel.” The Doctor jests as he pulls back to meet his beautiful blue eyes. He brushes away a single tear. Rogue lets out a laugh.

“That would be a good edition to my campaign,” he searches their brown eyes with his own. “And what a brave night is leather armor.” He notes the other’s dress as he surveys them. The Doctor laughs once again, and Ruby’s own baffled laugh echoes them.

“I believe there’s only one thing left then.” The Doctor remarks.

“What’s that?” Rogue raises a brow.

“True love’s kiss!” Ruby cheers, jumping for joy behind them.

“You heard her,” the Doctor grins, leaning into Rogue with a chaste and amorous embrace. There’s clapping behind them, as Ruby cheers happily. Rogue leans into their soft exchange, and then they both part. “Now, how’s about I show you the stars?”

“I’d follow you anywhere.” Rogue smiles.

[thorin-baby-bear]

Can I request a doctor who avere fic, where reader is a reggresor and regressed in the tardis while the doctor is working in the console and reader wanders I'm and just stares at him wrapped in a blanket. The doctor asks what's wrong but reader cant talk well and just goes up to him and hugs him , eventually he figures it out that readers a regressor and alit if fluff happens.

I was picturing this as 10th Doctor in my head, but it can really be read as any lol

A Good Day

A Doctor Who agere fic :)

Tags: little!reader, gn!reader, cg!doctor, masc!doctor

“Come on girl, don’t go out on me now.” The Doctor muttered, banging on the TARDIS controls with a rubber mallet. You watched from the stairs, enraptured as sparks flew and both the TARDIS and the Doctor began to make increasingly indignant noises as they battled. The air was colder up here than it had been in your room, and you drew the blanket you were wearing tighter, wrapping yourself almost in a cocoon as you began to stumble up the stairs. The Doctor turned and watched you walk towards him with a grin on his face. “Ah, y/n, great timing! Flip that switch would you?” He called with a wave. 

You stopped next to him, staring up and blinking almost owlishly as he continued to hit the controls. “I said, flip that switch would you?” The Doctor repeated, now having to shout over the TARDIS’s din. You simply plopped down, your thumb moving determinedly up to your mouth and your eyes never leaving his face. Maybe it was that he was tired, or maybe he was just too distracted by the TARDIS, but for whatever reason the Doctor could not pick up on the fact that you were regressed. It could also very possibly have been the fact that you never told him, but the other two seemed much more reasonable in the moment. The Doctor squinted down at you in confusion before reaching over to flip the switch and shouting in triumph as the previous noise was replaced by the gentle, natural whooshing of the TARDIS. Then he turned back down to you, frowning as you stared up at him and sucked your thumb. 

“Now,” he mused, “what do we have here?” 

Kneeling down, he pulled out his sonic screwdriver and flashed it over you, raising an amused eyebrow at your little giggles. He looked at the results with wide eyes and made a little surprised face. “Ohhhhhh, that– that actually makes a lot of sense.” He said, thinking back to all the toys you had bought on your trips. You looked down, wiggling a bit under the Doctor’s watchful eye and covering your face with your hair. The Doctor smiled, sitting down next to you with a sigh. 

“Floor’s not very comfortable, is it?” He whispered, leaning over to you conspiratorially and brushing your hair out of your face. You hesitated before shaking your head. The Doctor nodded in understanding. “Pretty cold too.” You made a little whine of agreement, and the Doctor ruffled your hair. You both sat there for a moment, quietly listening to the TARDIS as the floor rumbled beneath you. 

“Wanna get up?” 

You nodded vigorously and the Doctor laughed, standing up and lifting you into his arms. You giggled, wrapping your arms around the Doctor’s neck as he spun you both in a circle. He walked you around the circle, occasionally bouncing you or tossing you up in the air (a demonstration of strength you didn’t know he had) and grinning at your squeals of delight as he caught you, but always being very cautious to see what you didn’t like. After a while of this your stomach started to growl and the Doctor patted you on the back, heading towards the stairs as you grumbled about the end of your game. “I know, but you can’t play on an empty stomach.” He said. You nodded begrudgingly and to the kitchen you went.

The Doctor set you down gently in a chair before heading over to the pantry and beginning to search through it. Funny, you never even knew the TARDIS had a kitchen. “Y/n,” the Doctor called, snapping you from your thoughts, “gold fish?” 

You nodded again, making grabby hands towards the Doctor as he poured you a bowl of the crackers. “I’ll make you a real meal later, but this’ll do for now, yeah?” He set the snack down in front of you along with a plate full of grapes. You smiled up at him before digging in, too taken by the snack to see the Doctor watching you almost sadly. He sat down in the chair next to you and put an arm around your shoulder. 

“I can’t believe I didn’t notice.” He murmured. 

You made a quiet noise and nuzzled into his arm before continuing to eat your snack. The Doctor smiled. There would be time for questions and brooding later. Right now he had a little to give his attention to, and you were definitely going to need it. 

The rest of the day was spent with games, trying to make the TARDIS show cartoons on her screens and more games (The Doctor’s games were always the best, new  and exciting and full of adventure). He even helped you turn the bottom of the control room into a blanket cave, with lots of comfy places to lay down and read and rest after a long day, and it was in this blanket cave that you ended your day, curled up against the Doctor as he read from an old children’s book he had found in the library. His voice carried soothingly throughout the room with a comforting tone that made you feel safe and warm, and he never failed to make you laugh with his voices. 

In the end, the TARDIS screens lit up with children’s movies (somehow it seemed to know all of your favorites) and quiet music drifted through the air as you unwound and sprawled out on the blankets. “Not too bad of a day, hmm?” The Doctor said, smiling down at you. You nodded, your thumb in your mouth and your blankie pulled up to your chin. The Doctor sighed happily and wrapped an arm around your shoulder. “Not bad at all.”

[dailycharacteroption]

Experimental Apparatus Mechanic (Mechanic Alternate Class Feature)

(art by DI Studios on Artstation)

 It is a long-standing trope of many sci-fi series that certain technologically-savvy character should wield a strange technological device that seems to have more functions than plausible, a gadget so powerful and complex that it can seemingly do whatever the user (and more importantly, the writers) needs at any given moment.

These are your sonic screwdrivers, your tricorders, your nano-multitools, and they almost seem magical in their ability to do almost anything that the user wants, within reason.

So today’s subject explains these wondrous devices… by straight-up making them actually magical. Technomagical to be exact!

The experimental apparatus is unique among the various alternate mechanic class features in that it is not purely technological, but in fact a hybrid technomagical device, demonstrating how magic has so thoroughly blended with technology that it isn’t uncommon for mechanics to learn how it all works without properly studying spellcraft.

With this class option, a mechanic character essentially is working to perfect a singular fantastical device that will pave the way for new technomagical innovation, or at least prove their mastery of miniaturizing other devices and putting them to work.

Speaking of which, the exact form this device takes can vary. Some may look like a wand or baton, while another might be an eye-like oculus that glows with plasma from within, or perhaps a wrist computer, enigmatic box with no immediately discernable interface, and so on. Regardless of the form it takes, the device can do many surprising things, which will only grow in number as the mechanic perfects it.

 To start with the apparatus has one magical or technomagical item, but can incorporate one more, drawing from magical items, hybrid items, or even magitech augs tied to certain bodily systems. As their mastery grows, they can replace older devices with greater ones and even incorporate more, eventually having four such devices incorporated, though obviously they must be lightweight in nature. Miniaturization can only do so much, after all.

With their focus on technomagic, these mechanics lean more into mysticism and engineering rather than computers, and can apply their skills towards the mystical arts as well.

Initially, the apparatus requires directed effort to switch between modes, but they eventually streamline it to be faster, and can even push it with a bit of expended resolve.

Eventually, they also start adding integrated spell gems to the device, allowing the mechanic to cast a handful of spells per day. While the selection of spells their apparatus “knows” is initially quite small, they eventually find space to add more, and even gain more and higher-level spell slots to cast them with. They can even devote some of their training normally reserved for tricks to improving the space for spells and number of spell slots as well.

The most powerful of these mechanics make one final improvement which turns the device into a truly wondrous relic of technomagic. Some make theirs nearly indestructible and usable by anyone with the resolve, while others make the device able to cast even greater spells. Finally, some make their device able to utilize three of their integrated devices rather than just two.

With the sheer variety of magical and hybrid items, not to mention magitech augmentations out there, not to mention spells, these multitools can easily grow from a nifty gadget to a truly fantastical piece of machinery. If having a device that can provide utility through both the integrated items and the spellcasting, this option may appeal to you. The sheer number of builds can vary a lot, but remember that you don’t get items back when you replace them inside the apparatus, so be sure before replacing any.

 When it comes to characters that would invent and utilize such a device, your mechanic might be an unhinged genius, a plucky newcomer whose ideas are dismissed by the established academics, or something similar. They might even claim to come from a culture where technology is just that more advanced. Alternatively, perhaps they did not invent the device, but discovered it, and struggle to coax secrets out of it?

  When a dimensional event drags a science vessel into the Negative Energy Plane, hope seems a far-flung fantasy, but for now the experimental shields keep the live-devouring void at bay. However, it is only a matter of time before sceaduinar raiding parties find the vessel, and at that point the only slim hope that remains is the strange device that the daughter of the head researcher has been tinkering with.

 AzureCorp is ostensible a company specializing in logistics, but in truth, their primary export is blackmail fueled by the secrets they plunder and hoard. Their CEO seems to have his claws in everything, hindering the party at every turn and even getting them in trouble with the law on false charges. However, what the corporation hasn’t accounted for is the party borrowing a wondrous implement built by a master technomagical engineer, a device with so many functions that calling it a “wrench” is an exercise in absurdity. Applied in the right way, it could help them expose the crimes of the crooked company.

 Used to cobbling together tech from wrecks and ancient machines, Illuxa would be considered typical for a brakim engineer if not for the sheer genius of some of her work, including her favorite multitool, which she constantly adds to and modifies, seemingly achieving magical effects with it’s work.

[trashboatprince]

Doctor Who spoilers about the TARDIS.

I keep seeing people hating on the new TARDIS interior, and honestly? I personally love the hell out of it.

It's very clearly an homage to the classic eras where the TARDIS was white with the round things, with a more simple, yet still cluttered, console with all sorts of switches and levers. It's simplistic in design, just like it had been for the classic who era, and yet this new one is also massive, complicated in ways, a lot like what you see in nuwho.

It's got the dome-like shape going on, it's huge with ramps going every which way, and part of the console honestly reminds me greatly of Eleven's second interior and Twelve's.

It's a lovely, beautiful blend of old and new, just like how Fourteen's screwdriver has elements of former sonic devices (both screwdriver and laser), and even the outside of the TARDIS still hints to the past as it is clearly Thirteen's version!

I know people love the more cluttered, crazy looking versions we got in nuwho, from the corals of Nine and Ten's, to the shiny chrome and glass of Eleven and Twelve's, to whatever the hell cool-ass Meow Wolf looking thing Thirteen had going on, but I LOVE the classic who TARDIS look we have going on now.

It's retro and yet done in a futuristic way in this new interior, bringing the 60s-80s into the 2020s, with little bits and bobs of the 2000's and 2010's sprinkled in. It's perfect for a Doctor who we are watching through specials specifically meant to give us a fun set of adventures during the 60th anniversary. This is a celebration of the past and future of the show, and we need to acknowledge that Doctor Who is sixty years old, it didn't just start in 2005 with Nine after all.

But that's just my opinion, I dunno. I still stand by it, it's a beautiful design and I honestly can't wait to see what Fifteen's will be like. <3 I hope he gets the roundales as well. :D

[unboundwanderers]

@terestris sent in: “  i don’t think there’s a person in the world who compares to you.  ” // for the looney doctor uwu | flirty memes | ACCEPTING

                  HE HADN'T OPENED A TEAR IN THE UNIVERSE IN A MINUTE. He exhaled softly as he moved to set up various machinery that linked to the TARDIS console room. They had a big open gymnasium to operate with, he'd cleared one out. Now he was just setting everything up. Wiring things into the console- he was bustling around like the little puppy he used to be. Various generators and emitters were put into place. Gaia was in the center of the room- he looked back up, just to make sure-- looking at his friend. He smiled at her, but there was something behind those eyes that indicated that... well... this might be it. They've been together for a long while, now- and so... it was hard for him to accept what was coming-- even when she said that amidst their moment of silence.

                  He smirked, moving toward her and grabbing her hand like an energetic soul that wasn't going to die down soon. "And so are you! We're all so unique! It's a majestic experience, learning about all those other people, and their stories! My story! Your story! We're one of a kind~" He winked at her before he moved her toward the center of the room. "I'm about to use The Tardis to punch through the fabric of reality! It's going to open up a connection to the multiverse! You need to focus on your own- the scent of home, the scent of life! Your home! Yours!" He pointed toward the rift about to open and made her look.

                  "You may go into a trance state, but just focus on thinking about home! The Tardis is going to feed you some energy- supercharge ya! All you need to do is find that link to home-!!" He backed up beating his chest like a monkey, "Badaboomba!" He moved to run into The Police Box, with had wires trailing out, connecting to different machinery and engines. He moved to start flicking different switches and levers- before yanking down on The TARDIS' engine release, which funneled power into the machinery... and GAIA SAW as a MAJESTIC tear in the fabric of SPACE and TIME opened up before her, it was indescribable in its beauty.

                  THE DOCTOR knew better than to stare too, especially when he had forces on his trail that he had to delay for Gaia. He inhaled deeply- time slowing for him as he took just a few microseconds to think about ETERNITY. THIS WAS IT. He always had this prick, in the back of his head, whenever he could feel the final moments of his life coming up when the times were getting desperate when the measures were stretched thin. He felt that prick now... as he walked toward the entrance to the gymnasium, pulling it open and slamming it shut behind him. With The Sonic Screwdriver- he double-locked the doors and rested the screwdriver in his pocket.

                  FEAR washed over his body right now, fear that melted into sudden steel. It's okay to be scared he told himself. Death is scary. He stood at the doors, he could feel it- as he always had felt before... whenever he'd run into this specter before- the air was growing colder. Death was coming, and it was time to face it head-on. He exhaled softly. He wondered if this was how Eula felt before she marched into battle... He shut his eyes for a moment and his fists tightened into balls as he let out another long exhale. He knew what this was all for. Just gotta save one person. Just one more person. That's what he echoed out into his mind. Putting everything on the line so that Gaia can get home. That's what's important right now.

                  Still wish someone was there to hold his hand. He pushed the doors to the outside open as he walked out, hands in his jacket pockets as he stood before an approaching Caspian. The Inner doors were locked, and with a quick tap of The Sonic Screwdriver... so were the outer doors. He grinned at Caspian, a specter who'd chased them from Skaro to beyond... He almost had a sort of fondness for the chase. He shook his head, knowing a darker purpose was near. He cried out, "Hello Caspian~! Lovely to see you--! Knew those Daleks wouldn't nip ya in the bud, pal!" He gave Caspian a celebratory snap and a point before he rested his hand on his side.

                                    "Is your dear old master following close behind~?"

[brandnewcouch]

SICKFIC TIME!!!! kinda

this isn’t snz, it’s not even fully a sickfic, just the doctor being a massive nerd and donna being done with it

also this is fully inspired by my nursing major ass being an absolute nerd. like tonsils are drained with an 18 gauge needle??? that’s HUGE…. anyway…..

——

“Oh! Yes! Great! You’re awake!” Donna heard The Doctor shout as she trudged towards him. She winced slightly as she came closer. His childlike energy certainly wasn’t helping her pounding headache.

“Come on! I figured out exactly where we’re going today!” he said, practically bouncing off the walls.

“The only place I’m going today is my bed, Spaceman,” she croaked. “Right after I make my tea.” The Doctor stared at her for a moment, and Donna could’ve sworn she could see the cogs turning in his brain.

“What happened to your voice?” he asked, eyebrows furrowed.

“Oh, I just decided to switch it up,” she said sarcastically. “What do you think?”

He stared at her blankly, clearly struggling to understand what she was getting at. She rolled her eyes in annoyance. 900 year old, supposedly genius alien, and he couldn’t even pick up on illness.

“I’m sick, Dumbo,” she said with an eye roll.

“Oh…. oh….. interesting,” he said as he thought it over.

“What? None of the other dozens of humans you’ve traveled with ever got ill?”

“No, no, they did. Of course they did. Just not like this.”

“What do you mean?” she asked suspiciously. If he was about to tell her this was some weird alien disease, she was going to kick his ass all the way back to Mars.

“When the others were sick it was the sneezing and the coughing and maybe the voice would start to go after a few days, but you don’t have any of that. You’re completely fine! I mean… minus the voice, of course.”

“Ha! I wish it was that simple, mate,” she said, voice fading in and out between words. “I can barely swallow.”

"Hmm,” he hummed, thinking it over. Without warning, he walked up to Donna and placed his hands on her neck. She jumped in surprise but didn’t pull away.

“Oh….oh…wow…this is quite interesting,” he said as he pressed lightly with his fingers. “Your anterior cervical lymph nodes are huge. Seriously, gigantic. Some major lymphadenitis going on.”

“Lovely,” she said dryly. She didn’t even bother to ask him what any of that means. Suddenly, his eyes lit up with… excitement?

“The tonsils! Oh, the tonsils! Human tonsils are really so interesting, and with illness?” He whipped out the sonic screwdriver with extreme enthusiasm. “Mind if I take a look?”

She shot him a distrustful glare, and he seemed to pick up on the message.

“Relax, I’m not going to scan you. I’m just using it as a flashlight,” he explained.

“So you’re using my misery as a fun little science experiment?”

“Um…. yes?” he said innocently.

“Ugh, fine,” she groaned. “But you’re making my tea.”

“Deal. Now open up.”

She obliged, and The Doctor, as promised, only used the screwdriver as a flashlight. His eyes grew wider and a smile spread across his face.

“Oh, this is just brilliant,” he whispered. “Who knew human tonsils could get this big? I mean… I knew, of course. These are grade 3, by the way, but I’ve never seen it in person!”

“Really? In the hundreds of years you’ve been alive, you’ve never seen a single other pair of human tonsils look like this?” she asked, slightly annoyed.

“I don’t exactly go around asking people to show me their tonsils,” he shrugged. “Now open back up! I’m not done looking.” She gave him a dirty look but did as he asked.

“Absolutely fascinating,” he said in awe. “You know, I bet I could drain a ton of lymphatic fluid from these. Go in with a syringe, probably an 18 gauge nee-“

“Okay, we’re done!” Donna snapped. “I am tired of being a zoo animal. You’ve had your fun, now go make my tea.”

“But-“

“Now.”

“Yes, Earth Girl.”

[unboundtravels]

SHORT TRIPS; UNBOUNDNOVEMBER 3/23 : ACESSORIZING

After acquiring a new tool off of a meddlesome foe, The Doctor debates whether or not she should scrap this new accessory. A lone trek through 1482 Italy allows her to put that curiosity to the test.

When her thumb presses against the activation switch on the small cylindrical device, there is a soft whirring. Her icy hues narrow quietly as the small light on the end stays active for as long as her hand remains on the button, so does the whirring. When she lifts her hand off of it, there's another accompanying click, but all functions and sounds cease at that same moment. She exhales, resting the Sonic Screwdriver between both her hands. She rolls it around in her hands for a moment before hammering it lightly against her palm. Again, there is another huff. It's almost a sound akin to a disgusted reaction. 

"What would I even do with such a confounded device? Hm?" She mumbles to herself. Dressed in all black, The Doctor strolls down the streets of Milan, Italy. The summer is hot in 1482, but she's arrived on a day when the breeze is nice and the air is crisp and cool. It's a pleasurable sensation, feeling the relaxing breeze against warm skin. She's sure the crew likes it. They needed a day out, so the TARDIS was parked next to a marketplace, where the three were sure to spend away their money stored within the TARDIS vaults. She had no use for the stuff, anyway. She might as well let them spend what they have. She broke away from the group, however. She's taking an opportunity to pick up a long overdue commission from a nearby artist currently working on a similar job just near here. If she recalls... He's set up a makeshift workshop nearby.

"And... at this time... Davinci's gone back to the cathedral... meaning his wares are mine to pillage." She giggles softly, before sighing. "No, no. I'm only picking up what I ordered! And I instructed him to leave it signed and wrapped after he finished." She recounted, wanting to simply pick it up and leave whenever she was expecting to pass by this year. They had just departed from a more... arthurian year and time. That's where the Screwdriver came from, but she wasn't intentionally trying to steer the TARDIS towards Italy. If she had, it was purely accidental of course. And the reason she broke off was of course just because she wanted time to herself to figure out if she should dispose of the screwdriver. Not because she wanted to pick up her commission and in turn avoid Stella wondering if this landing point had been purposeful, or as accidental as her grandmother had claimed. Softly, she shook the paranoia of a scolding out of her mind. All thoughts regarding prior reasoning left, and instead returned toward the screwdriver.

"Mm... And where, praytell, should I have left it? Hm? With that Meddlesome clown? Hm?" She huffed again, before looking back down at the screwdriver. "No, no. I should destroy it. Yes! Yes. What use could it provide? Its only use is vandalism! Yes! Yes. Vandalism, and petty thievery." She nodded, noting that those were traits undignified of an elder lady such as herself. She suddenly found herself stopped in front of Davinci's makeshift workshop, and when rattling the handle didn't yield toward an unlocked door, she found her brows furrowing slightly in frustration. Her eyes drifted toward that screwdriver, and well. It wasn't a temptation. No! It was... purely convenient. Perhaps this was a moment to familiarize herself with its basic function. Truly, this could determine the device's practicality. 

It took her sixty seconds to get the screws out from the door and for the knob to come straight off. Opening the metallic latch and pushing the wooden door open revealed the dark chambers of Davinci's currently empty workshop. There, in the corner, was a wrapped and signed painting just waiting to be hung in the library. The Doctor's eyes drifted back down toward the cylindrical silver device... and now, it suddenly had a weight. A heft. A sort of... convenient effectiveness that she found herself entranced by.

"Well... I'm sure there wouldn't be that much harm in hanging onto it... for now, at least." 

And as she closed up the studio behind her, that faint chuckle echoed out just before it was cut off by the wooden door.

[yeonchi]

Doctor Who 10 for 10 Part 9/10: Series 9

2015 marked ten years of the revived series’ premiere and by this point, most of the world knew about Doctor Who again, if not for the first time, even if various countries dropped in and out during that time. While my personal project would go on hiatus for two years so I could focus on my high school studies, the spirit of the series never left as I awaited new episodes and wrote more of my own in preparation for the end of the hiatus.

With Series 9, Jenna Coleman was set to narrowly beat Karen Gillan for the longest companion tenure of the revived series (counting the Clara echoes into the mix). The series would also see the consequences of Clara’s newfound dynamic with the Doctor that had developed throughout Series 8. Let’s jump into the retrospective for Series 9, where I’ll try to follow the format from Series 1 and not have it be essentially a recount of every story in the series.

1. The two-parter shake-up (and writer credits)

Series 7 entirely consisted of standalone episodes, which was also the case for Series 8 with the exception of the two-parter finale, the first of its kind since Series 5 in 2010. Series 9 shakes this up as most of the episodes are paired into two-parter stories with another two-parter finale that is really a three-parter, leaving a single standalone episode. The fifth and sixth episodes, while paired as a two-parter, are really just two standalone episodes loosely tied into each other.

Looking back at the writer credits of previous revived era episodes, I can say that making the series with entirely two-parter stories doesn’t really make a difference to the stress on the production team in terms of having to deal with different writers and directors, particularly since in this series, standalone episodes are still a thing and there are different directors for each production block. I would say that hiring less writers/directors would lessen the stress on the production team, but we’ll never know because each series has an average of 7 writers (including the showrunner) and the showrunner still has to be more involved in the production of the series.

Also, Steven Moffat has been sharing co-writer credits on certain episodes from Series 8 onwards. Apparently, the reason why Steven Moffat did this was because one writer whose story he essentially rewrote completely (possibly Stephen Thompson) tried to use it to get into Hollywood. He was unsuccessful, for better or worse, but Moffat was determined to not let something like this happen again.

In the RTD era, RTD wrote the final drafts for every episode except the ones written by Moffat, Chris Chibnall, Matthew Graham and Stephen Greenhorn before sharing co-writer credits in the 2009 specials. Then in the Chibnall era, the Series 11 finale was a first draft because Chris Chibnall was too busy rewriting other episodes and helping rookie writers. Who knows what other episodes were only first drafts?

2. Changing of the sonic (and the punk rock Doctor)

In the first part of the series premiere two-parter, The Magician’s Apprentice, the Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to save a child, only for him to reveal himself as a young Davros. This traumatised the Doctor so much that he just left his sonic screwdriver there and by the end of the next episode, The Witch’s Familiar, he decided to switch to sonic sunglasses, apparently swearing off sonic screwdrivers even though some extended media set during this series depicts the Doctor using the sonic screwdriver, not to mention that he has another copy of that particular screwdriver at the start of Series 10. At the end of the series, the Doctor gets a new sonic screwdriver and in the next series, uses it alongside his sonic sunglasses.

To be honest, I’m a bit meh on the sonic sunglasses. It harks back to when the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Doctors had to do without their sonic screwdrivers and it apparently fits his “punk rocker” image, but it feels kind of cheap for me. As for the new sonic screwdriver, I seriously love it. The design looks cool because of the square emitter, chase sequence and green setting, though I wish it had a red setting and more secret sounds when you pull or push the switch up to four times. The longer size and balanced design of the screwdriver lets you hold it at the middle in a fist (like this scene), a cooler way that can’t really be done with the Eleventh Doctor’s model because of the clamps near the emitter, not to mention the first model toy’s tendency to extend itself when activated. It’s such a shame I wasn’t able to buy the toy and make good use of it because I was in my final year of high school when it was released and I probably would only have been able to get one or two uses out of it that year.

Steven Moffat decided to introduce a new sonic screwdriver because he felt that the previous version was too closely identified with the Eleventh Doctor, something which I seriously didn’t mind. Given that Steven Moffat would announce his 2017 resignation a month after the series finished, I think the Twelfth Doctor’s new sonic screwdriver was a waste of time because it only got used for one series, not to mention being used alongside the sonic sunglasses, but even with things the way they are, it seriously looks cool and I would have loved to have the toy of it.

Speaking of the Doctor’s “punk rocker” image, there are scenes (in both this and the next series) where the Doctor plays an electric guitar, alluding to Peter Capaldi’s role as the lead singer and guitarist of The Dreamboys alongside drummer Craig Ferguson. Now, in my personal project, I cast myself as the Doctor (along with many other characters, some who I outsourced only to cast myself as more characters again) and my incarnation combined the stories of the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors. Since I didn’t know how to play the guitar, I had to cast a “guitar stunt double” because it wasn’t like I couldn’t learn how to or pretend to play the guitar in the scenes where the Doctor played the guitar. I could have picked literally anyone else to be my guitar stunt double, but the guy who I cast was Ryuta Yamamura, the lead singer and guitarist of the Japanese band flumpool (who I did collabs with lmao).

Bit of a funny thought I shared in 2015 that alluded to my personal project: If Moffat’s replacing the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver with the sonic sunglasses, then I might as well replace the TARDIS with the GokaiGalleon/Skyship from Gokaiger/Super Megaforce, because in one of my future story arcs (Gokaiger), the Doctor is GokaiRed.

3. The Confession Dial (and that was my Dalek)

So back to what I was saying about Davros. Having survived the destruction of the Crucible, a sick Davros was brought to Skaro, having kept the sonic screwdriver the Doctor left behind, and sent his servant Colony Sarff to search for the Doctor. Although he misses sighting the Doctor on Karn, Ohila knows he is there and helps him confide with her (in a deleted scene released as a prelude that should really have been in the episode) as she is given a Confession Dial to give to Missy.

Once Missy receives the Confession Dial, she engineers an event to catch Clara’s attention before taking her to where the Doctor is in medieval Essex, having a party with the locals. Soon after, the Doctor is found by Sarff and taken to Skaro alongside Missy and Clara.

The Confession Dial is the equivalent of a last will and testament for dying Time Lords, allowing them to make their peace before their mind is uploaded into the Matrix on Gallifrey. The Confession Dial doesn’t have any more significance until the end of the series, where it becomes a key element of the series’ story arc. And we’ll get to that towards the end of this retrospective.

Like Asylum of the Daleks before it, The Magician’s Apprentice and The Witch’s Familiar contains homages to numerous types of Daleks from the show’s history as the story celebrated the 40th anniversary of Davros’ debut story Genesis of the Daleks, even bringing back Davros himself from his apparent death in The Stolen Earth and Journey’s End, with Julian Bleach reprising his role from 2008. A fan called David Hobday, who had won a grey replica Dalek based off the designs used in Remembrance of the Daleks as part of a BBC competition in 1995 when he was 13 years old, was invited to contribute his Dalek to the story and even act as its controller. A record of his experience has been published online on Blogger.

And once again, I must express my disdain at the lack of representation from the New Dalek Paradigm. On David Hobday’s Blogger, he did appear to confirm from fellow Dalek controller Nicholas Pegg that they were quietly being phased out due to the poor reception they received. They were on the set during the filming of the two-parter but they never ended up being used, apparently being relegated to the same level as the Daleks from the Peter Cushing movies.

4. I am Me

Series 9 introduced a recurring character played by a special guest star. Ashildr, later known as Me, was played by actress Maisie Williams, who was known for her role as Arya Stark in Game of Thrones. Ashildr originally appeared in The Girl Who Died and The Woman Who Lived before being asked to reprise her role towards the finale; the production only managed to fit the filming schedule around her as at that point in the production of this series, Williams was also filming the sixth series of Game of Thrones.

The Doctor and Clara are captured by Vikings after landing on 9th century Earth. After being taken to their village, the Doctor claims himself to be Odin only for what appears to be Odin’s face appears in the sky. The Mire land on the ground and teleport the strongest warriors in the village with them, but Clara and a girl named Ashildr are teleported with them as well due to them having a half of the Doctor’s sonic sunglasses. The warriors are reduced to dust with their adrenaline and testosterone made into a nectar which Odin drinks. Clara tried to persuade Odin and the Mire to leave, but Ashildr declared war on them instead and Odin gave the village a day to prepare.

After trying and failing to train the rest of the villagers to fight, the Doctor conjures up a plan to combat the Mire; they steal one of the Mire helmets and give it to the imaginative Ashildr, who then used it to project a vision of a sea monster on a wooden puppet she made. As the Mire retreat, the Doctor reveals to Odin that this had been recorded on Clara’s phone and threatens to upload it to the Galactic Hub if they don’t leave; with the Doctor teleporting Odin back to his ship, the Mire decide to leave without any further conflict. However, Ashildr’s heart was drained as a result of using the Mire helmet, killing her.

As the Doctor laments about losing people, he suddenly remembers where he got his face from and is reminded that his role is to save people. He modifies a battlefield medical kit from a Mire helmet for human use and uses it to repair Ashildr. Knowing that the kit would keep repairing Ashildr forever, he leaves her a second one to use on whoever she wants before he and Clara leave.

Over the next 800-so years, Ashildr was left to live her immortal life. Her memories were unable to contain all her experiences so she began writing them in diaries. Though she took on other names over the years, she eventually forgot her original name and just called herself Me at one point, which to be honest is frankly bullshit because her original name is a part of her identity. As such, I’ll keep addressing her as Ashildr for the rest of this post.

In 1651 England, Ashildr crosses paths with the Doctor again while trying to steal the Eyes of Hades from Lucie Fanshawe. The Doctor is taken back to her house and she learns about the lives she lived over the past 800 years. Ashildr manages to get the Eyes of Hades from the Fanshawes’ house before the Doctor is introduced to Leandro of Delta Leonis, who intends to use the alien artefact to travel the galaxy; Ashildr intends to leave as well so she can leave the life the Doctor trapped her in when the Mire repair kit made her immortal.

As the Eyes of Hades requires a death to open a portal, Ashildr intended on killing her butler until she learnt that Sam Swift, a rival highwayman, was captured and was to be hanged in Tyburn at noon. Ashildr had the Doctor locked up before rushing to Tyburn with Leandro, however the Doctor manages to get himself freed before heading to Tyburn as well.

Arriving in Tyburn, the Doctor manages to stop Sam’s hanging, but Ashildr uses the Eyes of Hades on Sam anyway to open the portal. It is then that Leonian ships appear on the other side as Leandro reveals his deceit to Ashildr and the Doctor. On the Doctor’s suggestion, Ashildr uses the second Mire repair kit to reverse Sam’s death and close the portal, resulting in Leandro being executed for his failure. The Doctor later speculates that the power of the portal may have drained the Mire repair kit so Sam may not be immortal like Ashildr. Ashildr promises to look out for the Doctor and protect Earth from him as he leaves. Sure enough, in the 21st century, the Doctor manages to spot Me in a selfie Clara took with one of her students as a thank you for the Doctor helping them with their homework.

5. Who frowned me this face?

Since Capaldi’s casting as the Twelfth Doctor, there was a clear intention to acknowledge his previous roles as Caecilius in The Fires of Pompeii and John Frobisher in the third series of Torchwood. Deep Breath begins this mystery by having the Doctor briefly recognise his face as he looks at reflections of himself, but the mystery isn’t resolved until The Girl Who Died, where the Doctor remembers his face from his encounter with Caecilius and is reminded that his role is to save people.

Peter Capaldi wasn’t the only actor to have previously played a bit character in a story before becoming the Doctor. This accolade was previously held by Colin Baker, who played the Time Lord Maxil in Arc of Infinity before being cast as the Sixth Doctor. David Tennant did several Big Finish audios and the 40th Anniversary webcast Scream of the Shalka along with narrating the Doctor Who Confidential prelude episode A New Dimension before being cast as the Tenth Doctor, so he still counts in this category if you count the extended universe as a source for previous stories.

6. I support the current thing

Unpopular opinion, but I don’t think the Doctor’s speech at the end of The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion aged well, given the state of current affairs in the years following the episode’s premiere. Nonetheless, it is still an amazing speech from the Doctor and I highly recommend you watch the 10-minute speech extract without the background music score because it really highlights how important this was for the Doctor after healing from the trauma of nearly committing genocide at the end of the Time War to save time and space.

The two-parter covers the Doctor and UNIT dealing with a splinter group of Zygons who demanded the right to be in their undisguised forms amongst a populace that would be horrified at their appearance and thus, opposed the ceasefire. The leader of the group, Bonnie, took the form of Clara, attempted to kill the Doctor and the surviving Osgood (once again, the human version) and forced a Zygon back into its original form in front of some people who were largely indifferent (because they were Zygons themselves, leading to the scene not really having the intended effect I think it was supposed to have).

Through information from Clara, Bonnie found the Osgood Box in the Black Archive and was surprised to learn that there were two of them, hence why it was called the Osgood Box. The Doctor and Osgood arrive with Kate, who goes to the box opposite to the one Bonnie was standing at. The box on Kate’s end would revert the Zygons to normal by making them revert to their true forms for an hour or cancelling their ability to change form which would make them permanently human, while the box on Bonnie’s end would kill the Zygons by releasing Harry Sullivan’s Z-67 gas or detonating the nuclear warhead beneath the Black Archive which would destroy London. After fifteen attempts of the Doctor trying to convince Bonnie to stand down and making her and Kate forget each time she failed to do so, Bonnie is finally convinced to stand down as she realises that the boxes do nothing. The minds of Kate and Bonnie’s followers that entered the Black Archive are wiped, but not Bonnie herself because she was able to think up of a better solution thanks to Clara, just as the Doctor did himself. This leads Bonnie to order her group to stand down as she takes the other Osgood’s place in maintaining the ceasefire.

When the two-parter aired in 2015, the “current thing” of the time was Islamic terrorism as terrorist attacks carried out by the Islamic State, or ISIS/ISIL (who overshadowed the Taliban thanks to their beheadings of enemy soldiers and foreign nationals) and the Islamophobia caused by it (going back to the 9/11 attacks in 2001), thus it was a heavy influence on the story. Now, I am an Asian living in Australia with family from Hong Kong and thus I also identify myself as a Hongkonger (on top of being ethnically Chinese). Occupy Central was fresh on Hongkongers’ minds when this story premiered, what with it being a year since said protests that formed the overall Umbrella Movement of 2014; not only that, but a few months later in February 2016, there would be a brief bout of civil unrest as government officials oppressed unlicensed hawkers when the government themselves refused to grant new licences or build new markets for them. This civil unrest was co-opted by the people behind the Umbrella Movement as they condemned the same police brutality that happened to them 15-16 months prior.

Fastforward to 2019 where Hong Kong had the many demonstrations and campaigns against the proposed extradition law, a movement that put the spotlight on Hong Kong only for it to be derailed by the coronavirus pandemic, the Black Lives Matter protests and then, utterly defeated by the implementation of the national security law in the region. People’s attention turned to the first two of those things along with the apparent rise of racism towards Asians as a result of the pandemic. Eventually, Hong Kong was all but forgotten by the time Donald Trump was defeated in the 2020 presidential election, neglecting that if it wasn’t for his administration, Joe Biden’s administration wouldn’t even be taking a stance towards Beijing.

Ever since 2014, supporters of the Umbrella Movement (and subsequent pro-democracy movements) were being gaslighted by hard-r n-words and hard-r n-word lovers into believing that Hong Kong was doing fine, the police were doing a good job and that this was a CIA-funded operation advocating for Hong Kong independence, which by 2019, people were convinced was the only viable option when it was clear that neither the Hong Kong or Chinese governments would see reason. People found viable alternatives to the CNN-esque fake news mainstream media outlet that was TVB only for former executives of their news department to take over the news departments of two pay TV outlets, Now TV and i-Cable, making them no better than TVB themselves. Old men in white shirts were beating up young people in black shirts with the help of a fake lawyer n-word. Some guy’s ear got bit off and fake news TVB claimed that it actually fell off. The content of public broadcaster RTHK was sanitised and “wokeified” with Chinese characteristics. Pan-democracy politicians were ousted from the Legislative Council and District Council, leading to more of them resigning in solidarity. And to cap it all off, our last bastion of real journalism, Apple Daily, was forced to shut down following the arrest of its founder, Jimmy Lai, and the government freezing all his assets.

And let’s not forget that these anti-government sentiments didn’t just start in 2014, they were the result of many factors, particularly government neglect, that has been happening since the handover in 1997. Combine that with things like the attitudes of the Chinese government and the behaviours of Chinese Kens and Karens coming down to Hong Kong and not respecting the civilised culture there (which has been a meme way before Kens and Karens were a meme in the West) and you get Hongkongers not wanting to identify themselves as Chinese (in nationality).

From 2020 until now, I was astonished at the amount of people (particularly on the left) supporting things like Black Lives Matter, Roe v. Wade, climate protests, the war in Ukraine and trans rights when they barely made as much noise for Hong Kong when it was the “current thing”. I saw myself siding with the right because the left wouldn’t stand up for freedom when people needed it the most. And now, after all this, I’m just apathetic to the whole situation, making fandom posts like this as a form of hopium and copium. Also, I wasn’t big on the #StopAsianHate trend because, in my opinion, racism towards Asians (at least in my neck of the woods) isn’t as much of a problem as it was compared to before the 80’s, and also because Asians around the world didn’t stand up for Hong Kong when they needed it the most. You know, thinking about it, I think Hongkongers are the black people of Asia while mainland Chinese people are the white people of Asia, and I’ll admit that I lowkey think that Asians deserve the “hate” they whinge about because just as SJWs and POCs think white people should take responsibility for the horrors of imperialism and colonialism committed by their ancestors, Chinese people (in general) should share the guilt for the behaviour of (some) mainlanders because their imperialism and colonialism are happening right now in our generation.

After reading this ramble, do you know why I don’t think the Doctor’s speech in the episode aged well? Because politics has become so polarised that forgiveness towards the people who would seek to harm us is no longer an option. Putting aside how Bonnie’s objective changed from wanting Zygons to freely live as they were to wanting war between humans and Zygons, Peter Harness should be lucky that he only made the Zygons the aggressors (with no idea what they would do after they took control) and UNIT acting in defence, because to apply the Doctor’s words to Hongkongers would be like telling a beaten-up wife to give her abusive husband another chance. Frankly, if the pro-democracy side were successful in the 2019 movement, I would advocate to have anyone who ever stood against real Hongkongers, whether it be old and middle-aged people, the politicians who neglected the needs of the people, or n-words and n-word lovers who ever stood against Hongkongers in real life or on social media, publicly lynched as a retaliation for all the hurt they caused or let happen.

By now, you might be thinking that I missed the point of the Doctor’s speech, or even offended because you’re mainland Chinese or that I used the phrase “hard-r n-word” in place of actually using the word not because of my attempt at self-censorship for trigger-happy content flaggers, but because I even dared to use a slur towards people the slur isn’t actually referring to, but let’s not kid ourselves here. If you supported Black Lives Matter, Roe v. Wade, climate protests, the war in Ukraine or trans rights, I think you’d be feeling the same things towards people like the police, pro-life Christofacists, rich corporate executives, Russians, or transphobic Nazi bigots. Hell, even if you’re an anti-vax cooker who just wants to live life without entitled lefties expecting you to do your bit for the community by taking a vaccine that neither prevents infection or transmission with your job and livelihood on the line if you have any doubts about it, you’d be feeling the same way as well towards those entitled lefties. Honestly, I wish it were (still) socially acceptable to use slurs in a manner that is not hateful towards the people those slurs are referring to.

If this story aired during the Chibnall era when these things were happening, I would have deemed it utterly offensive and insensitive, particularly when you consider how Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor has been known for lecturing people. To reiterate in summary, this story didn’t age well and Peter Harness should be lucky that ISIS was the “current thing” when he was writing this episode. And I thought this retrospective series wouldn’t be as political as the main series itself.

UPDATE - 20 July 2023: Linkara recently answered some asks from fans about his thoughts on the Doctor’s speech in this two-parter, which I have reblogged and can be accessed through these links.

7. The truth or consequences that could have been

While looking into this episode in preparation for writing the long-winded ramble about how the Doctor’s speech didn’t age well, I read about Harness’ original vision for the episode and wanted to share it with you because it was quite interesting.

The original episode would have included the involvement of McGillop from The Day of the Doctor along with Zygon versions of Courtney Woods and Danny Pink from Series 8. In the town of Truth or Consequences, a Zygon named Clyde Orson had copied Danny’s appearance and after Danny’s death, began believing himself to be Danny, which led to the Zygon leaders executing him to maintain the ceasefire. Police officer Bonnie Carter, who had already copied Clara’s appearance, who was already sensing the tension between the Zygons and the Americans that lived in the town, became radicalised after being called to investigate Clyde’s death.

The Zygon splinter group captured Osgood from a UNIT safe house in London and brought her to Azerbaijan (which was replaced with the fictional Turmezistan in the actual episode). One of the leaders was called Blinovitch and had copied Courtney’s appearance. She was the captured Zygon onboard Boat One who would escape her bonds and attack the Doctor, only to be stopped by Osgood who was also a Zygon as well, confirming that it was the human original who was murdered by Missy. Clara ended up being fatally injured after being shot during the failed attack on the Zygon hatchery.

Later, the Doctor discovered that the splinter group was being manipulated by a human cabal who was trying to wipe the Zygons out and take over the UK (yeah nah, this version is offensive to me already, but we’ll carry on), which led the Doctor to bring Bonnie together with the United Nations Security Council to forge a lasting peace treaty. Following this, Bonnie would sacrifice her physical form to allow Clara to live on as her real body succumbed to its injuries, which would likely make her part-Zygon (oh great, another hybrid), but I guess we’ll never know because the story turned out the way we got it.

Now obviously because of Big Finish, the Zygon Osgood was actually the one who was killed by Missy, but before then, the answer, like the Doctor’s name (I’m sure the Doctor calling himself Basil was a joke, besides, we all know he’s actually Hiroki Ichigo) was purposefully left ambiguous which was a bit annoying, but understandable given the premise of the Osgood boxes.

8. Silent spiral into madness

Throughout Series 8, we see Clara being driven to become more like the Doctor. This character development continues into Series 9, where Clara goes even further into becoming the Doctor to the point of recklessness. Of course, this was to prepare for her eventual departure as the Doctor’s companion.

In Face the Raven, Rigsy (from Flatline) calls the Doctor and Clara when he finds himself having a tattoo on the back of his neck which is counting down, unknowingly being targeted by a Quantum Shade in the form of a chronolock. The Doctor and Clara investigate and they are led to a trap street in the middle of London, where Ashildr is the mayor of an alien refugee camp. They learn that Ashildr was the one who put the chronolock on him as he was suspected of the murder of Anah, a Janus. While the Doctor investigates the murder further, Clara learns that the chronolock can be passed to someone else and takes it from Rigsy in an attempt to buy more time. Eventually, they realise that the murder was a ruse to bring the Doctor to the trap street and that Anah is actually alive and held in stasis. With the TARDIS key taken from him and a teleport bracelet attached to his arm, the Doctor is forced to hand over his confession dial. Ashildr attempts to take the chronolock off Rigsy, but when she learns that Clara took it from him, she is unable to remove it from Clara because Clara cut her out of the deal. In the end, Clara is left to face her death, the Doctor is teleported away and Rigsy paints a tribute for Clara on the front doors of the TARDIS.

The story continues in Heaven Sent, a surreal episode from Steven Moffat with a one-man act from Peter Capaldi. The Doctor ends up in a kind of prison where he finds himself being pursued by the Veil, who is seemingly stopped by the Doctor telling it a secret that he knows as he works out that whoever put him in this prison is trying to get him to talk about the Hybrid. Every time this happens, the rooms in the prison are rearranged and eventually, after managing to evade the Veil for enough times, the Doctor is led to Room 12, where he discovers a 20-feet thick wall of Azbantium, which is 400 times harder than diamond. Reminded of the story about the shepherd’s boy, the Doctor begins punching through the wall before he is touched by the Veil, which burns him and leaves him dying. After this, the Doctor manages to make it back to the teleporter and use himself as an energy source to activate it, summoning a new copy of the Doctor.

These loops continue for at least two billion years, with the rooms returning to normal after some time away from them. There is a mystery of how the Doctor had clothes at the fireplace in the first loop and given how a short story about the Veil explains how the Veil has to return the rooms to normal (and prepare the Doctor’s food) by its own hands, I think I can theorise that the Veil had clothes prepared for the Doctor in the first loop as well.

During this episode, we also see the Doctor monologuing inside the TARDIS as a kind of mind palace, showing the way he thinks not just under pressure, but in the split seconds before the next thing will happen. This one-man act also explores the Doctor’s grief following Clara’s death, something that was rather glossed over in Series 7 with Amy and Rory’s deaths.

Eventually, as the Doctor finishes the story of the shepherd’s boy, he finally manages to punch through the Azbantium wall. With the Veil collapsing, the Doctor walks out onto a desert world which he quickly learns is Gallifrey; the prison he was in was actually the inside of his confession dial. After telling a nearby boy to alert the city of his return, the Doctor says, “The Hybrid, destined to conquer Gallifrey and stand in its ruins, is me.” Some people think he was referring to Me as in Ashildr (possibly in denial of himself being the Hybrid), which is apparently corroborated by the official script release, but some people actually think he was referring to himself, which makes the line sound cooler with the way the Doctor puts on his sonic sunglasses.

9. The Hybrid

Before I go on, I’d like to tell you about the Hybrid prophecy, which is the subject of this series’ story arc. Supposedly, the Hybrid is a creature crossbred from two warrior races that would stand over the ruins of Gallifrey and unravel the Web of Time, breaking a billion billion hearts to heal its own. The most popular candidates for the warrior races are the Time Lords and Daleks, something that Davros took advantage of when he attempted to give some of the Doctor’s regeneration energy to the Daleks, only for it to backfire. Other candidates, speculated in the series or in the book A Brief History of Time Lords, include the part-human part-Mire Ashildr, the human and Zygon Osgoods, the “part-human part-wolf” Rose Tyler, the DoctorDonna and River Song, however none of those quite fit the prophecy. We’ll come back to the speculation later.

As Hell Bent picks up from where Heaven Sent left off, the Doctor heads to his childhood barn, where a woman recognises him (her identity is left ambiguous, but one theory could be that she was the same woman, the Doctor’s mother, in The End of Time). The Doctor is offered soup by an entire group of villagers, but when bowships come to pick him up, he draws a line in the sand (literally) and retreats into the barn. Despite the General and the High Council offering an audience with him, the Doctor only comes out when Rassilon arrives to confront him. The Doctor banishes Rassilon and the High Council from Gallifrey before using an extraction chamber to retrieve Clara from the moment before her death. During this he knocks back the General, takes his gun and shoots him with it, causing him to regenerate from a white male into a black female. The General’s first words post-regeneration note her relief at being female again and her disdain of the male ego, which has apparently become one of the more obvious signs of the SJW wokeification of the series even though I didn’t really think much of it at the time.

The Doctor escapes into the Cloisters with Clara. The General follows with Ohila and Clara learns that the Doctor was trapped (and tortured) in his confession dial for 4.5 billion years. Clara manages to distract the Time Lords while the Doctor unlocks the maintenance hatch, steals a TARDIS from the repair shop and leaves.

Despite leaving Gallifey’s time zone or heading to the end of the universe, Clara’s heartbeat does not return, meaning that she is stuck between the last two heartbeats of her life. As someone knocks on the door four times, the Doctor heads out into the Cloisters of the far, far future and confronts Ashildr about the Hybrid; Ashildr theorises that the Hybrid isn’t one person, but two, namely “a passionate and powerful Time Lord and a young woman so very similar to him”, obviously referring to the Doctor and Clara. The Doctor invites Ashildr into the stolen TARDIS as he prepares to use a neural block to wipe her memory of him. Clara is defensively resistant at the prospect, claiming that she used the Doctor’s sonic sunglasses on the neutral block to reverse the polarity so that it would erase his memory, though it’s never known if she actually did it. The Doctor and Clara decide to take a gamble and activate the neural block together; the Doctor ends up having his memories of Clara erased as a result, saying goodbye to her before he is found by a man in the middle of the Nevada desert.

After apparently going to London and back in search for his TARDIS, the Doctor finds himself at an American diner in the middle of the Nevada desert (which seems like a waste of time and effort, but we gotta account for the guitar somehow), with Clara working there as the waitress (she was rumoured to be another Clara echo until we saw that it wasn’t the case). The Doctor tells Clara the story of what happened on Gallifrey and plays a song he composed for her. The diner then disappears as Clara and Ashildr decide to have their own adventures in the stolen TARDIS, effectively reversing the consequences of Clara’s death and giving her many, many more opportunities to become the Impossible Girl again. The Doctor finds his TARDIS nearby and heads inside, puts on a new coat, reads a message left to him from Clara, receives his new sonic screwdriver and sets off, the graffiti from Rigsy falling away as the two TARDISes fly off into time and space.

While Heaven Sent was great and the first part of Hell Bent was good, the rest of the episode I didn’t feel lived up to expectations. There were hints and rumours that the Twelfth Doctor’s appearance in The Day of the Doctor would be accounted for, but it never happened. It’s not like they couldn’t stick in a little bit at the end where the Doctor gets a signal from his previous incarnations and goes with them to help save Gallifrey (using archive footage and audio from the episode) before finishing the episode with the shot of his eyes staring at the camera.

We never really get a definitive answer to the Hybrid except for everything implying that the Doctor and Clara together are the Hybrid, and even then Steven Moffat confirmed it as a sort of meta-joke. I thought the Hybrid was going to be someone going up against the Doctor and acting as a danger to the universe - since my idea of Hiroki Ichigo being the Hybrid has the threat already taken out of him because the threat had gone by the time I came up with the idea, I would have liked a similar idea where an autistic man, revealed to be part-Time Lord, goes out with a female distantly related to the Daleks, then somehow, the guy gets some Dalek DNA mixed up in him, the girl betrays the guy and he goes on a rampage while the Doctor tries to stop him. Of course, that would require Clara to have left the TARDIS at the end of Series 8 and even then the whole story of Series 9 would be different.

At the end of Series 12, some people were saying that the Master became the Hybrid after destroying Gallifrey and absorbing the Cyberium, but like with the theory of the Timeless Child being the Master, I think that’s just copium because these people just want the Doctor to be the Doctor (just a Time Lord), plus Series 9 had been four years gone at that point.

Clara’s “resurrection” in Hell Bent felt like Moffat apologising for Amy and Rory’s “deaths”. It would be understandable given his intentions for the Hybrid, but in the next series, he does the same with Bill Potts (spoiler alert). I think he was maybe trying to curry some favour with fans before leaving since he really let loose and burnt himself out after working on Series 5-7.

And another thing; director Rachel Talalay hoped that Timothy Dalton would be able to reprise his role as Rassilon from The End of Time, however he was busy working on Penny Dreadful and his schedule would not allow for his return to Doctor Who, so Donald Sumpter was cast as a new incarnation of Rassilon.

10. Return to the Singing Towers

The 2015 Christmas Special, The Husbands of River Song, was originally meant to be Steven Moffat’s final episode as showrunner before he decided to continue for one more year. In the special, the Doctor finds himself reunited with River Song as he learns that she has married King Hydroflax for a valuable diamond inside his head. Nothing that River hasn’t met him in his current face yet, the Doctor decides to play along with her to see how she does while he struggles to explain the truth to her. Through various antics and encounters, King Hydroflax’s head is brought into the starship Harmony and Redemption and the diamond is offered to the Shoal of the Winter Harmony, who turn out to be worshippers of Hydroflax.

During the ensuing confrontation, River finally realised the Doctor has been there with her all along. As the starship is hit by a meteor strike and Hydroflax’s head is disintegrated, the Doctor and River get to the bridge in an attempt to stabilise it; despite either of them offering to sacrifice themselves to let the other escape, the starship ends up crashing on Darillium, though the two of them manage to escape the impact in the TARDIS. Having evaded their final date at the Singing Towers for so long, the Doctor gives the diamond to a rescue worker looking for survivors and suggests that he build a restaurant on the site. Finally, the Doctor and River are able to have their final date, with the Doctor giving River the sonic screwdriver that would appear in her “final” story.

The Husbands of River Song is considered part of Series 9 due to there being no new series premiering in 2016, however given Nardole’s debut in this episode and his role in the series following it, I consider it part of Series 10 for the purposes of my personal project. Nonetheless, it was a great special to round off the darker tones of the two series before it.

Series 9 is a fairly great series that got a little disappointing right at the end. Due to the series also serving as the tenth anniversary of the Doctor Who revival, we got some throwbacks to various elements from past series along with some from the classic era. This series also introduced some fear to even more innocuous elements in life, like random symbols on a wall or sleep dust (or sleep paralysis demons). And in spite of some elements that we could have done without, we had a good sendoff to a companion who was beginning to overstay her welcome before her death got undone and Moffat let her overstay in spirit.

I hope you’ve been enjoying this series so far in spite of my rant about the state of things in Hong Kong that didn’t make the Doctor’s amazing speech age well (and all my other rants throughout this whole series). Stay tuned for Part 10 as we send off the best days of modern Doctor Who with my 10 takes on Series 10.

[loupettes]

i'm still figuring out how to use this app so i just saw your response to my ask! i'd love to request something from your headcannons! i can't choose between these three:

1) Mia looks like Jenny and that terrifies the Doctor. He swears to do everything he can to protect her and Rose because he can’t lose anybody else

2) The Doctor's Protec mode comes in hard when Rose becomes pregnant, but he's in over his head because how do you look after the woman strong enough to take down the devil??

3) The Doctor gives Mia her own sonic screwdriver. Rose watching him teach her how to use it leads to baby number 2

any one of these would be amazing! or just general tentoorose +mia fluff

Oh, hi!! Thank you!! I’m glad you enjoyed them :)

I will absolutely get round to writing full fics for all of these — I’ve enjoyed these little headcanons! I’m a bit tired tonight, so here’s a little microfic instead while we wait for my wobbly mind to string a few more sentences together.

3) The Doctor gives Mia her own sonic screwdriver. Rose watching him teach her how to use it leads to baby number 2

“And it’s… this one, that opens locked doors?”

The Doctor raised his eyebrow sternly. “I’ve just told you about all the wonderful things this sonic screwdriver can do and you want to go about committing crimes—”

“Well, it’s what you’d do—”

”I don’t break into places!”

“You broke into Torchwood headquarters yesterday!”

“Well, that was different!” he huffed, as Mia fought back a giggle. She was teasing him as always, and he was falling for it as always, but Rose watched them with a warmth in the centre of her chest to know that she was his. Well, Mia was theirs, but all those years she had seen him interact with children, be brilliant with them and make them laugh, and now he was making his own child laugh.

And it was indeed a beautiful laugh, Mia’s. The Doctor could make her laugh in a way that nobody else could, like she was ten steps ahead of him and loving watching him try to keep up. She was far too quick witted — for either of them — but he had her attention now and it was so beautiful to watch them.

Mia had stopped teasing, and was looking at the sonic screwdriver with intent, her eyes squinting and brow furrowing when he would show her a particular setting. They were in his classroom — well, his lab — and Rose didn’t know how long they had been there when she found them a few minutes ago, but they seemed completely oblivious to her, lost in their own world. Every now and then, Mia would touch her fingers to the surface of the sonic screwdriver, like she was quite literally getting a feel for it, before he gave it to her.

“Go on, have a go — try and switch that lamp on over there,” he said, pointing to a lamp in the corner.

Mia took a moment to scrutinise the screwdriver, lips thinning in determination, before she pointed it towards the lamp. Rose watched her with a smile, but her eyes drifted to the Doctor and her smile grew. He was…

Oh god.

Rose almost immediately felt the blood rush to her cheeks to see him watch Mia with his own grin, his fond little smile he wore just for her and nobody else. When Mia pressed the button and the switch to the lamp flicked on, she jumped up and squealed in joy.

“First try!”

“Bloody hell, you’re brilliant you are!”

She rolled her eyes sheepishly, before handing him back the sonic screwdriver. But he held his hands up instead, refusing to take it.

“S’all yours.”

Mia’s face dropped. “What? You mean— you mean this one’s mine?”

“As long as I’m not bailing you out of prison anytime soon for breaking and entering, then yes, it's yours.”

“Oh my God! Dad!” she beamed, throwing her arms around his neck in excitement. “I can’t believe it— it’s mine?! Thank you, thank you, oh my god thank you!”

He didn’t have much time to respond, because she was bouncing out the door before he could even hug her back in return. Rose was almost certain they would be bailing her out of jail tomorrow, but for now… well, for now, she had him on his own.

“Can’t believe you gave her one of her own—”

“Rose!” he gasped in surprise, and it only made her laugh more. “Didn’t see you there!”

She reached on her toes to give him a kiss, her skin tingling beneath his hands when they cupped her waist.

“I dunno,” he offered when they broke apart. “Thought it was about time she had one of her own. After that A* in chemistry, I couldn’t really say no.”

“Mmm,” Rose hummed, distractedly. Her eyes trailed down his neck, resting on the hollow right between his collar bone that was just peeking out from his unruly shirt. God, she wanted to lick it.

“Rose,” he said sternly, almost as though he knew exactly what she was thinking. “Not here.”

She glanced up at him and she just knew her eyes must be impossibly dark. God, he was bloody gorgeous, she could feel her breath quickening as she became more and more turned on.

“Stop it,” he warned, but he didn’t exactly move himself.

She cocked her brow before she reached back up, kissing him much more passionately this time. Her arms looped around his neck and she caught his groan in between breaths, her name not so much a warning as it was becoming a need when he spoke. It sent shivers down her spine to hear him whisper it, hear his own breaths quickening as his hands trailed south of her waist, down to her hips where he pulled them, just a little, towards his.

She broke their kiss with a shake of her head and, just for a second, he looked impatient to have her stop. But she took his tie in her hands and tugged, leading him into the storage cupboard just that adjoined with the biology room opposite.

“Keys,” she whispered breathlessly, impatient now herself, when he pinned her against the door once inside.

“No time.”

He was right; she had next to no time to worry that someone might find them. By the time he had tugged her skirt over her hips and she had wrapped her legs around his waist, she couldn’t say she’d care all that much if they were found.

[lurking-latinist]

While I was waiting for prompts (which I now have! thank you! yay!) I did another round of Genremixer prompts. Doctor/Romana as usual, see below cut, will also be on ao3.

Doctor/Romana - Where we don't have to hide & Online dating & Public transportation

Time Lord, 740s, Prydonian, seeks same, 120s, for travelling universe & saving planets. If interested meet platform 4, Charing Cross.

Romana walked up behind the Doctor and poked him in the back. He jumped. "Next time we get separated, just send me a message," she said, fondly exasperated.

He turned around and put one arm around her. "But this way we get to see the trains," he said.

Doctor/Romana - Mary Sue/Marty Stu & quick let's get out of here

The lock of the cell door clicked. The Doctor looked up to see Romana, her long blonde hair unmussed and her elaborate outfit uncrumpled, standing in the doorway, tapping her toe. "Come on, Doctor," she said.

"What--how did--"

"Picked the lock with this." She held up an odd-looking device. It looked suspiciously like part of the charm necklace she'd been wearing all day. Convenient.

"But the security cameras--"

"Turned them off with my sonic screwdriver. Which, let me remind you, is cooler than yours. Come on, Doctor."

He stood up slowly. "But the guards--"

"Oh, they all fell in love with me and then I put them all to sleep with my magic mind powers. Let's go."

He boggled at her, confused.

"Obviously that was a joke," she said. "I created a diversion via a message in the computer system."

Relieved, he finally followed her out of the cell.

"With my magic mind powers," she added.

Doctor/Romana - jealousy & amnesia

"Who's she?" said Romana, censoriously, as she flipped through the TARDIS pictorial records.

"Who's who?" said the Doctor.

"This girl in the pictures," she said. "The one you look so cozy with."

"Who?" said the Doctor, a bit guiltily. He peered over her shoulder.

"The elegant brunette with the fabulous fashion sense." Romana pointed to the figure.

"Oh, her," said the Doctor, now thoroughly relieved. "Believe me, as soon as we get your memories restored, everything will make perfect sense."

Doctor/Romana - historical au

Beauty and wit, wealth and a title in her own right—Lady Romana seemed to have everything, including her pick of Society for a husband.

Throwing herself away on a footloose, unreliable ne'er-do-well of an aristocratic younger son—however charming, intriguing, and even occasionally brilliant—would be utterly foolish.

Well, said the gossips afterward, even the wisest may have a moment of folly.

Doctor/Romana - tradition & enemies working together

"From what you've said about him," said Romana, "I don't entirely understand why we're working with the Master now."

"It's what we always do, him and I," said the Doctor.

Romana folded her arms. "But five minutes ago he was allied with the Kosmar Entity himself! And then it betrayed him and now he's switched to our side? Just like that?"

The Doctor was untroubled. "Well, you know, that's what he always does."

Doctor/Romana - kidnapping & family

The old Housekeeper's face was glitchy on the TARDIS communicator screen, but even so her expression of chilly disapproval came through perfectly well. "I must insist that you return young Romanadvoratrelundar at once," she told the Doctor.

"Thanks, but I think I won't," he said, leaning back in his chair so that she got a quite startling angle on his nose and chin.

"Kidnapper!" she accused him.

"Nothing of the sort," he replied. "You see, she happens to like me and she doesn't want to leave."

The Housekeeper gave him a glare.

Romana came around behind the Doctor, leaning over his shoulder. Her hair brushed his face. "Honestly, auntie," she said. "I'm a fully qualified Time Lord, I can travel if I like. There's really no need for you to call again."

She shut off the communicator with a sweet smile, then turned to the Doctor. She leaned on the console and said thoughtfully, "We're going to have to change our number, aren't we?"

[lazydoodlesandfanfic]

Slight Accident (10th Doctor X Reader)

Characters: 10th Doctor X Reader

Universe: Doctor Who

Warnings: Broken bones, injury

Request: the tenth doctor looking after the reader when the reader gets hurt on an adventure 🥺🥺

Well… this wasn’t how you were expecting the day of adventures to end. Usually it ended with laughter, reminiscing about the best parts of what you’d experienced, linking it back to previous adventures, or at worst, comforting each other after a major loss when you were thinking about what you could have done differently. Usually it was you comforting the doctor, not that you minded. But this time was different. 

The adventure had started out like any other- planning to sight see and to learn about your surroundings with the Doctor, only to find out that something was going on, and of course you both investigated further. Turns out that the planet you were on was under attack by an invasive species of alien, without those on the planet being aware. The species attacking them were responsible for the collapse of multiple civilisations and even planets, since they dig underground at extraordinary rates till the ground above collapses. The little ones, no bigger than a caterpillar weren’t much to be concerned about, but when the Doctor found one, he informed you that when they build a nest under the ground, that they can grow to be bigger than a plane. Luckily the Doctor and yourself had been able to warn the inhabitants of the planet, and a mass evacuation was organised. Luckily since the planet was a peaceful one, and there were multiple other planets in their system, they all managed to find refuge at least for the time being. As they were doing that, you and the Doctor had worked out a plan to ensure that the species wouldn’t spread to the other planets in the system. It was during this task, that a sink hole had opened up, and while the doctor was ahead and narrowly escaped it, you weren’t so lucky, falling into it. From there you had to find your way around the tunnels alone till you finally managed to meet back up with the doctor and escape the planet in time. 

When you had gotten back on the TARDIS, you finally let yourself rest, and the pain had fully set in. Because of how you fell, you landed on one of your legs funny, and then some debris above you landed on it as well. The adrenaline had luckily last you long enough to escape, but now you were fully aware that your leg, without a doubt, was broken. You sat on the floor of the TARDIS, holding your leg and gritting your teeth. The Doctor had told you to go ahead while he made sure that the other inhabitants made it to their planets safe, and while he’d seen you limping after he found you again, at the time you had ensured him you were fine.

Eventually he came back onto the TARDIS, closing the door behind him and skipping up the walkway. “Right! Where to next?” He asked, coming around the console, started to flip switches, press buttons and prepare the ship for takeoff. 

“A hospital would be nice.” You told him. The doctor didn’t respond at first, but soon he came around the console where you were, seeing you on the floor in clear pain. “I think it’s broken.”

The doctor was immediately at your side, gently taking your leg and making you lay it down flat on the floor. You put your hands on your upper thigh, squeezing to try and cope with the pain. “Alright, let’s have a look.” He told you, whipping out his sonic screwdriver, scanning it before checking the side of it. “I’m afraid you’re right. Okay, to the hospital we go.” He announced, getting up and dashing back to the console, setting the TARDIS to her next destination. The entire time, the doctor was silent, and you held onto the railing behind you as the TARDIS moved, though it seemed the TARDIS had picked up on your discomfort and did her best not to jolt around like usual, until you came to a halt. The doctor came back to your side, wrapping your arm around his neck, and lifting you up. “What am I going to do with you, ey?” He joked as he walked you out of the TARDIS. 

“You need one of those backpacks with leads on it.” You joked back with him as you looked around quickly, seeing he’d parked smack bang in the centre of the hospital, causing several nurses to come over, and seeing you injured, they quickly grabbed a wheelchair to sit you down in. 

You’d managed to walk away with only one break despite it all, and after a quick fix, a cast, and the gift of some crutches and some pain killers, you were back in the TARDIS with your doctor. “Considering the circumstances, I’d say I got off pretty well.” You told him, sat on the seat in the console room. 

“You’re not wrong, though you’re out of the game for a while.” He told you. 

“As if! I’ll get used to them crutches and I’ll keep your pace, don’t you worry.” You told him, making the doctor smile at the thought of it. “Maybe for the next few adventures we actually go to peaceful, calm places. Like- can we go see the coronation of a royal or something? Go see a famous performance that went down in the history books where we can just sit down and enjoy it?” I suggested. 

“Sounds more than fair… Do you want to go see the coronation of a king where everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong? It took 5 hours for them to get the crown on his head because distractions kept appearing including two assassination attempts, 3 deaths, a birth and the false alarm of an invasion.” 

“Absolutely!” You quickly agreed. Oh, you couldn’t wait to see this.

Hope you like it! If you have any questions, please send them in!  

*Not my gif

TAGS:  @rebellionofthecattle @courtneychicken​  @graysonmalfoy​ @bellero​ @originalpottervengerlock​ @supernatural-pan​ @esoltis280​ @lena-stan-xavier​ @lady-of-lies​ @sebstanismylife​ @macbetheliza @mandywholock1980​ @cdwmtjb8​ @caswinchester2000​ @determinedpines​

[strangesmallbard]

okay in honor of #canonthasminday here’s a ficlet i wrote in 2018 that never found a home in any of my other wips!

**

In the very beginning, it’s like this:

Yaz’s world tilts in orbit until it ricochets off the nearest universe and spirals over itself in the vacuum, and the Doctor picks out yellow suspenders. Yellow! Her coat is a long, old thing with a rainbow shoelace haphazardly sewn into the inner seam. It costs a whopping four and a half pounds. When she’s paying up front, the Doctor tries on sunglasses and asks a very amused Ryan if “they suit her. Ryan, remember, I’m both two thousand and eleven hours old. I’m not going to have good taste until approximately hour twenty four, and that depends on who you're asking. Don’t ask River.”

“Who’s River?”

“Don’t quite know yet, actually. I’ll get back to you on that in a jiff. Jiffy? Hang on—“

Yaz doesn’t know she’s staring until the poor cashier clears his throat. Twice. She feels the smile etched on her face and fails miserably at putting it down. She’s not sure why she wants to put it down.

“C’mon you both,” she calls over. “If you can hot-wire me lunch with that fancy screwdriver, Doctor, I’ll say it’s even.” The cashier stares. In lieu of any reasonable explanation, she puts a quid into the tip jar.

The Doctor switches out the nice sunglasses for a wire-rimmed monstrosity lined with fabric white petals. She peers into the tiny mirror on the counter. “Can’t do lunch yet. Maybe dinner!” She stares ahead, brow turning down. “Dinner tomorrow. Relatively speaking, anyway, how about these? My last body, he wore a pair for a little bit.” She gives an approximation of jazz hands. “Sonic sunglasses! Thought himself—herself—myself rather an innovator for it.”

“I think it suits,” Ryan says, corner of his lip turning up. She’s not sure she’s seen him smile since his Gran died. She wonders if the Doctor is being silly on purpose. “Very hippie, yeah? Could be you.”

The Doctor’s face lights up. Yaz’s stomach does an orbit too fast. “Always liked a good flower.”

Yaz claps her hand on Ryan’s shoulder. “Maybe we should—“

“You know on Planet....” Her face scrunches up, and she puts a hand on her hips, tucks a heel up. “For such a big brain, mine really won’t go at the moment. Can’t even remember the planet Achanova where—There we go!“ She points at Yaz. “See, I’ve never been better! Fresh as a daisy!”

Yaz smiles again, incredulous. The orbit goes again, wanting to knock her off her feet, wanting her to run and keep running. She looks at Ryan, whose head is turned out the window, somewhere far away. The orbit abruptly stops.

The Doctor notices. She gives Ryan a pensive stare, quite suddenly older around the eyes .

“Lunch could be good,” she says, a bit softer. “It’s good to keep some food down right now. Never know when you’ll need that energy boost.”

Ryan stares, still somewhere else until he smiles again. Just a small one. “You know, Doctor, I think that’s a piecing store across the street. I‘ve got another idea if you’re willing to listen.”

“Oh brother,” Yaz mutters, relieved.

The Doctor glances at her for a moment, eyes affixed to Yaz’s face like it holds an answer to a question she hasn’t asked. Her smile grows back, slowly. It scrunches a bit at the nose. “A piercing shop! Brilliant idea, Mr. Sinclair. Alright, group. Possé?”

Ryan shakes his head vigorously. Yaz wrinkles her nose, still smiling.

“Lunch first, though. No piercings on an empty stomach! Or brand-new stomachs, in my case. Oof, wish I knew what I liked, that’d be helpful, but you can’t go wrong at a chippy.” The Doctor starts off, and then wheels back around. “Yasmin Khan! Yaz to your friends. You seem like you’d know a good chippy. Good things, that’s your vibe! Oh, I say vibe now. Don’t know if I like that.”

As they pass through the charity shop doors, the setting sun gives the Doctor’s hair an odd glow. Yaz’s head is swimming with questions, but mostly she just wants to laugh like their world can only glow brighter still. “Make a left at the corner. You can’t miss it.”

[riversofmars]

Prompt: 13 and River babysit Anthony Williams (Amy and Rory’s adopted son)

This is such a cute prompt! I combined it with a similar one and hope this works for you, enjoy! <3

Rating: G

Word Count: 1800

Read on AO3 or below

All in the Family

“And you’re sure you’re up for this?“ Amy turned to River one more time, halfway out of the door of their flat in 1940s New York.

“Of course, why wouldn’t I be?“ River crossed her arms in front of her chest challengingly.

“You’re not exactly the most responsible adult.“ Rory couldn’t help pointing out and glanced to his wife to find out whether they were going to change their minds at the last minute.

“I'll take that as a compliment.“ River smirked. “Remember this was your idea.“

“Yes but only because we don’t know many people here yet!“ Rory admitted.

“And having your baby stolen once, you don’t want to trust strangers, I get it.“ River gave her parents a kind smile. She was very happy for them. They deserved to have the calm family life that they had missed out on with her. Adopting baby Anthony had been a wonderful idea.

“It’s just been such a long time since we’ve been able to go out.“ Amy explained. “I just didn’t understand how hard raising a child would be!“ She sighed, running her hand through her hair. She was more exhausted than she ever had been while travelling with the Doctor. “We just really need to have an evening just for us.“

“Say no more and get yourself going before I change my mind.“ River ushered them out the door.

“You are a godsend, River.“ Amy kissed her daughter’s cheek. “Don’t get up to anything stupid.“ She wagged her finger at her.

“What, me? Stupid? Perish the thought.“ River feigned hurt but laughed.

“Just make sure Anthony is okay.“ Amy implored her and gave a little wave to the toddler that was just coming up behind River and wrapping his arms around her leg.

“You can count on me. We’ll have a brilliant time, won’t we, brother dearest?“ River smiled down at the child and patted his head.

“Ri-ver.“ The toddler nuzzled into her thigh.

“See, fast friends already.“ River chuckled and lifted him up.

“Does she… do you know anything about toddlers?“ Rory asked, insecure for a moment.

“I am married to the Doctor, does that count?“ River countered and the Ponds laughed:

“Fair point…“

“Relax, we will be fine, it’s just for a few hours.“ River kissed the forehead of her adoptive brother who was giving her a koala bear hug. “Tea, books, bed. I got this.“

“See you both later, look after each other.“ Amy smiled and kissed Anthony’s head, as did Rory.

“This is a bad idea…“ Rory hummed to his wife as they waved their goodbyes and made their way down the corridor.

“It’s a brilliant idea.“ Amy waved off his concerns.

“Right Anthony, there is someone I would like you to meet.“ River smiled at her little brother as she closed the door.

“Meet?“ Anthony echoed as River carried him back into the living room.

“Someone very special: Your brother-in-law. Well, I say brother… sister-in-law? Alien-in-law?“ River grinned,and as if on cue the TARDIS became visible in the lounge.

“I don’t know why you wouldn’t let me see them!“ The Doctor stuck her head out, having waited patiently for the Ponds to depart.

“Because they never would have left and they could do with a break.“ River explained with a chuckle as her wife skipped out of the TARDIS and towards them.

“Hello Anthony Pond!“ She grinned, ruffling the toddler’s curls who just giggled in response. He appeared fascinated by the sudden appearance of the blue box and pulled away from River, seemingly wanting to be set down.

“Williams…“ River corrected the Doctor as she sat her brother down who rushed to the TARDIS, circling around it in wonder.

“What shall we play with, Anthony?“ The Doctor ignored her wife and dropped to her knees in the middle of a pile of toys. “See, we’re gonna have the best time!“ She pulled her screwdriver from her coat and sonic-ed the toys. All of a sudden, cars and toy robots started moving on their own accord. Anthony giggled in delight and rushed over to the Doctor, the TARDIS no longer the most interesting thing around here.

“Guess that means I’m making tea?“ River chuckled as Anthony threw himself at the Doctor.

“Would you want either one of us close to a hob?“ The Doctor retorted, hugging the child tightly.

“Fair point.“ River chuckled.

——

“I don’t know why I asked you here, it’s like babysitting two toddlers.“ River was cleaning up the kitchen after tea had turned into a food fight.

“'Cause this is the closest thing you and I have to a family.“ The Doctor answered with surprising candour. Anthony was jawing, leaning against her.

“As much as I try to, I don’t really feel like part of them…“ River answered thoughtfully.

“Our lives are more complicated than that…“ The Doctor couldn’t help but agree. Neither one of them was suited to regular family dynamics.

“Would it be so bad though? Settling down for a time?“ River mused, looking from Anthony to her wife.

“Maybe at some point.“ The Doctor gave her a soft smile. This River hadn’t done Darillium yet. She had all of that to come and the Doctor missed their time there more than she would care to admit.

“Bed time?“ She asked, seeing as Anthony was virtually falling asleep next to her.

“I think so.“ River agreed with a smile and walked over to them. “Come here Anthony…“ She scooped him up. “Let’s get you into your PJs…“

Both the Doctor and River had presumed bedtime would be easy, considering how tired Anthony was, but they had thought wrong.

“Stop turning the light on and off!“ River pleaded, picking him up again to finally put him in his bed. Anthony appeared to have saved up his energy just for this.

“Still want kids?“ The Doctor tried her best to keep a straight face as she watched her wife struggle with the toddler.

“You know all of a sudden, being a big sister seems perfectly adequate.“ River retorted.

“I’ll get him a bottle of milk.“ The Doctor suggested, just as Anthony got up again and raced past River to the light switch.

“Stop it with the light switch!“ River groaned and scooped him up again. “Please, will you just stay in bed now?“ She tugged him in.

“Well well well, isn’t this a lovely sight.“ A voice sounded from the doorway that made River’s blood run cold. She whipped around, standing protectively in front of the bed.

“Madame Kovarian, how did you…“ She stared at the woman in the doorway.

“I knew I would find you eventually.“ Madame Kovarian smirked, walking further into the room. “And who is this little man? Tell me, am I a grandmother?“

“How dare you show your face here!“ River growled, regretting immediately that she left her gun in the TARDIS. She hadn’t anticipated needing it for babysitting duties.

“I believe you and I have some unfinished business.“ Kovarian retorted. “How is motherhood treating you, Melody? Where is the husband? Leaving you to do all the child care?“

“Right behind you!“ The Doctor called from the doorway, armed with nothing but a bottle of milk. She quickly accessed the situation in front of her, glaring at the unwelcome guest.

“Oh well, not your child then, is it?“ Kovarian retorted with a cruel smirk. “Now then, I think it’s time for some good old fashioned revenge…“ She pulled a gun on them.

Suddenly the light flicked off! Anthony had snuck out from behind River and gone for his favourite game again. River jumped at the opportunity. She flung herself at Kovarian and disarmed her quickly. The moment the light came back on, Kovarian was on the floor and River held her gun to her head.

“Never underestimate a Pond!“ The Doctor grinned and scooped up the child into a tight hug.

“You little monster!“ Kovarian spat.

“If anyone is a monster here, Madame Kovarian, it’s you.“ River retorted icily.

--

“Surprisingly quiet in here… maybe River managed to get him to sleep alright after all…“ Rory mused as he opened the door to the flat and they walked inside. It had been a lovely evening, just what they needed.

“What the…“ Amy stopped dead in her tracks as they stepped into the living room.

“Amelia Pond! And Rory the Roman!“ The Doctor exclaimed and ran towards them, pulling them into bone crushing hugs.

“River?!“ Amy exclaimed, needing an explanation. Who was this woman? What was she doing in their flat? Why did she know who they were? And why was Madame Kovarian tied to a chair in the middle of their lounge?!

“What can I say… Mum, Dad… when my husband regenerated into a hot blonde I started batting for the other team, hope that’s alright with you.“ River answered, gesturing to the Doctor who grinned widely, barely able to contain her excitement.

“What?!“ Amy and Rory exclaimed in unison.

“She didn’t want to tell you I was here cause she thought you’d be worried we’d set the place on fire…“ River explained a little bit more apologetically.

“Instead you have a tied up Madame Kovarian in our living room?!“ Amy gestured to the unwelcome guest.

“Ouch!“ Kovarian groaned when Anthony chucked a building block at her.

“Good shot, mate!“ The Doctor grinned and gave him a high five. Of course, Anthony had refused to go to bed after the excitement.

“Sorry, just got to finish building this transdimensional teleport. Teaching Anthony the basics of temporal engineering as we go. One way trip to Stormcage.“ River explained, gesturing to a circle of electrical components that had been erected around Kovarian. Long cables connected it to the TARDIS. “Unless I get the coordinates wrong… might end up in a sun instead…“ She mused.

“Melody, don’t do it, I…“ Kovarian pleaded.

“You have threatened my family for the last time. This is goodbye, Madame Kovarian, for the last time.“ River finished attaching the cables.

“Good riddance!“ Rory mumbled in agreement.

“Anthony!“ Amy called when the toddler skipped forward and hit a big red button on the contraption. Something no child would be able to resist. Kovarian disappeared in a flash of light!

“Was the teleport even calibrated?!“ The Doctor looked to River who gave a little shrug.

“I’ll check up on her when I’m in Stormcage next… she may have ended up in the cantina rather than an actual cell… but never mind.“ She looked to her parents. “So, how was your date?“

“Certainly less eventful than this.“ Amy shook her head in disbelief.

“Come on, mate, let’s get you to bed.“ The Doctor scooped Anthony up who nuzzled into her neck.

“Doc-tor.“