#flipping moffat

[oh-hamlet]

finally hit hell bent on my capaldi rewatch. I'm in bits.

[khruschevshoe]

There's something to be said about Heaven Sent/Hell Bent, despite the Doctor overthrowing the Time Lord Council and spending four and a half billion years in the confession dial and him and Clara and Me meeting at the end of universe, therefore technically spanning the longest time span, being fundamentally the smallest in stakes of any of the modern Doctor Who finales. At the end of the day, there is no threat to earth or the galaxy or the universe or reality. It's just about two people and the way that they turn each other inside out and the way that they reflect each other as two sides of the same coin and the way their relationship was always going to end this way- with the flip of the coin, spinning in the air, each trying to override the other, each trying to take control of the story, each haunting each other forever.

It's under my microscope. It's rotating rent free in my head. It's everything good about Moffat's writing- fairytale vibes, wrenching character work, two characters that thematically parallel each other- and none of the bad, because he's not trying to be too clever or fuck with the rules too much, there's a couple of simple concepts played straight to their inevitable conclusions: Clara Oswald needs to die but the Doctor can't let it happen, he wants her to forget but she can't let it happen, so they both will do the most devasting things in the world to stop the other and they both get their way in the end but only in a way that will leave them haunting each other forever.

And it's so fucking good.

[leikeliscomet]

No, Ncuti Gatwa's Casting Isn't Regressive

Chapter 1 - For Black Boys?

The general consensus of male companions is they don’t really stand out like their female peers. If I said ‘iconic male companion’ I doubt many people would think of Adric. However, some are still loved by certain parts of fandom regardless. Rory’s nerdiness turned bravery has gotten him a small stanbase. Captain Jack is loved by many especially as he was an openly bisexual character, being Nuwho’s earliest example of queer representation. Or Wilf, whose light-hearted personality and humour engaged so many (Rest in Peace Bernard Cribbins). Black male companions on the other hand didn’t really get those types of flowers, let alone reaching Clara Oswald or Rose Tyler levels of popularity. The amount of lead Black men in Who is little (3 to be exact) and from them, their stories didn’t reach the icon status of the other companions of the show. And the reasons why unfortunately weren’t that surprising.

The first Black male companion was Mickey Smith. Mickey played the role of the scared boyfriend of Rose Tyler, simping after her as she ran off with a mysterious Ninth Doctor. Nine’s best-of-the-best mentality meant there wasn’t a Mickey shape in the TARDIS to fill in. The two would constantly have nitpicky back and forths putting Rose in the position of having to ‘choose’ her man. But her mind was made up. Rose and Mickey split by the end of the season with Mickey revealing his fling with a Ms Trisha Delaney. It wasn’t a universe-defying breakup where the galaxies tried to separate them but instead a case of two people with different wants and needs calling it quits. That doesn't sound too bad on paper, right? But unfortunately, RTD gave Mickey Smith a pre-Martha Jones arc, where so much of his arc would be dedicated to his failure to live up to a Rose Tyler standard. Despite Rose’s contributions to the RoseMickey split and how both characters had cheated on the other, both RTD and the fandom had given Mickey most of the blame. Mickey’s relationship with NineRose would eventually warm up towards the end of series 1, agreeing with Nine that Rose travelling was what she wanted and her council estate days were over. Series 2 decided to flip this on its head however, having Ten and Mickey being a lot more hostile towards each other. From Rose’s eyerolls to Ten forgetting Mickey’s existence it was clear the TenRose TARDIS team only had room for two. After getting fed up with his Tin Dog treatment, Mickey decided to stay in Pete’s World a little longer. The last of his official arc would be his return in the series 2 finale, gun-slinging against Daleks and Cybermen. He wouldn’t return until series 4 for the 2008 Dalek Invasion and a cameo with Martha Jones announcing their offscreen marriage. Although creating a small Mickey Smith standom, Mickey’s time in RTD1 was rough. He was mainly reduced to a comic relief or punching bag for the main white characters, having little room for his own developments. And the ones he did have, such as his absentee father, dead grandma and random Martha marriage were brief moments and not really enough to fully flesh him out.

Moffat gave us another Black male lead in Danny Pink. Although not a companion, Danny would be the math teaching counterpart to Clara Oswald and his conflict with TwelveClara would actually serve a narrative purpose. Unlike RoseMickey, our main companion would choose her boyfriend over the moody Time Lord although it was only briefly. Danny’s soldier past would have him demonised both in show and fandom, from Twelve’s bias against soldiers to Clara’s uncertainty to many TwelveClaras keeping him at arm's length and even going as far as to call him abusive. Danny, like Mickey, wasn’t super popular Black male representation either. Just as Nine and Ten made it clear Mickey wasn’t welcome, Twelve’s issue with ‘PE’ made it clear the two weren’t besties either. Danny would have to prove to Twelve he was worthy of Clara’s love and this would be achieved through his cyber-self sacrifice in the series 8 finale. Obviously, a child murderer would not be a fan favourite overnight, especially from the POV of a former solder Time Lord who’d suffered the consequences of war himself. However, series 8 established Twelve’s arc of moral ambiguity and potential for change, where he’d go on to question the type of man he was; good, bad, both or neither. Yet, Danny Pink was irredeemable. Whether we personally believe Danny deserved a second chance or not, he wasn’t given one like his white counterparts. To the fandom, Twelve and Clara’s actions were the byproduct of context and factors, heart-wrenching decisions in situations they couldn’t control. But Danny Pink was irredeemable, evil and the worst character of Moffat Who. Twelve and Clara were compelling. Danny Pink was trash. In fact, Missy, who’d claimed more lives than Mr Pink ever did would be set up for her own moral ambiguity arc, taking the iconic Time Lord villain and questioning if they could ever become good in their first female incarnation. Against a narrative of growth and change, a white woman’s redemption would be set up for a greater arc that would end at the end of Moffat’s run itself, with most fans supporting her growth and potential, whilst a Black man’s was found in his death to protect the other white characters. Danny’s final appearance would be in Last Christmas where he and Clara shared their final goodbyes. TwelveClara’s arc would continue in series 9 and Danny’s name was never mentioned again.

Chibnall introduced us to the first Black male companion to travel full-time, Ryan Sinclair.  Despite this achievement, Ryan would somehow have even less visibility than Danny and Mickey. Ryan’s arc was simpler, focusing on his ability to ride a bike with his dyspraxia. He wouldn’t achieve this goal, not as a slight but as a small commentary on how disability wasn't something to be fixed and instead a part of people’s everyday lives. Ryan’s dyspraxia was heavily critiqued for being written inconsistently and so would many other aspects of his character. His missing YouTube channel post-series 11, his way of mentioning his dead nan each episode and his relationship (or lack thereof) with his dad were seen as many misses in the writing department. Even after losing his nan, most gun-wrenching heartfelt moments about her death were given to Graham instead. Along with this, there was and still is harsh criticism of Tosin Cole’s acting (which ironically hasn’t stopped him from securing lead roles in House Party and Supacell, making him a breakout star of the Chibnall era). Series 12 wouldn’t help Ryan’s case either as after the initial Tim Shaw storyline ended with Graham and Ryan finding a type of closure for Grace, Ryan would slip further back in the queue for priority characters. With the return and new incarnation of the Master, the Fugitive Doctor reveal, the Timeless Child, Ashad the Lone Cyberman and the hunt for the Cyberium, there wasn’t really room for a new companion arc for any of the fam, let alone Ryan specifically. At most, he got a small subplot involving shooting a basketball hoop, similar to his bike-riding storyline. This would only be relevant in two episodes; its introduction and a small scene of him teaming up with Ko Sharmus to take out some Cybermen. His dad whom we were introduced to in series 11 wouldn’t return in this series either, missing the opportunity for a follow-up from that storyline. Instead, we got Tibo, similar to Amy and Rory’s Mels, a companion’s alleged best friend who we never saw in the previous season. This friendship wouldn’t play a key role either and Tibo was reduced to irregular small appearances. Ryan would be ready to leave in Revolution of the Daleks with a wallet of psychic paper. No new YouTube video or completed mechanic NVQ in sight. The Chibnall era companions already faced a fair share of unpopularity and plenty of ‘cardboard cut-out’ allegations. In most companion polls, Ryan tends to sit at the bottom with his grandad Graham following close behind. 

This isn’t to say Mickey, Danny or Ryan are blips in Doctor Who’s universe and had no impact whatsoever but that they all suffered due to a lack of meaningful writing. Mickey and Danny mainly served to facilitate white characters and many of their scenes functioned as reminders of how much the Doctor hated them. Ryan on the other hand, despite having what was supposed to be his own arc as a full-time companion, had to share screentime with two others on top of Thirteen’s arc as well. Thirteen and Yaz’s narratives stretched across three series whilst he only got two, and those two were already packed with a lot of other narratives. In the same way the treatment of Martha and Bill reflects the show’s issues in representing Black women, the treatment of these characters shows the issue in the show’s representations of Black men. The vulnerabilities of Black manhood are rarely portrayed in mainstream media due to the stereotypes of Black men being tough, aggressive and hypermasculine (key examples being the Black Brute trope or Thug trope). Even though I wouldn’t argue Mickey, Danny or Ryan fit these tropes exactly, their treatment reflects the antiblackness Black men experience; the false idea of inevitable struggle that Black men are supposed to ‘handle’ because of their ‘inherent’ strength. Across genders, Black characters are made to feel like they have to ‘work’ and ‘earn’ their spot in the TARDIS or ‘work’ to be worthy of the Doctor’s attention, which can feel like a barrier when it comes to feeling represented by this show. The Fugitive Doctor was a step forward, moving beyond Black characters as the companions but an attempt at a Black doctor, a Black main character. But with the Fugitive reduced to cameo roles and the end of the Chibnall era, this never came through. The main options seem to be Tin Dog or three seconds of screen time. Gatwa’s casting can not only be an attempt to build from the sidelining of the Fugitive but also provide a form of Black male representation the show has never done before, building on the neglect of Mickey, Danny and Ryan. The only way to move when you’re stuck at the bottom is upwards.

<- Intro

Chapter 2 ->

[silvermarmoset]

One thing I haven't seen anyone mention about Boom! is how fucking creepy it is that the kid comes to the battlefield to find her dad and is completely content with the AI version put forward. She's old enough to know it's not him, yet instantly and comfortably sits down with it as it flips through family photos. When the other soldier dies, she does the exact same thing—sits down raptly, ready to hear a story, totally blind to the immediate destruction and death happening around her. All the usual messages Moffat had going in the story (uncontrollable tech, AI afterlives, weaponized capitalism, etc.) are scaries we've seen before, but that strand—the innocent completely fine with technology that's clearly miles away from her real dad, to the point of ignoring real pain and death—is the most haunting thing I've ever seen him do.

[being-of-rain]

I thought I'd continue my usual trend of writing my thoughts down on new Doctor Who episodes, by talking about The Star Beast. As usual, I set out to write something quick and concise, but the Wrarth Warriors busted down my door and told me that I legally couldn't.

Apparently I still have the impulse to describe Doctor Who episodes as 'fun', but by and large it's a fun show! And a fun episode! Even if I'm not as obsessed with him as a lot of fans, RTD has a charm which it's hard not to enjoy, especially with lots of little jokes and bits of physical comedy (I love little bits of physical comedy). And it's a funny episode, I was laughing from the moment the Doctor picked up a box, saw Donna, and put the box back again. Well that's not true, I was laughing from the moment I saw David Tennant just standing in green screen space like he was about to tell me the exciting new direction he intended to take the company. I'm glad everyone else seems to find that as funny as I did.

Another word I could use to describe the episode is a bit surreal. Having Beep the Meep and the Wrarth Warriors on screen was a little surreal, but strangely I found it even more so that the Doctor was walking around not knowing who Beep the Meep was. I mean obviously that was always going to be the case, but all Doctor Who mediums just live together inside my head and it was just weird to see him not recognise an iconic enemy. Maybe that was just me. Oh but Beep and the Warriors looked fantastic! It's hard to believe they're all physical effects! I really wasn't too interested in the UNIT gunfight that didn't really do much for the story, but if the new big budget lets aliens look that good then I'm fine with it. Other slightly surreal or strange things involved finally watching Doctor Who again after more than a year's break, watching it on Disney Plus rather than Australia's ABC channel, and seeing Ruth Madeley on-screen as UNIT's scientific advisor when she's also playing a companion of the Sixth Doctor in the audios at the moment.

Oh and, of course, having the Tenth Doctor and Donna back on-screen, and the TV show doing what fanfiction writers have been doing for 15 years. That was really surreal. I definitely like the two of them, but I don't have the same rampant nostalgia for their time on the show like lots of people do. I'm glad lots of people are enjoying the nostalgia aspect, but I'm also glad this is a mini-series rather than a full one. And already there's some aspects back of RTD's writing which I'm not super fond of- like conclusions that try to use technobabble and music-swelling emotional moments to smooth over the fact that some things are just happening without much cause or set-up. RTD's usually pretty good at that too- that's how the whole DoctorDonna thing started in the first place, after all- so Donna and Rose just 'letting go' of the metacrisis did feel like it fell unusually flat. Especially with it being paired with a 'women are better than men' moment which felt more like something from a Moffat script (I say this as a fan of both these writers).

Okay, that was just me trying to get all of my negatives out of the way! On the flip side, Rose inheriting the metacrisis and saving the day was a wonderful revelation, and I love that daughter/mother and loving family relationships were so important on the whole. Seeing Sylvia stumble with pronouns but still try was so lovely, as was Donna being so aggressively supportive of her daughter. And Shaun was a small role but so hilarious.

The chat outside the Tardis was great too, with Shaun dunking on the Doctor, and Donna being genre-savvy enough to stop her daughter getting into the Tardis but not enough to save herself. The new Tardis itself was a little empty to me (I'll always prefer more homely interiors) but was still extremely cool. All I want is for the show to come up with excuses for creative ways to use the mood lights. And I couldn't imagine a better ending to the episode than the console exploding because Donna spilt coffee on it, 10/10 no notes.

I know basically nothing about the next episode, and it seems that's the case for most people, so I'm terribly excited about it! It seems potentially scary spooky 👀 I'm so here for that

[akajustmerry]

you think RTD who is boring?

not... Boring but repetitive? conventional? yeah. every RTD finale back in the day was just Russell flipping a coin like "will it be Nazi tin cans or the Doctor's ex boyfriend?" and there's nothing wrong with that, necessarily. They're still written well. I just personally don't find Russell's dedication to invoking traditional Who that interesting. The ideas are stale to me, but the quality of his writing saves it. Whereas with Moffat I feel like the ideas underpinning everything were really compelling and had a nice balance of new/familiar, but Moffat isn't a good writer when it comes to characters and conventions. Which is why, in my mind, if you combined the two styles I'd be happy as Larry.

[gaylordlady]

Watching Boom and then immediately watching the final episode of Fallout feels so right? Like, both have such strong anti-capitalism messages about war and warfare in the future.

Spoilers below cut for Fallout 1x08 and Doctor Who 1x03

"Flashy lights play well in a show room. Modern warfare. Death by salesman." - The Doctor to Ruby.

And then hearing...

"Because, in our current societal configuration, which took shape without intentional guidance, we have friction [...] we have conflict, and we have war. And war? Well, war never changes."

While businessmen and women discuss experiments on people, all in the name of "creating a good society"? Making 122 vaults, many of which actively existed to see how fucked up they could make people behave.

And throughout Boom, there is constantly a "Thoughts and prayers" quote being said (which is the go to response for people in need, in wars, or in active hostile environments), a company literally making soldiers kill each other? (Which happened in vault 11)

Both of these shows are being streamed on massive corporations, DW on Disney+, which generated 8.4 BILLION last year (only increasing since it's initial launch, as it has removed many shows and movies from other sites). And Fallout on Amazon Prime, which had gotten 35.22 BILLION in revenue last year, as well has being known (practically globally) as a company that uses and abuses it's workers, but has made itself such a staple in so many places, that it is physically impossible to not support them in some way, and some can only use them.

But Doctor Who has always been a show about anti-war and anti-capitalism. To have such a show go to the hand of one of the biggest mega corporations is such a shame, it is incredible that they can have Moffat come back and basically flip the house of mouse off and shit in their toilet all while getting paid, and have that approved? awesome.

Fallout has always been about how war is horrible, and how fucked up humans are, giving a rare glimmer of hope towards something attainable, and Amazon Prime taking this media and making it a show? All while ignoring what the message is? Incredible. Perfect.

[variousqueerthings]

i went and read through all the scorecards and commentary you’ve written so far, and i just have to comment that i think you’ll have a much better time rewatching twelve’s era - it’s got its own problems, of course, but it’s such a breath of fresh air. i think m*ffat actually took some of people’s biggest criticisms of s5-7 to heart - the hamfisted sexiness is toned way down, and he did away with the whole “the doctor is the center of the universe and the most specialest guy ever” angle almost entirely. honestly, i almost have a hard time believing both eras were written by the same person.

hahaaa thank you, and idk why the below got so long, when your ask was relatively simple, blame it on the hyperfixation!

I acknowledge I tend to write m*ffat (mainly because im not trying to put stuff in tags to be a buzzkill but also as a joke about censoring him), but I do think he got... better

in the sense that he was overall less sexist and more character-driven later on and seems to have really run with a lot of what people wanted set up in terms of genderbending Timelords and queer lead characters, although I am finding s6 has some really good stuff... not.... his episodes so much lol...... but I'm liking it more than s5 which runs contrary with my assumptions/memory of his era, which is pleasantly surprising

I don't think he's egregious in the way writers like, say, Joss Whedon were, I've not heard stories of him being an asshole on set (except for that one story about him throwing a hissyfit about not getting the horse through the mirror in GitF back in s2), which may just be me missing stuff, so can let me know, BUT... nothing I know of. and while he's said some... Highly Dubious Shit About Women Especially and also asexuality, I genuinely think he's been working on some of those biases and fucking nonsense

we went from the Doctor kissing a lesbian without her consent to Bill Potts (who has some flaws -- the fat joke I've been seeing mentioned on Tumbls, the somewhat off-centre flirtation with the one-night stand she doesn't get to have that seems more like it comes from girl-on-girl porn than like a way lesbians might speak with one another)

from writing Rants about the dullness of asexuality that assumed a cis- and heteronormative perspective of the Doctor (he's a bloke of course he'd want to have sex was a lot of the Vibes of it) to in a "confused but got some of the spirit" writing about how the Doctor wouldn't understand human definitions of sexuality and monogamous relationship structures (there's a post about that somewhere in the depths of my blog @fabiansociety made some excellent points)

from describing the original first casting for Amy as "wee and dumpy" to... well, actually can we have some clarification there sir, also the shit you said about Karen Gillen basically just being cast because she was hot (I'm not saying I am super Yay Moffat after all), but at least toning down the sexy sexy talk on the show from what you say!

also maybe a smallish thing, and idk how much power he had and and and, buuut I appreciate how he went from the way he talked in GiTF about how Reinette was "worthy" of the Doctor because she was cultured and educated and whatnot... when Rose is literally the companion of the season and semi-textually Created Ten (regardless of youknow, reads of the relationship and all that, definitely important to the narrative and the Doctor), to having Rose appear as The Bad Wolf in the 50th anniversary special... haunting the naaarrative baybey

and I remember feeling like "Missy" when introduced was just a rehash of River Song rehash of Irene Adler (or whatever way around those characters existed) but then Gomez is actually amazing as The Master, to the point that she's the Number One thing I remember from that era of the show

and he's not an asshole about trans people, which, low bar perhaps, but not in this flipping country, especially not saying so out loud, which, like... Doctor Who is a big deal in this country and RTD is obviously a big ol' queer who's been yelling from the rooftops from Day One, but to not just have it be him, to have a cultural institution firmly in our corner, it's good feeling-wise, and Moffat is a part of that too

and what you're saying, which I cannot quite remember the details of but will eventually reach, the pivot from how the Doctor is portrayed in the Eleven arc vs the Twelve arc, and what the core of that story is, and the glory of Capaldi!

the limitations of this praise then come in the fact that he was learning this stuff while running two of the biggest British institutions, a version of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Who, and so the above Things that he was a dick about, alongside the mocking of fandom during Sherlock and the weird "queer but not queer" stuff with Sherlock/Watson (look, the fucking... BBC marketed it through the lens of a ship, and then there was a whole idk... campaign to make fandom seem weird and over-invested, and then of course Sherlock actually sucked as a show for so many reasons...) means that he's managed to be a prat in real time and it's meant that what should have been fun engagement in storytelling wasn't so much for many of us wincing through the shit he was saying and writing in his shows

... that time he was like "people are accusing me of being sexist, but I love strong, sexually confident women who can step on me, and having a dominatrix kink that I'm projecting onto my female characters onscreen is the opposite of sexism actually Check Mate" (that paraphrasing was mean, sorry not sorry, but also.... I could find the quote or just a handful of handy videos that have aaaaalll of the quotes... because they were happening.... in national newspapers and in interviews and panels and twitter and.... like.... not in private... there's more I'm vaguely remembering but not sure enough to just throw out there, so yeah... but he did not shut up!)

also I will never think he's a good writer so much as Very good at thinking up cool concepts that others might be able to run with or work with him on, and he should never ever be left to his own devices and encouraged to do whatever he wants (... Sherlock..... Jekyll.... from what I've heard, Inside Man....) AND I think generally and hope that RTD2 is going to be about heralding in the next gen of creators, including perhaps... a future showrunner who didn't grow up when Classic!Who was in its infancy (I don't mean that as a diss, I just mean that we've had three of those showrunners so far), and perchance isn't a cis man, because I think a lot of cool shit that could have been better might have been if moffat wasn't learning the ABC's of third wave feminism at the same time

Gosh and he's the least sexy writer I have ever come across... maybe not ever, but considering how confident he was being about allosexual alloromantic Doctor, that man is as sexy as getting slapped by a wet fish (unless you're into that, in which case insert something else here)

ALL OF THIS TO SAY... yeah, I'm excited for Twelve. and I'm enjoying Eleven more by watching the way I'm watching and being able to set criteria for worse and for better!

[see-arcane]

Coppola’s Dracula feels like Dracula if it was written by someone who hates the book Dracula. And tbh…

Pretty much 😔

Really, an unfortunate amount of Dracula media is made that way. Some because they're stuck in an echo chamber of people who can only be bothered to regurgitate or build off of earlier warped takes on the story, or just the Count solo, and some because they're made by people who actually bothered to read the book..!

...and then flipped the bird to it entirely anyway. Looking at you, Moore, Moffat, and Newman

[who-canceled-roger-rabbit]

So I was just explaining to my parents the weird love triangle between the Eleventh Doctor and the Ponds, and I started to say that Amy's pushy advances on Eleven in "Flesh and Stone" would've probably been received a bit differently if you flipped the genders. Then I paused and said "on second thought, knowing Moffat, he probably wouldn't care"

[davidmann95]

It's the reunion of the team supreme of me, @deathchrist2000, and Ritesh Babu for the final stretch of Peter Capaldi's tenure as The Doctor and Moffat's as Who showrunner, plus a few surprises! I'm told it's all pain going forward from here.

[phyrexian-lesbian]

Moffat Who was the most genuinely experimental and philosophical this lovely goofy show has ever been. His early attempts at feminism were often cringe and clumsy, his S6 and S7 arcs needed a lot more editing…but Clara’s arc where she aims to becomes the Doctor in order to escape the confines of the typically female ‘companion’ role and crucially is not punished by the narrative for that ambition is the most feminist story the show’s ever managed to tell.

Plus River is a flipping badass. Long live River. Heaven Sent is a masterpiece. The 50th anniversary was a riot that also made me cry. Series 5 is gorgeous. Honestly, Moffat Who is peak Who and I wish Chibnall’s work (and RTD in these 60th specials) didn’t largely act as if it never happened.

that’s what i’m saying! thank you random person on the internet! i just wish moffat got more appreciation for the work he’s done and i’ll never stop rewatching his seasons.

[khruschevshoe]

You know, I saw all the Orpheus and Eurydice web weaving posts for Clara and 12. I saw all of the Hadestown references on all of your posts. And yet none of that actually prepared me for watching Hell Bent and going oh. Oh shit.

Because I knew about the confession dial and what he does in Heaven Sent to get her back. I know the general plot of Hell Bent. I did not realize he literally shows up with a guitar at the beginning and end of it all. That he went to the underworld in Heaven Sent and comes out of the underworld in Hell Bent and manages not to look back but only because he's planning on never looking back. He's planning on wiping her mind and so instead she looks back and dooms him, wiping his mind, and he ends the entirety of their run playing his guitar into the desert to a ghost. He will never get her back because she looked back. She will forever haunt him because he succeeded and failed at the same time. Because she wrenched her agency out of the situation. And he doesn't remember her, she can't remember her, but he is haunted by her. He is LITERALLY PLAYING HER SONG at the end of it.

I finally understand why people are so obsessed with the twelveclara dynamic, and I would put at least fifty bucks on the idea that Steven Moffat looked at how the Ten/Donna subplot ended in Journey's End (Doctor and companion become a hybrid and the Doctor realizes that if he doesn't wipe her memories she'll die because she has too much Time Lord in her) and went how do I Orpheus/Eurydice this shit but flip the table as to who is Orpheus and who is Eurydice at the last second? Who gets to walk into hell and who gets to look back and who gets to be haunted? BOTH OF THEM. ALWAYS BOTH OF THEM. THEY WILL HAUNT EACH OTHER UNTIL THE END OF TIME ITSELF.

Now excuse me while I go scream into my pillow-

(Also, this all your fault, @twelvesbian, I hope you're happy.)

[leikeliscomet]

Moffat's always praised for doing Bill better than RTD in terms of race but honestly it was ehhhhhh for many reasons but for one I think acknowledging Bill's race outside of racism was a missed opportunity in s10. Bill knows nothing about her mum and she's raised by a white woman. What was that like for Bill? It's a bit weird they'd go out of their way to show the foster mum's heteronormative projections onto Bill but not anything about race. (Thinking about SAINT's YT video where he says something like "in a show that addresses politics why is race the no go?") Penny's the only other Black girl she knows and dates at that uni. How is that affecting her? She deals with constant heteronormativity throughout her uni experience so why would antiblackness be absent? Not just Moffat but DW tends to only "remember" Black characters Blackness for race-specific storylines like historicals (but even then it flip flops based on time and location) and that's why even tho there's 3 Black companions in a British show Black Britishness isn't actually acknowledged. Its weird when you deep it.

I recently clocked how Kelly Jo from Waterloo Road basically has the storyline I kinda wish Bill got. Kelly Jo's a mixed race girl who doesn't know her dad and is the only mixed Black person in her immediate family. It's not until she does peer mentoring with a younger Black girl called Jess that she realises how much she doesn't know about herself. A similar storyline happens with Jordan in the Beaker Girls. Jordan's a Black lesbian girl dealing with high expectations and microaggressions that put her fostering at risk. I wont spoil these bc they're both pretty decent storylines but I wish DW was "radical" enough to show the Black Brit experience more.

[aletterinthenameofsanity]

Me rapidly flipping between both Moffat-era analysis and Moffat-era critique (and the same for Chibnall) in order to flavor my fic writing for Eleven, Rory, Amy, and Thirteen:

[pyromantic-mishap]

i don’t think it’s unreasonable to suggest that 10 or 12 are the best Doctors of the nu-Who era, but neither of them are my favourite and it sucks because they seem to be all anyone talks about

11 is my favourite Doctor. how can this be despite Moffat’s one-handed writing and the hero-worship and the weird arc structures and all of 11’s other flaws, you may ask? simple. i literally do not care.

11’s moments and victories and speeches are tacky and cheesy and cliché and i love it deep within my soul. Matt Smith carries off the youthful exuberance of 10 and the age and gravitas of 12 at different times and flips between them so naturally and it’s just. wonderful.

and just because 11 is flawed does not mean that other Doctors must be perfect by comparison: 12 is a major asshole to Clara for no reason throughout all of S8 and his constant flip-flopping on whether he has the right to make decisions for humanity is real frustrating. 10 treats Martha (and arguably Jack) horribly, and the Time Lord Victorious thing falls flat on its ass sometimes

and just so everyone feels included, 13 has the personality of one person split across four and it is AGONISING to watch and 9… actually 9 is pretty close to perfect, but having only one season doesn’t leave tons of wiggle room for bad writing to set in.

back to 11 real quick - i know some people have a vehement dislike for moffat’s style of writing being overly poetic and fairytale, but i’ll be honest in saying that i love that stuff for Dr Who. this is a show about a madman with a box that can travel in time and space. we can have fantastical narratives. yes, characters should probably be more affected by events involved and yes, some of the companions should probably have just died instead of being brought back constantly and yes, sometimes a story happens just for the sake of being cool but also i literally do Not Give A Single Fuck about that. the doctor openly admits that paradoxes happen and that shit resolves itself, and when time itself is unraveling that sort of thing is bound to be more likely to occur. can you tell i like the Big Bang?