#harry and yasmine

[harryforvogue]

Harry sets the hair dryer down on the table beside Yasmine’s shoulder. Her eyes blink open to glance at him curiously through the mirror, hand already reaching for the dryer to take over. “Got tired?”

He shakes his head, staring back at her reflection with a pensive look.

It was his idea to dry her hair for her since her arms were sore from yesterday's therapy. Despite taking a hot bath immediately after to soothe her muscles, the ache had made it tough this morning. They’d showered together, Harry’s gentle fingers massaging the shampoo into her scalp, gliding the conditioner down her ends, and his palms carefully smearing over her eyes to remove any suds from her face. He’d held her jaw in his hands and bent down to kiss her softly, thumbs rubbing over her wet cheeks. 

He’d usually be handsy in the shower, but this time he only held her and kissed her face, eyes never straying from hers. It unnerved her for him to be so silent, but it also excited her to have all his attention.

“What is it?” she asks him, because a silent Harry is something to be worried about.

Harry almost smiles at the immediate frown on her face. It’s a default expression for her, and oh how he loves it. “What do you think about marriage?”

Yasmine freezes. The frown disappears, but it’s now replaced by apprehension.

“Marriage,” she repeats.

“Mhmm.” He runs his thumb over the back of her neck. She shivers.

“It’s. Well, it’s marriage.”

“Astute, my love.”

“It’s legally binding.”

“That it is.”

“Webster Dictionary defines it as–”

“Yasmine,” Harry says quietly, but firmly. “First thought that comes into your head. Go. Marriage.”

She blinks and automatically replies, “Harry.” And then she has the audacity to look concerned with her own answer. “Oh.”

He smiles fully then, whirling her around so she can see his face. She looks up at him quizzically, but lets him push her hair back over her shoulders. Instead of kissing her, he hugs her to his torso, pressing her face into his stomach. “Okay.”

“Okay?” she says, muffled against his shirt. 

“Just wanted to see something.”

He squeezes her tightly, hard enough to make her wince, but not hard enough to make her cry out. He smooths his hands down her back then, and then releases her, reaching for the dryer again.

“Whoa,” Yasmine says, placing her hand on his to stop him. “Listen, I’m not a very big romantic person, but there’s no way I’m going to allow you to propose to me while you’re drying my hair!”

Harry ponders over this for a minute. “Would it help if I got on one knee?” And then he does so, bringing the dryer along with him.

“Harry!” She puts her hands on each shoulder, scooting closer to him. The wild look in her eyes is still there, but it’s now mixed with…delight?

He shakes his head. “Yasmine, you have no faith in me. Why would I propose to you like this?”

“I don’t know! Why are you asking me about marriage?”

He gives her a pointed look. “We’ve been dating for over a year, not to mention you made me wait throughout grad school for you to come around. I hope you know that I’m fully committed to you and would like a life with you. You are mine. This is it for me.”

Yasmine feels her face flush, swallowing hard. Her heart hammers in her chest and the entire world melts away. It’s just her and this ridiculous gem of a man. “I thought that was a given. And unspoken.”

“It was. But now I’m saying it out loud so you know. Because I know things get lost between us sometimes, but I need to be clear now.”

Oh.

“I started dating you knowing you were the last woman I’d be with. I will do many, many things to ensure that. I will let you win as many fights as you want, put up with your worst habits if the need be. And I need to know if we’re on the same page about this.”

Something inside her squeezes. He looks so serious, eyes unwavering, jaw set, that it makes her shiver again. He’s rarely ever this intense about anything. His hand strays from the dryer, taking one of her hands instead, pressing her open palm to his heart.

“Of course,” Yasmine blurts. She grabs his shirt, tugging him a little closer. “We’re on the same page about that. You can’t get rid of me now.”

Harry nods once. “Good.” He then kisses the top of her head and then stands, her hand falling away when he reaches his full height. He manually turns back around and parts her hair once more, ready to dry it again.

“Harry,” she says before she gets drowned out.

“Hm?”

“I don’t have high expectations about a proposal. I need to clarify that.”

He finally smiles, his eyes clearing. He kisses her head again, more firmly, and then sighs against her. “It’s been years and you still think so little about my wooing skills.”

“I’m just saying. It doesn't have to be big.”

“I know, baby.”

The pet name makes her inwardly soar. “But just not while drying my hair.”

“It would make me happy,” he admits softly. “To propose while taking care of you. Something I consider my only purpose.”

“I mean it.” She tries to sound strict, her breath catching at the confession. She fails completely.

“I know,” he says again, and then hugs her tightly. “I know.”

[lem0nademouth]

things heartstopper does brilliantly because i refuse to let some of you monsters ruin it for everyone

1. models healthy consent practices!! oh my goodness!! asking to kiss, double checking that consent is enthusiastic, being honest about moments that lacked consent (see: b*n h*pe and imogen asking out nick). later in the books we get even more amazing examples of consent being an ongoing conversation!!

2. the teenagers act their age!! they’re awkward, they’re confused, they’re unsure of themselves, they are PLAYED BY YOUNG ACTORS!!! it’s realistic and beautiful and doesn’t set unreasonable expectations for viewers like almost every other show about high schoolers

3. SUPPORTIVE PARENTS!!! all of the parents we have met so far have been loving, supportive, compassionate, and patient. it’s so nice to have multiple queer and trans characters who are embraced by their parents and their friend’s parents from the beginning. and tao’s mom is an icon.

4. safe people and places!! the characters have trusted adults like mr. ajayi and mrs. singh and safe places like the art room that they can go to when things are rough. it models healthy support network building and healthy coping skills!!!

5. all the ways you can come out and be out!! it tells a beautiful “coming out isn’t always easy and it’s never the end of the journey” story without making coming out seem like a disaster waiting to happen. yes, charlie was outed - and people still jumped to his aid even before nick came around. no one pressures nick to come out (a major story arc some of y’all clearly didnt pay attention to) and they tell him it’s fine if he doesn’t know what to label his sexuality if he even wants to label it at all. 

6. LETTING. BOYS. CRY. oh my god it’s so refreshing to see a show where boys get to cry instead of punching walls. and not once does someone tell them crying makes them less masculine. no one tells anyone to stop crying. they’re allowed to be emotional and it’s wonderful.

7. affection. i adore the way this show portrays all the small ways you can say “i love you”: a homemade picture frame, buying your apple juice every day, waiting until you’re ready, taking you to the beach, bringing over cookies for movie night, bringing their dog to the date to cheer you up, running over in the rain, punching someone in the face for you. 

feel free to add more!!! i just want to highlight the best parts of this show + graphic novel series because it really is a masterpiece. i hope kit (and the rest of the cast and crew) knows that he’s doing a good job - a great job - and that no one else’s shitty behavior can change that. 

[mobius-m-mobius]

Why did this face come back? To say goodbye?

DOCTOR WHO - 60th Anniversary Trailer + Ep Titles

[denimbex1986]

'Doctor Who star David Tennant has managed to inadvertently raise thousands of pounds for LGBTQ+ charity the Albert Kennedy Trust (AKT) by wearing a TARDIS pin in the colours of the trans Pride flag.

Tennant appeared on sketch show The Last Leg on Friday (17 November) and The One Show last night (20 November), to discuss his return as the Doctor for the upcoming Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials.

On both programmes, he donned a small pin badge shaped like the Doctor’s spacecraft, the TARDIS, in blue, white and pink – the trans Pride flag colours.

The creator of the badge, Dr Jamie Gallagher, has since shared on social media that all profits raised from purchases of it will be donated to charity AKT, which supports homeless LGBTQ+ people in the UK.

Hours before Tennant’s appearance on The One Show, Gallagher updated their followers to announce that more than £18,000 had been raised for the charity.

“Thank you beautiful humans. That will make a huge difference to LGBTQ+ people living with homelessness this winter,” Gallagher shared, adding that their website was “blowing up” with people trying to order the TARDIS Pride pins.

Tennant’s wife, actress Georgia Tennant, has also promoted the badges on her social media.

In recent months, the Tennants have become staunch trans allies, as one of their children is reportedly non-binary.

David Tennant has been spotted on TV numerous time wearing a range of trans and non-binary pin badges, including one which read: “You are safe with me”.

In July, he was spotted wearing a “leave trans kids alone” t-shirt while promoting his Prime Video series, Good Omens.

The t-shirt drew fierce backlash from anti-trans campaigners, most notably from The IT Crowd creator Graham Lineham – who suggested that Tennant was an “abusive groomer” for his support of trans children. Lineham was later reportedly dropped by his TV agent, who also represented Tennant, over his comments.

To mark Pride month in June, Tennant appeared on the Reasons To Be Cheerful podcast, urging that while the community can’t “expect that we will always travel in the right direction towards acceptance,” everyone should be “fighting that fight every day”.

David Tennant will make his much-anticipated Doctor Who return this Saturday, 25 November, as part of the queerest series yet, with LGBTQ+ icons Ncuti Gatwa, Yasmin Finney, Miriam Margoyles and Neil Patrick Harris also starring.'

[yawneon]

PROJECT : REBUS !

a/n : my second little fic thingy on this app 🤭 i’m writing this at 4am, sorry if there’s any little mistakes. (i’m feeding my own mattheo riddle delusions)

pairing : mattheo riddle x gn!slytherin!reader

summary : you hated mattheo riddle, loathed him almost but all shit hits the fan when things go missing in your and his dorm, so the only logical thing to do is to band together and find out what in merlin’s name is going on.

!!! : sherlock holmes era, im funny i swear, fluff, enemies to teammates to lovers, im gonna write this one longer promise, a little bit on y/n (we love them), nicknames, references of non-canon slytherin characters (lorenzo berkshire, mattheo riddle.. obviously 😭😭), half-blood reader, mattheo is annoying

part 1! / …

★・・・・・・★

it wasn’t out of the ordinary for mattheo riddle, son of the dark lord, to be annoying you in some way. it was his hobby, (or atleast that’s what he’d like to call it). no matter how many times you tell him to fuck off or leave you alone he just could never grasp the idea of it, it was out of his nature to leave you alone because it was like you two were made for eachother (again what he would like to describe it as).

“back off riddle.” you warned. you were currently at a slytherin party, your team had just won the quidditch match and your whole house seems over the moon. well everyone but you.

“come on, jelly bean.” mattheo looks at you with a shit-eating grin on his face. he pokes your side causing you to swat his hand away in an instant. it was hard to hear him over the blasting music and the sight of blaise on a table singing his heart out but you just knew that whatever he said was a teasing little snarky comment. “riddle.” you warn again giving him a stern look, “just one dance cookie and then i’ll leave you alone..” he gives you a fake pout, his bottom lip jutting out. looking him up and down you fake gag causing him to pout even further, a cheeky smirk ghosting on his lips.

you roll your eyes at him and your legs move away from him (for what felt like the fifth time that night ((it was.)) and he tries to follow you to annoy you further but he’s interrupted by a soft hand on his forearm pulling him, with one quick look to the hufflepuff student who somehow found themselves snaked into the party. his gaze leaves you as he’s quickly distracted by the person and you keep walking. it was going to be a long night obviously so since they had only just started.

you find yourself stood with your friends pansy, daphne, theodore, and draco . you stood around drinking a mystery concoction made by lorenzo and you wonder to yourself who the fuck gave him the job of making these drinks. “these are deadly, merlin.” you groan wincing at the burn in your throat as you swallow the liquid in the cup. pansy snickers at your comment bringing the red cup to her lips, “i mean yeah look who’s behind them.” she laughs taking a sip. “hey [name], are you and mattheo like a thing?” daphne ask, fiddling with her golden necklace that hung around her collarbone. you almost spit your drink out and the two boys around you chuckle at your reaction. “why would you ever make such an assumption?” your face must contort into a disgusted confused mix because everyone around you starts chuckling to themselves.

“well, i’ve got a friend in ravenclaw and i’d think they’d be a great match. it’s just that he’s always around you so i just assumed you guys were i don’t know.. into eachother?” daphne smiles shyly, her intentions seem true and you knew that she doesn’t like mattheo since he’s not really.. her type. “daphne..” you put a hand on her shoulder comically, “you can have him.. on one condition.. you make sure he never speaks to me again.” you snicker, daphne beams and nods profusely promising you that you will not be disappointed.

you and mattheo had been what seemed like enemies since like forever. the first thing he did to make you hate him was when he dunked your head into a volubilis potion in first year causing you to sound like a chipmunk for 3 days and since that day you have never had a break from mattheos constant efforts to humiliate you. first it was the potion, then pushing you off your broom, setting your robe on fire in transfiguration, the list goes on really. but mattheo continued to play dumb all the way up to sixth year. it was weird, the fact he acted absolutely oblivious, but you thought he was just teasing you again.

the night died down slowly and after about 3 hours of talking, laughing and drinking you head back to your dorm. you arrive at your dorms door, met with it slightly ajar. you think that it was weird before venturing onwards sinking yourself into the chair at your desk, you were a lucky student, having a dorm to yourself was a blessing. hearing daphne’s and theodore’s constant complaints on snoring, messiness and fights you found yourself encapsulated in the warm fortunes of being able to have a room to yourself, (even if it did get lonely).

sitting up from the wooden chair, you shower and change into more suitable sleeping attire which was obviously your pajamas you brought from home accompanied by slippers. you fall into your bed with a tired sigh, your eyes wandering over your dorms ceilings, then walls, the lights, the desk and your jewellery stand in which your rings that your family have kept as an heirloom for years centuries were missing.

they were missing.

the. rings. were. missing.

you sit up from the bed in a comical way, you could’ve sworn there were onomatoepias surrounding the air around you. jolting up quickly you rush to look for the rings. you check in the holder, on the desk, on the floor, in the blankets, under the pillows, anywhere you could think of. if you were found to have lost your prized family heirloom your mother would have your head on a stick and you would be fed to the dogs. you HAVE to find the rings. even if you died doing it.

you were searching for that shit, like it was your life elixir. as if it was the elder wand. people would hate thought you were crazy by the way you were looking. it was funny almost seeing someone squirm and rush around such a small area. your sheets were being yanked off your bed and your chest at the foot of your bed was being emptied and rearranged. you looked like you were on drugs, it was bad. you looked like a lunatic, it was horrid. but you gotta do what u gotta do..

to say you were panicking would be an understatement. you were frantic, desperate even. you were on all fours checking every single crevice and crack of that room 15 times over just for there to be nothing. it hasn’t even been an hour since you stepped foot into your dorm. your eyes are wide with anxiety sinking in and you unconsciously start pacing your room.

your mind runs laps thinking about any and every possibility. maybe they grew legs and walked away, maybe there was no rings in the first place and you were just crazy, maybe you’re family was crazy. maybe nothing was real like ever.

you paced up and down your room, hands in your hair basically clawing at it thinking of every scenario possible and every single step you took that day.

1. you woke up.

2. you went to the bathroom and did your business.

3. you changed into your uniform.

4. you checked the rings were still there, they were.

5. you went on about your day.

every single day you check the rings are there. you wouldn’t wear them incase they got damaged so you settled with keeping them on a porcelain plate next to your notebook. every single friend and basically everyone in your year knows how valuable they are and you would a word (avada kadavra) anyone without hesitation if they touched them so no one ever did.

well there is one person that might have and would if he felt especially annoying that day.

-

you found yourself pounding on mattheo riddles dorm door. the knocks echoed throughout the hall. some partygoers are still hung around in deep conversation, lorenzo seems to be off his shift as the bartender and he is seemingly in his dorm.

you wait for an answer at the door for what feels like eternity (2 minutes) and you being hammering at the door next.

a muffled voice pleads for you to stop and blaise opens the door groggily, fatigue from the party taken over his state of mind.

“where is he.”

“where is who?”

“you know who blaise.”

blaise looks behind him, looking over the beds in his dorm. enzo is in bed, and blaise just got out of his. he looks at mattheos bed and its unmade but its empty.

“not here.” blaise sighs, wiping a tired hand over his eyes.

“then where is he?” you grumble.

“astronomy tower maybe, he likes taking a smoke out there at night. to see stars or some sappy shit.” blaise replies.

you thank blaise quickly and you apologise for the intrusion before quickly picking up your feet from the floor and going to the astronomy tower.

the halls of hogwarts when it was empty were always cold and a bit uneasy when you walk through them at night. knowing that there are ghosts in the walls and there might be other students or things around frighten you but the only thing your running on right now is the drink lorenzo made and pure anger.

your slippers tap on the tile beneath your feet echoing through the walls. you twist up the astronomy tower stairs quickly and you silently enter the icy breeze of the open class. the smell of smoke quickly comes over you, foretelling you that your target was indeed here.

-

“riddle.” you growl looking at the boy. he felt as if your eyes were piercing holes straight through him and he turns around slowly cigarette still in his mouth. mattheo’s eyes were wide and his face looked guilty.

“i swear whatever theo said he’s lying.” mattheo blurts out quickly. his eyes trail down to your slippers up your long fuzzy pajama pants and then to your night shirt, a quiet smile grows on his face but he’s quick to hide the pink on his cheeks with a snarky remark. “cute outfit, [name]” he laughs taking a long drag of his cigarette.

“did you steal my stuff mattheo?”

“who?” he replies, his lips curl into a smile.

“what?” you make a weird face at him, “did you steal my things?” you say again.

“you said my name.” he laughs out softly his eyes meeting the sky above him. “also no.” mattheo sighs out.

you walk to the ledge of the astronomy tower where he stood and you lean your elbows against the chill metal. “riddle-“ you try to begin but your cut off instantly, “mattheo.” he says. “call me mattheo please.” he says almost shyly, you narrow your eyes at him before shaking your head giving into the boys request.

“mattheo i really need you to be honest with me okay?” you turn to look at him, “did you steal my stuff?”.

“i didn’t [name].” he looks back at you, “right.” you reply, slight mistrust laces your tone but mattheo ignores it as he finishes up smoking his cigarette.

“im being serious!” he whines, the top of the cigarette being dragged across the railing. you give him a nod, coming off a tad sarcastic but mostly trusting.

“my stuff went missing too.” mattheo blurts out, he looks at you breathing out a smoky sigh. you look at him puzzled, you squint your eyes at him trying to read his expression.

with your squinted eyes and mistrusting expression an idea pops up into your head.

not one you like and most definitely not one you’d pitch to mattheo riddle.

but it was better than just sulking around.

“well if we both got robbed, on the same night what are the chances it was the same person?” you sigh out your eyes drawing to the stars above you.

“high?” he replies,

“so as much as i hate this- why dont we help eachother out and look for them together.”

“are you asking me to become your detective partner, honey bun?” he teases you with a sly grin.

“don’t make me change my mind riddle.” you glare at him.

“fine.. i will since your prrrractically begging me to ~” he smiles childishly, a slight gleam in his eyes.

you roll your eyes and groan,

this was a bad idea.

-

@yawneon

[sapphic-girls]

Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Special as Comic Book Pages

[wincheskka]

[timeagainreviews]

Bombastically Subtle: The Giggle

In my review for “The Power of the Doctor,” I talked about the power of lowering expectations. It’s good to approach Doctor Who with an open mind as it leaves room for being pleasantly surprised. One major truth for the Doctor Who fandom is how often we play ourselves with our expectations. We get it in our heads how something is supposed to be and we get mad that it isn’t that thing. That being said, there is a rational standard to be expected. Before “Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS,” aired, I had a small list of things I wanted to see in the TARDIS. Things which if included, would mean they didn’t waste the opportunity. I wanted to see a big gothic library. Check! I wanted to see the swimming pool. Check! I wanted to see a room that looked like the outdoors. Check! I wanted to see an M.C. Escher room like from “Castrovalva.” Well, three out of four ain’t bad. Speaking of three out of four, remember “The Celestial Toymaker”?

Of the 97 missing episodes of Doctor Who, three are from the four-part story “The Celestial Toymaker.” It would be four out of four, but the last episode “The Final Test,” was eventually returned to BBC in 1984 but wasn’t made available to the public until 1991. For years, all fans had left of this story was the Target novelisation and their imaginations. You could argue that “The Celestial Toymaker,” is a story which has benefitted from going missing. It enjoys a sort of mythic status no effects budget from 1966 could ever live up to. So when it was revealed that the Toymaker would be returning to Doctor Who in “The Giggle,”  I saw it as an opportunity for them to finally give us the episode that has existed in our collective imagination for decades. 

It makes sense that it took 57 years to return the Toymaker to the screen. It’s easier to write “The Doctor sees himself in puppet form,” than it is to film. Words may be the cheapest way to put big images in our heads, but we’ve got Disney money now. Doctor Who can finally afford to give the Toymaker the visuals he deserves. And the episode delivers on those visuals. It’s as mindbending and dazzling as you would expect for a trickster from the Island of Misfit Toys. Not only are the visuals impressive, but they’re also creative. That last bit is something people often forget. Style is everything. The Toymaker’s old-timey shop is beautiful and this design aesthetic carries over to visuals he produces. He feels appropriately out of time and timeless. I wanted to say this upfront because, honestly, there is so much more going on than stellar visuals.

One complaint I’ve seen consistently about the 60th Anniversary Specials is that they often seem like pale imitations of what came before. Just last week I compared “Wild Blue Yonder,” unfavourably to “Midnight,” but I had to concede to the fact that these specials are a bit of an homage to all of Doctor Who. Of course, there are similarities, it’s a celebration of 60 years of Doctor Who. That would be like complaining that they put a Santa robot in a Christmas episode. “The Star Beast,” harkens to alien invasion stories and evil dictators. “Wild Blue Yonder,” is like our “Midnight,” “The Edge of Destruction,” and “Heaven Sent,” type stories with a healthy dose of body horror. And “The Giggle,” is a bit more like “The Ultimate Foe,” “The Mind Robber,” or even “The Sound of Drums.” If these episodes are, as Russell T Davies said, the finale to the 2005 series, they’re a fitting send-off. 

Much like “Wild Blue Yonder,” I found the introduction to “The Giggle,” to be the weakest section of the episode. Something about both scenes in both episodes had unnatural dialogue and poor pacing. It feels almost as though the episodes are both trying their best to get going as fast as possible. It makes sense when you consider that a major plot point is that the Doctor doesn’t take time to rest. Also, there is a lot of information to be imparted within three episodes. Regardless, I got a little nervous by Neil Patrick Harris’ over-the-top German accent bouncing off of Charlie de Melo’s confused face. But when Banerjee says to the Toymaker that his accent was slipping, I relaxed a bit. It’s like when Dorothy Vallens tears her bad wig off in “Blue Velvet.” You think “Oh thank god, they realise it’s unrealistic.”

I love the inclusion of John Logie Baird into the story. Not only is he from Scotland (my newfound home), but an oft-overlooked person in history. Using the inventor of television to celebrate one of Britain’s oldest TV shows feels appropriate. RTD said in an interview that he started reading up on Baird while working on his miniseries “Nolly.” Initially, the only villain of the story was going to be the puppet, Stooky Bill, but Davies realised that might look a bit naff so he considered who might be the puppet master and the Toymaker was a natural fit. I love hearing how writers form stories from seemingly disparate elements. Had RTD never written “Nolly,” we would have probably not seen the Toymaker, which would have been a different 60th anniversary altogether.

Thanks to things like “Doctor Who Unleashed,” and the commentaries, we’ve been given some intriguing insights into Davies’ creative process. Initially, he worried that the Toymaker was too ancient a character for modern fans to care about, but that never stopped Steven Moffat from introducing a new generation of fans to the Great Intelligence. He also took time to discuss the Toymaker’s racist roots. While I’ve never once thought of the Toymaker as yellowface, I can see how their use of the word “celestial,” and his Chinese silks might send the wrong message in this day and age. It’s funny then that that is also the reason he decided to give the Toymaker various accents, as a call back to his problematic nature. He is a villain after all. But is it really racist to make fun of Germans? I prefer my friend Taryn’s explanation that the Toymaker changes his voice often because the Doctor originally beat him by impersonating his voice.

With London at each other’s throats, it’s easy to see why UNIT would be relieved to see the Doctor. I half-expected Kate Stewart to slap the Doctor, but instead, she greets him with a hug. In the words of the Doctor- “This is new!” Now it’s been said before, so I’ll just agree that yes UNIT HQ looks like Avengers tower. We’ve already established that RTD is taking a page out of the Marvel playbook, no need to belabour the point. Back at UNIT, the Doctor is reintroduced to some familiar faces. We see Kate Stewart, Shirley Bingham, but most excitingly, Mel Bush. That’s right, I said “excitingly,” and “Mel Bush,” in the same sentence. I once met Bonnie Langford at a convention and I feel like she could tell I was lying when I said “I liked you in Doctor Who,” because in all honesty, I didn’t. But after rewatching “Paradise Towers,” and admiring Mel’s individuality in the face of the mocking Kangs, I thought “Maybe Hughie Lewis was right, it is hip to be square.” Furthermore, I knew RTD would do her right.

Something I’ve really enjoyed about the RTD2 era is how he has somewhat elevated the role of companion. Too often in the show's history have the companions been forced into the role of audience surrogate, fit only to ask the Doctor what’s happening and to get captured. Both Mel and Donna are rocking shit at their computer consoles. Finally, a writer who remembered Mel is a computer wiz, go figure! And of course, the best temp in Chiswick is leading the attack. But beyond being useful, he’s allowing the companions to have actual depth of emotion. Mel’s life doesn’t feel like a sad sack existence that landed her in a support group. She had a fun life with Glitz. Furthermore, it was a life she chose. There’s no baggage between her and the Doctor, just delight.

The Doctor learns that it’s not just Londoners losing their minds, but the whole world. Even our beloved Trinity Wells has fallen prone to the vitriol on her Fox News-esque talk show. The source of this anger is an arpeggiated laugh over the image of the first-ever televised face- Stooky Bill. This of course is the aspect that reminded me most of the “Utopia/The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords” three-parter. Like the rhythmic heartbeats of a Time Lord, this signal has laid dormant on every television, computer, tablet, and phone screen for years. This is, of course, Russell T Davies’ comment on the current state of discourse on the internet these days. And in another way, it’s his comment on the state of the Doctor Who fandom lately. He seems well aware of the divisions in the fandom and it’s nice to see that aside from the sexists, racists, and transphobes, he’s interested in bringing the rest of us together, but I digress.

In what may be one of the most effective scenes in the whole episode, Kate Stewart removes her Zeedex, a device invented by the mysterious Vlinx to inhibit the effects of the giggle signal. After removing it, we watch in horror as our beloved Kate Stewart devolves into a paranoid ableist bigot who hates gingers. Jemma Redgrave gives a chilling and vulnerable performance that was hard to watch. I found myself choked up seeing her in this state, and watching her profusely apologise to Shirley afterwards was heartbreaking. That said, I loved Shirley’s reaction. It’s nice that RTD in his desire to portray marginalised people hasn’t forgotten that we’re not all helpless. Shirley understood the situation and she’s strong enough to take it. Even more, I loved it when the Doctor snapped at her with a bit of sass. It’s good to see Davies treating this new diverse cast as flawed and vulnerable people. He’s not ticking boxes, these are real characters.

The Doctor begins to get an inkling as to who they are dealing with. The words “puppetmaster,” and “toying with,” begin entering his vocabulary. The hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as something deep inside him is screaming “Toymaker!” Having correlated the mass outbreak of violence with the launch of a South Korean satellite, Kate gets permission from the Doctor to take out the satellite with a Galvanic beam. I loved how it was the Doctor’s job as President of the World to give the command. He must have hated that. Eagle-eyed viewers will remember galvanic radiation as the poisonous light from the planet Midnight. Once again RTD calls back to one of his best stories. Meanwhile, Donna hits Kate up for a job at UNIT netting her six figures a year and five weeks of holiday. Go Donna! While all of this is happening, Shirley has traced the original Stooky Bill broadcast back to SoHo in 1925. The Doctor and Donna pile into the TARDIS to follow this lead which takes them to the Toymaker’s shopfront.

What I love most about including the Toymaker is that it has introduced magic into Doctor Who. The ‘70s gave us many occult storylines, but even then most of them could be explained with science. Seldom does Doctor Who give us a storyline where the Doctor is unable to explain what happened. We got the Beast in “The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit,” and the haunted house from “The Chimes of Midnight,” but for the most part, magic has never been real in Doctor Who. Not even the Carrionites used actual magic in their word-based witchcraft. Perhaps RTD’s time working on “Wizards vs Aliens,” rubbed off on him. Either way, it’s an interesting way to breathe new life into Doctor Who. The Doctor hasn’t really ever dealt with actual magic and I am curious how it will affect him moving forward. Superman is one of the most powerful beings in DC comics, but along with Kryptonite, one of his greatest weaknesses is magic. Magic plays by its own rules.

As a being governed by magic, the Toymaker is bound to a set of rules. The Toymaker takes pride in his rules, so much so that when Donna implies he’ll cheat the Doctor, he looks genuinely offended. There is clear animosity between the Doctor and the Toymaker that is palpable throughout the story. The Doctor even antagonises the Toymaker by implying he is a slave to his rules of play. The Toymaker isn’t just interested in revenge, he wants to humiliate the Doctor in front of the person who loves him the most- Donna. He attempts to weaken her faith in the Doctor by illustrating the Doctor’s past failures to save his companions while highlighting the ways the Doctor justifies his failures. The one thing the Toymaker didn’t consider is that Donna knows this about the Doctor already. He can’t break her faith in a man she regularly puts in his place. This woman once called the Doctor “a thin line of alien nothing.” Do your worst, Toymaker, because Donna has already said it and more.

The real secret behind this episode’s success is in its subtlety, which is hard to imagine in a story where a man turns bullets into flowers while singing to the Spice Girls. Despite all of the big colourful chaos, the most effective moves are quiet. I mentioned in my review for “The Star Beast,” that Davies was more successful in his moments of subtlety than his big declarations, and here is no different. The Doctor and Toymaker play a simple card game. The Doctor loses this game but wins on the technicality that they are now even. There’s no way the Toymaker can allow for a tie, a winner must be decided. You can’t beat the Toymaker with bullets or Osterhagen Keys, but rather by playing his games. Underneath all of the expensive CGI and set design, it ultimately comes down to a game of wits. This is classic Doctor Who, “The Brain of Morbius” stuff.

That art of subtlety had seemed all but gone with the Chibnall era. I grew tired of the Doctor constantly knowing everything and never being out of her depth. It’s good to see the Doctor still has to solve things. It’s why I’ve enjoyed seeing Tennant skulking around being a detective. It’s why people always harp on about “show don’t tell.” It’s better to see how the Doctor slowly pieces things together than for the Doctor to tell us upfront. Knowing everything is not what makes the Doctor clever. Knowing nothing, having no plan, and discovering the path is far more gratifying to see. Ultimately it comes down to Davies having a better understanding of the Doctor as a character. The Doctor is flawed, vain, aloof, and prone to getting frazzled. Its his ability to soldier on that makes him special. The Doctor’s strength isn’t in knowing everything, it’s in knowing his limitations. You can’t learn if you have everything figured out.

While we’re on the subject of subtle changes and Chibnall, it might be worth it to discuss how this story addresses “The Timeless Children,” because I’ve seen zero people talking about it. When the Toymaker flashes the gold tooth in his disturbingly toothy grin, he tells us a little more than the Master’s fate. In a blink-and-you-miss-it line, he implies that he turned the Doctor’s timeline into a jigsaw puzzle. It’s such a subtle moment that it’s not surprising that most people missed it. But think for a moment- what recently turned the Doctor’s life into a convoluted mess? The Timeless Child storyline, of course. I love this line because it does two things. First, it allows the people who enjoyed “The Timeless Children,” to continue on in their enjoyment. Secondly, it allows those of us who disliked it to compartmentalise the storyline into something that finally made sense as a plan devised by a villain. If you ever wondered why the Timeless Child storyline was necessary, you now have a canon explanation- it wasn’t.

Unable to foresee the Doctor’s clever escape clause or Donna’s ability to bash a doll against a wall (love love loved that by the way), the Toymaker decides to change the playing field from his Toyshop to UNIT HQ. Neil Patrick Harris seems to be having the time of his life terrorising UNIT to the tune of “Spice Up Your Life.” At first you think “Oh how funny,” and then you see Mel take a tumble and you think “Woah man, that’s an elderly woman there!” As he gleefully turns two soldiers into a pile of colourful plastic balls, the act is no longer cute. The Toymaker is a horrifying monster with no conscience. Our lives are playthings in his hands and he must be stopped.

This scene illustrates beautifully the exciting possibilities of a magical Whoniverse. The Brigadier once famously quipped “You know, just once I'd like to meet an alien menace that wasn't immune to bullets.” Turning bullets into flowers certainly fits the bill, but it begs an even deeper question- how do you fight an enemy that is immune to science? Kate Stewart took great pride in reforming UNIT to be more science-based, but magic doesn’t care about facts. Magic rewrites reality. The Doctor tries to comfort Shirley by explaining that the Toymaker can change atomic matter with his mind, but admits that even that is a poor explanation. Both the Doctor and UNIT are in new territory. It really ups the danger and makes you wonder how the Doctor will adapt. I said in my review of “The Star Beast,” that the sonic screwdriver was like a magic wand and perhaps it may need to become one! Sorry, War Doctor, it’s no longer a scientific instrument.

Exasperated by the Doctor’s trickery, the Toymaker shocks by shooting the Doctor with the Galvanic beam, stating that he wants to play the final game with the next Doctor. This jumpstarts a new regeneration, but as we all know, it’s not your usual regeneration. But before we get into that, I would like to discuss the moments leading up to that infamous moment because some interesting stuff happens. Having Donna and Mel join the Doctor’s side was exciting because we’re so used to the Doctor regenerating in a blast of energy powerful enough to destroy TARDIS consoles and Dalek ships. It’s easy to forget that the Doctor used to regenerate surrounded by his friends. So there the Doctor stands, surrounded by what the Eleventh Doctor would refer to as “the ultimate ginge.” I think we all sort of expected to hear the Doctor say something like “I don’t want to go,” or “I’m ready to go,” and I applaud RTD for avoiding both in favour of a far more appropriate “Allons y!”

Now, if you’re a terminally online Doctor Who fan like myself, you’d probably read the leak about bi-generation and were therefore not surprised. I kind of regret it because it turned out to be true. I am so used to “leaks,” and “fan theories,” being wrong that I expected the same here. However, part of me is somewhat glad I read the leak as it gave me time to think about the concept. I had seen people immediately hate the idea, so I think a part of me decided to be fair. After all, if you read just the synopsis of any story, divorced of all context and tone, you might also say “That sounds terrible.” In context to the rest of this episode, and what came after, bi-geneation was an absolute joy to behold.

Usually when we get a regeneration, we get maybe 20 seconds to enjoy the new Doctor and then have to wait a few months to see more. But here we not only get to meet Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor, we get to see him in a mult-Doctor episode with David Tennant! What a treat. Immediately I took to Ncuti as he tells the Fourteenth Doctor to push and then admits he doesn’t know that it will work. This is all new to him as well. I said above that I like when the Doctor is slightly out of his depth, and this is no exception. I will say it’s very lucky for both of them that one of them got the pants and the other got the trousers. Can you imagine that scene playing out with one of them having a Winnie the Pooh thing going on? However, they did miss a chance to call back to the Twelfth Doctor by not giving the Doctor question mark underpants. Oh well.

After watching this episode I asked Taryn what she thought about the Fifteenth Doctor and she told me that she felt it was too early to tell. I then pointed out that while we don’t fully know his personality yet, there was no point during which he didn’t feel like the Doctor. Ncuti takes to the role like a fish in water. He is the Doctor and I cannot wait to learn more about his personality. But first, we have a Toymaker to banish. Now I’ve seen people complain that a game of catch was a disappointing climax to the story, but I disagree. Both of the games the Doctor plays against the Toymaker are simple. Which card face is higher? Can you catch the ball without dropping? It’s nice to have a simple solution against a backdrop of heavy special effects. There are some comical moments such as when Fifteen throws the ball as if he’s trying to win against Fourteen. Also just seeing Ncuti run around in his pants was very funny. Ultimately it is the Toymaker who drops the ball. The Fourteenth Doctor takes his prize in the form of banishing him from our universe forever, but not before the Toymaker warns of his minions spilling into our reality. I was reminded of the “Babylon 5” spin-off “Crusade,” where the Shadows of B5 had been defeated, but their minions continued to plague the galaxy. Or if you’re a Tolkien nerd, it’s like when Sauron continued the work of Morgoth. It’s very exciting stuff.

They continue to set things up for future episodes. They call back to the salt thing from “Wild Blue Yonder,” when Kate orders her men to encase the Toymaker’s box in salt. They also give us a hint of future Master appearances when a mysterious hand with cherry red nail polish retrieves the Toymaker’s tooth. Is it just me or was that lady floating? Because I can’t tell where she would have been standing. But most exciting of all would be the implications of bi-generation and the Fifteenth Doctor’s prize of splitting the TARDIS. According to Davies, he sees this as something that happens across every regeneration. Now every Doctor goes on to have further adventures with their own TARDIS. I’ll be honest, I like this idea less, but that’s mostly just because it’s a bit messy. But why I like it is that it makes a case for its existence. Doctor Who has always been slightly metafictional. Do you need to replace an actor? Well, now the Doctor’s body can change. But this has also introduced a problem into the show which is that if an actor gets too old to play their Doctor, you have to come up with some weird excuse as to why they now look old and bald. But not anymore! While the concept of time streams would have been a cleaner and more wibbly wobbly way to approach this issue, I’m fine with this explanation. It serves a purpose and fixes one of the show’s oldest conundrums.

One aspect the fandom still seems a bit murky on is whether or not the Fourteenth Doctor will still go on to become the Fifteenth Doctor. I’ve seen some people wonder if the Fourteenth Doctor might go on to become the Currator. But I like to think it’s more like a Clara thing where he’ll eventually return to his original point of death to bi-generate into Ncuti Gatwa. One reason I think this is because the Fifteenth Doctor feels at peace with himself. I like to imagine this is due to living a life with the Noble-Temple-Mott family. Something inside the Doctor heals and he’s eventually ready to get back out there and travel like the good ol’ days. Truthfully though, neither scenario would really bother me. With Donna now working at UNIT and Fourteen sticking around I expect we’ll see them again, but at this point, I’m ready to watch Ncuti dazzle us for a bit. 

The epilogue with Donna’s family was such a nice and necessary scene. While Ncuti had since become the new Doctor, he wasn’t yet the current Doctor. We still needed to say goodbye to the Fourteenth Doctor. A good and proper goodbye. Earlier in the episode, Donna mentions to the Doctor that he never seems to rest, but here he seems at peace. It’s funny how it took 15 years to explore how the Tenth Doctor could have been “so much more,” but here it is. The real reason he came back was to retire, to have a family, to find peace. It’s as though every regeneration still swimming around in the Doctor’s mind is finally able to relax. We do however get a hint that it’s not all sunny days and lemonade. If you read Rose Noble’s Magic Card, it mentions she is ready for adventures in her own right. Seeing as she is known to have the occasional trip to Mars with Uncle Doctor, I suspect we’ll see her in the TARDIS sometime if not Big Finish. 

Back in his own fully accessible TARDIS, the Fifteenth Doctor is finally the current Doctor. He runs around his TARDIS consoles flipping switches and having the time of his life, ready to get out there and show the universe what he can do. And what a joy it is to see, is it not? I had been very nervous about this episode because I was worried about where Doctor Who would end up in the end. So much had changed during the Chibnall era and not all of it was for the better. The future of the show felt very shaky and uncertain. Ultimately I was hoping the show could once again find some sort of equilibrium and I feel it has. Doctor Who feels like it’s finally at a point where it can comfortably move forward. I can’t think of anything better to say now than “Allons y!”

[esmaniottoart]

DW 60th Anniversary Fan Poster. Digital, 2023.

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[the-ultimate-obsessive-fangirl]

I love this pic 💘💘🏳‍🌈🏳‍🌈🏳‍🌈🏳‍🌈💗💗

[harryforvogue]

a blurb where harry is a big schedule guy and yasmine is a big "it happens when it happens" girlie. they fight (sorta).

***

Harry and Yasmine have never lived with other people after moving out of their homes, and they alternated whose place they’d be staying at back in graduate school. It was always an unspoken rule that if Harry was at Yasmine’s house, she was the boss. And vice versa. 

But now that they're living together, how are they supposed to adjust and split responsibilities? More importantly, how the hell are they expected to create a rhythm?

Harry is a very structured person. Gets out of bed at a certain time, has lunch at a fixed time. Dinner as well. He considers himself a pretty laid back guy too. He’ll skip cooking some days to order takeout – or swap his laundry days with his bedsheet changing days just to switch things up. Yasmine calls him a relentless Aquarius. He's not supposed to be offended, right?

He’s always known that Yasmine is… less serious about all that. So, really, he always knew what he was getting himself into. Especially when it’s nearly 11 on a Sunday and Yasmine’s still buried in the sheets, gripping him tight to keep him from slipping out of bed despite his groaning about how he just wants to take a shower and eat something. (Probably the worst habit of Yasmine’s is skipping breakfast nearly every morning and that’s just not something he’s going to stand by.)

After graduation, Yasmine and Harry are employed at different universities, and the first few months are filled with settling into their new jobs. Their work hours are very similar, with the exception of Wednesdays where Harry has a later recitation class to teach. Regardless, Harry went into the new job with the mindset that he’d always get all his work done on time so that he and Yasmine could focus on figuring out the layout of their place still. Not to mention, Harry’s dedication to at least 2 dates a week (and going grocery shopping is NOT a date no matter how much Yasmine insists it is). 

He has a calendar in his office above his desk that tells him what days he needs to get his deadlines done so that he and Yasmine can have some time for themselves. He crosses out all the things he gets finished and circles the days he’s free.

Yasmine is the opposite. She always gets everything done, but it’s never as planned as Harry. She has the ability to sit down and bang everything out in one day … and also the ability to procrastinate until the night before.

It’s baffling to Harry. Harry’s routine is annoying to Yasmine. Really – where’s the fun in all that planning? And what if something suddenly comes up and there’s no wiggle room to fit in a doctor’s visit or something just because you’ve meticulously scheduled all your work to be back to back on weekdays.

This comes up one day when she’s working and he’s bringing her dinner to her study.

Harry pulls up a chair on the other side of her desk with his own plate. “Yasmine.”

“Mhmm.”

“If you’d gotten this done yesterday, we could have gone to the shop you wanted to visit.”

“We can go during the weekend. I can’t just align everything with your schedule to free up some time.”

Harry smiles, but it’s clearly tense. “We get home at the same time, Yas. If we can just finish all our stuff for the next day of class before, say, 5pm, we have the rest of the day to be together. Doesn’t that sound great?”

Yasmine glances up at him over her glasses. “I don’t want to do more work as soon as I get home though. I want to relax.”

From Harry’s face, she knows he’s thinking about the hour-long nap she took on their couch as soon as she came home. 

“Right, but. Now it’s almost 8 and we won’t make it to the store on time.”

“We’ve got weekends for that.”

His mouth twists into something that’s very much not a smile. “We’ve got other stuff to do over the weekend, remember? We agreed on two dates a week–”

“No. You decided that.” 

Harry stops. He tilts his head back to look at the ceiling in an attempt to calm himself down. When he looks back at her, he reaches across, shuts her laptop in a not-so-nice way and says, “What?”

Yasmine crosses her arms over her chest and leans back in her chair. “Well, you said the two dates thing. I think going to the shop counts as a date.”

“Going shopping isn’t a date. Having a romantic time out is a date.”

“Any time I get to spend with you is a date, Harry. It's about being with you, not where we go.”

“Have you maybe considered that I want to take you to restaurants and little getaways simply because I enjoy them too? That I like to see you have fun with me?”

Yasmine sighs and takes her glasses off. She rubs her eyes tiredly. “You clearly have a certain work ethic. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but I don’t. I get my work done when it gets done and I don’t want this structured, super formal scheduling of our time together. We live together, Harry. I see you all the time. Isn’t that enough?”

He doesn’t say anything for some time, but it’s clear he’s taken aback.

“It’s not enough,” he says, anger in his voice. “It’s not nearly enough. We’re dating, Yasmine. We’re not roommates.”

Yasmine blinks. “We technically are roommates.”

He runs a hand through his hair. Yasmine knows she's pushing him more than necessary. "Don't do that."

“All I’m saying is that I don’t want to schedule times with you. Won’t that be boring? Like, oh! It’s 6pm! Gotta go watch a movie with my boyfriend. It’s 7. Gotta have dinner. It’s 8, we should probably have sex before we get too tired. I’ve never had that type of schedule and I don’t want to.”

“It’s efficient.”

“I’m not having sex with you at 8pm every night just because it’s efficient. What -- are you going to break up that time too? 15 minutes for foreplay, 10 minutes for--"

He looks really mad now, his eyes alight. “That’s not what I mean! I’m saying that if we’re on the same wavelength – if we’re getting all our work done on time, then we can spend time together. That’s all! You're being way too difficult just for the sake of disagreeing with me.”

Yasmine frowns deeply. “Why don’t you adapt to my schedule then? I get all my work done too. I’ve got Saturday and Sunday’s open too – just like you.” From Harry’s expression, she exclaims, “See? It’s not about our time together. It’s about us sticking to your routine.”

Harry pinches the bridge of his nose. “We live together now. Don’t you think we should have some sort of rhythm? Be in sync?”

“That’s boring Harry!”

“It’s–”

“Don’t you dare say efficient!”

“It is!” Harry stands, putting distance between them. “This is ridiculous, Yasmine. And you have no right to say that I’m only making you adapt to my way of living.”

“Why can’t we live my way?”

“Because you don’t have a way! You get up and you just make things up! I can’t do that. I want to have breakfast together, lunch together and dinner together. I don’t want to be eating alone while you’re working just because you didn’t want to finish everything before 6. This past week alone, we’ve yet to do anything but ask about each other’s day because when I’m working, you're not, and when you’re working, I’m done with everything. You see the problem?”

Now, Yasmine can handle Harry when he gets like this. She’s put up with him before – and she’d be lying if she said she doesn’t see his point. He wants to spend time together as a couple. And he’s figured out a great way to clear up time for himself. Now he wants her to follow his regimen.

But the thing that makes Yasmine get angry is his volume. He’s got no right to yell at her.

And, okay. He’s not really yelling. He’s just annoyed and getting his point across loudly. But, it’s too late.

“Clearly we’re not going to do anything together tonight so why don’t you just let me finish my work and then we’ll talk about this later.”

Harry grabs his dinner and starts to leave her office. “No, we won’t be talking about this because by the time you’re done, I’m going to be asleep!”

“Well maybe don’t sleep so early?” she snaps back.

“Why should I change my schedule to match yours?”

“That’s exactly what I’m telling you!”

“You don’t have a schedule!” Harry says, visibly trying to keep his head from exploding. “You do things whenever you feel like doing them. So whenever you realize you’re more than a roommate to me, find me.”

He shuts the door behind him, leaving Yasmine alone in the room.

***

Harry can hold a grudge.

Yasmine, as fiery as she can get, has harsh anger hangovers. Once her anger at Harry is gone, she goes to find him. Sure enough, it’s late and Harry’s already in bed.

So she gets ready for bed too. And when she slides in, she waits for Harry to say something. He must still be angry because he doesn’t say a word. Doesn’t even turn to give her a kiss.

Yasmine sighs to herself. He’s the one who never likes to go to sleep angry, so she inches closer to him and rests her head on his shoulder. “Harry.”

No answer.

“Harry?”

Nothing.

He’s not wrong, but she’s not either. So she sits up and pokes his biceps hard to wake up just in case he’s already out. When he offers her nothing, she huffs and rolls her over him, looking at him sideways with half her body draped over his arm. 

“Hey.” She goes back to poking, this time on his face. “Hellooooooo.”

“What are you doing?” he grumbles, turning his face away. Yasmine finishes rolling over so she’s now on his side, looking up at him. She nearly tumbles off the side of the bed, but Harry’s quick arm on her waist prevents that.

"Yasmine," he hisses.

“Let’s talk about it.”

“I don’t want to. Go back to your side."

“Oh come on. No going to sleep angry, remember?”

“I’m not angry. I’m annoyed. We can definitely go to sleep annoyed. In fact, I can't think of anything else I'd rather be doing."

“Hmm, no we can’t.” She tangles her legs with his. “Harry. Look. I understand what you’re saying. But I’m not going to apologize. I don’t think we’re that type of couple that needs to do everything together.”

“Not what I was saying but thanks for showing me you were listening."

She rolls her eyes. “I get that you want to spend time together, but don’t you think blocking out certain hours of the day is kind of ridiculous? It's so military."

"Military?"

"You get what I mean."

“Yasmine, if you had a 9 to 5 job, what time would we have to be together?”

“That’s not fair considering we don’t have 9 to 5s.”

“Say we did.”

“We’d have time after 5 and weekends.”

“Wouldn’t that be a schedule?”

“Well I don’t imagine we’d do something every day. I love you, but I do need to be away from you sometimes.”

Harry’s jaw tenses. He closes his eyes again. “Goodnight.”

“Hey wait, I didn’t mean it like that!” Yasmine laughs, throwing her arms around his neck. “I only mean that we’d get sick of each other.”

“I’d never get sick of you.”

“You’re saying that now but if we’re attached at the hip, then I’m totally sure–”

Harry’s eyes open and he grabs Yasmine’s face, tugging her close. “Never,” he says, voice deathly quiet. “I’d never get sick of you.”

She stops laughing, eyes wide. Something flutters in her chest. And…elsewhere too.

"Fine," she says, all breathily. "It would be a schedule, but only because we'd have no other option. We have flexibility as professors. We have more time, but more work load we bring home. It's not the same thing."

The hand on her waist tightens and suddenly she’s beneath him, his entire body hovering over hers. He lets go of her face, but leans down to kiss her instead. She holds him tight, her fingers tangled in his long curls that keep falling into their faces and tickling them.

“Harry,” she murmurs against his mouth. “Why are you so worried about us spending time together, hm?”

“I haven’t had a single meal with you all week, and I just remembered that you spent Sunday catching up on work, which is unfair because I forced myself to finish all my work so that I could have time for you. I don’t want to be the only one doing that.”

Yasmine sighs. “Harry, I’m not working just to avoid you.”

“I know that. And I know that us living together is enough for you. That sleeping and waking besides me is good, but it's not nearly enough for me.” Then, quietly, “I’m being petty about how you get your work done. But Yasmine, I didn't ask you to move together with me just so I could see you every day. I want a life with you." He traces her cheek gently, kissing the corner of her mouth. “And you’re right – we don’t have a 9 to 5 but is it so wrong for wanting to cut out a part of my day just for us? No talking about work. Just you and me, with a lot of this, preferably.” He kisses her again.

She's getting all mushy inside again. “It’s not wrong,” she whispers. “It’s not.” She wraps her legs around him, making him lean all her wait onto him. He holds his out against the mattress to stop himself.

“Don’t wanna hurt you.”

“No. Lay on me."

Harry does so, just for a total of five seconds until she’s gasping for air. Satisfied, she rolls out from under him and lets him lay comfortably. She straddles him then, bracing her hands on his chest. “Okay, let’s come to an agreement.”

Harry runs his hands up and down her thighs. “Let’s.”

“How about this: no talk of work after 7.”

“6.”

“Done.”

“And I will try my best to finish all my work by then also, but in the event I cannot due to circumstances overlooked in your calendar, you have to leave me to finish up so that I can come back to you as quickly as possible.”

“Done. And on weekends, nobody works. Don't bring any of it home on Friday. Not even a mere word about it.”

“Unless absolutely necessary.”

He pins her with a stern look. “I’ll be the judge of those conditions.”

“Anything else, professor?” Yasmine grins knowingly down at him, drumming her fingers against his chest.

Harry pinches her side. “And I will be a little less annoying about the whole two date thing.”

“And I’m sorry that I’ve kind of neglected you all week.”

“Thank you.”

Yasmine blinks expectantly at him.

He says, “Oh, are you waiting for an apology from me?”

“That would be nice.”

“Is that right?” 

She feels a thrill rush up her spine. “I’d appreciate it.”

“Yeah? Would you, baby? Good to know.”

“Or you can make it up to me in a different way.”

He shrugs. “Sorry. It’s almost 10. I’m strictly a no-love-making-past-eight-pm kinda guy.”

Yasmine sighs. “What a shame. And to think I went through all this effort coming to bed without a bra or underwear on in hopes I’d get to–”

Harry sits up and wraps his arms around her, roughly pulling her down into bed. “C’mere.”

[smokietaylor]

Heartstopper S1E2

First watch reaction

DO NOT LIE TO THIS MAN!!!!

Sir, you are already giving him your hoodie.

This is not "just friends behaviour"

You are not an idiot, you are just being given the wrong information.

The way that he looks at him, I can't even.

HIS HAND IS RIGHT THERE!!!

Just kiss him... You know you want to

JUST DO IT!!!!!

**GAY PANIC**

Just kiss him already!!!

Awwww, poor thing really needed that hug.

[morganhopesmith1996]

Yay! I got to order both tonight yay! 😎

[denimbex1986]

'It should come as no surprise that Russell T Davies, the man behind Queer As Folk, the one who first made Doctor Who tangibly gay, has returned to the franchise with what might be its queerest outing yet. But even we were surprised by quite how integral LGBTQ+ themes would be to the story this time around.

Much has been made of David Tennant and Catherine Tate's return, yet it's Yasmin Finney's brand-new character Rose who's at the heart of this Star Beast special.

Donna's daughter befriends The Meep first, and she's also the one who saves London when The Meep reveals itself to be evil. What's special about this is that it's Rose's trans identity specifically that proves key to her victory.

When we last saw her mother, Donna had absorbed some of the Doctor's energy, creating a 'metacrisis' that would have killed her if the Doctor had not erased her memories. But when she's reminded again of the Time Lord's existence in this latest episode, Donna survives intact, and that's because when she gave birth to Rose, she unknowingly split that energy between them, halving their potentially devastating impact.

As Donna's memories return, Rose's innate Timelord energy is then activated too, enabling her to stop Meep with newfound knowledge and abilities from her position on the ground.

Rose's non-binary identity stems from The Doctor's. (The show finally acknowledges them to be gender-fluid after they presented as both male and female over the course of the franchise). That means the source of Rose's power comes directly from her nature as a non-binary individual, positioning her as a hero because of her gender identity and not despite of it.

That's not to say Doctor Who shies away from the difficulties trans people face in real life. Earlier on in the same episode, bullies deadname Rose in the street and soon after, Donna's own mother, Sylvia, accidentally misgenders Rose as well, despite her good intentions.

Donna's response to all this? "I would burn down the world for you, darling," and honestly, that's how we feel after seeing some of the negative feedback these scenes have received online.

Despite scoring strong reviews from critics and the majority of fans, it seems not everyone is celebrating Doctor Who's much-lauded return.

On Rotten Tomatoes, trolls are review-bombing the episode, bringing the audience score down to 41%, which is a huge contrast from the critics rating of 89%. Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinion and the episode won't be to everyone's tastes, but when comments suggest the show 'needs to stop pushing talk of pronouns onto kids', it's safe to say most of these opinions are grounded in hate and ignorance.

Imagine being shocked that a show about an alien who regularly changes their body and gender would dare acknowledge such concepts?

In the days following the special, a hashtag named #RIPDoctorWho continued this backlash on X/Twitter, to which Doctor Who casting director Andy Pryor said the following:

"Just stopped by to say that on @bbcdoctor who (or any of our work) we don't work hard to cast inclusively for publicity. We do it because we like stories. & stories should speak to all of us & include all of us. And if one person feels a little less alone, then."

With more queer cast members on the way, including Neil Patrick Harris as the villainous Toymaker and Ncuti Gatwa as the new face of The Doctor himself, the future of Doctor Who is looking queerer by the day.

But it's not just the future that's queer.

To those who baulk at more inclusivity in future seasons, we can't help but wonder: What show have you been watching this whole time? Because Doctor Who is super queer — and it always has been.

Yes, even before Jack Harkness slapped a guy's arse or Bill Potts fell for a puddle named Heather, the Classic era channeled queerness with how it defied the establishment and stood up for those who need it most. It's hard to exaggerate how much stories like this resonated with LGBTQ+ people at a time when positive representation was almost non-existent on screen.

It's no wonder then that a sizeable chunk of Doctor Who's fandom identifies as queer, even if the show wasn't able to address LGBTQ+ fans directly until (queer lifelong fan) Russell T Davies regenerated the franchise in 2005.

But now, all these years later, The Star Beast ushers in a new chapter for Doctor Who where the show can finally live up to the inclusive ethos it's always striven for.

That's not to diminish the positive steps other showrunners have taken in the interim. 2015's 'Sleep No More' featured Doctor Who's first trans actress, Bethany Black, and season twelve's 'Praxeus' successfully flipped the 'Bury Your Gays' trope, although the less said about how season 13 handled #Thasmin the better.

And it's not like everything is suddenly perfect now. Rose's metacrisis abilities could feed into sci-fi tropes around trans/non-binary identities being considered "alien", plus the inclusion of Rose's deadname has garnered a mixed response from the trans community online.

While some argue this has given trolls the opportunity to use that name venomously against her character, others point out that transphobia is a reality the show shouldn't shy away from.

The moment when Rose calls the Doctor out for assuming Meep's pronouns might feel a bit-on-the-nose for some too, although if this kind of talk immediately heralds the end of the franchise for you, you might want to cast your mind back a few decades to 1972's 'The Curse of Peladon' where the Doctor and Jo discussed Alpha Centauri's pronouns at length.

But still, seeing trans and non-binary identities celebrated to this degree is very much welcome regardless, especially in a family show with such a huge fanbase like Doctor Who. This is the kind of storytelling that saves lives, trolls be damned.

And now, with the impending arrival of more trans actors and characters in Yasmin Finney's wake — including Jinkx Monsoon, Mary Malone and Pete MacHale — Doctor Who's next season promises to be more inclusive than ever before.

If you have a problem with that, remember that your hero, the good Doctor, would never discriminate against trans people, or any other marginalised group for that matter either. So why would you?'

[lililovesthings]

Ok...I'm sorry. BIGENERATION????

Did I or did I not say they would bring back Tate and Tennant whenever they needed a reset?

They have basically left it open so they bring them back whenever they want?!?!

Also PLEASE tell me someone else noticed the baby chair at the table at the end. Was it a high chair???

Now the doctor and Donna are BFFs who can spend life together and live and now the doctor has a family and he called Rose his niece and at first I was like WTF is going on but now I'm going crazy a little bit.

He also called Shaun his brother in law...which means he is basically Donna's brother, which means that Wilf has essentially adopted him and there's probably more but I'm going crazy and I now have to find a way to get to sleep because David Tennant has OFFICIALLY not left the Whoniverse so they can basically bring him back whenever the hell they want and I can't stop...

He said he's never been happier in his life and he is like totally part of the family and so is Mel because she's an orphan so now she has a family too and I just can't.

Yes this episode was random AF but it was fluffy all the same with some domesticity and OMG. I can't stop...I have to find a way to sleep now...

[billdecker]

Doctor Who Rewatch | Praxeus