#pandora/rassilon

[c0rrupt3dsp1r1t]

BStober days 16-18: AU

The Conductor!verse, a collaborative roleswap AU between DWEU and NuWho characters that actually started out as a different moodboard by @waltbraxiatel​. Of the prompts, I actually did this one first.

[triple1st]

forever thinking about how this is romana's last conversation with the doctor

[lurking-latinist]

👀👀 wanna say more about your eusocial timelord theory?

when you sent this ask like a year ago apparently I did not, for which I apologize.

now it's the wee small hours and I'm trying to clear out my asks. but eusocial time lords are so fun. forgive anything that doesn't make sense/jars weirdly in this, I'm trying to explain some quite spitbally worldbuilding.

among other things, it's an explanation for (1) why are there so few time ladies on screen and (2) that very strange thing in I think it's in Gallifrey where Pandora was 'the first female President' and apparently that's a big deal? but like why would a different planet (where they regenerate!!) have the same manifestations of sexism as we have? and also vaguely riffing on the VNAs lore that Gallifrey used to be a matriarchy and Rassilon overthrew it, but also kind of completely transforming that lore.

so forget gender, this is not about gender. "male"/"female" is at best a very rough translation of the binary that Gallifreyans are concerned with, which is worker/queen. They are bees!

The Time Ladies (i.e. Gallifreyans played by female human actors) that we see in the pre-War era (all of this applies to the pre-War era)--Romana, the Rani, Flavia, Inquisitor Darkel--are biologically the equivalent of insect queens. (And the Doctor, the Master, Borusa, the Floating Time Lord, Commander Maxil, etc. etc. are the equivalent of worker bees. The fact that the former all present as female and the latter all present as male is just sort of a translation convention/useful coincidence, I guess.) Gallifreyans evolved from a eusocial species and their early political structures were developments of the hive structure, with reproductive capacity strongly linked to political authority.

Presumably this is what Rassilon, or whatever revolutionary Rassilon stole credit from, is supposed to have overturned--the link between reproductive capacity and political authority. But in my version, it was before that that Looming became a thing: the queens had control of the Looms, so it was the ultimate refinement of their arts and sciences, and it was their way of getting rid of whatever drone class there used to be, if they weren't already parthenogenetic.

And that's why there's the stereotype in Gallifrey--mentioned in connection with Pandora, suggested as a concern about Romana--that a "female" (queen) President will be autocratic. It's seen as a potential return to "how things once were."

And then I did a lot of worldbuilding for how government worked at a stage in history when there was a sort of uneasy balance between reproductive and political power, but that was for a fic Moki was working on and I think she's still working on it, so no spoilers!

So what you end up with is a hive structure where the role of the queen has been sort of abstracted away into... well, the hive itself. The power at the heart of Gallifrey is Gallifrey. I feel like that explains a lot of what's wrong with them.

There might be another branch of the species that evolved away from eusocial structure into something more like solitary bees and that's the Shobogans, possibly, since nobody seems at all clear what the Shobogans are.

Also I read that with naked mole rats, the only eusocial mammal, there are a few in each colony that are predisposed to not fit into the colony and instead go and wander and find other colonies, to promote genetic diversity, and I'm just saying, renegades.

And after the War when there are often maybe two Gallifreyans left, that's why whatever's left of the hivemind keeps trying to get at least one of them to turn out as a Time Lady. Fortunately for the universe, neither of them seems that interested in reproducing.

[companion-showdown]

Nominations are now open: Which villain would make the best companion?

This tournament is intended to be smaller than usual, so I may be aa little stricter about who qualifies (at least when i'm familiar with the character, which means the EU nominees are going to end up with a lot more leeway)

as some starting rules

You can only nominate actual villains, they must actually be evil, not just dislike/be disliked by the Doctor

They must be an individual (or possibly a small group of individuals), eg you cannot nominate 'a dalek' it must be a specific dalek or daleks you can point to and say that/those ones

No companions, I don't care if they were evil when they met the Doctor or became evil later or were evil the entire time, they cannot already be or have ever been a companion

If there are multiple versions of the same villain (eg because they can regenerate), they will only be included once, either as generically as can be acheived, or a specific one will be chosen through a group stage

If they don't have a name (or you can't remember it) I will do my best to figure it out but try to give me as much context as you can and bare in mind im not psychic

Please bare in mind when you are nominating that I am hoping to keep the number of nominations under 64 to run this as a mini-tournament. This is not a hard rule so if nominations do exceed 64 its not a big deal, just something I'd like everyone to bare in mind (we have now broken 64 so full sized tournament it is

Nominees

The Master (this counts for any and all versions of the Master, a specific one will be chosen during the group stage, I'm preempting their nomination because duh)

Dalek Caan

Angel Bob

Morbius

Beep the Meep

Family of Blood

Meddling Monk

Salamander

Nobody No-One

Scaroth

Madeleine Issigri

JP Kettlewell

Sharaz Jek

Morgaine

Blon Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen

Cassandra

Bonnie (Clara!Zygon)

Davros

The Rani

The Binary Apprentice

the Scream

Timewyrm

Sabbath Dei

Death

Time

Black Guardian

Braxiatel

Aphasia

Luke Rattigan

The UK government

Auton!Boris Johnson

The Statue of Liberty

President Arthur Winters

Dream Lord

The Axos

Sartia

Valeyard

Great Intelligence

House

Not Donna

Captain Wrack

Pirate Sea Devil

Tecteun

The Dalek that offered the doctor tea in Victory of the Daleks

Plastic!Mickey

John Lumic

Miss Foster

Prisoner Zero

Karabraxos

Cessair of Diplos

Andred

Miss Hartigan

Kro'ka

Mr Finch

The Headhunter

Swarm and Azure

Ashad

Lilith

Reverend Golightly

Mr Clever

Toymaker

Justine

Rassilon

Lolita

Eckersley

Soldeed

Pandora

nominations will be open for at least the next 24 hours, that is until 14:00 BST (GMT/UTC+1), 10/04

after that there is no guarantee

[gallifreyanhotfive]

Random Doctor Who Facts You Might Not Know, Part 19: Gallifrey at War Part 3

TW: more gruesome Time War/Civil War shit, lots of death, disturbing stuff

The Last Great Time War had several simultaneous origins for both the Time Lords and Daleks. For example, tensions have been rising from the very beginning for the Daleks since the Time Lords tried to avert their creation.

During the War in Heaven, the Army of One project saw the regen-inf soldier Chris Cwej multiplied into an entire Cwejen army.

The Neverweres are creatures that should never have existed. They were built from pieces of evolution that never actually happened.

The Time Lords allied themselves with the Technomancers during the Last Great Time War. The Technomancers used their magic to resurrect dead Time Lords, providing Gallifrey with soldiers that were eternally renewable and disposable.

In reality, the Time Lords were nothing more than pawns in the eyes of the Technomancers. The Technomancers worship the Horned Ones, and the reanimated Time Lords carried pieces of the Horned Ones in them. Once enough pieces of the Horned Ones were inside Time Lords, the Horned Ones would have been able to rule over all life.

Because of this, the War Doctor used the Annihilator to erase the Technomancers from the timeline. The only thing of them that remained were the memories of people who had met them before, memories of people who now never were.

There have been at least two Gallifreyan Civil Wars. The Time Lady Pandora was involved with both.

After the First Gallifreyan Civil War, Pandora was dispersed so thoroughly she never existed, but a copy of her consciousness remained in the Matrix.

From here, Pandora manipulated Time Lord genetics to produce a host she could use. This is what led to Romana's creation. When the Shadow's torture awoke Pandora's influence in her, Romana I regenerated into Romana II to suppress her.

Once freed by Darkel, Pandora latched on to Castellan Wynter. This made the Castellan consume the Dogma Virus in order to fight back.

The Dogma Virus was created by the Free Time organization under direction of the Daleks. The virus laid dormant in Time Lords until their regeneration. Then, it would hijack the Time Lord’s symbiotic nuclei and basically turn them into zombies (was Time Lord zombie plague on anyone's bingo cards?).

During the War in Heaven, Lady President Romana at one point had an epileptic fit resulting in the release of 300 Shada prisoners, including Grandfather Paradox.

When Darkel tried to remove Romana from presidency during the Second Gallifreyan Civil War, Romana declared herself Imperiatrix, basically the Gallifreyan dictatorial leader.

Pandora used the Dogma Virus and force-regeneration of other Time Lords to increase the size of her army. Romana relied on destroying infrastructure and the Rassilon Imprimaturs to stop this civil war from becoming a time war.

Even after the Second Gallifreyan Civil War, there was still an outbreak of Dogma Virus. A biodata archive was eventually used to restore the Time Lords from a backup (their last save point), but the reset left Gallifrey vulnerable to Dalek attack.

In the early days of the War in Heaven, the "jungle children" experiment was conducted by House Arpexia. The intent was to see how Homeworlder biodata was changed if they were raised by humans. When Kaspar Hauser was placed in 1828 Nuremburg, he remained relatively unchanged, but the timeline around him began to reshape. When the experiment concluded, Hauser was killed.

The anima device was a psychic weapon in the Omega Arsenal that took away its victim's free will and allowed the user to control the victim's mind. During the Last Great Time War, the Doctor used it to try to create a peace where Daleks and Time Lords were farmers.

The War Doctor forced Dorium Maldovar to come with him to Villengard to destroy a bunch of weapons factories before they could be taken by the Dalek Fleet. The Doctor turned the factories into palm trees with a molecular fruit bomb.

During the Battle of Rodan's Wedding in the Last Great Time War, years were used as ammunition. In the one battle, shrapnel aged the Eighth Doctor to be five million years old. The next shrapnel hit de-aged him to a whimpering infant.

Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28

[gallifreyinstituteforlearning]

Who is Commander Maxil?

Who is Commander Maxil?

Commander Maxil was Gallifrey's stickler for the rules and possibly the most enthusiastic enforcer the Chancellery Guard has ever seen.

🧒 The Little Maxil

Like all Time Lords, Maxil started out as a young Gallifreyan plucked from his family at the age of eight to look into the Untempered Schism. Some ran away screaming or went mad, but Maxil took one look and put on his serious face. And serious he remained.

Fast forward a few centuries, and Maxil became Commander of the Chancellery Guard—a job he performed with the kind of attitude that he probably sees any day off as slacking. He's the sort of person who probably has 'Follow Protocol' embroidered on his underwear.

💥 The Time He Shot the Doctor

Maxil is known for that one time he shot the Doctor. With a staser blast to the chest, Maxil stunned the Fifth Doctor and then, just to rub salt in the wound, locked him up in a cell under the Capitol. Rules are rules, after all. He also planted a listening device in the Doctor’s TARDIS on orders from Castellan Jerricho.

🎖️ A Brief Stint as Castellan

Maxil's career wasn't all about shooting Doctors and bugging TARDISes. He did get promoted to Castellan, a position on the High Council that gave him even more authority to enforce all the rules he loved so much. During this time, he trained Castellan Wynter, who probably learned how to keep a staser handy at all times.

However, Maxil's career hit a bit of a speed bump during the Gallifreyan Civil War. He sided with Pandora over Romana, a decision that didn't exactly win him any popularity contests. As a result, he got demoted back to Commander. Tough break, but at least he still had his staser.

🤔 A Familiar Face

Now, here's where things get a bit kooky. This is a picture of Commander Maxil:

After the Fifth Doctor regenerated, his new incarnation—the Sixth Doctor—looked exactly like Maxil, the irony of which wasn't lost on the Doctor. Coincidence? Fate? Or just the universe having a laugh? Awkward.

🏫 So ...

Commander Maxil is the embodiment of Gallifreyan bureaucracy—efficient, by-the-book, and definitely not someone you would invite to a party. Whether he's stunning Time Lords or training guards, Maxil is a Time Lord who takes his duty very, very seriously.

Related:

Why is Rassilon everywhere?: Who Rassilon is and why he’s so important.

Who/What is Lord Burner?: Looking at the entirely fictional role of the entirely fictional Lord Burner.

Who is the Meddling Monk?: A look at Gallifrey’s most amusing Time Lord.

Hope that helped! 😃

Any purple text is educated guesswork or theoretical. More content ... →📫Got a question? | 📚Complete list of Q+A and factoids →😆Jokes |🩻Biology |🗨️Language |🕰️Throwbacks |🤓Facts →🫀Gallifreyan Anatomy and Physiology Guide (pending) →⚕️Gallifreyan Emergency Medicine Guides →📝Source list (WIP) →📜Masterpost If you're finding your happy place in this part of the internet, feel free to buy a coffee to help keep our exhausted human conscious. She works full-time in medicine and is so very tired 😴

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

“desperate need to write more narvinromana you say??” 👀👀👀👀👀

so I don’t know if you want to stick to them in the later audios, *but* since the majority of your narvinromana fics *have* been post-Enemy Lines, I would be super interested to see how you write them in say, the time when Leela has left them on the alternate Gallifrey — maybe when she’s just left them, and they’re stuck together with just each other on this hostile world and are maybe stepping into their doubles offices and rooms for the first time? or them during the civil war — maybe between series 2 and 3, on the run from Pandora and Romana trying to figure out her plan of attack and Narvin having Opinions and the very fragile alliance they have — or maybe a moment post-Fractures when Romana is isolating herself and Narvin is trying to secure the Academy and maybe he tries to talk to her?

but also I love their specific dynamic in Time War so much and I always love more Time War narvinromana stories. I know you’ve already written a few TW3 snippets, but I am so interested in any fics about them in exile, when suddenly they aren’t President and Coordinator (or Chancellor) or Coordinator and Deputy Coordinator anymore. maybe a scene/moment between Nevernor and Unity (aka post-Nevernor from what you’ve heard) that’s exploring them just living together in this constantly-on-the-verge-of-malfunctioning TARDIS as they’re following Leela’s biodata trail and the impact of that situation on them and their relationship?

but really I will be interested in anything you write with them!! <33

HOW HAVE I NEVER WRITTEN S5 NARVINROMANA BEFORE

---

There's an assassination attempt at least every other Tuesday, for Rassilon's sake — all of him, every regeneration, and the Rod and robes and blasted sandals as well — and Narvin cannot stop shaking. When Leela left, he thinks she took all their collective strength with her. Maybe she was their strength.

Either way, his hands shake near-constantly these days and a part of him longs for the Axis, lonely and desolate as it may have been. At least it was safe. At least they were together. With first Braxiatel, who admittedly, Narvin did not mourn as much as he could have, and now Leela gone as well, albeit in a much different way, thank goodness, there is half of them missing. It's like losing a limb, or a heart stalling.

Romana frowns, lines between her brows deeper than Narvin can read, whenever she sees him. She's cut her hair. Lady President Romanadvoratrelundar has only had hair this short, not even to her chin, once before, and it was a great many years ago on their own version of their planet; after Etra Prime, if Narvin, who was quietly puttering along in his own shadowy work at the time, remembers correctly. This is something they do not talk about.

They don't talk about Leela, either. They talk security, and reinforcements, and politics and plans. They do not talk about Romana's hair, which Narvin keeps finding himself staring at, or the deepening worry lines between her eyes, or Narvin's shaking hands. Sometimes, Romana's hands shake as well, like she's trying hard not to fall apart, and this, too, is something they don't discuss.

If Narvin is beginning to shred apart at the seams, then Romana is about to shatter. And if Romana shatters, then Narvin will be cut open, and neither of them will ever be whole again. (Neither of them is whole to begin with. They haven't been in a long time.)

So, just once, absolutely uncharacteristic much as he hates to admit it, Narvin takes a risk. There was another attempt on her life today and as common as it is, Romana is shaking despite her own composure. The two of them are composed of contradictions. She's perched on the edge of her desk, Narvin sitting in the chair itself, which somehow seems both backwards and completely correct. Her hands are shaking and she's pretending they aren't, except that she keeps combing through her short hair, can't keep still.

Narvin catches her hand as it drops from the back of her head and for the first time this entire evening, since the sudden rush of panic and immediacy that followed her nearly being killed, again, they both are still. Romana stares at him, for just a moment, eyes wide but the worry lines disappearing, and then squeezes his hand back. Wraps his hand in both of hers until he brings the other one up to join it and closes his eyes, feeling her double-pulse in her wrists and the cold solidity of her touch. They may not be whole, but they are both here. Romana is alive; this is what matters most of all.

He wishes he trusted the guards who watch over her. He wishes he could watch over her himself, so for now, he does just that. Holds her hands for as long as she will allow and maintains the pretense of conversation when she finally pulls away so that he has an excuse to walk her to her quarters. Were he more of a courageous man he might take one of her hands again, carefully kiss her knuckles. But, no, Narvin is a coward, and they are barely friends. But they're all each other has. Sometimes, their hands shake.

[rassilonwatchathon]

Watch-A-Thon 13: Pilot (SyFy Cinematic Universe)

Toni and Joe vibe while they discuss being possessed by the past, Artie's facts, and poor Pandora packaging in the pilot episode of Warehouse 13.

If you're interested in being a Friend of Rassilon, click here.

Download - YouTube - RSS - Patreon - LinkTree - ESO Network

[esonetwork]

We Believe In Ted Lasso: Series Review

New Post has been published on http://esonetwork.com/we-believe-in-ted-lasso-series-review/

We Believe In Ted Lasso: Series Review

Three years ago, an American coach traveled to London bringing oversized optimism, unorthodox game plans, and homemade biscuits. Mike, Mike, Elaine Sweatman, and Dena Woods hold a Diamond Dogs meeting full of laughs and tears to discuss the Apple TV Plus series. Plus, Ashley’s Box Office Buzz, Michelle’s Iconic Rock Moment, Creative Outlet with Justin Gray, and Shout Outs.

We want to hear from you! Feedback is always welcome. Please write to us at feedback@earthstationone.com and subscribe and rate the show on Apple Podcast, Stitcher Radio, Google Play, Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music, wherever fine podcasts are found, and now we can be found on our own YouTube Channel.

Links The Earth Station One Website Earth Station One on Apple Podcasts The New Earth Station One YouTube Channel Earth Station One on Stitcher Radio Earth Station One on Spotify Past Episodes of The Earth Station One Podcast Angela’s A Geek Girl’s Take Ashley’s Box Office Buzz Michelle’s Iconic Rock Talk Show Billy the Kit Season Two Monkeeing Around Podcast Drunk and Blerdy

Promos Tifosi Optics Cosmic Pizza Podcast The Watch-A-Thon of Rassilon The ESO Network Patreon ESO Network Tee-Public

If you would like to leave feedback or a comment on the show please feel free to email us at feedback@earthstationone.com

[gallifreyborn]

( so this post is about What Characters Might Know About Romana. im writing it bc i assume most people i write with are unfamiliar with classic who and/or romana’s big finish appearances. you’re free to reference these things in threads, and you’re also welcome to dm me to ask questions/etc if you’d like to!

im putting this under a read more, and it’s split into different types of charcters.

time lords / time-aware species pre-time war

romana was president of gallifrey for a very long time, and this is what romana would be most known for by others who were aware of gallifrey’s political situation

prior to becoming president, romana was a renegade, travelling with the doctor, despite coming from a high house and having graduated top of her class

a few weeks into her presidency, romana went missing, and was held prisoner of the daleks for 20 years on etra prime. after rescuing herself, she helped to fight off the dalek invasion of gallifrey, and promised to help the other temporal powers

romana’s presidency was known for her progressive politics. she pushed gallifrey to open itself up, to form alliances with the other temporal powers, and even to allow aliens in to study at the gallifreyan academy

the gallifreyan population was somewhat split about whether they supported romana’s policies or not. for many, her policies were a breath of fresh air, while for others she was pushing for too much change, too fast. however, most of her opposition came from fellow politicians

this opposition resulted in the gallifreyan civil war. details about this are very vague to anyone who wasn’t directly involved with the fighting. rumours say that the imperiatrix pandora returned from the dead. others say that romana’s own past self came to gallifrey to challenge her. clearly, anything like that must be impossible

romana returned to her presidency after the civil war

romana stepped down from her presidency rather suddenly, appointing herself as coordinator of the cia and appointing livia as her successor. she never spoke publicly about why she chose to step down

romana’s actions as coordinator were, naturally, less publicised, but she remained in this position through the beginning of the time war, butting heads with both the high council and the war council

romana was exiled from gallifrey after she attempted to assassinate rassilon

at some point in the time war, romana went missing. only her closest allies seemed to have any idea of what had happened to her, but even they didn’t seem hopeful about her fate

while on gallifrey, romana’s closest allies were known to be the human leela of the sevateem, cardinal(/chancellor/temporarily president) irving braxiatel, and (eventually) coordinator/deputy coordinator narvin. she was also, naturally, known for her close friendship with the doctor

romana’s house was heartshaven (she was also a child of house dvora). heartshaven was in ruins by the time she was grown. heartshaven was also known for its wine

the doctor’s companions

this fully depends on how much the doctor chooses to tell them, but here’s some details that you’re free to take

romana was the first (and only) time lord/lady to travel with the doctor as a companion. she started travelling with him in her first incarnation, and regenerated while travelling with him

romana was sent to travel with him to find the pieces of the key to time, and eventually left him while they were in e-space

romana was highly intelligent and fairly competent. the doctor felt she was bossy, but in at least one story said that he prefered her that way, and prefered it when she told him what to do, lol

romana kept a k9 unit after leaving the doctor

as mentioned above, romana became president of gallifrey after leaving the doctor. she remained in this position until shortly before the time war, and went missing during the time war

companions that romana has met: adric, charley pollard, evelyn smythe, bernice summerfield, ace, leela. probably others, but those are the ones who i feel are most important to list- if your muse knows any of those listed characters, they may have mentioned romana

unit

romana was known to unit in at least her second incarnation

unit would probably be aware that she was a time lord, that she became president of gallifrey, and that she went missing during the time war

[magicofthepen]

I posted 1,161 times in 2022

71 posts created (6%)

1,090 posts reblogged (94%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@sircarolyn

@natequarter

@whifferdills

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I tagged 1,161 of my posts in 2022

#q. - 366 posts

#general - 281 posts

#gallifrey audios - 249 posts

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Longest Tag: 139 characters

#because that’s gonna make the reunion — because a reunion between leela and narvin at least feels pretty inevitable — hit that much harder)

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

War Room 1 Thoughts

My first listen, immediate reactions and emotions and ramblings below the cut. (There are. a lot of ramblings.) Spoiler free summary is that I enjoyed the boxset overall—I really liked a majority of the episodes, and I loved two of them. And even the one I was meh about, I didn’t dislike, it just felt like the weak link of the boxset. 

THE LAST DAYS OF FREME

I listened to the preview the other day, so see this post for my initial thoughts on the first 15 minutes.

(….and whoops I have more thoughts on the first 15 minutes.)

I love how Leela is resisting the Time Lords in such a visceral, physical way at the beginning. While she isn’t as fearless as she wants them to believe, she’s far more willing to fight back when it’s her own life (or well-being) being threatened. And she has been through so much, it feels like it’s all coming out in one drawn out scream as the Time Lords try to control her. 

But then: I do think Rassilon invoking Romana (even if he’s claiming she’s dead) is a way to subtextually dangle her over Leela’s head.

I do like quite like the new theme! The mood of it is so different from Time War despite not sounding that dramatically different (if that makes sense??)—but the energy it has feels right for this boxset. Time War was a plunge further and further into despair, and at last there are glimmers of hope. (….whether that hope will last is another question though.)

“Do I have a choice?” god this line is so raw. Leela’s choices have been taken away from her so much. 

Lou Morgan Gets Leela so well, please let her keep writing Gallifrey. (This is going to be a running theme here.) Anger is her default way of dealing with grief, she’s drowning in grief and rage throughout the story, it’s so devastatingly good.

I thought it was in shame in Time War 4 that Richard Armitage’s Rassilon spent most of the time monologuing—I’m glad a main character gets to properly interact with him here. I’m even more glad about the amount of times Leela threatens to kill him. Extremely in character. I would have been disappointed if that didn’t happen.  

And there’s a “coming full circle” horror with Leela and Rassilon. He violated Leela’s autonomy the first time they met by shoving himself into her mind and possessing her. And now he’s violating her autonomy again, dehumanizing her and trying to make her a tool of the Time Lords, having a literal collar placed around her neck to restrict what she can do.

“You are a ghost.” The Matrix projection of Ollistra’s earlier incarnation is a bit reminiscent of Pandora—a ghost from the Matrix rising again in a body that should be gone. That parallel makes Leela’s horror at Ollistra’s nature make even more sense.

“since Romana’s imprisonment in the Vault dimension” The General does know what really happened to Romana. Interesting, since Rassilon speaks as though she’d dead, in public and in private. 

“She is a blunt instrument. A tool. Nothing more complicated than that.” oh this episode is going hard on Leela being dehumanized. 

In Time War 2, it took until Episode 3 to have the Time Lords wipe out a planet, and that was the worst thing they’d done, an inconceivable atrocity. And now that’s the baseline. That’s what they’re starting Leela out with. It really drives home how much worse the War has gotten, how the Time Lords don’t blink at atrocities, and I love that this boxset didn’t shy away from going there immediately.

“Would the Oubliette not be more practical?” Confirmation that it’s officially returned. Although it’s odd that they assume the Daleks will know if they Oubliette the planet, but not if they destroy it through other means? 

The General shows flickers of compassion to Leela, but also clearly has Rassilon’s ear. He’s a fascinating character—he comes off a sympathetic in comparison to other Time Lords because he’s kinder on a personal level, but in this episode he actively tries to persuade Leela to commit genocide. There’s a different kind of horror in the soldier who is squeamish about torturing one person who he knows, but justifies murdering billions as a necessity. 

“One hundred microspans” oh the audios are back to using microspans, are they?

“Home. Some of us have no home left to return to.” I realize this was absolutely not meant as a Unity reference, but there are no Unity references, so I have to selectively interpret things where I can. Anyways, friendly reminder that the home Leela had built and found peace in for almost two decades was still only recently blown up, and her family lost to her in different ways. 

I love Leela’s malicious compliance with Time Lord orders. Exactly the energy I was hoping for!! 

The General is displaying typical Gallifreyan supremacist attitudes when he’s talking and an absolute willingness to follow orders in this first episode. He’s wriggling around his orders by the end of the boxset, and obviously by the time of the TV show he’s ready to defy Rassilon. But he still has a dangerous and terrible loyalty to Gallifrey.

“She doesn’t appear to be a savage.” Leela encounters one (1) person who views her as a person. 

Ohhh the themes of grief—the meeting hall is the memorial hall, the walls are built to honor the dead. 

“But you leave them behind.” This sounds like an accusation, but I read it differently knowing that Leela has, not so long ago, left her own dead behind when Veega died on Unity. (You didn’t ask for me to keep bringing everything back to Unity, but I’m afraid this is what you’re going to get with me.) And then she left Narvin behind—to die, as far as she knows. So I wonder how much of this comment is an accusation against herself, a desire for someone to justify it, to tell her that leaving the dead behind isn’t dishonoring them. 

“Come, eat.” I’m sorry, I burst out laughing here….I’ve joked before about how Lou Morgan has a running theme of side characters making sure the main characters are fed and rested in her episodes (Nevernor and Dissolution), and although Leela didn’t get a proper rest in this one, she still got a brief respite from Time Lord control, and a side character insisting that she eat. Incredible. I hope the streak continues. 😄 

Why doesn’t Leela try to warn the Fremians as soon as possible? Is it just fear of what the Time Lords will do to her? Is she biding her time to see if she can come up with a plan?

Veklin wants to go back for Leela and not leave her to die, but she would destroy a whole world — a terrible subjective morality.

goddd I love how this episode is in dialogue with Collateral. The plot is so reminiscent of Collateral: Time Lords about to destroy a planet, the people of the world braced to evacuate (for one reason or another), and our main character(s) trying desperately to save people. This episode is an echo and an answer to the despair of Time War 2, a chance to put Leela in the same situation Romana and Narvin were in (sort of), and a chance to write a different ending, and I love it. 

Leela keeps asking questions and testing Argatro’s willingness to trust her. It’s like she’s trying to verify that he does see her as a person, and like she’s testing herself to see that if her honor and morality are still intact. The questions are for herself too: is she worthy of his trust? 

See the full post

35 notes - Posted August 24, 2022

#4

can we talk about seventy or eighty years? can we just process that for a minute?

Narvin hasn’t seen Leela in a human lifetime. he’s had no idea what happened to Romana all that time. he’s clinging onto memories and mementos of his old friends (Ace’s arcade TARDIS that he rescued from the trash heap oh my god). he’s thrown himself into the Resistance not knowing if he’ll ever see Leela and Romana again. if he’ll ever see the people he loves again.

god of course he was ready to tell Leela he loves her. he has been carrying that love and grief around for so long, all bottled up inside him, ready to burst. we saw how much Narvin was drowning in feelings just after losing Romana and Leela for a day or so in Dissolution, and now he’s had decades of yearning and not knowing, this Time Lord is absolutely brimming over with emotion when he sees Leela again, and I am wrecked

35 notes - Posted August 24, 2022

#3

21 2021 Gallific Recs

I meant to get this out much earlier, but maybe with the recent Gallifrey announcement, now is a good time!

2021 was an impressive year for Gallifrey fic – 123 fics were posted or updated in the main Gallifrey tag on ao3, which is the most of any year so far! I haven’t read all of them, but I wanted to shoutout a handful of Gallifrey (and Gallifrey-adjacent) fics that I really enjoyed.

(Obviously this list is going to reflect my personal tastes, so I encourage folks to go check out Gallifrey’s and Big Finish’s ao3 tags themselves because there’s a lot of great writing happening. ❤️)

Listed in order of publication date:

All That is Left by @irving-braxiatel (T, ~700 words) — The last conversation between Romana and Narvin in the Beyond universe.

the other side of the war by @theladyjojogrant (G, 12k) — Romana, Leela, Narvin, and Braxiatel finding each other after the Time War. Set around Hell Bent.

Like the Blind Man by @swinging-stars-from-satellites (G, 4.5k) — Romana in the immediate aftermath of Etra Prime, ft. an early interaction with Leela and an emotionally complicated conversation with Brax.

wishing for some magic film to make this moment last forever by @fortes-fortuna-iogurtum (G, 1.7k) — Narvin discovers telepathic photos of Leela and Ace, after losing them in the Time War.

it’s a wonder we keep going without you by @sircarolyn (G, 4k) — An exploration of Leela’s feelings towards those she’s lost and left behind, set during her time on Unity and after. 

Our Hearts Will Be Closer by @swinging-stars-from-satellites (G, 2.7k) — While wrapping up a mission, Leela and Narvin accidentally drink an emotional anti-repressant and get very cuddly with each other and Romana.

In Books Written By Rabbits by @swinging-stars-from-satellites (G, 2.3k) — Leela visits Brax after Narvin’s death in Enemy Lines—surprising vulnerability ensues.

descansos by @sircarolyn (T, 4k) — Romana, tumbling through a nightmare landscape of her failures and traumas.

In the Drift by @swinging-stars-from-satellites (G, 1.5k) — Romana and Narvin, grieving Leela after The Devil You Know and finally opening up to each other.

space and time, waking hours before i open my eyes, i feel my heart crack open by @sircarolyn (G, 3k) — Narvin and Leela, reunited and on a mission to rescue Romana. Post-Homecoming.

I’m Still Here by @theladyjojogrant (G, 11k) — Ace in the aftermath of Soldier Obscura. How she grapples with the gaps in her memory and eventually fills them, ft. Ace and Narvin’s friendship.

hold onto hope, if you got it by @theladyjojogrant (G, 1.3k) — Romana and Narvin leaning on each other during a late night after losing Leela.

stages of grief by @natequarter (T, 3k) — An exploration of Leela’s grief for Andred (when he’s missing and when he dies), ft. what happened to his confession dial.

The Most Arrogant of the Species by @presidentromana (T, 5.5k) — not exactly a Gallifrey fic, but the canon-in-my-heart backstory for Sartia, Romana’s one (1) friend from her Academy days who wasn’t erased from time. (psst….you should listen to Skin of the Sleek/The Thief Who Stole Time.)

the only touch i know is violence by @natequarter (T, 1k) — Romana attempts to talk to Brax while grappling with flashbacks of Etra Prime.

Romana the Promise by @presidentromana (T, 18k) — Star Wars AU where Romana and Sartia are apprentices to Sith Lord Pandora (in the past) and Romana is re-captured and tortured by Pandora (in the present). The rest of the Gallifrey squad also appears!

ad astra by @natequarter (T, 4k) — An exploration of the long-term physical and emotional effects of Etra Prime on Romana — it digs into the impact of the Doctor abandoning her and provides a bit of healing. Set pre-Gallifrey.

your face when you laugh, all my worries fade by @sircarolyn (G, 2.3k) — Leela finds an entertainment screen one day on Unity. Eventually, Leela and Veega talk about their feelings. 

though the nightmares aren’t real, they still hurt by @whoteacheswho (G, 2.2k) —Tre, caught between one timeline and the next, unsure which of her memories are real. 

for want of an ego by @natequarter (T, 6k) —The Doctor, Yaz, and Dan run into Eris and end up working together to find Romana. 

fireside negotiations by @theuncertainhour (T, 2k) — Romana, Leela, and Narvin huddle around a fire on an Axis world—and find other ways to keep warm.

35 notes - Posted February 22, 2022

#2

New Gallifrey drops in July!

Gallifrey's moral compass is lost, Rassilon rules, and Romana is gone. But it’s not the end, it’s just the beginning...

Gallifrey is at war. At the heart of the Capitol, the War Room co-ordinates the fight against the Daleks.

Leela has been forced into service, alongside the General and his soldiers, taking orders from Cardinals Rasmus and Ollistra.

But this being Gallifrey, politics are never forgotten. Some serve Rassilon, some serve themselves, and some have their own cause. The Time War will test them all.

Louise Jameson (Leela)

Ken Bones (The General)

Nicholas Briggs (Daleks)

Beth Chalmers (Veklin)

Chris Jarman (Rasmus)

Carolyn Pickles (Ollistra)

40 notes - Posted February 19, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

New Gallifrey cover!

82 notes - Posted June 1, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[rubysundaymondaytuesday]

Assorted Doctor Who Inspired Wombo Art

[natequarter]

the urge to write about the political drama of late rassilon-era gallifrey

[trailmixtime]

gallifrey or benny for 001

i choose gallifrey since i've listened to all of that and only smatterings of benny :)

001 | Send me a fandom and I will tell you my:

Favorite character: k9, closely followed by leela

Least Favorite character: darkel

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): leela/romana (romantic), leelabrax (platonic), leela/narvin (r/p), leela/veega (r), romana/brax (??)

Character I find most attractive: leela (specifically interrogator general!leela she is v sexy)

Character I would marry: laughs in aro

Character I would be best friends with: either k9 or leela. probably k9 bc leela would probably think i am a bit strange but k9 would just vibe with me slfkjkf

a random thought: the actors obviously speak in english, but i wonder what the canon reason for that is. are they all speaking gallifreyan and leela and the aliens who learn at the academy just fluent in it? or do the tardis translation circuits extend all the way up through the capitol or panoptican or whatever you call it? if it's the latter, how do time lords learn other languages? are languages even taught at the academy? i have so many questions!!!

An unpopular opinion: not sure how unpopular it is, but i think the gallifrey: time war stuff shouldn't have been branded as only gallifrey. this is is a complicated opinion so here me out. what i think the gallifrey: time war stuff (particularly boxset 2 and 3) should have been branded as is more allong the lines of gallifrey time war: romana, gallifrey time war: narvin, gallifrey time war: leela, etc. and given each a boxset each of them to explore their individual reactions to the time war, which would have given more allowance for plot things without taking away from the dynamics which is ultimately what disappointed so many of us i think. and then time war 4 should have been those plots converging and sort of zooming out on the close focus of those characters to see the core team and how their stories and individual characters fit so well with each other. idk if all that would even be doable or if it's more of a fanfic writer task, but i do think it would have been so much more emotionally satisfying than what we got.

(but also if it is a fanfic writer ask, any fanfic writers are more than welcome to steal the idea and write a beautiful multichap ksldfjsf)

My Canon OTP: leela/veega. they were So Good

My Non-canon OTP: leela/romana. screams.

Most Badass Character: again, leela. can you see a pattern here? :p

Most Epic Villain: torn between pandora and interrogator general leela, so i am going to choose both

Pairing I am not a fan of: romantic romana/narvin. i mean. it's okay, but out of all the romantic pairings you can make, that's definitely my last/least favourite option. i think the devotion narvin has toward romana remaining platonic and/or undefined makes it mean that much more meaningful u know?

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): ik the common answer is probably brax, and they're right, but you know what? i'm going to go with leela again. particularly time 4 war leela because they DIDN'T DO HER GOOD!! they didn't give us any indication that her heart broke over the death of one of her only friends beyond a quiet "oh", AND THEN THEY DIDN'T EVEN HAVE HER ATTEMPT TO FIGHT BACK WHEN RASSILON SHOVED ROMANA INTO THE POCKET UNIVERSE JUST MINUTES AFTER SHE'S LOST NARVIN???? LIES, LIES, AND MORE LIES. i didn't expect her to break down wailing there in the tardis, obviously, but this is leela we're talking about, she's not just going to be like "lol ok guess i'll not be sad and just let my other best friend be taken away from me too". she's at least going to give some indication that she'll cry later, and then she would at least try to stop romana from being taken away, or, at the very least argue with romana when romana told her not to do anything. she would be angry and hurt and the fact that we didn't get that-

i'll be fine. i just need to go do some breathing exercises sldkfjsf

Favourite Friendship: LEELABRAX

Character I most identify with: take a wild guess :p

(in case you can't guess, it's leela)

Character I wish I could be: none, honestly. being one of the characters would mean being put through hell by the writers and i choose no <3

ask game

[companion-showdown]

Which villain would you most like to see as a companion?

GRAND FINAL

Gomez!Master vs Irving Braxiatel

SEMIFINALS

Gomez!Master vs The Rani

Irving Braxiatel vs The Dalek that offered the Doctor tea

QUARTERFINALS

Gomez!Master vs The Toymaker

The Rani vs Bonnie

Irving Braxiatel vs The Meddling Monk

The Dalek that offered the Doctor tea vs Pandora

previous rounds under the cut

ROUND 4

Gomez!Master vs John Hart

Scaroth vs The Toymaker

The Rani vs Death

Cassandra vs Bonnie

Irving Braxiatel vs Blon Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen

Beep the Meep vs The Meddling Monk

The Dalek that offered the Doctor tea vs Justine

Salamander vs Pandora

ROUND 3

Gomez!Master vs The Valeyard

Luke Rattigan vs John Hart

Nobody No-One vs Scaroth

Angel Bob vs The Toymaker

The Rani vs Andred

Death vs Davros

Cassandra vs Miss Foster

Mr Shift vs Bonnie

Irving Braxiatel vs Ashad

Time vs Blon Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen

Beep the Meep vs Captain Wrack

The Trickster vs The Meddling Monk

The Dalek that offered the Doctor tea vs Soldeed

Mr Finch vs Justine

Salamander vs The Family of Blood

House vs Pandora

ROUND 2

Day 2

Irving Braxiatel vs Inquisitor Darkel

Ashad vs Sartia

Sabbath Dei vs Time

The Axos vs Blon Fel Fotch Passameer Day Slitheen

Beep the Meep vs Mr Clever

Captain Wrack vs Morbius

The Trickster vs Cessair of Diplos

JP Kettlewell vs Meddling Monk

The Dalek that offered the Doctor tea vs Plastic!Mickey

Miss Hartigan vs Soldeed

The Timewyrm vs Mr Finch

Swarm and Azure vs Justine

Salamander vs Morgaine

The Family of Blood vs The Scream

Lolita vs House

Tecteun vs Pandora

Day 1

Gomez!Master vs Absorbaloff

The Valeyard vs The UK Government

Luke Rattigan vs The Great Intelligence

Lomax vs John Hart

Nobody No-One vs Investigator One

Scaroth vs Dalek Caan

Angel Bob vs The Dream Lord

Not-Donna vs The Toymaker

The Rani vs Madeleine Issigri

Reverend Golightly vs Andred

Rassilon vs Death

Lilith vs Davros

Cassandra vs Auton!Boris Johnson

Miss Foster vs The Headhunter

Mr Shift vs Pirate Sea Devil

The Statue of Liberty vs Bonnie

ROUND 1 (group stage)

Group 1

The Meddling Monk

Salamander

Madeleine Issigri

The Axos

Eckersley

JP Kettlewell

Group 2

Morbius

Andred

The Black Guardian

Cessair of Diplos

Scaroth

Soldeed

Group 3

Captain Wrack

Sharaz Jek

The Rani

The Valeyard

Inquisitor Darkel

Morgaine

Group 4

Nobody No-One

The Binary Apprentice

The Scream

Timewyrm

Sabbath Dei

Group 5

Death

Time

Irving Braxiatel

Aphasia

Auton!Boris Johnson

Group 6

Sartia

Kro'ka

The Headhunter

Justine

Lolita

Group 7

Pandora

Lomax

Mr Shift

Investigator One

Auteur

Group 8

Plastic!Mickey

Cassandra

Blon Fel Fotch Passameer Day Slitheen

Mr Finch

John Lumic

Absorbaloff

Dalek Caan

Group 9

Lilith

The Family of Blood

Arthur Winters

Miss Foster

Luke Rattigan

Reverend Golightly

Davros

Group 10

Miss Hartigan

Rassilon

The UK Governement

John Hart

Gray

The Trickster

Group 11

Prisoner Zero

The Dalek that offered the Doctor tea

Angel Bob

The Dream Lord

House

The Statue of Liberty

Group 12

The Great Intelligence

Mr Clever

Karabraxos

Bonnie

Ashad

Tecteun

Group 13

Swarm and Azure

Pirate Sea Devil

Beep the Meep

Not Doctor

Not Donna

The Toymaker

Masters

Links to previous tournaments

[ouidamforeman]

rassilon/pandora

This wouldn’t work because Rassilon is a misogynist and Pandora wouldn’t tolerate him