#what are the lives of everyday people on gallifrey like

[the-worms-in-your-bones]

I want more lore about gallifrey and how time lord society works, but at the same time I love making shit up about it

[gallifreyinstituteforlearning]

Why is Rassilon everywhere?

Why is Rassilon everywhere?

Ah, Rassilon! Praise be upon his mighty beautiful head! If you ever feel like you can’t swing a Dalek mutant without hitting something named after Rassilon, you’re definitely on Gallifrey.

Here's a few pointers to why Rassilon is so mighty:

🦸 The Founding Father

As one of the founding fathers of modern Time Lord society, his influence is in every aspect of Gallifreyan life. He's credited with many of Gallifrey's greatest advancements, including the discovery of time travel and the creation of the Eye of Harmony. Multiple powerful artefacts bear his name, like the Rod of Rassilon and the Ring of Rassilon, which I assure you aren't as dirty as they sound.

🐉 The Man, the Myth, the Legend

Rassilon's story is written into the very fabric of Gallifreyan mythology and legend. Stories of his heroic deeds, cunning strategies, and formidable powers are told to Time Tots from the moment they're capable of hero worship. It's said he battled great cosmic entities, outwitted ancient gods, and secured Gallifrey's place as the pinnacle of civilisation. What a guy.

📜 The Eternal Administrator

Even after his supposed demise, Rassilon's administrative policies and laws still guide the Time Lords. He wrote foundational texts that every budding Time Lord studies meticulously, and Rassilon's fingerprints are all over the rule book. It's like every bureaucratic form and procedural guideline has a little note from Rassilon saying, 'do it like this'.

🖥️ The Technological Genius

Rassilon's technological innovations are still in use millennia later. From TARDIS designs to the Matrix, his genius ensures that his presence is felt every time a Time Lord takes a trip through time or consults the grand repository of all Gallifreyan knowledge. Any piece of tech you can think of, Rassilon probably invented it.

🗳️ The Political Powerhouse

Politically, Rassilon’s legacy is unshakeable. His time as Lord President set the gold standard for Gallifreyan leadership. Subsequent leaders often find themselves compared to him, and many of the political structures and titles are relics of his era. He's even so generous as to return from the dead to lead Gallifrey in times of crisis.

🗿 The Cultural Icon

Culturally, Rassilon is the ultimate Gallifreyan icon. Festivals, holidays, and even everyday idioms are sprinkled with references to Rassilon. 'By Rassilon's beard!' is a common exclamation of surprise, while, 'What would Rassilon do?' is the go-to question for moral dilemmas, and the Horns of Rassilon is a hand sign you probably shouldn't do in polite company.

🧪 The Supreme Scientist

And let's not forget his contributions to Time Lord biology. Rassilon’s Imprimatur, a biochemical mark, allows Time Lords to safely pilot TARDISes, effectively bonding them to the fabric of time itself. There’s also the little matter of regeneration. This ability to cheat death every now and then is the cornerstone of Time Lord, and without Rassilon, it wouldn't be possible.

Some would dispute this was Rassilon's invention, but of course, they're liars.

🏫 So ...

Rassilon is everywhere because he's the ultimate Gallifreyan hero, lawmaker, inventor, politician, and cultural icon. His influence spans the practical, the mythical, and the everyday lives of Gallifreyan people, as well as all of you. Just remember—it's Rassilon's universe; you're just privileged to be living in it.

GIL adores Rassilon of course, in alignment with the views of our benefactors, the High Council. On a completely unrelated note, GIL also wishes the Celestial Intervention Agency a lovely day.

Related:

What's the structure of Gallifreyan DNA?: How their DNA is structured including the fourth strand, Rassilon’s Strand.

What is looming and how does it exist alongside natural reproduction?: Overview of looming and its place alongside natural reproduction in Gallifreyan society.

What does the Web of Time look like?: Overview on the Web of Time and its relevance.

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😴

[lurking-latinist]

Rulers in all times and places have attempted to identify themselves with and control key aspects of time, most crucially represented in the calendar. There are likely many good reasons for this. To control and dictate time is very much to control and dictate the everyday lives of one’s people. We organize our lives, our plans and activities, using time. If the ruler controls time, or even better, is time in some important sense, then the ruler comes to fill a necessary and central position in our lives. We cannot function without the ruler—we become directionless, and in a complete chaos. Or at least this is the idea the ruler desires to create.

(Philosophy of the Ancient Maya: Lords of Time, by Alexus McLeod, Lexington Books, 2018, page 19. On my word of honor, that’s what the book’s called.)

so the philosophy of time is an interest of mine separately from my love for the time travel show (indeed the philosophical interest is partly what got me into the show), and this book about the Maya philosophy of time is really interesting in its own right, but this particular section did really make me think about what interesting things dr who could do with the idea of gallifrey as a colonizing power.

I think @you-have-to-use-your-imagination has been talking about this a lot lately, and others!

[hollenka99]

The Doctor’s Sons

Summary: This entire clone situation with Ranboo has been occupying Docza’s mind but not for the reasons Techno seems to think.

Warnings: Implied/referenced death

If he was going to be honest, he wasn't particularly paying attention to the conversation going on behind him. He thinks it was about Techno's experience of travelling in the TARDIS with him. Whatever Technoblade and Ranboo were discussing, he was glad the two of them were getting along. This entire cloned offspring situation had thrown him for a loop. It certainly complicated matters. He would rather focus on figuring out how best to placate both sides of the war between the humans and Hath. Although, undeniably, he may have developed a soft spot for Ranboo without entirely meaning to like Techno had. "You will. Won't he, Doctor?" He is brought back to the present. "Hmm?" "Do you think Ranboo'll see any new worlds?" "I suppose so." A warm smile forms on his face. As unsure as he was about these events, there's no doubt he wouldn't mind another friendly face tagging along. "You mean- You mean you'll take me with you?" "Well, can't leave you here, can we?" "Oh! Thank you, thank you, thank you." Ranboo's arms find themselves around the Doctor before he can react. It is too familiar of a feeling. Wilbur stares down at the key his father had handed him moments before. "You're trusting me with your TARDIS?" "Well, better than you stealing one like I did." The force of the hug is not something he is expecting. "Thank you, Dad, thank you! I promise I'll take good care of her." "You'd better. And don't be gone for too long, okay?" With a grin, his son pulls away. "You got it." "Come on, let's get a move on." And like that, Ranboo is rushing off round the corner. For a split second, he could have sworn Tommy was the one leaving his sight. "Careful, there might be traps!" "Kids! They never listen." He can feel Techno glancing at him, face falling as he realises his Time Lord friend isn't so ready for joking around. "Oh, I know that look. You see it a lot where I'm from. Piglins with frowns and smaller versions of themself. You've got Dad Shock." His brows momentarily furrow. "Dad Shock?" "Sudden unexpected fatherhood. Takes a bit of getting used to." Ah. "No, it's not that." "Well, what is it then? Having Ranboo in the TARDIS, is that it? What's he going to do, cramp your style? Like you've got a sports car and he's going to turn it into a people carrier?" Might as well be truthful. "Techno... I've been a father before." "What?" "I lost all that a long time ago, along with everything else." "I'm sorry. I didn't know. Why didn't you tell me? You talk all the time but you never say anything." "I know. It's just... when I look at him now, I can see them. The hole they left, all the pain that filled it. I just don't know if I can face that everyday." And it's true. If he allowed himself the chance to truly reflect on it, he'd be too preoccupied with all the memories Ranboo had unintentionally caused to resurface.

----- Wilbur appears at the door of the TARDIS with baby Tommy on his hip. He nearly doesn't notice, busy with performing maintenance on the console, but when his eyes catch on his son by the entrance, he happily pauses to face them with wires still in his grip. "Is something up?" "Oh, it's nothing. Just thought you might want to know Tommy's found a new way of getting around so everybody better watch out." He moves so the infant is positioned to stand of his own accord. Crouched, he encourages his brother. "Hey Tommy, you want to show Dad what you can do?" Tommy obliges by taking a number of clumsy steps before collapsing to the floor. Oh forget the wires, so long as he kept them away from the toddler's reach, it wouldn't be a problem. By the time he's taken a step forward, he is going back on his initial reaction. Come to think of it, there was only more work to be done now. His hands weren't entirely clean either. And besides, there was time to celebrate this milestone later. "That's amazing, boys. Guess I need to Tommy-proof the TARDIS now that he's walking. Call for me if you need anything." "Sure. Come on, Tommy." He throws open the doors. "This, boys, is Spica, in the constellation of Virgo. Or, at least, what's left of it because in a few short minutes, it's going to begin collapsing in on itself." "You've taken us to watch a star die?" Wilbur raises an eyebrow. "What's the point in travelling the universe if you can't admire the view every now and again?" He smiles. "We'll stay here for a little while then I'll bring us a few weeks forward so you can both see the supernova at its peak." True to his word, their father soon repositions them so they have a more enticing display to witness. Arms on both of his sons' shoulders, they all marvelled at the sight before them. "One day, when you're both done with the Academy and only if you want to, of course, I will show you the universe. Then, perhaps, you might want to see it for yourself and show me things I've missed. Sound good?" Wilbur, already intrigued by it from a young age but in love with the prospect ever since he faced the vortex in its purest form, beams at him. "Definitely." "Will we get to see more stuff like this? It's really pretty." Tommy asks in a voice that is small yet paradoxically loud. "Oh, you bet. All of time and space with just the three of us. It'll be great." "Tommy, you'll be fine." He reassures the eight year old who was due to be sent to the Time Lord Academy. "But I'll be away for so long. And... and what about the Untempered Schism?" "Yeah, maybe you'll go crazy." "Wilbur." A warning glare. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding." He throws his hands up, failing to suppress his grin. "It made me want to graduate as soon as possible. Arguably, not the best thing for a kid who had only started his time at school since it made me insufferable as a student but now I'm free to go where I like." "But remember, if you run, there's no shame in that. I did and I haven't really stopped. Honestly, you shouldn't even be exposed to it so young but unfortunately, it's part of growing up for us." "We'll be here for you, whatever happens." "Exactly." Tommy looks between his father and brother. He nods with more confidence than he's had all day. "Alright." When he feels a significant breeze in his living room, he knows something isn't right. His hypothesis gets proven when he sees a fireplace by one of the walls. An opening appears from the fireplace he knows he shouldn't have which reveals Wilbur and a boy with bright orange hair. "Surprise! Sorry to show up uninvited but you're a very difficult man to get ahold of. Don't worry, Tommy was the one who gave me the co-ordinates." "H-Hiya, mate. It's been a while." "Yeah... about that. This is Fundy." Once sat at a table with tea for the adults and biscuits for the kid, Wilbur launches into the story of what he had been up to since leaving home. Including, it would seem, discovering a planet where a branch of humanity's descendants had evolved camouflage abilities, meeting a half-Ichthyoan woman there and staying for her. When Fundy returns to his father's TARDIS, subsequently leaving the range of being in their earshot, the older of the Time Lords puts forward the question that had been bothering him. "Are you going to stay there indefinitely?" Wilbur chuckles. "No. You think I could do that to myself? Nah, I'm there for Sally and Fundy but once he's grown up, I think I'll leave. For now, I've been doing the same sort of thing you did. They barely notice I'm gone most of the time." "I don't think what you're doing is wise." "It'll be a while before I'm 100 and I don't plan to find myself in a situation where I'd risk regeneration any time soon. I have plenty of time to have my hearts broken. No need to rush into it with one of my first serious relationships." "If you're sure, Wilbur..." "I am. Don't worry." "You shouldn't do this." "The time for adventures is over." Wilbur says grimly. "For now, at least. I can't stand by and let our people lose this war, not if I can help in some way. Stay on the sidelines if you want, be there for Tommy. But I need to do this. I don't think I could forgive myself if I didn't do something." "Wil-" "We're meant to only observe, right? All of time and space and we're meant to let histories happen as they were supposed to, never interfering in the slightest. You can't make yourself do that. I can't either. We've made friends but we've also seen the natives of the places we visit get hurt or even die. Sometimes we had the power to prevent it but failed to do so somehow. Well, this is me trying to prevent needless deaths if that's possible. The Daleks can't win. We both know how devastating that would be to the universe. They just can't. It- it's already leaving the universe destroyed in its wake. So I'm not letting that happen, not if I have any say in it. You've made Earth your home and I'm glad you've found a place like that. But... Gallifrey is mine." His eldest son chuckles. "I can't find my Earth if Gallifrey burns right before the rest of the universe does." "I can't... I can't let you do this." "Tommy, Sally and Fundy. Look after them for me. Please. Yourself too, of course. I promise I'll be back in one piece before too long. Same face as well, hopefully." "That's not funny." Wilbur takes his hand, a grin forming. "Like I'd let a Dalek exterminate me. I swear I will be absolutely fine. You have nothing to worry about." He sighs. “Please stay safe.” “Of course.” When Wilbur heads out the door, he reiterates his promises. In a way, he does keep one of them. Wilbur does return in one piece. The only loophole was that it wasn't the way his son intended to do so. He isn't even recognisable to his own family.

Tommy activates the breaks while his father is in the middle of preparing for another trip. "You need to stop running." "Excuse me?" "Wilbur died and it seems like all you can do is jump in your TARDIS for another adventure. You refuse to talk about him, you don't let yourself stay anywhere for long or speak to people unless you absolutely have to, you- you barely even look at me either. Guess what, I miss him too. And trust me, I know I'm the worst with dealing with this sort of thing but at least I'm not acting like everything is fine. You told me it would be a trip or two to help make it easier. Bullshit. Let me go home." "What, so you can fight yourself? No, I don't think so. Over my dead body." "Yeah. Yeah, actually, you know what? I think I might. He was right. This is not the time to hop from planet to planet or from one time period to the next. I'm going home one way or another. Even if I have to sneak back to the TARDIS when your back's turned. It's not like I don't know the co-ordinates." "We are not going back to Gallifrey, it's too dangerous." "You don't have to step out that door when we land but I will." The two of them end up participating in a glaring contest. "One last trip." He offers. "Do you not understand the meaning of 'no'?" "Let me fit in one more then you can go. You can even pick our destination, if you want." With everything he has, he wishes Tommy had stood his ground and insisted on returning home. He wishes he himself hadn’t been so persistent in attempting to keep his remaining child close. At least that way, the young Time Lord wouldn't have been armed with only curses during an unexpected run in with Autons. ---- "It won't stay like that. He'll help you, we both will." "When they died, that part of me died with them. It'll never come back. Not now." "I'll tell you something, Doctor, something I've never told you before. I think you're wrong." The clone of himself with Enderian DNA sprints back into view. "They blasted through the beams. Time to run again? Love the running, yeah?" "Love the running." The pain of his conversation with Techno seemingly erased from his face, he lets adrenaline fuel this next part of the adventure.

[ryttu3k]

Part 2 of my season 12 reaction posts! Find part 1 (Resolution of the Daleks to Fugitive of the Judoon) here!

Praxeus

Thoughts on Doctor Who - Praxeus!

OKAY FIRST. THANK YOU, SHOW, FOR FIXING A BIG ISSUE I HAD WITH THE FIRST SEASON. So they were doing a thing where they’d introduce incidentally queer characters, have a female character mention her wife, stuff like that, only for them to die. This episode had Jake and Adam, married/separated/it’s complicated couple, who face huge amounts of danger, who both come close to dying, but who survive! And have a Big Damn Kiss! And walk off together holding hands! They survived!!

Plotwise, I enjoyed it a ton while watching, although in retrospect it did feel a bit free of danger. The companions were never in true peril because the Doctor can home in on them automatically, and we never got the true scale of the risk of infection, since the only people we saw get infected were in isolated areas. I would have liked to see, for instance, the threat of Praxeus spreading beyond just the very Hitchcockian birds; all of the peril was on an individual level.

Good message, if unsubtle. Mind you, that’s kind of Doctor Who’s thing, and it pisses off conservatives, so all for it, really XD (They must have loved the core relationship in this episode, too!) Like. Subtle doesn’t work. There are literally climate change deniers that exist. Sometimes you actually do have to tell a message with all the finesse of a sledgehammer because .

(Side note, I was deeply concerned when I saw the cowriter was the guy who did the hot mess that was Kerblam!, so at least this was just an unsubtle and kind of questionably written story instead of an actively harmful one.)

The companions: Ryan seems a fair bit more confident on his own? His initial scenes with Gabriela showed that he’s starting to work well even without backup, and picking up the bird proved to be a damn good call. Yaz and Graham were a fun pair, and Yaz got a lot to do when she and Gabriela (again!) got to explore, and I can definitely understand the conflict between curiosity/doing what’s right and safety when it came to the teleport scene. She does seem to be bordering on the reckless. Intriguing!

Minor plot snag - Graham knows how to set up an IV, presumably because of the shitload of time he spent in hospital! …And yet he doesn’t know what a pathogen is?

Friend note!

“fun fact about graham seemingly not knowing what a pathogen is! in my reading of the scene, i saw it as graham knowing what one was. with "Well, I’m glad you asked that…!” he seems like he’s actually sort of pleased with himself, like he’s about to launch into an explanation, and then IIRC there’s a very brief shot at Ryan giving him a Look and Graham immediately changes tone to “…cause I didn’t want to look stupid.” he immediately changes from boosting his own ego to bolstering ryans and im love"

In which case, good shit gooood shit.

SFX - the infection was creepy as shit. The very obviously puppet bird near the lab was hilariously bad.

Apparently the filming was tricky because it was super windy so all the shorts of Thirteen with her hair Like That weren’t planned, it just kind of happened. Love a fluffy ruffled Thirteen.

So anyway. People calling for more plot focus - literally this is the Doctor trying to distract herself and not focus on the plot! This is her avoidance tactic! Emotional honesty? Who’s she? She’ll get back to it eventually, but for now she needs a distraction after being punched in the emotions. Give her that for one episode, c'mon.

Ryan: “…I do a lot of running.”

Graham: “Whatever is giving off those weird readings… is on the other side of that wall!” Yaz: *silently turns scanner around* Graham, not skipping a beat: “…is on the other side of that door!”

Yaz: “I don’t want you to panic, but… we followed one of those things through a teleport and now I think we’re on an alien planet.” Thirteen: “…well, you don’t do things by halves!”

Thirteen: “That’s why you smell of dead bird! I thought you’d changed your shower gel.”

Thirteen: “I’m having half a thought. Ooh, this one tickles!”

Thirteen: “What can I say? I’m a romantic~”

In conclusion, Doctor Who said gay rights.

-

Can You Hear Me?

Thoughts on Doctor Who - Can You Hear Me?

Trigger warning for discussion of depression and suicide.

You know you're in for a wild ride when iView warns for horror themes instead of science fiction themes.

Overall: at first impression, it felt sort of mashed together? There's 14th century Aleppo, and there's 21st century Sheffield, and there's a deep space station, and there's creepy monsters and dream villains; I do kind of wonder why Zellin targeted a random girl in Aleppo as source for his pet monster, although targeting people like Ryan's best friend makes sense if he's deliberately trying to lure the Doctor to him.

The theme, on the other hand, of mental health resiliance and reaching out, was done incredibly well. Oh yeah there'll be more comments about it - the Guardian described it as 'adventures in Wokeness' - but damn, sometimes you need to hear it. I loved getting more of Yaz' backstory, about being a desperate teenage runaway at the point of being suicidal, and her reunion with the older woman legitimately made me tear up.

But like, goddamn. Her nightmare - she's still hearing that. She's still hearing her sister saying that she should "do it right this time" and that this time she won't call and that no one is coming and holy fuck. God this makes so many of Yaz' scenes incredibly painful in retrospect, knowing that she was at that point only three years before and that she's still dreaming that shit! It makes her recklessness terrifying!

Ryan's nightmare, and his experience with Tibo - it's quite reflective of the Doctor, too. She wasn't there, and Gallifrey burnt. And Ryan is realising this now, and really thinking about the potential future in Orphan 55. I think this is absolutely foreshadowing Ryan leaving at the end of the season (there's been a lot of speculation given Tosin's new TV role), and I think Ryan and Yaz' discussion at the end of the episode was a definite hint in the direction of Ryan choosing to going back to Earth.

Would have really liked Graham, during his talk with the Doctor, to gently remind her that she can talk about her own problems, although I can understand the narrative choice on why she didn't (although, yeah, would have been good for Graham to ask). Because, yeah, if anyone needs a sympathetic ear (...sans fingers) or a shoulder to lean on, it's her!! The entire theme of this episode was like... reaching out. Conquering your fears with the help of others. Sharing your fears to lessen them. Getting help. And the Doctor deliberately... not doing that makes it into an actual Thing that I think is going to seriously be addressed by the end of the season.

It's been such an ongoing theme. A bunch of episodes have started with an obviously depressed Doctor. The Fam has tried to raise the issue multiple times and have discussed it amongst themselves even more. Scenes like Yaz' reaction after being abducted in Spyfall (...which makes her, "I thought I was dead" part even more worrying) and being comforted by Ryan, not the Doctor... her whole reaction to Graham being like, "I'm glad you talked to me but I literally can't do the same in return" - if it's not addressed by the end of this season, it's at least going to have to be an ongoing theme, because it's becoming very deliberate now.

An interesting note: the actor who played Zellin (an immortal manipulator of nightmares) also voiced the Remnants (who were the first to mention the Timeless Child in The Ghost Monument). Coincidence or deliberate?

Assorted thoughts:

"I'm still quite socially awkward." There's socially awkward and there's emotionally repressed... (I saw a description of it on Tumblr as 'weaponised dissociation' and... yeah. And also yikes.) Also the way she was so closed in on herself, basically hugging her arms to her body! On a semi-related note, talking to herself in Aleppo was a bit depressing. Like it's continuing the theme of The Doctor Does Not Like Being Alone.

The finger thing - ew ew ew ew it's in their EARS ewww D:

Stylistic comment: the traditionally-styled animation for the Immortals' game was gorgeous.

"Try not freak out, yeah, but you're on a floating space platform trapped in a gravitational pull between two colliding planets."

"Thanks for lending a helping hand!" Companions just being, "...Doctor p l s."

On an old lore note, loved the callback to Eternals, Guardians, and the Toymaker! On a concerning note, man, the Doctor has so many issues with immortals. They abandoned Jack, there was the punishment they gave the Family of Blood, they had those Issues with Ashildr (from what I've read), now this, an eternal punishment with no chance of redemption, perhaps because she knows what immortality does? Parallels with the Doctor as quasi-immortal too, which Zellin even pointed out.

"You're wrong about humans. They're not pathetic. They're magnificent. They live with their fears, doubts, guilt. They face them down everyday and they prevail. That's not weakness. That's strength. That's what humanity is."

(Contrast: "That's what humanity is." The Doctor isn't human. She's not prevailing against her fears, doubts, and guilt.)

In conclusion, literally everyone but the creepy immortals needs a hug.

-

The Haunting of Villa Diodati

Thoughts on Doctor Who - The Haunting Of Villa Diodati!

tfw you think you're just going to get a nice spoopy historical and instead get major plot?

Overall impression: Well, Jack is going to be pretty miffed, given that the Doctor had to do precisely what he didn't want to happen - giving the Lone Cyberman what it wanted. To save Shelley, and also to save the future, although that does bring up the question on if the death of one person can rewrite the future, why doesn't that apply to literally everyone? Fletcher the valet and Elise the nurse died too, do their deaths have the same impact? Either way, the Doctor takes the Cyberium for herself - then realises that the Cybermen are inevitable, and returns it. And now she's trying to go and stop them. So... a bit conflicting in the message there, I think.

Yeah. Bit of a Trolley Problem there.

The characters were really fun. I did enjoy seeing Mary's sense of morbidness, but also her kindness and sympathy towards the Cyberman; you can see the foundations of Frankenstein there. I'm seeing some criticism of how Byron was portrayed as a coward, but eh. Nice little callback to Ada. Also I love how one of the rules was 'no one snog Byron'. Put that dirty boy back, you don't know where he's been! Glad Claire realised that too, although historically, she was already pregnant with his daughter at that point (and that didn't go well at all)... Either way. Good display of all these bright young reckless things.

(And yes, they were young. Byron was the eldest at 28. Shelley was 23, Polidori was 20, Mary and Claire were just 18. And while Claire lived to 80 and Mary to her 50s, the three men all died young, too - Byron at 36, Shelley at 29 - yes, from drowning, Polidori at just 25. Also wasn't mentioned that Polidori also created something on that Dark And Stormy Night along with Mary's Frankenstein - he wrote The Vampyre, the first modern vampire story!)

The Lone Cyberman (and I am deliberately using that instead of 'Ashad') - creepy as shit. Not just the whole Frankenstein look, but the way he acted! Not emotionless and blank, but actively manipulative and sadistic! Mary showed empathy and he actively threw it back in her face! I mean, yikes.

House was terrific and also spooky as hell. (Am lowkey miffed that no one went "VIBE CHECK!") The jumbled layout was quite Castrovalva, and I actually really dig that Graham got to see some actual ghosts. Ghostly sandwiches!

I think we got actual confirmation here that Yaz does have feelings for the Doctor? (Bleeding Cool News is pretty sure that it was for Ryan, but... lmao no.) BBCA twitter certainly thinks so!

Claire: "His answers only increase the enigma." Yaz: "I know someone like that." Claire: "This enigmatic person of yours... would you trade them for reliable and dull?" Yaz: "My person's a bit different..."

I MEAN.

(It got deleted. So. There is that.)

Thirteen: "Hmm. Fourteenth... no. Fifteenth century... touch more umami." (Doctor, have you been playing Detroit: Become Human again?)

Mary: "I don't think they're really from the colonies!" Byron: "No, she... is from somewhere much, much stranger." Polidori: "The North."

Thirteen: "YOU HAD ONE JOB."

Cyberman: "You appear courageous. But your vital signs betray a heightened state of anxiety." Thirteen: "Or as I like to call it... Tuesday."

Thirteen: "Yeah, 'cause sometimes this team structure isn't flat. It's mountainous, with me at the summit, in the stratosphere, alone. Left to choose. Save the poet, save the universe. Watch people burn now, or tomorrow. Sometimes even I can't win."

Claire: "You pursued Mrs Doctor without a care for my presence, belittled my thoughts and opinions... and then proceeded to use my person as a human shield." Byron: "...And?" Claire: "And the spell is broken... my lord." Polidori's face: "haha you fucked up dude"

Next week: Shit Hits The Fan.

-

Ascension of the Cybermen

In lieu of a proper post for Ascension of the Cybermen, here are a list of questions we need an answer for.

Will Graham and Yaz survive, on a giant carrier full of Cybermen?

Who is Brendan, and what is his relevance to the story?

What is the Boundary?

How is Gallifrey in the Boundary?

How was the Master in Gallifrey, and not trapped by the Kasaavin?

Who is Ko Sharmus and why am I getting Yana vibes?

Who is Ashad and what is his story? (And why is his theme such a literal banger?)

Is he an actual Cyberman? Because I'm totally getting this impression he's human in armour?

How did Brendan survive being shot, and why did his non-ageing father and mentor do that?

Why did it look like a chameleon arch?

Is Ethan's tech-savvy just warzone familiarity or something more sinister?

Are there any other large human populations left?

Was I detecting a hint of romantic tension between Graham and Ravio?

What's up with Yaz?

Why did the Cyberium get sent to that time period?

Who or what is this alliance Jack is a part of?

How do the Time Lords and the lie of the Timeless Child come into it?

WHO THE FUCK IS BRENDAN?

-

The Timeless Children

WELL THEN.

While I gather proper thoughts on The Timeless Children, here are the questions I had from Ascension of the Cybermen, now with answers!

Will Graham and Yaz survive, on a giant carrier full of Cybermen?

Yup! Disguises for the win!

Who is Brendan, and what is his relevance to the story?

Brendan is a filtered overlay memory of one of the Doctor's former lives.

What is the Boundary?

An anomaly, as far as I can tell.

How is Gallifrey in the Boundary?

No idea!

How was the Master in Gallifrey, and not trapped by the Kasaavin?

No idea!

Who is Ko Sharmus and why am I getting Yana vibes?

A big damn hero.

Who is Ashad and what is his story? (And why is his theme such a literal banger?)

We're still not actually sure. Either way, he's an action figure now.

Is he an actual Cyberman? Because I'm totally getting this impression he's human in armour?

Yeah, sort of.

How did Brendan survive being shot, and why did his non-ageing father and mentor do that?

Because Time Lords.

Why did it look like a chameleon arch?

It's probably related technology! If the chameleon arch rewrites memories, this one just wipes them.

Is Ethan's tech-savvy just warzone familiarity or something more sinister?

Just warzone familiarity. Poor li'l bean.

Are there any other large human populations left?

Possibly! If the Boundary really did send them to random places, there still could be surviving pockets elsewhere in the universe.

Was I detecting a hint of romantic tension between Graham and Ravio?

Maybe a bit XD And now they're all on Earth, who knows?

What's up with Yaz?

Who knows?

Why did the Cyberium get sent to that time period?

Ko Sharmus sent it. Didn't send it far enough.

Who or what is this alliance Jack is a part of?

Same organisation Ko Sharmus is part of. Also, young!Ko Sharmus/Jack please.

How do the Time Lords and the lie of the Timeless Child come into it?

In so many ways.

WHO THE FUCK IS BRENDAN?

The Doctor!

More thoughts later!

-

Thoughts on Doctor Who - The Timeless Children.

...Actually, first thought is the title. Timeless Children? Hmm.

Anyway. That is... sure a literally mind-blowing revelation for the Doctor, yes! Like, damn, the discovery that you're not even the species you thought you were, that your adoptive parent spent lifetimes abusing and experimenting on you, that your memories were routinely erased by people you thought you could trust (including your adoptive parent), that you're literally the progenitor for your entire species, that you've lost who knows how much time and who knows how many memories... yeah. Damn.

What's an appropriate birthday present for someone turning ten million?

Also, huh. Amidst all the old lore and casual mentions (like Borusa!) that got mentioned - were they taking hints from the Cartmel master plan? About the Doctor being some kind of founding figure for Gallifrey? Not exactly written as Cartmel had it, but that big main concept of the Doctor as a sort of... foundation piece of Time Lord culture was still actually there.

Brain of Morbius Doctors confirmed, I guess. I guess even Four was going, "...the fuck?"

Cybermen = still scary. Regenerating Cybermen = felt somehow obscene. Like, no, that's just fundamentally not right. Like the TARDIS responding to Jack by noping the fuck out kind of not right. God. And the Master was completely and utterly magnificently batshit, like, more than usual, come on, dude, you know they'd kill or convert you the second you turned your back.

Still. Deeply, deeply entertaining to watch just from a villain perspective, completely Chaotic, and like... I do understand where he was coming from? His entire life is a lie. His entire life is because of the Doctor, who, I think it's fair to say, he has Complicated Feelings regarding. (Their entire interaction this episode was a giant power play. Like damn guys just get into BDSM and leave the would-be genocide and universal takeover.)

Tecteun = Rassilon, I'm assuming. Goddamn. Like they were a pompous abusive asshole from the outset, this just kind of makes it worse. I also wonder if Rassilon chose the Master specifically to get the drums because he was friends with the Doctor? That actually may have been something the Master worked out himself, too. I mean, I'd be pissed off as well :-\

Also, how many people know about this? I assume Gat knew, since she was implied to be responsible for the mind wipes, but was it like... a super tightly-held secret or was it something a lot of higher-ups knew? Because that's fucked up tbh

Thought on the Master. Okay, he's hugely furious that he's been lied to, that the entire origin of his people is based on a lie, that his greatest friendrivalloveenemy is incredibly special and that a part of her is in him and not in the fun way, but like... I'm also wondering if he's looking at the Time Lords, the way they turned him into their puppet, how they drove him insane for their own purposes, then looked at the Doctor - someone who has also been used, abused, experimented on, manipulated, controlled, and went, "No. This is an injustice and the Time Lords need to be punished for it."

Oh, saw a nice theory regarding the TARDISes - Ruth!Doctor had the original busted police box TARDIS. When she was eventually taken in to be mind-erased, they sent the TARDIS off to storage to be eventually repaired. The Doctor manages to steal that one, goes to Earth, and it immediately gets stuck again because it's still broken. Explains how Ruth!Doctor can have the police box while also being pre-everything.

I really want the Doctor and Jack to sit down and have a nice chat about being timeless undying constants of the universe. Also for Jack to get one of the spare TARDISes around. Be kinda funny if he got the Master's old one, given the Year That Never Was, but it really is just sitting there. (Poor TARDIS stuck as a tree on a random wartorn planet in the far future, though!)

Also, Jodie was fucking magnificent in this episode. The hurt, the absolute fury, the almost glee when she's telling the Master he can't break her, her refusal to press the button at the end (so much like Nine's "coward or killer?" moment!)... just... so good.

Beautiful post I saw here on Tumblr - the Doctor as the Timeless Child, making the choice to help.

Amazing post here on Tumblr about abuse and repressed memories. Even if the Doctor doesn't remember it all, the abuse they underwent at the hands of a beloved parent figure still informs a hell of a lot of their behaviour, but it doesn't define them. The Doctor's need to run = informed by abuse. The Doctor's desire to help crying children = informed by abuse. The Doctor being an inherently good person = being their own person, no matter what their upbringing, no matter what their past was. They made the choice to be the Doctor, and that's a hell of an important thing.

Extremely painful post I saw on Tumblr about the Doctor being 'hip with the kids' by calling her companions her Fam but hell if they're not more family to her than her actual adoptive mother ow my heart.

Also, the scene between Yaz and Graham was so sweet <3 I do want to see Yaz, at some point, admit that sometimes she's so terrified she can barely move, and to tell him what she came so close to doing when she was sixteen, and Graham to just go, "Yeah, but you keep going." Also I'm trying not to think about how Yaz would respond to the Doctor going off on a suicide mission when Yaz was suicidal just three years earlier because ow my heart. She knows that Ko Sharmus went after her, she knows the Doctor might be alive, but either way, she's just seen someone she loves leave with the intention of dying (and Ko Sharmus too, actually). Someone please give her a hug. Actually please just let the Fam have a big group hug in general.

"Have you ever been limited by who you were before?" "Huh. Now that does sound like me talking."

So, remaining questions to be answered next season!

What actually is the Doctor? Since they were found near the Boundary, they could be from anywhere. It's fair to say they now are recognised genetically as a Time Lord, but what were they originally, why were they abandoned in the first place, and are there any more of their original people out there?

How do the Remnants know about the Timeless Child, or were they just picking up on that unconscious knowledge from the Doctor's own mind?

Like... we're generally under agreement that the Master, the eternal cockroach, survived, right? Despite definitely being lowkey suicidal like oh, was hoping the Death Particle would kill me? Like the Death Particle was made by the Cyberium, it could have gone, "Nah, keeping this one."

What's going on with the Kasaavin? Remember them? Still out there, stationed all through time and space? And are we going to see Daniel Barton again?

Is something going on with Yaz?

Will the Fam stay on? (I personally think Ryan will elect to stay on Earth to account for Tosin Cole's new TV role, and if Graham and Ravio enter a relationship, he might too.)

When will we see Jack again? If he was connected to the Lone Cyberman arc, that seems... pretty conclusively finished, unless we're going to learn more about it?

Is it Christmas yet?

............so the Christmas/NY special is going to start with Jack using his vortex manipulator to bust the Doctor out of prison and get back to the Fam and it'll never be mentioned again, right.

"At least buy me diNNER!!"

[cherryao3nova]

@goddxss-of-time is getting some dark-ish 11 (post ponds)

For the Doctor, it wasn’t everyday that he managed to save people who were important to him. So when the young Clara fell from the cloud, his morality that he had been gripping onto with both hands, finally shattered.

He went back to New York, forced his beloved TARDIS to get the ponds... and he succeeded. He never showed them that something was wrong, no he just dropped them off and told them to live a good life.

That stirred something within him. Something dark and deep. It told him, that he could do anything he wanted, fuck the timelines, fuck morality and fuck the universe.

And what he wanted. Was Rose Tyler Back. He wanted his pink and yellow human and he was going to get her.

So marching into the library, he looked up all the ways to safely cross the void and when that grew boring, he went back in time to get a device for his TARDIS from Gallifrey itself... well not really, It was sold on the black market of course. Can’t have anyone coming to try and arrest him. And he didn’t want to mess with the TimeLords either, they were dead and out the way.

So device installed, the Doctor crosses over the void, happily set up some stuff and gleefully got recruited into Torchwood of that world.

“Ah! Hello! Hello! Johnathan Jones! Or JJ as some call me! You must be the the bosses lovely daughter Miss Rose Tyler! Lovely to meet you! Ooo, I’m rather excited to be here, been building lots of stuff in my short life, but ET tec... makes me feel like I’m buzzing with energetic energies.” He grins holding his hand out to the beautiful woman, completely ignoring the stupid face of his past self not too far away from them.

[memoirsverse]

Verse: Doctor Who

Character name: Evelyn Alvar.

Birth date: November 3, 1984.

Physical characteristics:

5'4, curvy, with wavy brunette hair that she usually keeps cut to shoulder length or shorter, and brown eyes.  She lives in the small town of Wisteria, Louisiana, about an hour’s drive from New Orleans.

When she Travels, she is a similar height, build, and facial structure, but her hair is very long and thick, silver threaded with gold strands; her eyelashes and eyebrows are the same color. Her eyes are an intense violet. She doesn’t know why she looks this way when she Travels, but she’s learned to just go with it.

Face Claim: Emilia Clarke.  

Traveling

Since she was twelve years old, Evelyn has had the ability to separate her essence from her body, taking physical form, and move anywhere in the universe. She has no idea how she does it, just that she does. Her travels are sometimes just as physical and real to her as her everyday life, but more often, she is in a dream-like state when they happen even though she is physically present. They also leave her primary body drained quite often; she’s learned various ways to recharge so she can function, though if she overdoes it she can become very tired and susceptible to physical illness. Also, if she gets hurt while Traveling, it reflects in her primary body.  Her Traveling form has some limited ability to “teleport” from place to place, though if she does it too much it drains her.  She has some limited telepathic ability in both her Traveling and human forms, and often parses that connection in terms of a person’s “song.”

Her travels tend to drain her so much that they generally only last anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour.  The further out she goes, the more it drains her.  But, to some extent, they are spontaneous and uncontrolled by her.

Evelyn is aware on a private, personal level that she is probably not human, at least not fully, though she identifies as human. She just doesn’t know what she is or why she can do the things she can do. As far as she’s aware, her parents were both human. (She recently discovered the name of her real father, Soren, who is one of the last of a species known as the Aetheryn.)

Evelyn’s life

Evelyn  is a writer and an illustrator, and has a series of illustrated novellas that are basically about her own travels, with names and details changed somewhat and billed as fantasy fiction. The stories were written for a Young Adult audience, but have something of a cult following, though she’s not overly well known.

The Curiosity Shop

Evelyn currently co-manages a curiosity and antique shop called “Alice’s Wonderland” with her friend Alice Deva. She sells a variety of merchandise at the shop, much of it quirky, strange, or eccentric.  She also sells more conventional antiques.  

Alice, however, is not entirely what she seems, nor is she an especially healthy friend for Evelyn to have, a point which will be woven into any threads that she is a part of.

Dreams

Evelyn has recurring dreams about a place with burnt-orange skies, silver trees, and red grass.  She doesn’t think it’s a real place, really, because she’s never actually seen this world in her travels.  She figures it’s just a dream.  Still, though, she’s written it into her books, a vague reference, because it stands out to her for some reason.

She also has nightmares of blood and fire and battle, the taste of ashes in her mouth and the pain of dying, and of being pulled from the broken shell of her body and drawn into a dark space that is too small to contain her.  She doesn’t understand them.

Personality

Evelyn is very creative, and has a tendency to be very aware of things like color and form. She also has a mild form of synesthesia, manifested within her mostly by seeing colors within sound and music, which occasionally also layers additionally into tasting sound, though the latter isn’t as pronounced or frequent.  She is a highly emotional being, but has learned to hide her emotions for the most part. She has never really felt a part of anything, never really finding a social niche in the world, though she does have friends and family. She’s quite introverted, and has difficulty getting close to people, partly because her life is so unusual, and partly because she has had bad experiences. However, she does love meeting new people– just tends to be a little nervous and babbles a bit when first introducing herself, though.  She can very direct and straightforward when she talks, which sometimes translates to seeming socially awkward, blunt, or even rude. When it comes to her crossworlding experiences, though, she tends to be a bit reticent, mostly because she’s had bad experiences in the past when she talked about it openly. She is also fiercely independent and keeps herself a little bit distant, because she’s always had to look after herself for the most part, having had somewhat neglectful parents and many friendships strained by either too much honesty (when she told people about her Traveling), or too little (hiding that aspect of her life completely).

Evelyn has little patience with people who lie and manipulate, even if such lies and manipulations are done with good intentions. She is slow to trust and can be very unforgiving if that trust is violated, carrying a grudge for years.  She has a tendency to speak her mind whether it is appropriate or not, once she feels more comfortable around somebody. She dislikes crowds, but can tolerate them.She is not particularly outspoken around strangers, but if she feels strongly about something, or loses her temper, she will speak her mind, and her characteristic bluntness will come out.  She does have a bit of a fiery temper, which tends to be set off most easily when she feels somebody is trying to control her. She has certain intellectual strengths and weaknesses– for instance, she sometimes has difficulty in thinking on her feet, or debating, or anything that requires a quick response, but she’s very good at constructing logical explanations for things at her own pace, carefully examining every angle of a situation. She is very observant and is sensitive to the emotions of others, somewhat psychically empathic as well as mildly telepathic. Though Evelyn may appear rather genteel and sophisticated at first glance, she has an almost feral nature at her core, a wild creature who has taken on a civilized veneer.

It’s important to note that Evelyn and Siobhan are the same person. Siobhan is not an alter ego– she just has a slightly different appearance. She will act like the same person, with the same strengths and weaknesses. She just uses an alias when Traveling so she won’t be recognized.  However, her facial structure is the same, so a very observant person might be able to recognize Evie if they’ve seen Siobhan.

Sexuality

Evelyn is pansexual and demisexual.  For more details, read here and here.  She is also, theoretically speaking, polyamorous (again, this is explained in more detail in the above links).    

The Travelers, or the Chronoforms

There is (or was, maybe) a race of non-corporeal beings who were able to see and move through all of time and space, all possibility and potentiality. Little is or was known of them, but when the Time Lords began harnessing the power of time and space far back at the beginning, somewhere along the way they acquired knowledge of these beings and thought to exploit them as power sources. Their very first experiments sought to draw them into physical bodies, but the bodies were unable to withstand the beings inside, and practically fell apart. So they began to genetically engineer bodies, splicing together genetic code from a number of “higher” species, through trial and error, also programming blocks and channels that would be utilized for control, and eventually managed to create a being who could physically move through time and space at will.

The first successful experiment was named Galatea, after an Earth myth about a sculpture brought to life.

As remembered in writing by Evelyn Alvar:

The process of integrating the essence of the being in question is an unpredictable one. Mutations can occur, anything from physical abnormalities to certain forms of dementia or madness. The psychological infrastructure can be compromised by the trauma of the coalescence, resulting in undesirable displays of willfulness and independence that have been not only counterproductive to our intent, but in some cases have been manifested as outright adversarial. Furthermore, the knowledge we have gained has allowed us to develop another project which utilizes the bio-engineering of machinery to achieve our goals without the struggle of maintaining control over willful Crossworlders. Therefore, we feel it is in the best interest of Gallifrey and her people that this project, and all prototypes created within its parameters, be terminated with impunity.

All of the prototypes were destroyed, except for Galatea. It is not yet clear how she survived the purge, but it is thought she had help. Little else is known of her life.

Evelyn Alvar’s Traveling form, Siobhan, is identical to Galatea, except for the fact that she has very little memory and no knowledge of Galatea’s life.  The details of how she came to be (part) human and living a life as Evelyn Alvar– and why– are unknown.

Becoming Evelyn

Near the end of the Last Great Time War, the Time Lords extracted Galatea’s essence from her dying physical form and integrated her into a half-human, half-Aetheryn embryo carried by Evelyn Alvar’s mother, Isabelle.  This was accomplished with the help of Soren Masterson, the leader of the remnant of Aetheryn refugees that took shelter on Earth after their planet was laid waste during the War.  Soren is also Evelyn’s biological father, and facilitated the genetic manipulation and modification of Isabelle so that the cross-species pregnancy could be viable.  Isabelle was kept in the dark during the whole ordeal, as she was continuously administered a drug similar to Torchwood’s Retcon to purge her memory; she remembers an affair with Soren which resulted in her pregnancy with Evelyn but nothing more.  She was also made infertile from the process, an unintended side effect that caused Isabelle to deeply resent Evelyn even though she didn’t understand the full story.  A half-human, genetically manipulated form was chosen for Galatea because it was thought she would be easier to control that way, and easier to dispose of when she had served her purpose.

Galatea’s memories were suppressed, and a trans-dimensional bilateral mirror framework set in place to contain a portion of her essence in a half-phased state, since the form of Evelyn Alvar, though it had been genetically engineered specifically to hold Galatea, would break down if it held her full essence.  They never intended her to Travel like she does, except when fulfilling their purpose for her, which was intended to burn her out so she would no longer be an issue for them as she had so often been as Galatea.  However, their precautions were not perfect, and some subconscious part of her broke through when she was a child and started bilocating.  As a result, her body is slowly breaking down over time, a situation which is exacerbated every time she Travels.  Her primay form is quite frail for this reason, though her Traveling form is still very strong.  Her journeys tend to be rather brief, even though they are a natural reflex, because some instinctive and automatic part of herself is trying to preserve her strength.  

[blueyesandleatherjacket]

Regenerate Nine Month: This is Halloween

Volume: 1.

Number of parts: 22/?.

Pairings: Ninth Doctor/Rose Tyler.

Synopsis: "Rose knew how much the big bad Time Lord hated feeling ridiculous. He was always so serious about everything. Even his outfits were serious. Black jeans and black leather jacket with dark jumpers and boots. She loved that outfit on him, but she sometimes wished he wasn't so serious about everything."

A/N: Ninth month of the year means month of the Ninth Doctor and so I've decided to repost all the one-shots I've written about the him, whether they are DW verse or not to celebrate this fantastic Doctor.

“A hero is somebody who is selfless, who is generous in spirit, who just tries to give back as much as possible and help people. A hero to me is someone who saves people and who really cares.” - Debi Mazar.

THIS IS HALLOWEEN:

“This is ridiculous!”

  The Doctor’s voice showed how annoyed he felt about the whole situation. It made Rose smile. She was sitting on their bed and waiting for the Doctor to come out of the bathroom where he had locked himself. He had insisted on her staying outside and not coming in until he was done. But he was very clear on the fact he wasn’t happy at all about that.

  “Remember who you’re doing it for, Doctor.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that I feel ridiculous.”

  Rose knew how much the big bad Time Lord hated feeling ridiculous. He was always so serious about everything. Even his outfits were serious. Black jeans and black leather jacket with dark jumpers and boots. She loved that outfit on him, but she sometimes wished he wasn’t so serious about everything. He had gone all cliché when they had started dating not long enough after she saved his life on Satellite 5 and became the Bad Wolf, a Goddess of Time, a true legend now. An event that had turned Rose into an immortal and powerful person without disturbing the flux of Time like the change of Jack Harkness. He had even gone to Jackie to ask her to give her consent for him to marry Rose.

The Doctor had changed a lot over the years he had spent with Rose. But there were still things he refused to do. Domestics, he could handle now. The visits to Jackie too. But that? It was absolutely stupid and useless.

  “I don’t understand why your mother insisted on celebrating Halloween. I’ve seen enough monsters in my life to find totally stupid to have a day dedicated to them. Do I have a day for me when I save those humans from the monsters?”

  The question was a rhetorical one. If the Doctor did have a day for himself, he wouldn’t even want to be a part of it. He didn’t care about thanks and all of that. He was doing all the saving to amend himself from the terrible things he had done in his life. He didn’t need any reward for that. The monsters shouldn’t have that day for themselves, that was his opinion.

  “I’ve always loved celebrating Halloween with my mom. It was one of the rare moments when we could have some fun with homemade costumes. She was working so hard for me to be happy after my dad died.”

“I know.”

“It’s sort of a tradition. We were still doing it with Mickey before…”

“Before I came into your lives, yeah, yeah. I know the song.”

“And now she wants our son to be a part of that tradition. Isn’t that a bad thing? She feels left out since we’ve become the perfect intergalactic couple.”

  The Doctor mumbled something about him not being perfect at all and Rose smiled even more. He didn’t need to be perfect for her. He didn’t need to be the Prince Charming of all the Disney movies. Just him was enough for her and for their son. Elliot was thinking of him as a superhero. It was enough for every father. But not for the Doctor. Because he wasn’t any hero. Not in his own eyes.

  “What is he gonna dress up like anyway?”

“I don’t know. Mom said she was gonna take care of it.”

“Forgive me if I don’t think that’s a good idea to let our son with your mother.”

  Rose pouted. It never had been big love between her husband and her mother, and they were still arguing over the small things. But she was a good grandmother; and not even the Doctor could say otherwise. Elliot loved his grandma, and the Doctor was making efforts at least.

  “Instead of mumbling, what about you coming out of there so I can see if your costume fits you well?”

“No.”

“Doctor…”

“I don’t understand why my costume of the emperor Malekith of Asgard wasn’t good enough for you.”

“It was too scary.”

“Isn’t that the principle of Halloween?”

“Maybe. But it’s our son’s first Halloween. I want him to have all the fun he can have. Wouldn’t be fun to be afraid of daddy, right?”

“Yeah. But still, a cursed Lord turning into the greatest evil after he lost everything to the hands of a monster was perfect for this day.”

  The Doctor stopped for a while. It could have been him. He could have been Malekith the Accursed. He had lost everything to the rage of the Daleks, lost everything to his own hands. But Rose had saved him from a terrible fate. Her brightness and love brought him back on the right path, fixed him and gave him a new everything: a wife and a son he loved and cherished more than anything. He owed her everything he had today.

  “Doctor?”

  He sighed and finally decided to come out of the bathroom with the new costume Rose had especially picked for him. She had even made some arrangements for it to be sort of linked to his Time Lords origins. Despite him telling her that there was no such a thing on Gallifrey.

  “You don’t laugh, promise?”

“Promise.”

  The Doctor came out of the bathroom slowly, uncertain of how he looked. Rose had decided to play it soft and had chosen the uniform of a fireman. So he was wearing large fireproof and sort of yellow and red pants with a white polo shirt. The logo of some fire squad was in the middle of the shirt and Rose had replaced the name of the town with Gallifrey to fit him better. He had pulled on the red suspenders but the pants were still loose and it bothered him. It was very far from what he was used to wear, and he didn’t feel very comfortable in that outfit.

  “Are you sure about this, Rose?”

  When she saw him, Rose couldn’t help but burst out. He was trying to keep the pants in place by gripping the back of them and he had half spread his other arm to let her see the result of her choice. The Doctor frowned, really tempted to go back inside the bathroom and lock himself back in.

  “You promised not to laugh!” he exclaimed, offended.

“Sorry,” apologised Rose, a big smile still on her face, “but you look so uncomfortable.”

“I feel ridiculous.”

“I think you look fantastic.”

  Hearing her pronounce his catchphrase almost made him stop sulking, but when she got up and adjusted his costume, making sure her hands wandered on the very sensitive parts of his body, he couldn’t keep a straight face. Rose tiptoed to reach his ear and lightly nibbled his lobe.

  “If you behave, I might let you extinguish a very particular fire,” she murmured.

“Oh, is that the fire you’ve just lighted in me?”

  Rose just smiled at him and gave him her tongue-poking out smile. Her signature, but also the smile he loved the most about her. His lips caught hers in a soft kiss and his hands were already trying to get under her shirt; but she gently pushed him away.

  “Not yet, Doctor. First, you keep that costume on for the evening. Then, you get naughty.”

  The Doctor protested but knew it would be worth it in the end. Rose changed herself in the bathroom. She had chosen a police officer costume to match their beloved blue box, a costume that was fitting her so well the fire he was supposed to extinguish later was now burning in his veins. It would be hard to hold it back, but he had to.

  Jackie was the second one to laugh at him when she found out about his costume. To which he had retorted that she had very well chosen hers since she was such a witch. It could have gone into an argument if Elliot hadn’t run to them in his very own costume. Both Rose and the Doctor were surprised. They really hadn’t expected it. The little boy was wearing jeans and boots along with a dark jumper and a small leather jacket. He even had a sonic screwdriver replica in hand.

  “He happens to have his daddy as his favourite superhero. Would have been too bad not to make his parents proud.”

  Indeed, the Doctor couldn’t be prouder of his son right now. He looked fantastic in his everyday outfit. He had to admit that Jackie had done a good job on that one, and that’s why he didn’t argue on anything she might say to him later. Actually, he did have as much fun as his son to honour the Tyler’s tradition of going to the neighbours and knocking on the doors to have treats or play tricks -which the Doctor was very good at to be honest.

Later that night, when Elliot was deeply asleep in bed after he got more candies than he could eat, the Doctor and Rose met in their room, and the Time Lord finally got the treat he had been running after all evening: extinguish the fire burning in him and Rose until it went out. He might get used to celebrate Halloween in the Tyler’s way in the end…

Chronicles of a better man © | 2016 - 2018 | Tous droits réservés.

×××

In the next shot:

His hearts stopped when he realised what was going on in his home. The day had been a long and terribly draining one. Both for him and Rose. Him from facing his worst enemy and having to watch that Dalek threaten his Rose. And Rose from having to be threatened by the deadly alien and facing the Doctor’s darkest side. He felt guilty for that. For her seeing the beast in him. For her seeing him so consumed by his rage and hate and destroying need to kill the thing responsible for his pain and loss, for his solitude. He had lost his control and almost gave in to the violence of another murder. If Rose hadn’t stopped him, what would he have done after that? How would he have handled another murder, even if it was the murder of an enemy? The tight hug he had given Rose after that had let her seen how vulnerable he was. But no word had been spoken.

×××

Buy me a coffee?

[tillthenexttimedoctor]

Danny Pink and a Romance of Mayflies

On that fateful day in the trap street, Clara Oswald died for who she was and who she loved, sad and beautiful alike. With what she thought were her final words, she wrote her own legacy. And that of another story, Danny Pink’s. “If Danny Pink can do it, so can I.”

It is an afterword about love and bravery, about the threads which connect them till this day. To die like they mean it – Danny to return a boy to his parents, Clara to return a father to his little girl. And maybe it is an afterword about the mortality of mayflies they both share, as she spreads her arms and the Raven reduces her to smoke.

  Danny saw the world through wise eyes, with a perspective which is clearer and more rooted in simple humanity than Clara ever could match. It is not that he never dreamed of more, aspired to see himself the protagonist of the story, it is that he did. The tale of Dan the Soldier Man, who can keep the whole world safe. And so Rupert Pink, the boy who lived in an orphanage, grew up on to take on the name of Danny, joined the army, and killed a child. A dream turned nightmare. So much pain and so much misery, and it only made him kind.

But it did not make him run away. It made him stay, made him look deeper, and made him care with even greater strength. “I had a really bad day,” he summarises what happens and keeps his past close to his vest, breathing in the moment as it is happening. Children, playing soldiers in the school yard, reading on weekends. Maths classes, a shed tear, and an awkward invitation to a date. He floats in everyday life and cherishes the quiet miracle of it. This Danny Pink, after childhood and after war, does not do weird and yet falls for Clara Oswald anyways.

In the beautiful mess of Clara’s life, among all the things that she balances between, Danny Pink is love. Even if their romance is a flawed as anything connected to Clara Oswald has always been destined to be, in its foundations there is a sense of affection and support untainted by the addiction she shared with the Doctor, by the desire to be needed, or the allure of pure adrenaline. She falls in love with a man who talks to himself as his head hits the table in an empty class room, who has dates on a park bench and who never lets on just how deeply he is in need of salvation.

  Clara forces the separation of her two worlds with lies and omissions. She strives for greater and more, and better in the case of Danny Pink requires an amount of honesty and self-reflection she is just not willing to give yet. The illusion of it must do. After all, the Doctor is just part of a play and she made the calm and well-considered decision to stop travelling with him. And yet, her relationship with Danny Pink might be the purest thing Clara Oswald has. And Danny might just be as bad at this as she is, when he shows that he is not above coming up with his own excuses to enable her erratic behaviour or that his loneliness has left scars. What other way to love is there?

As she is slipping away from Earth, Danny becomes the offer of an anchor, in an ocean filled with the thrills of adventure. However alien her experiences are in comparison to his, he sees himself in them, recognises how she is spiralling into circumstances so very familiar to him. Her own warzone. In the end, Clara never quite takes him up on what he is offering to her, at least not until the day of that fateful phone call. She is attracted by the sense of responsibility he represents, by his commitment to his pupils over exploring the mystery of a magical forest. But the ordinary wonders of that life are not enough for her and not even Danny’s grounding presence can change this.

 Danny Pink might not be a companion in the traditional sense of the word. He barely set foot in the TARDIS once. And yet, in this era of Doctor Who, he fits the description better than most. “But you, you can see it,” the Doctor told Amy once. “The mayflies, they know more than we do,” he attempted to explain to Lady Me. Danny, who didn’t try too hard to survive and still did, who killed and regrets nothing more than that, knows better than anyone just how beautiful and precious life is because it is fleeting. He just does not need solar flares and alien worlds to show it to him.

And so he does not merely blow away like smoke. He might, the first time, an almost inconsequential death, boring, as Clara accuses it of being. But the second time, Danny lights himself on fire. Flames engulf the sky. He makes the promise of a soldier to keep the entire world safe and yet all of these final choices are built on everything he is. He dies for Clara, for his love for one person. And he stays behind the veil of death to give a chance at life to one single boy, to make right what was so horrifyingly broken in his small and yet vast world.

Clara travelled all the way to hell to reverse Danny’s fate and she cannot. But she can give him an ending he deserves and wants. An ending she can admire, full of courage and love. However, in the end, he is still stolen from her side, by his own goodness. She loses the man she loves, but also the person who called her out, asked her to reflect on her actions, pushed her to be better and see the world through different eyes. In series 8 Clara tried to make herself in the image of the Doctor’s heroism and at the end of it stood something he experienced all too often: the loss of her companion.

  Now there is nothing truly left to connect her to her life at Coal Hill School. She never gives up on that part of her, but it becomes background noise, a hobby rather than a day job. Fewer and fewer scenes are dedicated to it throughout series 9. Clara is let loose and she throws herself into adventure with unprecedented enthusiasm and single-mindedness. Underwater bases filled with ghosts or abandoned space stations are a nightmare to some and amusement parks to her, joyrides which can only be interrupted by the most serious turn of events.

Consulting at UNIT, rushing to confront one of the deadliest warrior races in the galaxy, laughing as she hangs upside down over London, that is the centre of her life now. There is nothing to balance, she is all in. Seeing wonders still inspires awe, but she is here to win, to save planets and rescue people. She is led by the lack of fear which Danny Pink recognised with trepidation. Cleverness, strategy and recklessness triumph over self-reflection and awareness of her own mortality. But if she has to die, she will die right. Like Danny would. Asking for bravery, facing the Raven head on.

 This is Clara’s journey and for all its sacrifice and love and dedication, for all she shared with and learned from Danny Pink, it is her own. And so she reaches the end of her path and she steals her days that never were, all the same. She travels with an immortal who has seen people, worlds, memories turn to smoke over billions of years. Every adventure they will have will take place between Clara’s penultimate and last heartbeat. Life has never been more fleeting than in this second, never smaller and never more expansive. All of space and time, every story ever told on her long way around to Gallifrey.

She is the ultimate mayfly and she burns so bright, Me likens her death to that of a star. Her eternity is one of a single moment. And she proves Danny Pink right, like she always has done. One person is harder to understand, but more amazing than universes. Clara Oswald is a wonder.

This meta was published in 101 Claras to See​. The e-book is still available, full of beautiful metas, breathtaking pictures and wonderful fics centred on this amazing character. Get it while you can!

[nirah10]

Better late than never...

From Tiia,

Yes, thank you for the fix-it schism! I hated the show’s schism! I hate everything they show us about Gallifrey! Don’t say a place is the most civilized civilization in the Universe if you can’t pull it off damnit Moffat!

Now, chapter 39. Where do I even start with this one? I was way too emotionally invested to even write anything down while I read along.

I can see why you were so worried you’d screw this up (you didn’t!); two fan favourites in an uncharacteristic situation, a chapter that’s all dialogue and no action. In my honest opinion you nailed it. I actually prefer your dialogue to your action. There’s nothing wrong with the action scenes, but the dialogue is where you stand out, which is why I’m always gushing over your characterization.

So, on with the gushing…

This was a chapter that really showed us Harry’s intelligence. Harry’s thought process, the way he behaved, is what intelligent people do. They don’t go around pulling Sherlockian monologue about people’s shoelaces – they do things that are productive. They behave in a way that suits their goals. Even if it’s awkward and involves hugging and/or bleeding your heart out to a guy you can barely call a friend. The Doctor and The Master are both very capable of taking out an army, but only Harry is capable of owning up to his mistakes. That takes the kind of strength and wisdom few heroes have. And Harry was a hero in this chapter, with his wisdom and kindness, and still stayed true to his character by casually offering to murder a person.

Also, I love how you’re using Doug.

And Kel. Oh Kel. I love how you’ve introduced this character. It’s like we’ve been slowly peeling off the layers until were finally here and see him for what he is. He would’ve been a wholly different character if we’d been introduced to his ‘emotional wound’ too soon, without seeing the capable and independent Doctor Kel in action. The Bandit thing was heartbreaking, but also really clever. People often stuff their stories full of wonderfully imaginative alien physiologies and then forget to weave those physiological differences into the plot, which leaves the alien part of the character sort of…gimmicky. I applaud you for using Kel’s alien qualities for creating a new kind of relationship! I was honestly expecting a love story or something. And I fucking love Kel now, too (but I’m still getting weirdly territorial about Harry cutting his hair).

Tension was great, again. I was on the edge of my seat when Kel entered the scene, making weird frustated noises when they talked about gloves, and when Kel started to write I was so goddamn relieved that he remembered. And thank god Harry is perceptive as hell. The banter in the middle was great, you had me laughing. Also, I was lowkey worried the angel might pop in at any moment, again, great choice of a monster.

And can we talk about your dinosaur fossils 'cause what the hell? That is so cool! I always go a little crazy around really old stuff/ old places 'cause of the realization that history was as real as our everyday lives. I’ve been to some old ruins in Greece and Italy and bawled like a baby every time.

Sorry for typos it’s late over here ;D

Dear Tiia,

"The fix-it schism" XD I'm gonna call it that from now on.

I'm so, so, so pleased with how the last couple of chapters have been received as they were so freaking stressful to write. I was so convinced that people would hate them >_

And, don't worry, you were supposed to feel a little territorial over Harry cutting his hair ;)

I love my fossils ^_^ I wish I had more of them. Every once in a while I get a new one as a present to myself but they can be quite expensive :P I'l have to post any time I get a new one from now on.

Thanks for all your lovely comments. I always look forward to your messages ^_^