#the fact that the story i was most invested in--the Doctor and Rose--didn't get an ending i found satisfying was part of it

[katefathers]

dissecting companion exits: a doctor who rant in the year 2024

So it's been over a month since I did that Doctor Who podcast, which has miraculously got me back on my Doctor Who bullshit, and after "The Giggle", I've been thinking a lot about companion exits, and how they worked for me and how they worked both inside and out of the narrative. And because what else is social media for than ranting about fiction, here I am.

I find it really interesting how in both Moffat and RTD Who, many of the exits work more successfully outside of the narrative than inside of it, yet for completely different reasons.

Like, "The Giggle" really emphasised how ridiculously tragic the Moffat companion exits were. And while I can't speak for Bill as I haven't watched her series, for both Amy and Clara, those exits didn't make much sense inside the narrative. Amy and Clara could have had non-tragic exits. Amy's run in particular seemed to be working towards her and Rory choosing to stop travelling with the Doctor. They weren't doing it full time, they were getting older (it was highlighted how Amy needed reading glasses now), and it would have made solid character and thematic sense to have them choose to end this chapter in their lives. To focus on their careers, and maybe have kids, and find the joy in the slow path. A slow wind down--a bittersweet yet poignant departure--would not have been untoward.

Clara could have left that way too. She could have either walked off into the sunset with Danny Pink (if he hadn't been killed off. Because he was killed off, right?) or found some other calling. Embracing teaching at Coal Hill. Teaching on another planet. Anything! But I think in both cases, Moffat wanted his "Doomsday", and so what made logical narrative sense took a backseat. These exits worked more outside of the story--"because the showrunner wanted tragedy"--than inside.

Donna, I think, could have also had a non-tragic exit. I know her tragic ending has been reversed, but if Donna had two series instead of one, I think an ending where she chose to leave the Doctor would have been possible. I mean, she loved travelling, but it's clear that she also wanted to do things like get married and have a family, and I think if she had one more series (or was in all four specials), she could have had a Jo Grant exit. But they couldn't get Catherine Tate for another series/all four specials, and RTD was set on leaving before Series 5, so Donna doesn't.

And the constraints of TV filmmaking are what I believe hampered the RTD companion exits. And there are two major ones: actor availability and the time the BBC allowed him to tell his stories.

Granted, while having two tragic exits that weigh on the Tenth Doctor and contribute to him going all "Time Lord Victorious" could have been the plan all along, assuming it wasn't, both Donna and Rose's exits make the most sense when read from an outside perspective: neither Catherine Tate or Billie Piper had signed on for more full episodes.

Rose's second exit, in particular, is the poster child for "outside the narrative" storytelling. I mean, when the Doctor says "But you've got to [stay in the parallel universe]", you nearly expect him to end that with "because your actress didn't sign on for more episodes". Outside the narrative, leaving Rose with TenToo wraps up the Doctor/Rose romance, keeps them mostly safe from the whims of future showrunners, and yet leaves Rose's story a little open-ended for the audience so they imagine whatever they want to happen in Rose's--and future Doctor's--future. Inside the narrative, however, I didn't find it particularly satisfying. The Doctor has been pining for Rose for two series. Rose has worked incredibly had to get back to him. As a character, she's crafted as someone who would stay with the Doctor forever. They have this sweeping, incredibly romantic reunion! Inside the narrative, her staying makes the most sense. It's the most satisfying ending. Especially if you don't have the space to make an ending with Rose's permanent exit gratifying.

Because like Donna and the bigeneration in "The Giggle", Rose ending up back in the parallel world could have been more satisfying if RTD had more time to build up to that exit. In general, much of "Journey's End" feels rushed, and the end of the episode is particularly bad, leaving a number of holes that never get filled. Mickey gives a very brief reason why he's staying in his home universe, but we don't see him say goodbye to Rose and Jackie. We never get a proper reunion between Rose and Jack, or resolution to Rose making Jack immortal, which she is clearly unaware of, nor do we get a goodbye between them. I remember wondering when "Journey's End" first aired, do Mickey and Jack even know that they won't see Rose again? Do they walk off with a quick "see ya later", thinking they'll meet up occasionally? Because Rose sure as hell didn't think she was leaving her home universe. And while we got TenToo on his own to establish that he is (mostly) the Doctor, we don't get much between him and Rose prior to being left on Bad Wolf Bay to build any kind of connection between them. We don't see Ten come to the decision to leave the two of them; we never really know how he feels about it. Yeah, Doctor Who is a very plot-forward show, but "Journey's End" was juggling a lot of plot and a lot of characters, and it should have been longer--or the Series 4 finale should have been a three-parter--to give both the story and characters time to breathe. The audience is left to infer A LOT, and for me it was unsatisfying at the time, and now with over a decade of distance, it's actually even more unsatisfying.

While it might seem like I have more of a problem with RTD's companion exits, I think they're more successful from a technical and audience standpoint than Moffat's. RTD has the incredible ability to write backwards, making you feel like an ending was always something that he was working towards, even when he wasn't. Although both Donna and Rose's stories could have been different given more time, and if they played out in a different medium like a novel, they still, mostly, work. Donna forgets, but gets a family and a mother who values her a little more. Rose gets both the Doctor and her parents--she doesn't have to sacrifice one for the other anymore. Moffat's, on the other hand, feel very slapdash, and I don't recall feeling like we'd been working towards them. Because, as I said, it always seemed like he was working towards a totally different ending.

I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with this, but I find the difference between Moffat and RTD's approach to companion exits really fascinating. One wanted a specific style of ending, but didn't seem to know how to foreshadow it--how to make it work as part of a cohesive narrative. The other had a strong handle on narrative and character arcs, but their ability to craft something satisfying--to give his audience all the information--was hindered by episode length. Going forward, I hope RTD can manage his time better so that the companion exit is more satisfying, like Martha's. But I also hope he takes a leaf out of Moffat's book and plans a non-tragic ending. Because Moffat did set up two fairly sold, amicable partings, and Doctor Who needs more of those again.

#my writing #writeblr #Doctor Who #Russell T Davies #Steven Moffat #criticism #analysis #companions #companion exits #a giant Doctor Who rant? #in 2024? #quel suprise! #this is long and rambly but i needed to get it out of my brain #to add: i honestly think the constraints of the medium are part of why i bounced from Doctor Who years ago #while it's true that Moffat's writing wore me down #the fact that the story i was most invested in--the Doctor and Rose--didn't get an ending i found satisfying was part of it #and that was due to the TV format #and how Doctor Who is a show that continues with the same protagonist #with Doctor Who #you can get satisfying arcs but not really a satisfying story #and that wears on you #i think it says something that the stories i gravitate towards more recently aren't part of franchises #sure i do love Doctor Who and Star Trek #but i think my brain likes concrete endings to stories #i like a completed whole that i can imagine around #and while you can get that with companions on Doctor Who #you can't get that for the show itself #for the Doctor #the fact that even Doctor Who has got so backward looking doesn't help #it's leaving very little for me to imagine

[capybaraonabicycle]

I'll send it in as an ask bc replying in tags is too much of a hassle now, bit basically it was one of the best doctor/rose fics i've ever read, and i failed to save it and now i can't find it anywhere no matter how hard i try. Worst thing is, i can't even remember if o read it in English or in Russian, i was so invested in the story and the writing was so organic the language kind of melted away, it was projected directly into my brain. It had a motiff with stargazing and images you see on the Moon, so i think it was rpobably called something like Moon Rabbit, but there's nothing on ao3 with that title.

It starts with Rose and Ten golfing (i think) somewhere in space, and it's early days for Ten so Rose didn't have time to adjust to the change so she's a bit apprehensive and keeps trying to see Nine in him and it was all tied up into the Moon imagery somehow? Suddenly she gets a call from Mickey telling her to come home asap and not tell the Doctor, so she does, and there's Nine (!) alive and well. They meet up in secret from Ten and he tells her that "no Rose wtf i didn't just transform into another dude, i was beamed away from the TARDIS and this one's an imposter (basically confirming all of her fears from just after the regeneration) and he's civil with Mickey? couldn't be me" (ok this part i might've imagined afterwards lmao, but it's basically right, he convinces Rose by perfecrly matching Nine's character, which, for Rose, is more Doctor-y than Ten ever was so the latter has to be the fake one right?)

There's this whole angsty thing about how she missed him and how hard it was for her to adjust to the regeneration, and the matter of trust was explored really well bc she doesn't really know who to trust like 70% of the fic, and then there's the Doctor (Ten, who's the real one obv) who is hurt by the fact that she would just go against him like that but he understands why she would do that, the dynamics and emotions were just *chef's kiss*

Turns out that "Nine" is a unique model of a TARDIS from the Time War so it can shapeshift and pretend better than other TARDIS's apparently and also read minds (that's how it's able to trick Rose). Also turns out that TARDIS's could be male or female (i wasn't with the author on this one) and this new TARDIS was male and our TARDIS was female, so when the dude learned that most of the TARDIS's were gone after the war he came to the conclusion that he had to breed to make new TARDIS babies? (i'm even less with the author here, but when i'm describing it it sounds even worse than i remember, it was much more elegant and i guess reasonable in the original text) Of course our TARDIS doesn't want that bc the process kinda sucks, i guess it was dangerous for her? i don't remember. But yeah, once the Doctor and Rose sort their thing out they have to hunt the dude TARDIS down and get rid of him. At the end he passes through time i guess and an early human glimpses him in the sky like a fallen star and comes up with a fictional story about a warrior and a maiden this warrior was chasing or something, and that's how humanity started making stories.

This fic is SO GOOD despite the weird bits, and i will forever be sad that i didn't think to bookmark it or something. I'll leave this here, firstly bc i think it answers some of the questions you might have and retelling is better than nothing, and secondly because maybe someone will see this post and recognise the fic - unlikely but i can't pass up this chance of finding it

Oh wow that sounds amazing! Mostly the trust part! It would be SO easy to make a companion doubt that the other is the Doctor when you can perfectly pose as an incarnation they know better. Because they're human and us humans, we like to cling to what we know. That concept is just - Idk I feel like it's slightly blowing my mind and now I really want to read this fic.

I agree on the TARDIS thing. In my mind it is uncommon for a TARDIS to have a gender at all. I believe 'our' TARDIS does have a gender but she just ran with it and picked one because the human strays kept going on about it. So her gender's basically 'she/her' - pronouns plus the colour blue with some mischief sprinkled in - or something; you know what I mean.

Plus, I am a tentative fan of the loom thing so if timelords already don't get 'born' I do not believe TARDIS-s would mate for reproduction at all. I would rather assume a TARDIS gets made when there's an imbalance in the space-time-continuum on the quantic level that gets augmented by randomly appearing resonance and then the moment the TARDIS appears it has always been existing since the dawn of time. Or something along those lines. Probably the process can be fabricated some way and timelords have perfected exploiting it. Like they do.

Not like I have been thinking much about TARDIS genders OR reproduction, tbh. In my mind they just are 🤷‍♀️

Anyway, apart from those points that fic sounds absolutely amazing and I think I would also love those moon metaphors. So if someone knows it and could send it to us, that would be great? <3

I also totally get the 'I have no idea what language this was in' feeling, I have that all the time. Not with dw fic though because so far I have read 1 work in German and 1 work in translated Russian and half a work in French and all the other times I strictly stick to English. It just works better in that language for me and there is an abundance of fic in English anyway :) We are so blessed to be in a huge fandom. Although a tiny one WOULD make finding your fic a lot easier.

#marvellouspinecone #Thank you so much for enlightening me! #Although now I am sad I cannot read that fic 😔 #But maybe someone will find it for us? #Btw using Rose as a bait to get to the TARDIS is an absolutely evil move #But like the whole predatory thing of stalking the TARDIS that way sounds super creepy #I bet it's a thrilling read but it also sounds like I would need a thick skin to cope #I hate when it's the TARDIS who gets attacked. Flux was already so painful to watch #But I can't deny it raises the stakes beautifully

[ourholly101love]

Chase The Lightning Inuyasha style Fanfiction

Authors Note. This story Can Also be Found On my Mediaminer Account under the Name holly101

CHAPTER ONE

Somebody had cut the fence on purpose Inuyasha Pulled on a pair of gloves and started repairing the barbed wire he hated this….barbed wire and riding the boundaries of mirokus ranch looking for damage it was time to leave it all behind and disappear into the mountains to hut for his own food travel into to the reaches of the rocky mountains where no human had ever been…to wake up in the morning to absolute quiet of the mountains,to watch the stars at night unencumbered by the sounds of humans. Inuyasha had admitted to himself long ago that he didnt really like humans,and they certainly didn’t like him. Miroku and Sango and their twins were the exception,they were the only family he had,the only family he wanted,and thats why he was stuck here for another two months,he had promised Miroku he would stay and look after the place.

A shot rang out and Inuyasha knew he was hit even before the burning sensation in his side began to grow.he looked down as he dropped to the ground, the bullet had passed through cleanly and blood was pouring from his wound another shot was fired from the heavy cover of the trees the bullet whizzing over inuyasha’s head he lay in the grass, Inuyasha blew a low whistle and his black stallion galloped to his side.a rifle was slung from the saddle and a third shot rang out,Inuyasha pulled himself to his feet and slid the rifle from its boot,Absently he stroked the horses neck the stallion was a good mount, well trained and unafraid of gun fire it would have made a good battle horse in the old days, Inuyasha slapped the horses rump and watched it trot away as he dropped into the tall grass a fourth shot went wild as Inuyasha aimed blindly into the stand oftrees and fired, after his third unanswered shot Inuyasha knew his attacker had fled whoever had ambushed him was a coward who was unwilling to be fired on in return,he sat in the grass and pulled his shirt over his head,the flow of blood was steady and inuyasha warped his shirt around his mid section tying the sleeves together as tightly as he could, Ambushed he wasn’t surprised not really, most everybody wanted him dead.

Rising slowly Inuyasha whistled for his horse and with silent effort he pulled himself into the saddle and turned towards the ranch knowing his wound was just above his waist he figured he could doctor it himself.he never asked anyone for help before and he wasn’t about to start now,there were bandages and fresh water for cleaning the wound at the cabin, his make shift bandage had slowed the blood,though it continued,and a short time later Inuyasha became dizzy,for a split second he thought he saw Tala ahead of him guiding him to the cabin but his loyal companion was dead shot in the head by some cowboy who didn’t like the idea of wolves mixing with people, but Inuyasha liked that wolf better then most people.Sango had cried for three days,and had insisted on burying the wolf she named tala and placing a marker on her grave, Inuyasha never admitted to Anyone not even Sango how much he missed that animal, but he did.The sun was setting and Inuyasha began to believe if he didn’t reach the cabin soon he would bleed to death.there in the distance barley more then a silhouette against the setting sun was kikyo her head held high as she waved to him of course it wasn’t kikyo she was still in Denver probably married by now to some well bred gentlemen with pure blood.as Inuyasha watched the woman who had waved at him change into a sapling, a young tree bending in the wind and his hallucination was replaced with reality. No one in edo not even Miroku knew what happened during Inuyasha’s trip to Denver, where he exchanged his Firerat for a plain black suit and clubbed his hair securing it with a leather strap he had plenty of money for his brief forays to the city he had allowed Miroku to invest his share of the profits of the sale of their silver mine and Miroku had made them a fortune, Inuyasha knew that in a way Miroku hated the fact that he had a talent for making money a talent his grandfather had,for Miroku broke away from his grandfathers Influence and his stifling Japanese background but like it or not Miroku had the golden touch and Inuyasha was grateful he did, the money had helped Inuyasha gain entry into Denver society which treated him differently then the people of edo.

His bankers invited him to dinner parties and he attended curious about these people who seemed so happy and His bankers invited him to dinner parties and he attended curious about these people who seemed so happy and care free, And to get a glimpse of a world so foreign to him where everything was so clean and peaceful and free of hate,of course Inuyasha never danced,women who who behaved differently towards him too flirting with him and sending seductive sideline glances his way, then the prominent wealthy Onigumo Ashiro Decided Inuyasha would make good husband material for his 18 year old daughter Kikyo. Kikyo’s life had been different then Inuyashas he found himself entranced by her, She was always smiling always happy and it was obvious she was intrigued by Inuyasha whom her father brought home for dinner more and more. He knew she liked him but Inuyasha would never have proposed to the girl after all he had demon blood. How could he after seeing his mother and grandfather shot, Then Onigumo and his lovely daughter found out about Inuyashas background. he’ll never forget the look on Kikyos face the girl that always flirted with him was now afraid he would eat her, that had been two years ago.Inuyasha lifted his blood soaked hand from his side he was losing to much blood to fast the cabin was in sight now and none too soon.Inuyasha narrowed his eyes there was a light on someone was in the cabin. if he hadn't been hurt he would have turned away maybe it was one of the ranch hands it was much to soon for Sango and Miroku to be back. Inuyasha slid from his horses back slowly knowing it was important to keep his footing, He could have called out to whoever was in the cabin for help but he wouldn’t he would rather bleed to death then ask Miroku’s foreman for help, he paused against the heavy door falling inside he felt everything spin around him, the last thing he heard was a womens high pitched scream before he blacked out. Kagome stopped screaming the moment she realized that the man who burst through the door was in no condition to be of any danger to her, he had long silver hair his blood soaked shirt wrapped around his mid section was the last thing she noticed as he landed half in and half out of the cabin one look outside told her he was alone…. only one way to deal with you Kagome talked to the unconscious man who lay face down on the floor she reached down and grabbed him dragging him inside then she closed the door.You must be Inuyasha Sango described you perfectly, but she never said you were beautiful. kagome shook her head what am i saying men are not beautiful…but this one sure is. Inuyasha opend his eyes to find a women leaning over him washing his face with a cool cloth as though he might break if she pressed to hard, oh good your awake how do you feel?Inuyasha squinted and tried to see her face better but he couldn't no matter how hard he tried Like I’ve been shot,“It seems you were kagome said leaving his face alone for a moment, Do you think you can move?"I hate to leave you on the floor but i cant get you into bed by myself."Of course i can move.” Inuyasha said sharply what did she think that he was helpless? he rolled up slowly only to find out how hard it was and found a womans arm around his back as she lifted him gently, I don’t need any help…yes do you do.“ kagome insisted pleasantly half supporting him as he rose to his feet. you've lost a lot of blood and you’ll have to spend several days maybe weeks in bed,the bleeding has stopped but if it starts again you’ll be in a lot of trouble."Inuyasha looked down at his midsection the woman had bandaged him tightly with a length of calico dotted with pink flowers,…I know..but its all i could find, Inuyasha wanted to argue but he couldn't he was just to week…Come on yasha don’t give up on me now not unless you want to spend the night on the floor.Her use of his name caught his attention allowing him to stay alert as she led him to the bedroom,she studied his bloodstained pants for a moment and decided to leave them on him gently she covered him with a quilt and tucked him in as though he was a small child, he wanted to ask her who she was,where she had come from, if he could touch her hair it was all he had been able to see of her and it looked soft and warm but that could wait till tomorrow, he didn't have the strength to speak he knew even as he fell asleep she was watching him that should have Irritated him but it didn't It felt strangely right.