Where All Ladders Start

I’m Shift, my pronouns are your best guess. Currently beholding Gallifrey

[shiftofgallifrey]

Thinking about doctor who and contorting myself into shapes unknown to science

[shiftofgallifrey]

Shoutout to my childhood bullies who were willing to patiently explain that they were just being mean, and we weren’t actually playing a game together

[the-oracle-of-the-lost]

Annihilation is really the best distillation of Romana, Leela, and Narvin's dynamic. Romana's depressed, passively suicidal, and blaming herself for a friend's death and then sees getting bitten by a vampire as a good negotiation tactic before deciding to commit mass murder. Leela is terrified at the prospect of not being useful and is ready to turn herself into a weapon to keep her friends alive while suffering the burden of being the only person with any emotional intelligence on this planet. Narvin is out of his element and is trying to find any foothold that he can on his current reality, is bullied into admitting that he (gasp) cares about his friends, and tries to be the voice of reason to convince them not to sacrifice themselves before being almost fatally injured himself. also Braxiatel is a dog (literal this time). Annihilation, the story that you are...

[stopmyhearts]

Every time the Gallifrey Ot4 called each other friends - or didn't

Romana to Leela: After today, I think this could be the start of a beautiful friendship. Don’t you? (Zagreus)

BRAXIATEL: Your friends? ROMANA I: No. Just the others in my class. They hate me. (Lies)

ANDRED: I thought you two were friends. ROMANA: A President of the High Council of Gallifrey cannot allow herself the luxury of friends, Andred. (Lies)

ROMANA: As I believe I mentioned, Andred, I don’t have friends. Merely associates who help me administer Gallifrey and this cosmos any way we see fit.(Lies)

LEELA: And your double? That other K9 that Romana is friends with? (Lies)

BRAXIATEL: [Sighs] Well, I thought… as your friend, that– ROMANA: No, Braxiatel. I don’t believe you did think. If I go around offering my closest associates heightened roles questions might be asked! (Lies)

ROMANA: [Sighs] I’m not allowed friends. (Lies)

K9: I am K9 Mark II. I am a mobile computer. I was– will be your friend, mistress. ROMANA: [Incredulous] K9! K9: Apologies, mistress. As a Matrix projection, this Romana can access everything the Matrix has recorded and react accordingly. I am not saying anything it cannot determine by itself, given time. (Lies)

ROMANA I: Then your memories are wrong. Braxiatel was a friend to me, to us, back then. You’ve forgotten so much. (Lies)

ROMANA I: He’s always been a good friend. Without him, without what he taught me, I could never have survived my time aboard the Doctor’s TARDIS. (Lies)

ROMANA: [Pained] Leela. I thought that coming here would be good for you. I’ve come to accept you as a valuable asset, and I– LEELA: Asset!? [Scoffs] Is that what I am? Your asset!? ROMANA: Alright then… a friend. Someone I have come to trust. (Spirit)

LEELA: One person cannot become many without consequence. I cannot see you, now, without seeing her, too. You are my friend. I know that, for all we disagree on. And yet… if tomorrow you grew sick, you could throw off your form like an old sheet and be a new person, someone I would no longer recognise. Not with my eyes, nor with my heart. (Spirit)

ROMANA: Hardly. There’s been no Chancellor since Flavia, when the roles of President and Chancellor were combined. I cannot be seen to be breaking with that tradition merely to give the job to one of my– …to one of my friends. BRAXIATEL: Then I shall settle for the President’s friendship. ROMANA: I do need your help, Braxiatel. And your friendship. Now, more than ever. (Pandora)

NARVIN: You see? But Braxiatel looks after his friends. Like the President, loyalty is a particularly annoying trait of his. (Pandora)

ROMANA: [Quietly] And who sent them. Oh, Brax… if only you were here now. I need your counsel, my friend. (Insurgency)

LEELA: I know that, and Romana is my friend, but… I cannot help wondering if Andred was right. She has brought many different tribes together in this school, and some have already proved that they cannot be trusted. Their hatred for Gallifrey and- and for each other stretches back many years. I fear it is possible to keep your enemy too close. (Insurgency)

ROMANA: I need your support, Leela, now more than ever. You and the K9s are my only friends here. (Imperiatrix)

LEELA: I will stay with you, Romana, my friend, but give me something to defend so that I may put my wish for vengeance to good use. (Imperiatrix)

LEELA: Then you would not have me as a friend. You would be like all the other Time Lords who care only for themselves and not for whatever is good. (Imperiatrix)

LEELA: I do. But… I cannot kill you, Romana, and so I cannot give peace to Andred. But from this day, we can no longer be friends, and I will leave Gallifrey, perhaps to die. (Imperiatrix)

LEELA: When a Time Lord says “I am fine” it means they are not. Please, Romana. I am your friend. You can tell me what is wrong. ROMANA: “Friend”... Thought I didn’t have any. I can’t afford to have any, especially in wartime. LEELA: You are wrong. That is when you need them more than ever. [pause] It is… wasteful for me to blame you for Andred’s death when I know who I should really fight. (Warfare)

MATTHIAS: Your friend Leela, perhaps. (Warfare)

LEELA: No! You are coming back with me, Romana! You are my friend! I— I need you! K9 can deal with her! (Warfare)

LEELA: This is her war-wound, K9. it will not be scrubbed clean by doctors. She must bear it, as I am learning to bear mine. She is my friend. I will help her through this. (Warfare)

LEELA: First, I am going to find a friend to aid me. (Appropriation)

ROMANA: Leela… I thought we were friends. LEELA: I have made my decision. A friend would respect that. (Panacea)

BRAXIATEL: [nervous laugh] Just good friends! (Reborn)

LEELA: I will never tell you. I will never betray my friends. (disassembled)

LEELA: Romana, I am your friend. And as such, I must speak freely. (annihilation)

ROMANA: But I didn’t ask for this, Leela. I relied on Brax. He was my...LEELA: Friend?ROMANA: Well. I would’t go that far. But he was someone I valued.LEELA: He was your friend. As I am. As K9 is. As Narvin is.ROMANA: Good grief. If we’ve gotten to the stage where you think Narvin and I are friends *laughs* we really must be in an alternative reality. (annihilation)

ROMANA: Narvin, I am as has been pointed out by our friend here, no longer entitled to be called your President. Just Romana will suffice. (annihilation)

ROMANA: No need, Vekkon. My name is Romana and these are my friends – Narvin and Leela.  (annihilation)

LEELA: But why?! Narvin, we have to get her back. She is our friend (Annihilation)

will find our friend Romana and I will bring her back to us (Annihilation)

LEELA: Good. Because we are not friends. ROMANA: No. No, it would seem not. (Emancipation)

ROMANA: I hope it will go some way towards repairing our friendship. (Emancipation)

MARIS: We know your friendship with these people!LEELA: Friendships? What friendships? (Evolution)

ROMANA: Please, I’m asking you not as my chancellor but as my friend. (Arbitration)

LEELA: It is not allegiance. That is the word of a politician. We may not always agree and see eye to eye but Romana has always been my friend. When she needs me, as she does now, I will support her without question. That will never change. (Extermination)

LEELA: I will not let the Daleks kill our friends and I will not desert them now. If there is blood to be shed, then I shall be amongst it. (Extermination)

ROMANA: Commander, this is Leela, a friend of mine. My best friend. (Extermination)

Romana: members of the inner council, fellow regenerators, colleagues and dare I say it, friends, please forgive the nature of this message (extermination)

Trey: In search of a cure, their President, Lady Romana, travelled across the universes with her friends. (Renaissance)

Trey: My best friend is one after all. (Renaissance)

ROMANA: I won’t kill me friends in the process!SLYNE: Not even for all of Gallifrey?!ROMANA: No! Besides. It’s academic. Narvin has the back-up data and he’s inside the Matrix (Ascension)

ROMANA: I wouldn’t dream of it. I’ve seen what you’re capable of and it’s nothing to laugh about. But didn’t it occur to you, to wonder, just for one fraction of one second, why I didn’t escape from my office when my friends did? (Ascension)

ROMANA: And you saw fit to keep this from me? You are my advisor, Narvin, but more than that, you were supposed to be my friend. (Intervention Earth)

LEELA: Because if this really is a suicide mission, then it is one I face without regret. And of all the friends I have met in all my travels, I am glad to face it with you.(enemy lines)

LIVIA: I know that you and he were close friends.ROMANA: We were. (Enemy Lines)

ROMANA: *sighs* Madame President. With all due respect, if I took a week or even a day off for every friend I’ve lost, I wouldn’t get a great deal done. (Enemy Lines)

NARVIN: Romana, as your deputy and your friend I’d advise against starting another feud with the Lady President. Especially if you want her on your side. (Celestial Intervention)

LEELA: I have their trust, Romana, just as I hope that I have yours.ROMANA: Of course you have our trust. That’s why we’re asking you. But you don’t have their friendship.LEELA: Please, do not use our friendship to... to...NARVIN: Cajole?LEELA: Yes. Cajole me into betraying that trust. (Celestial Intervention)

LEELA: If you knew the Time Lords I know - people like Romana and Narvin, Time Lords who have become my friends - you might not think of them as you do now. (the devil you know)

FINNIAN: Have you lost many friends? LEELA: A few. That is already enough (the devil you know).

LIVIA: Romana. If you and I keep meeting like this we may end up becoming friends. ROMANA: I wouldn’t count on it. (Havoc)

ROMANA: It could work to our advantage. I’d expect them to expect us to be looking for our friends. First rule of counter-espionage – let the other side think they’re already getting information. (Assassins)

NARVIN: The hologram, it’s Ace! She safe, on Earth, inside its Time Lock? MANTUS: How much of her memory your friend left intact is anyone’s guess. NARVIN: Braxiatel is many things. I don’t know if I’d call him my friend. (Assassins)

ROMANA: I wondered how far you would follow me. It seems I’ve found the bridge you won’t cross.NARVIN: I should go. And we should probably leave separately, allow some time before we’re seen arriving at the Capitol.ROMANA: Take my skimmer. It’s the quicker of the two. I’ll see you back at our offices. You will keep looking for our friends, Narvin? NARVIN: Of course. I’ll do everything I can. I’m sorry, Romana. (Assassins)

ROMANA: We’re hoping to meet a friend of ours. She may have… come this way? (Nevernor)

ROMANA: Our friend, the other traveller, she didn’t mean this to happen. None of us did. Your world has been caught up in something. A war. Our friend was lost and we’ve been looking for her. We think she came this way, but we don’t know when. (Nevernor)

ROMANA: Please, stop shooting. We're unarmed. We're looking for our friend. (Unity)

NARVIN: We're... we're looking for our friend. ROMANA: Her name is Leela. (Unity)

VEEGA: Who are these people? LEELA: It is all right. They are friends of mine. RAYO: We've got visitors? LEELA: This is Romana, and this is Narvin. They are from Gallifrey. (Unity)

LEELA: You need my help? ROMANA: We need your friendship. We've missed you. LEELA: There is more to it than that. I can tell. You think that if we rekindle our friendship, I will help you in some way. Perhaps return to Gallifrey, help mend your mistakes.(Unity)

ROMANA: People are suffering, Leela. We've already lost too many of our friends. (Unity)

ROMANA: Well, then, perhaps... we'll start thinking about other friends who might be out there. NARVIN: The Doctor? ROMANA: Good grief, no. If I know him at all, and if he has any sense, he'll be far away from all this. But I won't give up on Leela just yet. (Unity)

LEELA: You said you have lost friends back on Gallifrey. Would I know any of them? ROMANA: Most of them, I imagine. Trave was executed. (Unity)

ROMANA: Leela, I know how long it's been, but I am still your friend. We travelled across countless light-years and centuries to find you. I wouldn't lie, and certainly not about a thing like this. (Unity)

NARVIN: I'm terribly sorry. We were just passing by. We thought we recognised the house, that a friend of ours once lived here. (Unity)

NARVIN: Yes, of course. Please, excuse my friend. She gets a little confused from time to time, and you do look very much like someone we knew. An old friend who we miss very much. Now, this might not make an awful lot of sense to you. I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name. (Unity)

ROMANA: Ah. Goodbye, old friends. (Unity)

LEELA: I am looking for a friend of mine. (Deception)

ERIS: Leela? As in Romana’s Leela? LEELA: As in friend of Romana, yes. (Deception)

ERIS: I’m taking us back to one of the Resistance rendezvous points. They can tell us where the compound has been evacuated to, and you can locate your friends. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it? (Deception)

RAYO: What about your friend Romana? Was she one of you? (Dissolution)

RAYO: Yeah, sure. Realist. Just as well your friend Romana has gone. Just as well she forgot who you were. Maybe it’s what you deserve. (Dissolution)

NARVIN: It’s looking like an unpleasantly distinct possibility. If you stay here, you could have a future. I’m not sure I can say the same. What do I have? No home, no regenerations, no allies left and precious few friends. Besides, if this lunatic plan of theirs is to stand a chance, someone has to be there to curb Leela’s rasher impulses. (Dissolution)

NARVIN: Ah, right. Yes. Scanning Resistance channels. And if I just… ah, look at that. She’s closing the shield. Hmm, funny, it’s rather beautiful from up here after all. Now, emergency protocols on. Requesting secure channel. I need to reach Leela, to tell her I’m on my way. I’m coming to help. I’ve lost too many friends already. (Dissolution)

ROMANA: I know you, Brax. I've known you for a very long time. And as much as we might be friends, I know how duplicitous you can be. (Beyond)

ROMANA: I can't. My duty is to my friends, and to Gallifrey, whatever that might bring. Braxiatel's path? I couldn't follow him. And I can't follow you. This is something I have to do for myself. (Beyond)

ROMANA: I’d worry about getting off this saucer yourself, Commander. Our friends just blew it up. (Homecoming)

Rasmus: Well, I'm sure there were other things on his mind. I know you got along with Romana, so any friend of his- (The Passenger)

Leela: Daleks, Time Lords. Tribes made only of warriors, thinking only of victory and not of peace. You claimed to be a friend of the Doctor. (Collateral Victim)

VOICES (to Narvin): You, it's you. Traitor. Exile. Friend. (The First Days of Phaidon)

LEELA: Speak your name so I know if you are friend or foe. NARVIN: I really don't have time for this- Leela? (The First Days of Phaidon)

NEANDER: A friend of yours, Leela? LEELA: Yes, this is Narvin, my... Narvin. How? How are you even here? (The First Days of Phaidon)

VOICES(to Leela): Narvin. Coordinator. Colleague. Friend. Time Lord. Yours. (The First Days of Phaidon)

VOICES (to Leela): I am time. True time. True space. Leela. Warrior. Conscript. Friend or foe? Why are you here? (The First Days of Phaidon)

VOICES(to Leela): You fear for [Romana]. Your purpose, your charge, your... friend. Your… (The First Days of Phaidon)

LEELA: I must ask my friend. (The First Days of Phaidon)

NARVIN: We're all stewards of Romana's vision, and I won't pass up this chance for her sake. Expect intelligence reports from me, and as Romana's friend, expect my opinion on everything. (The First Days of Phaidon)

NARVIN: No. No, I'm not. None of us are. The Warpwrights are back, and yes, we might find the Nekkistani, Sunari, and Monans, but... Oh, Leela. Ace might still be out there. Maybe other friends and allies. I have so much to do. I'll see you soon. (The First Days of Phaidon)

Narvin: If my friend's been hurt because of this (Transference)

Lenaris: Some friend you've got Narv. All the good things you said about her, she's nothing but a doom merchant. (Transference)

LEELA: I do not have any friends left. (Ambition's Debt)

Narvin: That's how I heard the President's friend describe it. (Damned if you do)

[kosmogrl]

[eclipse-ofthe-sun]

[shiftofgallifrey]

:/ well that's mean. i guess if i'm not allowed to go on my guilt trip i'll just hang around your inbox and gnaw on posts

My poasts!

[icarianstars]

Leela and Narvin, at the end of everything

[natequarter]

a lot of romana's attempts to kill herself aren't explicitly suicidal. she doesn't go into them declaring that she's going to kill herself today. rather, she has almost no regard for her own life, and treats her own death as an acceptable outcome in wildly inappropriate or far too insignificant contexts. it's not always that she goes around trying to kill herself; she simply does not see her death as a problem in any regard.

[envexenveritas]

yes, nor is it the typical heroic suicide that main characters traditionally end up in (you know the 'this plan is really dangerous, but saving the day is more important than my survival' type plan). it's more a 'narvin has find this obscure legal loophole that means today's political problem would be better if i were dead. i guess that's the plan now'.

[bonivers]

going on a guilt trip do yall want anything

[secondbeatsongs]

if you really cared about me you wouldn't have to ask

[gracefelldownaflightofstairs]

‎

[natequarter]

brax is probably the first person to speak to andred with any kind of kindness in a long time

[natequarter]

#oh good point actually #but also why 🤔 maybe this gets settled later and i just don't remember it #but what does brax get out of it

ngl i don't think he does get anything out of it, and i think that's the point. brax is the only character of the main cast of series 1 who doesn't appear in a blind eye. as such, he's really the only person who has no personal stakes re: andred. likewise he's the only character who shows genuine sympathy for leela (romana............. lmao); he's already shown that he does actually care about outsiders to gallifreyan society. his main political priorities are himself and romana - and though romana and andred fucking hate each other, andred isn't really a serious political threat (even if he is working for darkel). he's just a nuisance, skulking about in the vaults. what narvin says of andred is true: he does belong to no one. and again, brax is the one person to show sympathy to leela at the start of the series - when she is literally dispossessed, lacking any formal place or loyalty in time lord society. so honestly? i think it's genuine kindness. sure, he's not going to go around actively helping andred out - but unlike narvin or romana or leela (or darkel), he doesn't feel the need to spit in andred's face.

[valeyardx]

Leela rubbing her hands on fabric to shock Narvin with static but it scares him and he jumps up so high he just flies away into the stratosphere and slowly floats away like when you wash a bug down the sink who agrees

[daughterofheartshaven]

‎

...yes?

[shiftofgallifrey]

Hi

[daughterofheartshaven]

Hello!

[shiftofgallifrey]

Hi

[daughterofheartshaven]

Oh the thirteenth day of the final month of the Grand Viser's first year in office, the swarms of mega-cats were seen to be amassing in the southern hemisphere. In response to this, the Queen's personal army as dispatched to guard them, with only a small contingent staying behind. One would be concerned at the danger this posed to the seat of power, but the mercenaries of the Lashed Rocks were placed on standby, should there have been an emergency. This created some small confusions when there was an emergency, but one of a very different nature - the collapse of the so-called Final Supply Line lead to the town of Mossy Forests losing out on its food supplies and leaving them at risk of starving. It ended up having to be that the town was completely evacuated to the nearby larger cities, although they were to return once the supply lines were re-opened the following year. This temporary evacuation became known as the Mossy Diaspora, and it had significant geopolitical effects on the surrounding regions through overstraining the resources of the city of Leng, leading Leng to declare a soft war on several of its neighbors. While no battles were fought, the hostilities did lead to a disruption of trade that was not resolved until the twenty-seventh day of the fourth month of the Grand Viser's second year in office, through the assistance of an adjudicator sent by the Capitol.

[shiftofgallifrey]

Aha, some words at last! Thank you, I got lost

[whovianbutatwhatcost]

what's this thing called "talking to people." how does one do it. please advise

[eldradmvstlive]

Leela, digital painting done in Procreate 💛

[polarity-disturbed]

‎

Hello 👋 did you.... need something?

[shiftofgallifrey]

Maybe

[icarianstars]

Madame President.