brigwife:
I believe that Mike never wanted to be in the army anyway. He just wanted to be a poet and spend hours sitting in fields painting the scenery in watercolours. But his family didn’t view that as an acceptable vocation, and because Mike didn’t want to let them down, he dropped his dream and went to military school. Joining the Buddhist monastery was the best thing he ever did for himself, and he’s never felt so happy and free because he was in the country, living the calm life he’d always wanted.
I see your headcanon and raise you (?? except that sounds condescending, I don’t mean it in a one-upping way) a relevant excerpt from Gary Russel’s The Scales of Injustice:
As he approached, Maisie Hawke stuck her head out of the window, smiling. ‘Hey, Michael. I don’t think any of the locals are going to attack us. No need for the pistol, eh?’
He got into the passenger seat. ‘Can’t be too careful, Maisie. You never know. The Brig always says to be prepared.’
‘You sound like a boy scout.’ She was still smiling. ‘When you’ve been with UNIT a while longer, you’ll relax a bit more.’
Mike shrugged. ‘Yeah, but how long is that? The life-expectancy of a UNIT soldier isn’t exactly known to be high.’
‘We all know the risks when we sign on the dotted line. No one forces us here, you know.’
Mike opened the glove compartment, taking out a bar of Dairy Milk. He broke off a piece, offering it to Hawke. She took it and began munching. He did the same. ‘I know, but it sounds quite glamorous when you’re in the regular army, pounding some parade square. Or going on endless manoeuvres in Germany.’
Hawke shrugged. ‘So. Why did you join up?’
Mike stared out of the windscreen. ‘A long story involving family pressure, peer group pressure, university pressure and personal inability to say no to anyone who thought they could run my life better than I could.’
‘Wow. Anything you do actually like in your life?’
Mike looked at her in concern. ‘No, don’t get me wrong. I actually like it. I mean, UNIT is great because it has an element of risk. Of the unknown. I’ve done things here that I could never have dreamed of. I’ve travelled through time rips, I’ve arranged for top secret objects to be locked away. I’ve seen more weirdness here in two months than I could have hoped for in ten years in the regular army. I’m not leaving this place unless it’s on a blanket-covered stretcher.’
Idk, that doesn’t quite match my headcanon, but my headcanon is vast and intricate and at times contradictory. I should type it up, one of these days. For the like, two or three people on tumblr who give a shit AWW YEAH Mike Yates appreciation fistbump, ladies.
onoas-a replied to your photo: [ cloud overview ] [ get your own cloud ] This is…
ohmygod Mike is one of your top words adfaljghlanglajdfijhnv
Ahaha, yeah, a disturbing portion of my life is dedicated to Mike Yates, when you think about it. I even named my hedgehog after him. I think that pretty much tells you everything you need to know. XD
Yay other Mike Yates fans IT MAKES ME HAPPY THAT YOU EXIST.
THE BANTER
He tugged some more web free of her dress, then said: ‘If you can hold on to my shoulders, I think I can pull the rest of you free.’
Awkwardly she clasped her arm about him as he suggested. ‘Do you often manage to induce girls to embrace you so soon after you’ve been introduced, Sergeant Yates?’
‘It’s a technique I’ve been working on,’ Mike responded in kind.
= = = =
His work complete, he helped her up, watching her anxiously.
‘It’s all right,’ she assured him. ‘I’m feeling much better now. I’m not usually the fainting type, you know. But I do look a sight,’ she added, looking ruefully down at her plastic-wrapped feet and her ragged skirt, through which her equally dirty and torn slip could be seen. She tried to pull some of the longer tears together. ‘This dress is hardly decent anymore.’
‘According to the best Paris fashion houses, the freshly torn hem is the new jungle look this year,’ Mike assured her sincerely.
‘Does the British Army train all its sergeants in reassuring light banter for embarrassing situations?’
‘The first thing we learn, ’ Mike confirmed, ‘after which end of the gun is the dangerous one, of course.’
~EYE OF THE GIANT by Christopher Bulis
And now, for my own reference and should anyone else be interested, selected excerpts from the Doctor Who tie-in novel, DEEP BLUE, by Mark Morris.
Alternatively titled: How, Against All Odds, I Started Shipping Mike Yates and Tegan Jovanka. No, Really.
(Sometime, after I’ve slept, I’ll post a huge moderately-sized meta about all the reasons why I love this plot thread and why it’s perfect for their characters.)
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The new companion chronicle with Mike Yates is out, cut to me completely losing my shit.
I’ll just be here in the corner sifting through for any new scraps to add to the headcanon, all too ready to throw things on the NOPE NO DIDN’T HAPPEN WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT pile.
Oh god it’s already so amazing I can’t even I am so going to liveblog this, and by liveblog I mean keep a word doc with my feels and post it all in one so as not to clog dashes.
Am rewatching Invasion of the Dinosaurs tonight, for research purposes. Also, because I didn’t need my heart intact, after all.
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Dammit, Mike Yates, you need to stop being so nice to the alien that’s secretly just waiting to get you alone so he can beat you to death. :|
The plot summary for “The Rings of Ikiria” from the official Big Finish website:
UNIT is accustomed to dealing with visitors from space, but nothing has prepared them for Ikiria, an alien artist bearing gifts. Could Ikiria’s designs be something more than aesthetic?
As the Brigadier turns against him, Mike Yates goes on the run. Can he save the world? Or will he just learn an important lesson in betrayal?
