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TELLY
I have been staring at screens for alarming stretches of time! Besides trawling Yuletide all day (tomorrow I am actually attempting to go alphabetically, & also making a concerted effort to go through the whole dSSS archive), I also watched SO MUCH TELLY. There was the traditional debate about holiday films, which ended in screenings of It's a Wonderful Life and Muppet Christmas Carol -- two films that I have never actually watched the same year before, and the unexpected synchronicity was weird. There was also, to my great delight, the Christmas episode of QI, wherein I learned that watching David Tennant and Bill Bailey sit next to each other is actually hazardous for my health, since I about died laughing. To my faint horror I seem to have finally processed that David's leaving, and have taken the opportunity to get all starry-eyed about him all over again.
And then of course there was Doctor Who. I'll say this first: there were more bits I liked than actual good bits, by which I mean a lot of the plotholes and sheer wtfery are beautiful brilliant fic fodder. These things include, but are not limited to:
+ the ~mystical books of Saxon~
+ what might have happened to Lucy (because the obvious answer, "She was FUCKING AWESOME for thirty seconds and then died," is one I flatly refuse to accept in fic-land)
+ the Master's botched regeneration, which aside from his new-found abilities to leap tall buildings in a single bound and shoot lightning a la Emperor Palpatine, was an interesting concept that could have gone so many ways besides "OM NOM MEEEEAT"
On the other hand, things that are not saved by my desire to make them better in fic:
+ unexpected Obama! no, I don't know either
+ the Doctor and the Master have apparently downgraded from telepathic abilities to, um, smelling each other?
+ BILLIONS OF MASTERS IN HILARIOUS DRESSES
Speaking of billions of Masters in hilarious dresses, though, my god, for a single shining moment I hoped that the Master was going to use the healing machine thingy to heal his botched regeneration and genetically alter the human race into a new albeit confused Time Lord empire in one fell swoop. Because, for fucking serious, as evil plans go, "Turn the Doctor's favourite species into the one he desperately misses and spent most of his lives running from" is more psychologically interesting and less cracky than "Turn everyone into ME!!" Actually I think I had about five different single shining moments of "OH OH WILL THEY" and then they ... didn't, and something rubbish happened instead. At least the skull effect bothered me a lot less than I thought it would?
(Parenthetical confession, especially re: single shining moments of hope: I kept on having flashes of "omg, I called that!" followed by "...only RTD didn't do it very well." See: Lucy being clever; the bit where Donna -- all right, mostly Wilf, but also Donna -- is at the center of a weird complicated web of coincidences; and maybe that's it and my ego needs to shut up, but still. Mostly it makes me want to write MORE FIC.)
Genuinely good bits, by the way, included most of the stuff with Wilf or Donna, and the scene in the cafe where the Doctor almost broke down crying. Personally I don't think that he should be allowed to learn his lesson so damn easily, but again this is what fic is for. I also loved, loved, the scene where the Doctor and the Master are lying in the dust together, and the Doctor wants to help him, and the Master wants to laugh about how far they've fallen, and then the Doctor HEARS THE DRUMS, and they are not a metaphor for madness but something ACTUALLY IN THE MASTER'S HEAD (hey I think I've read that fic), and I may have gouged holes in my knees with my fingernails, I was clutching my legs so hard in joy.
I am excited for Timothy Dalton and all his Time Lords (I AM SO EASY FOR TIME LORDS OMGGGG), and for the bit where Donna and Wilf better save the world, and for the bit where deep in my heart I am harboring a secret fervent wish that [a] the invisible woman following Wilf around is Romana and [b] that if this is so, RTD doesn't screw her up too badly. Meanwhile I am terrified of the rubbish billions of Masters, and of the inevitable reset button (although -- that might actually be all right, for once: if we want to return to zero we could erase the Time War, maybe? except that Moffat loves that all the Time Lords are dead, so I have not the faintest); I am also terrified that they won't have time to wrap anything up properly, let alone everything, because if there's one thing this year's specials have proved, it's that the longer the episode, the bewilderingly less economical the use of time. awkljdfs hold meee.
IN CONCLUSION IF TEN DIES IN THE MASTER'S ARMS I'LL STILL FORGIVE RUSTY EVERYTHING.
Um. Brb, I think I have to go write down preliminary fic notes and wonder whether I need to resign myself to doing another fucking virtual season over J-term. At least I only have to wait until New Year's. /o\
And then of course there was Doctor Who. I'll say this first: there were more bits I liked than actual good bits, by which I mean a lot of the plotholes and sheer wtfery are beautiful brilliant fic fodder. These things include, but are not limited to:
+ the ~mystical books of Saxon~
+ what might have happened to Lucy (because the obvious answer, "She was FUCKING AWESOME for thirty seconds and then died," is one I flatly refuse to accept in fic-land)
+ the Master's botched regeneration, which aside from his new-found abilities to leap tall buildings in a single bound and shoot lightning a la Emperor Palpatine, was an interesting concept that could have gone so many ways besides "OM NOM MEEEEAT"
On the other hand, things that are not saved by my desire to make them better in fic:
+ unexpected Obama! no, I don't know either
+ the Doctor and the Master have apparently downgraded from telepathic abilities to, um, smelling each other?
+ BILLIONS OF MASTERS IN HILARIOUS DRESSES
Speaking of billions of Masters in hilarious dresses, though, my god, for a single shining moment I hoped that the Master was going to use the healing machine thingy to heal his botched regeneration and genetically alter the human race into a new albeit confused Time Lord empire in one fell swoop. Because, for fucking serious, as evil plans go, "Turn the Doctor's favourite species into the one he desperately misses and spent most of his lives running from" is more psychologically interesting and less cracky than "Turn everyone into ME!!" Actually I think I had about five different single shining moments of "OH OH WILL THEY" and then they ... didn't, and something rubbish happened instead. At least the skull effect bothered me a lot less than I thought it would?
(Parenthetical confession, especially re: single shining moments of hope: I kept on having flashes of "omg, I called that!" followed by "...only RTD didn't do it very well." See: Lucy being clever; the bit where Donna -- all right, mostly Wilf, but also Donna -- is at the center of a weird complicated web of coincidences; and maybe that's it and my ego needs to shut up, but still. Mostly it makes me want to write MORE FIC.)
Genuinely good bits, by the way, included most of the stuff with Wilf or Donna, and the scene in the cafe where the Doctor almost broke down crying. Personally I don't think that he should be allowed to learn his lesson so damn easily, but again this is what fic is for. I also loved, loved, the scene where the Doctor and the Master are lying in the dust together, and the Doctor wants to help him, and the Master wants to laugh about how far they've fallen, and then the Doctor HEARS THE DRUMS, and they are not a metaphor for madness but something ACTUALLY IN THE MASTER'S HEAD (hey I think I've read that fic), and I may have gouged holes in my knees with my fingernails, I was clutching my legs so hard in joy.
I am excited for Timothy Dalton and all his Time Lords (I AM SO EASY FOR TIME LORDS OMGGGG), and for the bit where Donna and Wilf better save the world, and for the bit where deep in my heart I am harboring a secret fervent wish that [a] the invisible woman following Wilf around is Romana and [b] that if this is so, RTD doesn't screw her up too badly. Meanwhile I am terrified of the rubbish billions of Masters, and of the inevitable reset button (although -- that might actually be all right, for once: if we want to return to zero we could erase the Time War, maybe? except that Moffat loves that all the Time Lords are dead, so I have not the faintest); I am also terrified that they won't have time to wrap anything up properly, let alone everything, because if there's one thing this year's specials have proved, it's that the longer the episode, the bewilderingly less economical the use of time. awkljdfs hold meee.
IN CONCLUSION IF TEN DIES IN THE MASTER'S ARMS I'LL STILL FORGIVE RUSTY EVERYTHING.
Um. Brb, I think I have to go write down preliminary fic notes and wonder whether I need to resign myself to doing another fucking virtual season over J-term. At least I only have to wait until New Year's. /o\
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You have no idea the lengths I would go to encourage you to write another virtual season. There could be bribery. Or extortion.
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I'm still cool with bribery, though. :D
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Oh my god, you have no idea how hard I was trying to keep a straight face and be all "oh no bad things are happening aaahh", but but but. The DRESSES. And some of the Masters were DANCING. I couldn't control myself.
The incessant giggling did stop, though, when I saw all those fucking TIME LORDS in their ceremonial stuff with the neck things and everything a;sdlfkjslg want part two now.
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Hold me, Toni, I'm so terrified for the finale.
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*holds you*
Lucy has been to Hogwarts
The thing that made me the most uncomfortable about this episode, asides from the "NOM NOM NOMEAT" moments, was the relationship between Abigail Naismith and her father. Just...why?
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IF HE TRIES THAT, THE MASTER WILL PROBABLY EAT HIS HEAD.
I am going to make my own post about this ep when I can calm down a little from the seething hate I feel for it.
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I am curious about your seething hate! I mean, if I didn't have the giant 'OMG MUST FIC LIKE MAD TO FIX ALL OF THIS' urge, I'd probably loathe it too. But it was about on par with what I expected, and what I was expecting was incoherent rubbish with maybe one good Doctor/Master scene. So.
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I expected . . . Look, it is the worst DW episode I have ever seen, except possible "The Shakespeare Code." And I wasn't expecting brilliance! I was just expecting some semblance of coherence! And okay, I am also waaaay over-invested in the Master (lol newsflash), and I hated him in this beyond words. Coherence later when I post about it, but for now I mostly wish I weren't still the same obnoxious fourteen-year-old who couldn't cope with Giles killing Ben in the s5 finale of Buffy. SHOULD NOT CARE WHEN FICTIONAL CHARACTERS DO SHIT HE DOESN'T LIKE, AAAAAAH. /o\ But that Master was just gross and pathetic and it made me rly sad.
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And hah, well, I actually like Shakespeare Code. (My nominees for the ones I can never see again are The Idiot's Lantern, Love & Monsters, and possibly Voyage of the Damned. Which maybe you like! Who knows. WE NEVER AGREE ABOUT STUFF. :D) Meanwhile I kind of hear you re: the Master; the thing is, I ... basically always have Rusty's Master existing in my head sort of in the potential? Like, okay, we have an awesome Simm template, let's ignore the way Rusty squanders it and think up things he could do. Like: botched regeneration! COULD BE AWESOME. And yet.
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I think you have just achieved a skill I do not have, which is the ignoring canon skill! TEACH ME YOUR WAYS.
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seasonsspecials...I RP Simm's the Master over at LJ... I'm pretty sure basically any previous regeneration/version of the Master would like to disown this part of him. Crispy!Master probably takes the cake, but this is a close second.
Although I forgive him for the hobo outfit and the badly dyed hair because I do realize that he really needs to make himself as unrecognizable as possible so folk aren't all "OMG it's Harold Saxon!"
I did like Wilf, and the scene of the Doctor and him in the cafe. I'm fairly annoyed about the Doctor seemingly have a single guilt-tripping moment and then suddenly not being "Time Lord Victorious" again, but I did have a friend mention that he did take his time getting to Ood Sigma... so maybe it took him a little longer and a few more mistakes...
Did you by chance see the... 15min or so extra? It wasn't very enlightening, but there was a nice little talk about the Doctor falling and the Master catching him... hee.
*quits babbling*
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Absolutely most previous Masters would want to disown Simm!Master. Except for Crispy!Master and goosnake!Master, neither of whom would care. Which is not a ringing endorsement. XD I am ... really fond of the ridiculous bleached hair and the hoodie, though.
I imagine the Doctor did make more mistakes! And also he's clearly still panicking, which is good.
And no, I didn't see the extra fifteen minutes of which you speak! I mean, I saw the Confidential, but I don't think that's what you're talking about ...?
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The answer is apparently "Because the character is insane!" Or maybe it's actually "Because we were trying to throw you for a loop" in which case, well done, I guess.
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I do like the idea that the Master rather spontaneously decided that if he could just become the species the Doctor loves most, then the Doctor will love him most, but I'm not sure I give anyone involved that particular sort of credit.
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i'm also of the opinion that RTD's going to retcon absolutely everything he's done, possibly-maybe including the Time War, and while i'm not sure i'm liking the way he's going about it i think that makes for a wonderful, wonderful playground — for new canon and fic. so er, if you do start a fake!S6 fix-it fic i can unequivocally say that i would be all over that like The Master on chicken.
anyway, thankyou very much and happy new year and all that.
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