(no subject)

[timepiececlock]

Had a nightmare. I was trapped in a tiny, one-room motel room (with a door facing outside, at ground level), with Christopher Ecclestons' 9th Doctor and another girl who might've been a combination of two girls, a cousin and a friend, in real life. Oh, and my own little poodle Shadow, he was there too.

That wasn't the nightmare. The nightmare is that we had to barricade ourselves in because the outside world was being overrun by the zombies from 28 Days Later. Only zombie dogs tried to get in, but there were zombie people wandering around out there. All we had was a bag of junk-- a few books, two bricks, a couple rocks to throw at the zombie dogs if we should happen to have to open the door for some reason. But we had little to nothing to eat, and we were lucky only zombie dogs seem to know we were there, because you can't barricade a door well with a couple of bricks and a bed, not against a mob of fully adult zombies.

Most of the time the three of us huddled on the bed (unfortunately my cousin-friend was between me and the doctor), listening to the noise of the carnage outside and generally feeling totally overcome with abject horror about our chances of survival.

EDIT: I must say, now that I have some distance from the nightmare, I'm actually quite disappointed. Here we had an apocalyptic world-ending experience, and the Doctor was right there, and instead of fixing it we were holed up in a motel room talking about inane things and ignoring the screams and sounds of crashing stuff and ripping flesh. Why didn't he save the world, dammit?

Comments

[mswyrr]

He is better. Emotional distance is boring.

It's interesting in that it seems more genuinely alien, sort of the way Nine's obliviousness to Mickey's death made him seem alien in episode one. The way Four can care about people on an intellectual level, the level of principle, the way one cares about world-wide famin, even though one can't possibly connect emotionally with all the people who suffer from starvation the world over. He also seem to like trading quips with his little friends/companions/children/pets/whatever, and having their admiring company.

But I do love the brilliant plot twist of making the Doctor a war refugee-- the only war refugee-- as a way to force him to start connecting to people, because he really has no one else to connect to now.

And, for all his pointed comments about stupid apes, he seems to be learning to connect with people in very *human* ways. He's becoming more a product of the society/company he chooses to keep, rather than the one he was raised in, I think.

Four is more a product of Gallifrey, I think. An eccentric, rebellious Time Lord, yes, but still very much a Time Lord. I mean, what does it say about the Gallifreyans that they considered emotional distance as important as natural sciences? It paints a picture of people quite close to the way they're describe in Black & White, that Eighth Doctor fic you recced to me.

Man, that was a good fic.

You know what? Eight is a better, nicer guy too. He wouldn't brush off a companion coldly and quickly either. Nine got all his sweet disposition from Eight.

What's interesting to me is whether that was there all along? I've heard that Seventh was a rather Machiavellian guy. Did the traumatic regeneration that brought about Eight have something to do with bringing out his sweeter side? Did it break down some of the walls Emotional Detachment Class gave him? Or was it just being around humans for so long that did the trick?

One thing's for certain, I want to write Four/Sarah Jane, and I'll never be able to.

Because it's just so obvious that her love is one-sided, it's too pathetic to think about too much.

[mswyrr]

Because, his principles, his moral code, have never changed, and one has to care/be a good person in order to come up with a moral code. So, maybe that was how his kindness expressed itself before? It got through in his dedication to making the universe a better place, and his desire to get far, far away from Gallifrey, even though the more emotional aspect of it had been locked down through training. And then various experiences and spending time with humans changed his emotional landscape as well?

Did part one of Genesis get through? 'Cause I really want to hear what you think of it.

Hope I haven't prejudiced you to Four.

[mswyrr]

Ugh, I seem to be phrasing things all wonky tonight.

*blinks* *frowns*

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

part 1 got through! I just read all your lovely explanations. I'm afriad I can't think of anything to say, just nod and agree with your wondering. I wonder about that too. But you've watched a lot more than I have so I'll just go with your analysis.

[mswyrr]

I wonder about that too. But you've watched a lot more than I have so I'll just go with your analysis.

Once you've seen Genesis, if there's part of it you'd like to poke holes in, please do! I'd love to have another take on it. There's one particular scene in later parts (4? 5?) of Genesis where his actions could be read as a byproduct of his moral code or emotion for his companions, and I've read it as the first mostly, but I'm really curious to hear your thoughts on.

I realize that network concerns, writing style, etc. have all influenced the Doctor's character development, but I think decisions like the destruction of Gallifrey, and how that would shape his character, have come together with less far-sighted choices of past series to make an interesting, coherent arc.

[mswyrr]

Caveat:

A reasonably coherent character arc. Or maybe just immanently fan-wankable.