#curse of the black spot

[aletterinthenameofsanity]

New Eleven/Rory/Amy fic!

Finally posted the second update to the Eleven/Rory/Amy series! We get to see their developing relationship (and some really cute/fluffy moments), this 'verse's take on the Curse of the Black Spot, and a glimpse into Eleven's mind after everything that happened when he was Ten (aka, all of the trauma that is just going to linger until I get to really deal with it through this series)! Hope y'all enjoy!

[thematrix-theuniverseofdoctorwho]

"Doctor Who - Curse Of The Black Spot"

[notyoujamie]

Reality bleeding through.

[goldenkid]

'there's something so bad the tardis ran away' as if the tardis doesn't run away all the time. like the tardis lands feels bad vibes and fucks off till the end of the episode. one time the tardis dematerialised because she didn't like a mermaid. the stakes do not have to be high

[thefiresofpompeii]

space babies follows one of my favourite doctor who tropes: the bad guy of the episode isn’t a conscious villain at all, but a well-meaning robot or AI gone wrong with good intentions. the chula nanogenes turning everybody into gas mask zombies because they aren’t attuned to human dna and base their “healing” mechanism on the first wounded boy they encounter. repair droids gone rogue on a stranded ship chasing the brain of a 18th century french noblewoman because they’re programmed to think she’s the final piece of the puzzle. the ‘siren’ of the black spot ‘abducting’ pirates into her sickbay to cure them whereas they assume her to be monstrous.

and now — an education software system conjuring up a literal bogeyman to entertain a bunch of abandoned babies because it lost control in the absence of maintenance and wants to care for the kids as best it knows how. nobody’s to blame, nobody’s “evil”. chefs kiss.

[rapha-reads]

Some Doctor Who thoughts...

The Curse of the Black Spot (6x03): a pirate's story with a sci-fi twist, that's ultimately about Amy and Rory's love and the bond between a father and his son.

The Caretaker (8x06): a goofy classic sci-fi monster of the week, that's ultimately about the Doctor and Clara's friendship, honesty and both Clara and the Doctor's fear of being alone and misunderstood.

Midnight (4x10): a sci-fi horror story about a mimicking monster, that's ultimately about humanity's nature and the instinct of the mass to turn to violence when faced with something different they don't understand.

In The Forest of The Night (8x10): a sci-fi monster of the week story, that ultimately doesn't have any monster, but showcases the beauty of Earth, the symbiotic relationship of every living thing on the planet and why we should listen to children and trees alike.

Hide (7x09): a ghost story with a sci-fi twist, that's actually a love story across time and space and death and universes.

The Wedding of River Song (6x13): on appearance, a sci-fi story about alternate timelines, ultimately, a story about love, trust and family.

Watching all six in the same evening does something to the head. Not sure what yet. Behind the time travel and the aliens and the running and the wibbly-wobbly technical and scientific terms, it's all about love and why choosing kindness and honesty above fear and hatred is always worth it.

[cloud-hymn]

holy shit, someone who actually takes the time to think over all of Shi Wudu's struggles of being made Shi Qingxuan's protector from the young age of six and then only parent figure at the age of sixteen, working his butt off to practice cultivation and having to always be the Adult to ensure that his younger sibling could live a good life, even if he made all the worst decisions to get there.

If defending mischaracterized/misunderstood characters was a profession I would be rich. Glad I could be of service from one Shi Wudu defender to another.

[fictionalmenmistress]

I need you to HEAR me.

Same boyfriend, different font.

[justahumblememefarmer]

Ultimate Doctor Who Poll Round 1 - Matchup 15

Episode Summaries under the cut

117: Resolution - Season 11 Christmas Special: The Doctor takes Ryan, Graham, and Yaz back to Earth on New Years Day after receiving an alert. They meet two archaeologists who have unearthed a Dalek that had been trapped on Earth for hundreds of years. The Dalek, in it's natural form latches on to one of the archaeologists and controls her, forcing her to give it information on the Earth as well as build a new shell for it to inhabit. While they are formulating a plan to stop the Dalek, Ryan's father shows up, and he deals with the emotions of his father abandoning him and not showing up for his grandmother's funeral.

They track the Dalek to a communications headquarters, where it intends to send a signal to Skaro. The Doctor destroys the Daleks casing, but it escapes and latches itself to Ryan's father. They all board the Doctor and agrees to take the Dalek home, but opens the door to reveal a supernova to suck the Dalek into space. Ryan grabs onto his dad, and the Dalek is pulled off of him into space. Ryan and his dad have a heart to heart, and the Doctor takes off with her three companions.

140: The Curse of the Black Spot - Season 6, Episode 3: The Doctor, Amy, and Rory land on a pirate ship after receiving a distress call. When the pirates try to force them to walk the plank, Amy grabs a sword to fight them off. In the fight, she gives one pirate a minor cut, and Rory receives a small cut as well. Both immediately have a small black spot appear on their hand, which the pirates insist is a death sentence. A ghostly siren appears, and her singing causes the injured to act like fools, but are drawn to her. She touches one pirate, vaporizing him. The pirates reveal she has shown up to take every injured crew member, no matter the size of the injury.

They learn that she is able to appear anywhere there is still water or a reflection, so they retreat to the armory, where they discover the captain's son has stowed away, and his illness has caused him to develop a black spot. The TARDIS is taken, so they attempt to cover up all reflections, and wait for a storm to pick up so the water will be rough and they can sail away. A gold piece allows the Siren to appear and take the captain's son, and the rough seas knock Rory overboard. Realizing he'll drown, the Doctor releases the siren and allows her to take Rory. Then he, Amy, and the captain prick their fingers so that the Siren will take them as well, in hopes that they will see their loved ones again.

They are teleoported to an invisible space ship that is in the same space as the pirate ship, just out of sync. The crew have all died from human diseases. The siren is actually a holographic doctor, and her song is anaesthetic. As she does not know anything about human anatomy, the best she could do was put each patient on life support. The captain plans to stay aboard with his crew, as his son will die if taken back to Earth. Amy and the Doctor take Rory off life support, where he immediately resumes drowning, but Amy revives him, and the three leave in the TARDIS.

[adventure-showdown]

What is your favourite Doctor Who story?

ROUND 2 MASTERPOST

synopses and propaganda under the cut

The Eleventh Hour

Synopsis

After a literally explosive regeneration, the brand new Eleventh Doctor survives a crash-landing to Earth. However, he has little time to recover. With a mysterious crack in a little girl's wall and a missing alien prisoner, the Doctor is in for an adventure. However, with the TARDIS damaged and the sonic screwdriver destroyed, can the Doctor capture the rogue alien before its jailers burn Earth to a crisp?

Propaganda

Omg i love this ep so much.  It was the absolute perfect way to introduce the new doctor to the show; Matt had some big shoes to fill after David but he did so perfectly in this episode.  All of the other doctors I had to get used to, and I especially thought I’d have to following my fav ten, but i immediately fell in love with 11 with this episode. I also feel like this was a great plot overall and I loved both Amy and Rory in it. (@lavenderlace16 )

The Curse of the Black Spot

Synopsis

The TARDIS is marooned onboard a 17th century pirate ship whose crew is being attacked by a mysterious and beautiful sea creature. Becalmed and beset by cabin fever, the pirates have numerous superstitious explanations for the Siren's appearance. The Eleventh Doctor has other ideas, but as his theories are disproved and every plan of escape is thwarted, he must work to win the trust of the implacable Captain Henry Avery and uncover the truth behind the pirates' supernatural fears — and he must work quickly, for some of his friends have already fallen under the Siren's spell.

Propaganda

I don’t understand why nobody else seems to like the curse of the black spot, its so fun, is it the best episode ever, no, but I like it when Doctor Who gets silly with it (anonymous)

[nortism]

doctor who liveblog pt 31

s6 ep3 the curse of the black spot

- fuck yeah pirate episode

- love that amy has to put the hat on before she could rescue rory and the doctor

- uh oh rory

- the black spot like in horrible histories

- uh oh eye patch lady

- classic tale of greed

- uh oh rory

- ayyy he’s back

- always almost dying with this guy

- 18th century pirates on a space ship, this rules

s6 ep4 the doctor’s wife

- OOD!!

- i thought we weren’t allowed to leave the universe

- he better not marry the human tardis, that better not be where this going

- NEIL GAIMAN?! what are you doing in my falafel?!

- oh god he kissed the tardis

- nom

- what is he doing

- jfc rory turned into colin morgan at the end of merlin

- he is the pretty one

- aww the old control room

- rip the tardis

s6 ep5 the rebel flesh and s6 ep6 the almost people

- didn’t liveblog bc i was watching it with my friend who hasn’t seen doctor who. we both agreed that in their positions we simply would have befriended our clones

- crazy plot twist at the end

[waffliesinyoface]

doctor who needs more companions who aren't Standard British Woman From London. im not saying to do away with them entirely, but it's more fun when you've got a completely different perspective.

[mokutone]

here's some recent flubs + failures from the past month!

[khruschevshoe]

Being a true galaxy-brained Doctor Who fan is hitting the epiphany that every showrunner had their strengths and their weaknesses and their own interpretations of the Doctor and you can like or dislike any aspect of any showrunner and acknowledge their genuine mistakes/bad choices/yikes decisions (such as racism, sexism, homophobia, questionable undertones, lack of agency for female characters, etc.) and it is COMPLETELY VALID to have that turn you off of a Doctor/showrunner but also acknowledge that some of the things that people have considered bad writing over the years are often personal preference (valid opinion, not always valid fact) and that just as there are clunkers in every season, there's something to appreciate about every showrunner and every Doctor.

After all, "The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice versa, the bad things don't always spoil the good things and make them unimportant."

[capovrich]

Enamorada estoy 🤍😍

[variousqueerthings]

you know what, I actually quite like Curse Of The Black Spot

maybe the reason M*ffat kept returning to over-complicating Stuff was because people didn't give enough credit to a simple plot every once in awhile. this is a good breather! I like breathing! (you know who else likes breathing? Rory Williams)

sexism rank objectification (female character is ogled/harassed/turned into a sex joke by the doctor and/or a lead we’re supposed to root for and/or the camera): 7/10

sexism rank plot-point (lead female character is only there to serve plot, not to have her emotional interiority explored): 8/10

interesting complex or pointlessly complex (does the complexity serve the narrative or does it just serve to be confusing as a stand-in for smart, this includes visually): 9/10

furthers character and/or lore and/or plot development (broader question that ties into the previous ones, at least two of these, ideally three should be fulfilled): 6/10

companion matters (the companion doesn’t always have to be there, but if the companion is there, can they function without the doctor– and overall per season how often is the companion the focus or POV of the story): 8/10

the doctor is more than just “godlike” (examines the doctor’s flaws and limitations, doesn’t solve a plot by having it revolve entirely around the doctor’s existence): 10/10

doesn’t look down on previous doctor who (by erasing or mocking its importance, by redoing and “bettering” previous beloved plotpoints or characters, etc.): 6/10

isn’t trying to insert hamfisted sexiness (m*ffat famously talked a lot about how dw should be sexier multiple times, he sucks at writing it): 9/10

internal world has consistency (characters have backgrounds, feel rooted in a place with other people, generally feel like they have Lives): 8/10

Politics (how conservative is the story): 7/10

FULL RATING: 79/100 (if I can count….)

This is so funny, this is the highest M*ffat-era rated episode so far! and all you had to do was give Amy a sword and put Rory in jeopardy! Knocked the others out of the water (the water, get it? Pirate episode)

OBJECTIFICATION: I knocked it down a little point, juuuust because I think the casting and dressing of Lily Cole, because the pirates are meant to think this is a siren, is a bit of a reach

like I get it, she's meant to seem "sirenesque" but sirenesque could've been something incredibly non-human-looking, or a confused amalgamation of human-looking ooorrrr... like I see what they were trying to do here, but I think they could have been way more interesting than just "hot woman"

(notice though, Amy is finally free from this point! yes, she's actually not suuuper practically dressed, but it's a bit of a changeup in this season + she gets a longcoat)

PLOT-POINT: so this isn't a big "interiority" episode as suuuuch, but! but but but! we get more Amy/Rory that I actually enjoy!

we get Amy being possibly a tad jealous (although I think it was also a joke on her part) that hypnotised!Rory called the siren beautiful, and we get her being incredibly worried for his well-being

this is kind of like the flipside to the last episode (+ several episodes in s5) where it felt like it was heavily centred on Rory's concern for Amy, and yes, there was Amy's Choice, there was Cold Blood, but that's not concern, that's like... Dead dead Rory. he dies, there's nothing she can actually do other than be like "yo that was traumatic"

I think this Concern is more powerful to their relationship, than Death -- because I wasn't seeing the Concern much in s5, on Amy's side, and on Rory's it often felt quite... patronising.. in the way it was written

SO! like yeah, they're cute now. I know she has to sign a thing to show she's willing to sign him out and the episode ending kind of hinges on that, still don't think they're married yet in my internal "I'm changing the pacing" timeline. spins the "make up new hinge" wheel and goes she says she's married and Rory is like "yo you said we were married, that's so cool" (flipside to Vampires of Venice where they were engaged and she said he was her brother)

yeah, I like that

COMPLEXITY: It's super simple. there's a supposed siren that's after some pirates, except now we investigate and woops, she's actually a space!nurse-program who thought they were all dying, and now the pirates are flying through space

it's cute

CHARACTERS/LORE/PLOT: the aforementioned Amy and Rory dynamic is the main thing

also that mysterious woman in a hatch again... hmmm.... and the episode also semi-pointlessly reminds us that Amy is still schrödinger's pregnant

I also quite liked that Amy had a flashback to the Doctor dying, that weighs on her. we enjoy a bit of weighing. some things should weigh

COMPANIONS MATTER: AMY!!!!!! LOOK AT HER!!!!! SHE'S TAKEN TO THE HOLD and you're going "oh no, another thing where Amy is put aside and the Doctor saves things and then she gets let out again," but NO, she finds a sword, dons a longcoat and hat, and fights a bunch of pirates! good fun!

and then the Doctor asks her, shall we do this, you okay with that and it's her emotional connection to Rory that drives the plot forwards, and then she saves Rory's life

Rory is mostly there to damsel for once, and it's fine, because Amy has needed this her entire run, while Rory needs to understand that Amy cares about him

“GODLIKE” DOCTOR: useless bench, as is occasionally what's needed! like, still useful in some ways, but mainly just going "ah yeh, I was wrong last time." also a bit of a contrast to Vincent and the Doctor, where his not figuring shit out led to a creature being accidentally killed and there wasn't a lot done with that

PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO: it's not Low, it's just like... yeah, doesn't matter in this one, it's fine. Pirates

“SEXINESS”: YOU KNOW WHAT I APPRECIATE? I APPRECIATE THAT NOBODY MADE A JOKE ABOUT AMY BEING A SEXY PIRATE! OR AMY MAKING A JOKE ABOUT FUTURE ROLEPLAY AS A PIRATE! YOU'D THINK THIS WOULD BE A LOW BAR, BUT IT COULD HAVE HAPPENED YOU KNOW IT COULD!

INTERNAL WORLD: simple. pirates. son stowaway. now, space pirates.

POLITICS: um. pirates? knocked it down a bit for the monogamy and aforementioned boring Siren who's just like... hot

FULL RATING: 79/100 (if I can count….)

So this episode is strong in that it's finally giving Amy perspective! and feelings that are about her, not about how others feel about her feelings! and a sword!

it's weaker in the story itself, especially the design of the creature-of-the-weak, and it's absolutely a simple little episode. In the grand scheme of Doctor Who it's not the Bestest Most Badass Episode Of All Time, but I think it's underrated, especially since it ends on Space Pirates and Amy has a sword