AND LAST OF S5: THE BIG BANG
Soooooo I don't dislike it. All the kid!Amy stuff I really really like even!
but does it stick the landing?
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, or having her emotional agency ignored by the plot): 5/10
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): 6/10
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): 7/10
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): 3/10
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): 5/10
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): 5/10
internal world has consistency (characters have backgrounds, feel rooted in a place with other people, generally feel like they have Lives): 6/10
Politics (how conservative is the story): 6/10
FULL RATING: 56/100 (if I can count….)
Better than Pandorica Opens!
OBJECTIFICATION: Not too bad, good start. Amy is wearing (most of the time) the same outfit as last episode, and River is also just vibing
PLOT-POINT: This episode is ostensibly all about Amelia Pond's first Moment with the Doctor as an eye of the storm, and I like that
but Amy never really talks about it or does anything related to it. she does have a bit where she says she doesn't regret their journeying, but for some reason she's the main person who never really seems to... feel anything about it, like actually this genuinely was sorted back in end episode 1 for her
and the whole purpose of her having had this encounter is to bring the Doctor back from non-existence. there's a version of this story, where Amy's conflicted feelings about being abandoned, and even tbh about marriage are at the centre of the conflict
River is just there to be mysterious, you'll see later what's going on with her... maybe...
COMPLEXITY: A lot of forwards and backwards in time and the Tardis is exploding and we still don't know why, in the end they're baaasically running through a museum and the Doctor hooks himself up to the Pandorica and yeets himself into the heart of the storm
It's not egregious/it's possible to follow... there are unanswered questions.....
I also think it's hilarious that after all that supposed set-up, Rory just... takes him out of the box again. Into the box and out of the box
CHARACTERS/LORE/PLOT: I need to ruminate on this a bit. getting married as plot is not a bad thing. I'm not a massive fan of the Amy/Rory romance and how it progressed (mainly because it mostly didn't and then suddenly shifted into a slightly different parallel universe where they're madly in love), so I'm not sold on Amy's adultness being centred in marriage
but this is not only a M*ffat thing. this show is very based in alloromance. it's just whether it makes sense that Amy... wants this... or if the plot just decided that now she does
do I think characters got closer? kinda yeah. Amy and Rory are married now, even though Rory is still characterised as permanently unsure of where he stands with Amy's "moods" (angry moods, sexual moods, sad moods, etc)
Rory: Are you okay?
Amy: Are you?
Rory: No
Amy: Well shut up then!
I was kinda struck by how venomous she was at him, and then they hug and it's fine, but that's kind of what it feels like between them a lot of the time
Amy: are you just saying yes, because you’re scared of me?
Rory:... yep
anyway, it changes things for the next season perhaps, now they are firmly married and not in the "will Amy or won't she" boat
and the Doctor came to the wedding! didn't disappear when he was called!
there is plot To Come that is set up... why did the Tardis explode? what is the Silence?
COMPANIONS MATTER: they're there for most of it, there's this whole backstory of Rory protecting the Pandorica for 2000 years, which is the basis of Rory and Amy now being this epic romance, and taken on its own it's pretty cool
Amy is there to experience things happening, so that she can remember it later on, and then she gets married, because in the end all of s5 is centred around the Marriage Of The Ponds and Amy learning that she can grow up (get married) and have adventures with the Doctor and those things don't cancel each other out
the Doctor does things and they all follow
“GODLIKE” DOCTOR: eh, the Doctor solves everything and everyone's just tagging along, but I like the "we're all just stories in the end" bit. the Doctor is also just a story
PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO: not much of previous Doctor Who in this so... not terrible technically
“SEXINESS”: Why is Amy doing her whole "I'm gonna snog the Doctor" schtick? There's this bit also where she and Rory make out for ages and the camera lingers on it, because now they're passionate lovers, and fine, I guess, it's not the worst thing M*ffat has done
I am deciding to add River's whole... making the Dalek say Mercy. it's kind of a fantasy badass moment where she's being badass with a gun
and here I'm unsure whether to put Amy making Rory afraid or not, because it's definitely a M*ffat fantasy, but it also relates to Amy's whole... why this a good relationship? anyway. we'll put it here, because I'm sleepy, fuckit
Amy sauntering up to the Doctor and saying "We haven’t even had a snog in the shrubbery yet" is unfortunately just. it's in my brain
INTERNAL WORLD: we've met Amy's aunt! in that other world where the stars don't exist and the Universe is ending. and we've met Amy's parents! (wonder if we'll see them again)
it's kind of rebuilding things after episode 1 already gave us something of her life, but none of those character reappear. it's also hard not to know what comes next, which is.... nothing with any of this
especially considering Amy not remembering her parents is presented as a Big Deal in this episode, so her life is now straightened out (I was going to say normalised or returned to the ideal status quo, and realised all three of these are hiding the truth, which is that Amy's life is normative now -- she got married at last, and she has two parents like Normal)
POLITICS: Nothing much one way or another in this
FULL RATING: 56/100 (if I can count….)
I think this episode is defined by being not the worst of the season. It's strongest suit is not being super offensive, but it's also not extraordinary. Its weakness is in the companions again. Are they there to experience the Doctor doing cool stuff, or are they there to have narratives centred around them? How does Amy feel about her entire existence being bait? About being helpless to do anything in this whole thing that revolves in some way around her memories? she just kind of bounces into whatever the plot needs someone to do, never being particularly affected by what came before
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very excited to announce this!!!!
envy, wrath, sloth, gluttony, greed, lust, ao3
this is part one of what will be the
Seven Deadly Sins Series (NSFW 18+)
pride (noun) - inordinate esteem for one’s own excellence. It is a habit or vice that disposes us to think more of ourselves than we ought.
The Hair.
King Steve.
Pretty Boy.
Steve is no stranger to objectification. He’s well acquainted with the way girls blush and giggle when he smiles their way in the halls. The way guys seem to puff out their chests when they speak to him.
In fact, his physical appearance has become so much a part of who he is at this point that he’s probably single-handedly keeping Farrah Fawcett spray on shelves across the nation.
But the thing about being naturally attractive, Steve learned the hard way, is that humility is what really gets under people’s skin.
Blushes go pinker when his response to a giggly “You look handsome today, Steve,” is looking at his shoes with a quiet, “What, this? Thank you.”
Other boys look less ready to throw a punch or an insult his way when they sprinkle their gametime trash-talk with “Pretty Boy” and “King Steve” if he just laughs and keeps playing.
Humility is what really does it.
For most people.
In the past few months he’s been dating Eddie Munson though, he’s realized there’s one exception.
It's not that Steve doesn’t think he’s attractive. It’s not that at all. He knows he’s good looking, spends an inordinate amount of time making sure he highlights it daily. Loves it about himself actually.
He doesn’t usually let people know that he knows, is the thing.
But Eddie loves when he’s vain.
Loves the way he primps in the mirror before they go out.
How he spins around to make sure his best assets are on display.
Steve’s honestly lost count of the number of times he’s been talking to himself in the bathroom, staring at his reflection saying “Damn, I look good in this outfit,” before arms are snaking around his waist and squeezing at his hips. A gravelly, “Fuck yeah you do,” in his ear.
That’s why, with a Herculean effort, Steve pulls himself away from Eddie’s lips where he’s in his lap on his couch.
They’re both breathing heavy, lips swollen, and eyes glassy. But Steve has an idea.
He rubs his thumbs over Eddie’s cheeks and breathes a laugh when he turns to nip at one of them. Can’t help but to lean in and kiss him again.
“Can we try something, baby?” He whispers into the barely there space between them.
Feels Eddie nod and hands grip at his thighs.
“Anything you want, Stevie.”
He trails a hand back to tangle in Eddie’s curls and shifts to bite at his ear and whisper, “Want you to fuck me in front of the mirror. Wanna watch.”
When Eddie pulls back from him it’s with a wicked smirk and eyes darker than Steve’s ever seen. He bucks Steve up and off and smacks him on the ass when he turns to leave.
“Yeah baby. Let's go watch how pretty you are.”
He knows his smile is blinding when he laughs back over his shoulder.
*****
Steve always thinks he’s hot, but he thinks he’s prettiest when he’s kneeling and sitting back on his boyfriend’s dick with tear streaks down his cheeks and drool down his chest.
He’s so spacey, and so stuffed full that he’d agree with almost anything Eddie said.
Currently it's a litany of, “Look at you baby, you’re so hot,” and “My sweet baby. Prettiest angel,” and “Look how pretty you are, huh,” with every punch of his hips and bite to the side of his neck.
Between Steve’s punched out breaths and whines he’s nodding. “Mhm. ‘M the prettiest. So pretty when I cry.”
His agreements have Eddie groaning and wrapping the hand not digging into his hip around the front of his neck and dragging him backward into a bruising kiss.
He’s smiling and Steve can feel him laugh when he whimpers against his mouth. “Tell me about it baby. Tell me what’s pretty.”
Gasps from deep in his chest when Eddie wraps his hand around his cock and tugs.
“Tell me.”
Steve whines once and squirms under the attention. Loves it.
“My eyes,” he gasps. Eddie hums from behind him and slows his hips to a deep grind. “My eyes look really green when I’m crying. I like them.”
A soft kiss dropped to his shoulder and two sets of eyes on him in the mirror.
“My hair. Like it when– when it's messy,” a hiccup and eyes squeezed shut when Eddie shifts inside him just right. “Like when it’s messy from your hands.”
He slides his own hands up his thighs and squeezes at the hand Eddie still has against his hip.
He meets his own gaze in the mirror and his face breaks into a smile as his chest heaves.
“Like my lips when they’re swollen. People can tell I just kissed you. Want ‘em to know.”
In a second Eddie’s got a palm flat against his back and has his shoulders shoved down into the carpet, his head twisted to see himself.
He knows he’s falling fast because he giggles when Eddie grips at his hips and pulls him back onto his dick. Giggles even more when Eddie looks up at him in the mirror and smirks when he pushes in deep.
“Pretty when I’m ass up for you,” he smiles and his eyes finally stray away from his own reflection to meet his boyfriends gaze, fucked out and cocky.
Eddie lands a sharp smack to his ass and squeezes. “Hell yeah you are baby. So pretty when you’re on my dick.”
One of his hands slides up Steve’s spine and presses down on the back of his neck and pulls a gasp from his lungs.
“But you know what baby?”
Steve hums with his eyes locked on the way his ass bounces with each meeting of Eddie’s hips.
The hand snakes back around to tug at his cock again and he knows it won’t take much more when Eddie grits out “Prettiest when you come for me.”
His legs shake and he lets out a high whine as he spurts into Eddie’s hand.
“That’s it angel. God you feel so good, Stevie,” is all Eddie can get out before Steve feels his hips stutter and his breath leave him in low groan.
Steve knows he’s attractive is the thing.
Knows he’s pretty and loves it.
People tell him all the time.
But one of his favorite things to hear is when he’s coming down from his orgasm high, his boyfriend lists the things he finds prettiest.
“Your smile.”
“Your laugh.”
“Your heart.”
“The way you love people.”
“The way you love me.”
“The prettiest is the way you love yourself.”
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And so we watch The Big Bang, and it opens back with… Amy! Amy is once again the POV character, hello Amy! or rather, Amelia!
We also finally meet Amelia’s aunt Sharon (I believe this is the only episode she's in)
The entire opening is following this kid and it’s fun, and there’s this thing called the Pandorica and she receives a mysterious leaflet for a museum (the British one? If they travelled into London I guess), so as an intrepid kid does, she goes to investigate
this is such a companion Thing. the curiosity, the mystery, except of course we already know it's the Doctor and who Amy is, so it's a slightly different mystery to usual
and then the Pandorica opens and... AMY'S inside!
I really like this opening. Amelia/Amy has done more in this opening to be important to plot through her own actions than most of the rest of this season
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