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hotdog-frenchfries · 4 years

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13 meeting some of her previous companions? Maybe Amy and Rory? 😊

Thank you so much! Ik it's not perfect and it might not be what you were expecting, but here you go:

“Doctor! What’s happening?” Yaz yelled, grabbing onto the TARDIS control console, as the TARDIS hurtled its way through space. “The TARDIS is taking us somewhere.” The Doctor shouted, scrambling to her feet. “Where?” Yaz cried. “I’m not sure. She obviously thinks we’re needed somewhere.” Confused, the Doctor attempted to get to the console, as the floor shifted, pulling her to the ground again. Gradually, the TARDIS halted to a stop. The Doctor slowly got up and made her way to the door, with Yaz following her. She poked her head round the door. They were on the roof of an old, abandoned hotel in the middle of the night. The wind was blowing fiercely, making her long coat fly out from behind her. Carefully, the Doctor made her way to the edge of the roof. In front of her, she could see tall skyscrapers looming from the streets. They were in New York in 1940. This city was filled with so many memories: she recalled climbing up the Empire State Building with Ian, Barbara and Vicki, defeating the Cult of Skaro with Martha and teaming up with Lucy and Grant aka The Ghost to battle Shoal of the Winter Harmony with Nardole. Most recently, she had met Nikola Tesla with Yaz, Ryan and Graham and ended up fighting the Skithra. However, no matter how many adventures she had in this city, New York would always be a painful reminder of the night she had lost the Ponds to the Weeping Angels. It just so happened that the TARDIS had brought them to the very hotel where Amy and Rory were being held. 1940, that meant they had been trapped for two years. Why had the TARDIS brought her here? Were the Ponds in danger? “Doctor,” The sound of Yaz’s voice jolted her out of her reverie. “Are we in New York? What year is this?” The Doctor turned to her quickly. “Yaz, listen to me. We are in New York, in the year 1940. I’ve been to this hotel before, with some friends, only it was in 1938, and they didn’t make it back with me. I need you to stay close to me. I can’t lose you too. This hotel is guarded by Weeping Angels, one of the most dangerous species in the universe. They take the form of stone statues and are quantum-locked, which means that they can only move when unseen. But they’re extremely fast, which is one of the reasons they’re so dangerous. If you see a statue, any statue, don’t turn your back and don’t blink.” Yaz nodded. Although, she rarely mentioned them, Yaz knew that the Doctor had lost many close to her before she had started travelling with her. Part of her wished that the Doctor would open up to her, Yaz knew better than to open up old wounds, but she couldn’t stand how the Doctor blamed herself for all the deaths, especially when she had done so much to save others. She was often reminded that one day, Yaz too could get herself hurt or killed, whilst travelling with the Doctor, but she knew the risks and that she would never leave the Doctor, if she could help it. “Why did the TARDIS bring us here?” Yaz asked. “I don’t know. I think that my friends, the ones I lost, might be in danger.” The Doctor answered. “We need to get inside the hotel.” “You mean, they’re still alive?” Yaz responded, confused. It wasn’t like the Doctor to abandon her friends when they could still be saved. She wondered what had happened at this hotel. “The Angels rarely kill. Instead, once they get close to you, they send you back in time and feast upon your time energy like parasites. I did try to save them – the Ponds – my friends, however the Angels got them in the end. To save them would have created a time paradox, and they told me not to risk it.” “Tell me about them, the Ponds.” Yaz asked. “They were a couple – Amy and Rory. Amy was brave and kind and adventurous. She was determined, she would rarely give up on anything, she put her mind to. Rory was honest and compassionate and protective. He had so much empathy, and would never have abandoned anyone. They were so loyal and would have gone to the ends of the Earth for each other. One time, Amy was trapped in this box called the Pandorica and Rory protected her for 2000 years. It was only supposed to be Rory trapped in this hotel, but Amy refused to let him be trapped alone.” The Doctor smiled sadly. “Anyway, enough stories, we need to find a way into this hotel.”. Carefully, Yaz and the Doctor climbed down the stairs on the side of the hotel, until the Doctor told Yaz to stop at a certain floor. Using her sonic screwdriver, the Doctor opened the window and crawled through, Yaz following her. They had ended up in a corridor of doors. On each door was a name, Yaz assumed that each door led to a hotel room, where each of the Weeping Angel’s victims were being held captive. “We need to find the door labelled Rory Williams.” The Doctor told Yaz, as they crept through the corridor, glancing at each door. “It’s here.” Yaz gestured to one of the doors. Silently, the Doctor opened the door. “Who’s there?” A female voice with a Scottish accent asked, making Yaz jump. “Amy?” the Doctor breathed. “Who are you and how do you know my wife’s name?” a male voice asked. The lights suddenly turned on. Yaz could see a tall, pretty woman, a couple of years older than herself, with long red hair and dark hazel eyes, standing behind a man, about the same age, with light brown hair and eyes. The Doctor’s face broke into a huge smile, Yaz couldn’t remember the last time she had seen the Doctor this happy. “Amy, Rory, it’s me! I’m the Doctor!” “You’re not the doctor,” the man, who Yaz assumed was Rory, said. “For one, you’re a woman.” “Of course, regeneration, I have a new face. Please Ponds, it is me!” The Doctor turned to Amy. “Amy, my TARDIS crashed into your garden when you were a child. You were praying for Santa to fix the crack in your wall. You invited me in and we ate fish fingers and custard! Rory, you used to think I was just Amy’s imaginary friend, the Raggedy Doctor. Then I came back, and we got Prisoner Zero back into its prison. I haven’t seen you since you were captured by the Weeping Angels, but now I’ve come back. I know I look different but I am the Doctor!” Amy stepped forwards from behind Rory. “Doctor, it is you!” she cried, running up to her and giving the Doctor a hug. The Doctor’s smile grew, it felt so good to be back with the Ponds! “Who is she” asked Rory, gesturing to Yaz. “Oh, of course!” The Doctor let go of Amy and moved so the Ponds could see Yaz properly. “This is Yaz, we travel together. She helped me to get inside the hotel and find you.” Yaz waved shyly. “Hi. I’ve heard so much about you.” “Hi Yaz, thank you for looking after the Doctor.” Amy smiled friendlily and Rory nodded gratefully. The Doctor rolled up her sleeve to reveal a vortex manipulator. “Who wants to go on a trip?” “Is that possible, Doctor? What about the Angels?” asked Amy. “Don’t worry about them. Come along Ponds and Yaz!” answered the Doctor. Together, the Doctor, Yaz, Amy and Rory journeyed across time and space, visiting famous people and old friends, such as Queen Nefititi and the Paternoster gang and planets such as New Earth and Akhaten. However, like all journeys, it had to come to an end and Yaz and the Doctor had to say goodbye to Amy and Rory. “Before we go, do you know, if River is safe?” Amy asked the Doctor, part of her afraid of the answer. “She is saved to the largest database in the universe, with her friends. I’m sorry, I couldn’t do more, but I promise you River is safe and that she is happy” answered the Doctor, quietly. “The last time I saw her I took her to the Singing Towers of Daryllium and we were together for 24 years. She’s safe, but it’s impossible for me to see her again.” “Thank you, Doctor. Thank you for looking after her for us. I know it must be so painful for you, as it is for us, but thank you for making sure she’s safe.” Rory responded, his voice breaking. “I’m sor-” the Doctor began. “Don’t be,” Amy said, softly. “We know you must have done everything you could have done. That’s all we could have asked of you.” Yaz hung back as the Doctor said her farewells. She had enjoyed her journey with the Ponds but she knew it would be hard for the Doctor, leaving them again. Amy and Rory came towards her. “Look after her for us, please.” Amy said, her voice low. “I will.” Yaz promised. “I’m so glad I met you both.” They hugged, for the last time. The Doctor made her way to the TARDIS. She already felt the Ponds’ absence, but she was glad she had spent this time with them. Since the Master had revealed to her about her past, that she was the Timeless Child, she had been feeling confused and angry about how the Time Lords had used her, but seeing the Ponds and introducing them to Yaz, had made her feel a lot better. She wondered why the TARDIS had brought her here. Her conversation with Idris echoed in her mind. “You didn’t always take me where I wanted to go.” “No, but I always took you where you needed to go.” Perhaps the TARDIS had known that a part of her had needed to see the Ponds again.

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drummingncise · 5 years

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ryker do you EVER think before you speak

alright.... so. back in 2014ish when i was still sort of active on my timelord bbc moriarty blog i decided to make a blog for the master, because why not, right? i was already playing one evil mastermind, another couldn't hurt.

so back then, when my url was masterofyourrace, alan cumming was the fc i picked out for a post-simm master. i think i was just coming off of a month-long grounding where all i had to occupy myself with was watching the last of the timelords eps on on-demand and felt pretty okay with the master's characterization. (i'd previously watched the utopia arc, dw) (though this could be wrong and might actually have been why i decided to make jim a fobwatched timelord named the spider)

and then uhhhhh. idk what happened. i lost muse, i guess? and i decided to delete the blog to use the email for another chara, probs an oc. i'd also put jim on hiatus bc i kind of lost muse for him too.

and that was the end of alan cumming master.

and then came august of last year. (wow, realised that this blog is a year old already, holy shit) i was two weeks shy of starting my second year of college (which didnt go well, thanks to depression and unchecked add), vaguely active on my sirius black blog and thinking "hey, i miss playing the master" because of an incredible fanfic i read, which is linked on my verses page under "v: you are not alone".

so what do i do? i rewatch all of simms episodes to regain muse, remember that i used alan c as a regeneration, and shit devolves from there.

i decide to move alan's place around on the master's timeline, make him an alt jacobi/pre-simm master (bc there are not that many resources for jacobi) and start watching the good wife, because i love alan c.

then, i find out that alan c is scottish, and i fall in love all over again. so i flesh him out a bit more.

alan c master is scottish. he starred in cabaret three times, and won a tony for the 98 production, just like alan c actually did. this is where the similarities stop.

for one, alan c is human and was in the spy kids movies and probably does not pine for his childhood best friend.

alan c master, however. he is helplessly in love with the doctor, is quickly heading into a war he does not want to be a part of, and hates everything about his home planet.

so he runs, so much like the doctor did. he steals a tardis, plays the emcee three times in cabaret, rouges his nips, and pines.

and then, i find out: alan c is going to be in an episode of doctor who with jodie as 13. i add that episode (s11 e8, the witchfinders) to his timeline.

the last time the master had seen the doctor, he was attempting to throw him into the eye of harmony after killing the two humans that got involved. (aka the 1996 movie.)

after regaining a body (through being a weird slime snake thing and hijacking another timelord's body. the previous inhabitant of the body's mind was completely gone, idk why.), he visits his daughter on gallifrey, picks up this awful 4:4 beat in his head, becomes a diplomatic emissary between the time lords and the daleks, because he's the worst of the time lords and he'd make an impressive dalek, and sustains several bumps and scrapes and maybe a few laser gun wounds.

now, he's only a little bit war-weary, suffering from the drums where he hadn't before (thanks to timey wimey shit ill never be able to explain coherently. basically it boils down to "the classic masters didnt mention the drums so they must not have had them, and also since it was heavily implied that the gallifreyan council put them in his head (during the war, after giving him a new set of regens) to use as a signal, he shouldn't have them until he goes through the war, so he doesnt.") and sees the doctor, full of hope, and sadness, and blonde and a woman and he realises once again just how madly in love with them he is. (the blonde reminds him too much of a young boy he used to run through fields with, a boy whose mother's photo album he stole and now keeps on his tardis, locked tightly and far away from any prying eyes)

(tangent: 13 is the only doctor that is shorter than any of the masters.)

so maybe he flirts with ryan sinclair to piss the doctor off, even though she doesn't realise who he is, and plays the part of king james 1 very, very well.

(another tangent: is 13 blonde and a woman because of rose? more at 11.)

and he decides "fuck the war" and picks up a human companion, parker james (my oc over @pjsuper), to travel with.

he hasn't yet watched his daughter die, hasn't yet lost his capacity for love and forgiveness, and just wants to see his friend again.

so getting to see 13 again in 17th century lancashire really helps his mood.

however, the war catches up to him. he manipulates it in his favor, before eventually getting killed and gifted a new set of regenerations in exchange for helping gallifrey win the war.

he doesn't hold up his end of the bargain, too pissed off at finally having the chance to die and stay dead forcefully ripped from him, at having this 4:4 beat constantly pounding and threatening to crack his skull open, at having to watch the life fade from his daughter's eyes as she lays in his arms, unable to regenerate.

the war scars him. he's lost so much he can't even fathom it.

so he fobwatches himself into a human, runs to the end of the universe, hopes that this will be it, that he'll never have to face the horrors of war again. only to be found by the doctor and his companion, one miss martha jones, and he's given a new life. one born out of anger and hurt and betrayal and loss, and he blames everything on gallifrey, and the doctor, and nothing will change his mind about it.

until "get out of the way," which fills him with hope once more. he gets sucked back into the war, trapped and tortured until he can escape, and regenerates into missy. (that trapped and tortured hc comes straight from ty over on the dw rp discord server, because i adore it and ty's master.)

with missy comes the kiss they've waited thousands of years to give, and "two hearts. and both of them yours" and a fractured friendship starting to finally heal, until it's brutally cut short by a knife in the back and a regeneration back into a man, who's fc is alan van sprang.

alan van sprang master i haven't gotten the chance to flesh out as well yet, but i want to.

#i know you dont think ever but im asking anyway #its 3:30 am and i really shouldnt be using my data but fuck my dad actually #because i couldnt stop thinking abt this ask even tho ryker is a hot mess who loves to torture me #i wrote all of this on my phone so its not in any way formatted the way i usually like to #but ill fix it when i have a stable wifi connection on monday #v: pre-war

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chaosandblueeyes · 5 years

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Doctor Who || Drabble

Characters: Rassilon, the Doctor, the Master

Overall Plot: Rassilon plots to finally free Gallifrey from the time lock the Doctor placed upon it; not entirely comfortable on hedging his bets on just the Master.

Potential Triggers: Death

Word Count: 1,350

Doctor Two

Rassilon stood in his embroidered robes, staring out a circular window with his hands folded behind his back. His hawkish eyes gazed beyond the steeled glass and the skyline of the city and toward the energy shield that protected the capitol. He couldn’t see the piles of wrecked ships but he knew they were there. Dalek saucers and Time Lord war machines were scattered like trash and littered the Gallifreyan landscape. The once beautiful red grasslands were a frozen graveyard. Silver leaved trees that dotted the land were scarred and broken from the battle for the world. He could imagine the winds that were once rustling the last few leaves.

But everything lay still. Not even a breeze rustled what leaves remained. The entire planet was trapped in a singular moment in time. The Time Lords were trapped by that which they had dominion over; time itself.

The First Lord President fought hard to keep control over Gallifrey over the ages. He opened a black hole within the Eye of Harmony to grant limitless gravitational energy to his people. He invented the Matrix, the sophisticated computer network that bound their technology together. He conquered what was to become the shining jewel in the universe, creating their home world. Rassilon meant to rule for eternity. He built the Time Lords from nothing and his will was constantly being questioned.

First it was from the earliest of his associates, now the people themselves were questioning his right to rule. They were quietly questioning his sanity.

Silently he seethed with anger. Rage that was directed toward the one who had locked Gallirey into that single point in time, forever freezing them between time and space to halt a war that the Time Lords didn’t start but one that Rassilon was damned determined to finish.

Already the key to unlock their prison was working his way to bring about the return of Gallifrey. The Master. The Master had been destroyed, but he had been reborn through that which the Matrix contained. It contained knowledge of every Time Lord, every device, every instant of their reality. It was a simple thing really, creating a new Master. The Gallifreyan Time Lords were all generated in birthing capsules, their very DNA having been reconstructed by Rassilon himself so they might feel the sway of the universe and maintain dominion over all.

And within the Master, Rassilon had placed a single beat. A sound that echoed through all the fabric of time and space, knowing that he and the other Time Lords were going to be locked away. It was a measure to thwart what was to be.

But he was not the only one who could feel all the possibilities of time. The one known as the Doctor was just as attuned to the flow of all that is, was, and ever would be. Hatred bubbled up again. He had done this to them. The Doctor had betrayed his own home world. He cast them in this hellish time lock.

Rassilon could see what would be. His creation, carrying the drumbeat of the universe, would unseal the lock around them all and the Time Lords would return. The Master was his tool. Then he would deal with the Doctor, once and for all.

That was the end he sought, but there was a dark shadow that lingered. The Doctor. He would fight to stop what was to come. The Doctor would tangle himself up in Rassilon’s web and try to stop his key from unlocking the door to this prison in time. He would try to rip carefully spun strands asunder.

And the Doctor would fail... As the President saw through the veil of reality, he saw Gallifrey emerge again. It broke through the barrier and into normal space again.

Then there was a singularity. A point in which everything stopped again. Gallifrey would never emerge.

The Doctor.

Tapping on hand on the other, it was the only outward sign of annoyance. Rassilon could see what could be. The Doctor might stop him again and the Time Lord’s constant interference was more than enough to make the Lord President consider more options.

What was the Earth saying? “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”

That thought caused him to smile. To use an Earth phrase against the one Gallifreyan who adored the silly planet that bore humanity, was immensely humorous.

Rassilon created a new Master from within the information stored in the Matrix, as a soldier to fight in the war and to carry the key. Every Time Lord had their biological data stored within their servers. He could take that data within at any time, using all that knowledge he built over the eons.

The Doctor had the habit of foiling the plans of any beings he had qualms with, and this was Rassilon’s conundrum. How did one deal with such a foe? The only one who had ever been able to stop the Doctor was the Doctor himself.

That was an interesting notion. Use the Doctor against the Doctor.

A tight smile slowly appeared on his lips. It seemed obvious. A relatively simple solution to a complex problem. Every time a Gallifreyan regenerated, all the information of their life was copied by their TARDIS and uploaded to the Matrix, as he designed it. Rassilon had everything he needed to make a new Doctor, just as he had with the Master.

Every TARDIS could move through time and space due to the Eye of Harmony, the center of which still resided on Gallifrey, which he could use to connect with the Doctor’s ship.

Yes. It was the perfect plan. He would have his very own Doctor at the ready. If his plan to break this time lock failed, he had a backup.

Everything was falling into place. Rassilon contacted engineers who were all allied with him and then all he had to do was wait...

-----

The Master lay on the floor, hovering near death. The sky was blotted out with an enormous looming red planet shifting ever closer to the Earth. The Doctor felt he had no choice. He ran his thumb over the cold steel of a revolver he held in his hand, focused his dark amber eyes on the object that was pulling his home world of Gallifrey into the same point in time and space where Earth existed. It was a single stone that connected Gallifrey to normal space. He had to stop it.

The little blue planet would be destroyed if he didn’t stop the shift.

It was at that moment Rassilon knew his initial plan had failed. The infernal Doctor had succeeded yet again as he squeezed the trigger and let the bullet fly, severing the connection. As he destroyed the link drawing the red planet into Earth’s orbit, a singularity formed at the president’s direction by the engineers tasked with one purpose.

His loyal followers linked with the Doctor’s TARDIS, drawing its information as soon as they had a clear signal. The TARDIS’s information was copied and transferred to a separate time machine that was prepared ahead and found all the memories the Doctor had downloaded into the memory of his ship some months previous.

It was far easier than they ever imagined, taking mere moments to create a duplicate Doctor with a clone they also had prepared, introduced him into a duplicate TARDIS and sent them off into space just as Gallifrey was pulled back into its time-locked location and Earth was safe for the moment. Rassilon’s scream of anger and frustration was the last anyone heard while Gallifrey vanished once more.

The Doctor never knew that as he was constructing a funeral pyre for the Master, he had a twin within the cosmos, a clone that was just opening his blue eyes and waking to find a hastily constructed and frazzled control room, a deception to make him believe that he had simply just regenerated. That second Doctor staggered to his feet, looking at the too long sleeves of his pinstripe jacket and pulled it off.

Neither were aware of the unfolding plot...

#drabble #the doctor #headcanon #headcanons #long post

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childofthefireandthestorm · 6 years

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DOCTOR: In seven hundred years no one has managed to open the Eye. How did you do it? MASTER: Simple. Lee is human, you are only half. Lee, open the Eye for me, please.

You know, for my entire life I’ve been misremembering this bit of the TV Movie. I thought the plot function of the whole “half human” bit was to explain how the Master could get access to the Eye of Harmony: the Eye is on the TARDIS and thus follows the Ship’s security settings, which are keyed around its pilot; the Master’s eyes were all snakey even after he possessed Bruce the paramedic, but he could use humans like Chang Lee or Grace to fool the TARDIS’s retinal scans because their human retinal structure is close enough to the Doctor’s own.

But looking back, this bit is clearly saying that the Doctor’s half-human eyes are inferior in opening the Eye of Harmony compared to those of a full-human, and this is not of the Doctor’s choosings.

In hindsight I wouldn't be surprised if the whole of Faction Paradox’s Ghost Point discourse wasn't written in part to explain why the supposedly Gallifreyan Eye of Harmony could only be opened with a human retina pattern - and that's so obvious idk why I haven't realised it this whole time.

#Faction Paradox #Doctor Who #Eighth Doctor

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sclfmastery · 6 years

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@intergalacticstarlight from here

Another impossibly gentle ‘whoosh’ of air leaves the Doctor’s lungs as that one simple word, so like the others before yet holding such deeper meaning, is uttered. Before he realizes it he too is transported, to another time, another place where he almost confessed what needed confessing. Where he nearly bared himself and oh, oh how he should have. Fixed point or no, brought together and apart, together and apart like the ebb and flow crashing against the shoreline, oh how he wishes he’d been braver then. He wishes his cowardice and stubbornness hadn’t thwarted his attempts to say more than a pondering of what he would have become without the Master.

He knew, of course, as he knows now. He wouldn’t exist at all. Theta would not be without Koschei. That, too, like themselves, was a Universal constant. He would not have survived the brutality of his adolescent years were it not for the Time Lord in his arms.

That simple ’yeah’ says more than he himself ever has, in all of his utterances in any of his forms. It is beautiful and breathtaking, just like the man who’s said it and the words that follow, the tears that are shed, his hearts clench tightly and he knows. He knows. He knows the things which cannot be confessed because he knows his Koschei so well, and it does not repulse him. Contrary, it never has. His own tears fall more freely, equally as silent and bareft of any dramatic influence. He is simply Theta Sigma, bared now as he wouldn’t allow himself to be then, belonging to the keeper of his hearts the way he was always meant to. His arms draw the Master closer, a silent request that is immediately accepted and carried out. The fear is gone, dust in the billowing winds of centuries wasted.

Too much time has passed for him to waste a moment of it now, nor ever again, and he clings near-too-tightly, not allowing a single breath of distance between them. His mind is open, his skin warm beneath the Master’s touch, countless hours of barriers, armor, defenses all falling away as mental signatures combine and leave a feeling of relief in the wake of combination. Tendrils outstretch, seeking and drawing in and it’s a wonder how he ever manages to go without this mental contact. Aloud, words fail him, his chosen medium rendered to ash in this moment of startling and brilliant clarity.

Inside, his thoughts speak for him and allow the Master, his Koschei, his home, his Universe, to hear and understand and know. Partly a repetition of the other’s own words to him in troubled moments, partly his own sentiments, all wrapped in a diaphanous blanket of pure and unadulterated love. The words within their swirling tendrils are base, simple, the artform gone and leaving behind just the words and meanings as before. Promises anew.

We’re not there anymore. The past is done and the future waits. Together. I’m sorry. For all the hurt, pain, terror, blindness, broken promises, I’m sorry. I understand. What you did, I understand. I know. I accept. I forgive. Forgive me too. Missed you every moment. Never leaving again. I remember. Stay, as I stay, stay with me, Hearts. I belong to you. Will always, have always. I’m yours. My other half. Soul of my soul. My Koschei.

Koschei murmurs a laugh. He remains otherwise resolutely immobile. A long moment passes, in which nothing but their pure minds communes. In this perfect silent bliss, free of the drums and their poisonous associations with death, insufficiency and solitude, he hears every syllable nudged across the ever-closing bridge between them. He hears, and realizes that he could happily never emerge from this place again.

In the silence there is a sound accompanying Theta’s words: the distant high hiss, the lull, of a seatide, peppered by something like glass chimes, in incandescent harmony, like the sound of light on the ocean at sunset. The sound is eternal; it’s their music, together. The sound is neither Koschei nor Theta, but the entropy of both.

Tears continue to fall indiscriminately, like the little boy beneath thousands of years of calcification is leaking through. His hands rest on Theta’s shoulders; he guides him down to kneeling, until they are both on their knees, then gently, without looking once, guides the pair of them down to the TARDIS grates, on their sides, foreheads still connected.

We’re not there anymore. I understand, too. Just, when you run, take me with you, or run toward me. I trust that you will. I know, I accept. I do forgive you, too. Now you are me, and I am you. What can I do but stay with myself? My other half. Soul of my soul. Life of my life. My every happiness. My Theta. I’ve got you, sweet my love. I’ve got you. You are not alone. I love you. I know you love me.

He opens his eyes, then.

“ . . . Hi.”

“Crybaby.”

A gentlest tease, as plentiful tears stain his own face.

#ic #intergalacticstarlight #save tag #tensimm #other self #ownership enough #this is beautiful)#thank you)

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esonetwork · 6 years

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Timestamp #160: Doctor Who (The Movie)

New Post has been published on https://esopodcast.com/timestamp-160-doctor-who-the-movie/

Timestamp #160: Doctor Who (The Movie)

Doctor Who: The Movie (1996)

It’s a major turning point: The gateway between the classic era and the modern. But first, the Doctor must face Y2K.

The Master finally came to trial for his litany of crimes on the planet Skaro as part of a treaty between the Daleks and the Time Lords. Over cat eyes, we learn that the Master’s final request was for the Doctor to carry his remains back to Gallifrey for final disposition. The Doctor places the Master’s urn in a lockbox and secures it with a new sonic screwdriver before settling in with “In a Dream” on the gramaphone, The Time Machine in his hands, and a bowl of jelly babies. The control room is massive and gorgeous, and reflects the Seventh Doctor’s twilight years to a tee.

The Master breaks out of the urn and the lockbox, moving as a shadowy snake form to the TARDIS console and shorting it out, forcing the Doctor to make an emergency landing on Earth, San Francisco, New Years Eve, 1999. The TARDIS materializes in the middle of a gang fight, saving a young survivor in the process. Unfortunately, the Doctor (who didn’t use the scanners, I guess) steps into the fight and is shot. As Chang Lee calls for an ambulance, the Master escapes through the TARDIS lock.

The Doctor (on the record as John Smith) is rushed to the hospital, but modern medicine fails him. The x-ray accurately reflects his two hearts, and the bullet wounds are not particularly life-threatening (one in the shoulder, two in the leg), but the heart readings require a cardiac specialist. Enter: Grace Holloway.

The Doctor wakes up on the operating table to the sound of Madame Butterfly, pleading with Grace to stop the surgery and get him a beryllium atomic clock. The surgical team ups the anesthetic and proceeds, but human surgery on Time Lord physiology proves fatal. The Seventh Doctor dies on the operating table. Grace reviews the x-rays before informing Lee of the bad news, and Lee runs off with the Doctor’s personal effects.

We are treated to a double Time Lord resurrection: On the other side of the city, the Master has hitched a ride home with an ambulance driver named Bruce. As he snores away, preventing his wife from sleeping, Bruce is taken over and killed by the Master. Bruce’s wife is happy for the silence. At the hospital, the Doctor’s body is loaded into the morgue and regenerates in parallel with the 1931 version of Frankenstein. The Doctor bangs at the door and breaks out of the freezer, scaring the on-duty attendant. The Eighth Doctor finds a mirror (or thirteen… see what they did there?) in a broken room (seriously, what?) while humming Madame Butterfly. In shock, he screams and questions who he is.

As morning dawns, we find Grace Holloway in her office, the Doctor rifling through lockers for clothing (and discarding a replica of the Fourth Doctor’s scarf), and Lee trying to figure out what a sonic screwdriver does (as well as examining a yo-yo, the Doctor’s pocketwatch, and the TARDIS key). The Doctor finds a Wild Bill Hickok costume (intended for the New Years Eve costume party), discarding the gun belt and hat in the process. Meanwhile, the Master awakens (with glowing green eyes) and kills Bruce’s wife.

Pete, the morgue attendant, shows Grace what happened the night before. She walks right by the Doctor, who is still suffering from the effects of his regeneration, before meeting with the hospital administrator. The administrator tries to cover up the events of the botched surgery, and she quits her job as a result. As she’s leaving, the Doctor joins her in the elevator and follows her to her car. He begs her for help, pulling the abandoned cardiac probe from his chest as Grace drives him away.

The Master arrives at the hospital and demands to see the Doctor’s body, but finds out that the corpse is missing and that Lee has the Doctor’s possessions. Meanwhile, Grace and the Doctor arrive at her home to find that her boyfriend has left her (and taken her furniture). She examines the Doctor and his heartbeats as his memory fades back in. Grace is upset and confused by the whole affair, but the Doctor comforts her in his awkward way.

Lee finds his way to the TARDIS and steps inside, having one of the most amazing “bigger on the inside” moments. Unfortunately, he also finds the Master, who somehow entered before without the TARDIS key. The Master enthralls Lee and takes the Doctor’s things before demanding that Lee help him find the Time Lord. The Master tells Lee a false tale of how the Doctor stole his regenerations, offering the human gold dust and a tour of the TARDIS, including the Cloister Room. In the depths of the Cloister Room is the Eye of Harmony, the heart of the TARDIS, and Lee is able to open it with a little coercion. The Eye shows the Master and Lee the Doctor’s Seventh and Eighth incarnations, and the image of a human retina leads the Master to believe that the new Doctor is half-human.

That’s an important note to make: The Master makes the assumption that the Doctor is somehow half-human. While the Master – who has known the Doctor for a really, really long time – should presumably know better, the Doctor’s lineage is not a statement of fact. It is a wild assumption.

The Doctor finishes getting dressed (and finally removing his toe tag) as Grace examines his blood. They take a walk to clear their minds, jogging the Doctor’s memories of his own childhood. The joy of this incarnation is amazing. As the Eye of Harmony is opened, he remembers that he is the Doctor and kisses Grace, making this the first romantic moment for the Doctor in the franchise.

I’m okay with that. New face, new body, new Doctor.

With the Eye of Harmony open, the Doctor and the Master can share vision through the Eye. The Doctor closes his eyes and gives Grace the download on who he is. Lee also hears this, chipping away at the Master’s thrall. Grace runs away in shock and locks the Doctor out of her house. Despite the Doctor’s protests, Grace calls for an ambulance, but the Doctor shows her that the Eye of Harmony is tearing the planet apart by walking through a window without breaking it. The Master and Lee oblige her request by hijacking an ambulance and taking it to meet the doctor (and the Doctor).

The Doctor watches the news while they wait for the ambulance, learning that a local institute is unveiling a beryllium atomic clock, which is exactly what he needs to close the Eye. The doorbell rings, and it’s the Master calling. Grace has no idea, but the Doctor obviously recognizes the Master, and nevertheless, they all pile into the ambulance and hit the road. Eventually, the Doctor unmasks the Master and runs with Grace. They hijack a police motorcycle with jelly babies and race for the institute with the Master in pursuit.

Notably, the Doctor does use a gun once again, but it’s a distraction instead of a threat.

Lee knows a shortcut – of course he does – so they beat the Doctor and the doctor to the clock. They proceed inside and look for a way to the clock, passing the Doctor off as “Dr. Bowman” and meeting Professor Wagg, the inventor of the device. In the meantime, the Doctor explains more about himself, and distracts the professor with a joke about being half-human while swiping his badge. They take a piece of the clock, distract a guard with a jelly baby, and spot the Master before running. They race to the roof (understandably, the Doctor is afraid of heights) and use a fire hose to drop to the street before heading to the TARDIS.

They use a spare key to open the TARDIS, have a humorous moment with a police officer driving in and out of the time capsule, and go inside to install the clock component in the console. Unfortunately, the Eye has been open too long and the cosmos are in danger. The TARDIS also has no power. They attempt to jump-start the TARDIS, but Grace is enthralled by the Master as he arrives. She knocks the Doctor out and together, she and Lee take him to the Eye. The Master supervises as Grace places a device on the Doctor’s head to prop his eyes open. The Doctor pleads with Lee, and Lee refuses to open the Eye when the Doctor points out the Master’s lies. The Master kills Lee by snapping his neck, then enthralls Grace into opening the Eye.

Apparently, only a human’s eyes can open the Eye. Which is weird, but kind of plays into a theory of mine… more on that later.

The Eye’s light is focused on two points, designed in this case to channel the Doctor’s regenerative energy into the Master and extend the villain’s lifespan. The light of the Eye breaks Grace’s trance, and she runs to the console to reroute the power. At the very last second, Grace jump-starts the TARDIS and they travel into a temporal orbit. She releases the Doctor, but the Master throws her off the balcony and kills her. The two Time Lords fight over the eye, but the Doctor is triumphant and the Master falls into the Eye. The Doctor tries to rescue him, but the Master refuses and is (apparently) killed.

The Doctor places Lee and Grace on a balcony in the Cloister Room, and the energy of the Eye infuses with them, bringing them back to life courtesy of the TARDIS and its sentimentality. The Doctor shows them Gallifrey from a distance before returning midnight on January 1, 2000. Lee departs with the gold dust and a little advice after returning the Doctor’s stuff, and the Doctor offers Grace the opportunity to travel with him. Grace declines, and the Doctor departs for a new adventure.

This presentation is deeply flawed, but it does have a lot of things working for it. I love the theme music (even if they don’t credit Ron Grainer or Delia Derbyshire) and I do love the humor and Doctor/Grace banter. On the other hand, it is swimming in the cheesiness that defined televised American science fiction in the 1990s, and a lot of those elements fall flat in the spirit of Doctor Who. I mean, can we get that hospital a little more funding for the entire floor full of broken junk?

The story also has a fixation on people stealing people’s stuff. Was there a major trend of kleptomania in the mid-90s?

Paul McGann is simply a joy to watch, and his energy and joy shines in this story. It’s also interesting to watch the “half-human” controversy play out: The Master takes it seriously based on scant evidence, but the Doctor plays it as a joke. I have often wondered if Gallifreyans are some sort of evolved human being – it’s definitely possible given that the default appearance is always human, most medical exams show only the two hearts as a physical difference, and that whole Eye of Harmony key thing – but I don’t think that the Doctor is any more human than that. The evidence just doesn’t support it.

All in all, this story would fall into the average range, which is a shame since Paul McGann deserved so much better. Of course, this was also a regeneration story, so it gets a little boost per the rules of the Timestamps Project.

Rating: 4/5 – “Would you care for a jelly baby?”

UP NEXT – Seventh Doctor Summary

The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.

#Doctor Who #Eighth Doctor #Seventh Doctor #Timestamps Project

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chocolatequeennk · 7 years

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As Long As We Both Shall Live, 3/3

The Doctor has always wanted to share a telepathic bond with Rose Tyler, and now he finally has the chance. But, as always, the universe has a surprise in store for them.

Tentoo x Rose, telepathic bonding with Bad Wolf

This is part of Two Hearts, One Life, and it fills the alien beaches prompt from @doctorroseprompts this week.

It’s also a birthday present for @lastbluetardis. Happy Birthday, Ashley!

AO3 | FF.NET | TSP | Ch 1 | Ch 2

Rose was surprised when the Doctor hustled her towards the TARDIS the next morning after a campfire breakfast. “We’re not going to stay here? Go hiking, see a waterfall, that kind of thing?”

The Doctor pressed his tongue to the back of his teeth, and Rose blinked when she picked up on his indecision over the bond. It almost felt like her own emotion, and she realised it was going to take some time to learn to keep that straight.

He smiled gently and wrapped his arms around her. That’s why we’re taking a proper honeymoon, he told her as he nuzzled into her neck. It’s a lot to get used to.

Rose sighed and leaned back against his chest, relishing the warm glow of his mind in hers. Yeah, it is… but I’ve got you to teach me, right? She closed her eyes so she could focus on their connection, and when it felt real in her mind, she imagined herself running a gentle touch over it.

The warmth deepened, and the arms around her waist pulled her closer. Not sure you’ll need much teaching, the Doctor mused, his telepathic voice a soft mixture of surprise and delight. You’re already more skilled than any beginning telepath I’ve ever encountered.

Rose turned in his arms and looped her arms loosely around his neck. Oh… I think there are some things you could still teach me, she purred.

The Doctor’s eyes widened and his Adam’s apple bobbed. “Yep!” he squeaked. “Much more skilled. And as much as I would love to undertake those… lessons with you, I do have plans for the day.”

Rose smirked at him, then stepped back and let him regain his composure. “Which reminds me… about staying here?” The crisp mountain air wafted over them, smelling sweet and fresh this morning, inviting them to linger.

He sighed and looked around at the empty campsite. “Well… We could always come back at the end of our honeymoon for a few days?” he suggested. “I have other plans for the next two weeks, though.”

His eagerness finally sparked her own desire to explore, and she nodded. “All right,” she said and followed him onto the ship.

He grinned as he sent the TARDIS off to their next destination. “You are going to love what I have planned, Rose Tyler.”

“Probably,” she agreed. The TARDIS shook, and Rose grabbed onto the railing to stay upright. “I love most things you plan.”

The Doctor’s face lit up, and the rush of joy over the bond made Rose giggle. “You knew that, didn’t you?” He shrugged and his face turned pink, and Rose smiled fondly at him. “Well, I do. Even when they don’t turn out exactly the way you thought they would, I love the thought you put into things.”

The TARDIS landed before the Doctor could reply, and Rose furrowed her brow at the slightly… squishy feeling of the landing. “It feels like we just sank into something,” she said uncertainly.

The Doctor stuck his hands in his pockets and nodded at the door. “Take a look,” he invited.

Rose raised an eyebrow, then turned around and pulled the door open an inch. When sunlight trickled in through the crack in the door, she opened it all the way, gasping when she saw the sunlight sparkling on the turquoise water, only fifty feet away.

“Oh, it’s gorgeous.” Rose’s feet sank slightly into the sand when she stepped onto the beach, and she realised that was what had felt off about their landing. She took a deep breath and savoured the heady floral perfume and the tang of salt air. Behind her, she heard the TARDIS door latch, and then the Doctor took her hand.

“I thought you’d like a beach holiday for our honeymoon.”

“It’s perfect,” she promised him. “And you parked right on the water, so we have a beachfront view the whole time we’re here.”

A hint of something trickled over the bond, and Rose looked up at him. “Doctor?”

“Well… We do have a beachfront property,” he agreed. “But what would you say if I told you it was that one?” He used their joined hands to point at the closest house, a small cottage with a deck that ran the entire length of the back of the house.

“Really?”

The Doctor nodded and tugged her towards it. “Yep! One beach house, complete with a fire pit on the deck and a jacuzzi tub in the master bathroom. And gorgeous views of the ocean from nearly every room of the house,” he added as they climbed the steps to the back entrance.

Rose sighed happily when they stepped through the sliding glass doors into the lounge/dining room. Most of the interior was done in the classic beach house shades of white and light blue, and she felt the cares of their life at home melt away in the soothing atmosphere.

The Doctor held up the bag she hadn’t noticed he carried and pointed at the stairs. “I’ll just take this up to our room, and then we can walk into town.”

Rose looked down at the jeans and hiking boots she wore. “Oh, if we’re going to explore a beach town, I’m changing first,” she declared.

She followed him up the stairs and quickly changed into a white-and-red polka dotted sundress and laced up a pair of red low-top Chucks. Then she grabbed her bag and gave the Doctor a cheeky smile. “Last one out the front door is buying the first ice creams,” she called out as she darted down the stairs.

“Oi! You are a cheater, Rose Tyler!” he hollered as he chased after her.

Outside, with victory hers, Rose clasped her hands behind her back and smiled innocently at him as he wagged his finger at her. “Cheaters never prosper,” he warned as he locked the door with his sonic screwdriver.

Rose winked at him. “Maybe not, but we do get ice cream.” She took his hand and laced their fingers together. “Come on, husband,” she said, trying out the word for the first time and loving the way it sounded. “Show me the sights.”

“This way, wife,” the Doctor said, a rumble in his voice that sent a delicious shiver down Rose’s back.

She sighed happily and rested her head on his shoulder as they walked along a street that ran parallel to the shore. The sea air was invigorating, and Rose could easily see why the Doctor had been so determined to come here today instead of staying on Iastea.

The sound of dogs barking caught her attention, and she lifted her head from his shoulder as a man rounded the corner, being led by three eager dogs. She smiled, then blinked when a detail caught her attention. Three eager dogs with no noses.

“Barcelona?” she asked, looking up at the Doctor, who was now wearing his “I’m so impressive” smile. The satisfaction coming over the bond was so strong she could almost taste it.

“Well,” he drawled, “technically this is Sevilla. Another minor difference between this universe and our own.”

Rose shook her head and laughed softly. “Is the planet mostly like you remember, other than the name?”

The Doctor nodded. “Oh, yes. About the same size as Earth, with all major climate zones. I picked a small, sub-tropical city renowned for excellent food and better weather.”

As the beach houses lining the street gave way to shops, Rose asked the question that had been in the back of her mind all week. “How’d you convince Dad to let us have two weeks off, with only a week’s notice?”

Mischief pulsed over the bond, and Rose looked up at her husband. “Doctor?”

“First, I pointed out that it was in the interest of family harmony, since you were likely to get into a major row with your mum if she kept meddling in our wedding plans. And then…” He smirked down at her. “I promised we weren’t running off to elope.”

Rose stared at him for a moment, then tipped her head back and laughed until tears were streaming down her face. “Oh, my God!” she wheezed as she tried to catch her breath. “Doctor!”

“Well, technically we didn’t,” he pointed out logically. “We aren’t legally married as far as the People’s Republic is concerned.”

Rose shook her head and wiped the tears from her eyes. “And I suppose what he really wanted to know was if we were gonna come back and refuse to let Mum have her wedding.” She pushed herself up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Still. I love you.”

The Doctor hummed happily. Rose would have gone in for a proper kiss, but something tugged her attention away from him, like she’d seen something out of the corner of her eye. She turned slightly, trying to find the colour or motion that had distracted her, but there was nothing…

Then she felt it again, and she realised it wasn’t something visual. It was a ripple in time, beckoning her forwards. She focused on the feeling, and after a moment of trying, a faint trail of golden specks appeared, floating in midair and leading her on.

The Doctor frowned when Rose suddenly pulled back instead of kissing him, but then he picked up on her distraction and watched as she scanned the street with the keen eyes of a Torchwood agent. A moment later, surprise jolted through him when he felt her tap into her time sense with a dexterity that shouldn’t have been possible for someone just learning the skill.

Excitement buzzed over the bond when she found was she was looking for, and she smiled up at him as she took his hand. “Come on, Doctor!” she said as she tugged him down the street.

Despite never having been in this city before, Rose led them straight to the main shopping district, not stopping until she reached a small shop that he was certain they would have walked right by. Standing in front of the door painted a familiar shade of blue, the Doctor could feel the tug of the timelines now, too. It was no surprise to either of them when they spotted a small sign in the window, proudly declaring that the shop sold Bad Wolf Designs.

“Well,” the Doctor said as he reached for the door. “Shall we see what you left for us here?”

“Can I help you?” asked the shopkeeper, perched on a stool behind the counter.

The Doctor watched Rose study the shop, and he shook his head. “No… I’m not sure what we’re here for, but we’ll know it when we see it.”

The woman’s brow furrowed in confusion, but then she relaxed again, probably figuring that if they weren’t going to ask for help, there was no point in looking like she was ready to jump up.

The shop was narrow, with racks of clothes down both sides and one row of tables running down the centre aisle. Rose was working her way down the right side of the building, passing by the merchandise with only a cursory glance. With his hands in his pockets, the Doctor meandered over to the left side of the room, paying more attention to the way his time senses were tingling than to the clothes themselves.

Just past the counter, something caught his eye. A manic grin crossed his face when he pulled a long, brown coat off a high rack. “Rose, I found it!” he called out, spinning around to show her.

As he turned, he felt her awe and excitement spike, and he wasn’t surprised that she had her own find in her hands. When he saw the dress, its deep navy blue satin skirt covered in hundreds of beaded stars, his mouth fell open.

“Rose, it’s—”

“Your coat.”

“Your wedding dress.”

They looked at each other and laughed when they finished the sentence at the same time.

“That is stunning, Rose,” the Doctor said, reaching out to touch the delicate, almost sheer fabric of the bodice.

“Mum’s gonna have kittens ‘cause it’s not white, but I don’t care.” Rose traced the swirl of stars on the skirt. “Time and space, Doctor. That’s our life.”

The swirl of golden light in Rose’s eyes captivated the Doctor, and for the briefest moment, he allowed himself to look forward along their timeline, taking a glimpse of their future, walking together in stardust. He pulled himself away before he could see many details—life was so much more fun if it was lived day by day.

“Yeah,” he agreed, feeling breathless. “It’s our life together.”

Rose smiled, then gestured at the coat he’d almost forgotten about. “Does it fit?”

The Doctor grinned and swung the overcoat around dramatically, rocking back on his heels when the familiar weight settled on his shoulders. He stuck his hands in the pockets and made a face.

“Not bigger on the inside, but I can fix that.” He adjusted the lapels, then nodded in satisfaction. “It’s just like my coat.”

“Then I think we’re ready to go, don’t you?”

“Don’t you want to try the dress on?” the shopkeeper suggested.

The Doctor and Rose shared a smile. “No need,” he told her as he pulled out a credit stick. “I think Bad Wolf Designs made these just for us.”

“An’ besides,” Rose added, teasing him with a tongue-touched smile. “It’s bad luck for the groom to see the bride in her wedding dress before the ceremony.”

oOoOoOoOo

To Rose’s surprise, after their return home as a bonded couple, her fights with her mum over wedding details calmed down. The colour of the flowers, or the size of the reception… those things just didn’t matter to her, now that she and the Doctor were already tied together as intimately as was possible. They had hundreds of years and all of time and space at their fingertips—if they wanted to plan a wedding more to their own tastes later, nothing would stop them.

They were implacable on two points: Rose would wear the dress she’d found on Sevilla, and at least one layer of the wedding cake would be banana flavoured. Other than that, they gave Jackie free rein to plan the wedding she’d always wanted to give Rose.

And staring down the long aisle on her father’s arm, Rose had to admit that her mum had outdone herself. She clutched the elegant all-white bouquet as the music started, then took her first step onto the white runner that ran the length of the aisle.

The Doctor’s happiness glowed in her mind. You are so gorgeous, Rose, he told her as soon as he could see her.

Rose admired the sharp cut of his navy blue tux. You’re not looking too shabby either.

When Rose reached the end of the aisle and took the Doctor’s hand, his presence in her mind deepened. The bond beckoned to them both, and it was hard to focus on the wedding ceremony going on around them, instead of their own private conversation. Rose fidgeted impatiently while the minister rambled about the importance and solemnity of marriage and the lifelong commitment they were about to enter.

But then it was time. She handed her bouquet to her maid of honour and faced the Doctor, taking both of his hands in hers. He grinned and bounced on his toes, eliciting a chuckle from the minister.

Then the man cleared his throat and said, “Doctor, why have you come here on this day?”

“I came here today to take Rose Tyler to be my wife.” He ran a gentle caress over the bond, along with a whisper of an endearment. Then he continued, his next words all for her. “Rose, I promise to love, honour, and cherish you through all that life may bring—for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health. I promise to be faithful to you…”

He paused, and the fire in his eyes made Rose’s breath catch.

“As long as we both shall live.”

#ficandchips #dwfic #tentoo x rose #doctorroseprompts #lastbluetardis #fluff #bonding #honeymoon #bad wolf!rose #fic by Nancy #series: two hearts one life #cq's fic: as long as we both shall live #romance #bad wolf!rose is important to me

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tardisgirlepic · 7 years

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Ch. 1: “The Doctor Falls” Analysis Doctor Who S10.12: The Rescue Is Not Over, Heather & What the Prison Ship Tells Us

NOTE: TPEW = “The Pyramid at the End of the World” TRODM = “The Return of Doctor Mysterio” THORS = “The Husbands of River Song” CAL = Charlotte Abigail Lux, the little girl from the Library

The Rescue Isn’t Over

The long rescue isn’t over yet, which is why the Doctor’s story hasn’t ended. There is a Horse metaphor in the TARDIS at the end to prove it, shown below (red arrow).

Not only that, there are 4 other horses, too, symbolizing the 4 Horses of the Apocalypse, but with added new meaning, which we’ll examine. It’s foreshadowing for Christmas. We have to come back to the ship or a similar setting, and I’ll show you why in the another chapter. In fact, there are several other pieces of subtext that say the rescue isn’t over.

There’s also a mechanical-type horse that we’ll look at.

Not Everything Is As It Appears

Right at the start, we hear birdsong, a sign that we still haven’t gotten back to reality in the Library metaphor. We should finally get to the bottom of the main story in the Christmas Special. There’s plenty of foreshadowing for it in the finale, which I’ll show you throughout this analysis.

However, birdsong is not the only problem that says something is wrong. For example, the cut on the Doctor’s forehead should have healed over the 2 weeks between when Bill brought him back and she woke up. However, it didn’t. In fact, it opened up somewhat as the episode went on. This was going in reverse, just like his timeline.

Additionally, there were plenty of reflections, inverse reflections in the ponds, and other such things to tell us that we shouldn’t believe everything we are seeing.

In another oddity, Bill saw the Doctor’s regeneration energy on the prison ship in “The Lie of the Land,” so why didn’t she know about it in “The Doctor Falls”?

Also, how did the Doctor, CyberBill, Missy, the Master have trouble taking out one Cyberman, who came up in the lift in the forest? Yet at the end, the Doctor was going through the forest taking out numerous Cybermen all by himself, shooting them left and right?

Then, the scene with Bill and Heather in the TARDIS isn’t quite happening the way it looks. This suggests to me that Bill will be back in some form at Christmas, even if it’s a clip. And we’ll examine more subtext, telling us who Heather is. We looked at that before in “The Pilot” analysis, but there’s some additional information now.

We'll examine what's happening with some of these in this analysis.

Showing You the Subtext through a Different Format

Given that we have plenty of time to look at information before the Christmas Special comes out, I want to step back and give you a different format for how to look at what is happening in the finale and the rest of DW.

In the previous analyses, I haven’t concentrated too much on setting and characters. I’ve done more with themes and other important pieces of subtext. However, the setting, characters and themes all foreshadow things for Christmas, besides telling us more about the finale. Therefore, I want to concentrate mostly on these elements.

Another element we need to examine are a few mirrored scenes from other episodes, showing us how this all fits together with previous canon.

Brilliant 2-Part Finale with the Resolution in the Xmas Special

Before I get into the meta, I want to give you my opinion of the finale because I offered my opinion on two-part episodes before the airing of “The Doctor Falls.”

Typically, the subtext story in the 2nd part overtakes the surface story, leaving, for example, plot holes or something tied up too quickly, which takes away the emotional aspect. (This has happened a lot, too, with Season 10 in general, just because everything has to be tied up quickly since Capaldi is leaving.) With so much story left to tell before the final episode, I wasn’t sure how they could finish it adequately except through a cliffhanger.

Therefore, while I was deeply concerned that the 2nd part of the finale would never live up to such a great 1st part, I came away elated at how things turned out. The 2nd part was brilliant and very much lived up to the 1st half.

There was a fantastic mix of subtext story and canon because most of the subtext story prior to this has now become canon.

At the same time, I’m so grateful that Moffat opted to give the story the room it needs by finishing it in the Christmas Special. Still there’s a lot to tell. I have no doubt that the heart of the main story will get told, but many of the details will have to be in the subtext.

The subtext foreshadowed the main points that happened in the finale, and it was beautiful to watch how everything came together, showing us the near resolution of the Doctor’s 3-season character arc, as well as the very long story in the making since Classic Who. Not only that, Missy, too, had a 3-season-ish character arc, turning from the dark side at the end.

Also, I’m elated that the 1st Doctor showed up at the end, as the subtext suggested would most likely happen. We will hopefully see Susan, too.

So we need to see the final rescue story and the Doctor reuniting with his family.

Because the subtext was heavily referencing former cast members, I expected to see some of them show up, and they did. It just wasn’t in the way I imaged, except for John Simm. However, seeing clips of Jack and of all the Doctor’s female companions, including Sarah Jane, Clara, and River was enough to satisfy me until the Christmas Special.

Will Clara show up for Christmas? I’m not sure if her appearance in the finale counts as finishing the Great Work. The subtext in “The Eaters of Light” suggested that he was remembering her. However, does that mean he remembers everything about her? This has a complication, too, which I’ll show you below.

Extending the Library Metaphor: Holo-decks & Some Perception Filters

The brilliant 2-part finale extends the meaning of the Library metaphor in connection with the Eye of Harmony. We know that people in this metaphor typically live in dreams and illusions, like CAL does. The nightmarish situation of reality becomes just a nightmare while dreams seem real. That includes CAL seeing herself as a little girl even though she’s a cyborg. So the terrible truth is hidden.

The people on Floor 507 at the beginning of “The Doctor Falls” don’t even know they are on a ship. Therefore, they are analogous to CAL and Donna in the Library dream being fed lies by Doctor Moon. They are living in a Star Trek-style holo-deck.

Bill, too, mirrors CAL in not knowing she isn’t the person she once was. They both see themselves through memories. According to the Doctor, Bill’s mind is acting like a perception filter. She could easily be in a fugue state, where the mind runs away from the truth. We examined that with Jackson Lake in “The Next Doctor” and Oswin Oswald in “Asylum of the Daleks.”

Therefore, we can add a holo-deck to illusionary possibilities for our Library metaphor, along with some perception filters – when they act like they do with Bill and CAL. Also, we can add fugue states in similar situations.

The Doctor’s 3-season Arc: A Good Man?

The 12th Doctor has been on an amazing journey over the last 3 seasons, wondering at the beginning if he was a good man. He started off grumpy, aloof, and not caring after having helped end the Time War. While his journey isn’t over yet and he’s been taking the “long way home,” we have our answer.

He is both a good and great man. As a good man, he is helping the people on Floor 507 due to his kindness and decency, even to strangers, because it is right not to abandon scared children and adults. Also, as a good man, he is giving his life for them, and that is also part of what makes him a great man. We see the war hero in action, a man who has had a decisive historical impact on Gallifrey and the Time War. It’s now easy to see how he caused so many deaths.

The War Doctor

The BBC put out a promo photo of the Season 10 finale, which is a mirror of the one they put out for “The Day of the Doctor.” Since several analyses ago we examined my hypothesis that the Doctor was really the War Doctor, I was delighted to see them.

Here’s a 50th-anniversary image with the small version of the War Doctor in the middle, along with the 11th and 10th Doctors back-to-back.

Here’s the image the BBC put out for the Season 10 finale with the small version of the 12th Doctor in the middle, along with Missy and the Master back-to-back.

While the 11th Doctor calls the War Doctor “Granddad” in “The Day of the Doctor,” the Master, mirroring the 11th Doctor, calls the 12th Doctor “Granddad” in “The Doctor Falls.”

The Season 10 finale is meant to give us some subtext details of the Time War in a brilliant model of the Library metaphor universe, complete with a sort of, kind of Heaven metaphor, as well as a Hell metaphor. (We’ll examine this more in depth in a bit.) The Doctor is in a desperate, no-win situation, and while he could run, he’s made a choice. This is a retelling of the same choice the 8th Doctor makes: becoming the War Doctor to fight in the Time War.

The difference is that we don’t see the 12th Doctor regenerate. He doesn’t have to. He’s been transforming through the Great Work, returning to what he was born to be. The warrior, a weapon of mass destruction, and a child of war. His newborn consciousness, at least one face, arose from the ashes on Trenzalore. Then, we have a huge gap from there until we see him in “Deep Breath.” Part of events in that missing time can be inferred from what is happening in the finale.

After we examine the setting of the ship, floors, ice, characters, themes, etc., I'll put everything together for you, so you can see the Doctor’s story in a more condensed format, rather than through many analyses.

Problems with the Previous Time War Episodes

There are a lot of problems, oddities, and hand waving with the previous episodes talking about the Time War story. For example, the 9th Doctor said he stopped the Time War by blowing up Gallifrey, as well as all the Time Lords and all the Daleks. How is that possible unless they are all on Gallifrey? Why would the Doctor assume some are not on Skaro or elsewhere? This has never made sense to me. At least until the Season 10 finale, which I’ll explain in another chapter. Also, if he blew them up with the Moment (like what we saw in “The Day of the Doctor”), how did the Doctor survive according to what we think we know about him in canon?

“The End of Time”

In a 2nd example of weirdness, Rassilon and the Chancellor are talking about something really odd in “The End of Time” Part 2:

CHANCELLOR: The signal has been sent. A simple task of four beats transmitted back through time, and implanted in the Master's mind as a child. RASSILON: Then we have a link to where the Master is right now. CHANCELLOR: But we're still trapped inside the time lock, sir. The link is nothing more than a thought, an idea.

Gallifrey is in a time lock here? But the Doctor said he blew up Gallifrey. We didn’t hear about the Doctor putting Gallifrey in a time lock until “The Day of the Doctor,” but then DW doesn’t tell the story linearly anyway. Things are timey-whimey here.

“The Day of the Doctor”

In a 3rd example, in “The Day of the Doctor,” 11 Doctors, the War Doctor, and somehow the 12th Doctor (more hand waving) put Gallifrey in a time lock. Some things don’t add up here, like greenery on the floor of the barn when there’s a desert around them. Something is wrong.

Also, the scene of the War Doctor looking at the barn in the distance (red arrow, shown below) looks like a bad matte painting in relation to other quality images of Gallifrey in this episode and in “Hell Bent.” It isn’t real, and it isn’t supposed to be. The greenery suggests these were the Doctor’s memories of a time long gone.

“Hell Bent”

In a 4th example, there are problems in “Hell Bent.” Gallifrey is back in the universe, but at the end of it. While there’s hand waving here, I can accept that because we are talking about Time Lords.

However, for what we think we know in canon, there are still other problems, which I haven’t previously mentioned with “The Day of the Doctor,” and they still exist in “Hell Bent.” The inside of the barn is shown below, as the Doctor walks in.

First, the yellow arrow points to a big truck tire or, more likely, one from a tractor. That was surprising! I didn’t expect that with such an advanced society, especially in a desert. So something is off. It also looks so human.

Then, the green arrow points to the structure that represents a prison – a 6-sided figure – which is also part of the structure I saw in the 3rd Doctor story “The Ambassadors of Death.” (We examined that story’s significance in “The Empress of Mars” analysis.)

The 3rd arrow (white) points to something really odd. It’s not a normal barn structure but the hull structure of an overturned boat. No one would build a barn with timbers crafted like that.

I figured the ship was supposed to be Viking (or metaphorical Viking) when I saw “The Day of the Day” because the 11th Doctor had a Viking funeral in a boat.

Then, I got my Viking question answered, at least in part, in “Smile.” The Doctor and Bill are in the Vardy building, looking for the original colony ship:

DOCTOR: When the Vikings invaded, they used to pull their longboats out of the water, turn them upside down and live in them as houses until they'd pillaged and looted enough to build new ones.

BILL: So?

DOCTOR: You didn't see a space ship outside, did you? When the settlers first landed, they must have lived in it and built out from it, so it's still here, somewhere inside this building. Ah. (a not-perfectly-smooth-and-white wall) Bits of meteor damage. Flecks of rust. Rivets. Oh, I love rivets. A wall. A real, honest wall. Not made of tiny robots but made of any old iron.

So, does that mean the barn really is a symbol of invasion? Or is it just the symbol of the original colony ship or just a ship that landed on Gallifrey? I’ve been considering these questions.

The Setting Is Driving the Story

At the beginning of the 1st episode of the finale, the Doctor did another bootstrap paradox to go back to near the beginning of his timeline. We are witnessing a brilliant microcosm of an alternate universe and how it operates with the Black Hole of the Eye of Harmony. This setting also allows us to see an example of how the Time War works with one end of the ship in closer proximity to the Black Hole. This microcosm universe, then, shows us how time is a continuum across the ship.

The Black Hole and ship are analogous to the Black Hole and Planet in “The Impossible Planet” and “The Satan Pit.” In both the 10th and 12th Doctor episodes, the situations become desperate, and there is a rebellion. However, the rebellion in the 12th Doctor episodes is not so clear-cut.

The Master said that everyone on the ship is dying. The only way the people on Floor 1056 can survive is to rebel against squalid conditions and death by upgrading themselves to Cybermen. They are desperate to break free, building an army through forced upgrades. At least some see evolving to Cybermen as freedom.

However, the people on Floor 507 are desperate to save their children from being turned into Cybermen. They see Cybermen as slavery and death and are rebelling in their own way.

We’re at the root of the ideological war, foreshadowed since Season 2 of nuWho, which we examined in Chapter 16 “Doctor Mysterio Analysis Part 3: Ideological War for Season 10 & the Eye of Harmony.”

Heaven, Purgatory & Hell in the Alternate Universe

The differential of time between Floor 0 the Floor 1056 is an interesting number: approximately 1000 to 1001 years per day. This curious set of numbers recalls 2 Peter 3 in the New Testament:

With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

Therefore, Floor 0 is the Heaven Metaphor, and Floor 1056 is the Hell metaphor. Interestingly, the Doctor goes to Hell in “World Enough and Time” to get Bill back, and we saw him in a different kind of Hell in “Heaven Sent” before he brought Clara back. However, the Doctor can’t get back to metaphorical Heaven while he is alive.

The Heaven Metaphor & God’s Names

The Heaven metaphor on Floor 0 looks futuristic, especially in comparison to the rest of the ship. It’s bathed in light colors, too, as opposed to the darkness on Floor 1056. It follows the light and dark patterns that we’ve examined in multiple ways.

Allusions to God come up in several ways regarding this Heaven metaphor. Here are just a few for now.

This ship situation is analogous to the people in “The God Complex,” who don’t realize they are on a prison ship in a Star Trek holodeck-type situation. There, too, we see both a “heavenly” side where people lost their fear of being taken by the Minotaur. They were in a euphoric state, like a dream, while they eagerly awaited death. That’s in contrast to the hellish side of everything before euphoria set in, which is analogous to pre-conversion Cybermen, at least on Floor 1056.

One odd thing about the ship in this Season 10 finale is that the floors have numbers on the sky ceilings.

So I wonder what the people in this bucolic setting think of the sky with a grid, the number 507, clouds, etc. in the heavens? Is that the name of God for them? It’s a fascinating question, especially since God comes up a lot lately in DW, and many religions have multiple names for God: Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Sikhism, etc. Therefore, floor numbers as names for God seem apt, given the reference to “The God Complex” and the 1000 years per day between the 2 ends of the ship.

In fact, in the Book of Revelation in the New Testament, God is quoted as saying "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." In “The Zygon Invasion,” the Zygons in human form are in a church that has the symbols for Alpha and Omega, shown below. And between Alpha and Omega is the Sun symbol. Missy talked about the Master burning like a Sun, and we know the Doctor does too. We’ll look at this more in a later chapter.

Baby Melody Pond is associated with Omega. And in fact, River was associated with the Church of the Papal Mainframe in “The Time of Angels” and “Flesh and Stone,” which uses an omega and what looks to be the capital Greek letter pi superimposed mostly within the omega.

Besides Christianity, if we count mythological gods, I’ve showed you a few of them, but there are a lot more that the Doctor is associated with in the subtext.

And I believe there is a reference to the Hindu god Shiva in “World Enough and Time.” After the Doctor used Venusian Aikido (a very 3rd Doctor maneuver) on Jorj, the Doctor says something interesting to Nardole’s comment:

DOCTOR: Venusian Aikido. NARDOLE: I thought you needed four arms for Venusian. DOCTOR: I've got hidden talents, as well as hidden arms.

This makes sense because Shiva is the destroyer of the universe, so he can re-create it. He is part of the Trimurti, the Hindu trinity, which includes Brahma and Vishnu. Shiva has 2 to 4 arms (and can have more) and a 3rd eye. The Doctor has a 3rd eye of sorts (red arrow) in the opening credits.

Purgatory Metaphor

Floor 507 isn’t Heaven, per se, but compared to Floor 1056 it’s much more heavenly. So 507 is like the intermediate state, relating to the Purgatory metaphor. Not everyone on Floor 507 or possibly on other floors may be considered to be in Purgatory, although they could be.

I’m using the metaphor for those people who have died previously, like the Doctor and Bill, who are, according to Wikipedia, in an intermediate state after physical death in which some of those ultimately destined for heaven must first, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church "undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven," holding that "certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come."

Afterlife purification is not unique to Catholicism. Other religions, like Judaism, have something similar.

BTW, it's clear to me that DW is using the Purgatory metaphor to apply to several other characters, too. We'll examine them in a future chapter.

The Doctor Earned His Wings With all the allusions to God, Heaven, and It’s a Wonderful Life (“The Eaters of Light” analysis), it’s clear the Doctor really is a mirror of Clarence the Angel, 2nd Class, who was trying to earn his wings. For example, Missy, the Doctor’s project, did turn toward the light at the end.

After the Doctor died, he earned one wing to Heaven, as the image below shows (red arrow). His coat spread out under his right arm showing the red lining serves as a wing.

After Heather and Bill move the Doctor to the TARDIS, we see him lying on the floor, having earned both wings (yellow arrows). There is also a divine-type light (red arrow) near his head. The lining is easier to see in the episode than it is here.

Heather & How the Doctor Earned His 2nd Wing

Before the Doctor died, he and Bill parted without saying much to each other, although they should have. It was a mirror of Clara and the Doctor before she died. Here’s the lack of communication problem again.

However, Bill did say one thing:

BILL: But, hey er, you know how I'm usually all about women and, and kinda people my own age.

DOCTOR: Yeah? BILL: Glad you knew that.

She put in an order, so to speak, for her love interest.

As we examined in “The Pilot” analysis, Heather was the Doctor, so she had to come back.

Either she is a projection of him or she is a part of his being. The Doctor is not just male, so he can project either a male or female being.

In fact, she is wearing a ring, a symbol of the 12th Doctor, around her neck, shown below (red arrow).

There is a precedent for this in Classic Who. Time Lords could project a version of themselves, and we looked at this in the “Knock Knock” analysis with the 3rd Doctor story “Planet of the Spiders.” According to the TARDIS Wikia, Cho Je only existed either as a future projection of K'anpo Rimpoche (the Time Lord abbot of the meditation center) or a creation of his mind, which Rimpoche used as a proxy. At the end, K’anpo died and regenerated into Cho Je.

The other possibility for Heather was put forth in the 5th Doctor story “Kinda,” which we looked at in the TPEW analysis. Since Bill uses “kinda” when talking to the Doctor in the dialogue above, the Doctor’s soul probably passed onto Heather, the way the old blind woman in “Kinda” passed her soul into the young girl who was her companion. They operated like the Holy Trinity where 3 operated as One, but in that case 2 operated as One while the old woman was alive.

Either way, they end up as beings of pure consciousness, who can manifest in human form.

After the Wings While we see Heather as a type of regenerated Doctor, the 12th Doctor has to come back to life because he has not finished the rescue. And he has multiple faces that have to get redemption, which we’ll look at that more in a later chapter.

The 12th Doctor’s face we see at the end of the episode when he is in the icy environment with the 1st Doctor should be back at the beginning, happening earlier in time than what we see on Floor 507. We’ll examine the symbolism on Floor 507, and how this relates to going back to the beginning.

This Doctor’s face hasn’t earned his wings yet. The other did, suggesting that he did remember what Clara meant to him. However, what does that mean for this other version on ice? That’s a question I’m considering.

Hell Metaphor, the Satan Pit & the Time War

We’ve seen more of the hellish side of the ship than the heavenly. Certainly, Floor 1056 represents the Satan Pit and a living nightmare. The squalid conditions and nasty emissions outside the hospital are a reference to “Gridlock” with similar conditions in the New New York Undercity.

And the gridlock has to change in the Library metaphor.

Because conditions in this part of the ship are driving people to desperate measures and time is going faster in Hell, we get to see how beings from the Hell metaphor are going to overtake Heaven, Purgatory, and the children, unless something is done. We have to see a resolution in the Christmas Special, and I’ll talk more about this in another chapter.

DOCTOR: We can't go back to the bridge. We can only go four or five floors up at the most. The further we move up the ship, the slower time moves for us and the faster it moves for the Cybermen. By the time we get to the bridge, they'll have had thousands of years to work out how to stop us. There is no safe way to get back to the Tardis. It's a mathematical impossibility.

The Ood server in “The Impossible Planet” expresses what is happening here:

OOD: The Beast and his Armies shall rise from the Pit to make war against God.

So we have a war against God on Floor 507? Yes, in a way. This is more foreshadowing for Christmas, which we’ll examine.

In fact, Razor said something interesting in “World Enough and Time” when Bill wanted to get back to the Doctor:

RAZOR: You do not understand the dangers. Many years ago, there was an expedition to floor 507, the largest of the solar farms. BILL: And? RAZOR: Silence. They never came back. There is something up there. And we must be strong.

We saw what was on 507, but that doesn’t explain why someone couldn’t get to the bridge. If those Cybermedics could do it to get Bill, they could do it again.

So there’s something else going on, and the subtext shows more. We’ll talk about that in another chapter.

Dante’s Divine Comedy, 9 Circles of Hell, Ice & Foreshadowing

The way this universe is set up, I can’t help but think of Dante Alighieri's 14th-century epic poem Divine Comedy. In fact, it most likely gives us foreshadowing for Christmas. The Divine Comedy comes in 3 parts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. Wikipedia says, “As an allegory, the Divine Comedy represents the journey of the soul toward God, with the Inferno describing the recognition and rejection of sin.” Dante’s work, among several others, has influenced the Christian concept of Hell.

Since this Library metaphor universe has become a very hellish place, the Inferno part is rather fitting as it describes the metaphorically fiery place of Hell. Wikipedia continues

The Inferno tells the journey of Dante through Hell, guided by the ancient Roman poet Virgil. In the poem, Hell is depicted as nine concentric circles of torment located within the Earth; it is the "realm ... of those who have rejected spiritual values by yielding to bestial appetites or violence, or by perverting their human intellect to fraud or malice against their fellowmen".

When I saw Floor 900 being punched through by Cybermen, shown below, I immediately thought of the 9th Circle of Hell.

9 Circles, Satan & Ice

The Master is sitting in Hell at the beginning of “World Enough and Time,” but it’s Floor 1056. While there are 9 circles in Dante’s Hell, the last has a depth. Wikipedia says

Dante’s Hell is divided into nine circles, the ninth circle being divided further into four rings, their boundaries only marked by the depth of their sinners' immersion in the ice; Satan sits in the last ring, Judecca. It is in the fourth ring of the ninth circle, where the worst sinners, the betrayers to their benefactors, are punished. Here, these condemned souls, frozen into the ice, are completely unable to move or speak and are contorted into all sorts of fantastical shapes as a part of their punishment.

Ice is interesting, especially because the 12th Doctor ends up there at the end of “The Doctor Falls” where the 1st Doctor is. And a bunch of subtext shows that this would be the 9th Circle of Hell.

Before we examine part of that in this chapter, I want to show you the other circles because the Doctor, Master, and Missy would fit into quite a few of them. The Master would fit into all of them, including living like a king, being a dictator, and believing Missy’s soul wouldn’t continue on in some other form. According to Wikipedia:

1. First Circle (Limbo) - The first circle contains the unbaptized and the virtuous pagans, who, although not sinful, did not accept Christ.

2. Second Circle (Lust) - These carnal offenders are condemned for allowing their appetites to sway their reason.

3. Third Circle (Gluttony) – This circle contains those who overindulge in food, drink, and other worldly pleasures. At the same time, they have the inability to see others lying nearby, representing the gluttons’ selfishness and coldness.

4. Fourth Circle (Greed) – These offenders are divided into two groups – those who hoarded possessions, and those who lavishly squandered them

5. Fifth Circle (Wrath) – These offenders are here, being furious and sullen

6. Sixth Circle (Heresy) – This circle contains those who say "the soul dies with the body"

7. Seventh Circle (Violence) – There is a Minotaur in this circle that gnaws flesh. Those who commit violence against neighbors, self (suicides), God, art, and nature end up here.

8. Eighth Circle (Fraud) – There are several types of fraudulent and malicious offenders here. Those who deliberately exploited the passions of others and and drove them to serve their own interests; those who abuse and corrupt language to play upon others' desires and fears; those who made money for themselves out of what belongs to God; those who are fortune tellers, diviners, astrologers, and other false prophets; and those who are corrupt politicians. Also, there are hypocrites, thieves, counselors of fraud, sowers of discord, and falsifiers.

9. Ninth Circle (Treachery) – People here are guilty of treachery against those with whom they had special relationships. 1st Ring - Traitors to their Kindred: for example, Cain murdered his own brother 2nd Ring - Traitors to their Country: for example, Antenor, a Trojan soldier who betrayed his city to the Greeks. 3rd Ring - Traitors to their Guests: for example, Ptolemy invited his father-in-law Simon Maccabaeus and his sons to a banquet and then killed them 4th Ring - Traitors to their Lords and Benefactors: for example, Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus

Center of Hell – Satan “In the very centre of Hell, condemned for committing the ultimate sin (personal treachery against God), is the Devil, referred to by Virgil as Dis (the Roman god of the underworld; the name ‘Dis’ was often used for Pluto in antiquity, such as in Virgil's Aeneid). The arch-traitor, Lucifer was once held by God to be fairest of the angels before his pride led him to rebel against God, resulting in his expulsion from Heaven. Lucifer is a giant, terrifying beast trapped waist-deep in the ice, fixed and suffering.”

Heresy came up in “Dark Water” after Danny Pink died. People were getting cremated even though Dr. Chang said people’s souls lived on after death. In fact, Missy is acting like Pluto in “Dark Water” and its sequel, “Death in Heaven,” as keeper of the Matrix data slice, collecting souls.

So Missy would be sitting in the Center of Hell, too, at some point, but she did change.

What about the Doctor? In “The Lie of the Land” analysis, we looked at the concept that a face of the Doctor was a Trojan Horse. In fact, a toy Trojan Horse shows up in “The Doctor Falls.” It’s hard to see, but there is a Trojan Horse on wheels, shown below (red arrow), next to the Doctor.

The Doctor has a lot of sins to atone for, which we’ll examine more in a future chapter.

So the Doctor ends up on ice, most likely symbolizing Dante’s 9th Circle in Hell. He needs rescued.

Also, he would prefer to commit suicide than regenerate. He’s terrified of changing into something unknown, especially after all he’s been through. Those are Steven Moffat’s words. I can certainly understand the Doctor’s sentiment. He’ll lose part of himself and possibly not remember the lessons. I certainly wouldn’t want to have to repeat those lessons, if I were him.

Since he is willing to commit violence against himself, that may be another reason why we keep seeing numerous references to “The God Complex,” referencing the Minotaur from Dante’s 7th Circle of Hell. That would make sense.

Also, since Danny Pink killed his young self in the war (we examined that in Chapter 18: "Doctor Mysterio Analysis Part 5: Rescuing Children & Missy/Master"), that would be the 9th Circle of Hell, which would be another reason the Doctor has ended up on ice. But that may not be all…

“Fire and Ice” & Perishing Twice

Since the Doctor has to die again, the ice motif may also be an inspiration from one of Robert Frost’s most popular poems and may give us some more foreshadowing:

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

We saw Hell and the metaphorical fire, so now we get to see the ice. It’s interesting that hate is associated with ice and the Doctor has been described as being fire and ice.

At the end, he certainly hates the thought of regenerating.

So ice is an appropriate setting in more than one way, besides tying in the Mondasian episode from 1966. However, there’s more to the ice part beyond this, and we’ll explore that in another chapter. There are several important tie-ins to the ice and hatred concept that we need to examine because this foreshadows Christmas.

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journeyinthetardis · 7 years

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Synopsis: The Doctor has been given an important task. The Master has been put on trial by the Daleks on Skaro and has been executed. The Master's last request was that the Doctor take his remains back to Gallifrey, and so that is what he is doing now. The Master's remains are safely locked in a secure box in a back room of the TARDIS. The Doctor, nearing the natural end of his seventh life, sits down for tea and a book.

Suddenly, the TARDIS lurches violently and the console sparks. The Doctor rushes over, only to see that the TARDIS is having a critical timing malfunction and is making an emergency landing. The Doctor goes to see if the Master's remains are safe, only to find the box they were locked in is now smashed open.

The TARDIS eventually lands in San Francisco on December 30, 1999. The Doctor opens the door, steps out, and is immediately shot down by gunfire. The TARDIS had unfortunately landed in the middle of a shoot-out between two Chinese-American gangs. The only surviving member of one of the gangs, a young man named Chang Lee, sees to the Doctor and decides to call an ambulance. Before he passes out, the Doctor is horrified to see something amorphous and slimy leaking out of the TARDIS keyhole.

The Doctor is taken to Walker General Hospital. Surgeons successfully remove the three bullets from his shoulder and leg, but his heart seems to be badly fibrillating. A cardiologist named Grace Holloway is called in to see what she can do. She preps for surgery, but before that can happen, the strange old man seems immune from the anesthesia and is panicking badly. Once he's out for good, she begins the operation and inserts a microscopic probe into his heart.

However, she ends up confused by the strange physiology of the man's body and ends up getting lost. When the man has a massive seizure, she tries to get the probe out but fails. Ultimately, he flat-lines and is declared dead. After the 'John Doe' is wheeled away, she goes to speak with Lee. She figures out pretty quickly that Lee doesn't actually know the man, but Lee manages to run away with the man's belongings before she can stop him.

The following day, a morgue attendant on the night shift is bored and watching Frankenstein. He hears a banging coming from one of the doors. When he goes to see what's happened, he is shocked to see an unfamiliar man emerge from the room and promptly faints. The Doctor has come back to life, regenerated into his eighth form. He stumbles around in a daze, seeing himself in a mirror and realizing that he has no idea who he is.

In the morning, Grace has an argument with a hospital administrator. She and her team had earlier been confused by the strange man's x-ray, since it seemed to show two hearts. Originally dismissed as a double exposure, Grace starts to have doubts. The administrator, however, wants to cover up her failure to save the man's life and burns the x-ray. Grace, furious over this, promptly quits her job.

As she exits out of the hospital, the Doctor is sitting in the triage room. He recognizes her as the woman who operated on him before and starts to follow her. He latches onto her, since she's his only memory at this point. Grace initially thinks he's just a crazy man, but she changes her mind when the Doctor yanks out the microscopic probe that had been left in his chest.

She takes him back to her home, where she's dismayed to find that her now ex-boyfriend has left and taken everything from the house. She uses a stethoscope to listen to the Doctor's chest, and finds that he does indeed have two hearts. She takes a sample of his blood to analyze it, only to find that it certainly doesn't resemble human blood. Mystified, she decides to go for a walk outside, and the Doctor joins her.

It is while on this walk that the Doctor has a sudden mental spike and remembers who he is. The reason for this becomes apparent, however, as he sees visions of what's going on inside of his TARDIS. The Master has broken inside, having taken over the body of the man driving the ambulance he was in, along with Chang Lee, who used his key to get inside. The two seem to be working together. The worst news, though, is that the Master has used Lee's human physiology to somehow open the TARDIS' eye of harmony.

The Doctor immediately shouts at Grace about the danger this poses, claiming that the Eye will essentially suck the Earth inside-out. Grace is again initially frightened by his behaviour and calls for an ambulance to take him to the psych ward. When the Doctor proves that the Eye is already affecting the Earth by walking right through her window, she decides she should go to a psych ward too.

The Doctor then sees on TV that a beryllium atomic clock has been constructed at the Institute for Technological Advancement and Research, which is exactly the thing he needs to repair the TARDIS. The ambulance arrives and picks them up, though the Doctor simply requests they be taken to ITAR. When a bump in the road causes the ambulance attendant's sunglasses to fall off, the Doctor sees that the man has frightening cat eyes.

It's the Master, who reacts by spewing an acidic fluid that burns Grace's arm. The two are given a chance to escape when a traffic jam stops the ambulance. They quickly commandeer a policeman's motorcycle and rush off, with the ambulance already in pursuit. At this point, Grace has decided that she believes the Doctor's stories.

They lose the ambulance before they reach ITAR, but when they arrive they see the ambulance has somehow beaten them there. Luckily, Grace is a board member, so they are able to get into the New Year's party being held there. While keeping a careful eye out for the Master, they sneak their way up to the atomic clock, where the Doctor steals the small component from it needed to repair the TARDIS.

On the way out, they find guards incapacitated by a viscous fluid, revealing that the Master is near. The Doctor pulls the fire alarm to create a distraction, and the two quickly escape off of the roof by climbing down a fire hose. The Master and Lee aren't able to give chase in the ensuing panic, allowing the Doctor to ride off and take Grace back to where he left the TARDIS.

Inside, the Doctor manages to shut the Eye, but finds that it's too little too late. The Earth is still in danger, so the only solution is to take the TARDIS back in time. Since it's drained of power, he tries to jump-start it with a little energy from the Eye. Instead of helping him, however, Grace promptly knocks him out. The Master has arrived and has taken over her mind.

The Doctor is tied up next to the Eye. It is there he learned how the Master tricked Lee. The Master claimed that the Doctor was the evil one, and had stolen both the TARDIS and the Master's body. Furthermore, Lee was promised a billion dollars if he helped. When the Doctor tries to break through these lies and reveal the truth, Lee begins to have doubts. When he refuses to cooperate, the Master promptly breaks Lee's neck.

Instead, the Master breaks Grace's brainwashing and forces her to open the Eye once more. The process of draining the Doctor's lives into the Master's body begins. However, since the Master can't move during the process, Grace is free to run back to the console room. She has difficulty with the complicated controls and wires, but does manage to send the TARDIS into a 'temporal orbit'. Not knowing what that is, she rushes back to ask the Doctor for help. When she arrives, the Master intervenes and throws her off of the balcony. She tumbles to the ground, dead.

Grace was, however, able to free the Doctor from his bindings. He and the Master start to fight with one another. After a long, tense scuffle, the Doctor manages to overtip the Master's balance and he starts getting sucked into the Eye. The Doctor reaches out his hand to rescue him, but the Master refuses, and is absorbed into the Eye where he vanishes.

The TARDIS manages to slip back to an earlier time in the day. Before the Eye closes completely, energy slips out and is absorbed into the bodies of Grace and Lee. Both wake up, having been brought back to life. The three return to the console room, where they see that disaster has been averted. The clock safely rolls over to January 1, 2000.

The TARDIS lands in a park in San Francisco, and he lets his two passengers off. Lee is thankful to the Doctor and sorry for his actions earlier. He gives the Doctor his belongings back. The Doctor, though, says that Lee can keep the two bags of gold the Master had earlier given him as collateral. Excited, Lee runs off. Grace then bids the Doctor farewell, politely declining his offer to travel with him. The two share a kiss as fireworks light up the sky, and then the Doctor flies away in his TARDIS to adventures unknown.

Thoughts: At long last, it is the 1996 TV Movie! We thought we would never manage to get this far, but now we've made it. We've seen every Doctor Who TV Story and witnessed every single incarnation of the Doctor!

Hearing many things about the TV movie over the years, we had no idea what to expect. What we got was pretty much what we expected. It was grand, bigger than a TV episode, very entertaining and fun to watch, but also clear why this ended up failing to revive the series.

The story itself was great and solid. The Master is back in form, even though he now dresses like Agent Smith from the Matrix, and his plans are as grandiose as ever. We did get a sense of danger and excitement as the Doctor and his companion rushed around. The improved budget and production quality made the adventure very fun to watch.

That said, it was bogged down a little. We needed to dedicate time to the Seventh Doctor and his ensuing regeneration, and a lot of history for both the Doctor and the Master had to be explained once more. To veterans of the series, this was a tad tedious. It was great, though, to see Sylvester McCoy one more time and to see his regeneration.

The movie did not overstay its welcome, ending before it got to be too long. Everything was resolved well enough, and most of the characters were fun to watch. Lee was very interesting, as a protagonist turned antagonist through the Master's lies. He had a very charismatic personality about him. The sets were beautiful, all being filmed on location in Vancouver (our hometown!!).

There were a few messy bits along the way. Most notably was the very strange and out-of-nowhere plot point that the Doctor is 'half-human'. Not only does this not make a lot of sense, but it really didn't go anywhere either. I believe that future stories clarified that it's only the Eighth Doctor who's half-human. Then, there was the sudden and forced romance between the Doctor and Grace, who shared about three kisses. This seems like a product inserted to make American audiences happy, as this was an American production.

Paul McGann was the perfect choice to play this new incarnation of the Doctor. He feels like he was plucked right off of the set of the original TV series. Also, though, he had a lot of energy and an easily excited personality that brought a lot of life to the character. There was something about the way he talked that made him seem wise but not old. He could have perhaps been a little bit funnier, but we both enjoyed his portrayal. Sad we wouldn't see him again until like 17 years later.

Grace was a good companion. It was fun watching her disbelief at the beginning and her perplexed reactions to the Doctor and his strange ways. Her American personality shined through when she eventually decided that she was crazy. When she turned around and came to believe everything the Doctor was saying, she proved that she could be brave and dependable. We were definitely left wanting to see more of what she could bring, but for what we got we were satisfied.

This was originally intended to serve as the pilot for an American-produced series of Doctor Who. That obviously never ended up happening, as this flopped hard with American audiences, but it would have been interesting to see where things would have gone from here. How would McGann's eighth Doctor have fared on a weekly TV series, going on adventures with companions? The world may never truly know. His time was short, but we enjoyed this short, fun romp with the eighth Doctor.

#Doctor Who #time stream #sylvester mccoy #Paul McGann #TV Movie #1999 #San Francisco #California #United States of America #USA #earth #The Master #Eric Roberts #Grace Holloway #Regeneration #new companion #companion departure

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elsinore-and-inverness · 7 years

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Reprieve: From Gallifrey to Trenzalore

(In which the Master has recently regenerated into Missy)

Chapter Two. Escape.

She got most of the way down the corridor before the guards began their rounds at the other end. The girl who was inspecting the cell block, a small, waif-like creature who, by the appearance of her robes had recently dropped out of the Academy, immediately noticed the open door to her cell. Perfect. An opportunity to test if regeneration had affected her hypnotic abilities.

‘Where’s the Master?’ the Time Guard asked, making the fatal mistake of looking directly into Missy’s eyes.

‘He’s dead.’ Missy simpered truthfully, trying out her new voice. ‘He burned up too much of his life force. The Master is gone.’ She smiled wickedly. Such equivocation. ‘I did, however, speak to him before he perished. He related to me the time at which this world would cease to be. The end of the world, in Time War Stasis Standard.’

The girl couldn’t help herself. ‘And when is that, Miss...?’

‘Just Missy,’ Missy said. ‘Do you know the best part of knowing?’

‘What?’ the girl asked.

‘Not telling you.’ Missy replied. ‘Goodnight.’ She snapped her fingers and the Time Guard collapsed. ‘It may well be our last.’

If Missy’s calculations were right, there was a very large probability that the girl would never open her eyes again.

Missy needed to get to the Citadel. Already she was formulating a plan, but she needed to know more about the state of affairs and how much time they had left. Her extra senses were on full alert, feeling for electrostatic energy, Artron or Huon particles. As had been the case since shortly after first fleeing the Time War, she found herself in need of a TARDIS.

She crept down the dank corridor and pulled open the nearest broom closet. Inside was a row of brooms and she could feel one of them emitting Huon energy. ‘A chameleon circuit.’ she breathed. She hadn’t seen a functional one of those in centuries. She grabbed the broomstick. Well why not? And flew off into the deepening dark.

She advanced upon the Citadel swiftly, flying as she was at ultra-warp speed, the transmuted Eye of Harmony manipulating space itself. She slowed abruptly as she approached, hovering above the dome surrounding the Citadel. Below was a scene of carnage. The children of Gallifrey and Skaro lay dead in the streets. Crushed Dalekanium and dark orange-red stains covered the edifices of the battlements. She swept down through the entrance at the top of the dome.

On one of the main thoroughfares, Time Lords, or some other rank of Gallifreyans were burning clothes in the middle of the street. Someone else might have assumed they were infested with vermin or disease, but Missy knew her own history. They had run out of fuel. They were about to toss in a particularly excellent Victorian-style dress when she intervened.

‘Honestly,’ she drawled, ‘it’s not that cold. Have you never been to another planet?’

They shook their heads.

‘You don’t burn clothes to keep warm, you wear them.’ She grabbed the purple dress and went into the nearest abandoned building to change.

It took awhile. She wasn’t sure if she had assumed she would have some sort of natural instinct for how women’s clothing worked, but apparently such a thing did not exist. And Victorian clothing was more complicated than others. The abandoned building was evidently residential and she raided one of the bathrooms for cosmetics. She pressed her recently incarnadined lips together, turning her head from side to side. ‘As I expected. Practically perfect in every way.’ She tapped the broomstick on the ground and it transformed into an umbrella. Now to the high council.

She strode out into the ruined world of her childhood. She followed the Old Path down the slantwise streets. The Old Path they had followed long ago when the Time Lords granted Koschei of Oakdown a new set of lives under the impression that they were going to get the perfect weapon.

That lot really didn’t understand their generation. Especially the Deca. They were cowards, the lot of them. All cowards except... She tried to push the thought from her mind. The thought of the Doctor’s wan, fine-boned face and huge brown eyes, and his unfaltering belief in the goodness of people. Try as she might, the Doctor’s words drifted into her mind. You could be so wonderful. You’re a genius. You’re stone cold brilliant, you are. I swear you really are. But you can be so much more. You could be beautiful- A mind like that. We could travel the stars together. It would be my honour. ‘Cause you don’t have to own the universe, just see it. Having the privilege to see the whole of time and space, that’s ownership enough. She shook her head. There are two things as effective in destroying a conscience as being subject to the whims of Rassilon, pure evil and true love. She didn’t need a conscience. She needed a Doctor.

She pulled open the side door of the Grand Hall of the high council of Gallifrey. She hid in an antechamber, listening to their deliberations to be able to ascertain exactly how long they had left. She considered the nature of her world as she waited. Two suns, two moons, two hearts and a dozen faces. Duplicity was as much a part of Time Lord nature as honest was that of Vulcan.

It was one of the first lessons learned as a Gallifreyan child, to always retain a level of doubt. But Koschei had always found something else important. Belief. Maybe it was madness, but she had always found that was what separated her from the gentler of her kin. She infallibly believed in herself and her own abilities and never doubted for a moment that she would be able to get off the planet.

Then she heard the portentous phrase ‘the Doctor has the Moment.’ She inhaled deeply. He may have the Moment, but that meant they had an hour. She would have to act quickly. She needed to steal a hard drive. According to her plan, it would be instrumental to her escape as she would need to calibrate the resonance of the time stasis field, but there was another use she had in mind that was becoming increasingly appealing to her. Or perhaps stealing would not be necessary. She stood up and pushed open the door and strode in to the high council of the Time Lords.

‘You have an hour left to live, I suggest you listen to me.’

‘What?’ demanded the Head of Council, ‘What is the meaning of this? How did an outsider get in here? Who are you? Where did you come from?’

‘Oh, I’m not an outsider.’ Missy replied, archly, ‘I’m a Time Lady and I come from the end of time.’

‘Our world is doomed!’ the Time Lord lamented, momentarily putting aside the mystery of Missy’s sudden appearance. ‘No one else was mas enough to use the Moment.’

‘You need to do as I say.’ Missy insisted saccharinely. ‘I need a hard drive, preferably of the Micro-Monde variety.’

‘Y-yes Mistress,’ he stammered, managing to slip in one final question before slipping fully under her hypnosis. ‘But why?’

She smiled gleefully. ‘One thing you should probably know: I never explain anything.’

The Head of Council acted quickly, and soon she had her Gallifreyan hard drive and ‘remote control’, a multi-functional device that looked something like a smart phone. Amused by the similarity, she took a few selfies, then snapped her fingers. The Head of Council blinked, his eyes unfocused, not noticing her. He turned away and wandered off. He would remember nothing of his encounter with her, nor would any of the other members of the council.

She held in her hands a complex sphere of metal, covered in strange bumps and nodes. As she gazed up into the sky of Gallifrey’s last day, somewhere a bell began to toll. In that moment, panic finally overtook her. She would die there, on the planet of her birth, with no one to tell her tale, abandoned by her only friend. She felt the deep, ancient terror of dying forgotten and alone.

The bell rang eleven times. It was to be the world’s mortal knell, but it swung one last time and silence fell. The bell was poised in midair in a distant clock tower, clapper a fraction of a millimeter away from striking a twelfth time.

Missy instantly pieced together what had happened. He had saved her. Along with the rest of the world too, but she decided not to think about that. He had saved her. He had placed the world further removed from the rest of the universe, preserved in its own slice of time. You saved me, she thought, at once terrified, exhilarated and relieved. For a moment she had been at his mercy. He had commanded the power of the gods, he had control of life and death and the most powerful weapon in the universe. She had always feared that he would would become greater than her, that he would take his place among the gods.

But now she realized she had made a mistake. He was the same as the rest of them. He was a coward, and now one thing took precedence in her mind and her hearts amid the relief of escaping what would have been her final death.

Then, from somewhere out in the silence, through the dark void and the tangles of time, a crack opened in the sky and a voice resonated through the divergent universe to which Gallifrey was now confined. Somewhere, out in the vastness of space and time was a girl who was determined to provide an antithesis to the silent response to the oldest question in the universe.

‘His name is the Doctor.’ She said, her voice filling the sky ‘And if you love him, and you know that you should, then help him. Please. Just help him.’

Another of his Earth girls, she thought. Her particular Gallifreyan time-sense told her that this girl was an incredibly complex, almost impossible spacetime event, and that an outside force would be needed to bring and keep her and the Doctor together. An outside force, perhaps, with a penchant for Victorian clothing and an instinct that told her that the Doctor needed this girl.

The Time Lords heeded the human girl’s call and soon a wave of regeneration energy was coursing through the tear in the fabric of space and time. Missy seized the opportunity, raising her umbrella and riding the current out into N-Space. She knew the consequences of her action would be a temporary psychic link with the destination point of the energy.

She tumbled out of the vortex and landed in a snowbank. She stared up into the grey winter sky. ‘I am alone. The world which shook at my feet, and the trees and the sky have gone. I am alone now. Alone. The wind bites now and the world is grey, and I am alone. Can’t see me. Doesn’t see me. Can’t see me.’

She was approached by a pair of humanoid villagers. ‘Hello!’ the said cheerily, ‘You’re probably experiencing the last vestiges of the truth field. The cracks are closing now.’

‘Have you seen a man calling himself the Doctor?’ she interrupted. The villagers nodded. She wasn’t taking much note of them, or which one was speaking. ‘He was the defender of Trenzalore for centuries, but now there’s not threat from the return of Gallifrey. I’m afraid you’ve just missed him. Left in that blue box, just blew up an entire Dalek fleet, he did.’

‘Of course he did.’ She snapped distractedly. So they were both living on borrowed time now, literally.

‘We don’t know-’ one of them began.

‘I’m not interested in what you don’t know. I know where he’s gone.’ Missy knew what she was going to do now. She wanted her friend back and she was going to give him the best birthday present, even if she had to use all the dead in history... Actually, that was probably going to be necessary simply to triangulate his birthday. She was going to give him an army. An army to help him save the universe. The one thing he had never had. And maybe then he would see that they were the same.

#gomez!master #doctor who #doctor who fanfiction #fanfic #missy doctor who #the master #gosh this is long #i'm terribly proud of it

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ronaldmrashid · 7 years

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The Downside Of Financial Independence

One of the things I was counting on when I published, Being A Landlord Questions My Faith In Humanity, was readers coming out of the woodwork questioning why I would be so lenient when my tenants were so thoughtless. Most were empathetic to my situation, but some blamed me for my tenant’s actions. That’s cool.

At the end of the day, I got $216,000 worth of rent over 24 months, a completely redone backyard mostly paid for by them, a professionally cleaned house, and $1,000 of their $17,000 deposit. Things could have been much worse if you read some of the tenant horror stories in the comments section.

My tenants were generally nice guys. They were just clueless. When I sent them the picture of the trash explosion the next day, they immediately called a junk trunk to collect everything a couple hours later. They could have just disappeared into the wind since they had their deposits back. But they didn’t.

Hopefully my post will encourage people to be more thoughtful. At the very least, it provides some insights for current and future landlords. I always try to highlight the good with the bad on my road towards financial utopia (doesn’t exist, sorry).

In this post, I’d like to highlight the downside of being financially independent. I don’t know any other landlord who would not have charged a single late fee after eight times of tardiness. But you know I’ve got a masochistic side, looking for ridiculous situations to share with all of you!

The Downside Of Being FIRE

1) Not optimizing for maximum financial returns. When you are financially independent, you don’t need more money because you already have money. If the counter party isn’t financially independent as well, you start feeling a little slimy for trying to optimize your returns. As a result, you aren’t negotiating the best deals. You aren’t shopping around to find the best bargains. You’re definitely not driving around the block to find a free parking spot. And you’re always booking flights late because you value optionality.

Instead of optimizing for financial returns, you start maximizing for peace and harmony. With each late payment, I had a choice of letting it go or laying down the hammer, which might have led to more property damage and further disregard of the lease. I knew they would eventually pay, so I showed kindness.

By forgiving their tardiness, I wanted to build credits for future instances when I couldn’t come over in a timely manner to fix something or address an issue. And it worked on two occasions: 1) The kitchen faucet lost cold water pressure for some reason. My master tenant volunteered to meet the plumber, make the payment, and oversee the project. 2) Then my microwave stopped working one day. It was a custom size that was built into the cabinetry. He took it upon himself to go to Best Buy, then to a private party when Best Buy didn’t carry such a model to pick one up, pay for it, and install it. His actions saved me at least three hours of time.

My main mantra is to always give as much as possible first. This way, people are more inclined to do right by you in the future. I’m a peacekeeper by nature who believes everything can be worked out through an open discussion.

Related: To Get Rich, Be Willing To Do The Dirty Work

2) People will take advantage of your kindness. It doesn’t matter how rich you are, nobody ever wants to be taken advantage of. Yes, my tenants were taking advantage that I wasn’t penalizing them $250 for each time they were late. But the way I saw it was I had $2,000 worth of credit I could withhold from their $17,000 security deposit if they didn’t comply with what I asked for before moving out.

They knew this, which is why one of the tenants said the day before move out, “We won’t let you down Sam!”

I have a wealthy friend who escaped to Paris for a year with his wife and four kids because he couldn’t stand getting hit up for money all the time. He told me, “Every time I open my inbox, I get some random person whom I don’t even know asking if I could donate $100,000 to some organization I don’t care for. It’s maddening I tell you. How about at least getting to know me first?”

One time I met a friend for drinks. He was talking to this startup female founder who was once an ex-beauty pageant queen. She was attractive and she knew it by the way she talked about her relationships with “high powered VCs.” Both my friend and the founder had to leave, so instead of paying for her own drink, she looked at me and said, “I’ve got to run. It was nice meeting you,” implying that I was to pick up her tab. Since she Usain bolted, of course I had to pay even though we just met. I’ll give her startup a 0.1% chance of surviving with that type of entitlement.

Finally, I get bombarded every day with questions from people who don’t bother to make a connection first. I’ve been asked to give a diagnostic of their entire financial lives. Some have asked whether I can help them with their marriages. Others have asked me to help them with their online business plan. The most common question I get is, “Can I pick your brain?” I’m not sure how anybody thinks that’s enjoyable.

To avoid being taken advantage is one of the key reasons for practicing Stealth Wealth. If people know you are financially independent, they’ll do everything they can to extract as much time and money from you as possible.

3) You start empathizing too much. I saw in my tenants a rowdier version of me when I was their age. I remember what it was like to struggle at work, survive layoffs, begrudgingly pay a portion of my paycheck to rent, all while trying to enjoy all that life has to offer. I started developing a lot of empathy for them because some of them had issues at work. Another had back tax problems because he somehow forgot to pay them. While another just couldn’t get it together given his parents babied him too much as an adult. I thought I could be sort of a big brother who could provide some guidance.

But empathy doesn’t get you anywhere if the other side doesn’t care. There’s a reason why it’s never a good idea to do business with friends or loved ones. For at least the rest of the year, I’m going to work on being a stone cold business assassin. It’s not in my nature because I’m always joking around and having a good time.

To be frank, I fear the lion within. I’ve never backed down from a fist fight or a shouting match when provoked. A part of me longs to snap an oppressor’s bones as I once did as a raging young man who always defended his honor. Thanks to the feedback from the community, I’ve been reminded how overly soft I’ve become. Time to get fierce and care for no one!

Related: Are You Smart Enough To Act Dumb Enough To Get Ahead

4) You start taking money for granted. Do you remember how excited you were as a kid to get a crisp new bill in an envelope for your birthday or Christmas? Those were the best! Unfortunately, I no longer get excited about seeing a $20 bill or even a $100 bill in my wallet. Now, I withdraw thousands of dollars at a time to pay vendors without feeling a thing.

The reason why I’ve begun to tip more aggressively since reaching financial independence is because I enjoy seeing the joy in others that I once had. I remember getting a $5 tip for just a $5 ride when I gave an Uber ride to this woman. My eyes teared up with gratitude! For the rest of the afternoon I had an extra hop in my step. Then I noticed the best tippers are those who work in the service industry because they know how hard it is to make a buck.

I wish I would be excited by money again. But I’m not. Nowadays, all I get excited about is living life on my terms.

* I just realized while writing this post that I forgot to collect $420 for the two pro-rated and discounted nights after April 30 check out. I accommodated two of the guys because their escrow closing was delayed. I wanted them out on April 30 because it would take five days for the floor guy to refinish everything with four coats of polyurethane. If I cared more about money, I would have remembered to have collected the $420 on the May 2 walk through.

5) You slowly lose motivation to try harder. There was a time when I responded to almost every comment. I felt I had to at least say “thank you” to those who took the time to share their thoughts. But now, I respond to only about a third because I’ve lost the energy to keep up. I feel I’ve provided enough value over the years to give myself a break. Besides, the time formerly spent responding to comments is being used to write meaty new posts.

I used to have this goal of writing five posts a week from the current three posts a week cadence. More posts, higher growth, and more revenue. Now, I’m thinking about just posting a couple times a week because I don’t have this insatiable drive to grow my business anymore. Unless there’s a huge tax cut, I don’t want to build a Financial Samurai app or create a larger publication with 10 different staff writers. I just want to have my own little lifestyle business that never feels like work.

The people who hit it out of the ballpark have this ridiculous drive. Pity the trust fund kids who went to private school, got jobs through connections, and don’t really have to create something of their own. When you have everything taken care of, it’s much harder to be your own person. I blame my loss of motivation partly due to my older age, but mostly due to my passive income and steadily declining debt levels.

Related: Debt Optimization Framework For Financial Independence

The Three Generation Cycle

“From rice paddy field to rice paddy field in three generations.” – Japanese/Chinese variation

“Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations.” – American variation

“The father buys, the son builds, the grandchild sells, and his son begs.” – Scottish variation

The First Generation comes from a life of hardship. This generation takes the most risks, works the hardest, and makes the most sacrifices to break the cycle of poverty.

The Second Generation grows up a witness to their parents’ struggle and understands the importance of hard work. Because of this awareness, they make good financial decisions and build upon the foundation their parents worked so hard to create.

The Third Generation, however, has no recollection of hardship. They only know a life of abundance. Without an awareness of the work needed to build build wealth, the third generation squanders their good fortune their parents and grandparents worked so hard to build.

My great grandparents left China by boat in order to make better lives in Hawaii and Taiwan. They took all kinds of risk, whereas by comparison, I’ve done nothing close. I fear that a life free of financial worries will dishonor their generations of hard work, frugality, and sacrifice. With consternation, I wonder when my child grows up, will he take his good fortune for granted?

Being financially independent is fine, but unless you have a deep hunger to do something great, it is unlikely you will ever maximize your potential. Therefore, a key reminder is to always be mindful of others.

Financial independence can blind you to the world’s suffering. Or financial independence can bless you with the time to help other people. Which will you choose?

The Dark Side Of Early Retirement

Once You Have F U Money It’s Hard To Tell Others To F Off!

How Does It Feel To Be Financial Independent?

from http://www.financialsamurai.com/the-downside-of-financial-independence/

#Financial Samurai

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tardisgirlepic · 7 years

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Ch. 5: “World Enough and Time” Analysis Doctor Who S10.11: The Twin, the Blue Guy & Daleks, Doctor Who?

<- Read previous chapter

Simulation, Real Threats & Telling a Story

I believe it’s likely that DW is using multiple techniques here at the end to finish this up: simulation with testing, real threats, and telling the story.

Simulation Idea, Testing, Time Dilation

After the opening credits in “World Enough and Time,” we see the odd situation of Missy stepping out of the TARDIS and calling herself Doctor Who. This opening scene is almost exactly like what I was thinking, except I never thought at the time that Missy would be impersonating the Doctor. The important part is that she and the Doctor don’t realize that someone is watching them in the Library metaphor, and there’s a test. So there are nested watchers. We saw that in a previous chapter with the “Time Heist” image of the Doctor looking into the fishbowl at the goldfish and castle.

It’s clear that people have been watching the Doctor, especially in the 1st and 12th Doctor episodes, because of all the Eye metaphors that show up: in shop windows, kitchen sink drains, bathtub drains with Heather’s eye, etc. Also, the Black Hole metaphor with its Eye of Harmony represents yet another Eye that is watching the Doctor. Harmony Shoal hasn’t gone away.

Time Dilation & Two Time Streams: in “Sleep No More” Time dilation or two time streams is actually part of my simulation idea, but it’s DW that gave me that idea in the first place. ��We first saw that in “The Girl Who Waited,” but I figured that “Sleep No More” with the sleep machines was using 2 time streams or time dilation with Patient Zero, given “Heaven Sent.”

That sounds suspiciously like Prisoner Zero. And considering that this is both a prison and healing, having Prisoner Zero and Patient Zero be one and the same makes perfectly good sense. The patient was in the box for 5 years. And it looked suspiciously similar to the suspended animation chamber in “Before the Flood.”

Time to Wake Up: Nightmares Are Real

I liken this all to CAL putting herself to sleep for 100 years until people show up in the Library. While Doctor Moon tried to keep her dreaming, the Doctor gave CAL a different perspective. Then, the threats came, and Doctor Moon had to tell CAL the truth. Nightmares were real.

Potentially Reading or Telling a Story

I think an elegant way to work through what’s been happening would be to have the Doctor and his family listening to the end of the story of what happened with all of this in the Christmas Special. So we can see them in a much happier setting. It’s just my idea.

I don’t know about you, but I feel like my emotions will be put through the wringer in the finale, and I’ll need to see that the Doctor and Bill and everyone end up happier.

I could be wrong about all of this. Somehow, however, I think the idea of a story has to come up. “It’s a long story” has been a much-used phrase since Classic Who, but even more so in nuWho.

The first time I became aware of the potential telling of a story was in the first 9th Doctor episode, “Rose,” where the Doctor mentions the long story:

ROSE: What, you're on your own? DOCTOR: Well, who else is there? I mean, you lot, all you do is eat chips, go to bed, and watch telly, while all the time, underneath you, there's a war going on. ROSE: Okay. Start from the beginning. I mean, if we're going to go with the living plastic, and I don't even believe that, but if we do, how did you kill it?

DOCTOR: The thing controlling it projects life into the arm. I cut off the signal, dead. ROSE: So that's radio control? DOCTOR: Thought control. Are you all right? ROSE: Yeah. So, who's controlling it, then? DOCTOR: Long story.

On a first viewing, I didn’t catch that this dialogue could be taken multiple ways. Rose says, “Start from the beginning.” I started viewing episodes as if this could all be part of some long story of a war. At the same time, I kept in mind that this is sci-fi, so things have to be believable. If they aren’t, then we have to work out why.

I haven’t mentioned the story part up till now because if we start telling ourselves it’s just a story, then we are more likely to miss what really is happening. So please keep believing these events really happened.

Of course, we’ve seen River and Amy writing stories. In fact, the weird Master in the 2nd Doctor story “The Mind Robber” is a mirror of River. That’s the story we examined where the Master and the Doctor had a writing duel, manifesting fictitious characters to fight each other.

Bootstrap Paradox, “The Tenth Planet” & Earth’s Twin

The first time we see the Doctor in “World Enough and Time,” there’ an image of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, meaning we’ve gone back in time again. In fact, we’ve gone back before the setting of “The Tenth Planet,” which is the last 1st Doctor episode. While the episode aired in October 1966, it was set in 1986.

Mondas: Earth’s Twin

Mondas, which comes up on the monitor Missy is looking at, is Earth’s twin Planet. So here’s a reference to a twin. We examined how siblings kept coming up, so here’s why.

Of course, just as Earth is a metaphor for the Doctor, Mondas is also a metaphor for his twin. There are 24 ticks around the Planet, so it represents the 24th Doctor.

The Doctor and Master have to be twins. If one exists, so does the other. nuWho hasn't referenced the White and Black Guardians in canon, but I talked about them a previous analysis, because it's clear to me that the concept is what the Doctor and Master are about. Depending on the situation, the Doctor can be the Master or the Master the Doctor.

In the Shadow World, like we have, the Master is actually the Doctor, trying to save the real Doctor and universe. This exactly matches what I said about the Doctor, depending on the situation. He can be Christ or the Antichrist.

We have to remember, though, that the Doctor has 3 faces, so one is essentially the Master, another a Doctor, and a 3rd is Abraxas. In other terms they can be Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Or Mother, Dauther, Holy Spirit.

According to the TARDIS Wikia:

Mondas developed much more quickly than Earth, but a catastrophe left the twin-planet spiraling out of Earth's solar system.

According to another page in the TARDIS Wikia:

Its inhabitants grew weak, so their scientists created spare parts for their bodies. Limbs and organs were slowly replaced by metal and plastic. Emotions were removed. The Cybermen were born.

This sounds like what is happening in “World Enough and Time.”

The Doctor's TARDIS lands at the Snowcap space tracking station in Antarctica in December 1986. A routine space mission starts going wrong. When the base personnel's suspicions are roused, the Doctor informs them that the space capsule is being affected by the gravitational pull of another planet — a tenth planet in the Solar system.

Antarctica may be where the 12th Doctor with OMG hair landed at the beginning of “World Enough and Time.” This snowy location is also where alien pods landed in an episode we looked at: the 4th Doctor story “The Seeds of Doom.” The Doctor did bring up plants in “World Enough and Time,” the subject of that 4th Doctor genesis story.

The loss of a routine space mission and the appearance of that planet in the sky herald the arrival of the Cybermen, who are intent on the destruction of the Earth and the conversion of all humans into Cybermen. Ben and Polly fight to save the world, but it is a battle that may be the Doctor's very last.

This is the 1st appearance of the Mondasian Cybermen since “The Tenth Planet.”

The Inertial Lifts & the Hybrid

I noticed several odd things about the 3 inertial lifts. First, why are there not 3 lift shafts shown on the monitor? Instead, there are 2 of them with 2 lifts in the same shaft-like column. Are they stacked? Next, I noticed that the lift on the left in the image below had the same floor number as the bottom lift in the column on the right. They were twins! That’s significant. Then, I noticed that something really odd happened. The 2 in the same column started merging. In the image below, you can see that the 2 lifts (white arrow) in the same column have almost merged.

This symbolizes the Doctor and his twin. One gets merged with something else and becomes a hybrid.

The Hand of Omega & the 1st Doctor

I’m going to throw this in here because we are examining things with the 1st Doctor. If I remember correctly, the 1st Doctor initially came to Earth in 1963 to specifically bury the Hand of Omega.

In fact, the TARDIS Wikia says

In late October, the First Doctor made arrangements with a Shoreditch funeral parlour to bury the Hand of Omega in a nearby churchyard. (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks)

The Hand of Omega can also be a metaphor of River or Clara.

Revisiting “The Stolen Earth” and “Journey’s End”

The mention of Earth’s twin and planets moving out of orbit is similar to 2 other episodes we’ve looked at. In fact, there are 24+3 drawers in Razor’s office, so this all points to the 10th Doctor episode “The Stolen Earth” and “Journey’s End,” which we’ve examined in Chapter 15 of Fairytales and Romance in Doctor Who.

The Daleks stole the Doctor and The Ghost. I’m reposting part of what I wrote because we’ll most likely have to revisit a few aspects of this in the upcoming episode(s). Here’s what I said

In “The Stolen Earth,” 23 planets plus the Earth are stolen simultaneously, and 3 other planets are stolen much earlier. The 10th Doctor tells Donna that someone tried to move the Earth once before a long time ago. (That first move seems like what we are going back to with the 12th Doctor because that started the whole problem.) After picking up the trail, the 10th Doctor and Donna end up in the Medusa Cascade. He says he was in the Medusa Cascade as “just a kid” of 90 years old.

Earth is a metaphor for the Doctor, and the number 27 is special because (12 x 2) + 3 = 27. There are two 12th Doctors plus the three extra planets refer to the The Ghost and 3 hidden faces of the Doctor. This means the Daleks symbolically steal The Ghost and are going to set off a reality bomb. That’s really interesting since the 12th Doctor represents The Ghost, and he is waking up to reality.

There are three 10th Doctors spelled out in canon in the 2nd part of the season finale, “Journey’s End,” foreshadowing some of what is happening now. Basically, the 2-parter gives us 3 new beings even if they don’t look like it.

· Meta-crisis Doctor – 10th Doctor regenerates into the same face using his preserved Hand as a repository for excess energy – he is supposed to be fully Time Lord

· Donna touches the Hand of the Doctor; she absorbs it’s energy and becomes the DoctorDonna – ½ human and ½ Time Lord – Donna’s body with the Doctor’s Time Lord brain; it’s why she needs her memory wiped of the Doctor in the end

· ½ human and ½ Time Lord version of the 10th Doctor, who is created when Donna touches the Hand; he gets ½ his genes from Donna and ends up staying with Rose because he has 1 heart and would age; according to the 10th Doctor, this version “destroyed the Daleks. He committed genocide. He's too dangerous to be left on his own.” That’s interesting since the fully Time Lord version supposedly destroyed his own people and the Daleks.

Some of what is happening to the 12th Doctor mirrors that of Donna, like the insectoid in “Turn Left” vs. in insectoid in TRODM. Both are being controlled. Also, Donna had a memory wipe vs. the Doctor’s memory block. They both were in Pompeii, albeit Capaldi’s character, Lobus Caecilius, was not called the Doctor. BTW, he put on a gold beetle in “The Fires of Pompeii,” so the beetle was controlling him.

Then, there’s this, referring to the Pyrovile’s in “The Fires of Pompeii”:

So the Doctor as The Ghost has a relationship to Pyrovilia beyond what we saw in “The Fires of Pompeii.” Karen Gillan who plays both Amy Pond and the soothsayer in “The Fires of Pompeii” is turning into a Pyrovilian in the episode, a living rock person. Also, Amy Pond thinks she is turning into a Weeping Angel in the 11th Doctor episode “Flesh and Stone.” There seems to be a theme here. Amy is also one of the hidden faces of the Doctor.

The other 2 Ghost Planets stolen are

· Adipose 3, also known as Breeding Planet One. Donna mentioned she was dieting in the Library dream, which is a reference to Adipose 3 and “Partners in Crime,” where it featured.

· The Lost Moon of Poosh, but we don’t have canon information on that. Is the Lost Moon of Poosh the soothsayer? Caecilius probably represents Pyrovilia. His first name is Lobus, meaning pod. There was an escape pod or something similar that the Pyroviles came in. I believe Caecilius’ DNA is being used to create an army.

Most likely, we will see the 3 versions of the Doctor. Will we see Amy and Donna?

Stopping the Time War, “A Good Man Goes to War” & Gallifrey

This really is all about Gallifrey and stopping the Time War, as we examined before. It comes back to the child created to stop the war. That was Melody Pond (the baby looked like a 3-fold being) in “A Good Man Goes to War,” and it also comes back to Ohila and the Sisterhood of Karn reviving the dead Doctor and turning him into the War Doctor. They are retellings of each other.

As we saw in “The Day of the Doctor,” it wasn’t really real. There was green plant material on the floor in the barn, when the War Doctor came in. Also, if the War Doctor had actually used the Moment to destroy Gallifrey and the Daleks, why didn’t it kill him? Why did he think it would kill all the Daleks when this is supposed to be a different planet?

Things just don’t add up.

As we examined, we had to find the epicenter and destroy that, so that is where we are at in this prison ship, the Library metaphor.

That’s what this has all been about. Throwing off the enslavers, the beings mind controlling the Doctor, so he can wake up to what is really happening and fix things. Ohila said he was the only one who could.

We’ll have to see Gallifrey at some point.

The Master & the War Doctor

We also took a look at how the Master was involved in this. Here’s what I said about the Master & the War Doctor in Chapter 19 of Fairytales and Romance in Doctor Who.

What we see with the War Doctor in “The Day of the Doctor” didn’t happen the way it looked like. Check out this image below with greenery (red arrows) in the barn with the Moment, the sentient device that would destroy the Time Lords. Zooming in on the greenery is important. DW is telling us that things didn’t happen this way because there is no greenery for miles. The barn is in a desert. So where did the plant leaves come from? These are memories, regrets of what happened and a turning point of fixing things.

In “The Sound of Drums,” the Master says something surprising about the war:

MASTER: The Time Lords only resurrected me because they knew I'd be the perfect warrior for a Time War. I was there when the Dalek Emperor took control of the Cruciform. I saw it. I ran. I ran so far. Made myself human so they would never find me, because I was so scared. DOCTOR: I know.

There are at least 5 important, surprising parts here:

1. According to this, the War Doctor is the Master, a face of him, although not at the same point in time. The War Doctor we saw in “The Day of the Doctor” has lots of regrets, while the Master is young and full of vengeance.

2. The Cruciform has never been defined as to what it means. However, I believe it means the 12th Doctor since crosses symbolize him. This may mean the Dalek Emperor took control of The Ghost. This would make sense since the Daleks stole the Doctor and The Ghost before in “The Stolen Earth,” which goes back to “The Fires of Pompeii.” Again, I want to stress that the 12th Doctor has 3 different faces, so it could be that the Emperor took control of one of the Doctor’s faces, like River or Amy Pond, using them as hostages to get the Doctor to submit. Numerous integrations and metaphors make it difficult to assess if the cruciform would only be the 12th Doctor’s face. We probably will see 3 people, like we did in “Journey’s End.”

3. The Master is so scared of the Cruciform, which causes him to run so far, turn himself human, and hide. Wow! This sounds like the Doctor in “Human Nature” and “The Family of Blood,” turning himself human and hiding from The Family. However, this also sounds like what we’ve been talking about with the 12th Doctor and the Hybrid and The Ghost. He ran from Gallifrey because he was scared of himself. He gave away his watch at the beginning of “Deep Breath,” which symbolizes turning himself human. Since then, he’s been on a journey to discover who he really is. However, he’s taking the “long way home.”

4. The sequence in “The End of Time” has a group of women who resurrect the Master. They obviously are metaphors for the Time Lords the Master is talking about. Also, they represent the Sisterhood of Karn, who originally came from Gallifrey. The Sybilline Sisterhood in “The Fires of Pompeii” is a metaphor for the Sisterhood of Karn, so it’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out. The Sisterhood on Karn resurrected the 8th Doctor after he died. Then, they turned him into the War Doctor to stop the war. Will the Doctor go after the Sybilline Sisterhood, wanting revenge, showing us his past self? That’s possible. The Sisterhood of Karn would most likely represent his merciful self dealing with them. This is the way DW works, so we have to take these things into account. We have to look at when in his timeline through the subtext he is doing things.

5. The Master’s wife, Lucy, was in prison for killing him, just like River was in prison for killing the Doctor. Lucy is in TRODM because she is the Doctor’s alchemical wife = Mother of God consciousness = Amy => River. The subtext suggests Amy is a Time Lord, living as a human. Therefore, River represents Amy’s regeneration.

Using the Title “Doctor Who,” The Chase & Daleks

The Doctor has never called himself Doctor Who before. He has used it, for example, in signing his name or saying it in a foreign language. However, the 12th Doctor is the first to use that moniker.

It’s a reference to the 1st Doctor story The Chase that we looked at in “The Eaters of Light” analysis, when looking at the reference of the Mary Celeste. As we saw, much of Season 10 is tracking closely with this story. In it, Daleks chase the Doctor through time. It’s hard not to think of Heather in “The Pilot” or the Doctor hiding from The Family in “Human Nature” and “The Family of “Blood.”

The Chase "The Executioners" "The Death of Time" "Flight Through Eternity" "Journey into Terror" "The Death of Doctor Who" "The Planet of Decision"

“World Enough and Time” & “Journey into Terror” The hospital scenes in “World Enough and Time” go right along with the haunted house and nightmarish dreams in “Journey into Terror.” That’s what they are dreams and nightmares, like CAL has in the Library. I’ll talk more about the hospital in a bit.

"The Death of Doctor Who" The Doctor’s use of “Doctor Who” in such a way, is pointing to "The Death of Doctor Who.” The Daleks built a duplicate robot of the Doctor, whom they said was human. They plan on using the robot as an assassin. The Doctor ends up fighting it.

I have to say that I was watching closely to tell who was the real Doctor and who wasn’t. The Doctor pulled out wires of the supposed robot (from it’s shirt, which looked very fake and not up to what I normally see in the 1st Doctor episodes; surprisingly most are technically superior to some later episodes).

All I can say is that it was odd, and I have questions about this. Of course, the episode is in black and white, which makes it more difficult to see details and what is happening. And the video is a little grainy.

Since the Doctor is the imposter in “The Gunfighters,” this The Chase episode gives me pause.

For now, I’ll assume the Doctor here is an imposter because of the inverse reflection.

BTW, the Doctor in the episode is shown in 3 different ways when he is talking to Bill. They refer to his 3 faces. It took 3 generations in the Library episodes to gain access to the facility to get back to CAL and rescue her from the nightmares.

"The Planet of Decision," “Hell Bent” & “The Doctor Falls” Since The Chase is being referenced so heavily, it seems logical to assume the last episode of the 1st Doctor’s story “The Planet of Decision” will be the focus of “The Doctor Falls.” In the 1st Doctor episode, the battle takes place on Mechanus, a planet of machines. When the Doctor and his companions arrive, the Mechonoids take them prisoner.

This episode has similarities to “Smile” in that the Mechonoids are mirrors of the Vardy. The Mechonoids were sent to the planet about 50 years earlier to prepare the landing sites for human colonists, who never arrived.

Once the Daleks arrive to find the Doctor, they have a fierce battle with the Mechonoids. The machines destroy each other.

This will be a retelling of “Hell Bent,” in that the people will be freed from the Library metaphor, like Clara was, and the dystopian prison world will be destroyed, which is the apocalyptic event – Ragnarök.

Can we ever be sure they are free? How much will be in the finale and how much in the Christmas Special, I can’t say.

All I know is that seeing reality will be emotional.

On the Opening Bridge Scenes

The whole testing thing of Missy was odd, but there are some interesting things in the subtext. There are reflections pertaining to Missy, Bill, and Nardole when they step out of the TARDIS, so we can’t believe everything we see here.

Missy is wearing a bird’s wing on her hat. That’s interesting since we have been talking about birds. And we even talked about Clarence getting his wings. Therefore, the one wing could suggest that Missy is halfway to earning her wings.

The Doctor, however, has an inverse reflection on the table when we first see him, so things with him are opposite to what we see. There also is an image of Beethoven’s Fifth, telling us the Doctor created a bootstrap paradox.

Interestingly, Missy is obviously mirroring the Doctor while the 12th Doctor is mirroring the 11th Doctor here. He has the TARDIS monitor upstairs with him. When he brings it down, we see a circle on the back, which is from the 11th Doctor’s TARDIS.

The Janus & the Giant Ship

Missy said the monitors on the bridge were positioned so that one person could see all of them on this giant ship. Here’s another giant reference. Because we’ve gone back in time, this ship really is a giaaaanttttttt.

Anyway, the interesting thing is that if the monitors are positioned so that one person can see all of them, why are there 2 monitors behind the center chair, shown below (white arrows)?

This points to the pilot being a Janus, which is just more evidence of what we’ve examined before. Especially with Heather, which we saw in a previous analysis. The Janus is a face of the Doctor.

Jorj, Nardole & the Doctor

There are some odd things about what happened on the bridge with Jorj. Before I get into most of that, we need to examine a few things.

When Jorj shows up on the bridge wielding a gun, Nardole says he used to be blue. That creates a mirror potential. Jorj is clearly scared, and Nardole scares easily. Therefore, it is quite shocking that Nardole is not scared at all. He is acting the opposite to his normal self. That is odd.

Jorj runs over to the monitor, watching the inertia lifts, and the Doctor watches the lifts from within the TARDIS, mirroring Jorj. As we’ve examined, Nardole, for one thing, represents the child version of the Doctor. If we combine the mirror of the Doctor and mirror of Nardole as a child, Jorj is a child who represents the child Doctor. He may not look like a child, but there is one other thing…

The Name Jorj Refers to George in “Night Terrors”

The name Jorj sounds like a homephone of George, the 8-year-old boy from “Night Terrors,” who wanted someone to save him from the monsters. The title “Night Terrors” is totally appropriate for what is going on in this episode, especially in the hospital scenes. Jorj is a mirror of George.

We’ve examined George a little bit in the past. He has telekinetic powers and can send people subconsciously to the dollhouse, where they are miniaturized and chased around by dolls that want to play. If a human gets caught, they get turned into a doll.

This sounds very similar to Jorj coming in and killing Bill, so the Cybermedics come and turn her into a Cyberwoman.

George, the Doctor & Pigs

We examined somewhere back in the Fairytales and Romance in Doctor Who how pigs were metaphors for Daleks and their pig slaves, genetically altered-mutant human-pig hybrids. They showed up in the 2-parter “Daleks in Manhattan” and “Evolution of the Daleks.”

George & the Marionette Interestingly, George has a pig marionette on his wall, shown below, so George is a puppet, a slave to the Daleks. Therefore, we can expect Jorj to be a puppet, too. There’s also a rocket in the image, which is a metaphor for the prison ship end closest to the Black Hole. He represents the Eye of Harmony.

The Doctor & the Pig Reflection We examined this image in Chapter 14. In “Deep Breath,” the half-faced man is holding up a silver platter, shown below, but there is something odd. Looking closely, we can see there is a real pig’s face superimposed over the half-faced man’s hardware side in the reflection. The important thing is that the cyborg is holding the platter up to half the Doctor’s face, suggesting the Doctor’s hardware side is actually Dalek. He is a Dalek slave.

In “World Enough and Time,” the Doctor makes a reference to pigs:

DOCTOR: Enjoying your bacon sandwich? BILL: Why? DOCTOR: Because it had a mummy and a daddy. Go tell a pig about your moral high ground.

The reference to the bacon, Jorj’s name, and his mirror of George and the pig, seriously bolster my hypothesis that the Daleks have control of the Doctor. Daleks can still be a metaphor, which we’ve seen, but I’m betting Daleks will have to come into play.

The Dollhouse, Dolls & Dals

I’ve held the hypothesis for a long time that dollhouse and dolls actually reference Dals.

According to the TARDIS Wikia:

The Dals were a race which lived on the planet Skaro.

After reading the Thals' historical records, the First Doctor claimed that the Dals were the "forebear" of the Dalek race, and that "Dals" was what the Thals called the Daleks at the time of the neutronic war that mutated the surviving Thals and Dalek ancestors. (TV: "The Ambush") According to another account, the Daleks were descended from the Kaleds. (TV: Genesis of the Daleks)

The Thal Dyoni said that the Daleks were originally teachers, while the Thal leader Temmosus said they were philosophers. (TV: "The Escape")

George’s Father

There’s a Sun and a doughnut on George’s father’s refrigerator, so he is the 12th Doctor creating Suns and being a Door/Doughnut metaphor. He’s playing an older version of George.

He’s a ghost in the image below, as he has no physical presence, just reflections. He has 2 faces, the doll is hidden behind him, and we can only see it when he moves a little. So the doll probably refers to Dal. This would mirror the Doctor.

Jorj Sort of Kills Bill

Jorj has a shaky hand on the gun. He is scared and doesn’t really want to kill Bill (he apologies afterward), so it’s natural to have a shaky hand. However, we saw Dr. Sim in TRODM with a shaky hand, he obviously was being controlled and didn’t really want to kill anyone. And Jorj is being controlled to kill Bill.

Because Jorj is meant to be a child, this may suggest that the child Doctor is made to kill his mother, although he may not know she is his mother. In contrast, Amy shot at the little girl who was implied to be her daughter. We never got confirmation of this, though.

Because Bill is a mirror of both Clara and River here, this would represent the Raven (the child Doctor) killing Clara. This is similar to CAL in the Library causing River’s death by going into self-destruct mode. CAL is being controlled too.

I haven’t mentioned this before, but the subtext suggests that Amy is Rory’s Mother of God consciousness. This was mirrored in TRODM when Lucy was Grant’s Mother of God consciousness.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest & “Oxygen”

In “World Enough and Time,” the hospital is creepy and surreal, and there is the tyrannical Nurse Ratched mirror from the psychiatric hospital in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The situation here and “Heaven Sent” are living hells.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a 1975 American film, based on the 1962 novel by Ken Kesey. According to Shmoop.com:

When Randle Patrick McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) gets transferred for evaluation from a prison farm to a mental institution, he assumes it will be a less restrictive environment. But the martinet Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) runs the psychiatric ward with an iron fist, keeping her patients cowed through abuse, medication and sessions of electroconvulsive therapy. The battle of wills between the rebellious McMurphy and the inflexible Ratched soon affects all the ward's patients.

Cuckoo is another term the Doctor applied to young George, although it wasn’t meant as crazy. It refers to the cuckoo bird’s habit of laying an egg in another bird’s nest, so it raises the foster bird.

This episode sets things up to go to the epicenter of the bird’s domain to stop it from laying more eggs. That mirrors stopping the Time War at the epicenter.

“Oxygen”

“Oxygen” had to come up again because there was a lot of hand waving in the episode with how Bill and the Doctor survived. (We haven’t seen the end of it, though.)

The Doctor’s words to Bill in “Oxygen” relate to this finale:

DOCTOR: We're going to have to leave you here. BILL: What? I'll die! DOCTOR: You're not going to die. But I won't lie to you, this will not be good. ABBY: We have to go. Now. DOCTOR: You will go through hell, but you will come through it. And I will be waiting on the other side.

In fact, the Doctor repeats words in “World Enough and Time” that he said in “Oxygen.”

Here’s the “Oxygen” dialogue:

DOCTOR: I'm the Doctor. I will do everything in my power to save all your lives. And when I do, you will spend the rest of them wondering who I was and why I helped you. If anyone's offering a better deal, be my guest.

Here’s the “World Enough and Time” dialogue when the Doctor is trying to talk Jorj down from shooting Bill. Metaphorically, it means that he is talking to himself, trying to save Bill. This is similar to Rory trying not to kill Amy in “The Pandorica Opens”:

DOCTOR: I like it. You don't know it yet, but in a short time, you will trust me with your life. And when I save you and everyone on your ship, one day you will look back, and wonder who I was and why I did.

Combining “World Enough and Time” with “Oxygen” and the lack thereof points back to the drowning in the Biblical Flood.

In The Man Who Fell to Earth, which, as we’ve seen is one of the things DW is based on, Newton comes to Earth on a rescue mission for his planet, needing water, so it’s fitting that water comes into play whether it’s metaphorical or not.

Something with the Cybermedics Doesn’t Make Sense

The Cybermedics come up in the inertial lifts from places higher than 507. If Bill is taken to Floor 1056, why does Razor say what he does?

BILL: But I've been up there. There's a friend of mine, he could help.

Razor is obviously lying, wanting to convert Bill. With the lifts, she could get back to the bridge. Later we see Bill in the hospital. Why is she the only one without the sock part over her head? That doesn’t make sense. At one point, we see she has a reflection, so she has a hidden face. Then, in another reflection, the hidden face has a sock over its face.

The Hospital from Hell & the Odd Volume Dial

“World Enough and Time” has a very 1st Doctor feel in many ways, especially when it comes to the hospital from hell.

One of the things I saw in the 1st Doctor subtext was that items that looked similar to some real device, such as the IV bottle in “World Enough and Time,” had some surreal things going on in the subtext.

Case in point is that the IV bottle is more than what it looks like. At a far glance, it does look like an odd IV bottle. Strangely, it has a weird volume dial. When Bill turns it for one of the patients, not only does the patient start repeating, “Pain,” but also his voice gets louder.

Taking a closer look at the image below, the volume dial (white arrow) is in the middle of something odd (yellow arrow). It’s a speaker system, which matches the increase and decrease in sound. What is a speaker system doing on an IV bottle?

Not only does this point to something seriously wrong, but also it points to people waking up to a surreal realism. Outside of the 1st Doctor stories, I’ve never seen this. I was geeking out about the connection, but at the same time, it creeped me out. This episode tops “Midnight” for the scariest episode for me. Marrying people to machines like this is a terrifying prospect.

Many of the 1st Doctor episodes gave me the sense that the Doctor and his companions were prisoners of the Daleks, who were watching them. Also, the Doctor and friends look liked they were miniaturized. This all was in an environment, like the Library, where beings can watch from the outside.

The Realism of “Asylum of the Daleks”

This is a nightmarish situation with the added realism that faces of the Doctor and others are merged with hardware. We also saw this with Oswin Oswald in “Asylum of the Daleks.” In fact, the subtext shows in the next episode, “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship,” that he is forgetting what he already has asked a couple a times. This is a sign of turning into a Dalek. We didn’t see it that way, but neither did Amy and Clara.

In the asylum episode, we also saw how Amy was dreaming of humans dancing, but they were really Daleks on the floor in front of her. That is a great example of the nightmarish situation of waking up to surrealistic realism. We saw that with Oswin Oswald, too. She thought she was human, but she had been converted to a Dalek.

The Master’s Office

Sunflower & “Vincent and the Doctor”

The Master has a sunflower in his office. There are only 3 people, whom I can think of, who are associated with the sunflower. They all show up in “Vincent and the Doctor.” Amy, Vincent (a mirror of the 12th Doctor and Rory), and the girl who was killed by Vincent’s invisible beast. (Ashildr represents the girl who died.)

DNA Model, “Time Heist” & Clara

There’s a model of a double helix, which relates to a strand of DNA. Also, Bill, at one point, is wearing a sweater that has a double helix pattern. This is a reference and a reminder of the promises made in “Time Heist.” We examined those back in the pre-airing analysis of TRODM in Chapter 10 because I knew this was going to get dark. We’ve seen the darkness with Bill, especially.

Saibra, the Doctor & Clara One of the people on the mission to rob the Bank of Karabraxos is Saibra, a mutant human. She is a mirror of the Architect, and she also transforms into Clara when she touches Clara. So she is a mirror of Clara, too.

SAIBRA: Mutant gene. No one can touch me. If they do, I transform. Touch me, Doctor, and you'll be looking at yourself. I am alone.

Saibra also has the curse of the black spot, which comes back to “The Curse of Fenric,” which we’ve looked at. And Clara was the name in the 7th Doctor story of one of those cursed.

The Doctor and Clara both transform in their own ways. Clara actually did transform into the Doctor. It was a statement on how she was split apart and scattered across the Doctor’s timeline. She needs to come back together and heal, too, which was one of the reasons I had put forward as to why Clara had to come back.

The Doctor and Clara get to the Vault and find what Saibra was promised from this rescue mission

DOCTOR: Gene suppressant. CLARA: She wanted to be normal. DOCTOR: Everyone has a weakness. So the big question is this. What did we come for?

The Doctor’s Memories & the Rescue Clara and the Doctor came to restore the Doctor’s memories, so he could finish the rescue of the 2 Tellers – the last of their kind. The Doctor’s missing memories of Clara mirror this.

Psi & the Doctor Psi was the other character, who helped rob the bank. He had computer parts in his mind and was a mirror of the Doctor. The promise for him was that he would get his memories restored of his family. This is the promise for the Doctor

The Admiral TV

There’s a really odd mix of equipment on the ship. The bridge looks futuristic, but some of the equipment in the Master’s office looks like it’s from a time long ago, like from the 1960s.

One of the old things is the Admiral TV. That was surprising because I expected it to be Magpie Electronics, the stealer of souls, which we examined quite awhile ago.

This is a reference to Admiral Nelson, whom we examined in “The Pilot” analysis. The reference to the admiral showed up in the Season 8 episode “In the Forest of the Night,” where the trees grew overnight. We saw Admiral Nelson’s Column fall in Trafalgar Square, which foreshadowed the fall of the Doctor and Clara, since the admiral was a metaphor for the Doctor.

One of the things that I didn’t say that was odd about the Doctor was that not only was he superfluous in that episode, but also the he was not the oldest thing in the universe.

That contradicts the oldest question in the universe: Doctor Who? Therefore, the Doctor must have a parallel world created around him.

Given that, and

TREE SPIRITS: We don't know you. We were here before you and will be here after you.

So the tree spirits or whatever they don’t know the Doctor! Wow, that blew me away! Why do they not know the Doctor? This, in part, gave me the idea that this Doctor was the usurped one.

They go on to talk about the Sun, addressing the Doctor as it:

DOCTOR: Why now? Why are you here now? TREE SPIRITS: We hear the call and we come, as we came before to the great North Forest, where we lie still in a great circle. As we came to the vast Southern Forest. DOCTOR: Who is calling you now?

TREE SPIRITS: The sun that creates. The sun that destroys. You are hurting us. Let us go. DOCTOR: You sent for me. The girl came looking for me. Why? Why me?

The usurped admiral has to fall.

In Conclusion

I could write so much more, but I need a break after getting little sleep this week while trying to get this done. Also, I want to get this out several hours before the episode airs tonight, at least in North America.

We need to hang onto our hats because this finale promises to be an emotional rollercoaster ride. I’ve got my box of tissues ready.

#doctor who #twelfth doctor #bill potts #nardole #river song #clara oswald #eleventh doctor #amy pond #rory williams #tenth doctor #donna noble #missy #master

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