#the 2023 specials

[justletmeramble1701]

Has anyone talked about how each of the three specials represents the three eras if NuWho (as in the three showrunners)?

The Star Beast felt like a classic Russel T Davis era introduction. The doctor disrupts the companion's boring domestic life, introducing them to a new, exciting, and very dangerous life. While, yes, this is the story of most NuWho companions, but Russell's version focused on how boring mundanity is (his companions are thrill seekers, especially Rose and Donna) and the companion's familiar life, which this episode does with the reintroduction of the Noble's.

It also has a "Davis-ex-machina", but all three episodes have that, so I'm not gonna mention it.

Wild Blue Yonder felt like a Moffat idea box (a dark fairy tale/cosmic horror). High concept scares or ideas that force the Doctor to drop his mask and confront truths about himself. I'm specifically thinking of series 6, where The Doctor relearns responsibility by the strange and usually terrifying situations he falls into, dragging his companions along for the ride. In this story, the Doctor is reminded how beaten down they are, setting us up for the conclusion in the finally. It's basically this Doctor's "The God Complex"! While this is how the franchise does character development, it feels uniquely Moffat because of its horror influence (its "Alien" and "The Thing") and the level at which it explains itself (it explains as much as it needs to have a monster with a gimmick, but not too much that they stop being scary - and also in a way that confuses most people).

It also has seemingly innocuous lines that are actually horrifying in context. "My arms are too long..." feels so much like "Are you my mummy," "Don't blink," and "Who turned out the lights," but it lacks the ability to be repeated more than once, so it can't become the quote for the creature. Instead of a singular quote, the episode goes for a series of chilling one-liners ("Oh, we get hungry, don't we..." being a great example).

The Giggle had that late Chibnall charm. Bringing back past elements in highly action-packed finales or specials to attempt to excite or "wow" the audience. While it pulls things out of nowhere to keep the plot going, you don't care because of how much fun you are having! I was specifically thinking about "The Power of the Doctor" while watching it. Half a "Flux" worth of ideas crammed into an episode, but with just enough fun, character, and heart that you allow it to do whatever. Let the episode drive you in whichever direction it needs to go to reach the destination, trusting that it won't get lost or crash. While this is, basically, the concept of the show (remember, we are watching a walking deus ex machina in their magic plot generating box, waiving their magic wand around until it is time for them to solve the problem), it feels like Chibnall because of how compact it is. Like I said, this has enough ideas that it could have been all three specials.

The thing that sets these three specials apart from the last three eras is the power dynamic between the Doctor and their companion. 14 and Donna are equals. While Donna is being reintroduced to the extraordinary, 14 is being reintroduced to the mundane. While Donna is trying to escape from the lovecraftian creature they've encountered, the Doctor is right beside her, scared of what they shouldn't comprehend (the episode even punishing them for their comprehension). While Donna is being toyed with by a dark god, the laws of reality failing her, the Doctor is facing the same, at the wim of an entity that operates by a different set of rules. The Doctor and their companion, their friend, is finally operating on the same playing field as them, which means that, by extension, so are we.

Donna, like all companions, represents the audience, but, in these stories, she specifically represents the fans of the last 20 of Doctor Who. The ones that grew up watching NuWho. We are older now, still as loud and snarky as ever, but we are adults now. Just like Donna, we have lives, responsibilities. We can't experience the world (or the program) the way we once did. Even though the adventures never truly end, it is our turn to join the previous generation (reprented by Mel) watch the next batch of whovians discover this exciting universe for the first time, our Doctor by our side.

This was the best conclusion to NuWho that we could've hoped for!

[sleepysebris]

:) 🖤

@mlsecretsanta gift for @thequeenofspace! happy belated holidays and apologies for the delay, had a serious family emergency followed by sickness! I had so much fun making this though, was so excited to finally draw these two 🖤 hope you enjoy!!!

[ash-and-starlight]

a bit late but @zukki-week day 1 // domesticity!

[il-predestinato]

"Then you get older, and you look back at moments that maybe you didn't enjoy at the time - that are very funny. Yeah, it was good times."

Charles Leclerc is asked about his karting days with Max Verstappen. 🎥: post-qualifying press conference, 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix

[neick-hitlz]

Barbie Time 💢✨

[slippy-socks]

yeehawgust day 16: prairie fire

[shorthaltsjester]

watching the sdcc panel and i am just very :) about how sweet their answers to “what are some of the micro moments from the game that have stuck with you the most over the years?” are. taliesin saying what the fuck is up with that which was the first like The Party Gets To Know Each Other moments of c3. travis saying asking his wife if he could kiss her in campaign. marisha going way back to the cannonball competition in campaign one. ashley choosing the beauyasha date but also just the silly goat noise matt made. liam adding onto that to compliment matt roleplaying grass so well and then saying his favourite moment was writing a story for laura and reading it to her as caleb for jester. and then matt saying that was his answer, and that his favourite moments of the game are when they find ways to give gifts to each other whether tangible or not. and sam saying his favourite moments have less to do with the story and is more so when he can just. see his friends across the table from him. when marisha perches and when laura and ashley are (badly) drawing dicks and liam saying he loves when sam sneezes and ashley tells him to stop it and just. yeah. they Are an extremely popular online powerhouse, but i’m so happy that they’re also friends building a world together out of gifts to and love for one another.

like i Am so enamoured with the characters and the world of exandria but the moments when you can feel the love that those people have for each other reach out from behind the stained glass of their performances (to steal a metaphor from brennan lee mulligan) are so extremely special and i am endlessly grateful that they decided to share their silly little home game with the world.

[elitadream]

Happy New Year everyone!! 🤩🎉

I wish you all a marvelous time with your loved ones. May these upcoming months bring you joy, peace and all sorts of good things! 🤗💖

[cbartonscoffee]

Guys, can we give some recognition to the TARDIS? She heard the Doctor's speech about being the bad luck and all the self hatred he was falling into and she just refused him to let him go alone. She opened the door for Ruby. Because let's be honest, the Doctor could have been gone in ten seconds flat, and he was probably waiting for Ruby to come back, because if the Doctor is something it is hopeful, but he did not open that door himself. Was he praying for Ruby to follow him? Yeah, for sure. But the invitation to come in, the act of pulling the door open, I'm 100% convinced it was the TARDIS. She saw that he was feeling lonely again and she took matters in her own hands and opened the doors for a new person, literally. Ruby is approved by the TARDIS. I just find that so amazing. The TARDIS being sentient is one of my favourite parts of Doctor Who and I think that her relationship with the Doctor is super important, so the act of opening up her doors for another person, because she knows that Ruby will help him and keep him company means everything to me.

[purrvaire]

have you praised them today

[serrangelic-art]

artfight #2, for @ultrainfinitepit's Spiderphim! I love spider-man, and I love angels, so this was the perfect combo.

[I'm ~Serrangelic on artfight!]

[navajja]

My first attempt at drawing alta characters

[crimsonbubble]

cw. nsfw, gn!reader, breeding kink, creampies, overstimulation, manhandling *not proofread, just pure horny

[first time writing for syzoth kinda nervy 🤞] I DELETED THE ASK ON ACCIDENT IM SO FUCKING SORRY @special-force-mk

He's a menace during his mating season

Literally can not stand being away from you

Has a habit of being all up in your personal bubble

You won't be able to get anything done during this time

And once he gets the green light to get his frustrations out, he's soaring over the moon

He's so so sensitive in this state

Bc of his sensitivity, he cums rather easily

But he doesn't soften at all, it's like he gets even harder when he feels your warm walls hug his cock so snuggly

He constantly mumbles about “filling you up with his kids” and “you'll look so pretty carrying my children”

Tilting your hips up to “make sure it takes” while he drills into you

He says this even if you can't get pregnant

It's an instinct to want to fill his partner with thick seed

[tomatoart]

training montage

[triplehearts]

But you’re holding me like water in your hands

@desert-duo-week day 1 - dancing / holding

[carsthatnevermadeitetc]

Pagani Imola Roadster, 2023. A special edition of 8 cars powered by an 850PS version of the Mercedes-AMG V12. To reduce weight the chassis is made of Carbo-Titanium HP62-G2 and Carbo-Triax HP62, it's finished in Acquarello Light paint that saves an additional 5kg, so that the Imola Roadster weighs in a just 1,260 kg and is capable of 217mph