Stuff I Love - Feb 2
Feb. 2nd, 2019 05:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shivverOh, what to talk about? I know. Here's something I've been thinking about for a while now. These are tropes that I love.
DW Tropes
Chameleon arch: Okay, who didn't know that I love the concept of the chameleon arch? Come on. That one's obvious. "Human Nature/Family of Blood" is my favorite episode, and the concept of the arched human having to come to terms with actually being someone else is so compelling to me, I've created a whole AU around it. I haven't written anything recently in that vein, but I've always wondered how it would go if I wrote a story involving a different Doctor being arched, not just Ten as usual.
Multi-Doctor encounters: When I first got into DW, I loved finding stories (both canon and fanfic) in which the Doctor encountered himself - the interactions are just stunning. I think the best multi-Doctor story ever is "The Light at the End", a gorgeous anniversary special that spotlights each Doctor equally and plays to each of their strengths, on top of a great story. But I have to give an honorable mention to "Peri and the Piscon Paradox" for the absolute best (and hilarious) example of the Doctor fighting with himself.
The Doctor assisting himself via time tricks: I'm talking instances where the Doctor either sends himself messages from the future or the Doctor returning in a later incarnation to finish what he started. An example of the former is "Battlefield", in which the Doctor encounters messages left by him later (including a stone carving the archaeologists couldn't decipher but the Doctor reads "Dig here", because it was written in his own handwriting). I can't think of a canon example of the latter, but I'm sure Big Finish has done it a couple of times. This kind of thing is rare, because it really is a plot cheat and when overused, destroys the story and the show.
General Tropes:
Superpowers and magic: I just love superpowers, which of course is why my only true AU (meaning, not actually in a fandom universe) is a superhero world. Magic is also a big draw for me, though I prefer my magic structured, with rules and consequences, like Sanderson's Mistborn or The Dresden Files, and not like Harry Potter (though I still love HP). Most of the things I've ever been a fan of have either been straight science fiction or had powers or magic of some kind. When I was a kid up through college, those were tokusatsu shows, "The Greatest American Hero", "Forever Knight", and Spider-Man and X-Men comics, to name a few. More recently, there's DW itself, HP, the MCU... Heroes was just amazing - for the first season. Not so much later.
Psionics: It's kind of a subset of superpowers, but I love stories with telepathy and other psychic powers. The Doctor helping Donna to hear the Ood song was just perfect for me.
Wings: I love love love wings. I don't know why. Part of the reason I am ITCHING for Good Omens this year is because David Tennant will have wings. And black ones! Which my Tenth Doctor character in Guild Wars 2 has been wearing for years. Because wings on David Tennant. And because if any Doctor would have black wings, it would be Ten. But still, David Tennant with wings. *cough* Okay. Back to the trope. This is a weird one because while I love wings, I couldn't write wingfic. "The Doctor, but with wings!" or whatever just doesn't make a good story for me, even if it's completely AU. Having wings isn't something to base a story on. It's like basing a story on having feet. Okay, I'm probably just rambling now.
Glowing eyes: "42" is one of my favorite episodes, and it totally helped that the Doctor had glowing eyes in it. Well, to be perfectly honest, burning eyes. How in the world was he not blind after that?
And lastly, I want to give a nod to the doppleganger crossover. I'm not so big into it now, but back when I started writing, I really enjoyed crossing the Tenth Doctor with other DT characters. I've always wanted to do some with other Doctors, but unfortunately I know nothing about any of the other actors' works.
DW Tropes
Chameleon arch: Okay, who didn't know that I love the concept of the chameleon arch? Come on. That one's obvious. "Human Nature/Family of Blood" is my favorite episode, and the concept of the arched human having to come to terms with actually being someone else is so compelling to me, I've created a whole AU around it. I haven't written anything recently in that vein, but I've always wondered how it would go if I wrote a story involving a different Doctor being arched, not just Ten as usual.
Multi-Doctor encounters: When I first got into DW, I loved finding stories (both canon and fanfic) in which the Doctor encountered himself - the interactions are just stunning. I think the best multi-Doctor story ever is "The Light at the End", a gorgeous anniversary special that spotlights each Doctor equally and plays to each of their strengths, on top of a great story. But I have to give an honorable mention to "Peri and the Piscon Paradox" for the absolute best (and hilarious) example of the Doctor fighting with himself.
The Doctor assisting himself via time tricks: I'm talking instances where the Doctor either sends himself messages from the future or the Doctor returning in a later incarnation to finish what he started. An example of the former is "Battlefield", in which the Doctor encounters messages left by him later (including a stone carving the archaeologists couldn't decipher but the Doctor reads "Dig here", because it was written in his own handwriting). I can't think of a canon example of the latter, but I'm sure Big Finish has done it a couple of times. This kind of thing is rare, because it really is a plot cheat and when overused, destroys the story and the show.
General Tropes:
Superpowers and magic: I just love superpowers, which of course is why my only true AU (meaning, not actually in a fandom universe) is a superhero world. Magic is also a big draw for me, though I prefer my magic structured, with rules and consequences, like Sanderson's Mistborn or The Dresden Files, and not like Harry Potter (though I still love HP). Most of the things I've ever been a fan of have either been straight science fiction or had powers or magic of some kind. When I was a kid up through college, those were tokusatsu shows, "The Greatest American Hero", "Forever Knight", and Spider-Man and X-Men comics, to name a few. More recently, there's DW itself, HP, the MCU... Heroes was just amazing - for the first season. Not so much later.
Psionics: It's kind of a subset of superpowers, but I love stories with telepathy and other psychic powers. The Doctor helping Donna to hear the Ood song was just perfect for me.
Wings: I love love love wings. I don't know why. Part of the reason I am ITCHING for Good Omens this year is because David Tennant will have wings. And black ones! Which my Tenth Doctor character in Guild Wars 2 has been wearing for years. Because wings on David Tennant. And because if any Doctor would have black wings, it would be Ten. But still, David Tennant with wings. *cough* Okay. Back to the trope. This is a weird one because while I love wings, I couldn't write wingfic. "The Doctor, but with wings!" or whatever just doesn't make a good story for me, even if it's completely AU. Having wings isn't something to base a story on. It's like basing a story on having feet. Okay, I'm probably just rambling now.
Glowing eyes: "42" is one of my favorite episodes, and it totally helped that the Doctor had glowing eyes in it. Well, to be perfectly honest, burning eyes. How in the world was he not blind after that?
And lastly, I want to give a nod to the doppleganger crossover. I'm not so big into it now, but back when I started writing, I really enjoyed crossing the Tenth Doctor with other DT characters. I've always wanted to do some with other Doctors, but unfortunately I know nothing about any of the other actors' works.
no subject
Date: 2019-02-03 10:19 am (UTC)Glowing eyes: "42" is one of my favorite episodes, and it totally helped that the Doctor had glowing eyes in it.
... and now I have to ask if you've ever tried Sapphire & Steel? It takes a bit of patience (it's made like Classic Who only with standing still instead of running) but involves glowing eyes and telepathy and time a lot. And what could count as superpowers (each 'element' has different abilities, although they're all telepathic). Although given that 42 is my least favourite DW episode out of all 55+ years, perhaps I shouldn't risk reccing you anything!!
Multi-Doctor adventures are always such fun. I love fic that goes there - we have no availability or aging issues like the TV or even Big Finish, so why not? :-D
no subject
Date: 2019-02-04 05:37 pm (UTC)So sorry you don't like "42"! I know that in general it's not a popular episode, but I've always loved it. But then I've always loved "The End of Time" as well... :)
Edit: Oooo Amazon Prime has all four S&S seasons! That makes it easy. Maybe we'll start tonight.
no subject
Date: 2019-02-04 06:00 pm (UTC)Oooo Amazon Prime has all four S&S seasons! That makes it easy. Maybe we'll start tonight.
\o/
You will at least be able to agree that I did not lie about the glowing eyes or the telepathy anyway.
So sorry you don't like "42"! I know that in general it's not a popular episode, but I've always loved it. But then I've always loved "The End of Time" as well...
I haven't rewatched EoT since it went out, but it was so bonkers that after a bit I quite enjoyed it! I think with 42 it was probably just because it was my first encounter with Chris Chibnall's writing. I really have no idea what it is that I don't like about him (he's mostly sort of blandish at worst, really, and competent most of the rest of the time) but for some reason his stuff is like nails on the blackboard to me. He's my fandom nemesis; he just has no idea! (I was pretty much the same when I saw his ep of Life on Mars, only less violent, so 42 probably was the first, actually. It took a while before I realised it was the same writer who was responsible for so many of my worst episodes of things!)
But I can understand liking it, especially if you're into David Tennant - I was hating it so much I was about to switch the telly off and then David (and Freema, too) gripped me so much I had to stay.
no subject
Date: 2019-02-04 06:51 pm (UTC)I agree that Chibnall is mostly blandish. The first few episodes of series 11 were on the wrong side of average, and I felt that it didn't pick up until the non-Chibnall episodes (though his final episodes were good). I haven't really analyzed what it is that brings his writing down, but my general impression is that he relies too much on talking heads telling us what he should be showing and scenes that are intended to have emotional impact but don't quite make it. One of the weakest bits of "42" was the scene where the escape pod detaches and the Doctor screaming silently through the window at Martha, "I'll save you!" over and over again - way to kill the momentum of the story with 20 seconds of silence. Slow emotional scenes work for Broadchurch, but not in general for DW.
What I liked about "42" was the pressure of the episode (like "Mummy on the Orient Express") and the Doctor trying to save the ship and keep everyone on track while the captain is desperately trying to deny the death of her husband and the fact that she was culpable. I like stories in which there are other threads going on in the background behind the main conflict.
And two other bonuses: I love stories where the Doctor is actually losing, and I love the moment in the stasis chamber where the Doctor is terrified, not of death but of succumbing to the solar entity because he knows he's going to kill everyone.
I do wonder, though, how much of "42" is RTD's writing. I know he rewrote major parts of almost every episode submitted to him, except for Moffat's.
no subject
Date: 2019-02-04 09:58 pm (UTC)And, yeah, I don't know why Chibnall sets my teeth on edge like that; objectively he's fairly generic. But I've watched episodes by him in multiple shows now & the result is always the same. As I said, he's just my Nemesis!