7x01 {Extreme Asylum of the Daleks spoilers}

Snape kills Dumbledore, Darth Vader is Luke's dad, and Oswin is a Dalek.

Moffat's done it again. Basically, that sums up the episode: whether you liked it or not probably depends on what you think Moffat does. If you are of the opinion that he's a terrible writer and can only look at the flaws of an Eleven episode, then you aren't going to enjoy Asylum of the Daleks, whereas if you worship the ground the current showrunner treads on, you'll love it. But it can't be denied: this episode went out with a bang.

The plot? A big pair of fuzzy socks that made your toes feel warm; there were some holes, but they weren't very noticeable and you enjoyed the experience regardless.

The characters? The Doctor was the Doctor, with a good dark line thrown in about him by the Daleks that made me fall off my chair. Rory and Amy's relationship could have had more time to stew, and besides feeling slightly rushed (to me), was very human and realistic. Oswin, though your traditional snarky Moffat girl, pulled it together at the end when her character got more pressure.

The Daleks? It was very satisfying not to have "and we fell back through time!" again, I just have trouble with that explanation. In this episode, they're the creepiest I've ever seen them. In what was definitely their most satisfying role since 2005's Dalek, they once again played the villains, not the comic relief or ridiculous pepper-pots.

They weren't even rediculous once.

Not once.

The plot twist at the end, though. When the Doctor walked in and saw what Oswin was. That was delicious. The claustrophobia-inducing shot of Oswin screaming I AM NOT A DALEK - just brilliant.

My one main problem with the episode is that all the Daleks have forgotten about the Doctor. (I didn't even know they had a hive mind, is that Classic, or just added?) I don't want the Daleks written out of the show at all, and it seems to just squash fifty years of history like a cockroach. Smush! Hopefully there are a couple that still remember him, somewhere else.

Anyway, those are my thoughts! What are yours?

Pond Life!

Pond life. Because I'm going to be DW blogging on Mondays for the next little while, I think I'll start it out with the miserably short first part of "Pond Life".

What can I say? It was funny and cute, but for all its shortness, managed to have one scene they really could have done without. It reminded me lots of the beginning of The Impossible Astronaut. That was disappointing. Don't they realise that kids watch this?

Also, if it was in a real episode, it would have stretched my suspension of disbelief just a bit too far. Yes, Doctor Who is a show about a time travelling, bow-tie wearing alien, but when it's deliberately ridiculous, I have trouble taking it seriously.

But the ending was adorable - I love seeing Amy and Rory chilling at home, and can't wait for more. Tomorrow morning!


Miserably short post for a pathetically short clip - see you all 'round!

Thirty Day Character Challenge 2

Today:

6. The most annoying character

7. The hottest character

8. The funniest character

9. A character who could be your best friend if they were real

10. A character who taught you something about real life

     

6. The most annoying character

     Amy Pond and River song have their moments, but the minute Dolores Umbridge walks on scene, I have feelings of a violent nature.

7. The hottest character

     *blushes* do I have to answer this? I don't really like to call anyone 'hot', the word seems to have too many connotations. Suffice to to say that Loki and the Eleventh Doctor are very good looking.

8. The funniest character

     Most people on Doctor Who make me laugh from time to time, especially the Doctor and Donna. Fred and George Weasley never fail to make me smile. Darcy from Thor is pretty hilarious. "This is going on Facebook, smile!"

9. A character who could be your best friend if they were real

     I almost feel like, why would any of them deign to socialise with me? I realise "the Doctor" is the answer to, like, eighty percent of the questions on here, but if he'd be friends with me, I think we'd get along pretty well. I'd just stick around the Hogwarts gang in general - Ginny, Luna, and Hermione might be fun to hang out with, too. And for some random reason, I'm feeling like Lily Potter might be my first Marauder era friend.

10. A character who taught you something about real life

There's something about this guy that rings a bell.

But come on. Don't all good fictional characters, really, teach you something, whether you're aware of it or not?

(don't own the image.)

What Doctor Who Has Taught Me

So - I missed two blog posts. Yeah. *hangs head in shame* And with all the new lovely followers. On the subject of followers, new and old: guys, don't be shy, comments are one of my favourite things in the world. If any of you have something to say on the subjects of which I speak, I wanna know what you're thinking. Sometimes it feels like just me and Lostariel, lol. It's okay, though, I'm not pressuring anyone. It's all good! Really, it is.

What have I been doing? Well, on Wednesday, I started a blog post really late at night, but I made the mistake of starting to write about the Doctor Who episode "The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit" at midnight. I hate to admit it, but I just creeped myself out, so I went to bed. And then on Friday, I was in Seattle with my dad. We went on a road trip.

-

'Kay.

All rise for the subject of today's post.

Worth. Doctor Who, if it's taught me one thing, has taught me this.

Worth.

See, the theme of Doctor Who is this. No matter where you're from, no matter who you are, no matter how broken or average or useless or mean or ugly, you mean something, you are special, and you could save the world.

Ugh, there are so many thoughts crowding in my head, I can't think. The thing is, Doctor Who is a light. It's secular, it slips in its dirty jokes and its moralism, but in the end, Doctor Who has important messages and even more important themes running subconsciously through it.

Yes, totally subconsciously. It is impossible to believe in evolution and carry that worldview all the way through - it is. See, the Doctor claims to believe in evolution. But then he is a completely contradictory character: if evolution is true, then survival of the fittest is also a truth, and what is the Doctor doing saving people, defending the earth when it's too weak to defend itself? The Doctor is practicing something that stems from God and God alone: he is self-sacrificing, giving of himself to save weak human beings (when he is clearly part of a superior race). You can't deny that the Doctor lives out a worldview different than the one he claims. Not just different: directly opposed. There is no way a consistent believer in evolution could look at a little chid with dyslexia, and, instead of writing him off as a deficient quirk of nature when the kid admits this problem, bend down to his level, and say warmly, "Oh, that's okay, I can't make a decent meringue."

And in living this out, the Doctor has taught me worth.

That people are worth it, and that the monsters are worth it.

D'you ever just see someone - someone who's just doing nothing, not impacting anything in any visible way, sitting on their couch, doing their routine - and do you ever just feel contempt for them? Like they're not worth it? Like, "So, what are you doing for the world?" Of course, it's silly, because really, what difference am I making right now? But that was me - and is me. I tell you, though, it got so much less when the Doctor took my hand and showed me. Showed me that a temp worker can be the most important woman in the universe, that a medical student can rock the cosmos, that an unemployed teenager can make all the difference in the world.

"You don't have to own the universe, just see it."

The Doctor showed me, with that line, and with his life, that it's nice to be big and grand, but you don't have to own the universe. You can just be a normal person, just seeing it. That the "just seeing it" people are impacting things in their own way. That they're all made in the same image, and that is a Holy image.

"You and I both know, don't we Rose - the Doctor is worth the monsters."

Yes, he is, a thousand times, and so is life. Life is worth the monsters. And so we see written in the Bible. Romans 8:18 says "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us." The darkness, it doesn't last, and it's pushing through it, resisting it, that brings the reward.

So, yes, that's what God has shown me through Doctor Who.

My Favourite Villain

-spoilers for Thor, Harry Potter, Sherlock, and Doctor Who-

He only ever wanted that one simple thing. But the search for it destroyed him. He went too far, and maybe he was always willing to go too far. A loveless life, a violent death with few mourners to remember him. Suicide, in fact (really, what was the point of living anymore?). The outcast, the black sheep, the liar, the lonely. So many lives on his hands. The people who were just like him were killed (or hunted) with even more viciousness than the numberless innocent dead. Feared and hated.

The stuff of legend.

But what's his name? Well, I'm not going to say it. It's hidden, so to speak. I mean, you don't just go SAYING that name. Someone has to force you to use it, doesn't he?

And when they do...

They're crying. "TELL ME!" (And the word is weary. Laufeyson, you tell him.)

Confused. "Could you write it down?" (And, well, you can't spell it. "Voldemort. Don't make me say it again.")

Yelling. "The name! Now! The name!" (And it comes out with a scream of pain. "Moriarty!")

And laughing. "Use my name." (And you whisper it. "Master. Please.")

Yeah, yeah, I stretched it a bit for some characters. Loki wasn't asking Odin for his name when he screamed "Tell me," but goodness the dramatic effect is beautiful. And, well, I wouldn't say Voldemort's death was suicide, strictly. Hey, it was his own curse.

But look at how similar they all are! And then there are parallels between individual villains - from the list and throughout history (fact and fiction). Let's go into this some more, I love this. Because it doesn't get old, and that's the beauty of it.

A gorgeous facet of some villains is that they hate their own kind. Hate them! Why? Because they hate themselves. And I'm not talking their own species, though that can happen - Loki wanted to take out his entire birth planet (I guess that's what you'd call it? A planet you were born on, but got adopted from? Galactic foster kids, enlighten me). But think about Voldemort and his lust for racial purity within Wizardkind. So he murdered Muggle-born witches and wizards. But of what birth was he, in the end? A Muggle and a half-squib. Real pure, there, Tom. Who did Moriarty most want to bring down? Well, the detective who would one day shake the criminal's hand and identify them both as the same man. Likewise the Master and the Doctor.

And what about Hitler? People say he was part Jewish, is that true? Even if it isn't, he didn't have blonde hair and blue eyes.

What about that old self-inflicted death? Voldy's curse rebound, like I mentioned, along with Moriarty's own bullet and Loki letting go and falling into space (though, of course, he only stayed dead 'till after the credits. But don't let me get started on that scene or incessant fangirling will occur). Oh, yeah, and the Master's refusal to regenerate in "Last of the Time Lords" and throwing himself into the Time Lock with the Time Lords in "The End of Time" (that's a lot of "time").

And the name? Loki's true heritage was hidden. Voldemort was more commonly known as "You Know Who" or "He Who Must Not Be Named" throughout the Potter series. Moriarty's name had to be wrung out of the serial killer in "A Study in Pink." And the Master has to prompt the Doctor to use his name twice.

Oh, yeah, and whichever evil dude he is, he's got a British accent.

Caaan't forget that one.

(Come on, Wales is part of Great Britian).

I find it really, really interesting to see the similarities between all these villains. And a pretty awesome guide to crafting a memorable antagonist, too - also, it shows stereotypes to maybe break. Anyone spotted any other parallels? Who did you think I was talking about when I started with the opening paragraph - like, which villain jumped to your mind?

--

Hey, I just finished this post

And this is crazy

But off-subjectly, I got a Tumblr

So follow me maybe

http://phoenixwormwood137.tumblr.com/