You know...

[salienne]

I really, really, really like "Love and Monsters". At first I was iffy about it, but I just rewatched it today and adored it. I think it helps if you're watching it with someone else who gets very into it and giggles at all of Elton's silliness too. And I was blubbering like a baby during the ending, and I teared up during Jackie's "left behind" speech--beautiful, that scene.

And my love for Rose has been renewed. Brave and such a sweetheart.

Random thought that occured to be during "The Satan Pit" though: the Doctor believes in Rose enough to magically save herself from a rocket (albeit via an absolutely wonderful speech), yet he doesn't believe in her enough to figure out that Satan's consciousness has escaped. Makes sense, since he's under the impression that he must be the hero, dammit!, but still interesting.

I love these two. ^.^

OOOOH, and I also noticed some actual growth in Rose's S2 character (vs. just from S1 to S2). In "Tooth and Claw", she was giggling around death, squeeing and hugging and bouncing after she just watched a werewolf maul someone. She was compartmentalizing, which was just damn unhealthy (and one of my least favorite scenes, but hey). She's stopped doing that, she's dwelling in the reality of it--Mr. Jefferson is a fine example of this. But she's able to move on, and most likely talks it out off-screen, and is handling things much better. She just... really seems to grow up in the latter half of the season, something I never realized before. I like that.

I still think a bit of downtime from the Doctor in the alt!universe was good for her, but I'm even more firmly of the belief that if she were to come back now, she'd be amazing. And she and the Doctor would just click even more and be more "equal."

...I need to finish the novel and write my Doctor/Rose/Master fic. @_@ Sorry that's taking me a bit longer than anticipated, darlings!

Oh, and since I also watched "The Idiot's Lantern" today, I feel I should say a little something about this ep. Well, I adore the Doctor/Rose relationship in it, and I especially love Rose's solo investigation (...though, really, going off by yourself to the guy taking faces away? Bad idea, Rose! Bad!) and the scene where the Doctor sees faceless!Rose for the first time. Other than that... not one of my favorites, really. I think I replayed the "Yes, Tommy" scene at least ten times just to laugh at the unintentional humor. Honestly, it sounds like one of those documentaries you'd watch in school...

Tommy: (big wide eyes) "Is that an alien, Mr. Smith?"
Doctor/Mr. Smith: (all serious) "Yes, Tommy. It's *blah blah blah.*"

*giggles*

And on a completely unrelated note:

Today was my first day of APTT training (peer-counseling group that I got into), and it was pretty fun. I ate far too much today. And the people were really fun/nice. At the end of our day together, we all filled out cards about the people in our mini-groups within the main group. Apparently I'm not afraid to be myself, even when this is "unpopular." I'm vaguely musing about which part of me is unpopular, though... Bisexuality, maybe? I went on about that for a bit.

Ooooh, and I had to think up a life motto. I was proud of mine:

Be yourself, help others, and party like a rock star.

Ta mates! :)

Comments

[violet-lane.livejournal.com]

Yeah, LaM gets a lot of hate, but I generally like it for daring to be different. =)

That "left behind" speech Jackie gave almost broke me. I was so swept up in the D/R romance at the time that I forgot all about poor Jackie, losing Rose AND Mickey. Probably so lonely and worried all the time, it breaks your heart. I think that was the first time (except for TCI) that I really loved Jackie. I wish we could've gotten an episode like this for Francine (and the entire Jones Clan).

I loved how Rose comforted Elton. <3 Such a sweetie.

I hated the fate of Ursula though. I think death would've been kinder than living like concrete for an eternity, completely dependent on humans to take care of you.

Interestingly enough, have you read the meta (on DWF of all places) that said this episode was designed to issue a smackdown on Old!School fans? The poster said something along the lines of New!School fans representing LINDA, having fun and bonding over the Doctor when Vincent comes along (Old!School) and spends time obsessing over the Doctor and taking all the fun away. Would you like a link to it? =D

[salienne.livejournal.com]

I hated the fate of Ursula though. I think death would've been kinder than living like concrete for an eternity, completely dependent on humans to take care of you.

Yeah, only part that bothers me... It's definitely in the Doctor's personality to do that to Ursula (he's very much a life-at-any-cost-unless-your-Jack sort of guy [Astrid and Lazlo(SP?) pop to mind]), but the whole thing is a bit... icky. Yes, I can even accept the "love life" thing 'cos, hey, if she wants to do that for the guy she loves, have fun. Whatever floats their respective boats. But what happens when he dies? Or if Elton meets someone else? As the Doctor says in TLE, after a while, you'd just get tired. And then, even when you're as strong and awesome and optimistic as Ursula, you'd wish the Absorba-thingy had taken you down with him.

The Doctor really doesn't think about consequences much, does he?

Interestingly enough, have you read the meta (on DWF of all places) that said this episode was designed to issue a smackdown on Old!School fans? The poster said something along the lines of New!School fans representing LINDA, having fun and bonding over the Doctor when Vincent comes along (Old!School) and spends time obsessing over the Doctor and taking all the fun away. Would you like a link to it? =D

ZOMG I would love the link! I love OTT meta (well, when it doesn't have to do with Rose, anyway). It makes me giggle like no other.

[violet-lane.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, the link is on OG, not DWF, but here's the post in full:

Originally Posted by Tom Spilsbury
Once upon a time there was a group of Doctor Who fans, who enjoyed getting together and talking about Doctor Who. They become friends and even find that there are some other things that they can talk about. There's more to life than Doctor Who. Who'd have thought, eh?

But things go wrong. Someone else joins the group. Someone who has been interested in Doctor Who for much longer than these newcomers. This new fan - this Super Fan - decides that he knows best about Doctor Who, and these young whippersnappers are wasting their time with all these other distractions. All this music, and singing and cooking. This isn't what Doctor Who is about! And this isn't what the group was about when they formed it! Who cares if they seem to be enjoying themselves - that's not the point! So he decides he's going to get them back to basics.

But not only does he want them to get back to the SERIOUS business of Doctor Who, this Super Fan tells them that they've been getting it all wrong anyway. He's been a Doctor Who fan for much longer, and this new lot haven't been enjoying Doctor Who for the right reasons. After all, they're NEW fans, what could they possibly know about PROPER Doctor Who, eh? So he sits them down, and tries to turn them into proper fans - even giving them homework and tasks. After all, what's the point in being a Doctor Who fan, if you don't know EVERYTHING about Doctor Who? Doctor Who isn't something to laugh about and be enjoyed! It's a serious business, y'know, and you have to spend some serious time devoted to it - even if it ends up making you miserable. And if you're not willing to make that sacrifice, well, you can't really call yourself a Doctor Who fan at all.

Sadly, the Super Fan ends up spoiling Doctor Who for everyone. The group is Abzorbed by the Super Fan, and everyone ends up miserable.

But there's a wee bit of hope. The Super Fan will never win outright. After all, Doctor Who is immortal - always changing on the outside, but always with the same heart(s) on the inside - and will still be around after the Super Fan has long gone.

Being a Doctor Who fan can sometimes be difficult. But it's always worth it in the end.

Here's the other thread that says LaM celebrates the fan:

http://www.gallifreyone.com/forum/showthread.php?t=86345

[salienne.livejournal.com]

*Snort*

Honestly, this and the whole Lexicon/JKR wank is making my night very happy. Maybe I'm a bad person, but when people so fundamentally miss the point, it's amusing.

I agree with the "LaM celebrates the fan" post more than anything, though. Most of all, I think RTD was telling the story of the side-characters/"little people" in the DW verse (giving us a new perspective and having some fun with variety and challenging himself and all that), but there were some definite friendly nods to fans. But apparently, people can complain about anything.

Thanks for the quote/link! :)

[salienne.livejournal.com]

Yeek, sorry, forgot to finish my comment, because I can never shut up about DW:

That "left behind" speech Jackie gave almost broke me. I was so swept up in the D/R romance at the time that I forgot all about poor Jackie, losing Rose AND Mickey. Probably so lonely and worried all the time, it breaks your heart. I think that was the first time (except for TCI) that I really loved Jackie.

Ditto for me. I always forget how much I love Jackie, and why, and then I see this episode and it all just clicks back into place. And Camille Coduri is amazing. She was just so real in that scene.

I wish we could've gotten an episode like this for Francine (and the entire Jones Clan).

Ditto. Francine's instant dislike for the Doctor never felt right to me. Unless, of course, Martha has had a string of bad relationships. Which I would love, and in my personal canon is true. Because honestly, she needs some meat to her character, and I'm afraid RTD isn't going to give us it. Which is really sad, because after watching something like LaM (where he shows just how well he can characterize), I expect more from him.