Chipswiththat

Pollution

2008-10-28T14:41:54Z

Ever wonder what it's like to live in Hong Kong? Well, I think this can sum up the air quality on most days.

In all honesty it's pretty nice here, but at times the pollution makes me sick. D:

Fanfic ideas that WILL NOT DIE.

2008-10-04T15:07:09Z

I've been tormented for the past few weeks about some fic ideas that have been bouncing my head for the past couple of ideas, so I need some help on which ones to choose, even stranger still are that most are crossovers. Hell, I'll accept some prompts too- I just need to start writing to keep from going insane. O__o

1) Doctor Who/Heroes Crossover:

A short series of three one-shots, involving Ten as a post regeneration Claude. Ten runs into Peter, Hiro, and the Company- angst, lulz, and general madness ensues.

2) Doctor Who/Chuck Crossover:

The Doctor stranded in a modern LA, as to why- Let's just say someone's nicked his motor, buying a Toaster/other sort of small electronic (Hey, he need's another Timey-Wimey detector) at a Buy More- runs into Chuck. Who in turns, flashes on the Intersect info on the Doctor- alerts Casey and Sarah, and discovers why exactly a certain Time Lord has currently lost his TARDIS.

3) Doctor Who/Psych Crossover:

Haven't got much of an idea on this , somehow Shawn and the Doctor debating on whether a Bannan or a Pineapple is the perfect fruit amuses me greatly.

4) Doctor Who:

The adeventures of certain Hand. I've gotten tired of all the shippy Handy/Rose fic out there, so I want to write something that puts the spotlight on Handy- without Rose being in the picture all the time. May involve a Airship as Handy's TARDIS replacement.

Any ideas on which to chose? Or even better, got any prompts?

I'll post the Hong Kong part of the picspam in a few days, along with some photos of my 2 day vacation in Macau. :D

HOLY GUACAMOLE GUYS I'VE WRITTEN FANFIC! D:

2008-07-28T04:44:54Z

Title: Lightbulb
Author: Chipswiththat
Rating: G
Characters/Pairing: Doctor, Donna.
Disclaimer: Don't own, Doctor Who and affiliated characters and franchises belong to the BBC.
Author's Note: Takes place at the beginning of S4, no spoilers. My first fic, so any comments are welcomed! Thank you very much to lemmiki for beta'ing! And tolerating my relentless tormenting, along with horrible writing skills.
Summary:
“Who is he? This Doctor?” is the first question Donna's been asked since it all began. It'd been a long day involving an unhappy hermaphroditic carnivorous alien plant (she was never going to look at dandelions the same way again), an ungodly amount of weedkiller and a very confused public.

“Really, Donna, who is he?” The girl sitting opposite of Donna repeats. She's only seen the end of the conflict, but she is just as captivated as Donna was when she first met him.

She almost wants to say that he's some 'skinny, rude, hyperactive two-hearted alien, that has the attention span of a goldfish on a good day, and the tendency to never shut up'. Or that she doesn't know.

Though truthfully she know enough about him (more than he probably likes) she knows that he's lonely (he also needs a friend, a mate as he says), knows that he likes tea (and an awful lot of it) she also knows that he also has the tendency to talk and stroke the TARDIS when he thinks no one is looking (though as to what he's saying she has no idea, because he's definitely not speaking English, and chances are she doesn't want to know, either).

“You know, when you were a kid?” Donna begins, resting her head on her palm, watching as the Doctor happily shakes the hands of the relieved townsfolk, “When you'd always look down into the basement?” The Doctor ignores Donna; he's busy lecturing now, hands flying off in every direction. 'He's probably talking a thousands words per minute' Donna thought with a sigh.

“All dark and scary?” Donna continued “But you always wanted to go down there, because you know there's always some goofy trinkets or some clothing that's way to big from your family's past that is just begging to be played with and tried on? ” Donna glances over at the Doctor again who is still in full blown lecture mode.

“But you can't, because that means going down into the dark on that old wooden staircase that creaks so much that you think it'll break. And then you remember that little lightbulb.” The Doctor finally stopped for breath and the small crowd around him is nodding madly, hoping that if they pretend to understand what he's saying that he'll stop.

“That little lightbulb, nothing special, just a lightbulb screwed into a socket with that dirty pull-cord. But that little lightbulb is all you need to fill that basement with light.” No such luck for the townsfolk, the Doctor's misinterpreted their nodding for enthusiasm. He's back to talking at the speed of light.

“That little lightblub illuminates the basement with light, and suddenly it's not a scary dark, dungeon you're looking into, all the monsters in the dark are gone and the staircase looks like it can handle you running up and down it a few more times. It's just a basement, filled with old clothing, funny hats and adventures waiting to happen.” The girl who Donna is talking too nodded listening intently while the sun began to set, the shadows of the trees in the park began to lengthen.

“That's who he is the Doctor, he's that little lightbulb. That little lightbulb that dispels the dark and shows you things you'd never find on your own.” Donna pauses, she watched the Doctor walking towards the bench where she and the girl are sitting with long strides, hands jammed into his coat pockets.

“He doesn't look like much, but what he does makes all the difference in the world.” The sound of footsteps crunching against the fallen leaves stopped . Donna felt a cool hand on her shoulder, she looked up to see the Doctor giving her a warm, heartfelt smile; he probably only heard the final sentences of Donna's conversation but he's smiling like those few words mean all the world to him.

“I'm the Doctor,” The Doctor says as he shook the girl's hand. “Melissa,” the girl replies as she returns the handshake. Melissa, rose from the park bench says “Nice meeting you Donna-” turning to the Doctor, “Doctor,” and leaves the pair at the bench as she walks towards the park entrance.

“Where to next, Donna Noble?” The Doctor asked as he helped Donna off of the bench, “The entire universe is out there, waiting just for you.” he says happily, adopting the role of universal tour guide once again, as they begin to walk down the path towards the TARDIS, crisp autumn breeze making his coat-tails swish as he walked.

“I was thinking of someplace by the ocean, but knowing you we'll probably end up the bloody desert!” she replies taunting him as they reach the TARDIS.

“Are you implying something?” the Doctor questioned, feigning hurt as he fumbled through his coat pocket. Pulling out a his Sonic Screwdriver, a yo-yo, some bent paper clips and a small brown paper bag of colorful candy before finally finding the key.

“Ohhh... nothing, you great outer-space dunce.” Donna laughs taunting him as she walks into the console room of the TARDIS.

“Oi! That was sarcasm, you are implying something!” The Doctor yelled back, as he slammed the TARDIS door, running up to the console.

“Like I said spaceman, nothing” Donna calls back watching as the Doctor moves quickly around the console pressing buttons and flicking levers seeming at random, as he begins preparing the TARDIS for the next adventure. The Doctor and Donna, traveling through time and space for as long as time will allow.

Wallpapers

2008-07-24T15:25:34Z

Here's my first attempt at creating wallpapers. All are 1280x800 widescreen I believe.

Thank you very much to x_crackerbox for making the wonderful base! :D

Click on Thumbnails for full versions!

Lyrics found on the final wallpaper are from Orange Sky by Alexi Murdoch.

Hope you guys like them!

chipswiththat @ 2008-07-01T22:27:00

2008-07-02T03:34:38Z

After watching The Stolen Earth I was pretty down, so I decided to draw something. This is also an amazingly good reason why I shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a pencil at 3 AM.

Why yes, I'm crazy.

Cross posted to doctorwho.

Midnight Review + Speculation + Thoughts on the Trailer

2008-06-16T02:24:09Z

MIDNIGHT REVIEW

I initially thought this episode was going to be pretty unremarkable, along with being a massive Snakes on a Plane ~~ripoff~~ parody. I was wrong, and in a good way too. Midnight is an excellent example of the power of RTD's writing, it succeeded in being scarier and more intense than the Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead two parter- whilst shying away from using specials effects and CGI.

THE GOOD:
- Tennant's acting, it was really amazing Come to think of it, it is every episode. Usually the Doctor's a highly energetic and mobile character, bouncing from set to set with the energy of a six year old with ADD on a pack of Red Bull. So, to see the Doctor in such a enclosed setting was interesting. Much of the Doctor's original tactics didn't work, he couldn't run and he couldn't exactly hide either, and trying to corale a bunch of humans into the back didn't work either. Though the most phenomenal piece of acting, in my opinion at least, was when it was the Doctor's turn to possessed. I usually tend to remain pretty passive when I watch Doctor Who, but seriously I actually felt positively horrible when I saw what was happening. Tennant was able to portray the paralyzed!Doctor's horror down perfectly, and the silent cry for help has never been so loud as it was in that scene.
- The monster, it was a nameless evil, which in turn makes it even scarier. Give something a name or a face, and it becomes conquerable, without a name your fighting fear itself- and good luck trumping that.
- Interestingly enough I managed to forget about Donna for the majority of the episode, once the action started.
- I loved the Doctor being put into his place, because in honesty if something like that was happening and some stranger was ecstatic about it I'd be suspicious about him too. It showed that even though you may be a "leader", if no ones following you- you're expendable.
- The of people were so extremely human, it was almost frightening. If I was in the same situation I'd probably be making the same leaps of logic to connect the Doctor to Skye, and then the decision to toss them out. The Doctor was pretty alien, in his own sense, also. He was fascinated by the novelty of the new life, he "knew" what to do, and he also refused to give people the true answers.
- The ending. The Doctor and Donna need each other, not in a romantic sense, but in a sense that allows them to keep each other going. If he hadn't met Donna, I'd suspect he would've finally snapped or at least gotten a heck of a lot darker.
- The humor it was pretty much what was expected to come from RTD, pop culture references, general wackiness, and what not.

THE BAD:
- Pretty solid episode, but I positively hated that one wife woman. Her last line really irked me, I'm personally amazed that she had the guts to say that.
- The Rose clip on the screen, at least find a new clip if you wanna show here again, sheesh.
- Err... that's all that I can think off for now. D:

SPECULATION ON THE POWER/PAST BEHIND THE DOCTOR'S NAME

Kinda pulling a bunch of various posts I'm made in the past couple of days here, so my apologies beforehand it's gonna be pretty wacky, and I'm not liable for any brain damage caused by the sheer "LOLWUT?-ness" of these speculations either. D:

As the "Medusa Cascade" was mentioned once again, I'm really starting to wonder what exactly the Doctor's true name is. As we seen throughout the New and Old Who episodes, the Doctor isn't normal, or sane for that matter, by any standard.

The interesting thing about the Doctor and his past is how it is brought up in context. The first time we hear "Gallifrey", it's being used to sentence the Racnoss to death. Not a pleasant picture, eh? So I really wonder of the power behind the Doctor's true name. So I'm with the many people out there who think the Doctor, or at least his name, was used as a weapon of final resort to end the Time War.

When we meet River, she talks about the Doctor was if he was legend living among mortals- even more so than he is now- able to send entire armies packing with only a stare, open the TARDIS with the snap of his fingers, etcetera etcetera. A Doctor more powerful than the one we know now. So that's why I believe that River!Doctor was one that had recently unleashed the power of his name, I also believe that the knowledge of his true name probably causes the Doctor a lot of pain. So that's why I believe that River apologized so profusely before she uttered his name (or something on par with it) in his ear.

Another aspect of the Doctor's personality, and name, is the fact that he is terrified of he truly is and is scared of what he can do. To be truthful the Doctor is a monster, as he said in Midnight 'I don't want it to become me, because if it does, we're in a real heap of trouble" (or something to that effect) he's the one who has the highest body count behind him. And yet he's often revered as a savior, a bit odd isn't it? It seems to me that he has been running even faster from who he is after the Time War, and that his past is coming up even faster to kick him in the arse.

Then again, Vengeful!God Doctor might be entertaining to watch, if they do it right. It seems that the Doctor has been developing/changing/evolving/whatever since the Time War, and the snapping of his fingers seemed like a big development for his character. What I really want to see is for the Doctor to accept what he's done, get over it, and come to terms with who he is- though the chances of that are incredibly slim.

THOUGHTS ON THE TRAILER

Never been much of a Tenth and Rose fan, never will. But I believe after the fandom finishes spazzing out and about with Rose's return I have a bad feeling we'll be very let down. Also, I happen to dislike the new Rose, while I understand that she's probably been changed by the events that were caused by her traveling with the Doctor, I still prefer the less gung-ho badass Rose that we've been presented with. But beggars can't be choosers, so I hope that everything will turn out all right.

I just hope it doesn't fall flat on it's face, we've had a great season so far and I really really hope it will have a strong finish as well. Though seriously, the Doctor dead? That was probably the worst waste if screen time in a trailer ever. Though Donna's gramps is there, so yay!

Forest of the Dead Review/Rant

2008-06-08T05:23:56Z

This episode once again solidifies love hate relationship I have Moffat's writing. It's still a decent episode, but for the love of whichever higher power you believe in Mr. Moffat, try not to re-write all of your previous stories into one gigantic two parter. Though Ten in handcuffs was rather... well LOL.

Moffat does do some things right in Forest of the Dead, but sadly the bad always tends to stay fresher and sharper in the mind.

THE BAD:
- The Vashta Nerada, to me lost all of their "scariness" factor. The story moved to much from the Doctor trying to rescue the people of the Library, to "The River Song show starring the Doctor!". It was almost as if Anita's, who was awesome BTW Take Note Moffat!, death was unnecessary. She died only to give the Doctor a reason to flash his credentials as the "The Oncoming Storm, Bringer of Darkness, The Destroyer of Worlds, etc" and to scare the Vashta Nerada into co-operating, not like the death of the other crew members didn't give the Doctor enough reason. Also the Vashta Nerada seemed to go from man-eating swarm of invisible piranhas to a silly skeleton in a space suit.
- River Song, sorry Moffat still don't like her. It seems as if you attempt to sacrifice your life for the Doctor, you have a 50-50 percent chance of being resurrected, by our good old friend Mr. Tinkerbell Jesus. Though while she did make some improvement from Silence in the Library she still came off as pretty well... annoying. We already got that she was an important figure in the Doctor's future, but we didn't need that much. And I still say the Doctor's name is... Maurice or Hubert, though by Time Lord standards Thetarozcarioustrillonstartus might be more likely.
- The plot, it was guessable a light-year away. Along with the obvious references to previous Moffat episodes which basically cheapened the rest of the Episode.
- Why can't we see the Doctor in Pain/Danger more often, let him take the risk! Allow him to become hurt in something other than an emotional sense. Sorry if I'm sounding Sadistic, but he can't always walk away from these problems mark-free. Though he does seem to have a lot of Cosmic Angst, anyways.

THE GOOD:
- The acting, once again DT and CT are excellent actors. End of Story.
- Am I the only one who liked the snapping to open the TARDIS door part? It's like the Clapper but with crazy Time Lord powers! XD But seriously, I actually think it a really interesting view into the Doctor's relations with his TARDIS, and how his character has been evolving and changing, post-Time War. As the Doctor himself said "No one can open the TARDIS by snapping" or something along those lines, and yet he does. But in turn this raises the question on whether the Doctor really knows who he is and what he is capable of? Is he a casualty of a long lost war, or a being that has adapted and is growing into his new role as becoming a legend and almost, do I dare say it, God-like figure across the Universe? And it's not like the Doctor's is ignorant to the power and weight his name carries either, he did tell the Vashta Nerada to look him up. Yay! For character development!
- Yay! For more parallelism between our horrible greedy environment destroying culture. An entire forest planet chopped down to make a Library? Talk about deforestation people.

There's probably more to say, but I let it rest at that. Though did anybody else think Snakes on a Plane with the preview for the next episode?

Essay

2008-06-06T21:29:01Z

Being the fantastic English student that I am, I basically wrote most of this essay at midnight and ungodly hours in the morning- and under the heavy influence of copious amounts of coffee and tea.

Even still, there are a lot of things that have been left out, but I still think it's a decent essay.

So without further hesitation:

The History of Doctor Who

Or A Brief Nut-Shelling of 45 Years of Adventures Through Time and Space:

The date is November 23, 1963 and a small black and white television serial called Doctor Who is first aired . This first episode, The Unearthly Child, would evolve into the longest running Science Fiction television serial in the history of television and would lead to spin-offs, books, comics, audio-books, an ill fated movie, and a following through out the world.

This Science Fiction series has had the same basic plot for many years. Doctor Who follows the adventures of an alien named the Doctor. The Doctor can be viewed as cosmic janitor of sorts, for he often falls into the situation of “cleaning up” historical events. Often accompanying him are his companions. The Doctor has had a myriad of companions throughout his years ranging from humans, aliens, robotic Dogs, and just about everything and anything in between. Usually the companions are used as focal point into the show, as they provide a usually more human view onto the events.

Through the years ten actors have played the Doctor (William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davidson, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, Christopher Eccelston, and David Tennant). After the return of Doctor Who in 2005, two Doctors have ruled the small screen; Nine (Christopher Eccelston) and Ten (David Tennant) the current Doctor.

Characterization Or Who The Doctor Exactly Is:

“See, there's the thing. I'm the Doctor, but beyond that, I – I just don't know. I literally do not know who I am. It's all untested...Am I funny? Am I sarcastic? Sexy? Right old misery? Life and Soul? Left- handed? Right-Handed? A gambler? A Fighter? A coward? A traitor? A liar? A nervous wreck?”

-- The Doctor (10), The Christmas Invasion

Characterization is portrayed through the actions and words of the character, and The Doctor is one of the best examples on how well words and actions can describe a character . The Doctor is a Time Lord, an alien, and has the ability to “cheat” death by regenerating. This little trick allows different actors to step into the shoes of the Doctor, effectively changing the personality with each new life. The Tenth doctor has a very complex persona. To most of the people he meets he projects himself as an eccentric, cheerful, quirky, young man but this mask often conceals an older, darker, lonelier being that is ruthless and often borders on the line of becoming a complete maniac.

The cheerful facade of the Doctor is the one that receives the most screen time and is also the most commonly recognized side of his personality. However, his darker, hidden side is the one that offers the most profound insight into the complex internal turmoil of the 900 plus year old Time Lord. Loneliness is one of the major factors in the Doctor's current regeneration. The Doctor is surrounded and in contact with planets full of people but he feels isolated by a strange mix of solitude, nostalgia, and survivors guilt. In the episode Gridlock, in which Martha is his companion, his loneliness accompanied by a strong feeling of nostalgia shines through.

Martha: “He said 'Last of your Kind'. What Does That Mean?
Doctor: “It really doesn't matter...”
Martha: “You don't talk. You never say! Why not?”
Doctor: “I lied to you, 'cause I liked it. I could pretend, just for a bit, I could imagine they were still alive, underneath a burnt orange sky..
Doctor: “I'm not just a Time Lord. I'm the last of the Time Lords. The Face of Boe was wrong. There's no one else.”
Martha: “What happened?”
Doctor: “There was a war. A Time War. The last Great Time War. My people fought a race called the Daleks, for the sake of all creation. And they lost. They lost. Everyone Lost. They're all gone now. My family, my friends, even that sky. Oh, you should have seen it, that old planet. The second sun would rise in the south, and the mountains would shine. The leaves on the trees were silver, and when they caught the light every morning, it looked like a forest on fire. When the autumn came, the breeze would blow through the branches like a song...”

As the result of his loss, the Doctor has progressively become more and more ruthless and quick to anger. When faced with a threat he commonly resorts to a 'No second chances policy', tearing down anyone and anything that has the nerve to cross him twice. Various examples of the Tenth Doctor's callous and violent reactions to enemies can be found throughout the current series; the drowning of the Racnoss, the imprisonment of the Carrionites, the annihilation of the Daleks. The best examples of his fury can be seen when he confronts the Family of Blood. He warps their wish of wanting to live forever into much more sinister but similar fates and shows little mercy for punishing them for their actions.

Baines, Son of Mine: “He never raised his voice. That was the worst thing --the fury of the Time Lord-- and then we discovered why. Why this Doctor, who had fought with gods and demons, why he had run away from us and hidden... He was being kind. He wrapped my father in unbreakable chains forged in the heart of a dwarf star . He tricked my mother into the event horizon of a collapsing galaxy to be imprisoned there, forever. He still visits my sister, once a year, every year. I wonder if one day he might forgive her, but there she is. Can you see? He trapped her inside a mirror. Every mirror. If ever you look at your reflection and see something move behind you just for a second, that's her. That's always her. As for me, I was suspended in time and the Doctor put me to work standing over the fields of England, as their protector. We wanted to live forever. So the Doctor made sure we did.“

Plot and Theme Or Why Everything Happens:

“He saves planets, rescues civilizations, defeats terrible creatures ... and runs a lot. Seriously, there is an outrageous amount of running involved.” -- Donna, The Doctor's Daughter

From the start of the new series, Doctor Who has had a very basic formula for the majority of its episodes. The Doctor and said companion(s) travel to either the past or some strange and faraway planet, discover something wrong, by accident or on purpose, right the wrong and carry on off to see another day. There are, however, two or three part episodes that delve into more complex story lines. But no matter the length of the plot line, almost all episodes shed some light on the darker themes of life. Most of the themes found in Doctor Who are essentially stated themes, meaning that they are often expressed directly throughout interactions between characters.

The ability to make the right decision no matter how devastating the consequences are, and to be able to face those consequences is a major theme. A prominent example of this theme can be found in the episode The Fires of Pompeii. Taking an interesting Sci-Fi twist on a well-known event in human history, the explosion of Mt. Vesuvius, The Fires of Pompeii places an important question on the Doctor and Donna, another one of the Doctor's companions.

Doctor: “Course I can, but don't you see? That's why the soothsayers can't see the volcano. There IS no volcano. Vesuvius is never gonna erupt. The Pyrovile are stealing all its power, and they use it to take over the world.”

Donna: “But... You can change it back?”

Doctor: “I can invert the system, set off the volcano, and blow them up, yes. But ... that's the choice Donna. It's Pompeii or the world.

Donna: Oh, my God.

Doctor: “If Pompeii is destroyed then it's not history. It's me. I make it happen.”

Donna: “But the Pyrovile are made of rocks, maybe they can't be blown up.”

Doctor: “Vesuvius explodes with the force of 24 nuclear bombs. Nothing can survive it. Certainly not us.”

Donna: “Never mind us.”

Doctor: “Push this lever and it's over. 20,000 people.”

Another theme constantly touched upon, almost ironically, is that violence should always be held as the last resort and is rarely the answer. In this case, the Doctor is a man that rarely practices what he preaches, But he still makes a conscious effort to at least stop any more violence from happening, when given the chance. The episode The Doctor's Daughter brings up the topics of violence and war often along the duration of the episode. One example of the Doctor's attempts to dissuade violence can be seen in an exchange between the Doctor and General Cobb, the leader of a group of colonists.

Doctor: “Um, call me old-fashioned, but if you really wanted peace couldn’t you just stop fighting?”

General Cobb: “Only when we have the Source. It’ll give us the power to erase every stinking Hath from the face of this planet!”

Doctor: “Hang on, hang on, a second ago it was peace in our time, now you’re talking about genocide!?”

General Cobb: “For us, that means the same thing.”

Doctor: “Then you need to get yourself a better dictionary. When you do, look up genocide. You’ll see a little picture of me there and the caption will read 'Over my dead body'!”

Along with the Doctor's aversion to violence he also shares a similar view to suffering. He tries to prevent cruelty to others whenever he gets the chance and the importance of life. An example of this can be found in the episode New Earth. After traveling to New New York (New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York, technically speaking as there had been 15 New Yorks previously) with Rose (a companion that had also traveled with the Ninth Doctor) the Doctor an Rose encounter a medical research facility that was essentially torture. Upon seeing this the Doctor immediately resorts to a much more assertive and aggressive attitude.

Doctor: “They were born sick. They're meant to be sick. They exist to be sick. Lab rats. No wonder the Sisters have got a cure for everything. They've built the ultimate research laboratory. A Human farm.”

Novice Hame: “It's for the greater cause.”

Doctor: “Novice Hame. When you took your vows did you agree to this?”

Novice Hame: “The Sisterhood is sworn to help.”

Doctor: “What, by killing?!”

Doctor: “What's the Turnover? Hm? A Thousand a day? Thousand the next? Thousand the next? How many Thousand? For how many years? How many?”

Novice Hame: “Mankind needed us. They came to this planet with so many illnesses. We couldn't cope. We did try. We tried everything. We tired using clone-meat and bio-cattle ... but the results were to slow. So the sisterhood grew it's own flesh. That's all they are flesh.”

Doctor: “These people are alive.”

Novice Hame: “But think of those Humans out there, ...healthy... and happy, because of us.

Doctor: “If they live because of this, then life is worthless.”

Novice Hame: “But who are you to decided that?”

Doctor: “I'm the Doctor. And if you don't like it... if you want to take it to a higher authority, then there isn't one. It stops with me.”

Allusions: ....

“Well.... you could do that- yeah, you could do that, of course you could! But why? Look at these people, these human beings; consider their potential! From the day they arrive on the planet, blinking, step into the sun, there is more to see than can ever be seen, more to do than- no, hold on. Sorry, that's The Lion King. But, the point still stands: Leave them alone!“

-- The Doctor(10), The Christmas Invasion

Science Fiction is a genre where humor usually comes through as a bad pun or cheesy one liners. Luckily, Doctor Who avoids this cliché as most of its humor comes from allusions to modern things like celebrities, pop culture, books, movies, and anything else the writers can squeeze into 45 minutes of programming.

Examples of allusions can be found in the dialog between characters. From references to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy written by Douglas Adams, who incidentally was a script editor in the past, or even entire episodes based off famous figures In the past. Examples of these pseudo-historical episodes are. The Shakespeare Code, featuring Shakespeare and many allusions to the Harry Potter series.

Martha: “So, magic and stuff. That's a surprise. It's a bit like Harry Potter.”

Doctor: “Wait till' you read Book Seven. Oh I cried.

Martha: “Expelliarmus!”

Doctor: “Expelliarmus!”

Shakespeare: “Expelliarmus!”

Doctor: “Good old JK!”

Another episode, The Wasp and the Unicorn, which is based of the many mysteries of Agatha Christie and contains allusions to common mainstays of modern mystery, from the board game Cluedo to many of the titles of Agatha Christie novels.

Doctor: “Professor Peach in the library with the lead piping!”

Agatha: “Death comes as the end, and justice is served.

Doctor: “Murder at the Vicar's Rage ... needs a bit off work...”

In the end Doctor Who is prime example of of how myth and modern storytelling has evolved from books and other written literature to the silver and small screen.

Silence in the Library Musings

2008-06-01T00:57:20Z

Sweet Tinkerbell Jesus! Stephen Moffat's writing scares the living daylight out of me, along with the fact it's pretty much brilliant.

But basically, Silence in the Library, is a extremely solid good ol' Doctor Who episode. With the exception of River Song, but I'll touch on her later.

The Good:

-The acting in this episode was pretty solid, especially the interaction with the Doctor and Node!Donna. There wasn't much acting wise that could be done, but DT managed to stick a good deal of emotion into it.
- The monsters, seriously who hasn't ever been afraid of shadows or the dark? Well thanks to Mr. Moffat I am once again afraid, but especially when Proper Dave, I believe that was his name, had the multiple shadows I freaked. Along with when he started "Ghosting" and the events after that.
- The plot, it's decent writing with enough twists to keep going. One of my favorite parts was when Doctor Moon told the little girl that her nightmares were reality. It makes me wonder who exactly Doctor Moon is.

The Bad:
- I'm really worried about Donna. Really, really worried for her. I love Donna, she's a companion who isn't afraid to put the Doctor in his place and she also isn't afraid to speak her mind. But with the way things have been pointing I'm afraid she's going to be leaving. And not leaving in the sense of Rose or Martha, I mean leaving in the sense that usually gets people stuck six feet under.

The Ugly:
- Ohh... Ms. River Song. I'm usually pretty lenient when it comes to new characters, but she just really starting to annoy me. While it is nice to meet someone from the Doctor's future, but why does it have to be her? I was kinda hoping she'd be another Time Lord/Lady (technically speaking), but now that I really met her I'm not to sure. She's immediately assumes the leader position of the archaeologists, already hero worships the Doctor, has her own flippin' Sonic Screwdriver and name that screams Mary-sue to boot. Hopefully she become better in the next episode, and I'm being blissfully optimistic here.