#the marian conspiracy

[do-you-know-this-dw-story]

the marian conspiracy (audio: 2000)

[allthoseotherworlds]

Evelyn: "I always think mixing romance with study is a terrible mistake, don't you?"

The Doctor: "Luckily, I've never been tempted"

Me, chanting in the background: "aroace, aroace, aroace"

[doctorwhogirlie]

Reblog/Like if The Marian Conspiracy is your favourite Doctor Who Big Finish Audio story

[drwhowatch]

The Marian Conspiracy

Took me a while to actually figure out this was a return to the historical format. It basically worked here, somewhat trying to actually teach us history. The side characters weren’t particularly thrilling and they did go on with ethics discussions on religion far too long. One saving grace here is the introduction of Evelyn Smythe, who is a bossy delight. The Doctor attempts to be smarmy here and doesn’t seem to pull it quite off.

[sandymybeloved]

me: lets finally actually watch the twin dilemma, however many times the charm *part way through the twin dilemma*: this sucks, I could be doing literally anything else right now me: bails part way through episode 2 (again) to do literally anything else and learns no lessons about bothering to try again in the future

[duxfemina]

Continuing the previous ask can you please rank : crassus, claudius,Tiberius, Hadrian, Trajan, Catiline and Marius.

Crassus - he's not gonna be a pervy creep but if I have property he wants he's gonna harass me until I relinquish it to save my reputation. Also any road side assistance he gives me will have to be paid for but of course he won't tell me that until after he's already repaired my vehicle. 4/10 I'm not gonna be treated violently I'm just gonna be extorted

Claudius - he will make sure I'm provided for with safety and comfort as long as I'm under his protection. He also may get a little assuming seeing as he's an emperor and I now owe him. Claudius definitely had more ladies than you'd expect if the sources are to be believed but hey the guy actually took women's opinions somewhat seriously so who's to say this wouldn't be consensual. Still a power dynamic so I'm giving it 6/10 on the Creepometer

Tiberius - a gentleman, would do everything absolutely so properly. Would make sure all honor was accorded me for my rank, would punish any breach of this by his men. Would probably want to discuss Homer over dinner and who am I to turn down poetic discussions over dinner with the emperor. This man was the absolute antithesis of pervy CONTRARY TO SUETONIUS (fuck you Suetonius) 10/10 literally nothing is going to go wrong. Couldn't pick a better first century man to come along and help you out. He may be awkward as hell and probably have a touch of the tism or something else that impeded his social understanding but he was absolutely all about maintaining tradition and doing things properly.

Hadrian - I don't know a ton about Hadrian other than the wall and Antinuous and the fact he hated his wife. But I'm gonna say he'd probably delegate a commander under him to make sure you were taken care of and set back on your way in good order. 6/10 he's not gonna be too interested so if he delegates it to a good guy you're great, but he might just as likely have assigned a creep

Trajan - shit I know even less about Trajan. I know about his column and that he was a good general. I'm feeling it's gonna be like Tiberius but now with social skills and maybe less poetry so 9/10 because I'd rather be with a nerd than have boring polite conversation

Catiline - depending on who you are this road side assistance might turn into abduction if it's exiled Catiline but come on it's Catiline that's gonna be one consensual abduction from me. All the more so if hypothetical me is a relative of Cicero. I basically always am gonna pick the option that gives M.T. Chickpea an aneurysm if I can do so. Also Catiline was brave in battle and honestly is rather dashing and just a little rakish. So 7/10 just in case this abduction isn't super consensual for some reason, as in Catiline doesn't care whether I'm into him or not, which given he's an enemy of Cicero there's probably a good chance Catiline has more respect for women than Chickpea, that tends to be a theme

Marius - the man is such a try hard and wants so desperately to be considered as in with the in crowd while simultaneously resenting that he has to play the political game that helping a Patrician damsel is exactly the kind of politic move that would appeal to him, it's an action rather than an intrigue. So he'd be clumsily falling all over himself to make sure I was treated as well as possible while also blundering in ways he's unaware of and probably mentioning his deeds a little too often and too loudly whenever he's around my relatives after the event as to seem very couth. 8/10 the man's trying. The treatment is gonna be quite good just a little awkward, over the top and there will probably be some blind spot like forgetting to assign a private space for bathroom use or some other feminine accomodation

[martianmuckraker]

Martian Streamer Arrested Due to Appearance in Earthing Inquiry

B’ffer, the totally radical Martian streaming and racing sensation was arrested this morning after one of his trademark stellar racing saucers was revealed during an Earthling hearing on Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon. It is uncertain to Martian Muckraker reporters at this time whether this hearing is actually evidence the Earthlings are interested in interplanetary life again, or if the…

[lady-ofliterature]

Robin Hood is actually Peter Pan’s dad. Tights, green outfit, stupid looking little hat, steals shit, is a gremlin, inspires people to follow him. Peter left at ten or twelve or whatever and decided to emulate his dad & took inspiration from all the stories he heard (I’m sorry but someone like Marian who puts that much effort into their clothes is not going to want her husband going around in fucking spandex leggings).

thank you for coming to my ted talk

[st4rshiptr00per]

the way people are responding to that single image of evelyn i think i need to draw more evelyns

[companion-showdown]

#I need to hear Evelyn rant about chocolate and her ex husband while drunk#have you seen drunk old ladies#they say the craziest shit#Doctor who (@azure-trash)

Who is the best companion to get intoxicated with?

TOURNAMENT MASTERPOST

[fideidefenswhore]

ok, so, i was reading this sort of snark-review of the above movie (which i'm not going to search for because it just overall had little merit, not worth a reread) which cited a specific critique of this above scene ('the matter of religion'), that if elizabeth was told that 'religion' killed her mother her primary response would be confusion, her mother was killed on accusations of adultery, incest, and treason, etc. and also that no one would say this because this obviously was not true.

while technically correct-- obviously the charges leveled against anne were not ones of heresy (although the prevalence of the theory witchcraft was in the suggestion if not literal text of the indictment by 1998 could be the explanation here)-- i would actually defend this creative choice, as a historically sound perception, ie, actually, a sophisticated creative choice in the context of the historical sources available.

protestant martyrologists such as john foxe did rewrite anne into the pantheon of protestant martyrdom, as a symbol if not literal martyr, much like catholic hagiography adopted catherine of aragon as catholic martyr for having suffered for upholding papal primacy, even if not literally dying for this belief as more, fisher, the carthusians, etc. catholic polemicists would not view her as a 'martyr', obviously, but they did view her as a heretic who deserved to die for her heresy among 'other crimes', even if this was not in the official indictment. so, actually... yes, it would be plausible that a marian councilor might threaten elizabeth with the salient reminder that religion 'killed her mother'.

moreover, this movie exists in a post-ives world...it was ives who made mainstream the theory that anne's stance on the dissolution was the catalyst to her downfall, based on strong primary source analysis and timeline recreation of events. after this, we saw a watershed in tudor fiction as it came to portrayals of her... it forced some movement in that binary mold which had existed for so long, anne as either femme fatale or tragic romantic heroine/victim (maybe she was neither of these things, maybe she was, actually, entirely more). in this way, it can be argued, she did 'die for religion'; and even if you disagree, there's still an emotional truth and resonance to this scene (in that this was what certain people believed, whether they cast anne as the heroine or villain of the tale...anne as the victim of a religious conspiracy by 'papists', alexander ales only one among them, anne as the 'wellspring' of 'heresy' in england), even if not a literal paint by numbers 'historical accuracy'.

tl; dr in the words of the immortal florence welch: who's a 'heretic' now?

[sgiandubh]

Hello sgiandubh, I am very disappointed at you. You said you would never block a shipper but you did to me. Why???? Was I too direct in stating my love for the TRUTH. Not liking Rothschilds wine and any evil hidden agendas such as this narrative that we are familiar with Sam and Cait. Any agenda that you are familiar with since you being a diplomat and facing all kind of POLITICAL/SOCIETAL issues know what is hidden behind these so called "do what I say but do not do what I do" evil monikers. Anyway, hypocrisy has a name, unfortunately, it is what you sow one day inventually you will reap. You can be very astute, show tremendous barrister endeavour, have much charisma, know how to charm with polyglotomy prose but to those that KNOW how it ends(very well REVEALED), it will end for sure and the RIGHTEOUS will win. Hope you get on the RIGHT side before it is too late.

Dear @jclovely,

I did block you, that is very true and I just did it almost on a whim, after you unblocked me (I never blocked you before and you know it very well, yet... but let's not go there).

I blocked you simply because conspiracy theories, antivaxx and that particular, Messianic blend of antizionism (you might not even be aware of) are not my jam.

Something I deeply believe is that, in our increasingly secular societies, God is a very personal issue. Let people live their faith as they see fit. This Catholic does not feel the urge to shout her deep Marian and Franciscan devotions from all the rooftops in the world, because these belong to my deepest core. And nowhere else.

I take note of your opinions, but I am sorry to say the politically biased Rothschild comment on what is some exceptionally good wine was the straw that broke the camel's back.

This is exactly why the only limit I set here was politics. Of any kind.

I have no problems with you calling me a hypocrite. It's still better than a Taliban.

I wish you well. I wish you Light, Love and above everything else, I wish you Peace.

[penny-anna]

Anti-sixth doctor bias is like. I do get it but at the same time his era has got so bigged up as the 'worst' doctor who that when I watched it I was actually pleasantly surprised. So yknow I'd recommend people go in with an open mind.

& also I really don't think it's fair to blame poor Six himself. Colin Baker was doing a great job with what he was given.

If you're into audio stuff & want to see Six done right here's some Big Finish recs:

The Marian Conspiracy: old-style historical introducing an original companion, Evelyn Smythe, an aging history professor with a heart condition out for some adventure

The Holy Terror: audio debut of Frobisher the shapeshifting penguin. Deeply weird!! The final twist absolutely haunts me.

The One Doctor: very very silly goofy, features jelly monsters and evil space ikea

Jubilee: this is the story that Dalek (2005) was adapted from. Twice the length and twice the fun. Thematically more complex and richer than the TV episode.

Doctor Who and the Pirates: Gilbert and Sullivan musical piece. A good bit of meta for u. Goes a lot harder than you'd expect.

(All are older audios so they're available to download for £2.99 a piece!)

[beggars-opera]

What are hex marks??

Hex marks (or witch marks, or counter-magic marks, or apotropaic marks, etc) are symbols used in the early modern period (mostly 16th-18th centuries) to ward off evil spirits and witches.

They are generally found in areas where spirits could hypothetically get into your house: around the front or back doors, the doors to the basement and attic, and fireplaces.

They come in a variety of styles. These are some common ones:

Marian marks: seeking religious protection, these usually are a double V that stands for "Virgin of Virgins" or an MR for "Maria Regina."

Demon traps, that are crosshatching designed to confuse and trap spirits:

Hexafoils, or daisy wheels, and circles, which is what I'm dealing with. They are a really ancient protection symbol that predates Christianity and the meaning changes over time:

This time period had a really complicated relationship with religion, and people tended to keep very old superstitions combined with Christianity. For as long as people have been anxious, they've been coming up with ways to bring themselves luck. It's the same reason people like conspiracy theories: we hate acknowledging that the world is a random and unjust place, and sometimes things just happen. We like to think that if we try hard enough, we can have full control over our fate. So you're not going to stop your rituals just because the priest says they're not in the Bible. In a horribly scary, dark world, you're going to use everything you've got to protect yourself from it.

[adventure-showdown]

What is the Greatest Doctor Who story ever told?

and so we enter the final stretch, just 64 competitors remain, the seedings have been finalised and its time to make some even tougher calls. How long will the EU underdogs last and will your favourite be the ultimate victor (probably not)?

ROUND 1 ROUND 2 ROUND 3 ROUND 4

FINALS

Grand Final: The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances vs Midnight

Third Place: World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls vs City of Death

SEMI-FINALS

World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls vs The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances WINNER: The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances

City of Death vs Midnight WINNER: Midnight

QUARTER-FINALS

World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls vs Heaven Sent

Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead vs The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances

Fires of Pompeii vs City of Death

Scherzo vs Midnight

rounds 5-7 under the cut

ROUND 7

Remembrance of the Daleks vs World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls WINNER: World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls

Heaven Sent vs The Three Doctors WINNER: Heaven Sent

Turn Left vs Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead WINNER: Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead

Vincent and the Doctor vs The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances WINNER: The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances

Partners in Crime vs Fires of Pompeii WINNER: Fires of Pompeii

Blink vs City of Death WINNER: City of Death

Caerdroia vs Scherzo WINNER: Scherzo

Midnight vs Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways WINNER: Midnight

ROUND 6

Chimes of Midnight vs Remembrance of the Daleks WINNER: Remembrance of the Daleks

World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls vs The Robots of Death vs Children of Earth World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls

Heaven Sent vs Dalek WINNER: Heaven Sent

The Three Doctors vs The Wedding of Sarah-Jane Smith WINNER: The Three Doctors

Alien Bodies vs Turn Left WINNER: Turn Left

Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead vs The Romans WINNER: Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead

Vincent and the Doctor vs Captain Jack Harkness WINNER: Vincent and the Doctor

The Husbands of River Song vs The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances WINNER: The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances

The Curse of Fatal Death vs Partners in Crime WINNER: Partners in Crime

The War Games vs Fires of Pompeii WINNER: Fires of Pompeii

The Natural History of Fear vs Blink WINNER: Blink

City of Death vs Doctor Who and the Pirates WINNER: City of Death

Father's Day vs Caerdroia WINNER: Caerdroia

Zagreus vs Scherzo WINNER: Scherzo

Midnight vs Survival WINNER: Midnight

Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways vs Night of the Doctor WINNER: Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways

ROUND 5

The Chimes of Midnight vs Unnatural History WINNER: Chimes of Midnight

Remembrance of the Daleks vs The Curse of Fenric WINNER: Remembrance of the Daleks

World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls vs The Greatest Show in the Galaxy WINNER: World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls

The Robots of Death vs Children of Earth TIE

Heaven Sent vs The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot WINNER: Heaven Sent

The Green Death vs Dalek WINNER: Dalek

The Star Beast vs The Three Doctors WINNER: The Three Doctors

The Marian Conspiracy vs The Wedding of Sarah-Jane Smith WINNER: The Wedding of Sarah-Jane Smith

Time Crash vs Alien Bodies WINNER: Alien Bodies

The Mind Robber vs Turn Left WINNER: Turn Left

Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead vs Solitaire WINNER: Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead

The Romans vs An Adventure in Space and Time WINNER: The Romans

Vincent and the Doctor vs The Five Doctors WINNER: Vincent and the Doctor

The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar vs Captain Jack Harkness WINNER: Captain Jack Harkness

Countrycide vs The Husbands of River Song WINNER: The Husbands of River Song

The Holy Terror vs The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances WINNER: The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances

The Curse of Fatal Death vs Human Nature WINNER: Curse of Fatal Death

Partners in Crime vs Lungbarrow WINNER: Partners in Crime

The War Games vs The Daemons WINNER: The War Games

Fires of Pompeii vs The Metaphysical Engine or What Quill Did WINNER: Fires of Pompeii

A Death in the Family vs The Natural History of Fear WINNER: The Natural History of Fear

The Happiness Patrol vs Blink WINNER: Blink

City of Death vs Mummy on the Orient Express WINNER: City of Death

Ghost Light vs Doctor Who and the Pirates WINNER: Doctor Who and the Pirates

Death of the Doctor vs Father's Day WINNER: Father's Day

The Curse of Clyde Langer vs Caerdroia WINNER: Caerdroia

Zagreus vs Genesis of the Daleks WINNER: Zagreus

Pond Life vs Scherzo WINNER: Scherzo

Midnight vs The Time Meddler WINNER: Midnight

Survival vs The Temptation of Sarah-Jane Smith WINNER: Survival

Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways vs The Caves of Androzani WINNER: Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways

Reset vs Night of the Doctor WINNER: Night of the Doctor

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Daniel Marans and Jennifer Bendery at HuffPost:

CHICAGO ― Former President Barack Obama delivered a lofty speech in support of Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday, hailing her as a visionary leader with the experience and values to help the country “move past some of the tired old debates that keep stifling progress.” Harnessing Democrats’ sense of excitement about Harris, Obama presented the Democratic presidential nominee as a natural heir to his optimistic first presidential bid. After explaining how the country needs a president committed to empowering workers in “this new economy,” Obama said, “Kamala will be that president.” Someone in the crowd shouted out, “Yes she can!” ― a play on the Obama presidential campaign slogan, “Yes we can.” Obama heard it and repeated it. “Yes she can!” he said. “Yes she can.”

The crowd was electric from the moment Obama walked on stage ― in part because he was preceded by former First Lady Michelle Obama, who arguably gave the most rousing speech of the night. The one-two punch of the Obamas ― both Chicagoans ― fit with the spirit of a convention that has sought to conjure the effervescence of Obama’s early candidacy, but subtly break with the pandemic, inflation and anxiety over President Joe Biden’s age. Michelle, who has never run for public office, remains one of the Democratic Party’s most gifted speakers. Her focus on “hope,” a core theme of her husband’s two campaigns and presidency, set the stage for his subsequent speech. He opened with an affectionate joke about her speaking abilities. “I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling fired up!” he said. “I’m feeling ready to go ― even if I’m the only person stupid enough to speak right after Michelle Obama.”

[...] The 44th president got a particular rise out of the crowd with his veiled suggestion that Trump’s fixation on crowd sizes might reflect an insecurity about the size of his male organ. “Here’s a 78-year-old billionaire who hasn’t stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago. It has been a constant stream of gripes and grievances that’s actually gotten worse now that he’s afraid of losing to Kamala. The childish nicknames and crazy conspiracy theories and this weird obsession with crowd sizes,” he said, prompting laughs as he pretended to measure something with his hands. Obama characterized the contest between Trump and Harris as a fight over the future direction of the country ― whether Americans would submit to Trump’s zero-sum, fear-based vision, or a politics of shared national sacrifice between people of different backgrounds. As an example of Democrats’ more uplifting and compassionate approach, he talked about how Michelle’s recently deceased mother Marian Robinson, who died in May, had reminded him of his own grandmother, a white woman from a small town in Kansas. “On the surface, the two of them didn’t have a lot in common,” Obama said. “And yet, they shared a basic outlook on life ― they were strong, smart, resourceful women, full of common sense, who, regardless of the barriers that they encountered … they still went about their business without fuss or complaint and provided an unshakable foundation of love for their children and their grandchildren.”

[...] The former president made a point to honor Biden, too, whose role in the convention has been bittersweet as his political career comes to an end. He said picking Biden as his running mate in 2008 turned out to be one of his best decisions as president. “Joe and I come from different backgrounds. But we became brothers,” Obama said. “And as we worked together for eight years, what I came to admire most about Joe wasn’t just his smarts and experience, but his empathy and his decency.” He celebrated Biden’s legacy as president before delicately addressing the elephant in the room: that Biden dropped his bid for reelection amid Democratic panic that he couldn’t defeat Trump in November, and cleared the path for Harris to step up. “And at a time when the other party had turned into a cult of personality, we needed a leader who was steady, and brought people together, and was selfless enough to do the rarest thing there is in politics: putting his own ambition aside for the sake of the country,” Obama said. “History will remember Joe Biden as a president who defended democracy at a moment of great danger. I am proud to call him my president, but even prouder to call him my friend.”

Tuesday night at the DNC stage, former President Barack Obama tore the roof off of the United Center with his speech praising Kamala Harris and needling Donald Trump (especially about his obsession with crowd sizes). Obama also gave great praise for Joe Biden, the man who he put on the ticket in 2008.

See Also:

Daily Kos: Barack Obama has a blast shredding Trump at the DNC

The Guardian: ‘America is ready for a better story’: Barack Obama lauds Kamala Harris in rousing speech

Vox: What Barack Obama’s DNC speech was actually about