#wait shit i changed my own mind: clara oswald

[yesokayiknow]

I'm not usually a fan of sorting House person (I know! for shame!!) but I am intrigued that Thirteen reads like a Slytherin to you. I love the idea, can you talk more about it?

i’m literally 100% up for talking about anything at any time so jot that down but also i’ve got a bit of a headache so idk how much sense this’ll make?? but yeah ok Reasons I Sort Thirteen (And Other Doctors) Slytherin Instead Of Ravenclaw Yes I Know I’m A Heathen (aka i don’t know what yall are talking about, thirteen is dark):

(i mean ok first of all to be fair the houses overlap a lot bc yeah this system isn’t perfect like at all)

(also this got long bc of course it did gdi also it could’ve been way longer but my head’s starting to hurt so)

the doctor lies. a lot. thirteen less so actually, but she still takes pretty great care to hide her true self from her friends. which is uh. still technically lying?? making sure that your friends are never around to see your true self?? waiting until they’re not looking before you grin at your enemies?? yeah that’s kinda lying. plus like uh that moment in arachnids in the uk where she’s about to go back alone in her tardis and she’s Very Obviously Sad? like i don’t wanna say manipulation but uh. manipulation. and thirteen is very good at this, especially bc she’s so open. every emotion is on her face, how could she lie?? except that’s kind of the point, isn’t it? every emotion on her face except for when she’s staring someone down. and then she goes very very still. no need to be the alien puppy if you’re trying to scare someone, after all. and honestly i don’t think she’s always doing this on purpose but like? grinning at her fam when she told them she never lost hope during the ghost monument? undercutting serious moments with little quips (like saying laters after dressing down the kerblam! worker)? thirteen is very loudly happy and excited and annoyed except when she isn’t, and they’re always the moments when her human friends aren’t looking too closely.

(i wonder if there’s a reason why when she was alone the doctor boasted and insulted and taunted the dalek before warning it to leave, but when she was with her friends she warned it almost straight away? and double checked with them to make sure she’d done the right thing?)

so like? that moment in the special where she doesn’t close the door?? you know she could’ve okay. she could’ve just snapped her fingers, but she couldn’t take the chance that the dalek would survive. the interesting thing being, if ryan’s dad had died would she have allowed them to keep thinking it was an accident? bc i think she would’ve. it’s weird how these little accidents keep happening huh. weird that tim shaw’s teleporter failed and took him halfway across the universe to a nearly dead planet. weird that there was no way to delay the kerblam! robots from exploding and killing charlie (and it’s not like her friends were touching the robot head she used to teleport them all. in fact, she was the only person touching it. so she couldn’t have widened the teleport’s areas and made it only include organics? really?). weird that she didn’t notice ryan taking the temporal displacer off her after she explained in detail how it worked to him (Better be nice to me, cos I’m your best chance of getting out of this time-zone now, she says to krasko. funny that it basically ends up being true, huh?). weird that it takes the tardis so long to take her new friends home that they’ve already become too attached to leave.

and oh the hypocrisy.

You were new. I have to lay down the rules if someone’s new. Also, don’t quote that back to me. My rules change all the time.

funny that. breaking the rules is what the doctor does, but don’t you dare break hers. no guns, not even when they would delay a creatures suffering (bc yeah bargain bin trump had bad intentions but those spiders were in pain and why is it for the doctor to decide when that suffering gets to end? and how? do you think the spiders care about the morality of certain weapons?), but bombs are okay. can’t shoot robots but you can fry their systems (and wow, she can stand back and watch ryan, who literally has dyspraxia, to go out into sniperfire to teach him a lesson instead of just setting the emp off before? even though she already knew it was there?). don’t change the past, but i don’t think she ever ended up checking where krasko ended up, did she? don’t hurt people but oh you can antagonise someone into attacking you bc you know it will cause their neural chip to go off and hurt them (and there was no need for that. she knew he had the chip and he knew he had the chip so why did she need to set it off?). don’t ever kill, but locking someone up in a prison for all eternity is fine. although hm, don’t remember anything being said about killing the dalek. or about the fact that it was always her plan to kill it. and in such a painful way, too.

the doctor cares of course, good god does she care, but it always just. takes a little moment to kick in, doesn’t it.she didn’t try to reroute the tsuranga before she met all the patients after all, and she never asked if her friends were alright. doesn’t ask before taking ryan’s phone because she needs it (and yes i know, she didn’t see what we saw, that he processed his emotions through his youtube channel, that he’s one of the few people on this show who actually called the police. we know he lost his mum and that his father left and that, not long after, his nan dies, and i wonder? how many pictures of them were on there? how many memories? ryan’s phone is important to him and she destroyed it without thinking). doesn’t think to tell the humans about the translation implants or why it would bother them, like she didn’t explain in full about the dna bombs that were implanted into them.

so i know gryffindors are meant to be the leaders but it’s actually slytherins who value leadership and the doctor is unquestionably always the leader (and when they’re not, something tends to happen to the current leader. though that hasn’t really applied to thirteen yet. though. hm. it’s proabably just a coincidence that the two people who try to take charge on the tsuranga are the only people who die huh. sure is weird that the doctor didn’t argue harder to check the side of the ship she wanted to. or that she never learned how to neuropilot ships when the doctor has such a love for flying machines of all kinds and she literally has a telepathic connection with her own ship. but never mind huh).

okay, so even with all that, the doctor’s thing is learning right? they’re usually the most intelligent person in the room and they adore finding out all they can, so why not ravenclaw? well, if the doctor was only concerned with finding new things out, then why would they go to places they’ve already been before? and yes of course they take people to see new things so they can see their faces when they learn and explore, but that’s not the only reason, is it?because as much as they need to know things, they need to see other people seeing how much they know things.

(I’m being extremely clever up here, and there’s no one to standaround looking impressed! What’s the point in having you all?)

sometimes they take people places to impress them or to intimidate them (and like man, don’t even get me started on ten taking martha to new new york) or to read their intentions (re: pretty much most of 12 and clara’s trips post danny). she takes yaz to see her family and seems shocked when she wants to change the past, even though they’d already been through this before with rose, even though they’d changed the events of the time war.

and actually though, for this series, the doctor hasn’t really done a lot of intentional exploring, has she? she’s responded to distress signals and she’s chased after the tardis and she’s gone to see new years celebrations and she’s ended up on a hospital ship (after looking for spare parts) and she’s tried to see an (ex? ish?) wife’s coronation.

and also like. wanting to know everything (and save everything and always be right and always be loved) is an ambition, after all, and it’s not like the doctor goes after it in a very nice way. the only thing is, thirteen doesn’t really seem to have that ambition? she wants to not be alone, and that’s pretty much it.

(and that’s probably a good thing. ten unravelled into the time lord victorious when he was alone. eleven spent so long alone that he started stalking a completely oblivious clara. twelve spent 4 billion years looping alone out of spite, then brought gallifrey to its knees. he was barely alone after and he tried to wipe bill’s mind. i shudder to think what thirteen would do if she was ever truly alone, but i don’t think it would be good for the universe)

tldr; imo yes the doctor does have quite a few ravenclaw ends, but reaches them all in slytherin ways. she’s manipulative, cunning, resourceful and ambitious (and also if you think about how dark the doctor is then like! yikes! yikes!)

[iceinherheart-kissonherlips]

steven moffat appreciation week || day #1. favourite doctor: female doctor

Am I cheating here? Maybe. But do I care? Not really. Listen, to be honest, Eleven is my favourite Doctor of Moffat’s era. But I’ve done gifsets for him a few times and this time I thought that I want to do something different. Then I thought: huh, is there any other Doctor I really, really freaking love? Hell yes, there is. Maybe not actually the Doctor, but the concept of the female Doctor that was so strongly present during Moffat’s era. You don’t believe me? Well, let’s see:

- Missy aka Mary Poppins who forgot to take her meds, the one who went utterly bananas and one who thinks so outside the box that the box is in a completely different galaxy. Slowly introduced throughout s8, she blew up in the last two episodes, causing complete mayhem and leaving destruction wherever she put her little trigger-happy finger. She’s absolutely mad, but you can’t help but root for her. She’s capable of exactly the same things as the Doctor, but instead of choosing to do good, she chooses to be unapologetically wretched - and yet she does it with charm and a song on her lips. Was regenerating Simm!Master into a woman a bold move? Heck yes - especially considering how loved by many that regeneration was. Was the change successful - fuck yeah. Missy is not only as kooky (if not more) as her previous regenerations, but she’s definitely far more scary - at least for me. You never know what she’s going to do next and that is simply delightful. To make things better, she changes throughout the 3 series she’s in - but she still remains the same insane ball of madness. Incredible, eh?

- Clara Oswin Oswald. Where do I start with Clara? Well, to start with, she’s absolutely perfect. Wait. No, she isn’t and that’s absolutely amazing. But let’s not talk about that, but let’s focus how much she changed during her time as the Doctor’s companion. From the young girl who was often terrified/emotional in the beggining (’cold war’ or ‘hide’ come to mind), she becomes a woman who takes the role of the Doctor more than once: ‘flatline’ where she saves a group of people and behaves/thinks exactly like the Doctor. Let’s not forget about ‘dark water’ where she is ready to manipulate/drug/hurt her best friend to make him do what she wants. And how about ‘death in heaven’ where she lies in the face of the Cybermen, pretending to be the Doctor? Our little girl is a little girl no more. And how does her story end? She takes her life into her own hands: she gambles on her memories - she keeps them and then she leaves in her own TARDIS, with her own girlfriend companion. Doctor Oswald, am I right?

- River Song. Do I even need to say anything here? I do? Oh,okay. Let’s see: child of the TARDIS. Human+. Able to regenerate. Strong enough to rip her way out of a enhanced astronaut suit (and she was just a child then). Fought years of programming and training, and disobeyed orders of her makers: she choose to love instead of hate. Can fly the TARDIS - and does it the right way. Walks in and out of Stormcage like it’s freaking bed and breakfast. Takes the Doctor’s TARDIS for a spin whenever she feels like it (and he doesn’t even notices it). Strong and capable af. Daleks fear her. Instead of sitting in Stormcage waiting for her release, she actively works for her pardon. As smart as the Doctor - she builds a distress beacon and sends a message outside the bubble of frozen time. Travels the universe without the Doctor, marries people all over the places, steals shit and has fun. Basically, she does what she wants and she’s fierce af.

- Thirteenth Doctor. But wait, I hear you saying. She is Chibnall’s Doctor. Moffat had nothing to do with that! Really? You think? Don’t you think that without Moffat’s work and him proving over and over again that women are as capable of being the Doctor as men - we would have Jodie as the next Doctor? Maybe. But I kind of doubt it. And it’s not just a case of Moffat writing his main characters that way - there are also small things like Missy mentioning that the Doctor was once a little girl, Amy being able to construct something akin to a sonic screwdriver or putting in a script a white man regenerating into a black woman. And also... Let’s go back to 1999, shall we? 

[lucyreviewcy]

Everything I Watched This Saturday

Weekends are usually busy for me. However, this weekend half of England is snowed in, making saturday the perfect opportunity for some serious TV catchup.

I try and vary what I watch. Some shows really lend themselves to binge watching because they have cliffhangers at every episode (White Collar), some really great will-they-won’t-they action (Gilmore Girls) or sometimes just a really comfortable vibe (Lewis). However, I find that if I binge I get into the rhythm of the show, and stop enjoying it when I can predict exactly when the twist will happen (my brother once figured out that House MD figures out the diagnosis about 37 minutes into every episode.) By changing up what I watch, even when I want to spend a whole day getting some good quality screen time, I enjoy each individual show much more.

This weekend, I watched:

Lewis - S01, E03 “Old School Ties”

I’ve loved Lewis since the show started (which, fun fact, was before the UK smoking ban - hence Laurence Fox lighting up so often in the office.) While Morse unfortunately reminds me of stuffy Sunday afternoons when there was literally nothing else on, Lewis is a show I love to make time for. Kevin Whately and Laurence fox have great chemistry, and the titular inspector’s continued exaspiration with Oxfords academic wankery makes for excellent one-liners.

In this episode, while protecting ex-hacker turned celebrity criminal (and professional geordie - much to Lewis’ chagrin) Nicky Turnbull, Lewis investigates the murder of a young woman at the hotel where Turnbull is staying. I had seen this episode before but despite remembering entire lines of dialogue and plot points, the perpatrator had actually slipped my mind.

This episode doesn’t have the most satisfying reveal of all time, but it gripped me even though this was probably my fourth viewing. Lewis is, in general, fairly easy to follow even if you’re doing fairly complicated knitting while watching.

Overall, the contrast between Hathaway’s aloof synicism and Lewis’ genuine interest in people makes excellent television. The moment at the end with the two sharing headphones makes this one a winner for me.

White Collar - S04, E08 “Identity Crisis”

Watching White Collar directly after Lewis makes for an interesting experience. The shows are very similar. As they are both police procedurals, they share a penchant for unexpected twists and shots of two men in suits approaching a third person and flashing a badge. That’s all fairly run of the mill stuff, but the way that the characters interact is also very similar. While Neal Caffrey is an ex-thief helping Agent Burke investigate thieves, Hathaway is an intellectual Oxbridge graduate helping Lewis investigate intellectual Oxbridge graduates. Both Burke and Lewis have similarly eye-rolling reactions to their partners, creating a certain symmetry between the two shows.

This episode of White Collar was a break from the normal format, with Mozzie leading the team on an investigation into a group of spies - from revolutionary America.

I am always nervous when shows break from their routines, because the results can be hit and miss. Doctor Who has episodes like “Heaven Sent” - a solo performance from Peter Capaldi that is incredible, and then other episodes like “Love & Monsters” which is a crock of shit. However, with “Identity Crisis”, White Collar lands a winner. There are scrapes, japes and character development, as well as mysterious twists. Mozzie is an excellent character, and episodes where he takes centre stage are great fun.

Episodes - S02 E09 “Episode 9”

A nice coincidence from my TV adventures today is that the White Collar episode I watched also featured Mircea Monroe, who plays Morning in Episodes.

This sitcom is always great fun and this series denoument is no exception. This farcical end to a series packed full of dating drama and secret affars was full of awkward silences, forced smiles and Matt LeBlanc being a comical dickhead. His performance in this show has really put the Top Gear host into my good books, as he’s clearly not afraid to take the piss out of himself. A highlight of this episode is a black-tie brawl featuring pretty much every character. Steven Mangan’s “Wallace and Gromit” smile is also a memorable moment.

Nigel Slater’s Middle East E03 “Iran”

Completely switching gears here to my favourite TV chef of all time. Nigel Slater has long been a source of comfort to me when I’m feeling stressed. He has an incredible ability to make all food sound appealing, just by pausing in a sentence, nodding affirmatvely at the camera and saying “and it’s incredible.”

While yes, he has on occasion seemed to live in a dreamworld where people have whole parmesan rinds at the back of the fridge, and half a roast chicken “lying around”, Nigel Slater makes programmes that are deeply relaxing. Considering that the Middle East isn’t an area that a lot of people would consider “relaxing”, this show is a really fresh represetnation of part of the world that I had previously associated only with conflict.

In this episode, the final one of the series, Nigel eats sheep brains, catches pomegranates and has dinner at his taxi driver’s house. While I’m sure there’s a lot of work done by editing and producers and translators, I loved this series because the reactions that my best TV friend Nigel has to all the food he tries seem genuine. His passion for food and flavour are boundless and this show is a wonderful expression of that.

Victoria S01 E08 “Young England”

Look, I started watching this show because I like Jenna Coleman and I missed Clara Oswald. I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did. This episode especially showcased Victoria’s ability to make history seem dramatic and compelling. Victoria’s pregnancy has reached the “deep discomfort all day every day” stage, and having recently watched a friend go through this stage, I felt like Coleman conveyed this perfectly. I had an overwhelming urge to buy her a McDonalds with extra fries, just to make her feel better.

I had no idea that there had been an attempt on Queen Victoria’s life during her first pregnancy, and I found this episode genuinely shocking. I also found myself crying at random intervals, potentially because I felt so much sympathy for poor pregnant Victoria, who just wants to take a ride in her damn carriage.

This show is excellent and I was gutted to realise that Netflix only has the first season, I can’t wait to find out what happens next!

Top Gear - S25 E01

Having warmed so much to Matt LeBlanc through my viewing of Episodes, I thought I’d give the new Top Gear a go. I hadn’t watched this show since the ill-fated Chris Evans series, and was interested to see how it was faring.

The answer was “eh, it’s alright.”

I must confess that I don’t think I’m quite interested in cars enough to fully enjoy Top Gear in it’s current format. While the specials that the “old guard” of Hammond, May and Clarkson used to make me roar with laughter - I was never fully invested in the show even at it’s peak of popularity.

That being said, there were a few moments in this episode that I thoroughly enjoyed - mainly discovering that figure of 8 chain car racing is apparently a thing. This is possibly one of the most American extreme sports events I have ever heard of, and that section of the programme is genuinely fun to watch.

Overall, yeah - Top Gear’s about cars. I don’t have a car. I used to have a car, but even then I wasn’t that interested in other cars. Unless they were coming towards me. At speed.

iZombie - S04 E01 “Are You Ready for Some Zombies?”

If you want me to take your new season opener seriously don’t give it a title that can be sung to the tune of “Do you wanna build a snowman?”

iZombie is a show I have really enjoyed in the past, but I feel as if it may have escalated beyond its own format. What used to be a fun and twisted police procedural now has too many other strands to cope with. Rather than watching Liv and Clive solve a crime, we have to see this story spliced into small spaces alongside Ravi, Major, Peyton and Blaine’s plot development. Once the zombie world was revealed, the show became messier and less interesting.

In my opinion, this episode was not the most enticing series opener. While I loved seasons 1 and 2, it’s become too hard to keep track of who is and isn’t a zombie, and all their individual emotions about this. The show has always been like a fun, undead version of Veronica Mars, but Veronica Mars wouldn’t have been as good if at the end of one season she’d been involved in “Private Detective High” where everyone else was a private detective. I think this is where iZombie has lost it’s magic for me.

I’ll keep watching but the show won’t be as exciting as it once was.

So there you have it, that’s what I watched this weekend! If you’re trapped in a binge-watching cycle (it happens to all of us, there’s a reason I am only allowed to watch Gilmore Girls on Thursdays), I hope the above inspires you to curate a complicated menu of shows next time you’re having a duvet day!