dalek christmas
This is beautiful.
WE WISH YOU EXTERMINATION
WE WISH YOU EXTERMINATION
WE WISH YOU EXTERMINATION
AND A LONG PAINFUL DEATH
NOW BRING US THE FRIGGIN’ DOCTOR
NOW BRING US THE FRIGGIN’ DOCTOR
NOW BRING US THE FRIGGIN’ DOCTOR
OR WE’LL EVAPORATE YOUR MUM
“I have a feeling that one day, we’re all just gonna end up in a mental hospital… fandom mental hospital, and I’m pretty convinced that you’ll be able to tell who belonged to which fandom…” [x]
OMG JANICE YOU ARE A GIF SET
I KNOW I SAW IT I’M VERY VERY HAPPY
*spoiler-free*
Oh, fandom. It’s at times like this that I consider starting a Doctor Who fan blog.
The spoiler-tastic events of the last couple of days have made a minor furor, haven’t they? For those of you who don’t know, a rumor just came out about the 50th-anniversary episode of Doctor Who that, if true, is going to leave many fans shocked, confused, and angry. Or it might, anyway - you never know with these things.
Already, we’re hearing the standard cries to boycott the show and have the creators hanged, burned, and fired, in that order.
The only reasonable response to these demands? Sit your ass back DOWN, fandom. You have almost no power and even less perspective. Because the show will survive without you quite well - it always has and it always will. How, you ask? Simple. You’re fanning it wrong.
There are two ways to look at Doctor Who - either as an extremely long-running, ever-evolving piece of storytelling and production craft, OR - as a sequence of five-or-six-year shows that follow one after another, Star Trek style, of which we happen to be witnessing only the latest iteration. The best part? Both interpretations are absolutely valid. They’re both great ways of looking at this varied, multifaceted show. And, similarly, you can be one of two different kinds of fan: either you can love the show as you would a family member - one whom you’ve known for years, whom you have seen grown and change, whom you’ve laughed at and screamed at and just generally adored, even when they frustrate the ever-living shit out of you - or you can love the show as you would a short-term romantic partner - passionately at first , then settling in with their flaws and their quirks, and then, one day, realizing that they’re just not the person you fell in love with, and it’s time to move on.
And that’s OK. Both types of fandom are OK. In the world of Doctor Who, they’re natural and healthy. But here’s the rub: you have to know what sort of fan you are. Because if you’re a short-term lover who thinks they’re ready to go steady, you’ve got another think coming.
Did you know that Doctor Who has been:
- an experimental, semi-educational sci-fi show? (6 years, Doctors 1 and 2)
- an earthbound James Bond-like action series? (5 years, 3rd Doctor)
- a Gothic Horror anthology? (3 years, 4th Doctor)
- a quirky, Douglas Adamsesque comedy in space? (3 years, 4th Doctor, admittedly limited success, though City of Death is a tour de force)
- an attempt at a serious science fiction program? (5 years, Doctors 4, 5 and 6)
- a floundering mess, trying to find its feet after near cancellation and a horrifically reduced episode count? (2 years, Doctors 6 and 7)
- a subversive fantasy with political undertones and a long term mystery? (2 years, 7th Doctor, cancelled the year before the intended payoff)
- SEVERAL long-term series of novels? (14 years, 8 Doctors, three or more publishing houses)
- an American movie of the week? (8th Doctor)
- a quirky, character driven drama? (5 years, Doctors 9 and 10)
- a Tim Burtonesque adventure serial with an attitude towards plot twists and revelations that fits in perfectly in a post-J.K.Rowling, post LOST entertainment landscape? (4th year running, 11th Doctor)
This show has been all of these things and, arguably, more. Every single one of those eras is celebrated by someone and lambasted to this day by somebody else. So tell me, please, WHICH creator “ruined the show forever”?
None of them. They’ve all contributed to a communally-told fiction in the best way they could. In so doing, they have each garnered the show new fans and pissed off old ones. In fact, THAT is the Circle of Life for the Doctor Who fandom:
Start watching the show. Fall in love with the show. Continue watching when a new era begins. Witness change. Realize, this is no longer my Doctor Who. Watch as new fans fall in love with the show. Realize, and that’s as it should be. Watch your kids getting into the show, 10, 15, 20 years later. Grumble about how things were better in your day. And fall in love all over again.
If you don’t want to do that, that’s fine. Russel T Davies gave you a great TV show that lasted five years, 60 episodes. And it ended on January 1st, 2010. You can move along now.
The rest of us? We’ll just sit back and enjoy the show.
When people turn to fictional characters, it’s often because they want an escape. The stories of these people shelter us from the storm of our daily lives; they save us, if only for a little while. But when we really give in, become invested, let ourselves be vulnerable, something changes. We begin to feel that we know them. It’s no longer just an escape, but part of us, something that makes us who we are.
These characters teach us that incredible adversity can be overcome. That people can love each other forever. That life can be an adventure. That magic can be real. And even if these miracles have never happened to us, we begin to go through life believing that, someday, they could.
“And I promise you that you’re important. Don’t look at me like that- in all my 900 years I’ve never met someone who wasn’t important.”
“Cheer up mate, it gets better. Look at me, I was once a little kid living under the stairs. You’ll do fine.”
“Hey. I know it seems like life sucks, that you’ve got the devil on your tail. Hell, sometimes you do. But you’re strong enough to beat him. You’ve got friends at your back and family too, and that’s what really counts in the end.”
“Don’t be silly, they’re wrong about you; of course you matter. You’ve always mattered.”
WOW CONGRATS YOU JUST MADE ME CRY OVER MY OWN POST
The dashboard is cracked.
The askbox shall open.
David Karp will fall.
One, Two, Three, Four, I declare a Reblogging War
Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Vegans scream about the meat I ate
Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, My dash has died and David Fell.
Twelve, Eleven, Ten, Nine, Reblog this again Time and Time
Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Homestucks crawl into their Hives
Four, Three, Two, One, Hit post limit again, oh what Fun.
Hipsters run when a fandom blog goes to war.
Tick tock, goes the clock, even for the blogger.
Okay so, the Doctor is from out of space but does he only breathe oxygen like everyone else? Does Gallifrey have an atmosphere like Earth’s? Because I’d never thought about it before now but he seems to be struggling just as much as everyone else and he does seem to have the same basic anatomy as a human, other than the two hearts.
Anyone care to answer?
Gallifrey’s atmosphere is 77% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen and 2% other, which means that it’s similar to Earth’s atmosphere, but it’s a bit thinner.
The Doctor needs oxygen as well, but Time Lords have a raspiratory bypass system that allows them to go without breathing for a longer time span than humans.Most fandoms have some pretty deep canon. The Doctor Who fandom can tell you the concentrations of gas in the atmosphere of the home planet of the main character. DW Fandom > Your fandom
THIS IS PERFECTION
