Wrong, wrong, wrong. The opposite of matter is "doesn’t matter".
Given world news, I'm looking to relocate my admittedly infrequent posts to a new server. It's a strange feeling, given how long I've been here on LJ, but I don't feel I can in good conscience continue on a Russian-owned and -affiliated business, regardless of how little my patronage might contribute to that. If anyone has any suggestions of where I can move to, I would welcome them.
In the meantime, I guess here's another Doctor Who post.
The Eighth(?) Doctor, if the Doctor had returned to Gallifrey, once upon a time, and never left again, deals with Sontarans, Rutans, and, most notably, Omega.
The way this story sprawls and spirals is fascinating to me, as is the way that the Doctor and the Magistrate(!) are recognizably themselves despite their altered backstories (hello certain fanfic AU writers please take notes (other fanfic AU writers you already do this JUST AS WELL)). There's also some really excellent work put into developing Gallifrey itself; I'm particularly fond of the time we spend with Huran and what it says about the 'normal' Gallifreyans' views on the Time Lords (the slur 'Timeys' tickled me to death), although tbh I don't think some of said worldbuilding holds up with the rest of the canon (Doctor Who has no canon). There were also a couple points during the book that I wish I'd read the New Adventures either before or concurrently with my PDA readthrough instead of putting it off til after; this is the first book so far to make me feel that way, which is interesting but also probably makes sense since it's the most EU-continuity-dense one. (I did catch the Benny reference! and the Lungburrow reference! but I'm absolutely sure I missed other ones.)
My only actual quibble would be with the female representation. Early on there's a comment by one character that Time Lord society treats men and women equally, which is...not borne out by the society we see presented on-page; it's also mentioned that women only make up 30% of Gallifreyan population, possibly to explain why there's only two major female characters, one of whom goes unnamed. Given that Who usually has an abundance of excellent women, it's...noticeable.
A favorite moment:
'We are Gallifreyan/Human hybrids, the Children of Kasterborous. Before the Curse, we pursued interventionist policies designed to promote harmony in the known galaxies, and ushered a new age of universal peace. We failed in our mission: this is our punishment.'
The Doctor's eyes widened.
'That is Willhuff's theory,' Helios added. 'I think I like it best, even though it probably isn't true. It relies on apocryphal sources and a great deal of speculation on his part. Gordel's theory is equally outlandish. I incline to the view that we are from the Accidentally Left Behind When Everyone Else Transcended This Reality Interest Group. It would certainly explain our obsession with finding God.'
'I think that Helios is Merlin,' said Willhuff.
Gordel looked wearily at the others. 'We are clearly the super‐evolved survivors of the Thal race, fleeing the penultimate destruction of Skaro, that sparked off the Final Dalek War.'
'You don't have the slightest idea who you are or where you came from, do you?' the Doctor asked, exasperated.
On a completely different note, we have the First Doctor, Steven, and Dodo in 1960s New York dealing with aliens mistaken for/posing as gods, set immediately after The Massacre.
The real strength of this book is the characterization. Lyons spends a lot of page time and energy on giving Dodo a backstory, even going out of his way to explain Jackie Lane's wandering accent as an effect of code-switching. Steven's trauma over Anne Chaplet's death is also dealt with, as is his realization that his time on the TARDIS is coming to an end soon. The plot moves along well enough, but is mostly interesting for what it says about the characters, especially Steven's desire to believe that people can make a better world and Dodo's desire for something more -- and the Doctor's fear of external control.
What I could really, really do without is the attempted rape scene, though. It was really not necessary and it hangs over the whole book. Yes, apparently when Dodo runs onto the TARDIS at the end of The Massacre she is running away from an attempted rape by an alien impersonating her neighbor. So. That's. A thing. That didn't need to happen. (I should start keeping a tally of how many unnecessary sexual assaults on companions there are in the PDAs :| at least up until now they've just been 'menacing in an unpleasantly sexual manner' this was straight-up 'attempted rape')
Ughh. Aside from that I really enjoyed the dynamic Lyons created between the Doctor and Dodo, and between the Doctor and Steven -- I regret that Steven separates himself from the other two so early on and doesn't reunite with them until fairly close to the end, because I would've liked to see more of him interacting with the rest of the TARDIS team; we see hardly any of Steven & Dodo together. But that's barely a quibble at all. There's some nice continuity/fandom nods: a conversation between the Doctor and Dodo about Susan; Dodo and her school friends listen to John Smith and the Common Men; apparently in a 'docudrama' about the events of the book 'Doctor Who' is played by Peter Cushing, which killed me.
A favorite moment, in which Steven and the Doctor reconcile:
'And how about you, my boy?' the Doctor prompted. 'Is this goodbye?'
'You know full well it's not.'
'Do I? As I recall, young man, you seemed rather keen for us to part company.'
Steven gritted his teeth, knowing he had to get this over with. 'I'm sorry, all right? We had a disagreement and we should have discussed it like adults.'
'Hmm. Yes, well, perhaps I am as much to blame for that as you are, my boy. Perhaps.'
In the meantime, I guess here's another Doctor Who post.
The Eighth(?) Doctor, if the Doctor had returned to Gallifrey, once upon a time, and never left again, deals with Sontarans, Rutans, and, most notably, Omega.
The way this story sprawls and spirals is fascinating to me, as is the way that the Doctor and the Magistrate(!) are recognizably themselves despite their altered backstories (hello certain fanfic AU writers please take notes (other fanfic AU writers you already do this JUST AS WELL)). There's also some really excellent work put into developing Gallifrey itself; I'm particularly fond of the time we spend with Huran and what it says about the 'normal' Gallifreyans' views on the Time Lords (the slur 'Timeys' tickled me to death), although tbh I don't think some of said worldbuilding holds up with the rest of the canon (Doctor Who has no canon). There were also a couple points during the book that I wish I'd read the New Adventures either before or concurrently with my PDA readthrough instead of putting it off til after; this is the first book so far to make me feel that way, which is interesting but also probably makes sense since it's the most EU-continuity-dense one. (I did catch the Benny reference! and the Lungburrow reference! but I'm absolutely sure I missed other ones.)
My only actual quibble would be with the female representation. Early on there's a comment by one character that Time Lord society treats men and women equally, which is...not borne out by the society we see presented on-page; it's also mentioned that women only make up 30% of Gallifreyan population, possibly to explain why there's only two major female characters, one of whom goes unnamed. Given that Who usually has an abundance of excellent women, it's...noticeable.
A favorite moment:
'We are Gallifreyan/Human hybrids, the Children of Kasterborous. Before the Curse, we pursued interventionist policies designed to promote harmony in the known galaxies, and ushered a new age of universal peace. We failed in our mission: this is our punishment.'
The Doctor's eyes widened.
'That is Willhuff's theory,' Helios added. 'I think I like it best, even though it probably isn't true. It relies on apocryphal sources and a great deal of speculation on his part. Gordel's theory is equally outlandish. I incline to the view that we are from the Accidentally Left Behind When Everyone Else Transcended This Reality Interest Group. It would certainly explain our obsession with finding God.'
'I think that Helios is Merlin,' said Willhuff.
Gordel looked wearily at the others. 'We are clearly the super‐evolved survivors of the Thal race, fleeing the penultimate destruction of Skaro, that sparked off the Final Dalek War.'
'You don't have the slightest idea who you are or where you came from, do you?' the Doctor asked, exasperated.
On a completely different note, we have the First Doctor, Steven, and Dodo in 1960s New York dealing with aliens mistaken for/posing as gods, set immediately after The Massacre.
The real strength of this book is the characterization. Lyons spends a lot of page time and energy on giving Dodo a backstory, even going out of his way to explain Jackie Lane's wandering accent as an effect of code-switching. Steven's trauma over Anne Chaplet's death is also dealt with, as is his realization that his time on the TARDIS is coming to an end soon. The plot moves along well enough, but is mostly interesting for what it says about the characters, especially Steven's desire to believe that people can make a better world and Dodo's desire for something more -- and the Doctor's fear of external control.
What I could really, really do without is the attempted rape scene, though. It was really not necessary and it hangs over the whole book. Yes, apparently when Dodo runs onto the TARDIS at the end of The Massacre she is running away from an attempted rape by an alien impersonating her neighbor. So. That's. A thing. That didn't need to happen. (I should start keeping a tally of how many unnecessary sexual assaults on companions there are in the PDAs :| at least up until now they've just been 'menacing in an unpleasantly sexual manner' this was straight-up 'attempted rape')
Ughh. Aside from that I really enjoyed the dynamic Lyons created between the Doctor and Dodo, and between the Doctor and Steven -- I regret that Steven separates himself from the other two so early on and doesn't reunite with them until fairly close to the end, because I would've liked to see more of him interacting with the rest of the TARDIS team; we see hardly any of Steven & Dodo together. But that's barely a quibble at all. There's some nice continuity/fandom nods: a conversation between the Doctor and Dodo about Susan; Dodo and her school friends listen to John Smith and the Common Men; apparently in a 'docudrama' about the events of the book 'Doctor Who' is played by Peter Cushing, which killed me.
A favorite moment, in which Steven and the Doctor reconcile:
'And how about you, my boy?' the Doctor prompted. 'Is this goodbye?'
'You know full well it's not.'
'Do I? As I recall, young man, you seemed rather keen for us to part company.'
Steven gritted his teeth, knowing he had to get this over with. 'I'm sorry, all right? We had a disagreement and we should have discussed it like adults.'
'Hmm. Yes, well, perhaps I am as much to blame for that as you are, my boy. Perhaps.'