Gallfrey S1 reactions
First and most urgently: Does anyone else find the theme song disturbingly reminiscent of Torchwood's? I kept expecting Wedgewalk of the Cardinals.
In no particular order, various stuff:
Romana One reason it had taken me awhile to get around to Gallifrey, to be honest, is that I was apprehensive about the idea of President Romana. I mean, Romana in a bureaucracy, the bureaucracy to end all bureaucracies--it's a bit soul-crushing.
However, Romana's soul seems to be holding up pretty well. She is accomplishing this by forfeiting some of her sanity. It's is probably the right way to do it.
Leela Oh, they've aged her beautifully. She manages to be weighed down by grief without just fading into a non-entity. Ms. Jamison, kudos; Big Finish, much obliged. Leela is a serious contender for my favorite companion, so it's a relief to see the character handled so well. The weird combination of home and alien turf she finds in Gallifrey is especially well-handled, I think.
Romana/Leela Everyone who advised me was as good as their word; the Romana/Leela, it is strong. Yet it's not "INCREDIBLY SLASHY OMG!" in the I-cannot-believe-they-actually-broadcast-that-on-60s-TV way of, say, Two/Jamie or Kirk/Spock. It's just plain magnificent. It's a major reason I loved "Square One," although that story's gotten mixed reviews: Romana finding meaning in Leela, and Leela finding purpose in Romana (not quite the same thing) is very convincing, and there's plenty of room to grow there. I am looking forward to S2 rather a lot, yes.
K9 WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME THERE WAS TO BE SO MUCH K9? NO ONE TOLD ME ABOUT ALL THE K9. OR ABOUT HOW CUTE HE IS. There is a lot of K9. Win.
Torval I like him. He's so jaded, but just a little bit earnest still. And he has a measure of compassion for aliens that's quite intriguing in a Time Lord. And his staser gun bit was just like Duggan. However, I'd never even heard of this character in any of the Gallifrey fic I've read before, so I'm guessing he either gets written out or gets used as cannon fodder. Too bad; there's a lot of potential there. Plus I'm rather wondering…
Narvin is a spineless, sniveling, back-stabbing, big-headed, overbearing, unprincipled, smug, condescending, low-rent, irritating, oily sack of scum who's not as clever as he thinks he is. He's my favorite.
Braxiatel Oh, all right, maybe Braxiatel is my real favorite. I don't know. They're all tied for favorite, even Offstage!Andred. But Braxiatel! O, Braxiatel! Dare I count the ways? Dare I envision your art collection?
Actually, I don't think his benignant old mentor routine would do much for me if it didn't come with an undertone of tremendous capacity for manipulativeness, and a little bit of steel. Pls to be dishing out more of this in future stories, kthx.
"Weapon of Choice" I was kinda prepared for the first story to be… uneven; it's the curse of spinoff pilots. Actually, it's the curse of most pilots, period.
Anyway, was pleasantly surprised. They introduced unfamiliar characters, an unfamiliar world, and plenty of unfamiliar rules (social and otherwise) and not only got them well slotted into the Who we all know and love pretty well, but made them immediately engaging. Not bad, for a story set in a giant bureaucracy, where half the players are glorified quality assurance officers.
I now want a crossover between Gallifrey and Office Space.
"Square One" All right, I guess I can see why this one didn't do it for everyone. The, er, glorified emcee and her voice, for one. But I love it so. ROMANA SENDS COORDINATOR NARVIN AN EXOTIC DANCER. I think that says all that needs to be said.
"The Inquiry" Could not wax speculative without a lot of spoilers, but my, Braxiatel is coming along nicely. And so is Romana. Little-sometimes not so little-scary streaks are showing through in her. It works much better than the Imperiatrix Romana of Neverland; this actually feels like Romana, like a realistic extrapolation of the original character into a position with that kind of responsibility and power, rather than a caricature. Plus, they pick up on a couple little threads from Trial. Win.
Characters I Am Now Shipping (Because I Can)
Romana/Leela (as if one wouldn't)
Leela/Narvin (see "Square One")
Leela/Torval ('cause I have a theory about that I thought was crack, but I'm beginning to wonder…)
Romana/Braxiatel (they could have dates at a museum, it would be sweet)
Narvin/Braxiatel
Braxiatel/Seven
K9/K9
K9/Matrix
Narvin/Torval (he shows him how to hack into the Matrix and waxes nostalgic over his precious innocence, it's practically love poetry)
Narvin/Romana (everyone needs to blow off steam now and then)
Narvin/That Conspirator Dude with the Funny Voice
Leela/Andred (though that's cheating, because I actually shipped them even in Invasion of Time. What? They were sweet)
Of course, with me, "am shipping" often means roughly "am amused by." But, whatever.
ETA:
"Blind Eye" NOOOOOOOOO
WHY DIDN'T SOMEONE WARN ME? D:
In no particular order, various stuff:
Romana One reason it had taken me awhile to get around to Gallifrey, to be honest, is that I was apprehensive about the idea of President Romana. I mean, Romana in a bureaucracy, the bureaucracy to end all bureaucracies--it's a bit soul-crushing.
However, Romana's soul seems to be holding up pretty well. She is accomplishing this by forfeiting some of her sanity. It's is probably the right way to do it.
Leela Oh, they've aged her beautifully. She manages to be weighed down by grief without just fading into a non-entity. Ms. Jamison, kudos; Big Finish, much obliged. Leela is a serious contender for my favorite companion, so it's a relief to see the character handled so well. The weird combination of home and alien turf she finds in Gallifrey is especially well-handled, I think.
Romana/Leela Everyone who advised me was as good as their word; the Romana/Leela, it is strong. Yet it's not "INCREDIBLY SLASHY OMG!" in the I-cannot-believe-they-actually-broadcast-that-on-60s-TV way of, say, Two/Jamie or Kirk/Spock. It's just plain magnificent. It's a major reason I loved "Square One," although that story's gotten mixed reviews: Romana finding meaning in Leela, and Leela finding purpose in Romana (not quite the same thing) is very convincing, and there's plenty of room to grow there. I am looking forward to S2 rather a lot, yes.
K9 WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME THERE WAS TO BE SO MUCH K9? NO ONE TOLD ME ABOUT ALL THE K9. OR ABOUT HOW CUTE HE IS. There is a lot of K9. Win.
Torval I like him. He's so jaded, but just a little bit earnest still. And he has a measure of compassion for aliens that's quite intriguing in a Time Lord. And his staser gun bit was just like Duggan. However, I'd never even heard of this character in any of the Gallifrey fic I've read before, so I'm guessing he either gets written out or gets used as cannon fodder. Too bad; there's a lot of potential there. Plus I'm rather wondering…
Narvin is a spineless, sniveling, back-stabbing, big-headed, overbearing, unprincipled, smug, condescending, low-rent, irritating, oily sack of scum who's not as clever as he thinks he is. He's my favorite.
Braxiatel Oh, all right, maybe Braxiatel is my real favorite. I don't know. They're all tied for favorite, even Offstage!Andred. But Braxiatel! O, Braxiatel! Dare I count the ways? Dare I envision your art collection?
Actually, I don't think his benignant old mentor routine would do much for me if it didn't come with an undertone of tremendous capacity for manipulativeness, and a little bit of steel. Pls to be dishing out more of this in future stories, kthx.
"Weapon of Choice" I was kinda prepared for the first story to be… uneven; it's the curse of spinoff pilots. Actually, it's the curse of most pilots, period.
Anyway, was pleasantly surprised. They introduced unfamiliar characters, an unfamiliar world, and plenty of unfamiliar rules (social and otherwise) and not only got them well slotted into the Who we all know and love pretty well, but made them immediately engaging. Not bad, for a story set in a giant bureaucracy, where half the players are glorified quality assurance officers.
I now want a crossover between Gallifrey and Office Space.
"Square One" All right, I guess I can see why this one didn't do it for everyone. The, er, glorified emcee and her voice, for one. But I love it so. ROMANA SENDS COORDINATOR NARVIN AN EXOTIC DANCER. I think that says all that needs to be said.
"The Inquiry" Could not wax speculative without a lot of spoilers, but my, Braxiatel is coming along nicely. And so is Romana. Little-sometimes not so little-scary streaks are showing through in her. It works much better than the Imperiatrix Romana of Neverland; this actually feels like Romana, like a realistic extrapolation of the original character into a position with that kind of responsibility and power, rather than a caricature. Plus, they pick up on a couple little threads from Trial. Win.
Characters I Am Now Shipping (Because I Can)
Romana/Leela (as if one wouldn't)
Leela/Narvin (see "Square One")
Leela/Torval ('cause I have a theory about that I thought was crack, but I'm beginning to wonder…)
Romana/Braxiatel (they could have dates at a museum, it would be sweet)
Narvin/Braxiatel
Braxiatel/Seven
K9/K9
K9/Matrix
Narvin/Torval (he shows him how to hack into the Matrix and waxes nostalgic over his precious innocence, it's practically love poetry)
Narvin/Romana (everyone needs to blow off steam now and then)
Narvin/That Conspirator Dude with the Funny Voice
Leela/Andred (though that's cheating, because I actually shipped them even in Invasion of Time. What? They were sweet)
Of course, with me, "am shipping" often means roughly "am amused by." But, whatever.
ETA:
"Blind Eye" NOOOOOOOOO
WHY DIDN'T SOMEONE WARN ME? D: