I think the idea was, in theory, that the Silence had taught River about the Doctor her entire life, had trained her to fixate on him and make his existence (and theoretically ending his existence) her sole reason for living.

She was basically brainwashed to be obsessed with him from the earliest part of her life.

When she finally comes face-to-face with him for the first time, I’d imagine it’s a pretty overwhelming experience. And so she executes her programming: she kills him. Then she sees the person she can become (thanks to Rory and Amy and the teselecta) and saves him, because she wants to be better. 

I believe that what River feels for the Doctor actually is love. At what point her emotions crossed from obsession to love, is a difficult question. I don’t think we saw it happen during s5 and 6; I think it’s something that happened off-screen.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE ANON. Our love can be in the open, my dear.

The idea came from this post, which was going around yesterday, and says:

Rory has been becoming much more irrational and aggresively violent. Also, in the episode “Let’s Kill Hitler” after witnessing River’s regeneration and being exposed to RAW TIME ENERGY for the first time, he begins to complain of a “banging in my head”, which Amy dismisses as Hitler in the closet. Also think back to “The God Complex”. Rory did not have a room. He was the only character they made a point to say did not have one. And when the Doctor looked into his room all he said was “Of course it was you.” and we hear the wailing of the TARDIS distress call in 4 repetitions. The only other time it has made this sound was when The Master stole it in series 3. Also, Rory is the first human that wasn’t surprised that the TARDIS was bigger on the inside.

I think some of these interpretations of events are interesting, but for the record, I don’t agree with every one of them. I personally think it’s unlikely that Rory is the Master. But that post sparked the discussion.

There was also something Kovarian mentioned at some point about the Silence tinkering with River’s DNA to draw out that vortex/human combo and give her those Time Lord characteristics.

But yeah, I know what you’re saying — actually having River’s father be a Time Lord would make the entire thing more logical.

The major problem I see with the Rory is a Time Lord is River’s father … if Rory is the Master, I can’t believe he’s been PRETENDING to be human for this long (I don’t think the Master would be capable, honestly — two thousand years as a centurion, a lifetime of mooning after Amy Pond, I just don’t see him managing that).

If Rory is the Master, it’s because he’s used a Chameleon Arch to make himself human again. And if he’s made himself biologically human with a Chameleon Arch, then his children would actually be human, too. If the Arch rewrites a Time Lord’s DNA and rearranges his biology to give him one heart, I’d imagine it replaces all this sperm, too. (Not trying to be graphic, but, y’know … there it is.)

Oh, I think it’s pretty far-fetched, too.

Don’t get me wrong — some of the clues certainly CAN be read to point toward Rory as the Master. But those clues could also be interpreted in different ways. 

For instance, Rory isn’t the only one who wasn’t awed/impressed by the TARDIS the first time he stepped inside; Wilf was pretty underwhelmed, too. Rory says he’s been doing research about the Doctor, and it’s entirely possible he simply figured out the trans-dimensionality thing beforehand.

As far as the “knocking” in Rory’s head that Amy dismisses as being Hitler in the cupboard — another theory I’ve seen about that “knocking” is that it’s actually the Silence in the room at that moment, since we know that prolonged exposure to the Silence (and their effect on the human brain) gives people headaches and, eventually, madness.

And I gotta say, the question of what is inside the Doctor’s room in the hotel in TGC — I believe it’s his dying TARDIS. Hence the cloister bell sound. I don’t know that the NUMBER of cloister rings is the important thing; I think it’s the fact that it’s the CLOISTER BELL itself that’s the clue. Because yeah, the Master sometimes scares the Doctor, but I can’t think of much that would shake him to his core as thoroughly as his TARDIS dying. 

In the Moffat era, the Doctor self-identifies as a “mad man with a box.” That BOX is part of his identity. If he loses his box, what’s he left with? How does he define himself?

I … have a lot of issues about this entire storyline, tbh. And I generally don’t tend to get too meta-heavy on my blog, because I like to spend my time online writing fic and not debating plotty stuff. 

I find the idea that a teselecta would mimic regeneration problematic. It’s feasible to say a shape-shifting robot could look humanoid, could even project fake vital signs so that anyone taking a pulse or whatever would hear a double heartbeat for a Time Lord, or a single heartbeat for a human, or no heartbeat at all when the robot was mimicking death.

Regeneration is something that makes a Time Lord’s body valuable. The regeneration energy is what attracts scavenger robots right after Ten’s regeneration in TCI, because they want to steal him and use him as a battery. It’s the reason the Doctor burns the Master’s body after his death. The same reason the Doctor has River burn his body (which turns out to be the teselecta) after HIS supposed death. River calls a Time Lord’s body a “miracle.”

The idea that a robot could recreate any portion of that kind of energy, or that it could realistically mimic that energy to the extent that it would fool the “laws of the universe” to the point that it would prevent a collapse of the space-time continuum (or whatever, honestly, I haven’t seen that series again since I first watched it) … I just have issues with this storyline.

Your questions are all very valid, anon. I’ve asked the same questions, and as far as I know, there aren’t any concrete answers. (Besides wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey, I guess.)

karmaplus:

Is it wrong that I find this scene ridiculously hot?

I’ve been thinking about this gorgeous gifset, and I realized exactly what (for me) makes it so hot: the Doctor is incredibly vulnerable here. He was violated and nearly killed, and he was utterly terrified (to an extent we rarely see the Doctor terrified), and for these brief few seconds afterward, he’s still exposed and defenseless.

You get the distinct impression that if you crawled over to check on him, he’d curl right into your arms. That’s now vulnerable he is, in this moment.

First of all, anon friend, MY SYMPATHY for your EoTII feels.

Second of all, in terms of the paradox: the intent was to have the Doctor swathed in such deep shadow that Rose wasn’t able to really make out his features. If I remember correctly, during the commentary (or a Confidential or something) they talk about how they even went back in post-production and digitally deepened the shadows.

The other thing about that moment: for Ten (and for us in the audience) it’s a HUGE moment. It’s profoundly significant.

For Rose, it’s just a random holiday and a random bloke in the shadows, and something she really wouldn’t have etched in her memory as significant at all. From her side of the exchange, there wasn’t anything to take note of (the bloke was drunk, not particularly threatening, and slurred out a compliment before she left). 

And no matter how many revisionist fics I’ve written about this moment (I think at least two or three at this point), she just bounces right up the stairs and leaves him there, without sparing that bloke enough thought to interfere with her future timeline or create a paradox.

First of all, Rose and the Doctor aren’t perfection. That’s part of what makes their relationship compelling, at least for me — their codependence is unhealthy, in terms of how much they need each other. Which is why their separation makes them more suited for each other, when they finally are reunited in TSE/JE; they were both forced to be self-sufficient and cope without the other, and it made them both more well-rounded. 

But that’s kind of jumping to the end of the answer, really. First of all Cate, Nili and Mari have all posted excellent meta about Rose as a character. I’d definitely recommend giving those links a read; I’m not going to reiterate anything they’ve said, because they’ve already said it perfectly.

I’ve also written a bit of meta about Rose, here and here. 

And as for as Rose being “useless” — none of the Doctor’s companions are useless. As a narrative device, they are the viewer’s segue into the Doctor’s world, the character with whom we’re supposed to identify so we can experience the Doctor’s adventures by proxy. It’s natural that different viewers identify with different companions, because each companion (with his/her character quirks and personality and mannerisms and everything) will appeal to different viewers. It’s meant to be that way, which is why there’s companion turnover. If one companion isn’t to your liking, another one will come along in a while, just hold tight. 

And within the framework of the story, the Doctor himself doesn’t think any of his companions are useless. (Well, except Adam Mitchell, who he promptly kicks off the TARDIS for being an idiot.) The Doctor invites people to travel with him who he finds interesting; people who are clever and/or brave and/or display some other trait he finds admirable. 

Honestly, it’s fine for a viewer not to be head-over-heels crazy about every single companion; it’s inevitable this will happen. But none of the Doctor’s companions could ever really be called “useless.”

And for the record, as much as I adore Rose and the Doctor, Donna is actually my favorite companion. 

allrightfine:

Allison and I have both gotten some Asks and we think it’s amazing that people want to invest and create in the Gallifrey Records universe. To that end, we’ve compiled a list of the things you guys have done. (If you’d prefer to read this in Allison’s voice, please substitute any and all instances of “you guys” with “y’all.”)

This is stuff that exists outside whatever “canon” Allison and I fling at each other — it’s possible you might see totally different versions of events, etc. than what we’ve written or will write, so don’t get alarmed or confused.

If you create or post something you’d like us to add to this list, just message Allison or me with a link. I think we both have our submits open. I’ll try and keep up on my own, too, so if you don’t want it added, you should probably tell me that, as well!

fic:

• bookishandi: girl in the guitar shop [x]

graphics:

• bookishandi: poster [x]

• orbitingasupernova: gif set [x]

songs:

• episode613wasalie: Incubus - Megalomaniac [x]

(I know there’s a couple things I’m missing right now that I’ve seen on my dash, but when I go into my likes, it’s like 20 minutes of David Tennant’s face and I’m easily distracted, so please send them along if they’re from you!)

allrightfine:

(that time the Doctor was a rock star, and asked Rose Tyler to be his opening act.)

• Gallifrey Records:
  
  • Part 1.
  • Part 2.
  • Part 3.

• Gallifrey Records II (the School Reunion Remix): [x]
• Five Times the Doctor Took his Clothes Off (and One Time it was just for Rose.): [x]

b-sides + unfinished tracks (or tag fic, basically):

• On Stage: [x]
• Record Store: [x]
• Sharing a Bed: [x]
• Paintball: [x]

allrightfine:

We’re on our sixth fic tennis match, anon! Here’s a master list for you, to each story’s completed post:

• Firefighting. (first match)
• Drapes and Domesticity. (second match)
• Losing Bets. (third match)
• Doctoring. (fourth match)

• Gallifrey Records (fifth match)
  • Part 1.
  • Part 2.
  • Part 3.

• Gallifrey Records II (second round, sixth match)
• In progress here.

lastofthetimeladies replied to your post: Does anyone in the DW fandom get enraged by all…

I have never gone into the Adam Mitchell tag, but hate in general enrages me… I’m wondering, though, are there people who really liked him? I’ve never met someone who didn’t think he was a dumbass. (Still, tagging hate is inexcusable.)

He was written as a cautionary tale, in terms of being a companion to the Doctor. He made every poor choice he could possibly make, in addition to not possessing the inherent qualities necessary to survive with the Doctor for any amount of time (endurance, bravery, etc.). I doubt there’s anyone who actually liked Adam as a person (even if they found the actor who played him attractive). 

Everyone’s (rightfully) so intent on defending the “worthy” companions of the Doctor, I was just thinking … do the bad ones get defended, too? Or is Tumblr okay with mocking a character who was, in essence, created as the epitome of an anti-companion?

URL: gallifreyburning

top 5 fandoms you’ll see (in order of frequency):

• Doctor Who
• The Whedonverse
• Star Trek
• Sherlock
• Farscape

top 3 celebrities you’ll see (in order of frequency):

• Anybody who has ever encountered and/or been the Doctor
• Anybody who has lived or died by Joss Whedon’s hand 
• Anybody who’s ever graduated from Starfleet Academy

top 3 other topics you’ll see:

• my DW fanfic
• insanely long tags that occasionally turn into fic
• random things that I find amusing

do i make graphics? Nope. Not even slightly. Not even a little bit. Not even if you bribed me with red velvet cake. (I mean, if you showed up with red velvet cake in-hand, I’d probably lie to you and promise to make you a graphic. Then I’d eat the cake, all the while explaining that I needed the carbs and sugar for creative energy. Finally, red crumbs speckling my mouth and cake pan empty, I’d tell you that my laptop was on the front porch, and if we just stepped outside, I could make your graphic while we relaxed on my porch swing. The minute you stepped out the door, I’d slam it shut and lock it and there you’d be, bereft of red velvet cake AND a graphic. So the cake is probably a bad idea on your part, really.)

No graphics. I write. With words. 

do i liveblog? Haven’t yet. Doesn’t mean I won’t ever. But I’ll give you fair warning if I decide to give it a go. 

my ask box is: Open. I don’t always reply super-fast. It’s not because I don’t love you. Things are just busy around my house.

Revolutionaries wait for my head on a silver plate.

Just a puppet on a lonely string, oh who would ever want to be king?