Can we just appreciate just how life-affirming Moffat’s writing is? Absolutely. There is a quote which I can't find, where he talks about how he loves to make people survive. Especially because you can then go darker beforehand.
I think it’s because he is more pessimistic about human nature, life, and the universe in general, so he often struggled in the family-friendly DW framework. Midnight is the closest he's written to his actual POV. The man is a nihilist, and it shows. (All the Toclafane trapped at the end of the universe? DELIGHTFUL way for humanity to end...) I am very fond of him, but I'll take Moffat's worldview any day.
And then get blamed for not understanding grief (facepalm). In no way does Moffat Who deny the darkness; but it gives us good things in spite of it and maintains that those ultimately make it worth it. (It’s quite unconsciously Christian in that regard.) IKR? It's great. (And people are stupid, so there's nothing you can do about that.)
how much of a breath of fresh air is a Doctor Who that resoundingly goes “No, the Doctor always has been and always will be a kind and hopeful soul. And that is still important and relevant, dammit! Yes, compassion is right, love is never foolish, hope and kindness is what the Doctor stands for”? This. [insert Moffat quote about giving THIS hero two hearts & a box where you can call for help, rather than gadgets or guns...]
Hope is not just what the story is about; it is in the fabric of the story itself. And it *can* be in the fabric of the story because we trust and have faith in the storyteller. Very nice. You are clearly far better 'versed in Tolkien than I am!
Absolutely. There is a quote which I can't find, where he talks about how he loves to make people survive. Especially because you can then go darker beforehand. Oh, I know exactly the one you mean, I think you had mentioned it in the past, but I can’t find it right now either. It’s cool. I call it the Reverse Don Bluth Principle.
[insert Moffat quote about giving THIS hero two hearts & a box where you can call for help, rather than gadgets or guns...] Oh, I adore that quote, it’s beautiful.
Very nice. You are clearly far better 'versed in Tolkien than I am! Well, probably not to the degree that it would seem, but thanks! And I just loved that quote of yours. Reading your Series 5 posts now is very interesting. And seeing you slowly fall in love with Eleven is adorable. When did he actually, officially become *your* Doctor?
Reading your Series 5 posts now is very interesting. And seeing you slowly fall in love with Eleven is adorable. When did he actually, officially become *your* Doctor? Well, the *official* post is here, but right from The Eleventh Hour there was that undefinable something (well I tried defining it in that post) that I knew felt *right* on a level I couldn't quite articulate.
...here are two small excerpts from my fanfic "Join theTriumph of the Skies" which I wrote *exactly* a year ago. It's the final part of a huge and epic thematic trilogy of fics structured around a quote from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound. They try to connect EVERYTHING in 50+ years of Who, and explore the Doctor's beliefs and spirituality, the good things and the tragedies of his long life, the effect of his companions, his role as a bringer of hope in the universe, loss and grief, humanism, philosophy, happiness, universalism, Christmas, the mystical and enduring nature of love, and at what point a fic becomes an excuse to quote Harry Potter, Robert G. Ingersoll, Hugo, Tolkien, Shelley, C.S Lewis, Neil Gaiman, and Terry Pratchett.
(Yes, you obviously don't comprehend the level of insane I operate at. Enjoy.) ----------------------------
(It’s called marriage.)
Amelia turns away from the TARDIS, from endless adventure, from freedom from time, from immortality, and steps towards the tombstone, because just this once, the blue box can’t cross the sundering seas of Time that lie between love. There is one thing death can give her and She cannot. Just one.
And he pleads and he pleads and he begs, selfish old man that he is, because he knows what’s about to happen, as if it’s already written in stone. Beren and Luthien, he thinks absurdly, looking at the angel. They kill you kindly, and inexorable Mandos was moved…
And Amy makes her choice, chooses a world, and it’s the correct choice, he knows it deep down in his hearts, even though he cries, even though he can’t stop the wail of impotent despair that tears out of him. Because this can’t be real life. It can’t be life if Rory isn’t here.
In New York, a woman publishes a book. She reads the afterword aloud to her husband and he nods and kisses her.
(Beren and Luthien passed away long ago. There was no forest this time but a city, and they were not that good at singing; but they were still sorrowless).
In the future, a daughter breaks down at last in her office at the University, tired of hiding the damage. She resists the temptation to visit a grandfather who barely knows her, and instead, puts the pieces back together again and travels. In the future, the friend whom they’ll love always stops. He sits on a lonely cloud and reads the last page again and again until he learns it by heart. One day the universe takes pity, and he obeys the small letters and stops being alone. He’s never alone again until he dies.
(The Elves carried the sorrow, bound to the circles of the world, chained to Time, because their beautiful lives endure as the world endures).
A different man who is still their friend is bored one Tuesday night, (his new, curly-haired human is having a break from all the running and companion-ing), rummages through his endless wardrobes and discovers a cherry-wood, silk-lined box he had forgotten. Inside rests a purple bow tie, alongside a curl of frizzy blond hair, a short Roman dagger, and the yellowing page, carefully folded under a pair of round glasses.
He expects to cry; but he smiles softly instead and runs a reverent hand through them. Estel, he thinks inexplicably. Arda Envinyanta.
(I also had the War Doctor reading the entire works of Tolkien in his rare free time; because he desperately needs to believe that in *some* universe there is a war that can be won, that has a happy ending.)
I also had the War Doctor reading the entire works of Tolkien in his rare free time; because he desperately needs to believe that in *some* universe there is a war that can be won, that has a happy ending. Awwww. Although it's a bittersweet victory, but even so, I can see it. <3
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Re: And when you see it, *I* see it
Absolutely. There is a quote which I can't find, where he talks about how he loves to make people survive. Especially because you can then go darker beforehand.
I think it’s because he is more pessimistic about human nature, life, and the universe in general, so he often struggled in the family-friendly DW framework.
Midnight is the closest he's written to his actual POV. The man is a nihilist, and it shows. (All the Toclafane trapped at the end of the universe? DELIGHTFUL way for humanity to end...) I am very fond of him, but I'll take Moffat's worldview any day.
And then get blamed for not understanding grief (facepalm). In no way does Moffat Who deny the darkness; but it gives us good things in spite of it and maintains that those ultimately make it worth it.
(It’s quite unconsciously Christian in that regard.)
IKR? It's great. (And people are stupid, so there's nothing you can do about that.)
how much of a breath of fresh air is a Doctor Who that resoundingly goes “No, the Doctor always has been and always will be a kind and hopeful soul. And that is still important and relevant, dammit! Yes, compassion is right, love is never foolish, hope and kindness is what the Doctor stands for”?
This. [insert Moffat quote about giving THIS hero two hearts & a box where you can call for help, rather than gadgets or guns...]
Hope is not just what the story is about; it is in the fabric of the story itself. And it *can* be in the fabric of the story because we trust and have faith in the storyteller.
Very nice. You are clearly far better 'versed in Tolkien than I am!
<3
Re: And when you see it, *I* see it
(Anonymous) 2018-01-02 06:13 pm (UTC)(link)Oh, I know exactly the one you mean, I think you had mentioned it in the past, but I can’t find it right now either. It’s cool. I call it the Reverse Don Bluth Principle.
[insert Moffat quote about giving THIS hero two hearts & a box where you can call for help, rather than gadgets or guns...]
Oh, I adore that quote, it’s beautiful.
Very nice. You are clearly far better 'versed in Tolkien than I am!
Well, probably not to the degree that it would seem, but thanks! And I just loved that quote of yours.
Reading your Series 5 posts now is very interesting. And seeing you slowly fall in love with Eleven is adorable. When did he actually, officially become *your* Doctor?
Re: And when you see it, *I* see it
Well, the *official* post is here, but right from The Eleventh Hour there was that undefinable something (well I tried defining it in that post) that I knew felt *right* on a level I couldn't quite articulate.
Re: And when you see it, *I* see it
(Anonymous) 2018-01-02 08:00 pm (UTC)(link)Re: And when you see it, *I* see it
On the subject of Tolkien...
(Anonymous) 2018-01-07 07:29 pm (UTC)(link)(Yes, you obviously don't comprehend the level of insane I operate at. Enjoy.)
----------------------------
(It’s called marriage.)
Amelia turns away from the TARDIS, from endless adventure, from freedom from time, from immortality, and steps towards the tombstone, because just this once, the blue box can’t cross the sundering seas of Time that lie between love. There is one thing death can give her and She cannot. Just one.
And he pleads and he pleads and he begs, selfish old man that he is, because he knows what’s about to happen, as if it’s already written in stone. Beren and Luthien, he thinks absurdly, looking at the angel. They kill you kindly, and inexorable Mandos was moved…
And Amy makes her choice, chooses a world, and it’s the correct choice, he knows it deep down in his hearts, even though he cries, even though he can’t stop the wail of impotent despair that tears out of him. Because this can’t be real life. It can’t be life if Rory isn’t here.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In New York, a woman publishes a book. She reads the afterword aloud to her husband and he nods and kisses her.
(Beren and Luthien passed away long ago. There was no forest this time but a city, and they were not that good at singing; but they were still sorrowless).
In the future, a daughter breaks down at last in her office at the University, tired of hiding the damage. She resists the temptation to visit a grandfather who barely knows her, and instead, puts the pieces back together again and travels.
In the future, the friend whom they’ll love always stops. He sits on a lonely cloud and reads the last page again and again until he learns it by heart. One day the universe takes pity, and he obeys the small letters and stops being alone. He’s never alone again until he dies.
(The Elves carried the sorrow, bound to the circles of the world, chained to Time, because their beautiful lives endure as the world endures).
A different man who is still their friend is bored one Tuesday night, (his new, curly-haired human is having a break from all the running and companion-ing), rummages through his endless wardrobes and discovers a cherry-wood, silk-lined box he had forgotten. Inside rests a purple bow tie, alongside a curl of frizzy blond hair, a short Roman dagger, and the yellowing page, carefully folded under a pair of round glasses.
He expects to cry; but he smiles softly instead and runs a reverent hand through them. Estel, he thinks inexplicably. Arda Envinyanta.
Until the world is mended.
Re: On the subject of Tolkien...
(Sorry, busy week, work eating me alive. But wanted to say thank you.
Re: On the subject of Tolkien...
(Anonymous) 2018-01-13 07:55 am (UTC)(link)You're welcome! And always at your service.
Re: On the subject of Tolkien...
Awwww. Although it's a bittersweet victory, but even so, I can see it. <3