rynne | (no subject)

I've been plagiarized again. This is the original, posted more than four years ago. And I think this is the third time I've been plagiarized. WTF is up with that? I mean, yeah it's sorta flattering that someone likes my story enough to want to claim it, but...MY STORY. NO TOUCHY. If you like it that much, rec it, don't steal it. And this one seems particularly stupid--not only did she lift the entire thing word-for-word, she kept the title. People usually at least change the title. Gah. I've reported it, so hopefully it'll get removed soon, but knowing the ff.net management, I can't be sure. *sigh*

In other news, I--unsurprisingly--have more thoughts about DW. I've made a couple other posts about Ten's character arc, especially as it relates to the Lonely God thing, and Midnight sparked those thoughts again. Spoilers for 4x10.

In my other posts, one before Partners in Crime and one after The Doctor's Daughter, I theorized that Ten will ultimately learn that he doesn't have to be the Lonely God, that that's what his character arc is going for. I predicted that S4 would lead him to that point, and now that we're entering the final stretch, I think that's actually what's been happening.

Midnight especially reinforced this. We don't often see episodes where the Doctor is so completely and utterly wrong, where he underestimates the danger, and where he's neutralized--especially not all three at the same time. Last week, in Forest of the Dead, River Song neutralized him so she could sacrifice herself in his place, but it was still his plan, and he was right about the Vashta Nerada and able to get a deal out of them. Even when he's not the one saving the day, often it's still his plan carried out by someone else, or he's helping. In fact, the only episode I can recall that puts him in a similar position is Parting of the Ways, when he had no idea what to do and Rose took over. eta:

mls03j reminded me of The Unquiet Dead as well, which, now that I remember, is also rather similar.

Something I noticed in this episode, and that I saw a couple people on my flist comment on, is that the Doctor tried to assert authority, to emphasize that he's special and that's why he can help. I don't have a problem with this: he does, after all, have reason to think the way he does. He has a proven track record with saving the day, as well as talking to aliens, finding out what they want, and discovering how to stop them or make them go away. He has justifiable confidence in his skills.

The significant thing here is that he fails. He fails to assert authority--the people he tries to command disregard him, then are insulted when they think he thinks he's superior, decide he's in league with it, and try to kill him. It's not unusual for the Doctor to be initially mistrusted, but he usually manages to win important people over--but not this time. Then his communication skills fail him as well. He couldn't manage to talk to the thing, and then it ended up taking hold of him. The best solution ended up being the one to which he was most opposed. He wasn't able to defend himself from the people wanting to throw him out the airlock, and was really unable to do anything other than hope things would somehow turn out all right.

This has to have shaken him pretty badly. Apart from the general horror of the experiences themselves, it's not often that he's so completely wrong like that. But as awful as it is, it's also a good thing, in a way. The Doctor does rather buy into his own myth--from declaring himself the highest authority in New Earth to that godawful snapping thing in Forest of the Dead, he buys into a myth that gets constantly reinforced. This episode thoroughly stomped on that myth, and showed him how fallible he could really be. He had to completely rely on other people for his salvation, as the hostess at least stepped up to the plate.

I want him to learn that he's not the Lonely God. That, though he does have great power and great responsibility, he's not a god, and he doesn't have to be lonely. I just hope that that's what episodes like this are going for, and not that these are just incidental implications.