I've been distracted with my upcoming move, but I will give later an indepth analysis at why I am so *pissed* at Season 8 of Doctor Who, and why I think Clara Oswald was literally thrown under the bus in such a way as to be Moffat's kicking girl for the entire female fandom in Who, the one that Davies explicitly went after when the show rebooted. I especially despised at how Moffat wrote Clara betraying the Doctor, just to bring someone she loved back to life, as if implying that Clara's only character feature was destroying her relationship with The Doctor just for Danny Pink. It was entirely out of character for the Impossible Girl, and was a betrayal of the character, just like Moffat betrayed the entire 9-10-11 Time War arc with the whole "BAD WOLF ENTITY DOES BACKSIES ON THE TIME WAR" BS.

I also find it despicable that the Doctor would trick his companion into a bullshit test, something none of the other Doctors (not even 1!) would have ever done. It's despicable.

I am so glad Moffat is gone from the show.

On Capaldi - I love him as the Doctor, despite how despicably unlikeable and awful he's been written as one of my favorite characters. I'm actually excited to see what he does free of Moffat's showrunning.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:27, Tue 23 Dec 2014.

QFT. Tomb of the Cybermen!

An imaginary drabble. The Traveller and the Doctor sit on the steps of the TARDIS console room.

The Doctor: "Traveller. Am I a good man?"
The Traveller: "I can't say that, as I'm not qualified to judge considering what I've done, boobie. But I will say that I've known most of the Doctors." Pause. "You're an awful one."

*Stands, gets up, heads for the door*

The Traveller: "Don't you dare do to me, or any of my people, what you did to poor Clara. That was despicable. You always push the best ones away from you - like Sarah Jane, like Rose Tyler. Like Clara. Like me."

SLAM.

... you do realise Moffatt has confirmed he's on for all Season 9 right?

...I'm just not touching any of that.

In reply to The Traveller (msg # 18):

I'm not ashamed to admit that I was in my mid-20s early-30s when I first saw Tomb of the Cybermen - and I still looked for the sofa to hide behind. Unfortunatley, our sofa is back against the wall.

UGH.

I may end up leaving the show.

Didn't they announce the opposite?

Must research further. Thanks for the news.

Edit: Moffat is writing the Season 9 opener. He has not been confirmed as showrunner. The web article is flat out misleading and clickbait.

http://screenrant.com/doctor-w...n-moffat-missy-dead/

However, if I were a betting man, I wouldn't be surprised if stays. Probably what is happening is negotiations - Dr Who ratings (as per the article) are flat (which means no growth), and they want a showrunner who will grow the show, but he's probably saying, "I'll leave Sherlock too, if you kick me from Who."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:12, Wed 24 Dec 2014.

Nup. He's been talking about his plans for Season 9 even.

I disagree about Day of the Doctor; as to me it never made sense that Daleks kept popping up but yet Timelords didn't. I hated the way RTD made Daleks into gods, effectively. I have issues with both new series showrunners, but slightly prefer Moffatt.

However, we are going to continue having these issues until they stop casting fanboys as Showrunners. Gatiss is likely next in line, and I shudder to think what he might do.

Merry Christmas all. Won't be around til December 29 at the earliest; possibly not till the new year.

Umm, the BBC -love- Moffatt. As to ratings... I don't know what that article's talking about. Take this link for example:

http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/d...ccumulator-66394.htm

In Australia, and overseas stats are considered, it is one of the few ABC shows that stack up to the commercial stations for viewing figures.

The supposed ratings 'failure' since Moffatt took over is one of the most misleading bits of garbage people love to trot out.

There are, undeniably, some fans who hate the Moffatt years. Some have even quit; some may quit in the future. But the BBC, honestly, don't care about the hardcore fans. They care about the casual viewer; and the viewing figures for the casual viewer are very good. As is audience appreciation.

Done ranting.

It seemed a reasonable thing for Clara to do in the circumstances: she's been learning to be Doctorish, she's seen death isn't the end, and she tries to control the people and situations around her. Not in a bad way, it's entirely natural for a teacher. In a moment of grief and weakness, she went too far, and the Doctor understood that and forgave her.

Retconning the Time War was the perfect, fitting end for the Time War, really. How else would you win a Time War? The series just couldn't maintain the angst, and someone's going to bring Gallifrey back eventually.

Moffat's finally doing it right for me with Seasons 7b and 8. No melodrama, no kitchen-sink over-complicated plots. Just straightforward quality storytelling and clever ideas. Not always great, of course, but never actually terrible.

I dunno, I'm surprised at how much I like this now after hating the new series all these years. I defend it where once I would have attacked it, and it's other fans who are complaining. But that's Doctor Who for you: it's been so many things to so many different people over such a long time, and every couple of years it completely regenerates. I waited eight years until it became something I enjoyed. By the same token, other fans won't be satisfied with it.

Mark Gatiss, ugh. We're going to see a whole lot of arguments if he did take over. His first Who novel treated us to a kitten being tortured to death, which just sets the whole tone of his work, really.

No, it wasn't. It was fake, a cheat, and entirely robbed the entire emotional impact of 9's entire arc. I want Moffat off of the show for that reason. He's breaking faith. The Time War made the show something to be taken seriously - if Julie and RTD didn't want to use something like the Time War, then they shouldn't have used it to begin with and have kept the Time Lords in the show. No backsies. No cheating. I was robbed. It isn't an issue of Old Who vs New Who, it's just plain cheaty awful writing. The Time Lords are dead, they should have stayed dead. Now, the show can't be taken seriously, since the Bad Wolf entity literally makes any action that the Doctor or anyone else takes meaningless. There's literally no free will in the setting of the show. 9 and 10's entire arc are now meaningless, since it was all simply them thinking they had killed the Time Lords.

In regards to Clara and the Doctor - that was handled clumsily. It wasn't as awful as the whole 50th thing (which has me in a seething rage, because it ruined 9) - it just ruined Clara and 11's entire arc and struck me as cynical, pissy and a commentary on how Moffat feels about women in general and female Who fans in particular. Essentially, Moffat tells us that the Clara/11 and 12 relationship was created by The Master and poison from the start, as opposed to the one between 11 and Amy which was the "good" relationship (Amy being obedient, passive, and who essentially fades into the background once River shows up and becomes a wacko female Doctor analogue). His attempt at making the Doctor seem flawed just makes him seem being despicable and unlikeable. Smith's Doctor was sympathetic and charming but had rough spots. I'm willing to give 12 a season or two more, because it always takes time for an actor and the writers to find the voice of a new Doctor, but I am not encouraged. I think Moffat needs to focus on the show where his real passion lies - Sherlock.

I can't fault you if you don't want Buffy style romance drama. But between River Song (who is an awful, misogynistic character, even though her actress Alex Kingston is a delight) and the cheap, cynical, lazy writing of Moffat, especially in regards to how he treated Clara and the entire relationship between her and 12, I'm almost done. He needs to be off the show.

I can't speak to Gatiss, as I don't know him except for the episodes he's written for the show, but if you say he stinks, I'll take your word for it since I respect your opinion, despite our differences.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:22, Wed 24 Dec 2014.

River's interesting. As in - many people state she's a misogynistic character. But the few female friends I have who watch the show; don't think she's that bad. My partner has more issues with the return of Rose Tyler in series 4 than anything to do with River Song. My sister dislikes River; but not for those reasons.

I don't dislike buffy-style romance - just not for the Doctor himself.

Gatiss would be divisive; just like MOffatt. It's worth to note that he's pretty much MOffatt's right-hand man, the same way MOffatt was for RTD.

As Smoke says, Gallifrey was always going to come back somehow, somewhen. It's too associated with the show, especially by casual viewers. And it doesn't lessen their journey. At all. Just changes it.

When Moffatt leaves; the BBC should not just appoint the person Moffatt wants to replace him. THey should make an open advertisement for it; seeing if they can get someone who might take the show in very different directions. Gah.

EDIT: Actually, I lost interest in the Doctor killed his people storyline during End of Time. Changing it from "I had to kill everyone, there was no other way" into "The timelords were getting too greedy, too powerful. They were no better" has me thinking "So why all the angst about killing them? It was a very deliberate choice you made; not unavoidable as you've made it seem." The End of Time did just as much to make Eccleston's story meaningless.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:38, Wed 24 Dec 2014.

RTD made the show the way he wanted it, changing the Doctor's personality, relationship with the companion, his reasons for travel, gave him angst rather than curiosity. Some liked it and some didn't. Little of what he did respected or maintained the previous 15 or 42 years. That's why we had the Time War, twice. Moffat did the same, but at least tried to maintain the RTD-era atuff.

As I said, we'll always have different tastes. I can understand where you're coming from, but it just feels a bit of an extreme interpretation. I guess Traveller feels the same way I did in 2005. :)

It's only been with the Fifth, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors that the character has been treated as an all-round nice, friendly guy. All the rest have been, in one way or another, a little bit patronising, manipulative, pompous, or bad-tempered.

I don't know what's meant by Buffy-style romance. Buffy & Angel? It's teenage girl and her immortal, magical boyfriend, which was distilled into Twilight. I don't think that's a good thing for Who to do, or at least, not a good thing to do again and again. It's unhealthy and a little bit sexist: the guy always gets the girl. Television is rife with it, but Doctor Who is in a good position to show that men and women don't always have to have a romantic relationship, that there are other ways to relate, as friends, as mentor and student, as the Doctor and companion did in the past and in Season 8.

Gatiss gets along okay, but all his Who stories are pastiches on old genres or old eras of Who, or he goes to grotesque stuff like League of Gentlemen. He's not going to give us anything new. I read the other day that of all his televised Who, only one important female character he's created has actually survived. Between that and his LoG attitudes, the misogyny accusations will probably rise.

Yeah, someone from outside the old Fitzroy Tavern gang would be nice. From the early 90s until the new series, all the writers for the Who novels and audios met and gathered there, talked plots and argued. And there was so much drama. Some are now big names of the new series and novels, and of British television. Maybe it produced some good stuff, but it seems rather cliquey if they keep passing the show around to old drinking buddies.

Buffy-style romance is basically that romance plays a central part. RTD has stated Whedon was one of his inspirations for how to do Who now. HOwever, I actually believe he was talking more along the lines of season arcs and witty dialogue than the romance angle.

I'm not sure about the others; but I kinda get the impression with tastes that we're drawn from the (basically..) three eras: Smoke Alarm is the Wilderness Years/Books. Traveller is the new series; I'm more a classic kind of guy. Which probably explains our differing view on whether the show's going right or wrong.

And that effort by Capaldi is nothing compared to some of the games McCoy did to Ace; even during the TV run. Add the books in there and well...

THe good news for branching out is that none of the others have quite the same resume to present the BBC as Moffatt and RTD did.

I think our unique blend makes for a kind of unique Doctor Who experience we should all be proud of. I love gaming with you guys. Gary especially, you should be proud of balancing so many competing views and needs - we're all hard core Who fans here.

What's really interesting is how Gary and I met - the 1st Trav he dealt with was the was the 2nd Traveller, who was far less angsty and far more like a fusion between 2, 4 and 5, but recognizably a classic Who character.

Finally, one thing I've always tried very hard to do is to make Trav in all of her incarnations two things - American, and unique while still being a Time Lord, but not the Doctor in a skirt. I also wanted to make her character to shine through, no matter her gender (but her being a woman heavily informing her experience.) Yes, I have considered what she might be like if she regenerated as a man, and she wouldn't be terribly different (looking down - "oh, so that's how that works! Hee!") A male Traveller would probably be a pretty masculine kick ass Indiana jones adventurer type, but who would have some amazing transgender perspectives ("actually, yes, I have given birth.")

So, thank you all for amazing gaming. Build high for happiness, and happy holidays!
This message was last edited by the player at 04:55, Thu 25 Dec 2014.

Thanks for that.  I think I don't see as many divisions and distinctions between styles as some fans are wont to do -- there's a very strong core running through all of it even when superficial elements emphasize one thing or another.

I continue to have a lot of fun being surprised by what you all come up with for a group of really strongly drawn characters.

Yep, I'm a Wilderness Years fan. I started in 1992, started with novelisations, New & Missing Adventures, then the comics and EDAs/PDAs. It was a long time before I saw a complete TV serial, and that was through libraries. Until about 1997, I picked everything up at random, so I don't really have an era, more that I pick out my favourites of every era. (I never did follow the Big Finish audios, because they were hard to get and I don't really follow audio very well. Even on TV, I prefer subtitles even though I hear well enough.)

Yeah, we all have different perspectives. As I said, Who has been so many different things, there are fans of all these different aspects of it. For me, I've seen the Time War, twice; I've seen the Doctor destroy Gallifrey to end it with a big red button, twice; I've seen it all retconned and undone, twice. I've been pissed off enough to quit following it all, twice. I think going through all the eras and changes, having all that fannish experience, makes a veteran fan, someone who can be ambivalent and inured to changes they don't like. Maybe in a couple of years I'll give the first seven seasons of the new series another go and like it, accepting it for what it was and not what I wanted it to be.

In the early Hartnell years, the Doctor was essentially the antagonist, and he's come back to that at times: the Sixth in a very poor way, the Seventh and Twelfth in a much better way. Some efforts to pain a "Dark Doctor" tend to ring rather false, but I've seen the concept go as far as it can (the Doctor as Jack the Ripper was probably too far...). Season 8 was an exercise in "good is not nice" or needing to be manipulative and aloof to save the day isn't a good thing to be.


Hey, Trav, speaking of which, that reminds me of a webcomic today:
http://interrobangstudios.com/...ay.php?strip_id=1673
The female Doctor there seems more like the Traveller. :)

One day, if the chance comes up, I'll mess around with Kang genders. Fire Escape said "What are boys?" but where did they go? Separate all-boy gangs in another tower? Or maybe they're Kangs too, with long dyed hair and the rest? Maybe they don't have genders. I wonder what kind of society children could build without any negative adult influence.


It's true, this is the best and most successful DWAITAS game on RPoL. Good posters, a stable group, long-lasting. I really want to start my own DWAITAS game again, now I understand the system and game-play better. Last time, I had a problem of player apathy (they just got slower and less interested until I finally closed) and always removing ex-PCs and inserting new ones, which gets tricky when you're in different times and worlds. So, what do you all think is necessary for a successful DWAITAS game?


I hope everyone had a good Christmas, or whatever. Who-wise, I got A History of the Universe, 3rd edition (I've read the first, and was unprepared for the sheer size of this one); the Engines of War novel with the War Doctor; the Dead Romance reprint; and a Mr Potato Head Dalek. :)
This message was last edited by the player at 13:17, Fri 26 Dec 2014.

In reply to Smoke Alarm (msg # 34):

Smoke, that was adorable! Although I CALL HAX. The character could be wearing a fedora, carrying pistols and her hair could be a little longer and it *is* Trav.

"Boobie, Kirk fell for it. Sleep with him? No way, he's a creeper. Now, pay me."

I just saw Last Xmas. I really want to see two things - St Nick to kick the crap out of the Dream Lord (because he is just that awesome) and for a holiday themed ATTT episode, although it has to be 4th of July and Patriotic (because Trav's schtick is being an American. The New Galveston election was the 1st 4th of July episode. I also assume in my own headcanon that there are more episodes of ATTT than what we write about, but they're one shots - we write about all the story arch and "important" eps. And lets not forget the NEW TRAVELLER ADVENTURES novels, the IDW comics, the Smoke Alarm manga and the "Young Sereth - Draconian Warrior" series as well as the STANLEY NEWTON MYSTERY PHYSICIAN audiobooks ;) )

Also in head canon - the Drabble was the Doctor musing to himself - but why did she appear as the 5th Traveller? And this resulted in the Doctor's reconciliation with Clara in Last Christmas. But hey! It *is* Trav fan fiction ;)

Clearly, the mission to rescue Colonel Rayburn of UNIT Dallas involves a daring journey into a looped continuum where it's ALWAYS the Fourth of July. :p

I'll be back to some proper updates in a day or two.  Been dealing alternately with some holiday bug and some unexpected RL gaming.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:59, Sun 28 Dec 2014.

Personally, I want the Valeyard to teach the Dreamlord all about what being a darker side of the Doctor really is.

Though Toby Jones is an awesome actor.

You go enjoy yourself man! You've earned it.

And Colonel Rayburn! I almost forgot about him! Yes, we will rescue him.

The Valeyard is real threat that would make Trav panic. He's not some dream construct, he's almost-real.

A bit late perhaps, but "Merry Christmas" everyone!

Apologies for not posting, the Christmas period is always a hectic time and on top of the usual family obligations I suddenly got the opportunity to play in a couple of IRL games.



What game(s) did you play, if you don't mind me asking?

My long-standing local group had broken up / gone on hiatus during the summer, after a few incidents of people getting on each others' nerves too much.  One of the guys got us all together on Saturday just to catch up and play some board games (King of Tokyo, Empire Builder, Thunderstone) and successfully pitched us on getting back into a RP campaign, so on Sunday we started up with his D&D 5E game.