And a word that means red and green at the same time.

[epershand]

So, basically I went back and forth between thinking "Are you sure ARIA didn't write this episode?" and thinking "Nope, yeah, Neil Gaiman, your narrative tricks are showing again."

The "YES!" bits:
- The DESKTOP THEMES BACK AND CANONIZED IN AWESOME WAYS. Neil Gaiman, your fanboyishness pleases me.
- ALSO I AM NEVER AS HAPPY AS WHEN THERE ARE NON-CONTROL-ROOM BITS OF THE TARDIS ON MY TV. I am only sad that I did not get a recurrence of the cathedral with the GIANT WELL from the 8th Doctor movie.
- Oh TARDIS darling. Darling. You are basically Delirium, and one of your passwords was "Delight." I know my heart soared a bit for that.
- Clever dialog is clever.
- Hi timelord cubes hi.
- Ood! I have missed you!
- ETA: And OH the whole scene where Idris talked about stealing the Doctor. It just grabbed my heart and wouldn't let go and I don't WANT it to. This was the scene that felt more like it was from Aria than anything else, but that's also because her Koschei and Theta are my headcanon :P

The "oh Neil /o\" bits:
- Yup, having a woman spending all her time talking vaguely about trying to find the definition of very precise words is a great way to make her look childish and crazy, yet deeply wise. It doesn't mean you have to use this technique *every time.* The TARDIS really could have been someone other than Delirium, I *promise.*
- Dense, fascinating, complex, brain-warping set up crystallizes at the end to be neat fantasy trope that is easily resolved. Check.
- Fridgetime! Although that's more a standard Doctor Who thing than a standard Gaiman thing.
- Pretty sure I have seen Aunt and Uncle before. In, like, Stardust. And Coraline. And Books of Magic... but they did not have an Ood before, at least.

Comments

[tei]

So, basically I went back and forth between thinking "Are you sure ARIA didn't write this episode?" and thinking "Nope, yeah, Neil Gaiman, your narrative tricks are showing again."

AHAHAHA, THIS.

I didn't eyeroll at the recurring Gaiman things because I am actually barely acquainted with Neil Gaiman... I have not yet decided if this episode has convinced me to resolve that? The Who continuityporn was AWESEOME. Called to mind a clip of a Confidential I saw where Moffet was basically like, "Yeah, so I suspected Neil Gaiman was a huge Doctor Who fanboy and that's basically our criterion around here, so yeah!" EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

[epershand]

I am absolutely the wrong person to talk to about whether or not you should read Gaiman, but that is because I'm really burned out on him--I hit that point where I'd read so much of his stuff that I see all his chess moves ten steps before he makes them. But his stuff that I've loved, I REALLY REALLY love. As evidenced by the stack of Sandman sitting next to me on the couch while I blather on about being burned out. (But that is because there are bandom-related shenanigans afoot)

But wow does he fanboy productively. Just... WOW.

[starlady]

Totally biased, but if you're going to read Gaiman, I'd say go for Stardust or Coraline.

[tei]

Okay! Since I know nothing about any of them, these seem like excellent suggestions. And recs are supposed to be totally biased, aren't they? :P

[starlady]

…I was more like, "Of course she's incoherent/crazy-presenting!" but yeah, she totally was Delirium, wasn't she?

I loved it, though.

[epershand]

I loved it too! And I also ADORE Delirium--she's a character that has had a whole lot of totemic significance for me. Which is why it stuck out to me that that's who she was.

And now I really want to run around biting people and it is just not ok. :P

[oliviacirce]

Also the whole nightmare sequence in the corridors was kind of unbearably Neil, especially because I just don't buy that Rory would ever go that kind of blood-on-the-walls Amy-hating crazy.

So Neil, that episode. But on the other hand, SO WONDERFUL. I just. I think I can forgive him everything just for giving us the TARDIS with a voice, even if that voice had a lot of Neil's narrative ticks. I also think she became less Del and more TARDIS as the episode went on, which helped.

[epershand]

Yeah I couldn't even take the nightmare sequence seriously because I kept thinking "Is this an... unfunny Curse if Fatal Death reference? "

[epershand]

Yeah, she totally became less Del throughout the show, as she gained more coherence, but it doesn't change the fact that Neil only ever seems to write childish female incoherence as Del.

The "what word am I thinking of" schtick is right out of Sandman, and I have a vague feeling that not only Del does it but Abel (my other totem character in that series) has something connected to it. And the whole "alive" thing in general was... at least the way he does it in Graveyard Book about Bod needing to live his life and not the end-of-Kindly-Ones way of talking about the Meaning of Life.

Because after Ten, I can't handle any more Morpheus in my Doctor Who...

(Side note--really, really want to talk to you about dialog. And hear your voice in general, but also TALK ABOUT DIALOG. And metaphorically bite you. Phone tonight?)

[aria]

"Are you sure ARIA didn't write this episode?"

I AM LAUGHING SO HARD, mostly because I spent nearly the entire episode clutching my face and going, "Oh my god oh my GOD THIS IS THE DOCTOR WHO IN MY HEAD." Especially the bit about the Doctor and the TARDIS stealing one another. I don't even care about the extremely Neil-ish bits that were recognizable a mile off, because he wrote Doctor Who exactly the way I always, always want it.

[epershand]

I was just like CANON. Why am I in ARIA'S HEAD right now? This is the show I ALWAYS WANTED TO WATCH. What ARE you?

All my favorite parts were totally the parts I thought had been written by you and not Neil :D