50 Years of Time Travel

[alienlisa]

Today is the day.

On this day, 50 years ago to the day...a legend was born. Today is the day the mad man with a magic blue box graced our televisions and firmly cemented himself into the hearts of many.

Including one very special alien.

The outside of AL's house is abuzz with activity. Large tables have been set out and covered with blue tablecloths and a giant banner hangs in midair proclaiming 50 YEARS OF TIME TRAVEL in sparkling gold letters. There is a whole separate table for food: there are the traditional snacks of pretzels, potato chips in various flavors, popcorn in various flavors, dips (onion, veggie and spinach), bread, crackers and cheese. There are also Dalek-shaped cupcakes, gingerbread Cybermen, little cakes with edible ball bearings, and fish fingers and custard. There are several sheet cakes and giant showpieces featuring the TARDIS and the entire cast of Doctor Who over 50 years.

Speaking of the TARDIS, there are thirteen of them sitting in a neat line along AL's house. The amount of people milling about the area is far too many to count and the reason this party is being held outside rather than in the house.

Today is the day we celebrate the Doctor. Every incarnation of the Time Lord is here, from One to Twelve (who is currently attired in the outfit his actor wore when he was announced in the roll). And, in light of the recent episode, the War Doctor is also present. Also around is, well, practically everyone who has ever been in the show, companions and side-characters. And four K9s.

Playing hostess of course is AL herself, mingling around everyone and making small talk. She smiles at the two unicorns watching the festivities because it's Tempest and Mistral who are ensuring a nice, sunny and warm day for this party (much better than the windy, sunny and freezing cold day it really is on Earth). The other guys are there, too, but this day is about the Doctors.

So, come and celebrate the Day of the Doctor. All are welcome.

Comments

[alienlisa]

"Well," says AL to TeenDoc, looking around to make sure the other Doctors weren't around or listening, "the Doctors kind of 'disowned' him because he was the one who essentially committed double genocide. All the Daleks but everyone on Gallifrey, too...including 2.47 billion children." She pauses a moment. "So, to them, he was not the Doctor because the Doctor would help, not hurt. The Time War had everyone fearing the Time Lords...they couldn't distinguish them from the Daleks anymore. One woman would rather die than have the Eighth Doctor, a Time Lord, help her. And she did. The War Doctor was a forced regeneration because the crash killed him, too. The War didn't need a Doctor."

She shakes herself. "But the Moment basically convinced him to Take a Third Option. Ten and Eleven originally were going to share his burden...so he wouldn't have to push the button alone." She looks down and says quietly, "I never would've let him bear that burden alone, anyway...and the other mes felt the same way." She clears her throat. "Although, luckily, they figured out that 'freeze Gallifrey' option. The problem was that the War Doctor forgot that he tried to save Gallifrey rather than burn it, so up until Eleven he still thought his world was gone. Eleven got an inclination that it had worked and is now on a mission to find where it's hidden. Might play out in the Christmas special, or not." She shrugs. "Who knows?" Hearing herself quote the 50th special, she smiles to herself.

[8docs_n_1victor]

There's a long moment of silence after AL makes explicitly clear what destroying Galifrey and the Daleks truly cost. "I see," TeenDoc says quietly. "I -- I guess I can't blame them for not wanting to think of someone like that as -- them. I'm very glad they got to take a third option and save the planet. Though how on earth did he forget? Regeneration trauma, or. . . ?"

"It certainly sounds like an appropriate Christmas special plot," DocWolf comments. "The search for a lost home. Though it could make a decent starting arc for Twelve, whenever he takes over."

[alienlisa]

AL nods solemnly. "Well, the explanation that Eleven gave was that the time streams were out of sync and he couldn't retain the memory of having tried to save Gallifrey rather than burning it. And he regenerated immediately after the adventure was over - his body was wearing a bit thin, in his words - so one could chalk it up to the addition of regeneration trauma, too, sure."

"All we know about the Christmas special right now is that the Doctor returns to the site where, apparently, he dies for real. Not that I believe that for one quintillionth of a second." She shakes her head. "And there's Daleks and Cybermen and the Silence and Weeping Angels and who knows what the storyline is...We're a month away, so maybe we'll get something concrete. A paper in the UK gave out what they called spoilers, but they're not exactly a reliable source so taking what they say with a grain of salt. Apparently it's supposed to tie up some plot threads that have been pulled in Eleven's tenure. The search for Gallifrey may be Twelve's running thing. And they're not ignoring the fact that the actor's been in the series already. Apparently it's a Thing."

[8docs_n_1victor]

"Well, having time streams out of sync would play havoc with anyone's memory," TeenDoc says. "I'm just glad it didn't do any permanent damage to the universe. Out of curiosity, have those Reapers ever shown up in an episode outside of the one with Rose's father?"

"Sounds like they could be appearing in the Christmas special, considering it seems they're throwing in everything but the kitchen sink," OckDoc notes, the tentacles buzzing with laughter. "I guess we'll figure out what's going on with all of that when Christmas actually comes around."

"We look forward to what sort of 'thing' his previous appearance will be," Jules adds.

"Eh, they're probably just gonna say he had to dress up in disguise for some reason," Albert says, hunching up his tentacle in a sort of shrug.

[alienlisa]

AL thinks a moment, then shakes her head. "Nope. Just that one isolated incident." She pauses. "Could be, but I doubt it. Different show runner. But they could surprise us."

"May be a while before that's resolved. Could be a season-long Thing, or could be a Thing that lasts his entire run." AL shrugs. "We'll see." She catches Twelve's eye and shares a smile with him.

[8docs_n_1victor]

"Oh right -- they did switch head writers after Nine, didn't they?" TeenDoc says thoughtfully.

"Oh, I'm sure they'll drag it out as long as they feel they can," DocWolf jokes, as a few other familiar faces appear on the scene. "Ah, here's some of the others! Hello folks!"

"Hello!" Clockwork waves to his alternates, then to Lisa and the others. He's trailed by the rest of the RP group, plus Secundus Doc. "How are things?"

[alienlisa]

"Actually they switched head writers once Ten left." AL corrects. "But they're still in touch because the 'why is a guy that looks like Twelve in two separate places in time' thing was Russell's idea and apparently whatever idea it was still works. And Russell was the first person to contact Moffat once the 50th aired."

"Oh, I'm sure they will," she agrees, then squeals in delight once Clockwork and the rest show up. She basically glomps everyone. "Hiya! Things're going great! I'm so-so-so glad you came!!"

In the distance, Tempest and Mistral wave a wing in Clockwork's direction.

[8docs_n_1victor]

"Oh, my mistake," TeenDoc says. "Sorry, but we just don't follow the show as closely as you. Though it's good that the writers are still so close! Probably helps in countering continuity errors."

Clockwork laughs at the glomping, then waves at Tempest and Mistral. "Well, we couldn't exactly not show up, right? Big event, this! 50 years. . . Great Scott."

[alienlisa]

"S'ok," says AL, then shakes her hand in a so-so gesture with a giggle. " 'Doctor Who' and 'continuity' don't really go well together." She snickers. "Show going on this long..." She shrugs. "I'd be surprised if there weren't."

The Doctors come over to hug and shake hands. "Thanks for coming!" says Ten with a big grin.

AL laughs. "Yeah, I know. It's been quite a ride."

[8docs_n_1victor]

"Any time travel show and 'continuity' probably don't go well together," Tommy jokes as the other tentacles chuckle. "Having a time machine means you can retcon whatever you like!"

"It's probably more just an issue with long runners," Forgotten Vows comments, smiling. "From Vic's research, I've learned both that the 'Dragonriders of Pern' series is 22 books long -- not including other material -- and that at least two people have suffered names changes and someone else's dragon has gone through two, possibly three, colors." He shakes his head. "I think that's partially why Vic keeps her focus on the fire lizards." His own fire lizard lets out a agreeing whirr from his shoulder.

"You're welcome," Clockwork says. "Quite the ride indeed. . .and things aren't over yet, not by a longshot."

[alienlisa]

AL has to agree. "Yep, when you're right, you're right."

And then she kind of stares open-mouthed at the Pern info. "Wow, really? I don't blame her for focusing on the one thing, then. Sounds like information overload." She pets Moonlight.

"Oh, yes," she says to Clockwork. "No matter how worried I am that Moff is going to screw something up somewhere with Twelve, I'm looking forward to moving forward. I'm sure the alter ego and I can figure something out if he's not what we want him to be." Adding as a side to Twelve himself, she says, "Sorry, love."

The Time Lord in question just smiles at her.

[8docs_n_1victor]

"Yes -- even the official guide to the universe is apparently riddled with errors," Forgotten Vows says, shaking his head. "Fire lizards are information overload enough, I assure you." Moonlight rumbles happily as he gets his attention -- ah, this really is the life.

"You always do, it seems," Clockwork notes, nodding in River's direction. "But here's hoping you end up with another Doctor you adore more than anything."

"The same," VampDoc2 echoes. "You seem to be on a good streak of loving them all -- would be a shame to ruin it."

[alienlisa]

AL makes kind of an o_O face. "I bet," she says, then smiles at Moonlight's reaction.

She gives a side-eye to River. "Yeah. Well, as the alter ego would say, 'I reject your canon and substitute my own'. I already adore him and only his eyes have appeared on screen so far, so I'd hate to have things go south."

"Actually," she says, "technically, the relationship started out as me looking to him like more of a mentor. One actually didn't want me on the TARDIS in the first place, but Susan talked him into it. He had a change of hearts after a while. And with Two, Jamie was around so he's where all my affection went to, but we started to become friends. Three and Four I was closer friends to, but Four knew we'd fall in love when he met the Watcher near the end of that life. The Watcher was a version of the Fifth Doctor that, due to the catastrophe that was about to be unleashed on the Earth at the time, was overlaid on the present. He was the part of the Doctor that was in love with me. And Six, actually, it took a long time for me to realize that yeah I did still love him even after the trauma of the regeneration and personality switch. And while the affection was there, Six and Seven had a hard time showing it. Eight it came back full force and with the exception of the War Doctor - no time for love during the Time War, but I knew he still felt that way about me - it's remained ever since." She looks around at her gathered Time Lords and shrugs. "If Twelve winds up worse than Six, then some serious thinking will be in order."

[8docs_n_1victor]

Forgotten Vows chuckles at Moonlight as well. "He's such an attention hog sometimes," he says, though he gives the fire lizard a few pets too. Moonlight rumbles more and nuzzles him. "Yes, yes, I love you too. . ."

"The dangers of working with a character before you know their full history," Forgotten says, in a way that suggests he knows what he's talking about. And, ah, he does. (On the other hand, me RPing you is what got me to write out your backstory, so you can't complain too much.)

"I was talking mostly about the current 'New Who' doctors, but that's a history I didn't know before," VampDoc2 admits, intrigued. "So the first was a mentor, the next three friends, the fifth a beloved, the sixth and seventh back to friendship due to the massive change, then from eighth onward back to unrestrained love. Interesting."

[alienlisa]

AL chuckles. "He's so sweet."

She just nods at Forgotten Vows, then answers VampDoc2. "Yeah, it's something the alter ego figured out when she wrote out that '50 Facts' list. The only reason I would call it more 'restrained' than 'unrestrained' because our gestures of affection were always very subdued more or less. I mean, we'd hold hands and hug more often than we'd kiss. I mean we have...that's how the link gets formed, after all, but the very first gesture of affection that wasn't a hug he ever showed towards me was when he was Four before the regeneration. He'd caress my cheek with the backs of his fingers." She demonstrates on herself. "The Watcher did it after he did and every subsequent incarnation thereafter. Six after we patched things up, Seven whenever he needed to say something Very Serious and Meaningful. And so on." She looks around. "The alter ego's got this idea in her head that Twelve over there will be the very first incarnation of the Doctor that will ever use a term of endearment for me but we'll see on that. Personally, I hope so, because of the way she thinks it comes out." She eyes him. "She wrote out this story scene where I ask him if he still loves me - "

"And," says Twelve, speaking up for the first time, "my reply will be 'Oh, darling, of course I do. I've never stopped. There were just times I had difficulty expressing it'."

AL smiles and nods. "Though, granted, asking is silly. I knew the answer already. But oftentimes it's nice to hear." She slips her hand into his. "Again, here's hoping the relationship continues. Otherwise the alter ego has a lot of work to do."

[8docs_n_1victor]

"The dice -- or random number generator -- was very kind to me that day," Forgotten Vows agrees.

"Huh," VampDoc2 says. "Interesting. Twelve incarnations to figure out a term of endearment for her?" he adds, lightly kidding the Doctors. "Or, actually, thirteen. . ."

"Thirteen and a half if you count the Watcher," TeenDoc speaks up, index finger raised. "Although that does set a precedent for there being regenerations and alternate forms of the Doctor that 'don't count' as the Doctor."

[alienlisa]

"Yes," AL says to Forgotten Vows, "it was. Actually, I never told you this but a future me has something similar. He's called a Kinsellan flit and he resembles a dragon but he's not. His name is Rising Fog, but his nickname is Jamie and I'm the only one allowed to call him that." She pauses. "Three guesses as to where I got that name and the first two don't count." She giggles, then rummages around hammerspace for a picture. "That's him. The symbols on that band on his leg represent my initials. He's an Empath and he speaks using telepathy. Hard to say how big he is...hang on..." She searches hammerspace again for another picture. "Dunno where my glasses went when that was taken, but there you get an idea of how big he is. He generally shows up in the stories when and after I'm on the Enterprise because I got him way, way later on. That's why he's not here."

The Doctors blush. "I didn't feel I needed one," defends Eleven. "Not at the time."

AL pats his hand. "Maybe it took this long to find the right one, eh?" She chuckles. "Well if you want to get confused we have a few alternates and things to take into consideration." She starts counting on her fingers, causing the drink she was holding to float in midair. "The Watcher I suppose could be considered Four-and-a-half. He helped with the regeneration into Five by merging with Four. But then you have Ten being shot by the Dalek and siphoning off his regeneration energy into his spare hand, creating the MetaCrisis Doctor. That's the whole situation with Donna we don't talk about as you may or may not know. And at the end of the 50th..." Her eyes light up. "It's implied that the Doctor will revisit his old faces...just the favorites; here's hoping Five is on that list. We see Four...aged and working as the Curator for the National Gallery in London...appointed by Queen Elizabeth the First herself." She takes her drink back. "We could be up to Fourteen or Fifteen or whatever...I'll stick with my own numbering until screen-confirmation. I mean, Clara herself said that Eleven there is the Eleventh Doctor, so that's what I'm sticking with." She nods and sips her drink.

[8docs_n_1victor]

"Do you?" Forgotten Vows and Moonlight both peer curiously at the pictures. Moonlight's eyes take on a brief purple tint as he lets out a puzzled chirrup. "No, I think he was born like that -- he's like a wyvern," Forgotten Vows explains. "They don't have front legs. Moonlight thought he'd been hurt," he explains to Lisa. "He and I have an empathic bond as well. He can't really talk to me, but he can send pictures, and between those and his feelings I can generally puzzle out his meaning." He smiles at the image of Future!AL with Rising Fog on her arm. "He's a lovely creature -- I'm a little sorry I can't meet him in person."

"I suppose sharing a telepathic bond with the woman you love makes endearments not strictly necessary," RolePlay Doc speaks up, chuckling.

TeenDoc nods as Lisa goes over the list. "So, there's the Watcher, who merged into Four during regeneration to create Five. . .the MetaCrisis, who is kind of the opposite in that he's a split-off version resulting from extra regeneration energy. . .Donna, which is apparently a terrible can of worms. . .the War Doctor, which we just discussed. . .and the ability to shift back to old forms?" He shakes his head. "Impossible to keep up, really."

"And I think Vic's said something about the Valeyard being some form or offshoot of the Doctor as well," RPD adds. "I think it's easier if you just consider the forms who consider THEMSELVES the Doctor -- well, the Doctor. Their numbering system should take precedence over all others."

[alienlisa]

AL smiles. "Well, next party at the Inkwell, I'll bring him along. I'm sure the future me won't mind." She nods at his explanation of their way of communicating. "The only downside of him speaking telepathically is that Data can't hear him. Android brain and all. Also I have a few friends that are self-aware holograms and they can't hear him either, so I have to translate. Not a big deal, of course."

Eleven snaps his fingers and points at RollPlay Doc, smiling. "Yes, exactly!"

"Yeah, the Valeyard is an amalgam of the darker aspects of the Doctor's personality that's taken somewhere between his Twelfth and Final incarnation. With the wonky numbering...between Eleven and Twelve, maybe? Personally, I'm determined to make sure he never shows his face. He was a product of the High Council being jerks, so..." AL shrugs, then makes a face. "I wouldn't put it passed Moffat to do something like that, troll that he is." She's frowning now. "I hope not. Like I said, I want to love him."

[8docs_n_1victor]

Moonlight trills, his eyes changing to a happy light blue. "Yes, yes, you can play if he wants to," Victor says with a laugh. "I'm Moonlight's permanent translator -- Impression only works with one person. Though it's pretty easy to tell his mood. And I'm sure natural telepaths would be able to interpret him the same way I do."

RolePlayDoc grins. "Glad to have summed it up so well!"

"Doctor, you really have to stop letting parts of yourself escape and turn into their own people to cause trouble," TeenDoc jokes. "Hopefully he won't show up, or make life with Twelve too difficult if he does. We want you to continue having happy adventures with your Doctor as well."

[alienlisa]

"Yes, I can," AL says with a smile.

The Doctors and AL both nod. AL says, "It'll be hard to judge on Christmas since that's the regeneration episode...though, granted Eleven there had me at 'Legs!' so there you go...and rumor has it that next season won't start until August. But we'll see." Beat. "And thank you."

[8docs_n_1victor]

"Thought so," Victor says, as Moonlight lets off lots of warm happy feelings.

HatterDoc looks thoughtful. "That seems to be a theme in the newer series, isn't it? Didn't Nine into Ten and Ten into Eleven happen on Christmas as well?"

"I think so," OckDoc nods. "Well, we'll see when it happens, I suppose. Your alter ego surely won't leave us in the dark." He winces. "August? Oh dear. Quite the drought, then."

[alienlisa]

AL smiles. "Don't forget that I can also understand animals in general." Beat. "Well, Moonlight is more than a mere animal, of course." She pets him.

"Actually, no," says AL. "Nine turned into Ten in June and Ten's first full-length episode was the Christmas special. Ten's regeneration episode was a two-parter. Part One aired on Christmas but technically he turned into Eleven on New Year's Day in Part Two. But, like you said, you don't follow the show as closely as some people do."

"I know~" she almost whines. "But they don't start filming until January so..." She shrugs.

[8docs_n_1victor]

Moonlight, fortunately, doesn't take any offense and will simply accept the extra petting, rumbling in a way that suggests a purr. Forgotten Vows chuckles. "Right, right. Greedy little thing," he teases the fire lizard, who just wraps his long forked tail around his shoulders.

"Oh." HatterDoc tilts his hat down, looking a bit embarrassed. "I thought he mentioned Christmas at some point. . .but well, time machine. . ."

"I bet him mentioning Christmas was to explain him showing up next in the Christmas special," VampDoc says. "And yes, nothing you can do about that, sadly. You'll just have to dredge up some reserves of patience."