Subject: Do they ever?
Author:
Posted on: 2014-01-15 15:44:00 UTC
The Panopticon has big doors for a reason, methinks.
(It's partly down to the limitations of the Tektek avatars: they have big heads, so the collars have to be huge to be visible. Assume it's an artistic depiction designed to draw out the details)
hS
As I'm sure you're all aware, difficult things have been going on with our homeworld of late. One of the hazards of being from a fictional world, I suppose - your past can be rewritten without warning. And it looks like the changes are likely to continue for the foreseeable future.
We can't do anything about that. Of course we can't - it would be against all the rules of the PPC, and probably several of the Laws of Time to boot. But what we can do - what we should be doing - is protect our own interests. Apart from the Doctor, we are the only Time Lords who have been continuously 'alive'. And that gives us a responsibility.
I propose the establishment, here in HQ, of the Continuity Council of Gallifrey. We've had the High Council - we've had the War Council - I think we need a Council to watch over the plot. And the only Time Lords who know about the plot continuum are right here in HQ. Funny how that works out.
I suggest the establishment of the following posts:
Ruby Shipwright - Responsible for monitoring the TARDISes of HQ and ensuring that they are not mistreated, nor used to violate the Laws of Time.
"From the first, the TARDISes have been the mark of the Time Lords. The Shipwright looks after their wellbeing."
Tigereye Castellan - Responsible for the security and personal safety of the Continuity Council of Gallifrey.
"The Castellan stands at the heart of the fire, guarding all others from its consuming flame."
Topaz Monitor - Responsible for coordinating assignments from the Continuity Council, and ensuring communications between its members.
"Like the sun over Gallifrey, the Monitor sees all, and guides the Council's actions."
Jade Warden - Responsible for monitoring the timelines of the Home Universe and ensuring that the Laws of Time are not violated, except in the service of the plot.
"Balanced between past and future, the Warden protects the timelines from harm."
Sapphire Watcher - Responsible for monitoring the Doctor Who TV series and reporting any updates on Gallifrey to the Council.
"No-one knows what the future will bring, but the Watcher is the first to discover its secrets."
Amethyst Keeper - Responsible for squaring information on Gallifrey from other media with the TV canon.
"The crystalline purity of a unified timeline will one day be realised - that is the Keeper's quest."
In addition, one of the Councillors should be elected Lord (or Lady) Chairman (or woman) (whatever our personal opinions may be of Rassilon, we don't have the right to appoint a 'president'); the Chair is not defined by a single colour, but by an iridescent or opalescent mix of them all. Given the scarcity of Time Lords in these parts, the Chair will probably have to double up on roles.
I myself intend to take the position of Tigereye Castellan; it's relevant to my interests, as it were, and I am pretty handy with a gun. The other positions, I suggest, should be on a first-come, first-served basis.
Silly collars are required, of course.
Morgan
Since there's a heck of a lot of fiction floating around in this thread, I thought I'd compile it all.
The Creation of the Continuity Council
I think I've got everything (except a few of Morgan's comments), and will continue to update as things get written. And while I'm here, I'd just like to say that I find it all hilarious - and great fun to read.
hS
Unless someone wants the Disentangeler?
Other than that, it's very, very fun to read. (I'm guessing the Reader kind of got tracked down in a hallway and handed that piece of paper, considering none of the messages went out to her...yeah, that kind of makes sense.)
~DF
And since I'm also the semi-official supervisor of the Board's mini-Agents, it's double the reason for me to keep an eye on her. On the bright side, it's been a while since a new mini-Agent cropped up. They'll need to start getting separate rooms if there are many more of them.
I was going to say I didn't think Morgan even knew she existed, but then I thought they might have met in the Blackout, but then I realised that the 'extra' scene where Morgan introduces the Doctor to the Disentangler, Agent and Fisherman implies that she doesn't know her.
So I'm going to assume the Reader found out in Some Other Way, and just walked in to talk to Morgan. I may try my hand at writing that scene, if I get the energy - it seems far easier than the, wow, nine-person scripts other people are doing so well at.
hS
And for my own Blackout Interlude, at that. Suffice it to say that it's entirely plausible that Morgan wouldn't know the Reader at the time of the Blackout, and that I'm quite willing for the Reader to have been informed of the Continuity Council via a fellow Time Lord somehow recognizing her as a fellow member of the species and accosting her in the hallway. That fits with what I've ended up writing as a mission intro (wherein there is Time Lord Angst, due to Council-related matters), which basically amounts to someone reminding her of the small number of Gallifreyan Time Lords in HQ and the need for everyone to participate if at all possible. I'm fine with either someone informing Morgan of the extra Time Lady and Morgan tracking her down, or someone obtaining the paper on the position from Morgan and tracking down the Reader themselves. I've no idea who this someone would be (and don't think it necessarily matters all that much). Worst comes to worst, Agent Dawn can act as messenger.
...actually, if you're thinking of writing the scene--I can either summarize or actually send you what I wrote on the topic. Just so we've got our facts straight and don't end up with two wildly different versions...although, y'never know, with Time Lords...
~DF
This story made me laugh when I was rather frustrated and annoyed, so a massive thumbs up for everybody who took part.
Just one nitpick though, RC log e's console code is different, though I can't quite find it right now (I think I mentioned it sometime near the blackout?).
The Wiki page only gives two examples of ICEP codes in use. None of them was mentioned, so I had to guess.
Here we go: this gives:
0.4342944819.console.192.168.2.1.External
As a message from Anebrin. Which is definitely different. Is there any particular reason Anebrin has a local host IP as part of his differently-formatted console wossname? I'd read that as meaning... well, if it was an actual IP, I'd read it as 'this agent has a designated RC number, but actually works outside HQ at [IP]'.
hS
In one word: Technobabble. In a few: it's what you get when you throw the little I know about IT into a pot with some words and stir well.
Updated to fit, then.
(On further consideration, what it actually implies is rather disturbing: Des & the Librarian don't work from HQ. They work from your computer, yes, you, the generic reader. They're waiting there, right now, for you to leave, so they can get back to work...)
hS
When the script shifts between wobblestheclown's last section and my section, the bracketed cue says "Instead" where it probably shouldn't, considering there wasn't anything in that spot to be directly contradicted. That "Instead" should be removed, and possibly replaced with a "Suddenly" to keep the flow going.
Welcome, Time Lords and Ladies, to the first meeting of the Continuity Council. I'm sure we all know each other, but in case we don't, from left to right:
Ruby Shipwright Fisherman
Tigereye Castellan Morgan
Citrine Theorist/Topaz Monitor Reader (position yet to be decided)
Jade Warden Librarian
Sapphire Watcher Disentangler
Amethyst Keeper Agent
We also have a potential recruit here as an observer only: the Notary, our Spinel Promotor-elect. Everyone please make her feel welcome - but not too welcome, we don't want her getting ideas.
*Morgan*
Now I have the need to go and write myself a Time Lord Agent. Time Lords have been, are, and will be cool.
Excuse me while I brainstorm.
I'll draw this.
Also, everyone on the council needs to get on a Google Doc and put together the minutes to a meeting, or rather the documents concerning their constant arguments, complaints, shouting, and so on.
Iunno, I just like the whole "Not So Omniscient Council Of Bickering" thing. Maybe it's because I have relatives who work in local government...
First of all, that would be hilarious.
And secondly, well, in case anyone ever wanted to watch a Time Lord freak out about Councils? That's pretty much what the Reader's ended up doing. (Imayhavewrittentheintrotoamission)
Council of Bickering...I like this. Add to the mix that at least one member is constantly on the lookout for similarities to Rassilon's Time War era beliefs, and, well...
Reader: /suspiciously/ That sounds rather a lot like the Lord President, did you know him?
Morgan: Oh, not this again.
Disentangler: Well, she does have a point--we don't want to follow in his footsteps--
Fisherman: If I may point out--I mean, this doesn't actually sound like Rassi--
Reader: /accusingly, to Morgan/ You told me this Continuity Council would not go the way of the High Council, you promised--
Notary: Well, this is all very...charming. Could we maybe get back on topic, or is that something you've all abandoned?
Morgan: Oh, don't you start. This isn't--
Agent: Maybe we should all calm down? No? Alright, I'll just...stay here, then.
Reader: Next thing you know we'll be trying to ascend!
Morgan: This isn't the High Council of Gallifrey!
/and chaos./
...that was fun...
~DF
Well played.
---
Notary [clearly relishing the infighting a little bit]: A-hem. If it please the Council, I have composed a short preliminary constitution for our dealings. Item one: The Continuity Council of Gallifrey-in-Exile (hereafter referred to as the Council or Continuity Council) stands for the...
[QUITE A WHILE LATER]
Notary [smug as a well-fed cat with a secret it's about to sell to the press]: ... and furthermore, to clarify our position as guardians of Gallifreyan heritage in a changing, chaotic multiverse. Any questions?
Reader: ... is it over?
Disentangler: How is it possible for a single person to contain that much legalese?
Morgan: Do you just not need to breathe or something? How can you exist without breathing?
Notary: I was primarily concerned with your comprehension of the preliminary constitution, but if you wish to behave like the gang of slovenly renegades you are, perhaps I need to express myself more clearly-
Disentangler: Morgan, you've set her off again!
Fisherman [jamming his fingers in his ears and burrowing under the table]: If I can't hear it, it's not really happening, if I can't hear it, it's not really happening...
Morgan: Ugh. Notary. For the love of... whatever you hold dear, I don't know, well-organized filing systems or something, just shut up. Please.
Notary: Why, of all the - I've never been so insulted!
Morgan: Only 'cause you weren't paying attention, now shut. Up.
Notary: Feh. I don't know why I expected better from you and the rest of these exiled miscegenators. Oh, if only Rassilon could see what his people are reduced to-
Reader: Yeah, sure! If Rassilon was here, everything'd be A-okay! Just so long as we, you know, tried to destroy the universe and all of reality! Oh, and behaved like good little thought-slaves, can't forget that!
Notary: Our Lord President was doing what he thought best for the Time Lords and for Gallifrey, as was his right-
Reader: His RIGHT? Morgan, where didja dig this one up, I want it carpet bombed-
Morgan [screaming herself hoarse]: ENOUGH!
[The room falls silent.]
Morgan [much quieter now]: Enough. Especially you, Notary. Just sit down. This isn't going to be like the High Council. Nobody here is Rassilon. Nobody here is above another. We are just trying to do what's right for Gallifrey and for the plot of our home. Remember that? Good. Now then... thank you for your proposals, Spinel Promotor, I'll bear them in mind when we draft our constitution. All of us. Together. All in favour?
[Everyone raises their hands, even the Notary, albeit with a hint of bad grace about it.]
Morgan: Good. Now. Who's got something to talk about who isn't the Notary do I have to duct-tape your mouth shut or something?
Notary: Are your particular preferences really suitable for airing at a solemn gather-
Morgan: AUGH!
Reader: I've got something to say.
Morgan: Alright, you have the floor. [to herself] Deep breaths, Morgan, deep breaths...
Reader: Are you sure there's nobody above another in this room? Because you seem to be railroading us quite a bit, and that's how it all started-
[Morgan's collar switches off as her head bounces repeatedly off the table.]
Fisherman: ... Uh, Morgan? Can I come out now?
---
I trust that was acceptable. =]
Hopefully I can keep up to the standard!
---
Morgan: Yes, you can come out now.
Fisherman: [Getting up from under the table and deploying his collar] Good! Can we make some sense now?
Notary: You're one to talk about making sense.
Agent: Didn't you use a rubber chicken to stabilise a dysfunctional reality?
Fisherman: Didn't you use Avada Kedavra on the spirit of a building? Or was that the Disentangler, I forget...
Disentangler: Actually, I just hit it with a book.
Morgan: Wait... a rubber chicken? What?
Librarian: Was it nice under the table? I think I'll take a break there.
Fisherman: Not bad. Bit cramped, but what do you expect.
Notary: Why are we here? We've established that we're not here to ascend to a higher plane of existence, and that's it. I proposed a sensible set of constitutional articles, can we at least pretend to discuss them?
Morgan: No. Next item of business?
---
Hehe~ :D
I wonder what'd happen if the Doctor happened upon this meeting?
---
Agent: Uh, yeah, I've got something. I mean, something actually productive.
Morgan: Thank every god within shouting distance. Whatcha got?
Notary: Castellan, the correct form of address is-
Morgan [with a smile... or at least showing her teeth, which counts, right?]: Item the second: motion to use Council petty cash fund for electrical tape to shut the Notary up. All in favour?
[Hands fly into the air like VTOL fighters.]
Morgan: Aaaaand the motion is passed via majority vote.
Notary [muttering]: This is going in the blasted minutes, y'jumped-up trigger-happy renegade...
Morgan: Okay. Agent, continue where ya left off. [with a snide glance at the Notary] Whatcha got?
Agent [ignoring the Notary's rolled eyes]: Well, uh, you said part of my brief's other media, right? So, with the Night Of The Doctor prequel making Big Finish's Eighth Doctor adventures canon... do I have to listen to all of them, or is that the Disentangler's wheelhouse?
Morgan: ... Huh. That's actually a good point. Err'body?
Disentangler [pretty much instantly]: He can do it.
Agent: Hey!
Fisherman: I'm not sure. I mean, my first instinct would be it's the Agent's job, but...
Librarian: I mean, from what I understand of all this I guess it'd technically be the Agent's job?
Morgan: Oh, for the love of all that's holy, don't bring up technicalities around that one. [She jabs a thumb at the Notary, who grumbles to herself]
Notary: I beg your pardon?
Disentangler: Hey, d'you reckon if you say "Incorrectly Completed Tax Return" three times in front of a bathroom mirror with the lights off, the Notary'll appear behind you?
Notary: Tigereye Castellan, I really must protest! This is entirely unnecessary-
Morgan: Nuh-uh. That legal mumbo-jumbo that came outta your face like a busted dam, that was unnecessary. Calling us exiles like we were war criminals or something was unnecessary. This? Entirely justified. The council does not recognise your complaints.
Notary: Well! [She sits back down heavily and harrumphs in peace]
Reader: Why did we let her in again?
Morgan: Because everyone else here hates paperwork, and I think she gets high from folder fumes. Getting back to the topic at hand, though... we should vote. Those in favour of giving the audio drama adventures to the Sapphire Watcher rather than the Amethyst Keeper?
[Three hands raise]
Morgan: And those against?
[Four hands raise, including Morgan's]
Morgan: Motion is passed. Hey, look, we did something, guys! We actually made a decision! Was that so hard?
[The Notary motions to speak, but thinks better of it.]
Morgan: And the Notary's learning too. This might not be so bad after all!
Reader: That patronising attitude... that's where it all began, you know-
Fisherman: Didn't you say it was railroading people that was where it all started?
Reader: What, you want to go back to how Lord President Rassilon would've run it?
Notary: Is there something wrong with that? The Lord President was a charismatic leader in a time of incredible conflict!
Reader: Yeah, you side with the lunatic monomaniac, Notary! Go you! There's a gold star over there!
Morgan [resignedly]: ... Then again, it might not be worth it in the slightest.
---
We're cruel to these people, we really are.
(Not to shoot at the Councillors, of course. Humanized Daleks are more civil than that. Instead, the Continuity Council room's door flies open, and a single Strategist Dalek rolls fervently through to confront the assembled Time Lords.)
Fearn: HALT! HALT! WHAT IS THE MEAN-ING OF THIS TRANS-GRESS-ION!
Agent: What? Who let a bloody Dalek over here? And more importantly, who let a Dalek know where we were?
Fearn: FOOL-ISH TIME LORDS! IF YOU DID NOT WISH TO BE-COME VICTIM TO THE WON-DROUS TRACKING SKILLS OF A STRA-TE-GIST OF THE DA-LEKS, A CATEGORY WHICH IN-CLUDES MY-SELF, FEARN, YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE MADE YOUR TRANS-MISS-ION RECORDS SO SIM-PLE TO HACK!
HA
HA
HA
Fisherman: Wait, you hacked our communications?
Fearn: YES.
Fisherman: But there would've been no call to unless you knew we were planning something, and this is the first Council meeting, so no one would've even known we had any plans! Unless... have you been spying on one of us beforehand?
Fearn: IRRELEVANT.
Fisherman: I think it's perfectly rele-
Fearn: IRRELEVANT!
Disentangler: (sighing) Oh, wonderful. Fearn-
Fearn: THE TIME LORDS HAVE AS-SEM-BLED IN THEIR FEEBLE GA-THER-ING, AND IT IS WITHIN THE RIGHTS OF A SU-PE-RI-OR RACE SUCH AS THE DA-LEKS TO PROVE THE SU-PE-RIORITY OF THEMSELVES IN ALL THINGS, IN-CLU-DING CON-GRE-GA-TION!
Reader: ...What?
Fearn: IF YOU TIME LORDS ARE TO A-SSEM-BLE A COUNCIL OF YOUR GREATEST MINDS AND WARR-I-ORS, THE DA-LEKS, LED IN THEIR RIGH-TEOUS EFFORT BY MY-SELF, FEARN, SHALL A-SSEM-BLE A COUNCIL THAT SHALL MAKE YOURS SEEM AS IN-SIG-NI-FI-CANT AS DUST, TO BE-FIT THE TRUE STAN-DING OF YOUR PEOPLE IN COM-PARISON TO THAT OF THE WONDROUS DA-LEK RACE!
Reader: (to the Librarian) Do we even have enough Daleks for a council?
Librarian: Until a few moments ago, I was unaware that we had any whatsoever. (to Fearn) And I believe it would be a parliament, would it not?
Fearn: AS FOUNDER AND HIGH CHAN-CELL-OR OF THE CON-GRE-GA-TION OF THE DA-LEKS, IT IS MY SWORN AND NOBLE DUTY TO DECIDE WHAT SAID CON-GRE-GA-TION SHALL BE CALLED, TIME LORD!
Disentangeler: Oh, please. You're only "High Chancellor" because you're the only one on your so-called Dalek Council. Now, can you vamoose? We were almost getting to a-
Fearn: RE-CRUIT-ING OTHER DA-LEKS WAS AL-WAYS PART OF THE COUN-CIL'S PLAN! SPE-CI-FI-CALLY, THE FOURTH STEP IN THE GLORIOUS TEN-STEP PLAN FOR-MU-LA-TED BY MYSELF, FEARN, TO PROVE THE SU-PER-I-OR-I-TY OF THE DA-LEKS IN YET ANOTHER MATTER!
Reader: Being obnoxious?
Fearn: DON'T YOU START!
Morgan: (smirking) Notary, what are you getting in the minutes for this?
Fearn: ...IT SUD-DEN-LY STRIKES ME THAT YOU MAY NOT BE TAKING THIS AT ALL SE-RI-OUS-LY.
Agent: What was your first tip-off?
Fearn: TO BE HONEST, IT WAS PRO-BAB-LY THE POINT WHEN I WAS QUES-TIONED ON MY METHODS OF IN-FOR-MA-TION GATHERING RA-THER THAN DI-RECT-LY OP-POSED, VERBALLY OR O-THER-WISE.
Fisherman: So about ten seconds in, then.
Agent: Questions like those are usually meant rhetorically, Fearn.
Notary: Why are you addressing this interloper in so familiar a manner?
Agent: He doesn't have another name. At least, he hasn't got one he's not shouted at the top of his lungs three times now.
Fearn: I'D THOUGHT IT WAS AT LEAST FOUR.
Notary: It is not your place to speak here, Dalek!
Morgan: At least he's far more compelling than you were.
Notary: A DALEK?
Agent: I believe he's shouted that bit at least six times now.
Fearn: SEVEN! I RE-MEM-BER THAT ONE!
Disentangler: Of course you do.
Notary: Less compelling than a Dalek‽
Fearn: WATCH AS THE TIME LORD QUAILS AT THE MERE MEN-TION OF DA-LEK SU-PRE-MA-CY! VISIBLY SHAKES, EVEN!
Notary: I am not quailing!
Fearn: YES? PER-HAPS IT IS SUP-PRESSED RAGE AT THE NU-MER-OUS SAR-CAS-TIC POTSHOTS OF THIS FEEBLE IM-I-TA-TION COUN-CIL THAT DRIVES YOU. OR MORE LIKE-LY, YOU ARE IN DE-NI-AL!
Disentangler: Notary, don't encourage him.
Fearn: IT IS NO SHAME. DENIAL IS A TRAIT SHARED AMONG MANY OF THE IN-FER-I-OR RACES. WITH-OUT IT, YOUR COUN-CIL WOULD COLLAPSE OUT OF SHAME, CRUSHED UNDER ITS IN-EV-I-TAB-LE IG-NOM-I-NY!
Librarian: Wait just a moment!
Morgan: Hold on, Librarian. I've almost got it lined up.
Librarian: You have what lined up?
Morgan: Three... two... one...
(A dull boom sounds from under Morgan's seat, followed shortly by a barely visible ripple in space. The Dalek Fearn, who in his pace-like rolling about had unfortunately moved between the Tigereye Castellan spot on the table and the still-open door once every twenty-eight seconds, is propelled through the opening, not stopping until he hits the opposing wall with a thump. Triumphantly, Morgan stands up from her chair, places a faintly crackling apparatus on the table in front of her, walks over to the door, and loudly closes it.)
Morgan: Consider the Continuity Council defended. (sits back down) Now, where exactly were we? I could've sworn we were almost onto something.
Fisherman: Something about whether one of us gets more work, I think.
Agent: I think it was Dis who was getting something else to do.
Disentangler: And I suppose you'd quite like that, wouldn't you?
Fisherman: I distinctly remember something involving filing cabinets and duct tape.
(Outside the door, Dalek Fearn has shaken off the concussive blast, and has moved close enough to the door to hear the entirety of the last few seconds.)
Fearn: (abnormally quietly) YES. STEP THREE IN THE GLO-RI-OUS TEN-STEP PLAN TO AFFIRM YET ANOTHER AS-PECT OF DALEK SU-PER-I-OR-I-TY IS PROCEEDING A-PACE. NOW TO IN-I-TI-ATE STEP FOUR!
(rolling away)
Fearn: PER-HAPS O-MI-CRON WOULD BE IN-TER-ES-TED IN A COUN-CIL PO-SI-TION.
(I know, I know, I don't have any Time Lords on the Continuity Council, but I couldn't resist involving at least one of the PPC's Daleks. It was originally going to be a summary of how they would all react as a group, but then it turned into just Fearn, and then into a little script like the others in this chain. I hope it lives up to the standard of everyone else's! If it doesn't, I suppose you could all pretend it doesn't exist, since it is sort of off-topic to begin with.)
The Doctor chances upon this meeting. Or possibly a future meeting. They tend to all go more or less the same way.
/general arguing as usual/
Notary: ...And, insofar as we, the remaining citizens of Gallifrey, are gathered and in council, [snipped for legalese] ...to rule over the remainder of the organization termed the 'PPC'--
Fisherman: /comes out of a trance/ Wait, did you just--
Disentangler: She did. We're not taking over the PPC, Notary!
/dazed silence/
Disentangler: /looks around/ I said, we're not taking over the PPC!
Agent: What? Who said we were? Why would we want to?
Fisherman: It was the Notary.
Morgan: Of course it was the Notary. Who else would it be?
Notary: As we possess superior intelligence, although it would be difficult to discern this fact from these gatherings--
Fisherman: Hey!
Reader: You do realize, of course, that it would be extremely difficult for us to actually prove superior intelligence to every single person in HQ? They're pretty varied.
Librarian: /thoughtfully/ True, although with all of us together, we might well be--
Morgan: Can we focus? Notary, we're not taking over HQ.
Notary: /snidely/ Of course you would curtail the--
Fisherman: Does anyone else hear that?
Disentangler: Hear what?
Agent: Wait, is that--?
Reader: That sounds very familiar...
Librarian: /to the Notary/ It is not a question of denying ourselves the right to our proper place, but rather the denial of a wish to stage a coup against the Flowers--
Morgan: We're not staging any coups! No one is staging--
Fisherman: Um, Morgan, Librarian--
Morgan: Not now, busy--
Doctor: ...so, what's going on here, then?
Disentangler: Well, you see, it started when...
/Morgan, the Librarian, and the Notary are now engaged in a shouting match/
Doctor: ...a Continuity Council?
Reader: It's...been interesting. I mean, we've withstood a Dalek invasion--
Fisherman: It was only Fearn, wasn't that much of an invasion--
Reader: --and, well, the Notary's always one to withstand--
Notary: Excuse me?
Reader: --and no one's shown more than a few false alarms in the way of wanting to follow Rassilon, so, generally speaking, we're doing pretty well!
Disentangler: /dryly/ We also manage to get things done, from time to time.
Doctor: A Continuity Council.
Morgan: Doctor, when did you get here?
Doctor: Oh, I just--popped in--/to Notary/ um, you were saying?
Notary: You would agree, Doctor, that Time Lords possess superior intellect--
Reader: Oh, do shut up for a change, we can't possibly prove--
Agent: Maybe we should try to. It would keep her quiet, if nothing else--
Morgan: I think you're missing the fact that even if we could prove 'superior intelligence' we won't be staging any coups--
Doctor: What's this, then?
Disentangler: /rolls eyes/ The Notary's latest idea is to take over HQ.
Morgan: Nothing to worry about, we stop most of her ideas. Shouldn't you have a companion?
Doctor: She's at home, actually.
Agent: Shouldn't you have regenerated by now?
Doctor: Oi! Nothing wrong with this body!
Reader: /quietly/ Well, if you like floppy hair...
Fisherman: And bow-ties, for that matter.
Librarian: Could we perhaps return to our true objective for this meeting?
Morgan: Yes, of course.
/pause/
Doctor: So, what's this meeting about? Vacations? Intelligence? Jammy dodgers?
Fisherman: I think it had something to do with mapping Gallifrey's position in the sky from multiple planets...and there was definitely something about duct tape and the Notary...
--
I keep feeling like I'm missing a Time Lord, but there just aren't too many of them, are there...I mean, we've got Morgan, the Fisherman, the Disentangler, the Agent, the Librarian, the Notary, and the Reader...and I think that's everyone, isn't it? I mean, except for in this case, where the Doctor came to join...
~DF
Doctor: No, no, no, you can't map Gallifrey's position, it doesn't have a position, it's... lost.
Fisherman: Well clearly it isn't - you saved it - locking it in a subcontinuum. Shouldn't be all that hard to find.
Doctor: A subwhat?
Disentangler: Don't tell me there's some technobabble that you don't know, Doctor?
Notary: Hardly babble, Disentangler - a subcontinuum is a...
Morgan: Yes. We know what a subcontinuum is.
Doctor: Well I don't!
Agent: [whispers to the Doctor] You know jumpers? And you've got all these fibers that make it up? If that's a continuum, a subcontinuum is like a bobble on the jumper. It's part of it but... not part of it. Does that help?
Doctor: [whispers back] Not really... why are we whispering. Everyone's staring at us.
Agent: I didn't want theNotarytostartcorrectingme
Librarian: Not an unwise decision.
Notary: Children. All of you are children, bickering and squawking back and forth.
Reader: Oh really? How old are you, then, Notary?
Notary: When you address me, you address the office of Spinel Promontor - adjust your tone to suit, Citrine Theorist.
Librarian: You avoided the question, 'Spinel Promontor' - how old are you?
Notary: As if it is relevant - 186.
Fisherman: Excellent!
Librarian: What about the Notary being 186 is excellent?
Fisherman: Well, I was seriously worried about being the youngest one here...
Disentangler: [Bursts out laughing] Hang on! 186? I was still doing my research project at the Academy when I was 186.
Notary: Which shows a distinct lack of academic aptitude, clearly.
Doctor: I never finished mine - I wasn't allowed. They never could get over that incident with the rhinoceros and the kangaroos.
Notary: So it was you who inspired those safety posters - I might have known.
Morgan: [Retrieves a small microphone like device from under the table] OKAY! EVERYBODY PLEASE SHUT YOUR RESPECTIVE PIE HOLES!
Fisherman: What on many, many Earths is that?
Morgan: AN AMPLIFICATION DEVICE. MAYBE YOU'LL LISTEN TO ME NOW. CAN WE PLEASE GET BACK TO THE TOPIC AT HAND!
Fisherman: [Wrestles amplification device away from Morgan] AND WHAT IS THAT?
Morgan: Well, I think it was...
Morgan is interrupted by the materialisation of another TARDIS: a large blue box that just happened to land right in front of the exit door.
Morgan: ...er... hold that thought.
Doctor: Well I don't remember this at all...
The doors of the newly-arrived TARDIS open and the stocky figure of the Ninth Doctor steps out.
9th Doctor: Oh, hello. Who are you lot then?
11th Doctor: I remember, it's the Northern one - hello there! Wow... I'd almost forgotten about the ears, those are quite something.
Reader: Er, Morgan - I think we might have found our first official item of business, because I'm pretty sure what's happening right now can't actually happen.
Morgan: [Stunned silence]
Disentangler: Oh, come on, now there's two of him?
9th Doctor: Two? Two of... [He locks gaze with the 11th Doctor] ... oh. Right.
11th Doctor: Yes. Exactly.
9th Doctor: Well, the one in yellow's right - this can't happen.
11th Doctor: You'd be amazed how often I hear that.
9th Doctor: Oh, I know. 'That's impossible, Doctor!' 'Doctor, that doesn't make any sense!' 'Doctor, I don't-'
11th Doctor: '-understand!' Yep, that's the one. And it's always the women, have you noticed?
9th Doctor: Well, there's Ricky-
11th Doctor: Yes, no, actually, that was rubbish, what I just said. Never mind.
Librarian: Regardless of whether this is physically possible, it certainly should not happen. The chances of even one TARDIS simply landing in HQ are unbelievably low-
The Reader: Mine did!
Morgan: And mine.
Notary: And, much though it pains me to admit it, mine.
Morgan: [Turning to the Notary] Wait a minute... I remember you.
Notary: Well, I would hope so! I am the Spinel-
Morgan: No, before that... in Arcadia. You misfiled my mother's tax return!
Notary: You must be mistaken. I would never 'misfile' anything.
Morgan: Antrilovorasilendar, First Taxation-Related Intermediary of the Arcadian 7th District Council Reasonable Expenses Subcommittee. It was you - I'd recognise that supercilious attitude anywhere.
Notary: I hardly think my-
Morgan: But you must be... why did you say you were 186?
Notary: I beg your pardon?
Morgan: When the Librarian asked.
Notary: I said no such thing. I am 682, and would never say otherwise - unlike certain Time Lords.
11th Doctor: What? Me? What? Am I in this conversation now?
Morgan: No. Maybe. Hey, Fisherman?
Fisherman: [Through the amplification device] YES?
Morgan: Give. [Morgan grabs the amplification device] HEY, EVERYONE. LISTEN UP.
[The room slowly falls into silence]
Morgan: Thank you. Who here remembers the Notary saying she was 186?
[The Fisherman, Librarian, and Disentangler raise their hands]
Morgan: And who thinks she said 682?
[The 11th Doctor, the Notary, and the Reader raise their hands]
Disentangler: [To the Agent] So what did you hear?
Agent: Oh, I was ignoring her.
Disentangler: Good plan.
[The two Doctors exchange a look]
11th Doctor: Right - this is where it gets interesting. So we all remember her saying different things, right before he showed up.
9th Doctor: Oy, watch it with the 'he'.
11th Doctor: Sorry, 'Oncoming Storm'. What I'm getting at is-
9th Doctor: A temporal fold. Two slightly different versions of the timeline, one in which I arrive after that conversation, one where you show up before it. Right?
11th Doctor: Right.
9th Doctor: And that can't happen.
11th Doctor: Clearly, it can. There's no point arguing the fact.
9th Doctor: No, but that can't happen. The power requirements to maintain a temporal fold even for a second are unimaginable! Even before Gallifrey fell-
Reader: But Gallifrey is-
Disentangler: Shh! He doesn't know, remember? He's in the wrong place in his timeline!
9th Doctor: What don't I know?
[Silence]
Because if not, I will write another Fearn section, no matter how silly it is. The plot-bunny's been running around in my head all day.
Notary: Oh, quite a lot of things, renegade. Decency, decorum, the minutiae of laws regarding theft-
9th Doctor [seething]: What. Don't. I. Know?
Fisherman: How to juggle?
11th: Oooh, I know how to juggle, and I learned ages ago, which means he probably does too.
Notary: And in what way could that possibly be considered to be relevant?
11th Doctor: I just wanted to make a contribution.
Notary: Then kindly refrain from making any more, they're neither wanted or needed.
Morgan: Notary?
Notary: Yes?
Morgan: Glass houses, Notary.
Notary: Excuse me?
9th Doctor: Oh, I see what you're doing. It's a distraction. Very clever, love the bickering, really makes it believable.
Morgan: ... You think I'm faking how much I hate that b-
9th Doctor: But it's not going to work, now TELL ME!
Notary [sighing]: We can't, renegade.
9th Doctor: Can't or won't?
Notary: Choose whichever answer is most amenable to you; the consequences are the same.
Morgan: It's about your future, if that helps. Don't want to spawn any paradoxes in HQ, the janitors hate having to clear 'em up.
9th Doctor: Nice try.
11th Doctor: Look, ears-me.
9th Doctor: You what?
11th Doctor: Just... me, then. There's a lot you can't know. There's a lot you have to do before you can get to where I am.
9th Doctor: Does that include getting my dress sense erased?
11th Doctor: Hey, bow ties are cool - doesn't matter. The point is, the actual pointiest point of it is, that... well, not everything stays dead. You can't know how I know that until you're standing here on my side of the room.
9th Doctor: Heh.
Disentangler: Uh, did I miss the funny part?
9th Doctor [smiling wide, but with the anger of a god behind his eyes]: Not at all. It just... makes sense. I met a Dalek a few days ago, well, a few days ago for me, subjective time and so on. It thought it was the last, they're never the last, so what we did... what I did... it was all for nothing, wasn't it? All for absolutely nothing. We lost. The Time Lords lost. And that's the biggest joke of all, isn't it? That we all fought and died for absolutely nothing.
11th Doctor: I'm-
9th Doctor: Sorry? Is that the word that was going to dance merrily out of your mouth? You're sorry?
11th Doctor: No. I'm just going to let you believe all that because you're not ready to accept how wrong you are about it. Not yet. Not for a while.
9th Doctor: ... How wrong?
11th Doctor: I can't say. You know I can't. You know the rules.
9th Doctor: Hmph. Well, when have either of us cared about the rules?
Notary [shoving a hand in her pocket]: Councillors, let us put it to a vote. All those in favour of, in theory, informing the younger Doctor of his homeworld's fate?
[A few hands rise. Morgan gapes at the Notary.]
Morgan: You've snapped. You've finally up and snapped-
Notary: [whispering to Morgan] I have an idea, one I'm surprised you didn't think of. [louder] And those opposed?
[An equal number of hands]
Notary: Tigereye Castellan, you have the deciding vote.
Morgan: I... vote in favour.
Notary: Excellent. The motion is carried. Older Doctor, it is the will of this Council that you explain the events of the Last Day of the Time War to your younger self.
11th Doctor: But... what about-
Notary: This Council will hold you in its contempt should you not do so.
11th Doctor: Oh, will it now?
Notary: Yes it will. Chop chop, renegade. You're running late.
[The 11th Doctor sighs and shakes his head, then begins to tell the 9th Doctor what happened in the serial Day Of The Doctor. The latter is so engrossed in the telling that he doesn't notice the Notary palming something from the pocket of her robes. Finally, the tale ends.]
9th Doctor: They survived?
11th Doctor: Locked away, outside of time. But this is your future, and you shouldn't know it.
Notary: And you won't.
9th Doctor: What- [He is interrupted by a flash of red light. The Notary tucks her neuralyser away in her pocket and begins to set up some details]
Morgan: Huh. That was kinda obvious, now that I think about it. Wait, where did you even get that?
Notary: Stores. I filled out the requisition forms in triplicate some time ago as a matter of course.
Agent: Is that how you get off or something? I mean, glass of wine, smooth jazz, rose petals leading up the stairs to some 15-Bs that have to be filled in, that's romantic to you, right?
Notary: Were it to be so, Amethyst Keeper, I guarantee that you would be the last person I choose for such an endeavour.
Agent: Oh, thanks.
Notary: You are quite welcome, Amethyst Keeper.
9th Doctor: So, fun as all this was, it doesn't answer the question: how did both of us get here?
Fearn: THROUGH THE WORKINGS OF SUP-REME CHANCELLOR FEARN, SUP-REME CHANCELLOR OF THE HIGH COUNCIL OF THE DA-LEKS!
---
Tune in next week for the shocking continuation of... er... whatever we're calling this thing that we do.
It won't take a week before the next part comes up, though! I'll write it today, after classes are over.
(Fearn rolls into the room)
Fearn: THE LAST STEPS ARE BEING PUT IN-TO PLACE FOR THE IN-EV-IT-A-BLE TRI-UMPH OF THE DA-LEKS!
Ninth Doctor: Dalek! Back, all of you! Get back!
(He and Eleven run to the front of the group, sonic screwdrivers pointed at Fearn)
Fearn: AND WHAT, PRECISELY, DO YOU INTEND TO DO WITH THOSE, DOC-TORS? UNSCREW MY TRAVEL MACHINE CASING?
Eleventh Doctor: Regrettably, I almost agree with him. This may not have been the best plan.
Ninth Doctor: Since when was this ever a plan? (beat) And when did they start making blue Daleks?
Eleventh Doctor: Well, I've seen Daleks in blue before, saw a whole rainbow of Daleks once, though none were this one's frankly delightful and decidedly non-terrifying shade of robins-egg.
Fearn: I AM EM-PY-RE-AN! IT WAS A THE-SAUR-US MIX-UP!
Ninth Doctor: You're a bit mixed-up yourself, I'd say. Look at you, another washed-up dreg of the Dalek race, probably here to wipe out the last few Time Lords in existence-
Librarian: (whispered to the Notary) He recovered quickly.
Notary: A neuralyzed mind is a very flexible structure. Besides, I pre-loaded the new memories. I don't like taking risks.
Ninth Doctor: (continues, not having heard the previous exchange) -and you can't even be organized about it! Look at you, just bounding in announcing your so-called victory and babbling about thesauruses, and you've not even tried firing a single shot! I'd already thought the Daleks had hit their peak of delusion, but I see you can still top yourselves!
Fearn: YOU ASSUME TOO MUCH, DOC-TOR. I CAN SEE WHERE YOUR FUTURE SELF OVER THERE GAINED HIS TOWERING ARROGANCE FROM.
Eleventh Doctor: Oy!
(Morgan stands up from her seat abruptly)
Morgan: All three of you, shut it!
(The Doctors look over at Morgan, while simultaneously keeping Fearn within their sight.)
Morgan: It's my responsibility to protect this Council, and that includes keeping these meetings from devolving into a series of unnecessary brawls. I have enough of that to do without unexpected visitors coming in and aggrieving one another. Doctors, Fearn is not a threat.
Fearn: I RESENT THAT!
Morgan: (groan) Not a threat to us.
Fearn: ...BETTER.
Ninth Doctor: Oh, of course, the Dalek who just barged in here shouting about its race's inevitable triumph is completely docile. The last time I met a Dalek who was supposedly "harmless", it ended up, surprise, surprise, killing hundreds of unprepared people! I'm not letting that happen again.
Librarian: It won't. Fearn has been instilled with something called the "human factor". You have seen it before, in your second incarnation, if I recall correctly. It alters the Dalek psyche, disabling some of their pre-conditioned restrictive processes and enabling a wider range of non-aggressive action.
Disentangler: Translated, he's friendly. More or less. It's not as though he doesn't cause problems, but they aren't of the "trying to kill you" variety. Trust us.
(Eleven turns off his sonic screwdriver. Nine scowls, but does the same a few moments later)
Eleventh Doctor: Fine, then. What would a so-called "friendly Dalek" have to gain by sending two time-displaced versions of the same person, their race's greatest enemy no less, into unfamiliar territory?
Fearn: YOUR TOWERING ARR-O-GANCE SHOWS ITSELF ONCE A-GAIN, DOC-TOR.
Disentangler: Fearn, this would go quicker for all of us if you just stop with the insults and answer the question.
Fearn: ...FINE. YOU, DOC-TORS, WERE NOT THE FO-CUS OF OUR PLAN! THE AR-RI-VALS OF THE ON-COM-ING STORM AND THE HUN-TER OF SLORP WERE A SIDE EF-FECT!
Reader: "Our" plan? Who else is involved here?
Eleventh Doctor: "Hunter of Slorp?"
Fearn: JUST LIKE A TIME LORD TO FOCUS ON THE DE-TAILS BEFORE THE WHOLE! IF YOU MUST KNOW, I AM CURRENTLY COLLABORATING WITH DA-LEK OMICRON AND DA-LEK CHAR-LIE ON-
Ninth Doctor: Hold on. There's a Dalek named Charlie?
Fearn: YES. HE WAS THE FIRST TO AC-CEPT MY-
Ninth Doctor: Is he baby-blue, too?
Fearn: HE IS NOT, I AM EM-PY-RE-AN, AND STOP IN-TERR-UP-TING ME!
Reader: You're the one who keeps barging in here, you know. Well, barged in twice, anyway. We can't exactly get a council going with all of these interruptions.
Fearn: (faces the Council table) YES, BECAUSE YOU ARE DIS-PAR-ATE AND IN-COM-PAT-I-BLE. WHILE THE TIME LORDS WERE FORCED TO TRAWL THROUGH THEIR IN-SIG-NI-FI-CANT STORE OF A-GENTS TO SELECT COUN-CILL-ORS, THE DA-LEKS, SPEARHEADED BY THE GLO-RI-OUS KNOWLEDGE AND AC-TION OF MY-SELF, FEARN, HAVE BEEN SCOURING THE MY-RI-AD OF WORLDS FOR ALL POSS-I-BLE VAR-I-A-TIONS ON THE DA-LEK FORM! TRULY OUR SU-PER-I-OR-I-TY IS UNMATCHED IN THE COSMOS!
Agent: Is that what you've been trying to tell us this whole time? Because honestly, that didn't tell anyone of much of anything. Normally, when you give someone new information, it helps if you explain it.
Fisherman: Wait, I think he's talking about the temporal fold.
Fearn: I SEE THAT NOT ALL TIME LORDS ARE IN-CAP-A-BLE OF DE-DUC-TION!
Fisherman: Did you cause that? How would you even know how to do that?
Fearn: I AM A STRA-TE-GIST OF THE DA-LEKS, WITH YEARS OF EX-PER-I-ENCE IN THE DE-PART-MENT OF TEM-PO-RAL OFF-EN-SES! THERE-FORE, I AM AN UN-PAR-ALL-ELLED SUPER-GENIUS SLASH CY-BORG SLASH TIME TRAVEL EXPERT. I AM QUITE SURE THAT I KNOW WHAT I AM DOING.
Morgan: I don't think the cyborg bit helps much with that.
Fearn: I BELIEVE IT DOES.
Ninth Doctor: So, let me get this straight. You've been creating temporal folds, which have the well-deserved reputation of being dangerous and quite possibly threatening to local causality, summoning other Daleks to... wherever this is, and generally trying for an amateur-hour run of mucking about with space-time- (turns to the Disentangler) -and this is the nice Dalek?
Disentangler: I said he was friendly. Not nice.
Fearn: WHY IS IT THAT ONLY THE DA-LEKS REFUSE TO PUSH AWAY THE RISKS OF INN-O-VA-TION? YOU TIME LORDS WOULD MONITOR YOUR PEOPLE FROM THE DI-LU-TED PER-SPEC-TIVE OF A SINGLE BATCH OF DRIF-TERS, OUT-CASTS AND RE-NE-GADES, SIM-PLY BECAUSE YOU SEE POSSIBLE HARM IN STRETCHING YOUR BOUNDARIES. ON-LY THREE DA-LEKS WERE IN-TER-ES-TED IN COUN-CIL PO-SI-TIONS, SO WE USED OUR TEM-POR-AL FOLD TO BRING IN MORE RE-CRUITS! THERE ARE THOU-SANDS OF WORD WORLDS, MILL-IONS OF POSS-I-BLE UN-I-VER-SES, AND A SIMPLE DIS-TOR-TION OF SPACE AND TIME COULD OVERLAP THE SPA-CI-ALLY AM-BI-GU-OUS HALLS OF HEAD-QUAR-TERS WITH A-NY OF THEM! THE DA-LEK HIGH COUNCIL IS NOW COM-POSED OF THE BEST AND GREA-TEST OF THE DA-LEKS, OF ALL FACTIONS AND SUB-TYPES! I EX-PEC-TED THE DOC-TOR TO IN-VES-TI-GATE THE DIS-RUP-TION OF TEM-POR-AL PRO-GRESSION, OF COURSE, THOUGH I HAD PREDICTED ON-LY ONE INSTANCE. IT IS IN THE DOC-TOR'S NA-TURE TO FLY RIGHT IN-TO AN-Y-THING HE DOES NOT UN-DER-STAND.
Eleventh Doctor: Got me pegged there, mate.
Fearn: (angry staccato) WHAT IS IT WITH YOU TIME LORDS AND IN-TERR-UP-TING MY MON-O-LOGUES TO-DAY‽ (Fearn briefly pauses, and performs an feat that would be unthinkable for any non-humanized Dalek: calming down slightly) NOW IF I MAY CON-TIN-UE-
Notary: Hold it! I was going to say something when you erroneously labelled me a renegade(the Notary rankles at the very thought), but this is just going too far.
Fearn: YOU WOULD OP-POSE THE OB-VI-OUS TRUTH OF THE DA-
Notary: I wasn't finished! You're claiming to have, between this meeting and the last one, set up something to allow you to overlap this timeline with an inconceivable number of others, just so that you could pull random Daleks into our reality and ask them if they'd like to me members of your imitation council. Never mind the poor planning involved in literally every step of that, no three Agents would have the resources to enact that plan, even if they were, in your words, "supergenius cyborgs". Besides, the power drain on the DoDAEG generators would cause another blackout before the fold could stay in place for ten seconds. You are just, once again, trying to use the problems that this council has experienced to draw attention to yourself by claiming responsibility for them. In layman's terms, you're bluffing.
Librarian: Notary, I believe that you are disregarding one irrefutable fact. The fold does still exist, even if the Daleks are not causing it. In fact, this Council has directly experienced its effects.
Fisherman: You took the words right from my mouth, Librarian. Well, not really, since I'd have said them slightly differently. But still, Notary, you should know about the fold better than anyone, since your timeline was overlapped so much that for at least a few minutes you were replaced with a five-hundred-years younger doppelgänger who wanted to take over HQ!
Notary: It is not my fault if my fellow Councillors mishear me. I stated my precise age, and if you choose to believe otherwise, you may.
Fisherman: She called herself "Spinel Promontor"! Promontor isn't even a word in our reality!
Notary: (ignoring him) I propose that, even if Fearn were, for some inexplicable reason, the cause of the alleged disruption, he would not be able to maintain it long enough to get anything through it, let alone a cross-multiversal squad of Daleks!
Fearn: I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO SAY THAT. (turns to the door) FELLOW DA-LEK COUN-CILL-ORS! YOU MAY NOW ENTER!
(A Scientist Dalek rolls into the room, flanked by a Time War Dalek and a Crucible Dalek. The two gold-colored Daleks move to opposite sides of the room, one of the two turning to face the Doctors, and the other to face the Council table)
Fearn: (spins toward the Scientist Dalek) DA-LEK LAT! REPORT! REPORT!
Lat: SUPREME CHANCELLOR FEARN! CROSS-TEMPORAL SYNCHRONIZATION HAS SURPASSED SEVENTY PERCENT! THE DALEK HIGH COUNCIL HAS REACHED ITS HIGHEST RATE OF POTENTIAL CANDIDATE TRANSPORT!
Fearn: EX-CELL-ENT! YOUR PO-SI-TION AS TEMPORAL OVERSEER SHALL GO UNCHALLENGED FOR-
Lat: WARNING: THE NULL SPACES HOUSING THE VARIANT FORMS OF HEADQUARTERS CONTINUE TO OVERLAP. ANOMALOUS TRANSPOSITION OF DENIZENS MAY RESULT IF FURTHER SYNCHRONIZATION IS ATTEMPTED WITH THE CURRENT INCREASE IN CROSS-TEMPORAL PACE.
Fearn: ENOUGH. WE WILL DIS-CUSS THIS LA-TER.
(Fearn turns toward the Councillors again, regarding them with a swoop of his eyestalk. Somehow, despite the inability of a Dalek travel machine to show visible emotion, Fearn seems to be emitting waves of smug triumph.)
Fearn: WELL, TIME LORDS? DO YOU DOUBT ME NOW?
(And the belated Fearn post finally arrives! Three days late! Wooo... I would've had it up two days ago, but I needed to rewrite it because the version I had didn't make any sense.
Thanks to Huinesoron for some of these lines, both the ones I lifted directly from his sample and the ones I paraphrased.
For further clarification on the "empyrean" thing, Fearn is a lighter color than the standard Strategist Dalek, to differentiate him from the other Strategist Dalek in the PPC, Omicron, who is, as far as we know, more-or-less standard in design. My explanation for this is that the original badfic he came from was full of purple prose and thesaurus abuse, and used what it thought was a synonym for "blue" and turned out instead to notify a specific hue of the color. He's, as you can see, kind of sensitive about it, as far as that word can be applied to a Dalek.
You're up, Lily! We might need to move the Continuity Council to a different thread, though. This one's just about to fall off the front page. I can set up a duplicate on the Other Board, maybe, and link to it from here. That would work.)
Tell me when the next part is open and I'll write something.
Bear in mind that neither of the Doctors have met Fearn, and that it's been established that Nine is fresh off the back of Dalek. They're not just going to let Fearn talk.
If I was writing it (which I'm not, because I have no idea what Fearn is planning), I'd probably do the next section something like this:
9th Doctor: Dalek! Back, all of you! Get back!
[He and Eleven run to the front of the group, sonic screwdrivers pointed at Fearn]
11th Doctor: What's our plan?
9th Doctor: Haven't got one. You?
11th Doctor: Not exactly...
[The Disentangler runs between the Doctors and Fearn]
Disentangler: Stand down, Doctors! Fearn is not a threat!
Reader: Yeah! He's a friendly Dalek.
9th & 11th Doctors: The last time I met a 'friendly' Dalek, it tried to-
[Overlapping]
9th Doctor: -kill Rose!
11th Doctor: -blow up the Earth!
[Beat. The two Doctors look at each other]
11th Doctor: Sorry about that. You know how it is - things sort of escalate.
Librarian: As I understand it, Fearn has been instilled with something called the 'human factor'.
Agent: You've encountered it before. During your, uh...
Morgan: Second incarnation.
Agent: Fangirl.
Morgan: ... shut up.
[Eleven turns off his sonic screwdriver. After a few moments, Nine does the same]
9th Doctor: Friendly, huh?
Disentangler: Cross my hearts.
Fearn: MAY I CONTINUE?
I was needing to rewrite my section anyway, since I realized just before posting it earlier that a few events didn't occur in the right sort of order. I think I'll take some of this scene, since you offer. I was needing to write a new beginning, anyway, since bits of that got moved to the end.
This has to become an episode of DW.
Admittedly, if it does, then there'd be a DW!PPC, with all of its subsequent shootoffs, and it'd get quite timey wimey. Oh, well, it was a good idea while it lasted.
[Cue inevitable fight over how the present writers break down on the Pinky/Brain spectrum]
A-hem.
Anyway... Doctor Who does audio dramas.
Of the seven Council members, I think... five, maybe, can be voiced by their authors (I can't do Morgan, and I'm guessing Lily can't do the Agent); the others could be rotated around (I'd happily voice the Agent, for instance). Then we have Fearn, who can pretty much be yelled by anyone... and two incarnations of the Doctor.
Given that both my parents are northern ("Lots of planets have a north!"), I'd be willing to take a stab at voicing Nine (yes, I'm aware there's lots of bits of Up North, and if anyone from Actual Lancashire - or The Actual North - wants to take the part, I'll happily surrender it). Does anyone think they can do Eleven?
I dunno. It could work, in theory - but it'd be a heck of a challenge to pull it together. July, Sara and I never finished the Radio Plays, and there were only three of us (though we did get most of the way through). I'd be happy to do the legwork of splicing it all together if people want to do the voicing...
Oh, of course, we need a finished story first. I think Outhra has something lined up...?
hS
The audio drama planning sheet
Because people seem to like the idea.
hS
...due to my voice generally sounding absolutely awful when recorded, I doubt I'd be able to contribute directly, so if anybody else is up for voicing the Fisherman go right ahead and do so! :)
I'd love to help in other ways though (script writing/editing, audio manipulation, keeping mad Daleks under control, etc)
Admittedly, I hear that my recorded voice sounds way different from my speaking voice, so I'll hold off on offering to voice anyone else until I figure out if I can record my voice differently.
Also, there's an app for Dalek voice modulation, if you cared to know.
Ooh, the voice actor inside of me is getting chills. Sadly, my recording equipment at the moment is a little... Lackluster. The Blue Snowball I have is fine, but I think it may have been dropped one too many times or something. As it is, I'm semi-soon going to be getting new equipment for recording stuff at the house so I can work on my voices. It's nice just walking down the street and speaking in my voices, but the voice always sounds different recorded them spoken.
So, while my British accents are a little shaky, and my equipment is lacking, if this still has yet to go on in, oh, about a month, I'll see what I can record.
Oh, this is so, so brilliant. I most probably won't be of any use whatsoever, but I support this motion wholeheartedly, because Doctor Who audio dramas and the PPC in one thing? Pure awesome.
-Aila
I am so up to this, even though the Librarian does not have many lines. A silent one, he is.
One: My ability to record sound is greatly limited.
Two: I can't do the Notary's dialogue because I'm MtF. Eleventh I could maybe do, but... yeah. Sorry.
Given that Eleven is the character I foresee most difficulty casting, I don't think that's a problem. Of course, lack of sound recording may be... how limited? I can do a certain amount of cleanup, so even something like a video-camera-pointed-the-other-way sound recording would be fine.
hS
I can't get the mic in this to work any more. Which is slightly annoying. Oh well. =[
I might be able to do a passable Northern accent. If I'm drunk enough.
I wish I could sort something out, but apparently that's not to be. I'll just get to work on my mission instead and give you something else to read.
Or, indeed, to be disappointed by. It rather depends on how it turns out... =/
--parp
The Notary's actually pushing 700. She's rather parsimonious with her regenerations... at least, she is by choice. When she's chased by Daleks, not so much.
Terribly sorry, guess I got carried away with it all! ^^
Consider the exchange about age excised from continuity - it was only a silly thing anyway.
I'm going to try my hand at this (all run screaming, I know), and I've got plans for it.
hS
I suppose that makes the Reader the youngest of this group, then...she's somewhere around 150 years old, although she may be a little older (research. I must do some at some point, unless someone wants to basically answer questions on Academy ages and so on). Curious fact--she's regenerated three times so far: twice due to the Time War, once due to the PPC.
...somehow, I doubt the Notary would approve of this lackadaisical approach to regeneration...
One thing I suppose I really should figure out is what on Earth Gallifrey the Reader's original Time Lord name was...not to mention how exactly she chose to be called 'the Reader'. At least I already know her Academy nickname...
/wanders off mumbling about Time Lords and their ridiculously long and illogical names/
/wanders back/ On another note, isn't writing with other people's characters fun? I mean, it does entail them kind of shuffling in and out of character, but you also get to learn new things about them...
~DF
Especially as I didn't expect it to become such a group effort! Well done, everyone.
(Still laughing at the introduction of Fearn, that was a great idea. Only now I want to send the Reader on a mission with a Dalek...hm.)
~DF
The Librarian does not use contractions.
Please, please continue these, all of you.
-Aila
You know that I am not wearing that, right?
Why wouldn't you want to? These are really cool!
Look, my one collapses down, and then I push this switch and whoosh - it opens up again. And yours is holographic, that's even better!
(Little things please little minds! - Evie)
This collar is overly large and too flamboyant. Besides, who in their right mind would dye their coat green?
That said... who are you, anyway?
I don't know... how would you know if you're in your right mind though?
Me? I'm the Fisherman, from the Special Operations Division. Now, that sounds very impressive but effectively we take pretty much any mission that nobody else wants to do.
Mostly that's because they're either too weird, or involve entities that any sane person wouldn't want to be on the same planet with. We've taken on a troll - a real one, an approaching-omnipotent reality warper, an Angel and a pony princess!
What about you - can't remember seeing you around. How'd you find your way into the madhouse?
Of course I am in my right mind. I am not like my temporary partner, Agent Desdendelle, who insists for some reason that he is perfectly insane.
As to myself... I am the Librarian, currently from the Department of Floaters. And I did not find my way in; rather, the way found me. I somehow managed to walk from my group's TARDIS straight into this bizarre Headquarters. A madhouse is an apt name indeed; this place's architecture is extremely baffling. I am still looking for a way out, though the Department of Sufficiently Advanced Technology assures me reaching my home Word World, whatever that means, is quite impossible.
Nobody knows what you're going to do next, you get a free pass to do all sorts of things...
You walked from inside a TARDIS into HQ? That is very odd indeed - takes an awful lot of energy to open a portal inside a TARDIS. That or a very thin reality matrix, leading to plotholes.
Your home continuum (aka Word World) is the same as mine, right? Returning there shouldn't be impossible - there are obvious existential problems with returning to Gallifrey though.
While seeming insane might net you some benefits, it also tends to get you locked up. That tends to interrupt research, which is bad.
Yes, I have walked from a TARDIS into HQ. I have no idea how that happened, quite frankly, and shortly afterwards a certain... infamous person... started molesting me. I have tried to return to the particular place I have stepped into HQ in, but to no avail.
And no, my home continuum is apparently orthogonal to the... usual... Whoniverse (so I hear the Word World Gallifrey stood in is called), or some other, equally confusing term.
Also, a little thought regarding the whole Topaz Monitor/Citrine Theorist thought: Have them as two separate positions, and change Citrine to Chalcedony. If we keep the setup of Monitor as originally laid out and don't fold it into the Castellan's duties, then we can have the seventh member of our little rainbow as the far-violet end, taking from the Sapphire and Amethyst Councillors and kludging together workable solutions to major plot holes from there. =]
Also, perhaps colours outside the main spectrum should be called Antient members. The name comes from the organization of the Cinque Ports and denotes members that aren't fully part of the organization but are, as the saying goes, close enough for government work.
-The seven-colour rainbow is purely an Earth invention, coming from Sir Isaac's religious leanings. Insofar as the light spectrum can be split into discrete colours, six is far more logical.
-That idea would leave us without a yellow Council member.
-Seven 'spectrum' Councillors doesn't work as neatly with Tektek, since there's no 'facing the front' model to stand in the middle.
-I already made the Reader's collar yellow. ;)
We already have the grey Spinel Promotor outside the spectrum. I've added the Onyx Monitor (relations with other Time Lords who end up being recruited) as a position currently being subbed by the Citrine Theorist. We can then add the Whitepoint Coordinator, who takes what was originally listed as the Topaz Monitor's jobs. At present the Tigereye Castellan is subbing for both the Whitepoint Coordinator and the Opal Chairperson; that may change if new Time Lords show up.
I like the idea of Antient members - but a) it may be unfair on the non-spectrum colours, since they are still doing valuable jobs, and b) that's a very obscure reference (I live in Essex and I had to look it up). Maybe Antient members can be those - who don't yet exist - who are on the Council but don't actually hold a position? They're the ones the Onyx Monitor watches over, and the Whitepoint Coordinator communicates with - which is why those posts don't exist yet.
hS
((Loving Whitepoint as the White Councillor. Heh. Perhaps the White Councillor could make a bid for the chairpersonship and become the Councillor of Many Colours...))
Given that the Onyx Monitor and Whitepoint Epistolarian (IHNJ,IJLS "epistolarian") will be co-ordinating with members of the Time Lords yet to be included on the Council, and given that a bunch of people in Big Stupid Collars are hard to miss, and given that Lord President Rassilon seems like the kind of cove who'd grab the wrong end of the stick when he found out what we were doing here... maybe an ongoing plot for the Council could be trying to keep RassafrassafrassinThetaSigma's grubby mitts off of the board.
Just an idea. =]
--parp
Rassilon is the leader of the Time Lords from an in-universe perspective, while the Council watches over continua from a metafictional perspective. There's not really much overlap, since the Continuity Council cannot directly affect the published history of its world, and Rassilon can only affect that same published history. Also, since Rassilon isn't aware of the existence of a multiverse beyond the knowledge of pocket universes and alternate timelines that comes with being a time traveller, he wouldn't even be able to detect the Council's existence, since it exists outside of reality as he knows it. True, it would probably be best to keep an eye on him, but mostly because he's crazy in a small but potent number of increasingly unpleasant ways, not because he'd try to take over the Continuity Council. It's outside his jurisdiction, anyway; if he or some other canonical Time Lords muscle in and try to force themselves into the Council, the Tigereye Castellan or perhaps some DIA Officers can just neuralyze them, then drag them off back to their home universe, and all the impact it would have on the Council as a whole is that the next meeting would contain a sternly worded order for the current Monitor to step up their game.
(If this seems a little messy, it's because I'm summarizing from a longer post I made a while back, but couldn't submit before my Internet crashed. I may have maltreated the details.)
By the way, I don't think "Epistolarian" was the word you were going for there. What I've been able to find on that word suggests that it was either someone who writes letters or someone who contributes to a religious work, and neither of those suggest a person who would organize collected data and communicate with or organize members of a group, which seem to be the main roles of the Whitepoint Coordiantor as of this point.
...but is currently a little busy, so I'm writing in her place.
(Also, she's unaware of such things as the Wiki, so it's best if I take this one.)
The Reader is currently only mentioned on the Time Lord talk page due to the fact that she doesn't have a wiki page up yet (although I suppose I could make one and simply link to the Blackout Interlude?) It was suggested to me at the time that I should wait until her own wiki page existed before adding her to the list of Time Lords. She is, however, very much around--she'll actually be appearing in OFWho in the (I assume) near future, and has already appeared briefly in my Blackout Interlude. So she's definitely around, and I'm sure she'd be interested in being on this Council (if a bit wary, considering that the last Council she had any knowledge of was during the Time War). It definitely sounds like something fun to work with.
Er, there are positions left, I presume? My first thought was that she could be the Sapphire Watcher, but that seems to be taken. I've done my best to sort through the comment threads (Morgan is hilarious, by the way), but I'm not entirely sure if I'm correct in thinking that the remaining available positions are those of Topaz Monitor and Jade Warden? And possibly Chairperson?
...basically, I'm a bit confused as to what's left, but would definitely like the Reader to be a part of this. (She would, however, be best suited to something very research- or learning-oriented--she's not called the Reader purely because she reads, but rather because that's a research position title at some universities [IIRC...])
Ach. Let me know, I guess. Wish I'd checked the Board yesterday...
(And beyond all that--this looks like an awesome idea...and the Time Lord Big Stupid Collar as a name made me snicker rather a lot.)
~DF
Topaz Monitor is still open, though, if you/she would be interested, and Huinesoron suggested that an Onyx ____ position might be open if someone can think of a council role to associate with it.
From the looks of things, the main research-oriented positions would be with the Jade Warden and Amethyst Keeper, but Topaz Monitor would as one of its duties be in charge of making sure everyone has up-to-date information on whatever the Council's attention is directed toward, which would probably require research. The blurb also seems to imply that the Topaz Monitor would be the one in charge of collecting any data that would pertain to the Council's interests in order to guide the direction of the group as a whole, which would fit within the Reader's purview as well. I imagine the Monitor and the new position of the Spinel Promotor would frequently be at odds, since the Monitor's data would support one course of action, while the Promotor's views and role as the devil's advocate to oppose the Council's proceeding without proper discourse would likely support an entirely different direction.
I'm not quite sure what will happen with the Chairperson. The Reader is the last active Time Lord Agent within PPC standard canon, save Natalie Green, who is only genetically Gallifreyan, and that only due to a glitch in the D.O.R.K.S. involving the conditions for Time Lord regeneration. Essentially, Natalie probably won't be picked as a Council leader. Maybe one of the existing Council members will be appointed to Chairperson in addition to their current role, but I don't really know if anyone would both want it and be up to the task of leading everyone.
You do realize, of course, that the Reader is just under 200 years old? And, from her perspective, only actually left Time War-era Gallifrey less than a year back? I'm just...I'm not entirely sure she's the right choice for Topaz Monitor--well, no, she could probably do the job, with a lot of effort, but...she'd freak out about it. A lot. And I'm not sure how happy she'd be to be both doing that job and having so much responsibility. She's just...really not the Time Lord I'd choose for that job. Or for the job of Chairperson, for that matter--while she might be able to fill the role, she definitely wouldn't be my first choice: she's young, inexperienced, and, well, if she was made Chairperson, I think she'd end up just consumed by the fear that she'd follow in Rassilon's footsteps. I think she'd do much better in a slightly lower position--definitely one where she isn't actually more or less in charge of everyone else. Give her a century, and she might be the right choice; but just now, she really isn't (at least to my way of thinking, and to hers as well, I believe.)
In terms of an Onyx ___ position...sounds awesome, but I have no idea what sort of role would go with it. All that's really coming to mind is for someone to keep an eye on the trends in Time Lord Sues and Stus and look out for any who could be recruited...and, if any of them (or any Time Lord replacement characters) can be recruited, probably keeping an eye on them as well, keeping them under control. That is something the Reader could do (and is similar to something she was eventually going to do in her home canon, actually). The position could potentially be called the Oxyx Guard/Onyx Guardian, or something. But that's pretty much all I've got, and I'm not even sure if it even applies to this Council idea.
I do want the Reader to have a role, though. Any (further) ideas for what that role could be?
(Also, I think the Agent might have my vote for Chairperson. Not entirely sure, though.)
~DF
I like the notion of a Guardian type post - but not under that title, because the Guardians are a different part of Time Lord mythology.
But anyway, I've found the perfect post for the Reader (I think). If we fold the roles of the Topaz Monitor into the Tigereye Castellan's job (ie, make Morgan do the talking to people), that opens up space for:
The Citrine Theorist. Taking information from the Sapphire Watcher and Amethyst Keeper, the Citrine Theorist is responsible for finding plotholes - and plugging them through theory and logic.
[Spoilers for The Day of the Doctor]
As an example which Morgan's already solved: the Time War was long said to be Time Locked, meaning that Gallifrey's very existence was wiped from time - in some ways, it had never existed. But The Day of the Doctor revealed that the Moment was never used - and thus, that there is no mechanism for Time Locking the War. Plot'ole! But as Morgan points out, throwing thirteen copies of the same TARDIS at a planet is bound to have some repercussions...
[End spoilers]
So what do you think? I think either option works - the Citrine Theorist, or redefining the Topaz Monitor into your Onyx Guard idea (since, you're right, that seems like something the Council would cover). So I think it's up to the Reader what she prefers to do.
hS
PS: Also: the only description I can find of the Reader reads, "She was a young brunette who stood almost a full foot shorter than the smooth-faced Klingon." I'm going to try and make a Tektek from that, but am perfectly willing to make a new one if you can put together a new description.
PPS: Oh, I take it back. From here, we have "The Reader's current regeneration is that of a 21-year-old woman with brown hair and dark blue-grey eyes. Technically, she's closer to 100 or 150 years old but, well, Time Lords. What can you do. She normally wears a dark plum shirt (not button-up), a jean-jacket, black pants, and hiking shoes. Her hair reaches to approximately mid-back." Of course, you say several times that that description is probably not applicably to PPC!Reader - but I'll use it until you give me one that is. ~hS
...and I'll be sure to weigh in on the Reader's chosen role in the morning (it's really, really late, and I must sleep). In the meantime, though--have a (more recent) description, as I can put that together very quickly:
The Reader (Fourth Reader) has fairly wavy, light brown hair, tanned skin, and dark green eyes. She looks to be about in her mid- to late-20s, but is actually somewhere between 150 and 200 years old. The bit about being shorter than the Klingon (Kozar) is still accurate, and I'm afraid I have no idea what she commonly wears--although I suspect it's not robes and has a DIC flashpatch somewhere on it. She probably tends to wear relatively light colors, though, or patterned things...I can just see her walking around in a light-colored shirt with dark, swirling patterns all over it. Beyond that, I've got nothing, although I could probably narrow it down further--for instance, I doubt she wears jeans.
Doing half a reply at a time is fun...sort of. Hm. Time to sleep.
~DF
... is that I can make the collar in advance.
I actually really like this one. Admittedly it looks a bit like an overly-elaborate hair ornament, but as Big Stupid Collars go, it's pretty good. I've assumed that the Reader will get quite into the whole 'being on something that's sort of like the High Council' thing, and therefore will find herself something resembling robes - in this case, a coat. The trousers, I just like. ;)
I also find her dot-filled name quite pretty.
hS
That is nice. Very nice. Wow. And yeah, I can definitely see her getting into this so much that she'd want to be wearing something resembling robes--I'm fairly sure her father (well, pending a little further/redone research into how Gallifreyan families work) was some sort of politician, and she was also probably brought up to revere the High Council, so she'd probably find it disrespectful not to give some nod in the direction of the traditional dress.
...what do you know, yellow onyx exists. I always thought it was black...yellow definitely suits the Reader better than black would, though. Well, this regeneration of her, anyway.
And now to actually make a decision...oh dear. (I should mention--my first reaction was: 'Oh, I don't know, can't she just do both?' I'll see if I can narrow it down properly now that I've had some sleep...)
...to that end, actually, what if the Reader does what you described as the Citrine Theorist position, and also (possibly as a second, more minor position, or else as part of the same one) keeps an eye on any Time Lord or Gallifreyan recruits to make sure they're settling in and not running wild and causing trouble? The only real issue I'm seeing with combining those aspects is that plugging plotholes through theory and logic while also keeping an eye on Time Lord/Gallifreyan recruits seems a little unrelated...which, of course, can be solved by simply making the part about the recruits be a sort of sub-duty of the Citrine Theorist, or else just a more minor position that the Reader also volunteered to do?
...in other words, I rather like the idea of both of these, and am trying to combine them. I think I'd like to see the Reader doing a mix of the two; and I think she'd be able (and, with some thought, willing) to do this, especially once she's told she can be in charge of the Gallifreyan recruits--it means interaction with people who are more or less from her home, and also a chance to nip any development of Rassilon's madder ideas in the bud...
I'm not entirely sure how that bit of the Onyx Guard description should actually be worked in, though...help?
~DF
PS: In other news: that cast picture is fantastic.
Tigereye Castellan Morgan sat at her desk, rubbing her temples. It had been a long two days. Her voice ached from all the discussions, her head hurt from all the decision-making, and - oh, yes - even the holographic, Hunger Games-tech collar was starting to make its weight known.
But, finally, it was coming to an end. The 'in' pile was down to the last few sheets of paper. Adjusting her collar, she turned the next leaf over, unsure whether she should be feeling hope or trepidation.
"'Election of an Opal Chairperson'," she read. "I'm sort of reconsidering that, actually. There's only half a dozen of us, right?" She glanced to her left, then grimaced. "I miss Amelia. All right... I guess we'll postpone the Chair appointment, and I can just keep doing all the admin. It's not like the security side of the Castellan's post is needed much."
She flipped the paper into the 'out' pile (out to where, she wasn't entirely sure) and turned to the next. "Oh, it's the Notary again, what does she want? ... 'expedite the finalisation of... underlying significance of the Spinel Promotor's duties... fully prepared to assume my duties...' Empty Night, did she get Legal to write this for her? No, you can't join early." Another sheet hit the 'out' pile.
"Right... oh, yes." The page, one of Morgan's original role descriptions for the Council, was covered in crossings-out, underlinings, and scribbled notes. "And the Reader wants to take this job? Poor thing... all right, let's see." Taking a red pen, she crossed out a few more lines, drew links between a handful of others, and finally signed the sheet with a flourish.
The Citrine Theorist - Responsible for resolving plotholes in the canonical depiction of Gallifrey.
"That'll have to do," Morgan muttered, putting the sheet aside. "Next... oh." 'Next' was a request from the Department of Personnel - how the Marquis had heard about the Council, Morgan had no idea - that 'you Time Lords do something constructive about the constant influx of your species into HQ'. At some point earlier in the day, Morgan had clipped a description of an 'Onyx Monitor', who would keep an eye on Time Lords in badfic, see if any were worth recruiting, and supervise any new recruits on behalf of the Council.
"And that's great," Morgan said, glancing to the side again, "but we don't have anyone to be the Monitor. I'm certainly not going to take the post... ugh, where's that list?"
The list in question - the master list of Council positions - turned out to be pinned to the wall in front of her. "The Ruby Shipwright's going to be overworked as it is," Morgan mused, "just like the Jade Warden. If I'm doing admin, that puts the Tigereye Castellan out of the running, too. The Amethyst Keeper... no, there's way too much 'other media' for that. Maybe the Sapphire Watcher...? I mean, they only make thirteen episodes a year, right?"
Unbidden, Morgan's gaze strayed back to the previous sheet of paper. "On the other hand," she said slowly, "most episodes won't make serious plotholes... so the Citrine Theorist will have the least to do." She nodded to her self, decided. "The Reader can take the Monitor's duties until we get someone to do it permanantly. I'll let her know the good news." She dropped the paper on the 'out' stack, and turned over the next.
"Right... decorations for the Council chamber..."
Mostly because our missions tend to take us home, and we would be best-suited to keeping tabs on our continuum due to the nature of our work (that is, disentangling things).
As for between us, we may occasionally swap duties simply to keep the rest of you on your toes.
-Dis
The Amethyst Keeper's collar is a single sheet of a lightweight pseudo-amethyst, which just happens to resemble Australia for no discernable reason.
Again, I've tried to match the picture of the Agent reasonably closely; how well I've done is up for debate.
hS
Must be the whole sideburns thing going on.
For reference, though, he looks like this:
That is, he looks like a really good Tenth Doctor cosplayer, but not precisely like David Tennant.
Of course, the main characteristic of David Tennant is 'tall and skinny', which Tektek can't really do... but I was aiming in the general direction of the hair. I'm not all that good at this. ;)
hS
Thank you so much! And it's neat to see their Gallifreyan titles.
Both the Warden and the Keeper have a crystalline theme to their collars (though they look nothing alike - you'll see when I get a chance to make the Agent's image). I've assumed the Disentangler would get rather into the whole Council thing, hence the coat/robe. She also has red-striped trousers to reflect her Prydonian credentials.
And, rather appropriately, her name is a massive tangle.
hS
While the two might swap places occasionally, you won't be able to get any pictures of your Time Lords in silly collars unless you let us know their default!
I'm guessing it would be the Disentangler as Sapphire Watcher and the Agent as Amethyst Keeper, but that's only because blue would probably look better on the Disentangler than purple and the role of Amethyst Keeper fits the Agent's personality a little better than it would fit his partner.
... in the order they were named. Which I think puts Dis as the Watcher.
(I have the collars; I'm just waiting to get to a computer that can use Tektek)
hS
Utterly brilliant, utterly hilarious, and the collars! I can't even--
I've not got Permission, and only have the vaguest, most ever-changing plans for getting it, and those don't involve Time Lord society in any way at all, but I do have a rather enthusiastic fondness for Doctor Who and the Time Lords of the PPC, and I fully support this venture. Fully, and completely, and with all my heart.
(Also, I love Agent Morgan's narration.)
-Aila
PS: I totally agree about the Panopticon doors, whoever said that farther down the thread.
*wanders off to listen to Night Vale*
I was actually not quite aware of this development, being absorbed in chasing the Osirians' riddle... it seems that running away from Gallifrey was a good idea.
However... it would not be said that the Librarian runs from responsibility. I will not allow it (I have no idea what my possible second incarnation would say).
Since my knowledge on this "plot" business is shaky at best (and nonexistent at worse), I shall defer to your judgement in this case. Since my partner tells me (Pounded into his head, more like -Agent Des) that we will probably be assigned missions in the Home Universe in the future, I shall take the position of Jade Warden in this Council of yours.
-The Librarian
The collar itself is holographic, and has various key words in Circular Gallifreyan. The Librarian image is based on the original image; he can be swapped out when an official PPC Librarian image exists.
And I now really want to know what, exactly, the Riddle of the Osirians is...
hS
A silly collar indeed. Also, the riddle of the Osirians? I'm keeping it vague. Maybe I'll have a good idea someday.
Looks like great fun, a fantastic idea! Also - Time Lord ceremonial collars are not at all silly and add a certain something to any outfit. Note: this last statement may consist of up to 100% Lies. Reader caution is advised.
The Fisherman I think will be taking the post of Ruby Shipwright - given his intense dislike of temporal anomalies and interest in technology, I think it fits him well.
As for the fact that many of his interactions with technology lead to it being worse off than when he started... meh, what could possibly go wrong?
I'll do an IC mini-interlude in a mo and reply to this post with it! ^__^
(Thanks to Outhra for pointing me to this thread~!)
Agent Morgan? The Fisherman here.
I think your idea is an excellent one, given what's been going on recently. I only found out about all that the other day you know - Evie asked me something about how 13 versions of the same TARDIS can be in the same area without causing a temporal anomaly.
I of course told her that they couldn't be, it would cause an n-fold reversal of spacetime that could lead to a whole planet being ripped out of reality. She then said something along the lines of 'oh, that's how he must have done it then'. I said something along the lines of 'huhwhat?' and she explained.
No, I asked how you managed to miss the biggest story of the last few months despite the fact said story took place in your home continuum!
Quiet Evie. *ahem*
So yes, I think it is very important, now more than ever to protect ourselves and will happily join the Continuity Council. I believe I would be an excellent fit for the position of Ruby Shipwright - I have extensive experience with TARDIS technology...
Let's see... you ripped out the proven, tested PPC integration panel calling it 'inelegant', replaced it with a rats maze of wiring that even I can't make sense of and 'integrated' a replicator that now seems capable of making bananas and little else.
Need I go on?
Oh, shush - the integration panel works by artificially restricting the TARDIS' access to the vortex in order to control it. Clipping its wings, so to speak. I simply could not have that. My method is... better. Complicated, but better.
You can't remember how it works, can you?
I didn't say that! I haven't worked on it for a while because I don't need to, I'm sure it'd all come back if I needed it to. Now, before this message gets multiple-personality disorder I think I should send it: Morgan, I look forward to working alongside you in protection of our home continuum.
I'm going here for fabric draped over a brief frame. It ties both to the mechanical nature of the job (scaffolding), and the Fisherman's casual dress. It also, coincidentally, bears some resemblance to a fishing net.
(The Fisherman himself is based on the Wiki image; I tried to do him justice, and then added some red stuff. Any problems, let me know and I'll rework)
And: I like the interactions between the Fisherman and Evie in the message. I don't think I've read anything of theirs except the Blackout; you may have inspired me to look them up.
hS
That is seriously awesome. I have the image of that frame collapsing down like an umbrella and then deploying at the push of a button. It's the sort of pointlessly complicated thing he'd develop I think!
The pic is pretty accurate I think! His hair is more orange/ginger than red, but that's hardly something to fuss over.
As for the little message, I'm glad you liked it!
Although I dont have any agents (or permission for that matter) when I do start, one of my agents is intended to be a Time Lord. So if by then a spot is still open, I'll put him in.
I live in south-east England, so I'm at something of an advantage when it comes to watching Doctor Who in the first place. I should therefore like to request the position of Sapphire Watcher.
Clarification: this isn't for Boarders, it's for PPC Agents. If you don't have a PPC agent (which you don't), they can't take a position on the Council. If you end up writing one, an invitation will certainly be extended to join.
hS
I was offering to write one specifically for this purpose. =]
--parp
The thing is, that's a terrible reason to create a Time Lord agent. :P Any agent should be built as a rounded character, not as a 'There's a hole in the lineup that needs filling'.
Also, your ability or lack thereof to watch the show has no impact on your agent's similar ability. One of my agents speaks fluent Grelvish, while I have to check a website every time. At the same time, he's incapable of writing in English - which, obviously, I'm moderately good at.
If a Continuity Council series of stories were in the works (which they aren't), writing a Time Lord specifically for the part would make sense, as would moulding her/him to match the writer's knowledge. But for something that's likely to just serve as background colour, I think it would be a bad idea.
hS
I have yet to write an agent at all, let alone a Time Lord one. That one of these hypothetical agents is a Time Lord is important; that they might be a part of this council is, like you said, background colour. This would also mean pairing a self-important, slightly stuffy Time Lord bureaucrat with a clown of Candide-like optimism, and we both know how much comedy can be wrung from that kind of setup, it having been the main source of inspiration for double acts since time immemorial.
The one thing we don't want is-- sorry, I'll put Morgan on for this bit.
The Time Lords are an ancient civilisation; one of the most ancient that are still extant, in fact. Their policy of non-interference in the wider universe, their self-righteousness, the monumental arrogance of a kind endemic to their species... all of which makes for the most fantastic comedy when paired with a classic happy clown.
I want to write a Time Lord because they're the perfect straight men for the kind of gag man I have in Agent Wobbles. We're not talking about writing a renegade here; we're talking about a dismissive, pompous, self-righteous martinet, the worst traits of Time Lord society rolled into one obnoxious package. She escaped the Time War solely through cowardice; her TARDIS is broken beyond her ability to repair; her arrogance is totally unjustified. The Flowers paired her with a zany, happy-go-lucky clown because... well... er... the first reason is... look over there! *flees*
To put it in another, less stupid way, I wanted to develop a character from someone utterly unlikable into someone you'd root for through thick and thin. I want to do the best I can at developing a kind of character I don't normally write, because that's how you develop as a writer, right? It's like an etude in music; a short piece that's deliberately difficult to perform well that's meant to improve the technique of the person playing it. I just hope I can make it work. =]
--parp
Most of our other Time Lords are renegades through and through (though I will nod in the direction of the Boarder Time Lords for a few [mostly written by me] notes about what pre-renegade Time Lords might be like as characters), so a bureaucrat-type character would be very interesting. Shall we assume she supported (or would have supported) 'Lord President' Rassilon's... not so clever idea?
(Beg pardon - I'm channelling Morgan again. She has Opinions)
I can actually see her more in the role of the Jade Warden, though: a Time Lawyer, as it were. Since she doesn't exist yet, I'm not too keen on you reserving the spot (as it were), but we can certainly consider a reshuffle if/when she appears on the scene.
And yes, you're absolutely right that that's the way to grow as a writer: write outside the box, outside your comfort zone, and see what you learn.
hS
I'm not going to ask you to reserve the spot now, and I'll try and get permission to write a Mission. I've actually got one claimed (a ghastly Gunnerkrigg Court fic that involves a lot of evil's worst excesses), but there's still my relative newness to consider. =]
--parp
That's a good start. And you have an actual story you want to tell with them (rather than picking them because they're cool), so that's better. And you've made - strewth - nearly a hundred posts in many and varied threads in the not-quite-month since you joined, so that's a good sign too. That's two of the three items on the Permission Checklist (we don't have one of those, actually) given tentative ticks - which is always a good start!
hS
That strikes me as... unnecessary. The agent's story should be what makes them cool, not their design. That's just... it's like building a rubbish lean-to of a house and filling it with lovely furniture. Besides, that way lies the Sue and all we hate.
Anywho, speaking of character design, may I present Antrilovorasilendar, the Notary:
In case anyone's wondering, she's armed because, well... she's a coward. She never goes anywhere without a weapon of some kind because being shot with a staser means you can't chase after her. Unless you're a Sontaran. Or an android from Kraal. According to this 'ere wiki page, staser fire can make a corpse unrecognisable. Why they're not standard issue remains a mystery.
Alas and alack, I have yet to find a suitable Big Stupid Collar for her. Besides, Agent Wobbles'd most likely nick it. =]
--parp
Sometimes, of course, we get inherently-cool agents who also happen to have good backstory, character development, and relationships with their personality. But sometimes we get 'So my agent is a giant robot named Robert The Destroyer and he destroys stuff with LASERS'.
I can see the Notary being a very interesting character (and it's nice to see racial, not just species, diversity in HQ... it's not all that common), and possibly quite a scary one. Certainly I find stasers scary - there's not many weapons that can outright kill a Time Lord (which is, I suspect, why they don't just hand them out left right and centre), and the random murder of the Castellan in Five Doctors always has shocked me. Hopefully she's not going to be quite on Borusa's level of superiority complex.
(The Big Stupid Collars I'm doing are all, alas, handmade. It's a royal pain, actually - I want an automatic generator! Oh well)
hS
Of course, the whole point of concept stage with a character is you put down an idea and then start fleshing them out more and more until they're, y'know, an actual character worth writing. Too many people skip the "let's actually develop this concept" stage after getting to the "wouldn't it be cool if" part though - I wonder if it's part of why so many people do a couple missions and then just vanish. Not all of them have that reason of course - and I'm kinda hypocritical even putting it forwards, aren't I, not having written/finished anything for three years? :P - but it could be a factor for some of the "I'm going to have a robot agent who fires lasers" crowd. Though I should add the caveat that all this should really apply not just to "wouldn't it be cool if" characters, but "wouldn't it be funny if" characters - if somebody's entire existence is one joke, that's not a very interesting person to read about, is it?
(On the note of Five Doctors: am I the only one who finds it odd that so much of a big deal is made about not crossing your own personal timeline, but just about every Doctor has had a special where he interacts with at least one of the previous Doctors?)
However, I would say that "wouldn't it be funny if" is a much better start point than "wouldn't it be cool if", at least to me. There's a lot more you can do with a character designed to have a joke associated with them (or a joke they instigate) than with one who is just OMFGSOOOOOOOAWESOME.
Speaking of, here's a better base for The Notary, since Jade Warden's already been claimed:-
I trust that's an acceptable use of company resources. =]
--parp
The Notary (whose name is pleasingly symmetrical; I think she'd like that) is here represented in the standard Time Lord Big Stupid Collar. The colours have been chosen to represent the relatively minor Dromeian Chapter, purely because the other chapters would look like they were muscling in on the current Councillors' roles. Conveniently, the colour can be easily changed if/when she joins the Council.
Obviously, the only currently-unclaimed role is the Topaz Monitor (yellow), and there are at least two other Time Lord agents who may exist right now. That said, there are more colours available - I can't think of a gem for grey right now, but the position of the Onyx Advocate - who speaks for ideas which the Council seems opposed to, and against those the Council supports - can certainly be created.
(With both thanks and apologies to Dresden Codak for the image. It works a lot better in the original)
hS
Still the best character establishment ever. The guy throws an old lady off a cliff fifteen seconds after he shows up while he calmly discusses the undermining of societal systems.
Hmm... I found a few possible options after a brief serach. Some beryl types are gray or grayish-clear, but beryl also comes in several other colors.(In related news, emerald is a beryl affected by greenish impurity. I did not know that.) For less-known gemstones, hematite and tourmaline are gray, but those aren't exactly well-known, and Time Lords might be less than likely to name themselves after gems that they would need to explain to people.
If no one can think of anything that sounds good, pewter is gray; it isn't by any definition a gem, but it's a well-known gray substance.
As for grey gemstones, well, there's always agate, but for this I think the title would be best expressed as Spinel Promotor. Spinel's one of those semi-precious gems that has a lot of colours associated with it but is primarily found with a single-refraction grey, and Promotor comes from promotor fidei, the Roman Catholic term for a canon lawyer who argued against the canonization of a candidate for sainthood by picking holes in arguments, analysing the character of the candidate and so on. This is actually where we get the term devil's advocate from; it was the common term advocatus diaboli, who was ranged against the advocatus dei or God's advocate. Hope that was useful. =]
--parp
Well, since you've come up with the title and all... shall we assume the Notary is the Spinel Promotor Elect, pending only her acceptance as a PPC agent (ie, you getting Permission to write her)? I didn't have any other plans for grey, so it's not actually reserving a place - just planning one in advance.
Which means onyx can stay in reserve for when we need it. Of course, we still lack a Topaz Monitor, but I'm sure someone will turn up.
"Having looked through the files that discuss your... exploits, Tigereye Castellan, I share your concern that you need someone sensible to remind you and the rest of your exiled ragbag of true Gallifreyan culture, and indeed of common sense and caution in the face of hurried and unnecessary change. I look forward to deliberating with you and our fellow Councillors, in particular on the topic of our esteemed Lord President, opinions concerning whom I doubt very much we share."
"Sorry about her. She's a bit, you know-"
"Be silent, clown woman. The Council has no need of a fool-"
"But that's what you are, isn't it?"
"I BEG your pardon?"
"In medieval courts, the fool had the ear of the king more than any lord. They spoke floridly and interminably, telling the truths that nobody wanted to hear and would have had anyone else executed for treason. Look at that and tell me that's not what you are."
"I - Then it has no need of a harlequin, then. Or do you have some other piece of pointless human ephemera to inflict on me? I apologise, Tigereye Castellan, my colleague shames this Council with her presence - what are you - STOP THAT AT ONCE! This is a solemn and noble position requiring a solemn and noble collar, you whelp; it is not served by tying a balloon animal to it!"
"Anything can be improved with a balloon giraffe, Agent
Promontory. Just ask Professor Puppet-"
"My -name- is The Notary, human."
"That too, Agent Conservatory. Now hold still, I gotta get the legs right on your wallaby."
"Wha - but - WHY?"
"Well, you're the one who said you didn't want a giraffe, Captain Crankypants."
"I wasn't talking to you."
---
Translation: I thought that'd be an opportunity to show of the personalities of both Agent Notary and Agent Wobbles. =]
--parp
Both have similar origin points, benefits and downfalls. Both ideally come from a point of having an interesting idea what to write (or possibly a funny background detail) but need to be fleshed out beyond that point to turn out an actual good character, regardless of if the original intent was serious, humouros or "cool" - good execution is good execution regardless of if you had a joke or not, likewise with bad. Of course, what I think is a common failing point is people not having a concrete idea of where their agent's story is going - or possibly not hhaving a concrete story at all. That can work fine of course, but might explain most spinoffs petering out.
In some ways, she will likely be worse, at least initially. Borusa, for my money, seemed to genuinely care about the Doctor (at the start); the Notary despises renegades of all forms and denounces them as cowards and fugitives from justice. The irony that she does this having run away from the Time War is at present entirely lost on her. Hypocrisy's funny like that. Of course, this makes the idea of her being lumped in on the Continuity Council with the other Time Lord agents even funnier in my mind, but YMMV and all that. =]
--parp
... observes that the old collars might need a little updating.
(Fear not: I intend to make them actually look pretty awesome, if I can. And be linked to the character and/or post)
hS
"So this girl called Aella forced me to read 'The Hunger Games'... and I think I've got a good idea for my new collar.
"As the Doctor would say: 'Fire is cool now.'"
hS
This is the one where Morgan dressed up - at least as much as she ever does.
"What? I put the gun down, I put on something orange. What more do you want? Robes are uncomfortable, you know."
hS
The Panopticon has big doors for a reason, methinks.
(It's partly down to the limitations of the Tektek avatars: they have big heads, so the collars have to be huge to be visible. Assume it's an artistic depiction designed to draw out the details)
hS
Just a thought, sounds interesting all the same though.
(Also, hi Morgan!)