Post by Young Grimwold on Jan 17, 2016 21:32:36 GMT
Some years ago, I took Young Grimwold through a hallucination of sorts when he was held in the 'light void' (originally intended as teleportation to the site of Tom Troughton's 'regeneration' which sadly never happened). Perhaps I was too cryptic at the time, or perhaps I'm being too self-indulgent now, or both, but I thought I'd explain the references because of how topical they've become. It was essentially a homage to Life On Mars? by David Bowie.
*YG sees something taking shape above him. A stone, translucent in patches, is falling through the void. A concave simian face forms in the stone, and a soft voice emerges.*
Stone: Salve, Grimwold Iuvenis.
*YG asks himself a question that he hasn't asked since that time when Merlin threw a surprise party for Mug the Gargoyle and accidentally cast-locked the entire chamber under a PICKMEUP spell: did that stone face just say my name in Latin? This occasion feels only marginally less bizarre. The only answer YG can produce is a reply in kind.*
Salve, lapis loquans.
*As the stone tumbles, it blurs and shimmers: feet form; rainbow smoke condenses into a head; ears grow like craning candle flames; then a bobtail. The rabbit turns a sparkling pair of eyes toward YG, and addresses him again.*
Rabbit: Bonjour, Monsieur.
*This isn't Latin. YG struggles to recognise the words. He has vague memories of an anecdote Ridolfo once shared with him. Then he finds himself saying,*
Bonjour... lapin.
A reference to another character changing his name from Julian Lapis (which happens to be Latin for stone) to Julian Lapin (which happens to be French for rabbit). This renaming was never explained.
*YG is overwhelmed by a gigantic sneeze. He opens his eyes to see a stream of fire snaking from one of his nostrils; and a stream of ice from the other. The elemental whips strike at Festus' heads, shredding them into oblivion, before dispersing themselves.*
At one point, there was talk of a future storyline in which YG would team up with the Fire & Ice Gang (Wren, Leytan et al) to capture the errant Festus. It seems unlikely to happen now.
*His feet touch ground. Clumps of fog recede as if combed back by an invisible hand. YG can see a room that looks like the Crazed Heifer. The furniture is arranged differently: there are benches that remind him of a glimpse he once had of Wolfenden's church interior. In place of the roof is night sky, where a puzzling red orb lurks among the light dots.*
Mars, setting up the forthcoming Life On Mars? references.
*He passes two seafarers having a brawl with miniature clubs. They do not distract him.*
"Sailors fighting in the dance hall ... Look at those cavemen go"
*On the far side of the room is a silvery shimmer ... As YG gets closer to the argent glow, he sees that it is coming from a giant mirror. Its swirls flail and jostle, telling a story that YG cannot interpret. Only then does he notice someone sitting in front of the mirror with their back, her back, to him. She is leaning forward, focused on the movement. She must have a better idea of its meaning, a clearer view, than YG has. He hears a sound that halts him.*
*Zyssa stares. These are miserable images, tedious even. Reflected memories being played out by semi-hearted silver silhouettes. Her parents bellowing, a lost friend... there is nothing new to see, and surely nothing new to feel. So why is she sobbing?*
"It's a godawful small affair
To the girl with the mousy hair
But her mummy is yelling "No"
And her daddy has told her to go
But her friend is nowhere to be seen
Now she walks through her sunken dream
To the seat with the clearest view
And she's hooked to the silver screen
But the film is a saddening bore
For she's lived it
ten times or more..."
Zyssa was intended to witness Tom's regeneration as a nod to Doctor Who companion Nyssa being present at the Fourth Doctor's regeneration.
*Just as Young Grimwold thinks he recognises the woman and considers approaching her, he feels himself rising. As the room blurs below him, he sees a long-sleeved man laying roof tiles, with a duck standing on one of them. Soon the tiler and the drake too are out of sight.*
Referring to Sam Tyler and Alex Drake, the main characters from the Bowie-inspired TV series Life On Mars and Ashes To Ashes respectively. I seem to recall that Sam Tyler's jacket sleeves were always a mite too long.
*He catches sight again of the red orb. It's bigger now. Closer. Is it pulling him towards itself? Or is it the location of life that is reaching out to him?*
"Is there life on Mars?"
*The coldness in YG's hand is stronger, and when he looks at it, he sees that another hand, white and soft, is holding it. Not just a hand, but an entire person, rotund and made of snow, skywalking with him.*
Putting YG in the role of the boy in The Snowman, "walking in the air". I realise now that The Snowman has a David Bowie association too.
Snowman:
Cool, Aesandre! Aesandre cools the naves,
She won't ever ever stop 'til Treguard shaves!
*With each repetition, the snowman's mouth widens, until it is a broad grin. YG is disarmed. Despite exposure to drinking songs night after night at the Crazed Heifer, it takes the oddest of circumstances to get him singing. But finally, when certain he knows the tune, he joins in.*
Cool, Aesandre! Aesandre cools the naves,
She won't ever ever stop 'til Treguard shaves!
*YG is enjoying himself. This is weird, but it is precious. He can't think of anything to worry about. He feels he might laugh. He closes his eyes. The snowman stops singing. YG opens his eyes. His mother is floating in front of them.*
Mrs. Grimwold: Not allowed, dearie.
*She lunges at the snowman. Her nose is making a kind of buzzing sound. It slices through the snowman's arm, cutting him off from YG. The snowman yelps. Mrs. Grimwold vanishes. YG is horrified.*
Come on, sing, sing again! Cool, Aesandre! Aesandre cools the naves...
*One of Festus' heads has appeared before them. It shakes from side to side. A low growl gives away to a gruff, pitying voice.*
Festus: Oh No no no no.
*YG chokes as he tries to reply. Festus has attacked. The snowman is beheaded. Festus disappears with a mouthful of snow. YG turns and with trembling heads, tries to craft a new head out of what remains.*
C... c... cool...Aesandre... Melli...s...andre...
*YG's nausea surges as he hears jingling. He twists his head and is staring into the face of Motley. Memories. YG doesn't want them. He can't handle them.*
Motley: No, matey. Not your song to sing. Strictly out of bounds.
When YG tries to sing this variation on Rule, Britannia!, he meets resistance from his mother, his family canine and a jester/clown. "Rule Britannia is out of bounds [by] my mother, my dog and clowns..."
Edit: I forgot to make this next comment when I initially posted.
*One of Festus' heads has appeared before them. It shakes from side to side. A low growl gives away to a gruff, pitying voice.*
Festus: Oh No no no no.
Why was 'No' capitalised after 'Oh'? I'm guessing it's because I originally had Festus saying just 'No', realised I could make it into a reference to the Churchill Insurance dog and added the other words around it.
*YG sobs an apology. Tears blur his vision. His stomach lurches again. He is falling, fast, faster, towards the red orb. The snow leaves his hands like the scattering of ashes.*
I can't remember if this was a deliberate reference to the song Ashes To Ashes, but I imagine it was.
*COR FORTIS*
Oh my. Tom.
*YG closes his eyes. He finally has an image from this nightmare place that he wants to preserve. He can feel the tendrils brushing him now but they do not trouble him. He lets air rush into his lungs. Dum spiro, spero. There is hope on Mars.
Brave heart.*
'Cor Fortis', as explained, is Latin for 'Brave Heart', one of Tom's catchphrases. 'Dum spiro, spero' literally means 'While I breathe, I hope' but is commonly translated from Latin as 'Where there's life, there's hope' - so if there's life on Mars, there is hope too.
Stone: Salve, Grimwold Iuvenis.
*YG asks himself a question that he hasn't asked since that time when Merlin threw a surprise party for Mug the Gargoyle and accidentally cast-locked the entire chamber under a PICKMEUP spell: did that stone face just say my name in Latin? This occasion feels only marginally less bizarre. The only answer YG can produce is a reply in kind.*
Salve, lapis loquans.
*As the stone tumbles, it blurs and shimmers: feet form; rainbow smoke condenses into a head; ears grow like craning candle flames; then a bobtail. The rabbit turns a sparkling pair of eyes toward YG, and addresses him again.*
Rabbit: Bonjour, Monsieur.
*This isn't Latin. YG struggles to recognise the words. He has vague memories of an anecdote Ridolfo once shared with him. Then he finds himself saying,*
Bonjour... lapin.
A reference to another character changing his name from Julian Lapis (which happens to be Latin for stone) to Julian Lapin (which happens to be French for rabbit). This renaming was never explained.
At one point, there was talk of a future storyline in which YG would team up with the Fire & Ice Gang (Wren, Leytan et al) to capture the errant Festus. It seems unlikely to happen now.
Mars, setting up the forthcoming Life On Mars? references.
"Sailors fighting in the dance hall ... Look at those cavemen go"
*Zyssa stares. These are miserable images, tedious even. Reflected memories being played out by semi-hearted silver silhouettes. Her parents bellowing, a lost friend... there is nothing new to see, and surely nothing new to feel. So why is she sobbing?*
"It's a godawful small affair
To the girl with the mousy hair
But her mummy is yelling "No"
And her daddy has told her to go
But her friend is nowhere to be seen
Now she walks through her sunken dream
To the seat with the clearest view
And she's hooked to the silver screen
But the film is a saddening bore
For she's lived it
ten times or more..."
Zyssa was intended to witness Tom's regeneration as a nod to Doctor Who companion Nyssa being present at the Fourth Doctor's regeneration.
Referring to Sam Tyler and Alex Drake, the main characters from the Bowie-inspired TV series Life On Mars and Ashes To Ashes respectively. I seem to recall that Sam Tyler's jacket sleeves were always a mite too long.
"Is there life on Mars?"
Putting YG in the role of the boy in The Snowman, "walking in the air". I realise now that The Snowman has a David Bowie association too.
Cool, Aesandre! Aesandre cools the naves,
She won't ever ever stop 'til Treguard shaves!
*With each repetition, the snowman's mouth widens, until it is a broad grin. YG is disarmed. Despite exposure to drinking songs night after night at the Crazed Heifer, it takes the oddest of circumstances to get him singing. But finally, when certain he knows the tune, he joins in.*
Cool, Aesandre! Aesandre cools the naves,
She won't ever ever stop 'til Treguard shaves!
*YG is enjoying himself. This is weird, but it is precious. He can't think of anything to worry about. He feels he might laugh. He closes his eyes. The snowman stops singing. YG opens his eyes. His mother is floating in front of them.*
Mrs. Grimwold: Not allowed, dearie.
*She lunges at the snowman. Her nose is making a kind of buzzing sound. It slices through the snowman's arm, cutting him off from YG. The snowman yelps. Mrs. Grimwold vanishes. YG is horrified.*
Come on, sing, sing again! Cool, Aesandre! Aesandre cools the naves...
*One of Festus' heads has appeared before them. It shakes from side to side. A low growl gives away to a gruff, pitying voice.*
Festus: Oh No no no no.
*YG chokes as he tries to reply. Festus has attacked. The snowman is beheaded. Festus disappears with a mouthful of snow. YG turns and with trembling heads, tries to craft a new head out of what remains.*
C... c... cool...Aesandre... Melli...s...andre...
*YG's nausea surges as he hears jingling. He twists his head and is staring into the face of Motley. Memories. YG doesn't want them. He can't handle them.*
Motley: No, matey. Not your song to sing. Strictly out of bounds.
When YG tries to sing this variation on Rule, Britannia!, he meets resistance from his mother, his family canine and a jester/clown. "Rule Britannia is out of bounds [by] my mother, my dog and clowns..."
Edit: I forgot to make this next comment when I initially posted.
Festus: Oh No no no no.
Why was 'No' capitalised after 'Oh'? I'm guessing it's because I originally had Festus saying just 'No', realised I could make it into a reference to the Churchill Insurance dog and added the other words around it.
I can't remember if this was a deliberate reference to the song Ashes To Ashes, but I imagine it was.
Oh my. Tom.
*YG closes his eyes. He finally has an image from this nightmare place that he wants to preserve. He can feel the tendrils brushing him now but they do not trouble him. He lets air rush into his lungs. Dum spiro, spero. There is hope on Mars.
Brave heart.*
'Cor Fortis', as explained, is Latin for 'Brave Heart', one of Tom's catchphrases. 'Dum spiro, spero' literally means 'While I breathe, I hope' but is commonly translated from Latin as 'Where there's life, there's hope' - so if there's life on Mars, there is hope too.
