the fuckface who holds time itself in his hands (
collector) wrote in
luministi_ooc2010-05-29 04:00 pm
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'Ahoy' Has Yet To Be Used
So I shall use it. Ahoy, I'm Farrah! I run on EST, but generally cannot be found in the later hours of the evening. The best way to find me is through email, one of my contact posts, or LJ PM. Feel free to contact me at any time! I am rarer than a really rare Pokemon when it comes to AIM, but I'm pretty accessible by the other methods.
To the start of things, I am bringing Irving Braxiatel, Entirely Trustworthy Collector. He has a soothingly hypnotic voice. No, literally. As he has only ever appeared in books and audioplays, it is hellish to find pictures of him, hence the copious amounts of icons of people in suits. Excessively long application + permissions meme.
In brief, Brax is the owner of the Braxiatel Collection, the Collection of Everything. And they do mean everything, from the original manuscript for Love's Labour's Wonne to the Ark of the Covenant itself. I'm not entirely sure how he managed to acquire that one; presumably he handed someone a fedora and a whip and sent them to the 1930s.
Braxiatel is a time-travelling, double-hearted alien from a planet with red grass and twin suns, not that we're naming any names*, though he currently lives in the Vega system in the early 27th century. He is almost pathologically incapable of being honest and direct, probably because he's a formerAmbassador Cardinal Chancellor Cardinal again politician from a planet that constantly hides secrets from itself. His moral alignment is rather vague accordingly. Most people know him as a True Neutral with Good-leanings, but he's really more like a GM who has gotten sick of people destroying his world(s) and has accordingly begun to consider Railroading the entire universe. He has just spent over a year locked up by Space Nazis with only torture and interior design to keep him occupied, so he's really not happy about it. This holiday will probably be good for him.
I think I've suffocated you with enough links to audio clips and tropes, so I'll stop.
For now.
*Gallifrey
To the start of things, I am bringing Irving Braxiatel, Entirely Trustworthy Collector. He has a soothingly hypnotic voice. No, literally. As he has only ever appeared in books and audioplays, it is hellish to find pictures of him, hence the copious amounts of icons of people in suits. Excessively long application + permissions meme.
In brief, Brax is the owner of the Braxiatel Collection, the Collection of Everything. And they do mean everything, from the original manuscript for Love's Labour's Wonne to the Ark of the Covenant itself. I'm not entirely sure how he managed to acquire that one; presumably he handed someone a fedora and a whip and sent them to the 1930s.
Braxiatel is a time-travelling, double-hearted alien from a planet with red grass and twin suns, not that we're naming any names*, though he currently lives in the Vega system in the early 27th century. He is almost pathologically incapable of being honest and direct, probably because he's a former
I think I've suffocated you with enough links to audio clips and tropes, so I'll stop.
For now.
*Gallifrey
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I am totally going to wind up relistening to the Gallifrey audios because of you. Just thought you should know!
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Because it's hard to resist endless hours of Time Lords bickering with each other?
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...what? They so do. No one can convince me otherwise.
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It's a great book. But the fact that you know Sosban Fach is in it without having read it is awesome!
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I really don't know why I do... it's weird. Hmm... I wonder why it came up... But I do want to read it!
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You should! I'm currently rereading it...again (fourth time!)...to try to really get Sophie's voice in my head before things kick off.
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Well he did cut off someone's head once with the 'ease of a practised executioner,' I believe was the wording. Sooooo...That sounds like me with Brideshead. I did read other books by her - The Dark Lord of Derkholm and Year of the Griffin, were the titles, I think - so I know I like her writing.
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I should probably be surprised, but somehow I am not...Ah yes! I've read Dark Lord, too. And I love her style very much~
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When a guy hypnotises his best friend into shooting him so he can trick a future version of himself into being overpowered by him, one just... stops being surprised by anything he might do.Perhaps I'll pick it up next time I go to the bookstore! I have also promised to read Fountainhead, which is... odd because I've never ever wanted to, but that's okay. I can read Howl's Moving Castle to stall.
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Oh Brax ♥.Yay! Oi, that book sounds terribly complex. I would totally recommend the stalling >.>
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I just want to pat him on the head sometimes.I'm glad you support me in my procrastinatory endeavours.
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And I am so looking forward to playing with Brax here.
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I look forward to playing with your Ten! I don't think I ever had before.
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Nope, not yet! Haven't been in a situation where we would have, but I'm excited~
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And Brax is so happy that Thete is on the other side of the townIssss there any shared backstory we need to discuss? I've been meaning to write up a post on the canon there is for Brax and Thete, but inertia is a powerful force.no subject
Ah--hmmm. Yyyeah, we probably should. I've read up on what you've written about Brax and such in your journal, but I need to read up on their shared appearances in the novels. I'm a bit rusty there, and I really don't want to make glaringly obvious mistake :|
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Welllll, I gave you the giant thing from Tears of the Oracle. I've got a write-up of most of the most-relevant bits from Theatre of War and Empire of Glass. I shall spam here, I guess?
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In other words, Braxiatel gave his brother the very first research ticket for his Collection. Incidentally, being in possession of this ticket gives one access to the VIP suites and the highest possible privileges on the Collection.
Both Braxiatel and the Doctor have a knee-jerk response of surprise when they realize that the other is directly involved in the affairs of the story.
On Braxiatel's part, it goes:
While on the Doctor's part, it goes:
And whatever the relationship was intended to be at that point, it seems to go back to very old times.
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The Doctor, meanwhile, calls Brax overdramatic. Well, at least he isn't the Master. ‘I should have guessed,’ mused the Doctor. ‘Braxiatel was always a grand master of political chess. A formidable actor too, though a little melodramatic – hence the extraneous trimmings, I suppose.’ Perhaps significantly, the Doctor refers to Braxiatel as 'young Braxiatel,' suggesting that the Doctor is the elder brother. This sort of suggestion is present all through The Empire of Glass, which even suggests that the Doctor left Gallifrey before Braxiatel did, contradicting Tears of the Oracle.
At the end of Theatre of War, the Doctor realizes that Braxiatel out-manipulated him, so he promptly vanishes without saying hello to Braxiatel.
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The Empire of Glass is the only story with substantial scenes between Braxiatel and the Doctor. Both the Doctor and Braxiatel are much, much younger in this story. The suggestion that they are siblings is reinforced. The running game in the novel seems to be dodging mentioning the relationship between the Doctor and Braxiatel.
Dodge 1.
"You know of the Doctor?" he said to Vicki eventually.
"I travel with him," she said. "And you know him?"
"We are... acquainted," Braxiatel said, frowning slightly.
Dodge 2.
"You're very much like the Doctor, you know?" she said.
"I should hope so," Braxiatel said, affronted, "after all, we are -"
Dodge 3.
"Braxiatel, you say?" He half-turned towards the window. "Braxiatel, here?"
"You know this man?" Marlowe said, stepping forward.
"Yes, yes," the Doctor fussed, waving his hand at the man. "Yes, Braxiatel is my... Well, well, well. Things are suddenly becoming a little clearer."
This bit says the Doctor left first, but as Tears of the Oracle was written by Brax's creator and Empire of Glass wasn't, I prioritize Oracle over Empire. Clearly Brax was just humouring the little bro.
The tension between sibling love and sibling hatred is also clearly outlined here.
And: “You always were over-confident, Braxiatel, even as a child.”
And: "Yes," he said simply. "I've been arrogant and foolish."
"And not for the first time, hmm?" said the Doctor superciliously.
Vicki also takes note of the similarity between them:
And more sibling ribbing!
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The last one I just found horribly endearing.
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And then at the actual cricket game:
Which is essentially the end of it for that one. Aside from the actual cricket-playing.
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As a side note, these have all been warm, sibling-y quotes of love and affection and bickering. There are a handful of indications of much more bitterness on Braxiatel's part. When he is talking to Benny about how he programmed attacking robots to play techno music, he says, "Well, they needed something. And I recalled that charming night on the Hacienda on the night of the Martian invasion. Oh, but you were in London, weren't you, running after the---"
He's referring to the events of The Dying Days. And he sounds very bitter about it. He also sounds really jealous in this one of the adventures the Doctor had with Benny.
He also sounds really bitter and angry about Gallifrey in this one, which is weird, given that he would sell his entire beloved Collection for it. In "Midrash," Ash talks about how Braxiatel wanted to have adventures and be a legend. I tend to assume that Braxiatel has always envied the Doctor for his adventures, and that after the Axis Occupation, he let his bitterness at being abandoned by the Doctor and Gallifrey get the bitter of him without realizing it. + Pandora feeding off of that bitterness, no doubt. So goes my headcanon.
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That is what canon provides as trufax, while the Doctor popping in from time to time + Braxiatel keeping an eye on the Doctor's adventures seems to be suggested, but is never given explicitly. Much like their actual relationship, for that matter.
I think I'm done spamming you now.
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I will say that I definitely subscribe to Brax as the older brother to the Doctor. The Doctor as the little brother just makes more sense, especially if he got all pouty about being out-manipulated. (Besides, as the oldest sibling, I'd so do that to my little brother >.> If, you know, put in a situation where such a thing would be necessary.)
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He did! Benny and Ace mock him for the pouting, it's adorable. (If you were an older sibling in charge of a collection and could use your little brother as a piece in a xanatos gambit.... I'm sure it could come up!!! I would too.)
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And what do you think happened to Brax in the Time War? Would the Doctor have heard details about his death, would he have been there? Or would Romana (or someone similar) have kept those details from him? Or...any other option I'm just not thinking of?
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Spoiler for S5 of Doctor Who: Brax is controlling the crack and using it to sweep up continuity errors. And also to give me a headache!
Okay, so my "OH MY GOD. I DON'T KNOW. WHAT. THIS IS RIDICULOUS. AUGH," aside, Brax would have been with Romana for the Time War, because you may or may not have noticed but he's a little attached to her. Soooo, what do you think happened to Romana during the Time War?
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That. I can believe. (Though if they want to sweep up continuity errors, they have over 45 years of things to clean up... In my opinion.)
*pets* I had to ask. Better to ask than assume and marry you to things that make you flail like, um, well that actually! And him? Attached to Romana? Why, wherever would anyone get that idea? *whistles*
All right. My thoughts on Romana and the Time War... The short version is: As the Time War wore on and stuff was being destroyed left and right and the Eternals fled the universe (sadly without a musical montage thanking them for the fish), the Time Lords decided that bringing back Rassilon was a Good Thing and Romana was deposed or forced to step down, never minding the good things she did in the past greatly outweighed the bad. Some of the Time Lords who hadn't gone over to Team Batshit with Rassilon in the lead had continued to fight in the same way as they had been while Rassilon unleashed all those awful horrors of horrors mentioned in EoT that I'm completely forgetting the names of right at the moment. And meanwhile, speaking of, someone or a group of sane Time Lords found The Moment and it was ultimately Romana who gave the order to the Doctor, knowing he was the only one able to do it. Now whether she was one of the people in shame who had to hide their faces (ala The Woman in White) or she'd managed to escape being held captive on Gallifrey in the final days of the war, she was still able to issue that command somehow.
I don't subscribe to the Woman in White being the Doctor's mother because that idea, frankly, is just a bunch of crap and doesn't make a lick of sense. (And I'd argue that if he got on with his mother like that, then why not bring her along with him when he first left Gallifrey? Or are Time Lords too cool to travel with their moms? And now I'm picturing a woman cleaning a bit schmutz off of the First Doctor's face and thoroughly embarrassing him in front of the early Daleks or Marco Polo and yeah that's probably why he never brought his mom.) In all the important women Time Lords they could have used, why not Romana? Or Susan? Or Thalia or Flavia? Hell, I'd be more willing to buy Ace-as-a-regenerated-Time Lady than I would his mother. Plus I just don't like getting into things of the Doctor's past like that. I like how Brax has been treated as plausible and alluded to and he makes far more sense. Of the possible people, I like to think the Woman in White really was Romana. She seems the most likely to interfere with things during EoT than anyone else. And, most likely, by the time she was caught, anyone who had been helping her was caught and punished with the Silly Overly-Powered Glove of Rassilon, but the Doctor was too slippery to have been caught. Romana might have even allowed herself to be caught on purpose to give the others time to get away, but perhaps the Doctor was the only one to succeed. That or it didn't matter who else escaped; the Moment was with the Doctor and that was the only thing that mattered.
So, um...yeah, that's my thoughts on it. ^^; I probably forgot things, but...that's basically it. What do you think happened to her?
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(It's a very busy crack.)
That makes sense. Also I snorted about his mother. Oh Doctor. But! I do subscribe to the theory that Romana was in charge and then ended up deposed. Braxiatel would support Romana until the bitter end, so either he was eliminated before she was deposed (since people seem to like to wait around until he's gone before they get rid of her) or he'd have been scheming and manipulating to get Romana into the position she needed to be in to 1) give the Doctor the Blow Up Stuff Device and 2) tell the Doctor to be a not!idiot and shoot the diamond.
Knowing Brax, he could actually manipulate events into getting Romana where she wanted to be from beyond the grave. He certainly manages to do it while off-planet and in exile.
FUN FACT: Braxiatel's original plan for Gallifrey was apparently to make Romana and Narvin think they were humans and hide them off elsewhere for safekeeping or something. And then obviously this had to be nixed given the fobwatch thing. So there is even the possibility that Brax would fake death and fake Romana's death (and, yes, fake Narvin's death but only if he has to) so he could go hide them somewhere else to survive. Because Brax is a big fat cheater and you know he'd do it.
IN CONCLUSION:
-Brax would have supported Romana through the whole Time War
-he probably was killed before the end
-there is a high probability that his death was Just As Planned
As for the Collection, I guesss that after the end of Gallifrey it's basically done for. But I don't want to think about it. Because I'll start to cry.
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I really wouldn't be surprised if he was able to orchestrate things from beyond the grave like that. I actually rather expect it from him at this point! I am really glad to hear we agree about Romana in charge/getting deposed. It makes life so much easier ^^;
But was that really what he was going to do for Romana and Narvin? O.o For real? Though, I'd really love that there was some way they managed to fake their deaths and escape.
Sounds good! But it really is sad to think of the Collection like that...
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On Outpost Gallifrey, Gary Russel said, My plan was a one-off, two disc release where Braxiatel sent Romana and Narvin off to the far corners of the galaxy, using Gallifreyan technology to ensure they had no memory of who or what they were until the Time War was over. Then he'd dispatch Leela and K9 to bring 'em back and look into trying to rebuild everything.
Kind of been scuppered on that whole idea now...
So, yes. It would be totally Brax's style to hide them away for their own safety. Possibly without their consent.
Why did he sell it, oh woe. He should have sold... anything else. Like the rest of the Vega system.
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...I'm hrm. I'm unsure what to make of that other than wow, nice to know Gary Russell was so on the ball that he predicted the sort of technology that would later become canon. Thumbs up to him!
I wouldn't expect him to ask for their consent, especially not Narvin's.
Well it makes me wonder why sell everything. I doubt even Arkadian was that expensive considering the sort of things in the Collection. *sighs at him*
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I'm very proud of Gary Russell and feel this vaguely vindicates all the fobwatch!Romana stories, of which there are of course many.
He owns the Ark of the Covenant, for, er, God's sake, I guess would be the appropriate oath. That alone should have bought him anything he wanted. Maybe he feels terribly guilty about what happens to Jason (sob!) and, er, all those counts of genocide, so he sells it as penitence.
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Yeah, exactly! Though awww, him doing that to atone...
I have a feeling when I get to Jason's death, I will cry. I just started season 5 the other day and he's being ridiculously cute with Peter. Damn him for having those moments ;_;
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now I quietly weep
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And damn the set up of these audios! I really wanted to hear Brax's reaction to what happened to Benny during The Draconian Rage! *flails at it* That was so awful ;_; Ohmygod.
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"Benny! You're ba---... ... ..."
"'They want you, Benny. They want your expertise, Benny. It had nothing to do with Tranagus, Benny. What could go wrong, Benny?'"
"Ahh, no, I'd never say 'what could go wrong.' You know how I feel about clichés."
"Get me a goddamned brandy right this second, Irving Braxiatel, or I'll put a hole in your head!"
And then, knowing Brax, he coddled her for a week until she got sick of him and ran off to hang out with Sea Devils. And then the Collection was invaded. What a bad year!
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