Entry Twenty-three - Vexibar, Paris, Mandizalinskasoso & Time Vortex

Blogging is like visiting home. I've always got the best intentions, and I always manage to get, well... distracted.

Anyway, though, I will try to get better.

After dropping off Ariella, the Doctor and I tooled around the Vexibar system for awhile. Cold planet, unsurprisingly. But beautiful. Women Wept was beautiful because everyone had frozen so immediately, with giant waves and everything... but what made Vexibar beautiful was that it was just completely still. Besides the dots made by our shoes and the square from the TARDIS, the whole surface of the planet was pristine snow. Untouched. Not every windy.

Here's us, or well... me and a foot:


And here's Vexibar:


There were expanses of tunnel underneath the surface that went on for miles and miles. Whole shops, and restaurants and home. It was very impressive. We ate at on of the restaurants but it was a bit difficult because the only thing on the menu that could be digested by the humanoid gastric system was this thing that was made out of the internal organs of a sort of sheep/goat like creature called an Arg. And smelled like the internal organs of a sheep/goat. I got two bites down. The Doctor only got one. We ate biscuits and drank Pepsi on the TARDIS instead.

Then, after that, we spun round to an Earth colony, circa 230,000 to get a proper meal (he's never admit it but I am sure all the biscuits and fizzy drinks were starting to upset the Doctor's stomach). For the record; the crustaceans on Paris (Earth colony, named for the Earth city, now I've been to two Parises! Top that, Romanadvoratrelundar!) are brilliant! Especially with herb butter. What can I say, I'm not a huge lobster connoisseur, we don't have a lot of that in our council flat. And flourless chocolate soufflé? Yeah, the Doctor had two servings.

And the temperature on Paris is gorgeous! We got this amazing room at this amazing (great use of the word amazing there, yeah?) hotel thanks to psychic paper and the need for hotel inspectors. I've never seen a more brilliant room. It was HUGE and had two loos and a bed the size of one of those cars on the London Eye. We used it as a trampoline. And then it had about three balconies which were perfect for throwing water balloons (it's incredible, the things he keeps in those pockets). We had a bit of a relaxing time there, the Doctor read about six books and walked around the main city area about fifty times looking for trouble. I sunbathed by the pool of the hotel and told him to call me on my mobile if something came up. It didn't. Then we went on this waterfall tour were we had to go on this transport for about two hours both directions listening to muzak of Cats but the waterfall was so worth it. It's even bigger than Angel Falls, which is apparently in Venezuela and 979 m high. For the ride back we bought candy floss.

And then, finally (!), we ran into some trouble on Mandizalinskasoso (I had to ask him to spell that three times). It seemed that they were about to have the coronation for the young prince who was about to become king. There was some sort of weirdness going on involving the disappearance of the princess and a wily councilor , who seemed just a bit too eager to take the prince's place. As it turned out in the end the Princess was being held captive by the councilor who was planning on poisoning the Prince, forcing marriage on the Princess, and ruling the planet. Thwarted, of course, when I went snooping around (says the Doctor, I say... I was getting a tour from Prince Renard and took a wrong turn, I'll let you decide who was telling the truth) and heard the Princess banging her chairs against a metal pipe. Then the Doctor drank the cup of poison before Renard could (it was all very Tinkerbell... later I clapped my hands together and said 'I do believe in the Doctor, I do, I do!' He laughed). He was fine, of course, superior phyisiology and all, though he did give the royal family a bit of a scare.

We got front row seats to the coronation and the Doctor was convinced that Renard fancied me. I said he didn't, and the Doctor bet me five quid that he did. I lost, but I got a really pretty necklace in the process. Don't worry, I gave it back, and I'll pay up with the Doctor pays me for a bet we made in Scotland, 1879. And for another in Orleana, 3054.

After all that, we come to today. We decided on a Do Nothing Day, and this time we planned ahead and got a couple of pizzas from 1940's New York City (where Tony will work years from now) so that we really wouldn't have to leave the TARDIS. It's basically just a challenge at this point. There's no real reason to stay in the TARDIS all day long except to prove that we can. This is what I have done today:

-Read trashy magazines.
-Put them away properly so that the TARDIS will not be displeased, we all know how to likes to complain about me in her blog (:-P TARDIS).
- Snoop around the library.
-Found nothing worth reading (he's moved his 500 Year Diary).
-Started reading Jane Austen.
-Got bored.
-Made banana bread (BIG hit).
-Tidied my room.
-Tidied the console room.
-Tidied the galley.
-Got yelled at for tidying the console room (I'm sorry those Jelly Babies were at least 50 years old and deserved to become acquainted with the bin! Besides, Jelly Babies are completely disgusting).
-Hopped on one foot for a as long as I could while the Doctor laughed his head off (23 seconds).
-Timed the Doctor hopping on one foot for as long as he could (I gave up after five minutes).
-Watched the Doctor fix some sort of interdimentional gradient loop thing.


-Read more trashy magazines in the library and then fell asleep for 48.3 minutes (or so I am told, the Doctor makes a very good pillow).
-Realised the best thing to do on said Do Nothing Day would be to blog.
-Blogged.


Until next time.

Oh, PS. I asked the Doctor if Romana was his old girlfriend, he rolled his eyes and said no. I am not sure if I believe him. Exhibit A:


And, ahem!, Exhibit B:


The prosecution rests.

Entry Twenty-two - Jacowitz

When I woke up for breakfast Ariella was already drinking a cuppa in the galley and the Doctor wasn't anywhere to be found. This is not entirely unusual. Besides getting into trouble and saving planets I think that his favourite activity in the universe is TARDIS repair, which takes place pretty much anywhere within it's voluminous size.

I made eggs and beans and toast and served up two helpings. "I have to leave," Ariella finally said and I frowned.

"Really? Why?"

"I need," she sighed and then started over, "Jacowitz needs me."

I shook my head, "But we can drop you off right when we got you."

It was obvious that she knew I was going to say that before I said it, though with Ari that's just par for course. "I know that. I really do know that, but it's just... the last time I travelled with you I was so young. I knew I had responsibilities, but I couldn't quite fathom what that really meant. Now it's so different. Now, I can feel my people inside my head, I can speak to them, they speak to me. I'm connected with them and the planet. I know how they need me, and I need them."

I was a bit sad, but I understood. It all made sense and everything but that didn't mean I wouldn't miss her.

"I'll miss you too," she said.

I paused and then smiled, "It's a little creepy when you do that."

She smiled that brilliant smile of hers, "I try not to, you know. But it's hard for me, I forget. It's hard. I hear all kinds of things."

I blanched slightly wondering what it was that she meant by that. Plus, well I didn't entirely want her digging through my mind, there are things in there. Private things. "Yeah?" I said.

She laughed, "Nothing bad! Really. I just, well, you know, if you ever want to talk about things I'm always here, well, not here but I'll always be there. For you."

I smiled and nodded, I knew.

"Good," she said. I rolled my eyes, but smiled anyway and she laughed. "I'd say the same to him."

"Oh, why? What have I done now?" the Doctor said from the doorway, buttoning up the sleeves of his shirt.

"You missed breakfast," I said.

His face fell, "Oh, no, really?"

I laughed at how crestfallen he really looked, "I'm kidding. There's more eggs, the kettle's full, and I can pop more break in the toaster. More importantly, Ari has something to tell you."

He was halfway through pouring a cup of tea before looked at Ariella, "Oh," he said and put down the mug. "Okay."

"Oh, don't be like that, I'll always be here in spirit," she laughed and the Doctor put on the falsest smile I've ever seen.

She wrinkled her nose and then reached her hand out and touched his temple and they proceeded to have a kind of conversation apparent only as their expressions changed and ended when Ariella laughed. I felt a bit left out, actually.

But then the Doctor served himself up some breakfast and we talked about happy things while trying not to think about Ariella leaving us. Though, of course, it was inevitable. And we could always go visit her soon. So after we'd eaten, dressed properly (yeah that was all me, I like my breakfast in my jim jams), and played a rousing game of Snakes and Ladders, the Doctor put the coordinates for Jacowitz into the console and a moment later I nearly flew across the console room as the TARDIS jerked its way to Ariella's home planet.

We opened up the doors to chaos. We were in the throne room and Ariella immediately saw all her advisors present but there were masses of other people everywhere. It took me a minute to realise that they were all the slaves from the Antalusian ship, and then only because they were wearing the bracelet teleporters. They must have just arrived. An idea what was only supported by the unconcious Antalusians on the floor, who were already cuffed and being hauled into custody by some very cool looking rhino headed things.

Ariella sprang into action immediately with an efficiently that left both me and the Doctor impressed. Really, we exchanged grinny looks and everything. It wasn't like we hadn't seen Ariella in action before, we had helped out with a couple of Sontaran invasions not to mention Antalusians, but most of the time she was so calm and graceful that you'd forget how impressive she can be. She told her advisors to get the refugees to the hospital wing as they hadn't been treated properly, and to get them all a square meal.

Before, when I was with them, they'd been in a sort of coma like sleep state. But now they were definitely awake and they were sort of panicky, but they were all corralled away to the hospital wing and Ariella began to make arrangements to have them taken to a planet called something like Samu where they could be educated and then taken into functioning society. It was all so quick that I hardly had a chance to register much of anything. And then Kit was standing in front of me.

"Rose!" he said, "It worked, thank you, everyone's free and everyone's safe. I don't know how you did it!"

I smiled, I was genuinely happy to see him (even if I definitely don't fancy him). "I didn't do anything, not really," I said, and then gestured vaguely, "It was mostly him."

"Oh, I don't know about that, couldn't have done it without you," the Doctor said, shoving his hands in his pockets in the way that he does and clicked his tongue a bit.

It reminded me of when we'd first met this bloke called Adam (he was very pretty but was pretty lame when it came to adventuring) and the Doctor let me impress him by telling me where we were so that I could deduct it for Adam. I wasn't as good at deducting things then. Now, I'm brilliant, if I do say so myself. But he didn't have to do that, the Doctor I mean, I wasn't all that interested in impressing Kit.

"Yeah, he probably could of," I said.

"Nah, she's just being modest," the Doctor said.

"I'm not," I said.

Then the Doctor opened his mouth to say something else, probably a cheeky remark repudiating what I'd just said, like he does, but Kit broke in then, big old grin. "Is this your copulation partner then?" he asked me and I think my mouth dropped about fifty feet (if that were possible). We were both silent for a moment and then Ariella started laughing from across the room. In fact she was laughing so hard that I thought she was going to hurt herself.

My mouth was still hanging open and Kit was looking at me curiously, I could not turn my head to look at the Doctor, I was sure he was right horrified. "Um, no, Kit, he's just... we're just mates, friends, we travel together, but it's not like that." Which was probably one of my less eloquent sentences. Basically I wanted to die.

It was at this point that I became aware that the Doctor was laughing. And Ari was shooting me very amused looks from across the room.

Kit looked a bit confused, but said nothing. Instead he just thanked me again and then I gave him a hug, which Ariella took a photo of:


And then he went on his way with the rest of his people. He'd go, get a meal and be looked at by Ari's medical team and then he'd be educated and get to start all over again. I knew he'd be brilliant. Once everyone was cleared out of the throne room Ariella, who was still giggling, came back over and jabbed me lightly in the arm with her elbow and laughed again.

I shook my head, "Get out of my head!" I said, but not offended.

She smiled and I smiled and shook my head again and then we linked arms and went in to tea, the Doctor trailing behind us. I love Jacowitz food, they have little crustless sandwiches, and brilliant fairy cakes, and banana donuts of course, and they make the best soup I have ever tasted, and this lovely juice made from Jacowitzian fruit called Horalb (but no wine due to an incident once upon a time that no one needs ever hear the tale of). It was a gorgeous tea, overall, and we ate slowly cause once we were finished we knew that it'd be time for us to take off in the TARDIS and Ari to go back to her job. But even the three of us couldn't prolong it forever and eventually the table was cleared and it was time to go.

Hugs were exchanged, and promises were made that we'd see each other soon (but those promises are always made and always broken). Then the Doctor took my hand and we went back into the TARDIS.

"Rose Tyler and pretty boys," he said doing that little sniffing thing he does and then grinned even though I knew he was just a sorry that Ariella was leaving as I was.

I rolled my eyes, playing along, "Need I remind you of a certainly lady known as Reinette?" He pulled a face, "I didn't think so."

He laughed a bit and the poked me in the ribs and I poked him back and then he took the TARDIS and spun it into the Vortex.



Things I Have Learned About Romanadvoratrelundar:

- She was (is) a Time Lord... or, what do they call a female Time Lord? Time Lady, perhaps?

- She was the Doctor's assistant while finding the Key to Time (still unclear on what that's meant to be.

- She could choose what she wanted her regenerations to look like (need to ask about this more).

- She regenerated for fun (?).

- Her second regeneration got along absurdly well with the Doctor's fourth regeneration.

- She stayed in E-Space to help rebuild it.

- She became Madame President of Gallifrey.

- She realised that the Mona Lisa had not eyebrows.

- She looked like this (thank you TARDIS):


and like this:


Until next time.

Entry Twelve - France (1900)

So I was in the TARDIS library today (it's very extensive, I assure you) poking about because the Doctor refused to land us anywhere, he said I needed a bit more time to recover fully before any extraneous activity. And it is a fair point to note that I still wasn't feeling by absolute best and that even if we tried to go to some nice pleasure planet we'd more than likely still end up embroiled in some sort of... something that requires running, to say the least. He even let me sleep in, and then made me breakfast (okay he can cook. Specifically, he can cook some brilliant pancakes).

Then he started fiddling with the console, actually... that was adorable... he had this sort of head lamp thing and these magnifying spectacle attachments and if anyone else in the known universe had ever worn that in front of me I would have teased mercilessly, as it was I only teased a little. But eventually I ran out of trashy magazines, put them away neatly, and decided it was time to find a book in that behemoth of a library we've got. So I was going through all that and what do I find? That's right, 500 Year Diary. Of course I'd never invade the Doctor's privacy like that (...right?) but I didn't immediately know what it was so I cracked it open to find out and then I had to scan a page or two before I understood. So what do I discover? I've been going on and on about how I've never properly been to Paris and he's gone with someone called Romana. Now obviously this isn't exactly cause for jealousy or anything, but... no I wasn't jealous. Not at all.

So I went back to the console room, 500 Year Diary in hand, and tapped my foot on the grated floor until he came sliding out from under the console looking his adorably dorkiest.

"What?" he asked and then got all wide eyed at what I was holding in my hand. "Did you read that?"

That was when I started to feel a bit guilty, "Umm, no. Not really. Okay, I read maybe two pages but I didn't know it was your diary or anything, I just thought it was this massive volume of... I dunno."

The Doctor frowned a bit drawing his eyebrows together in the way that he does but then just as quickly grinned one of those grins and I ventured to smile too. "I suppose... I wouldn't really mind, I just- I haven't seen that thing in years, decades probably."

"Well," I cleared my throat, "on the two pages I read it mentions something about Paris and someone called Romana, and- does the Mona Lisa really not have eyebrows?"

He seemed very amused over that and in the end he decided that if I really wanted to go to Paris then we'd go to Paris, and if we were going to Paris (and I had a killer outfit waiting in the wings) then why not kill two birds with one stone.

We went to the Exposition Universelle in 1900 Paris.


I'd never been to a World's Fair before. Unsurprisingly really seeing as though the fad apparently died out around the forties, but it was brilliant. There were all kinds of inventions there, things that were common place now, well, in my time, and others that just looked downright archaic. But everyone was so impressed and in awe that it was hard to see them as anything other than ingenious. They talked about the first talking film, they introduced Campbell's soup, and publicised the escalator. But the Doctor's favourite bit was, unsurprisingly, the massive telescope that he told me was still the largest telescope in the world in my time. I didn't tell him so, but I thought it was quite cool too, though hardly bite sized.


After we'd had our fill of the fair the Doctor decided that if we were in Paris we had to have a meal, so we went to this posh restaurant (after a spin back to the TARDIS though cause even the Doctor had the common sense to change into the great tux of doom) that was supposed to be a very good example of the Belle Epoque, which we were apparently in. I hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast (which was about twelve hours ago at this point, but I was wearing a corset so...). It all felt a bit like Gigi and I said so. The Doctor pretended to have no idea what I was talking about but later I heard him humming 'The Night they Invented Champagne'. I gave him this expression.


Afterwards we walked around a little more. It really was beautiful and everything I had hoped that it would be. But then the Doctor got a 'hankering' for a crêpe so we jumped into the TARDIS and popped forward about a hundred years before stopping at a crêperie at the bottom of the Eiffel Tower. We both got chocolate and banana, and I ate the whole thing looking up at the Tower. It looked exactly the same as it had in 1900, except maybe the hydraulic lifts were a bit newer. We finished the crêpes and then he sighed and asked if I wanted to go up. I did. So we did.

As we looked out over Paris, I asked him if he'd ever been up before and he said he did once, with Romana. I didn't ask who she was.

Just before we went back to the TARDIS a little boy with a balloon tied to his wrist came up to us and asked us if we were in a film, it took me far too long to realise he meant cause I was still all dolled up for 1900. The Doctor said that we were and to hold on for the special effects. Then we went into the TARDIS and took off.

Until next time.