Video/action

[guitar_hero]

[the camera turns on to the Doctor sitting on his desk in the lecture hall, one leg tucked under the other, reading a book. On the whiteboard is written "Astrophysics" in neat handwriting.

The class, unseen behind the camera is rustling and yawning, murmuring quietly. After a moment, the Doctor clears his throat and the class quiets.]

Not from the stars do I my judgement pluck;
And yet methinks I have Astronomy.

[he wiggles his hand back and forth]

But not to tell of good or evil luck,
Of plagues, of dearths, of season's quality;
Not can I fortune to brief minutes tell,
Pointing to each his thunder, rain and wind.

[gestures around the room.]

Or say with princes if it shall go well
By oft predict that I in heaven find:

[he looks straight into the camera, as if staring at someone beyond it who is watching. Intense. Direct]

But from thine eyes my knowledge I derive
And, constant stars, in them I read such an art [he places a hand over his heart]

As truth and beauty shall together thrive,
If from thyself, to store thou wouldst convert;

Or else of thee this I prognosticate:

[he lowers his eyes]

Thy end is truth's and beauty's doom and date.

[he lets silence fall as if waiting for something. Finally a reedy male voice asks if this is literature class and the Doctor looks up]

No. But I'm so very glad you asked. Good question, Johnny. [the student starts to speak as if correcting the name but the Doctor goes on without him] This is, as is so helpfully written on the board, Astrophysics.

So why, dear Professor, you ask, are you reading us such a lovely and well constructed sonnet in your melodic tones which would make bards bite their lutes in half from envy?



Allow me to tell you

[he snaps the book shut and rises from the desk] First, lets look at the man behind the words.

William Shakespeare. [he writes the name on the board] Born April 21st, 1564, in Stratford-on-Avon in England, on the planet Earth in what is sometimes known colloquially as the Sol System of the Milky Way-- or in certain bars in Regulus: Invasion Central.

[he begins to draw the solar system on the board]

He was a playwright, poet, actor, general man about town and latent fan of J.K. Rowling hundreds of years before she was born.

[he makes a dot in the third planet from the sun as if locating the very birthplace before turning back to the class and pacing, watching them]

Other lines of his?

Doubt thou the stars are fire;
Doubt that the sun doth move;
Doubt truth to be a liar;
But never doubt my love for you.

Hamlet, Act two, scene two.

Or:

I am as constant as the northern star,
Of whose true-fixed and resting quality
There is no fellow in the firmament.

Julius Ceaser, Act three, scene one

For those lovers in the audience?

O, swear not by the moon, the fickle moon, the inconstant moon, that monthly changes her circle orb,
Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.

Romeo and Juliet, Act two, scene two

My personal favorite:

By being seldom seen, I could not stir
But like a comet I was wondered at

Henry IV, Part one, act three


So what's special about these? At least in terms of Astrophysics, his grasp of astronomy is basic at least, frivolous at worst. And, like Johnny

["Carlisle!"]

so helpfully pointed out, this is not, in fact, literature.

But listen to how Shakespere expresses these terms, how evocative it is. The universe is not just some cold arid place ruled by maths and unreachable stars-- no, it's a place full of wonder. Of mystery. Of emotion. Connection.

The moon is not just an empty rocky satellite, it is a woman in love, but fickle, changing monthly. The northern star is not just some speck of light, it is the guiding light. The one that carries ships to shore, regardless of season, a star of homecoming and outgoing and constance.

To understand astrophysics is to understand that you and I and everyone else, even in this pocket dimension with unfamiliar stars, are connected, not only to the place we are standing, not only to each other, but to the universe itself. In essence we are not just studying out there, but ourselves. How we came to be, how we change, evolve, through evolution, culture, time everything that makes us who we are.

So for that reason, words are very important. In this class, you will not only learn astrophysics, aside from whatever else I choose to cram your heads with, but learn how to speak about it to others, learn how to teach and who knows? William's words are still heard and learned and loved thousands of years after his death. Yours could last even longer.

[he perches on his desk once more and looks at the classroom and then at the camera]

Any questions?

Comments

[bigbadrose]

[Rose is sucking on a pen, testing it's recording capacity and working on marketing, though she still found a way to make it to this (mostly by using it for her job of course) and really REALLY wishing 12 wasn't married.]

[All the wishing.]

[OR if he was gonna be married, that she wasn't madly head over heels for him.]

[Don't look at her.]

[She's working.]

[Hand raise.]

Did 'e know or guess at the sounds out of Earth's atmosphere? Comets, and stars, and the moon are all visible, but if stars are fire, did he think they made sound too?

[Sucks on her pen cap.]

[If she busts her mic with saliva she can say it wasn't durable enough in the field... right?]

[guitar_hero]

[He had noticed what she was doing. She's hard to miss even when he's avoiding her. He faintly entertains the notion of asking her out to di-- tea because she's clearly hungry but decides that since it will end disastrously as always, better off avoiding it]

I didn't think to ask him at the time-- But, since you brought it up, they do, in fact make sounds. Everything in the universe does one way or another. Listen.

[he pulls his sonic screwdriver from his pocket and plugs it into a little box he had on his desk that anyone could assume was a paper weight. After a second the pulsing music of Earth's sun fills the lecture hall.]

[bigbadrose]

[She closes her eyes, just savoring it, leaning back and listening.]

[guitar_hero]

That? The sound of a star. Earth's sun in particular. They are translated vibrations of the sun's coronal loops which vibrate transversely as if you're playing a guitar and longitudinally like a recorder. The rush of what sounds like air is caused by the convection happening in the sun.

[he watches Rose for a second before looking away]

Everything has something that can be translated aurally. [he flicks his ear for example] Even time. [and he changes the setting so a different noise fills the hall.]

[bigbadrose]

[She grins and meets his eyes about the guitar and recorder, he would say that, and she just barely refrains from giggling, and he looks away.]

Time's beautiful.

[She hadn't meant to say that out loud.]

Video

[im_with_stupid]

[He asked her not to attend, so she wasn't, and she was not going to reply either. She wanted to just shut it off, but she heard a message in it and listened despite herself. Spoilers. Message received, Doctor. She'd try to do better. So... Amy is watching, but not responding. She is there, and ready to apologize to him for it, if need be, later.]

[And truth to be told, after the end being beautiful bit, she kind of half tuned out anyway.]

[guitar_hero]

[he'd be glad she's getting something at least]

[donovan_deegan]

The bard had just arrived recently and was wandering, learning, sharing stories. This... Ah this was interesting. His son was a researcher, who researched science and magic. His wife was a magical scholar and former headmaster of the university. Luna was still working at the university. So even though he wasn't a scientist himself, the class had drawn him in. And then the poetic words? He heard them to music as he listened.

The older man with the grey hair had stopped in the doorway and was leaning against it, wearing an eye-smartingly pink jacket... and once that drew eyes, the guitar slung across his back was very noticeable to anyone else who shreds on an axe.

The older man raised his hand when the Doctor asked if there were any questions. "If Roses have thorns, and silver fountains mud; If Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun, Will you grade these poor kids easily, since it follows then that all men make faults?"

Donovan would match anyone, poem for poem and happily so. And he was planning to find out if he could audit this class.

[guitar_hero]

While he was always down for a poetry slam, there was no point in getting the students hopes up. In fact he hadn't decided his grading yet since he tended to do that by judging by how much effort they put into any given assignment. Also it made him realize that anyone could stop by the door and try to be clever. Something to keep in mind.

"Who says they're poor kids? I respect their intelligence and will grade accordingly." He gestures. "Care to step inside and learn with them?"

[donovan_deegan]

"I would be honored to learn from one such as you. And is it not that in some ways each of us is poor and each of us is in other ways rich?" He asked with a grin as he found a seat. He swung his guitar to the front so it could rest in his lap, so he could sit without damaging it.

[guitar_hero]

He wonders if this is the kind of clever man who can't bear not to be. He certainly seems to like to show off a bit despite the praise.

"We're all poor in knowledge. Always room to grow. What do you know of astrophysics?" Just so they're all on roughly the same level.

[donovan_deegan]

"Ah, that we are. Thus you pour the knowledge in. As to astrophysics, little to nothing, but even with pretty words, the knowledge behind them ought to be the star."

Yes. He just said that.

[text]

[vicious_slice]

You humans sure do like to wax poetic about stuff. I'm not saying it's wrong, but everything you said is had for me to wrap my brain around. When you're a combat robot, you tend to see things in binary: target or ally. Metaphor gets lost at that point. But that thing about everything being connected... I think I get that. I wouldn't exist without my creator, and he wouldn't have a reason to create me without people he wanted to oppose. He got inspired by the things around him. It's all a kind of cause and effect thing, right?

[text]

[guitar_hero]

More than that, where do you think your components came from? Whatever you're made of, it originated from particles blown off by the stars, or bits of debris fusing together under the pull of their own gravity and creating the ground you stand on.

As for your creator, perhaps. Though I've known creators to make things just because they could, without regard to their use. Perhaps it's up to you to find your own way.

However, to your first point, poetry is near universal. Humans are not the only ones with silver tongues.

[text]

[vicious_slice]

No... my creator definitely had something specific in mind. But wow, I never looked at it like that before. I'm not sure what to think about it. And... I've met a nonhuman before I came here, but he was an alien machine. He wasn't really the type to be concerned with the arts, either.

[text]

[guitar_hero]

What makes you think you're talking to a human right now?

[video]

[mira_strauss]

[Mirajane was still curious about him after he'd so rudely brushed her off before. His younger selves didn't seem too bad all things considering, but captain sod off was another beast. She casually watched his lecture from her phone while drinking tea at a lovely little cafe, and after he'd finished his lecture and asked if there were any questions she couldn't help but comment.]

It's no wonder everyone seems to speak so highly of you.

[He did seem to have quite a love for the universe if not certain individuals that dwell in it.]

[guitar_hero]

[oh, it's her. He's not sure how to take the compliment and he can't think of how to reply to it-- just that she's connected to current issues and any reply is like stepping into a minefield.

And since he's no reason to go traipsing through a mine field today he is just going to do what he usually does in this kind of situation and ignore her as hard as he can]

[mira_strauss]

[Sadly, she's come to expect this from him. She also technically didn't compliment him, she simply stated that it was little wonder everyone else seemed to speak highly of him... though it's easy to see how that could be confused for a compliment. Mirajane's just going to continue watching him and his lecture, calmly sipping her tea as she observes.

...

Siiiiiip.]

[spacepeterpan]

Well, reassuring, I s'pose, nice to see some things never really change.

[The Doctor smiles to himself at his older self's riff on beauty and connectedness in the cosmic order. Dour as this unexpected, gray-haired version can be (among other concerns), he really wasn't sure what to expect.

...nonetheless, he can't just say something nice to himself without slipping in at least a half-playful barb.]

Still can't resist a soliloquy, eh?

[guitar_hero]

[oh look, the peanut gallery. He'd almost forgotten he wasn't the only self here. He sort of wishes he can do that again.]

Soliloquizing is what they pay me for. [spreads his hands then takes a sip of tea] It's going to be a rather boring fifty years leading up to it, let me tell you.

[spacepeterpan]

Ha, that what happened t'you, then?

[After all, this Doctor can barely sit still for fifty seconds before he gets antsy, maybe fifty years would turn him gray.

...of course, he has no idea how long he will end up in one place, but then he couldn't really have fathomed it back then, could he?]

Oi, you didn't forget how to work the TARDIS again, did you?

[Never mind that the Time Lords were involved, last time--he's got some legit concerns about Eyebrows' memory.]

[guitar_hero]

[No, and yes, more specifically it happened to you. Old and new and old again. Long and complicated. Timey wimey. For far too long. Also he wants to smack himself upside the head just for being a little bit of a git about it but the prospect of turning into him is revenge enough]

Yes. Yes I did. Completely slipped my mind. I'll get right in about a hundred years or so.

[Video]

[youfool]

[A considerate person might've waited until after the lecture was over to start. Ted is not that man. He begings with vehement clapping.]

Well done! You can't go wrong with the bard! Goodness, now I'm tempted to sign up for such lectures. George MacDonald said the same kind of thing. Let me remember and paraphrase...

All that man sees has to do with man. Worlds cannot be without an intermundane relationship. The community of the centre of all creation suggests an interradiating connection and dependence of the parts. Else a grander idea is conceivable than that which is already imbodied. The blank, which is only a forgotten life, lying behind the consciousness, and the misty splendour, which is an undeveloped life, lying before it, may be full of mysterious revelations of other connexions with the worlds around us, than those of science and poetry. No shining belt or gleaming moon, no red and green glory in a self-encircling twin-star, but has a relation with the hidden things of a man’s soul, and, it may be, with the secret history of his body as well. They are portions of the living house wherein he abides.

Hah, sounds like a conpsiracy theorist, eh? Everything connected, everything related somehow. Does your class than endeavor to unravel such astral mysteries?

[Video]

[guitar_hero]

[he may interrupt and the Doctor doesn't mind the applause even a little, but he'll reply when he's good and ready and when it's convenient for him.]

A pretty humancentric viewpoint but more or less yes. I haven't heard that quote before, though Lewis spoke fondly of him.

It's not really a theory if it's fact. [everything is. Backward and forward and roundabout time and even interdimensionally]

Well it may come up from time to time as a theme, but I don't see it as the main thrust of it no. On the other hand, maybe. Who knows. I like to play it by ear.