SO there's a trailer out for that Doctor Who videogame:


As Doctor Who videogames go it looks reasonably well done. If I had any of the platforms (and was more interested in the characters) I'd probably want to check it out. Shit, the iPhone game gave me hours of amusement, plus it's neat that they got Matt Smith and Alex Kingston to do the voices.

BUT UGH ROLLING MY EYES SO HARD @ River being dressed in that catsuit she wore once. Because it's not a real videogame unless the female lead is appropriately sexy in a catsuit and has cleavage, amirite.

I also have a fic rec!

still like to go for a train ride ('cause i've got a thing about trains) by cereal
R for sex (I'd probably say PG-13), Ten2/Rose, ~4k words
The Doctor and Rose investigate an alien threat. On a train. 'Clom' is what the Doctor would call a gimme. Probably in every other bowl, even. The holy grail of cereal words -- Raxacoricofallapatorius -- has eluded him thus far, which is just as well, because Rose has promised him a shag on the Manchester United pitch if he pulls it off.

Read it because: Adorable, funny and in-character alien-adventure-fic for Cloen and Rose is becoming an endangered species and this is such a fun one! Simple and fluffy but in-character and funny enough to be engaging. This is how I like to imagine them when I'm not writing fic to ruin their lives.

Lastly, in honour of the beautiful fanart in my previous post, I finally got around to compiling a poll I've been meaning to do for ages: a poll about Doctor Who comic artists' continuing struggle to draw David Tennant.

( Cut because the images are big. And hideous.Collapse )

I. My Christmas break is finally drawing to a close on Monday. I've just got two classes to finish up my degree this semester -- one of them is a seminar with some long title called something like "Science Fact and Science Fiction", and one of them is a linguistics class about writing systems. Further material to form snobby opinions about Gallifreyan? I think so!

Christmas break has been nice, though I'd be lying if I said I wasn't getting a little bit cabin fever-y. Yesterday we finally did our Secret Santa exchange which was a lot of fun. I got a necklace tree stand thing, which is something I wanted, except that most of my necklaces are apparently too long and drag on the dresser anyway? Which seems to defeat the point of the necklace stand. I am not really sure what to do about this since I'm pretty sure my necklaces are all of average length. Wtf.

II. I have spent much of this break watching various things with spud14 and/or firstofoct and sometimes shinyopals. I have learned about both bears and birds thanks to David Tennant and we also watched The Borrowers (with Robert Sheehan & Christopher Eccleston -- very enjoyable) as well as a version of Othello that had Eccleston as "Iago" (and Keeley Hawes as Desdemona). I put Iago in quotation marks because it is one of those modernized versions and his character's name is actually Ben Jaygo or something, but actually it was quite good! Different, but interesting, and eerily topical. Then through Keeley Hawes' Wikipedia page I learned that she's in a version of Canterbury Tales with John Simm and Billie Piper, among others, so clearly I need to witness this as well.

III. I've been trying to make a post for ages but the reality is I have very little to say that is interesting. Here's a quote that's been floating around Tumblr which you may not have seen otherwise, from some book called Doctor Who and Philosophy: Bigger on the Inside:

“Firstly, Rose is neither shallow nor stupid. She doesn’t settle for second best. She gets the person she fell in love with. And, as a bonus, he’s now able to spend the rest of his life with her, as she with him. Secondly, the very same person who experienced the heartbreak of losing Rose for the first time now experiences joy at the prospect of a lifetime in her company. In this full sense, the Doctor who lost, finally wins.”

WELL PUT, ...SOME GUY NAMED PAUL DAWSON. I AGREE. And on that note, a fic rec:

Three Proposals by arliddian
PG; Ten2/Rose
Of all the traits he’d absorbed from Donna Noble, the last thing he'd expected to inherit was a desire to get married.
Read it because: Precious Ten2/Rose fic is becoming rarer but this was wonderful! I would say more but it would all just be synonymous with "adorable".

IV. This post is dull, it needs a meme or something. But I haven't seen any around in ages. You could ask my unpopular opinions I guess..? I don't know if any of them would be surprising to any of you though. I don't even have a fun gif to share. I should've quit while I was behind.

Dear fandom, on the list of "things we don't need", "a male companion as the only companion" is RIGHT THERE NEAR THE TOP. I hate that this is even a possibility. God forbid one of the leads on the show be a woman and god forbid she occasionally seem like she might possibly eclipse the male in importance for a story or two. Doctor Who has enough problems with women without "there isn't any" being added to the list UGH.

On a lighter note, I bring fic recs:

Shadows by kiraboshi
Ten + Donna, G
He turns, leaning a hip against the counter, and crosses his arms. His eyes say anything but ‘Ask me.’ The Doctor and Donna have a chat -- sort of -- after Pompeii.
Read it because: I am super picky about Donna fic, but I liked this. Plus it has the softer, intuitive side of Donna that for whatever reason usually gets overlooked in fanfic. And Ten and Donna! Being bros! Yaayyy!

About the Sun by keep_counting
Ten + Martha + Donna (Ten/Rose), PG
He purchases it before his mind has even caught up with what he’s doing, and it stays in his pocket after that. For a very long time. Even if she's not here to give it to.
Read it because: EVERYONE LOVES ANGSTY TEN RIGHT? (Ha ha.) But actually this fic is sweet and delves into his psyche quite well, and the moments with Martha and Donna are also quite well done and appropriate to those relationships.

I. My alarm did not go off this morning. More specifically, my alarm did not go off because I set it wrong. That is the hazard of having to set your alarm for a different time every day, I guess. So I woke up at 7:45 with class (and a quiz) at 8:30. I live, like, 50ish minutes form campus. HA HA, no. I got to class with 15 minutes left to write the stupid test. Luckily (?) this didn't matter because I had no idea what any of the material was about anyway so GO TEAM RANDOMLY CIRCLING ANSWERS. For real, it was a quiz on the article we had to read for class and the article might have well been written in French for all that I took from it. That in addition to the midterm I had on Monday for which I evidently studied the wrong things, I have basically reached this point:



II. Hey, remember that time they cancelled my seminar and I went to talk to the Faculty and its president and they were all "yeah we'll get on that and let you know"? As far as I can tell they did neither of the above. So I just sent another email being like "um???" Omg just let me into one of your boring seminars so I can graduate and have an existential crisis.

III. If those first two paragraph did not give it away, I am so done with school rn. I had midterms and stuff this week and ugh, so over it tbh. BUT after today I have a week off? Because we get a week off in the fall now ever since... a student... committed suicide a couple years ago. Errrrrr. But a fall break will be nice, even if I have nothing planned and most people I am friends with don't go to my university and do not have a week off. I will probably just sit at home and watch Community and Misfits because that is how cool I am.

IV. On a similar note, Halloween is in eleven days and I have no costume planned or plans... planned. My one friend has hosted a Halloween party every year since we were like 14, but last year's ended in vomit and disaster so she is understandably reluctant. (Though, like, protip? We're all adults, we've all been drinking legally for years, have you considered NOT DRINKING SO MUCH YOU PASS OUT IN YOUR OWN VOMIT? Ugh.) One of my friends suggested "going out" but omg the only thing that appeals less to me than clubbing is clubbing surrounded by ninety Sexy Witches, Sexy Nurses and Sexy Vampires while I am dressed as a pumpkin or whatever the fuck. ...So that is the sad state of my social life rn. lol the other day my mom asked me if I talk to any of my friends anymore. THANKS, MOM.

IV. HAHA this entry turned so bitchy, that was not my intention. I'm just killing time before class at 2:30. Here is a fic rec:

Amy Pond and the Year That Never Was by snowdarkred
~2,700 words, PG-13, Amy, Rory, Martha
She keeps thinking that the Doctor will save her, he will, her raggedy Doctor, but he doesn’t. It’s just Amy and the cold sky, all alone as the human race suffers in the distance.

Does what it says on the tin, basically. I've wondered for a while about Amy in the Year That Wasn't, though admittedly I've mostly just used the opportunity to lol. But this was a good serious take on it, and I like the way the author plays with Amy Pond's magical ability to remember things other people can't.

V. Lastly, I see on the interwebs that according to DWM (lol @ them reporting on this) Much Ado About Nothing will be available on DVD for Christmas? IDK how reputable the source is but that is exciting if true. IT'S MY BIRTHDAY GIFT TO ME.

Bonus points if you read that in the correct Disney character's voice, btw.

I. A Doctor/River rec? In MY lj? It's more likely than you think! To Make Us Children over at sail_your_sea is a nice look at the complications of a backwards relationship through the lens of the five stages of grief. PG, ~1000 words.

II. Through a coincidental Google today I found the greatest piece of Community fanart that ever has existed or ever will exist.

III. Am I the only one in the universe who has not registered for Pottermore? I feel as though I am. I generally gave up when it seemed like registration was opening at 4AM EST, but apparently today it was around 11! AND NO ONE TOLD ME UNTIL IT WAS TOO LATE. BOOOOOURNS. If someone were up to the task of registering for me I'd appreciate it, but I've probably missed that boat. I'm not DYING to get in, but ALL THE COOL KIDS ARE DOING IT and I WANNA GO TO HOGWARTS :(

IV. You know what is a fantastic episode of Doctor Who? Midnight. Just throwing that out there. I wish more post-Midnight fic existed that didn't involve Ten and Donna having sex. And yeah that means if you have recs I will read them.

V. The Office continues to be a filthy tease:

With Robert set as CEO — although executive producer Paul Lieberstein says they'd love to have Robert's former competition, Nellie Bertram, return once Catherine Tate finishes a run in a play — there will still be a vacancy for the managerial slot at Dunder Mifflin. (Source)

The Office is a sinking ship but MOAR CATHERINE TATE ON MY TV ALWAYS! Also I choose to believe that quote indicates "we totally wanted to hire her but she was busy".

VI. In an incredibly uncharacteristic decision the other day, I stopped to buy shoes, and then discovered a 3-for-1 sale was on, and came away with 3 dresses, 2 pairs of shoes and a scarf (because at that point I was tired of trying stuff on) for about $120. I don't remember the last time I voluntarily purchased a dress for a non-specific occasion, let alone the last time I purchased three, but there you have it. This fits with the fact that I actually went out of my way to buy makeup the other day, eyeshadow and eyeliner and everything. I don't know, I guess I am nurturing a futile dream that one day I will break out of my cocoon and transform into a beautiful butterfly.

VII. For a very long post, this feels pretty uninformative. I would do a meme but there don't seem to be any going around besides the ship quote one which I already did. Hmmm.

omg

omg

flawless video by winninghearts and you should go leave her comments, btw. I am forcing the embed on you because I know none of you would click if I just linked it.

Since I recently complained about this topic, I feel like I must share this fic as evidence that, actually, not everyone is a douche:

The only flower by the river is the rose by dqbunny, PG13, Ten/Rose, Eleven/River
In a bazaar on a far-away asteroid, two women find themselves browsing for ship parts.

LOOK AT THE PAIRINGS. OMG, IT'S ALMOST LIKE BOTH SHIPS CAN EXIST WITHOUT IT BEING A COMPETITION.



No but seriously, the fic is cute and fair to both relationships and women and the world needs more of Rose and River not being in competition, so go forth and enjoy.

While I'm rec'ing stuff, sweet_anise wrote me Impossible for one of my prompts at the Fixathon. It features everyone's favourite, End of Time!Ten.

Speaking of fic, I have been trying to finish Identity Theft all day and have written about 150 words. Whyyyy is this so hard, omg.

I was trying to think of other content I could add to this post aside from it just being a rec of lulz, but nothing is really going on in my life or in fandom. So a rec it will be!

firstofoct has kindly compiled Emo Ten's playlist during the s4 specials. Enjoy his beautiful artwork as well.

Teaspoon brings me strange and terrible things most of the time, and then, occasionally, I stumble across something I actually like.

...And promptly track it down on livejournal because lol Teaspoon.

So -- a fic rec!

Handyman by plutokitty
G, Donna/Shaun, post-EOT, ~5,000 words
Donna's begun having terrible headaches, and Shaun struggles to help her. Sometimes he blames the money, the lottery ticket that came from "Donna's father" that Wilf and Sylvia couldn't even properly lie about. It wasn't till after the money that Donna started having these fits, after all.

You should read it because: It is awesome. I am a very picky connoisseur of Donna fic so obviously my taste is tantamount. No, I kid. But this fic is really good -- Shaun is very well fleshed out, and his relationship with Donna is sweet and loving, and poor metacrisis-ed Donna is well imagined and still very Donna. It's also not as bleak as the summary and the excerpt I chose make it sound, I promise. I would like to imagine something like this for Donna after s4.

I. Omg writer’s block why are you the way that you are. I have reached that stage where I think of ideas/passages/whatever that sound great in my head, and I spend the bus ride/whatever thinking about how this idea is so great and I will totally write it when I get home!!! And then I get home and open up Word and write two sentences before I wind up sitting there going “????” and “RAAAAGH” and not writing anything. It is very irritating. I have not written anything that was not a collab with goldy_dollar since like February, and while I love collabs they also feel a bit like cheating because you get to pawn it off on someone else when you hit a roadblock rather than having to… you know… work through it on your own. Evidently I have lost that ability. Boooo. I have (a couple) ideas! I like them and everything! Now if only my brain would cooperate and allow me to write them ffs.

Tangentially related, I also really feel like writing something with original-recipe Ten because I haven’t done that in ages, but I am totally blanking on what since there are probably a limited number of times I can write about Ten crying into his ice cream and posting sad lyrics on his livejournal. I mean, it’s a high number, but still.

Anyway, in an attempt to try and break this pattern I am going to steal and modify the meme that’s been going around. Here’s the original meme:

The first TEN people to comment in this post get to request that I write a drabble of any pairing/character of their choosing. In return, they have to post this in their journal, regardless of their ability level.

But I am making some caveats. A) No promises I will actually write anything at all, so I’m going to waive the “OMG U MUST DO THIS TOO!” aspect of the meme. Do it if you like, but I won’t send the meme police after you if you don’t. B) And for the same reason I also don’t really care about it being the FIRST TEN!!! so, you know, whatever. I will also say that, well, you all know what I write, so don’t be surprised if your request for Sheldon/Penny smut goes unfulfilled.

….So basically I guess I’m not really doing that particular meme at all am I. OH WELL I do what I want.

II. If you are not like me and you still possess the ability to write, sign-ups for s2 of the_altverse Cloen/Rose virtual series are open. Go read the post and such if you are interested.

III. Fic rec! Does it seem like I just rec every s5 fic I read? Because I basically do. But that is because I read so few and am usually pleasantly surprised. I like the tone of this one, it’s very soft and sad and the world-building is well done.

Out of Time by sleepscribbling
~2k words, Amy/Rory sometime between Vincent & The Doctor and Pandorica Opens
When she was young, one of her friends had a telescope. She doesn’t remember who it was, but it was a very good telescope, the kind that could distinguish between a distant star and the planet Mars if you knew what you were looking for. Amy has no idea what she’s looking for here.

IV. This post was really boring for anyone who doesn’t care about my fic or fic in general (or Doctor Who in general but in that case you have friended the wrong lj, tbh. Or possibly you’re placebetween or rose_dawson.).

So here’s a picture of a weird fish:

I. So I see TinyPic is choosing to express its USAian privilege by ...no longer hosting or displaying pictures in for people in other countries? Hdu, Tinypic. How am I supposed to communicate on the internet without gifs? With my words? WHAT CRUEL WORLD IS THIS.

II. As much as I love my significantly shorter commute, it does mean I spend basically 24/7 in the wilds of suburbia. I don't really mind, except that it means the couple of friends I have who live downtown are sort of... way out there. Case in point, Friend and I have been trying to make plans for tomorrow and the whole conversation has basically been "come here and have dinner!" "no u" "NO U". I don't usually mind taking the bus downtown, but it does get sort of annoying that when I suggest the alternative people (not you, goldy_dollar, don't worry) go "LOL NO THAT'S TOO FAR". Yeah, I notice it is pretty far when I make that commute every day during classes and then on the weekends as well. Don't even.

III. I was massively bored at work today so I started contemplating that 30-Day-Female-Character-Meme. I got to about 20 characters before I had to resort to essentially pulling names out of a hat, and it was sort of a depressing exercise. It should not be that hard to come up with 30 female characters I love. I am still undecided, but now I sort of feel like I ought to do it on principle. Would it be that much easier to crank out 30 male characters and say stuff about them? They probably have the advantage of pure numbers, I guess. HMM.

IV. On the bright side, yay Community tonight! And The Office I guess, although I am not sure you get a "yay" anymore, Office.

V. S5 fic rec!

Moments from a Non-Linear Life by wishfulaces -- Eleven, Amy/Rory, set post-Big Bang.
“Can’t you find us a planet where the villains are, y’know, sort of leisurely?”

I haven't read much s5 fic, but I liked this. It was cute and simple and I thought the dynamics and characters were well-done. It came closer to making me excited for s6 than Moffat's teasers. Also, I guess wishfulaces will be getting a pingback for this? How creepy. Hello, wishfulaces!

VI. Lastly, I've taken to reading books! for fun! again, and since I'll finish The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl tomorrow and heading to the library soon thereafter, I'd like some recommendations. I don't have too many preferences, but I am looking for pretty quick/easy reads, you know, light entertainment at lunch more than great literature. I read enough great literature in class. Fire away!

In the last two days I have somehow gone from not writing anything at all to having three -- or maybe more like 2.5 -- fics on the go at once. And they all involve some measure of plot (AHHHHH) and goldy_dollar. So as you can probably guess, in one of them, the Doctor and Rose bake a cake out of rainbows and smiles so everyone can eat it and be happy.

So I guess there might be fic soon. I KNOW, YOU WERE ALL SO CONCERNED.

In the meantime, here is more of that 30 Day Meme.

Day 16 – Your Favourite Who-Related FanFic

Okay I don't actually have a good answer for this one. I can't think of a Doctor Who fic that sticks out in my mind as being ZOMG THE BEST EVER the way I can easily think of my favourite HP fic, for instance. I think the problem might be that the characters in Doctor Who are too spread out. I mean, my favourite Doctor/Rose fic probably doesn't have a segment on the epic BFFery of Ten and Donna, or a part about Martha Jones being the most badass bamf to ever bamf. So it is hard to find ONE FIC that I like most.

So here, have one of each.

Ten Calls by Jayne Leitch is my go-to Martha fic rec. It was written post-s3 so it has been a bit jossed since then, but I still really like it, and I think it does a good job of portraying the relationship I wish Ten and Martha had had after s3 though in reality I know that could never happen because Ten is a weenie. But it's delightfully timey-wimey and her Martha voice is quite good and in general the fic makes me happy. Four for you, Jayne Leitch.

For Donna, let's go with Your History Written in Stars and Time by such_heights. There are about a billion post-JE Donna fics, and this one is probably my favourite, and probably the only one that more-or-less stands up after EOT. The idea behind it, that aliens keep searching out Donna because the universe does remember, is so sweet and sad. And it is one of the few post-JE fics that doesn't either fix Donna's brain or end with utter despair, so that's nice.

Okay turns out it is actually way harder to find my favourite Doctor/Rose fic than I would have previously anticipated. This is possibly because there was a period of time where I read just about everything anyone wrote ever, and that was followed by a period of time where I read nothing.

Let's go with But Broken Lights by rosa_acicularis which was written in like 2007 but whatever I do what I want. It was my go-to Ten/Rose rec for a long time and I love a good argument in a fic, and I remember really liking the way this fic discussed all their ~issues~. It's possible they even kiss or something, I don't really remember, but clearly I really liked the fic if I could get past that HORRIBLE MISSTEP, lirl. ...Wow I am the worst person ever at writing recommendations. Frances, I blame your salesmanship.

( Here's a list of the other days.Collapse )

IIII am in Montreal right now at goldy_dollar's aunt's house. It is very nice and I think one of the dogs has taken a liking to me. Yesterday I was made to climb a mountain but I think I have now more or less physically recovered. Today we plan to counteract all that physical activity with cupcakes and poutine. This is good because I am much better at sitting and eating than I am at climbing mountains.

You would think I might have more to say, but I really don't. I will get back to that 30 Day Meme when I get home I think. In the meantime, I rec you THE BEST FIC EVER:

Title: Chicken Soup for the Dark Wizard's Soul by fireicerage906
Fandom & Characters/Pairings: Harry Potter, Dumbledore/Grindewald
Why you should read it: Because it is the greatest thing on the internet.
Excerpt: “You mean...” Grindelwald’s face twisted with disgust. “You’re just going to keep me?”

“I... No.” Dumbledore let out a frustrated sigh. “Perhaps... perhaps I’ve been at Hogwarts for too long. Maybe it’s time I settled down, time I cared for someone else. I could take care of you. Gellert, I could help you.”

Dear World,

lacunaz has written the best post-JE fic anyone has ever written, ever.

It is called "Handy" and you should go read it here because as we all know, how people refer to second!Doctor is Srs Bsnss.

That is all,

Kali