*Someone recommended this lovely fic to me and I'm passing it on, not even having finished. It's Star Trek XI, Cupcake/Chekov, and highlights the fact that what little we get of "Cupcake" in the film is that he stands up for a woman who's said no more than once already. Kirk's the hero of the film, and yeah, Cupcake's rough, but does that make him right? Very sweet, and I believe the author has gone on to write more about him. We always read about Starfleet's avowed geniuses. What about those redshirts, huh?

*This should explain itself:



*An interesting writing meme:
Is my id showing?

via snickfic: So, a couple of us got to wondering what our fics revealed about us. Hence this anonymeme. Are our ids showing?

I've just put all my stuff up on Archive of Our Own, so this got me wondering. I probably know what my primary concerns are already, but it's interesting to think about how many of them come through in my fanfiction, and which ones I'm not actually aware of. And I wonder if they're consistent through fandoms, or if my concerns are native to one or the other area. Or is there something that links my RPF and my Trek and my Phantom of the Opera? I'm not sure anyone's actually read fic in more than one of my fandoms, but if you've got any insight, let me have it!

*( My thoughts on New Who, through The Time of Angels (not v. positive) )

*lettered/tkp and I may be attending a Star Trek convention. "May be" as in "are."

There was neither the great love or hate of last season's ending, because I was far less invested, both because of Martha and the Master. I like Donna, but I was neither in love nor did I identify with her, as I was/did with Martha. And the build up of the Master (and John Simm being awesome) fueled my interest (and allowed the colossal stupid of JesusFairy!Doctor to affect me more than it should have).

That said, it was enjoyable, though there were a few rather upsetting developments.
( spoilers! )
This got more passionate than I intended, but I just got to thinking. Overall, none of the highs and lows last season put me through, despite the fact that Martha's fate is the "best" of all of them. That just goes to show what identification can do for your experience. I'm very much looking forward to Sarah Jane Adventures starting up again, so I'll have something consistently decent in the DW universe to watch.

I love Sarah Jane Adventures. Partly it's a matter of expectation; the stuff that doesn't add up doesn't seem so serious when it's "meant" for children. But it's full of lovely people who don't totally fail at family. And the potentially trite light-sf plots are also about family and optimism and friendship. And so far, it seems to be trumping New Who in terms of consistency.

Though I have no idea how Alan and Chrissie were ever married. He's just way too awesome.
( thoughts about 'Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane' and arrested development )
( The Lost Boy )

It's ridiculous how much the light changes here. I work from 6:30-5. In the winter, I arrive at work in the dark and leave in the dark. In summer, I wake up and go to sleep while it's light. Amazing.

The dogs are doing well, and I am amused by how often the seem to unconsciously mirror each other's position. More often than not, they're lying with the same orientation, even if they're not next to each other. Like how you cross your arms when the guy across the desk does. Mr. Darcy will be sad to see her go on Tuesday, I think.

( belated doctor who squee, w/ spoilers )
That's all for now, I think. Mr. Daroga and I watched the first two episodes of Rome the other day, and we're definitely on board for the rest. Also re-started Neon Genesis Evangelion, which somehow I'd forgotten the sheer amount of awesome of. God, the intro song/montage makes me cry. I'm actually not kidding. I need to get that.

So. The first thing you'll want to know is...
( was it as good as you're all saying it was? )

I ship Doctor/Martha.

Oh my god.

It was that last two-parter that did it; she's so capable, so awesome, so in love and so bound for disappointment (again and again). Her feelings don't make her useless. I wish I could make a thoughtful review, but I don't feel like it and I just really loved it. And Martha's situation just *got* me.

I ship them in the way I shipped Mulder and Scully--I yearn for it but I don't want them together in canon, because that would probably ruin it. I'm content with fannish satisfaction of these urges. But I'm sure I never thought I'd care even that much.

I loved it.
( less vague )

I just had the curious experience of fixing my library's database to account for there being two Doctor Who series now. Previously, the authorized title was Doctor Who (Television program). Now, there's Doctor Who (Television program : 1963-1989) and Doctor Who (Television program : 2005- ). (For anyone who's not a librarian, the Library of Congress creates a controlled vocabulary for subject, author and title headings, so that we all use the same words to search for things.)

It just gave me a little happy to poke through it all and specify one from the other.

( this week, on Doctor Who... )
Next week:

Cap'n Jack, war, and... well, I don't have any idea, but it looks awful dramatic. Oh, I see, it's a season-trailer.

Doctor Who 3x05 - "Evolution of the Daleks"
( when last we left our intrepid heroes... )
I think I might be asking too much of this show, reading too much into it, or whatever, but I really don't think it's very good. I think I'm holding on for possibilities and nostalgia. When was the last time I was really satisfied by Doctor Who? What percentage of New Who eps did?

Yeah, I know I'm really late with this one. I probably won't say anything that hasn't already been said.
( Like <i>Phantom of Manhattan</i>, only totally not. )
So overall, I'm still not sold on the treatment of social issues in this show. And I'd like to see Martha used as something other than a decoy of sorts to get the Doctor into trouble. But I won't get tired of the Daleks' voices any time soon, and despite some design-awkwardness about the hybrids (both pig and Dalek), it's a cool idea.

My observations for this week--now in an almost timely manner!

( IMAGINE A FUTURE... WHERE YOUR ENTIRE LIFE IS RUSH HOUR )

( ramblings about 3x02 )

[Poll #963430]

ETA... Yeah... That should read "OTP," not "OPT."

I don't usually do this, as everyone usually sees things years earlier than I do. But I'm only a few days late this time, so I figured I'd offer my observations. For what it's worth, and all that.
( Not that you're replacing her. )
Well. That was fun. We'll see how it goes, won't we?

I wish Peter Haining would stop writing books about all the stuff I like. I've got Phantom of the Opera and Sherlock Holmes stuff by him, and then there's this. He always sounds like he's fawning. Over everyone. Granted, this book is clearly "official" in nature, so he's not going to start complaining about anyone, but apart from having a nice list of Companions (up to Turlough, anyway) he never says anything. At all. It's a "nice" retrospective of the Doctor after 20 years, so it's not only rigidly uncritical but out of date. Male companions are referred to as "redoubtable" or (in Turlough's case) "unpredictable" while captions under female companions' photos use words like "delightful," "elfin-featured," and "delectable but scatterbrained"; though Sarah Jane gets to be "resourceful."

Honestly, Haining sounds like he wants to do every single one.

But here's my favorite bit, a quote from Anneke Wills (POlly) which is the stupidist thing I've ever heard about women in the media: "I wanted to play her like myself... scatter-brained, or 'kooky' as the newspaper persisted in calling me. I thought it would be a very good idea to play a total coward. Television was full of brave ladies in those days. I wanted to be a sort of feminine anti-hero, a weedy, frightened lady who screamed and kicked and shouted 'Doctor!' at the least sign of danger." Wow, Wills. You sure pushed the envelope there!

Anyone interested has probably picked this up already. But if you haven't done expect any commentary or even a decent amount of color photos; it's a "celebration" in the cheapest sense of the word.

I watched The Five Doctors last night. I have many things to say about it, primarily among them, "What the hell were they thinking?"

Obviously they were thinking, "Wow, if one Doctor is good, we should quintuple viewer figures with five of 'em! Er... Four! Well... make that three and some stock footage!"

[For those of you not familiar with the plot, may I direct you to the Five-Minute "The Five Doctors"?]

So One is played by someone else, since Hartnell was dead (I didn't realize this right off, because I *thought* he was dead but I haven't seen him since I was about ten and I was making Annie's Mac n' Cheese while the opening stock footage of Hartnell was on). Two, who I'm also unfamiliar with, has a truly hideous fur coat I kept hoping he'd lose. Three is a total pimp, of course, which is awesome, and he saves Sarah Jane from falling down a gentle slope by pulling her up with his car. Though he has some nice moments instructing her how to climb up the side of the wall, with very naturalistic dialogue. Even if the feat itself was totally impossible.

Four is resurrected from unused footage, so he and Romana II talk about poets or something while punting and then disappear for the rest of the show. Five spends most of his time fainting or under mind-control, which makes his the Worst Job of All.

Plotwise, it's a total mess, and there are so many stupid inaccuracies and logical fallacies it's painful. The First Doctor is told that an electrified chessboard can only be crossed by using pi; so he thinks about it, walks straight across, and survives. What? The Second Doctor figures out the ex-companions he comes across are actually fake, because of something that happened after he regenerated. At the same time, none of the Doctors have the First Doctor's (or any subsequent) memory of what happened, which might have come in handy, eh?

What I liked:
-Five Doctor + Companion action figure set
-Tegan & Sarah meeting. Sarah: "Sarah." Tegan: "Tegan" My husband: "Tegan and Sarah??"
-Okay, the robot guard thing was kinda cool, and the Dalek's voice was magnificent as always. Cybermen, though? Still totally lame.
-The constant reiteration of the word "Rassilon". I knew about this abstractly, but nothing could have prepared me for how frickin' everything was the "[blank] of Rassilon". It led to a lot of fun ad-libbing from my couch about the Dildo of Rassilon, the Cock Ring of Rassilon, the cliffhanger of Rassilon, etc. It'll work for anything. Try it.

Seriously. I'm fully aware of the Doctor Who budget and its attendant charm. (The vector graphics on the TARDIS computer were hilarious, by the way.) I'm not complaining about that--though if this was the updated special effects version, I shudder to think what happened originally. Anyway, there is no excuse for writing like this. Nothing makes sense, the bits on Gallifrey are totally boring, and no interesting questions are addressed. Like, "OMG, I'm meeting myself!" You would think that'd be cause for some interest.

Come to think of it, it's a good thing Four wasn't there. They'd all have been reduced to crying little babies.