(no subject)
Dec. 15th, 2012 01:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
regndoftLife is a bit up and down atm, both because of internal and external factors. So I'm not going to talk about those things, but focus on things that actually make me feel better about myself. There.
- Somehow, despite Yuletide refusing to cooperate, I've been feeling... better about my writing lately. I walk into bookstores feeling a strange mix of envy and excitement, marvelling at the new and shiny covers standing in rows on the shelves. I don't know what changed, but suddenly imagining myself as an author isn't strange at all - even though it's something I never let myself believe I could accomplish for almost ten years.
- Today I finally posted the last package that needed sending for Christmas. And it wasn't a particular hardship either, as the sun was shining, the air was crisp and the sky a brilliant shade of blue... Usually when I go walking in winter, it's to be somewhere on time, work or university. I'd probably enjoy it more if I went out for proper walks by myself.
- Translated a short letter by Epicurus. Exam in less than a week and I still haven't started studying properly, but somehow I'm not too worried about that.
- Made gingerbread cookie dough! While listening to Christmas music. Very cathartic, somehow, and I love the smell of ground cloves.
- Holly Black has a Tumblr. This makes me pretty happy, ngl - Holly Black was one of those authors whose work I connected to when I was younger, and in more recent times (being able to read her works in English) I have realised that's partly because she's basically a huge geek. c:
- If you aren't following![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
who_at_50 you probably should be, because it's a neat idea and shaping up to be great fun.
- Finished listening to The Nightmare Fair and started re-listening to Jubilee.
First off - I really like the Celestial Toymaker as a villain. There is something ancient and terrifying about an immortal with godly powers who roams the universe challenging people to games, spiriting them away if they lose - there's a whole host of archetypal beings in myth and folklore whom he has a place amongst, I'm sure.
That being said, it's a bit odd to me that he hasn't reappeared on television since his debut - perhaps people simply don't know what to do with him because he's too powerful? Still, I can easily see him fit into Eleven's run; the Moffat era has been big on the Doctor's god complex, raising him to the heavens as legend and proto-deity throughout time and space, it'd be great fun to see that challenged by a foe from the past (Sutekh also comes to mind).
Something The Nightmare Fair did that surprised me (though it makes sense, and was also great fun) was updating the kind of game played, having the Doctor fight to save manking by playing a video game.
Naturally I am now pondering the possibilities of Eleven vs. Angry Birds.
That being said, the actual playing-games part of the audio is very small indeed, and would come off as an anti-climax if the rest of the audio wasn't so very entertaining. Unfortunately that makes the actual ending a bit of a mood whiplash.
On the topic of the ending, it's really surprisingly dark, and in a way not at all satisfying - does the Toymaker deserve the fate the Doctor deals him? Not even the Doctor is certain of that. He's obviously aware he's doing something terrible and simply has to hope the ends justify the means - we're not supposed to applaud him for making a difficult but just decision. We are left at least as uneasy as the Doctor is. This is something I wish the new series would take to heart more often.
This is the first of the Lost Stories I've listened to, and overall I really love how it actually does feel like a TV episode, moreso than Big Finish's main range. The 80s score, the plotting and pacing and the relationship between the characters all serve to give this impression, and I think it's well done.
The story itself is very entertaining, if surprisingly inconsequential once you reach the end - but you don't really mind, because you had fun getting there.
- Somehow, despite Yuletide refusing to cooperate, I've been feeling... better about my writing lately. I walk into bookstores feeling a strange mix of envy and excitement, marvelling at the new and shiny covers standing in rows on the shelves. I don't know what changed, but suddenly imagining myself as an author isn't strange at all - even though it's something I never let myself believe I could accomplish for almost ten years.
- Today I finally posted the last package that needed sending for Christmas. And it wasn't a particular hardship either, as the sun was shining, the air was crisp and the sky a brilliant shade of blue... Usually when I go walking in winter, it's to be somewhere on time, work or university. I'd probably enjoy it more if I went out for proper walks by myself.
- Translated a short letter by Epicurus. Exam in less than a week and I still haven't started studying properly, but somehow I'm not too worried about that.
- Made gingerbread cookie dough! While listening to Christmas music. Very cathartic, somehow, and I love the smell of ground cloves.
- Holly Black has a Tumblr. This makes me pretty happy, ngl - Holly Black was one of those authors whose work I connected to when I was younger, and in more recent times (being able to read her works in English) I have realised that's partly because she's basically a huge geek. c:
- If you aren't following
who_at_50 you probably should be, because it's a neat idea and shaping up to be great fun. - Finished listening to The Nightmare Fair and started re-listening to Jubilee.
First off - I really like the Celestial Toymaker as a villain. There is something ancient and terrifying about an immortal with godly powers who roams the universe challenging people to games, spiriting them away if they lose - there's a whole host of archetypal beings in myth and folklore whom he has a place amongst, I'm sure.
That being said, it's a bit odd to me that he hasn't reappeared on television since his debut - perhaps people simply don't know what to do with him because he's too powerful? Still, I can easily see him fit into Eleven's run; the Moffat era has been big on the Doctor's god complex, raising him to the heavens as legend and proto-deity throughout time and space, it'd be great fun to see that challenged by a foe from the past (Sutekh also comes to mind).
Something The Nightmare Fair did that surprised me (though it makes sense, and was also great fun) was updating the kind of game played, having the Doctor fight to save manking by playing a video game.
Naturally I am now pondering the possibilities of Eleven vs. Angry Birds.
That being said, the actual playing-games part of the audio is very small indeed, and would come off as an anti-climax if the rest of the audio wasn't so very entertaining. Unfortunately that makes the actual ending a bit of a mood whiplash.
On the topic of the ending, it's really surprisingly dark, and in a way not at all satisfying - does the Toymaker deserve the fate the Doctor deals him? Not even the Doctor is certain of that. He's obviously aware he's doing something terrible and simply has to hope the ends justify the means - we're not supposed to applaud him for making a difficult but just decision. We are left at least as uneasy as the Doctor is. This is something I wish the new series would take to heart more often.
This is the first of the Lost Stories I've listened to, and overall I really love how it actually does feel like a TV episode, moreso than Big Finish's main range. The 80s score, the plotting and pacing and the relationship between the characters all serve to give this impression, and I think it's well done.
The story itself is very entertaining, if surprisingly inconsequential once you reach the end - but you don't really mind, because you had fun getting there.
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no subject
Date: 2012-12-15 05:36 pm (UTC)(I am adept at piracy, but Big Finish being one of those special things that deserves all of my income, I've blown a couple of paycheques on subscriptions because ASDFGHJKL; SO GOOD and I need to buy this stuff before my rent skyrockets and I can't even afford to eat food)
no subject
Date: 2012-12-15 10:19 pm (UTC)(Who needs food... or sleep... when you have Doctor Who, right? Right? >____>)
no subject
Date: 2012-12-16 08:40 am (UTC)Doctor Who > basically everything