Part-time Ghost

First of all: welcome to new friends from the friending meme! I kind of disappeared off the face of the earth of the last two days, as I for the first time in ages actually left the house and spent time with other people.

Remember how I should go to a museum? Well, friday I mostly spend quality time with friends and made the last arrangements for Dimensions in october (and kind of fixed my sleeping schedule by staying up for 24 hours straight), but yesterday stalkerbunny and I went to the History Museum for the first time since they renovated.

(Turns out they weren't quite done renovating, but...)

( Some random photos behind cut )

WHOOO I haven't updated here in a long time *blows dust off of blog*

I don't think there's much point in talking about what I have been doing lately; I'm unemployed, so I really don't have much to do except read books, watch TV series, listen to audios and browse the net. The weather's been awful for the past two weeks, so I don't even go outside much. :/ It's all very distressing. I should go to a museum or something, but my circadian rhythm is fucked up beyond belief and my small number of friends are either working or out of town most of the time, so... books and internet it is.

So like... important fandom things!

I watched In the Flesh, a BBC Three drama about... well, zombies. But only technically. It's set a couple of years after the dead rose from their graves and started attacking people, as scientists have developed a medicine that helps the dead restore cognitive function and makes it possible for them to be re-introduced into society. The series follows Kieren, a young PDS-sufferer (Partially Deceased Syndrome) as he returns to his family in a small, conservative town in northern England, and has to confront the reality of his new existence, an estranged younger sister who was a part of the volunteer forced that hunted down PDS-sufferers in their rabid state during the Rising, and the circumstances of his death.

It was a long time ago I watched a series that actively made me yell, curse and simply engaged me emotionally to the degree this show did. Apart from being beautifully shot with an interesting premise, In the Flesh isn't about zombies; it's about the dynamics of oppression, ethics, guilt, mental illness (depression and PTSD), complex family relationships... It's engaging and by no means a simple show to watch, as you as a viewer is forced to examine your own feelings about what's happening on the show.

Did I mention Kieren (and other side characters) is queer? And it has amazingly well-written female characters (and just well-written characters overall)? I am in love. My DVD hasn't arrived yet but when it does I'm definitely in for a re-watch.

Big Finish-wise, I'm almost all caught up on the main range... welp.

I went to the library a couple of days ago, so these past couple of days I've mostly been reading. Will probably make a separate post about that, but: notably, I've picked up a lot of Norse mythology books. desecrets and I talked about how there seems to be way too few books out there based on Norse mythology with female protagonists, or where the goddesses play a main role - which sucks, because it's not like Norse mythology lacks interesting and badass women.

This also prompted me to borrow ALL of Peter Madsen's Valhalla again (a Danish comic retelling of the Norse myths) and I think I love it even more than when I was young, or when I did my last re-reading a couple of years ago. It's just... really really good and solid intertextual fun, that manages to both radically transform and pay homage to the source material, and I'm sad that the complete series is only available in Danish, Swedish and Norwegian. Because it's my favourite Norse mythology thing and most people will never read it. :'3

I promise I'm going to post an Actual Life Update soon rather than just dump stuff at you, F-list! But... not tonight.

So about a year ago, gf and I had a sort of. Idea. I don't remember whose idea it actually was-- I just know that for ages we've had this idea that we should make a series of fanmixes for all fifty years of Doctor Who.

Using only songs from the Eurovision Song Contest.

And because I finally got my hands on the music necessary to make this true... I've spent the entire day wrestling with 8tracks to bring you these cracky completely sincere and very serious masterpieces. Yes.

Vol. I: the 1960s

Vol. II: the 1970s

Vol. III: the 1980s

There are links to notes (incl. link to lyrics translations) and tracklists on Tumblr in the descriptions. (◡‿◡✿)

Hopefully I'll get around to doing the 90s for Eight (if I can ever decide what companions to include/not include) and the 2000s for the new series.

Trope Bingo ends the 31st of May and I just posted my first (embarrassingly short) fill. Go me.

Title: Uphill
Author: regndoft / taiyou_to_tsuki
Characters: Third Doctor/Delgado!Master.
Summary: The Master has found himself in something of a predicament. The Doctor has found the Master.
Rating: All Ages.
Warning: None!

A/N: 645 words. Orginally written for a prompt on Tumblr ("Third Doctor/Delgado!Master - fairy tale") that also fit the "character in distress" slot on my trope bingo. Loosely based on The Princess on the Glass Hill.

Here @ AO3

( Nothing ventured... )

I did a thing last night! eve11 did a Doctor Who voice meme, and I recorded my answers... way, way too late at night really. Ended up with 30 minutes of running time in which I say the word "really" a lot. >____>



In the almost 24 hours since I recorded it this has been linked over at who_at_50 (*shakes fist*) but I'll still link the Horror Channel TV Spot (and a shorter, slightly different one).

Also: started reading Scales of Injustice (v.good so far) and listened to Walking To Babylon (I love Benny so much and I should. talk more about that when I've listened to more of her audios).

A short-ish list of stuff I've been doing instead of updating here (shame on me):

- Acquired PhotoShop and started making graphics. I am under no illusions of being a PS wizard, but considering I've only had it for a bit more than a month I think I'm doing fairly well (especially considering I make Classic Who graphics and very seldom have the luxury of high quality pictures......).

I think it's also been very important to me to have this thing where I can be creative without pressure. With writing and drawing, I've grown up with it and demand a lot from myself, which inhibits my ability to actually be productive. I don't have as much problem with perfectionism as I used to (thank you therapy) but it's still something very deeply ingrained. I wrote one fic last year that passed 1k and that wasn't for lack of time.

With PhotoShop, however, I am a complete n00b. If I fuck up, or it doesn't turn out the way I wanted it do, I'm... strangely okay with that. And that's refreshing, and encouraging, and doesn't make me feel like shit. So I'm really enjoying it.

- Signed up for dw_allsorts, a new Doctor Who prompt table community, which has also been very nice and low-pressure so far. I've started with a tiiiny 3 prompt table, which is encouraging in its simplicity. Hopefully I'll be able to slowly work my way up towards 20 one table at a time. So if you like Doctor Who and producing fanworks, consider signing up!

- Uni is horrible and I suck at higher education forever-- okay, no, not really, but I've somehow managed to double-book myself (actually that's completely the institution's responsibility and not mine, just because I don't happen to study to become a teacher) and have to take the next two courses simultaneously (and buy course lit to match). On top of that I have a home exam this week that I haven't read all the books for and the exam for the last course I didn't take on friday next week. April is going to be... interesting.

- I'm turning 21 on saturday. My age will be divisible by 3 and that is terrifying.

- Probably a lot of things have happened I've forgotten to write about here. Terrible. I'll try to do better from now on.

A lot of things have been going on since my last update. Uni is demanding, I didn't get the apartment (apparently I wasn't supposed to have it since this isn't my first term... which, would've been nice to know before they put me through bureaucratic hell). When I haven't been studying I've mostly been... consuming.

- I have a new phone! One that works, unlike my old new phone (seriously, I had it about a month before it said "fuck it". I am forever bitter about this). It's technically not a new-new phone, as it's my mother's old iPhone, but I'm just delighted to be able to text people again.

- Watched both seasons of Pushing Daisies! It was lovely. I am heartbroken it was cancelled. :c Also started watching Firefly, but am only a couple of episodes in (is it just me or is it really reminiscent of Blake's 7? I seem to recall reading that Joss Whedon watched it growing up, which... would make sense...).

- Been reading lots; mostly related to uni, both course lit and fiction, but also my own books. So far I've been able to make good on my "two EDAs a month" promise; am currently on The Shadows of Avalon. Should get around to writing reaction posts...

- Speaking of which, book sale begins next week! I've already pre-ordered a whole bunch online really cheaply, so I suppose I won't have much money left over to buy in actual stores (not that that will stop me, probably).

- More on the topic of books: was I the only one who hadn't heard of the Doctor Who Monster Collection? Apparently they're re-releasing Doctor Who novels with Doctors both old and new, each paired (no, not in that way) with an iconic monster. I have no idea as to the actual quality of the novels, but I'm super-chuffed they're actually bringing some books with classic Doctors back into print - presumably the 50s Anniversary special editions did better than expected.

There's even a VNA in there this time. We live in a time where a twenty-year-old VNA with Benny, Chris and Roz gets brought back into print. And I think that's beautiful.

Life's decided to be rather hectic atm; had an examinatory seminar today, exam on thursday, two papers to hand in before the week is out, and next week spring term and my new course begins... (History of religion + religious psychology).

Haven't really studied, but I'm not feeling particularly worried either. I was so torn up about everything before Christmas, I have now passed into a zen-like state of Not Giving A Shit. Instead, I've been reading a lot; two weeks into 2014 and four books down already, which means that to everyone's surprise, I'm actually on schedule so far. And three of them have been in Swedish.

Speaking of books (and Swedish), I finished the second book in a very lauded Swedish YA trilogy (that's also done rather well internationally), the first of which is called The Circle. I honestly can't remember the last time I utterly devoured a book at this pace, ignoring almost everything else-- I finished over 600 pages in two days. And, as I think I mentioned in the book meme, I really don't go for YA lit most of the time. I was initially a bit dubious, seeing as the blurb on the back reads:

One night, when a strange red moon fills the sky, six school girls find themselves in an abandoned theme park, drawn there by a mysterious force. A student has just been found dead. Everyone suspects suicide. Everyone - except them. In that derelict fairground an ancient prophecy is revealed. They are The Chosen Ones, a group of witches, bound together by a power, one which could destroy them all. But they soon learn that despite their differences they need each other in order to master the forces that have been awakened within them. High school is now a matter of life and death. Because the killing has only just begun.

... which is a fairly clichéed summary and didn't really help (the British cover is also rather atrocious; luckily most editions go for the Swedish original). But I think this is one of those books where the execution of the premise makes all the difference; what could have been a very tropey and forgettable book aimed at teenage girls is actually a suspenseful read with memorable characters.

( A non-spoilery list of Good Things About These Books )

TL;DR if you like YA, or Buffy the Vampire Slayer (a major source of inspiration for the authors, trufax), or just good urban fantasy, I recommend checking this book series out. I'll probably treat myself to the last installment in the trilogy after my exam this week.

I said about a week back that I was rapidly becoming addicted to 8tracks now when I have a working computer again, and that I should probably make a rec list if only to have something to post here.

In a way it feels strangely personal to make a list like this, if only because it reveals something which can say a lot about a person: their taste in music.

Well, "taste". As this list probably shows, my taste in music is... rather inconsistent, tbh.

( 10 fanmix recs )

Sorry for the spam, but I do need to save this for posterity. I made another Questionable Life Decision and signed up for the third round of trope_bingo. Considering I didn't finsh anything for the second round, this could be... interesting.

( Fun )