Miscellany

I've started writing my ficathon fic, finally. It was supposed to be a plotty, dramatic historical story. Unfortunately, so far all that's happened is Rose, the Doctor and Captain Jack sitting around getting stoned.

I hate my brain.

I also hate whatever it is that makes me feel hungry, a mere hour-and-a-half after I shamelessly ate my way through a bag of chippy chips. I will ignore it. I will be strong.

Yeah. There's also flapjacks. Someone's been shopping.

Anyway, moving on from food. I spent this afternoon with lilka (and, peripherally, Michael) giggling. As is tradition, we chatted for literally hours without realising where the time went. We exchanged notes on The Doctor Dances (my review was long, complex and squeeful, hers was "Eeeeee! Eeeee! Eeeee!") and I told her about Colleen's reaction to the idea of Four/Nine fic. The thing is, I mention something, Colleen shrieks, I write it and she reads it anyway. However, Jane is interested in the idea. Since this now brings my prospective audience up to two, I should probably get on and finish the fic.

While we were chatting, Michael kept wandering in and talking about electric turtles and crabs on sticks. I wanted to quote him in and out of context, but the fact remains I have no idea what he was talking about, so. It's his birthday, which is why Jane is up from Warwick at all - it was nice to see them both again. I did talk a little this afternoon about leaving school, and could feel I was considering it more deeply than I have before; in other words, it's beginning to sink in. Because I didn't cry on the last day, Sarah told me that it will suddenly hit me maybe some time in August, and I'll have to have my crying fit all by myself.

She may be right. She is about most things.

So, once we'd squeed incoherently about last night, I told her about the messages I keep getting from the trio at the Children of the Gods convention (see, I remembered what it was called!) This morning's was my favourite:

"Argh. Just outed self and Clare in public via Anubis and microphone. ARGH!"

I started to text back, then paused and dialled. Colleen picked up. "Hello!"

"What?" I asked.

"I just outed myself to the entire convention and it's all your fault!"

Apparently, they were at a talk given by the actor who plays Anubis (have no idea who what his name is), and somehow or other the topic came round to internet dating. Colleen sort-of kind-of put her hand up, and he bounced across with a microphone. "Explain!"

And she did. At length, while Clare was attempting to bury herself in the carpet, and finished off by asking "...why am I still talking?"

I can imagine this with horrifying clarity, but I still wish desperately that I was with them tonight. Yes, I know I am in spirit, I just wish for tangibility (which is so a word, I just made it up).

"Remind me again why this is my fault?" I asked.

"You were the friend who I met on the internet!"

Yes, I was. Almost four years ago, I met Colleen on the internet. I introduced Clare to her three years ago, and the rest is more recent history. Jane thought all of this was as funny as I did. We finished off with some Discworld and Red Dwarf squee before I finally departed.

One more thought - while I'd love to see The Doctor Dances again, I don't have the free space to download it; I would love it, however, if someone could upload just the bit where.... well, the Doctor dances. Heh.

And back to ficathon fic! And food. It's ridiculous to be so hungry at one in the morning.

[The reaction of chlorine gas with water is an example of a disproportionation reaction, as the neutral molecule has an oxidation state of 0, rising to +1 in HCl and falling to -1 in HOCl.]

New Who recs

I've been idly compiling Ninth Doctor recs for a couple of months now, with the intention of putting them on Sleeping With Ghosts, but I don't think I'm going to update my website until Gallifrey go BOOM!after exams are over, so, because I love you all and want you to read good stuff, here's what I've liked:

Spring Cleaning, by infiniteviking
"The Doctor hated his ears." And with that sort of beginning, how can you go wrong? This is a short, introspective gem of a story, which shows us the Doctor's grief and loneliness and quite a bit of his egotism while also being a clever look at what this latest regeneration must have been like.

And I Feel Fine, by doyle_sb4
Without a doubt, the best of the chip-fics. It's funny and measured and rings absolutely true to me. This is what it would have been like.

Five Planets Rose Tyler Never Visited by mireille719
A sweet, sweet story, does exactly what it says on the tin. I actually have a quibble with what it says on the tin, as there doesn't seem to be an element of why the Doctor never took Rose to these planets; they are all perfectly possible destinations and make up a simple, lovely story.

A Little Bit of Home by taraljc
Every time LJC writes a Ninth Doctor story I want to have her babies, but this one's my favourite of the current selection. There've been so many Dalek post-eps, and rightly so - the way the Doctor is at the end of that episode, you just know some sort of collapse is imminent, and this short story deals with it in a way that is just right. She doesn't ignore Adam, but the focus is on Rose trying her best to get to grips with a grieving Doctor, and it's lovely, structured and beautiful.

Ivory And Horn
Another one by LJC; this one starts with every indication of being a hesitant Doctor/Rose first time, then takes a sharp left at the junction of the carnivorous plants. There's plot, and angst and romance and homicidal flora. What more do you need?

Untitled Adam snippet by jediowl
Like so many, I don't like Adam. But this story makes him real to me, with the help of sharp dialogue and beautiful imagery, and at less than 500 words, it's just the right length.

Entangled by doyle_sb4
"Adam Mitchell, this is your life." Another story that makes me want to like Adam, shame on me. And someone unexpected is in it who makes me very, very happy.

Lost by ruthybee
It's difficult to slash the Doctor because there's no-one to slash him with (well, there wasn't pre-Empty Child); this story takes the unthinkable route and does it with Mickey. And the result is a strangely thought-provoking, stylish story that makes you feel sorry for Mickey and hate the Doctor just a tiny bit.

So Are You by sarah531
Wow. Whacked-out and scary and creepy and just, wow.

She Loves You by niav
Because, ohmygod, the Beatles are in it. It's a sweet, funny, generally lovely fic, but it has the Beatles in it and is so elevated to greatness.


People Change by gwynnega
"As sometimes happens, several of him wound up in the same place." Which is very true, and there haven't been enough fics dealing with this. Rose's reaction to all these exceedingly strange people who also call themselves the Doctor is beautifully observed.

Of More Value Than Many Sparrows by icebluenothing
One of the many fic-benefits of Doctor Who fandom is that you can have the Doctor go, literally, anywhere; whether you should or not is a different matter. This story has the potential to be eyewateringly bad simply because of its still-raw setting, but it somehow sidesteps that and becomes a stroke of evocative brilliance. One of my favourites.

Since You've Been Gone by icebluenothing
I'm trying not to rec the same authors over and over (and failing miserably!) but there's a reason this one is here as well. It's going to be jossed at the end of this series without a doubt, but this is how I'd like Nine's regeneration to be like. Wonderful.

Two Hearts by xanthefic
This could do with a jolly good beta, to tell the truth, and a brief lesson in where the punctuation goes when writing dialogue. But that aside, it is the hottest thing ever. Captain Jack and the Doctor, being by turns hard-to-get and oh-so-attractive, and dancing and angsting and flirting mercilessly all the way to the best last line I've seen in ages. Waah.


More if and when I can be bothered to add them. Why is there no more femmeslash?