There's been... a lot of negativity in Doctor Who fandom lately, to say the least. So now's a good opportunity to go here and post about all the things we love about this show.

(Oh, and I've finally remembered to get some new Who icons. This one is particularly apt.)

Courtesy of billfl:

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 4-7 sentences on your LJ along with these instructions.
5.Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest (unless it's too troublesome to reach and is really heavy. Then go back to step 1).

He saw it emerge out of the distance on a long downward slant, a tiny glowing spot that grew enormously into a metal ball. The great shining globe hissed by above Coerl, slwoing visibly in quick deceleration. It sped over a black line of hills to the right, hovered almost mostionless for a seciond, then sank down out of sight.

Coeurl exploded from his startled immobility. With tiger speed, he flowed down among the rocks. His round, black eyes burned with the orrible desire that was an agony within him. His ear tendris vibrated a message of id in such enormous quantities that his body fels sick with the pangs of abnormal hunger.

From "Black Destroyer" by AE Van Vogt, in The World Turned Upside Down edited by David Drake, Eric Flint, and Jim Baen.

If I had any photoshop skills at all, I would make a cat macro of the Coeurl saying "I'm in ur shipz eatin ur id."

On the often fascinating and illuminating TV Tropes Wiki</i>, there's some entertaining meta-discussion on a question I've been wondering about for some time:

What's going on with the Time Lords being wiped out? It's implied that they weren't just destroyed yesterday, they were wiped out of history. Does that mean that if you were to go in the past and tiptoe past some scenes you'd now see the Doctor being exiled to Earth by nobody, the Doctor having to leave Sarah Jane on Earth because he had to go and do nothing, the Great Vampires being destroyed by bowships built by nobody, etc.? And how does the Doctor still exist?...

It's all about the Ontological Inertia. Gallifrey wasn't part of normal spacetime to begin with. The Time Lords fail to have ever existed, but in such a way that anywhere they actually interacted with the universe at large, the interaction still occurred -- it's grounded to the universe's continuity. But rather than a time lord having left Gallifrey and shown up somewhere in the normal universe, he's just literally popped into existence out of nowhere. Of course, he doesn't know that, on account of he's popped into existence with a full set of memories. If you believe that history as a whole has some kind of inertia-like property, it shouldn't be too hard to conclude that the necessary force to cause something to cease to have ever existed would be far less than the necessary force to cause it to cease to have ever existed and cause the rest of the universe to change such that its interactions with it did not occur. The arguments against the Time Lords having been yoinked entirely out of existence all hinge on a notion of purely linear causality in which there is a "before" and "after", which, we are told outright in "Blink" is not the case.

And, as a result, I like to think that the reason the Doctor survived is because, thanks to his travels out in the normal universe, he had a substantially greater Ontological Inertia than the rest of his race -- he was just too tightly wedged into history to be excised without smashing the whole universe to bits. Erasing a species from history is like vacuuming them up off the floor. The stuff that's on top gets sucked up easily, the stuff that's ground-in takes a lot more work and leaves some spots behind. The Doctor's a stain on the carpet of time that's soaked in so deep that you'd have to just tear it up and buy laminate.

(I also love the fan nickname for the Reapers--"killer flying time monkeys.")

This reminds me a little bit why I liked much of the Lawrence Miles 8DA version of the Time War and its aftermath even though it ended up being a big anticlimactic mess because other writers concluded both arcs he set up. Thanks to Miles, not only did they actually get into the ramifications of the Time Lords never having existed, but they had killer time monkeys that were actual monkeys.

WHAT?

But I am tired, so here are some silly memes in lieu of content:

( Which Doctor are you? )

I have to say, I'm quite pleased with this. I love Nine and Ten in their own way, though the latter drives me up the wall sometimes, and objectively I think Four was just about the best Doctor. But Eight, as David Tennant said to Five, was my Doctor.

And here's what would happen if I got to travel with the Doctor:

You know, as awesome as the Doctor is, and as much as I would probably go with him without even having to think about it if he asked, I doubt I could put up with him for 5000 years. Especially Ten.

And finally, here's one of those question memes, courtesy of astrogirl2:

Name a character from one of my fandoms and I'll give you (a) three facts about them from my personal canon/fanon, (b) a reason he/she sucks, (c) a reason she/he is awesomecakes, (d) five things that never happened to that character or (e) five people that character never fell in love with and why. You pick the character. I pick the letter.

After my past few attempts at writing for a ficathon, I decided I would be better off not trying again. But then I started wondering whether there's any fic where Benny Summerfield meets Captain Jack Harkness, and if not, why not? And then I ran across this. So I signed up. I'm fairly convinced I'll actually be able to finish a story this time if I can keep it at a manageable length...

I just had a nightmare that is extremely similar to one that a character in one of my stories is having.

Well, I think I'm finally managing to get over my writer's block. I've got several new-Who stories which I've actually gotten partially written, and an original story as well, and I'm hoping I can write some NEQ as well. I haven't written very much in some months, and I'm not totally sure why. Probably part of the reason that I had writer's block is that I didn't do much actual writing. I spent a lot of time finetuning my ideas and not much time writing them down, even though I tend to get my best ideas while I'm actually writing. This means, as you might imagine, that sometimes planning my stories in advance can be a little difficult. I was averse to writing for a while because my story ideas were getting so complicated. However, in the last week or so, I decided that I should just start writing anyway, and that more or less worked.

Another problem is that for a while, I seemed to have lost my confidence that I had anything worth writing. As David Bishop puts it in his blog (Which is excellent--I really should get around to reading one of his books one of these days. I have more Doctor Who books alone than I can probably read in a lifetime, never mind all my other books), "Bottle is such an important yet intangible part of the writer's armour. You've got to beleive you have something to say, a voice with which to say it and a story worth telling - otherwise it's all too easy to give up or find yourself doing hackwork to pay the bills." (Well, the paying the bills part is inappliciable in my case, but you know what I mean.) I'm not sure why I lost my "bottle" for a while. Some of it is factors in my real life that I'd rather not talk about, as well as ones I'm probably not aware of--nothing drastic, but just a lot of little things that add up, as little things tend to do. Another is just tiredness, not in the superficial sense of being overworked but in a deeper, spiritual sense. Part of the reason for that was that I wasn't challenging myself enough. One of the stories I'm writing right now is an enormous challenge for me, and I'm not totally sure I'll pull it off, but trying it has helped me fnd my "bottle" again. (Unfortunately, I can't go into why it's so challenging without getting into major spoiler territory.)

The final problem is that I'm not very good with finishing things. This is why a lot of my work has been for EAS, where I don't have to worry about that. Whether I'll be able to get over that one, I'm not totally sure. But I will make the effort. Anyway, here's hoping this actually works out!

By the way, David Bishop's blog also had a link to this very interesting post, with some good writing advice. I'm particularly intrigued by point seven:

7) This one is evil but fantastic: open a new file and write the thing again, without looking at your current draft, no matter how many times you've rewritten it. Oh, so evil! Because you'll hate it and you'll be so mad and then, oh my goodness, you write something SO GREAT! Because you've been working on that story for so long now, you're so ready to write that thing! You're a pro at writing that thing, but you're not letting yourself write it, only rewrite it.

It's like you've been practicing a piece of Bach. Only you recorded your very first time through, and you've been tweaking that recording all this time. Play it again! Write it again! Let your characters talk. They're sick of having the same conversation over and over. What would they do if they had the chance to live that scene over again?

I feel for some reason that it would fit very well with the aforementioned challenging New Who story and the bizarre emotional drama that's driving it. Once I get to the point where I'm able to rewrite it, I mean. Maybe it's a mistake to have so much invested in a fanfic story, but in a way, that makes sense. Because this story will force me to go out of my comfort zone a bit and stretch my capabilities as a writer, it might end up coming off a bit awkward in some ways. So it's good that I'm doing so in a story which won't be publishable, if that makes sense.

One minor problem: The aforementioned story kind of needs another story to set it up, which I have a much vaguer idea of and am not nearly as interested in. That's part of the reason why I have trouble finishing things, because whenever I come up with a story it always suggests other stories to me, and the temptation is to spend all my time following those rather than writing the story at hand. I'm very confident that I'll finish this one, though. I've gotten very invested in the stories I'm writing by now, perhaps too invested, to the point where it's giving me difficulties with my college work. And I have a paper to write tomorrow. But after a couple years of college I've gotten good at juggling all this stuff, so I'm cautiously hopeful.

Also: limyaael's journal has a lot of great writing advice as well. And this post about recurent themes in American literature is fascinating and weirdly helpful for me.

Sorry I've been away for so long. I've been suffering a bad case of writer's block for a while, but now I'm somewhat better, especially after having watched the first season of New Who. Anyway, here's the inevitable collage thingy for my journal...

( What I've been journaling about--very large, and not entirely worksafe )

What's the deal with all the naked and half-naked women? I had no idea my journal was this sexy. For that matter, what's with all the sheet music?

Courtesy of rockcandy76

Q1 - What is the last CD you bought?
A recording of A German Requiem, by Brahms, which is a very beautiful piece.

Q2 - What is the next CD you want to buy?
I honestly have no idea. There hasn't been much new music coming along which interests me right now, for some reason. Probably another classical music CD. Or maybe the new T-Bone Burnett collection?

Q3 - What was the last thing you ate?
A surprisingly good chocolate chip cookie from one of the restaurants on Purdue University's campus.

Q4 - What food do you want to eat next?
When I go home in a few hours, I'll be having a snack, probably some Tostitos Hint of Lime chips. The lime flavor is actually really, really strong--if it's a "hint," it's not a very subtle one--but I love them for some reason.

Q5 - What was the last thing that made you laugh?
Superman and a giant Kryptonian gorilla fighting a lost tribe of descendants of ancient Romans armed with Kryptonite spears. It doesn't get much better than that.

Q6 - If you had $500 now what would you buy?
I would buy every Doctor Who DVD. Sad but true.

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. My aunt just died today, but she didn't suffer very much, and she died at home with her family around her. I wish I could have gotten to see her one more time before she died, but my mom let her know that I was in her thoughts. I'm more or less at a stage where I'm able to write now. I'm mainly working on non-fanfic stuff, but I do have a Fourth Doctor story which I started ages ago and am trying to complete.

I'm Netflixing a bunch of old-school Who to get in the mood, as I agonize over whether to wait until the US DVD set comes out or shell out 75 American dollars for the Canadian DVD set. I've seen The Aztecs and Tomb of the Cybermen and have strongly enjoyed both. More thoughts on them later.

( And now for a cursory B-movie review... )

So just now I found that my aunt, who has had cancer for some time, has just been placed on respiration. Any of you who pray should pray for her and for my family. As to what this is going to do to my writing, who knows. Maybe I won't be able to write, maybe I'm going to be incredibly driven. Right now it feels selfish for me to write, I feel right now as if writing anything would require trying to ignore what's going on and I don't want to. I apologize for my infrequency of posting, I was just starting to get back into the rhythm of writing when this happened.

Well, in just one day I'll be starting my next semester of college, which will put a bit of a crimp in my productivity. (Such as it is--at least I've been writing some NEQ episodes again.) Well, in the short term, anyway. My classes mostly look good this semester, and being exposed to some new ideas will probably give me some inspiration after a while. That and the new Who finally coming out on DVD!

On the fanfic front... astrogirl2 just posted about a new ficathon, apocalyptothon. The premise sounds very interesting, but as with Astrogirl I know almost none of the fandoms. (Although the ones I do know--Who and DCU--I know like the back of my hand, and I could write comicverse or movieverse X-Men in a pinch.) But the deadline is one I can actually handle (it's in June), now Astrogirl signed up for it, and part of me is wondering whether I should sign up too. I mean, I could probably think of hundreds of good end-of-the-world scenarios for Doctor Who or DCU. On the other hand, knowing my luck, I'd likely get a request that doens't have any of them. And what with college and everything, even a relatively generous deadline like that would probably be too much... So you should probably try to talk me out of it, though that didn't work for Astro. :)

One of my new year's resolutions is to post more frequently this year. As I have chronic trouble finishing stories, which is perhaps why most of my "published" writing is for Never-Ending Quest, another is to finish a long(ish) story, but that hasn't worked so far. :) Still, you never know. I've been working for some time on a rather long Doctor Who story involving the Eighth Doctor (the one my earlier ficlet "Passing in the Night" was supposed to be connected with), but it's in limbo for now because I don't know to what extent it does, or should, mesh with the new series. (Which comes out in DVD here in a little over a month--yay!) Also, it was getting way, way too long. So I started plotting another story, involving a past Doctor, which I intended to be shorter and more manageable. Which, naturally, became even longer and more complex. I should have known that if I wanted to keep the story simple and manageable I shouldn't have involved the Holy Grail...

I also have a few original stories bouncing around in my head, and a few in other fandoms that I promised other people I'd write and had better get off my butt and finish. And I'll definitely have a few NEQ episodes up. Anyway, here's a silly meme (from astrogirl2 and lizamanynames among, well, practically everyone):

Give me a fandom, and I'll tell you

1. The first character I first fell in love with:
2. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now:
3. The character everyone else loves that I don't:
4. The character I love that everyone else hates:
5. The character I used to love but don't any longer:
6. The character I would shag anytime:
7. The character I'd want to be like:
8. The character I'd slap:
9. A pairing that I love:
10. A pairing that I despise:

And in case you're wondering, JH, NEQ counts for this. :)

Oh, and, because I forgot to mention it: This icon was created by rj_anderson.

This was generated using the Drabble-matic. (Courtesy of lizamanynames) It may be the most disturbing thing I have ever (inadvenrtantly) written:

Vomitously Tripping

Yartek tripped along zestfully. He was on his way to meet his lover, the Animus, for Valentine's Day. He smiled to see a Aggedor hopping along, carrying an antidisestablishmentarianism in its mouth.

Yartek was almost on top of a tree when he came across a Shakespearian cake, lying alone on a dull plate. "That must be a treat from my convoluted bear," he said to himself, and tripped over to it. The cake looked lambent, so he ate it.

It gave him the most kinky tingling sensation in his nose. "How unusual!" he said and continued tripping to see the Animus.

When the Animus came out to meet him, she took one look and fell over.

"What is it?" Yartek cried sexily.

"Your tentacle! And your middle toe!" the Animus said. "They're transcendant! Can't you feel it?"

Yartek felt his tentacle and his middle toe. They were indeed quite transcendant. "Oh, no!" Yartek said. "I'm a woman!" He, or rather, she started to cry. "It must have been that Shakespearian cake you left for me. Did you know what it would do?"

"I didn't leave you any cake," the Animus said. "I got you a Mary Sue. It must have been that splendiferous man who lives nearby. He acts a little worriedly, ever since he recited a tissue compression eliminator."

"But how can you ever love me, now that I'm a woman?" Yartek sobbed.

"Well, I never knew how to tell you this," the Animus said oddly, "but I actually prefer women. And I think your tentacle is really controversial like that."

"Really?" Yartek dried her tears. Yartek kissed the Animus and it was an entirely absurd sensation, like an incredibly tired and lazy writer who is too tired to come up with a long and convoluted metaphor to describe transcendant feelings of true luuuurve.

They spent the night having entirely absurd sex, until the cake wore off suddenly.

Everything was rather awkward after that.

***

Well, the Animus was voiced by a woman, anyway... I originally put in Alpha Centauri from "The Curse of Peladon", but then I realized I would have to choose between male and female. I know way, way too much about Doctor Who.

zinc Raymond amok
(For some reason, half the spammers in the world seem to think my name is Raymond. This has been happening for years and I've never been able to figure out why.)

slither Raymond demented

keats Raymond hypocycloid

biceps Raymond pull

fairy Raymond aristotle

accusative expiration

Via-ggra is Lousy QyD7hH (Via-ggra? That sounds like something out of Lovecraft.)

*Extreme* backyard makeover entry (Just how *extreme* can a backyard makeover be, anyway? And would I particularly want an *extreme* backyard makeover?)

Have you heard of hard erection? Come on in. manzanitahandyman[1-2]

anywhere Raymond masturbate

cowmen Raymond camelopard

Every man must have a sex! MUST!!!

Re: selfimmolation smoulder (!!!)

And my personal favorite, one of the few instances where the words tacked onto the end to avoid spam filters actually fit the spam subject:

Get a larger penis lovebird brinkmanship

Finally, while this one wasn't mine it was so hilarious I had to share it:

To fix flaccid problems in the bedroom, read this. freud

(And don't worry, I will write something over Christmas break. Maybe. I hope.)

This story was written for 15minuteficlets. The challenge word was ( Read more... )

Sorry I haven't been around in so long. Anyway, here's another silly meme, from astrogirl2:

1. Think of the first word that comes to mind when you think of me.
2. Go to http://images.google.com and search for that word.
3. Reply to this post with one of the pictures on the first page of results -- don't tell me the word.
4. Put this in your own blog so that I can do the same.

Just today, I got a spam email trying to sell me subliminal advertising software. I have to wonder, do these things work on yourself? Because I could install it and make it flash "finish your stories" every time I use the computer.

http://www.livejournal.com/community/phpstory/