Random: Ikea, DragonCon, Babble, Recs
Why is London After Midnight playing in NYC the same night as the Cure? I would’ve liked to see them. That’s just weird.
I went to Ikea last night. Dude. I felt like I was trapped in the hedge maze from Harry Potter 4. It took me two hours to get out of there, dodging strollers and shopping carts and trying not to get distracted by all the shiny things. And I missed Vegan Drinks. :(
But the good thing is that I saw the bookshelf I was going to get, and decided I like another one better (this one, in black). The reason being that, in person, the one I was going to get is really obviously brown, a kind of ugly brown that I dislike. Whereas the one I like better is black–I like the “feel” of it more and it’ll match my other stuff better. And the one I was going to get is only 75 inches high, whereas the new one is way tall, 92 inches. I have super high ceilings; why not take advantage of the vertical space? And the new one is only 40 inches wide, while the other one was 60 inches wide, so it’ll be more flexible in terms of where I decide to put it. It’ll store a bit less stuff, unfortunately, but overall I just like it better. (And, bonus, it’s $90 cheaper.)
So, it’s good that I went. Although they charge $70 for delivery (grrr), so I talked to my dad and maybe we’ll rent a van (should only be about $30) and lug it home ourselves.
Did I mention that I got my plane tickets for DragonCon? Yep, I’m going. I might want to hide under a burka, but dammit, I can’t miss DragonCon. I always have so much fun there. I wonder what the Doctor Who panels are like… (the good thing about DragonCon is that, if they suck, I can always find something else entertaining to do).
I tried out that Wordle thing with my “Midnight” review. Nifty!
Oh, and here’s a short post-”Midnight” fic rec: Humans by ![[info]](http://stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
rosa_acicularis. Very insightful look at the various characters.
(Anyone have more post-”Midnight” fic recs? That episode is practically begging to be explored further in fanfic. And dammit, I need something to entertain me seeing as 95% of the links on my flist are off-limits due to spoilers.)
Also: a yummylicious John Simm picspam from lozenger8. :)
Other nifty links: really interesting Doctor/Master discussion at ![[info]](http://stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small}
best_enemies and two compilations of Doctor/Rose squee here and here.
(I don’t know why I love Doctor/Rose so much in canon–romantically or as best friends, either interpretation is fine with me–but am completely uninspired to read about them in fanfic. Maybe because their relationship is already a lot like what you get in fanfic–full of character moments and bonding and actual happiness and it’s already got such a perfect ending that I’m not inspired to seek out more? Or maybe because my interpretation tends to differ from the mainstream in that I don’t care whether they’re having sex or not, and I get kind of sick thinking about them “settling down”? Whereas I can’t get enough Doctor/Master, maybe because the stuff I’m interested in there is always heavily hinted at in canon, but it never goes as far as I’d like. It’s just the kind of relationship that fanfic was invented for. Thus the fact that I could probably read Doctor/Master fic forever without getting bored.)
Tags: apartment, doctor who, doctor/master, dragoncon, fic recs, john simm
27 Responses to “Random: Ikea, DragonCon, Babble, Recs”
Chase820 on June 20, 2008 2:53 pm | Link
I like the modern/minimalist look you’ve got going for your place. It sounds like a perfect fit for a high-ceilinged urban apartment.
I’m going more for Grandma’s attic, but with a suburban garage apartment built in the twenties, what else can one do?
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rusty-halo on June 20, 2008 3:02 pm | Link
Thanks!
I wish I knew more about decorating. As far as I can tell, I really like either 1) really sleek black ultra-minimalist modern or 2) really ornate old-fashioned pretty (preferably in a red-colored wood or maybe cast iron). It makes a weird combination! (What I don’t like is very generic, neither sleek nor ornate but just kind of there wooden stuff. Which seems to be the majority, unfortunately.)
I think your “Grandma’s attic” look is the kind of ornate old-fashioned stuff I’m thinking of. (At least, I’ve really liked everything you’ve posted.)
I’m still learning. As far as I can tell, my parents’ philosophy of furniture is “anything on sale that Mom lugs home from the consignment shop.” :P
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a_white_rain on June 20, 2008 3:13 pm | Link
I don’t know why I love Doctor/Rose so much in canon–romantically or as best friends, either interpretation is fine with me–but am completely uninspired to read about them in fanfic.
I’m like that too.
But it’s not too uncommon for me. Well-defined and developed canon ships for me are usually not something I’m interested in reading because the only view I’m interested in is the one in my head and not many people view the pairing exactly/near exactly the same as I do. Not to say other interpretations are out, it’s just my interpretation is the only one I care about.
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rusty-halo on June 20, 2008 3:28 pm | Link
Hmm, yeah, that makes sense. I’ve seen very few Doctor/Rose fics that came anything near the version that exists my head. (They’re usually either far too sappy or else go out of character trying to be dark.)
This usually isn’t a problem for me, since I almost never like canon ships. (And the ones I have liked usually end up sucking by the end [*glares at Buffy/Spike*]). Doctor/Rose is that rare exception that I liked the whole way through. (*crosses fingers that the S4 finale won’t ruin it*)
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a_white_rain on June 20, 2008 3:29 pm | Link
I can think of a few canon ships that I’ve liked all the way through (usually through writers who had some sort of plan and the pairing was part of the story itself), but Doctor/Rose was defiantly one of the better ones.
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rusty-halo on June 20, 2008 3:48 pm | Link
Yeah, I’m trying to think of others that I liked all the way through. Sharpe/Teresa in the Sharpe movies. Lots of movie ships, because they have a planned-out beginning, middle, and end (Sarah/Kyle in Terminator, Lenny/Mace in Strange Days, Han/Leia in Star Wars…). And so far I’ve liked Jaime/Brienne in A Song of Ice and Fire, but I suspect that’s not going to end well (though it might be a good story). I liked Veronica/Logan in Veronica Mars season one and loathed it forever after.
It’s really hard to find one in TV (I actually can’t think of any aside from Doctor/Rose) because TV ships so often vary according to the whims of writers and actors and executives. It’s rare to get a well-planned relationship that makes consistent sense throughout and ends in a meaningful way.
I usually like slash ships, anyway. The ones that never get explicitly consummated, so the writers can play with them throughout but never really have the chance to screw them up: Duncan/Methos, Sam/Gene, Fraser/Ray, Spike/Angel…
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a_white_rain on June 20, 2008 3:52 pm | Link
I don’t watch much TV, so that probably helps. I’ve dug most Jossverse ships, but by their nature, it’s not happily ever after, for the most part.
Though really I stick with shounen manga where the ships are implied canon with enough left open for me to play around with. Or CLAMP which gives me my fuckeduprightwrong pairings.
But yeah TV pairings almost never go well because of the lack of planning that really goes into them.
I have plenty of slash pairings, but I generally have trouble getting behind them in live action for some reason. Doctor Who is an exception to the rule.
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rusty-halo on June 20, 2008 3:59 pm | Link
I definitely don’t need a happily ever after (Sarah/Kyle is one of my favorite love stories ever, and it doesn’t end happily, nor does Sharpe/Teresa) but I just need it to be written well. Planned out from beginning to end, with consistent characterization and all that. I wish TV would do so more often!
Who do you slash in Doctor Who?
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a_white_rain on June 20, 2008 4:01 pm | Link
I’ll look into them at some point. AND YES MORE PLANNED TV PLEASE.
I ship Ten with the Master and Jack. Though I like Jack/Ten as the one-sided feelings that are canon best (I have a thing for one-sided feelings done well). And Rusty just went and made Doctor/Master as canon as he could, so I followed it quite like I do with Angel/Spike.
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rusty-halo on June 20, 2008 4:18 pm | Link
Doctor/Master definitely hits a lot of the same buttons as Spike/Angel did for me.
I liked Doctor/Jack a lot better before I watched Torchwood. (*is traumatized by bad writing/acting*)
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a_white_rain on June 20, 2008 4:20 pm | Link
It does have the same tangled history. Though I like Doctor/Master better because it’s way needier.
*hearts the bad writing/acting* Though not with Burn Gorman - fantastic actor, he is.
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a_white_rain on June 20, 2008 4:20 pm | Link
By the same, er I mean not the same. But that they have a long tangled history is the part Spike and Angel have in common.
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rusty-halo on June 20, 2008 4:29 pm | Link
I got what you meant. :)
Yeah, I think um, that Spike was needy toward Angel, but a lot of the time Angel treated Spike like an annoying mosquito that wouldn’t stop buzzing around his ears. Whereas with Doctor/Master, they’re both kind of equally obsessed with each other in an utterly fucked-up way, at least in the new series. It’s really rare to find an enemyslash pairing where the “good guy” is just as invested as the villain.
Burn Gorman is excellent, yes, although his frog lips disturb me immensely. (And the part where Owen commits rape in the first episode and no one cares!) But Barrowman’s bad acting has seeped so far into my perception of Jack that I actually picture Jack in Doctor/Jack fic doing the same kind of OTT fake acting and then I can’t get into the story. :P
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a_white_rain on June 20, 2008 4:31 pm | Link
I was thinking that it was mutually needy, which gets to me more than one character being needy. Though I do like the way Spike is needy towards Angel.
But Barrowman’s bad acting has seeped so far into my perception of Jack that I actually picture Jack in Doctor/Jack fic doing the same kind of OTT fake acting and then I can’t get into the story. :P
I’m so sorry. :p
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a_white_rain on June 20, 2008 4:32 pm | Link
THOUGH HAHAH ON THE BRIGHT SIDE? It’s not like you’re missing much fic for Jack/Ten. Believe me, I’ve looked and found nada.
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rusty-halo on June 20, 2008 4:37 pm | Link
Hmm, I did find a few decent ones before I stopped reading it due to squick.
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a_white_rain on June 20, 2008 4:38 pm | Link
I’ve looked through those and haven’t really found one I like.
I think it’s because I can’t see mutual Ten/Jack, no matter how much I try. But still, even my bias aside, there isn’t much to read for them. :(
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rusty-halo on June 20, 2008 4:45 pm | Link
Yeah, I can’t see Ten feeling it the same way Jack does. But I can see him going along for comfort, or charity, or just because he’s so very fucked up.
Ah well. Thankfully there’s lots of Doctor/Master to keep me occupied. :)
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a_white_rain on June 20, 2008 4:46 pm | Link
Wait I remember one that did it well. It was even porn! That’s how good it was.
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rusty-halo on June 20, 2008 4:53 pm | Link
Erm, you don’t happen to remember which? (*is curious*)
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a_white_rain on June 20, 2008 4:54 pm | Link
here! Not sure if you have it listed - I follow her work elsewhere so I knew from that.
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rusty-halo on June 20, 2008 5:00 pm | Link
Cool! I do have it listed but hey, there’s nothing wrong with reading it again. :)
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chloris on June 20, 2008 6:06 pm | Link
IKEA is a scary place if you’re in a hurry or trying to get out without buying much!
I find that I like Doctor/Rose in fanfic more than Doctor/Master even though Doctor/Master actually interests me more. Doctor/Master gets me in the same way as some of my other favorite pairings, like Spike/Buffy and Kara/Leoben, but I’m a bit scared of the fanfic. I really don’t want anything too dark and I’d prefer to forget most of LotTL, so I’m kind of stuck.
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rusty-halo on June 20, 2008 6:13 pm | Link
Hmm, yeah, I’m the opposite. I think LotTL is just crying out for tons of fanfic to fix its mistakes and explore all the stuff it glossed over. It has so many amazing elements but they never quite gel, which is why it’s got so many openings for fanfic to run with.
Well, that and I love my fic dark. >:)
I just… don’t see where there is to go with Doctor/Rose, I guess. I mean, they had an amazing run and a perfect ending. RTD handled them with such a deft touch than most fanfic just feels inferior and rings false.
I think I mainly go to fanfic to fill in the gaps in canon, in terms of plot, emotion, relationships, etc–anything I’m left wanting. (I think that’s why I was so into Spikefic–the more unsatisfied I got with the show, as season six progressed, the more I turned to fanfic to give me what I wanted from the story). If I’m satisfied with canon, I’m not compelled toward fic.
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chloris on June 20, 2008 6:39 pm | Link
Well, lately I’ve been in the mood for fluffy smut and Doctor/Rose fits that very nicely. There’s also a fair amount of it, making it easier to find something I like.
Even though my favorite relationships are the dark, twisted, and obsessive ones, I prefer emotional darkness to physical darkness in my fanfic. And I’ve clicked on a few Doctor/Master fics that were too violent, so now I’m cautious.
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rusty-halo on June 20, 2008 6:43 pm | Link
There’s a lot of both emotional and physical darkness with Doctor/Master fic. I’d say stick to the ones rated PG-13 or under, if you want to avoid the physical stuff. (Have you tried![[info]](http://stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
versaphile’s Praxis? It’s brilliant, and hasn’t really had anything physical so far, although it will eventually.)
I, uh, don’t do fluff. I’m fine with Doctor/Rose fluff in canon, because it’s like the icing on a very substantial cupcake, but with a fic that’s just fluff I tend to get a sugar headache very quickly. ;)
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chloris on June 20, 2008 9:16 pm | Link
That’s what I’ve been doing, keeping to PG ratings. My problem is I have no interest in broken!Doctor. None. Zero. Even if he comes out of it and it’s all well written, it just *really* bothers me. I like Doctor either on top or at least fully equal.
I can understand an aversion to fluff! But there’s something about funny smut that gets to me.
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