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November 22, 2013

Stuff and Things 11/22/13

What I'm Writing
It's kind of been a crappy week. But that's okay because THE DOCTOR WHO 50TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL IS TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Makes up for everything. AND the docudrama about the start of the series is on BBC tonight. My brother asked if I was gonna watch it. Psh, yeah.

Anyway, you know how I said writing a sequel is like writing fanfiction? Well, it's put me in the mood to write fanfiction. So here's a little drabble for you (I'm not good at first-person, sorry)
“Hullo,” the tall skinny man said. He leaned against the counter, all long limbs and crooked smiles.
“Good afternoon.” I plastered on my blandly polite receptionist’s smile and turned towards him. “Who are you here to see?”
“Well, that depends.” He had a pleasant British accent. He leaned forward, a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “Would you believe me if I told you something unbelievable?”
I leaned forward as well, drawn in by his manner. “That would be, by definition, something I couldn’t believe.” But I smiled, I couldn’t help myself. “Still, I doubt it’s quite as unbelievable as you think.” I had a hearty respect for the unbelievable these days. They had a habit of happening. A 200-hundred year tropical storm making landfall in New Jersey? 2 years ago, I would have said that was unbelievable. Bounty hunters showing up at work? People who work for a pharmaceutical company and don’t know who Marie Curie is? A guy taking a piss in the parking lot? All unbelievable, and they all happened.
“Oh, let’s not do this, Kim.” He raised a hand to ruffle his already wild hair. “You know precisely who I am and what I’m about to tell you.”
I didn’t ask how he knew my name: the nameplate on my desk solved that mystery. “And how would I know that?”
“Because you’re writing this.”
I pulled my hands away from the keyboard. “Hey, stop breaking the fourth wall,” I scolded my computer screen. “This is supposed to be classic author self-insertion where you tell me you’re the Doctor, and I don’t believe you until you show me the TARDIS, and I get to gasp and say ‘it’s bigger on the inside,’ and then we go on an adventure which is wonderful until it’s not and I get to learn the hard lesson that being a hero isn’t always glamorous. Now behave.”
But when I immersed myself in the story once more, he was less than penitent. “I think we’re beyond that, don’t you? Or do you really think you wouldn’t know me when you saw me?”
I pursed my lips. This was one of the reasons people thought authors were insane. Characters who won’t do what they’re told. “I wouldn’t believe it,” I said, “but I’d want to.”
He grinned his signature million-watt grin. “As I said, something unbelievable. Now that we’ve skipped over all those bits where you insist you’ve gone crazy,” he held out his hand, “won’t you come with me?”
I sighed. I should have known better than to expect the Doctor to listen. “You say that like I have a choice in the matter,” I told him seriously, “as if I could ignore that hand. But I’m a fangirl. I could no more say no to you than I could fly.”
“We can go somewhere that you can fly.”
I had to bite back a smile. “I don’t really want to fly,” I said, but I took his hand. “Unless it’s in the TARDIS.” His hand was warm and strong, his skin rough against my own.
He tugged me out from behind the desk. “Well then, allons-y, Kim! Times to go, planets to see.”
“Just one question first.” I could hear the phone ringing in the background as I followed him out, but I ignored it. For once, I ignored it, and I couldn’t fight back the smile on my face. “Is there a kitchen? You never said, and you know I can’t go long without baking something.”
He looked back over his shoulder at me. “Oh, just you wait,” he said with a grin.

Books- Beyond this point, there be spoilers
147843
Kristen Britain's Green Rider series is a good, solid sword-and-sorcery fantasy series. If you've read Mercedes Lackey's Heralds of Valdemar series, this series uses a similar premise, but Britain writes it in a much different way. The later books especially take a much darker and more serious turn.

The storyline is nothing new (teenage girl finds she has a special destiny. Goes on adventure. Saves the kingdom. Catches the king's eye), but Britain's storytelling is superb. There are a few places where I get the feeling she wasn't quite sure where she was going (such as with Karigan and Zachary's not-quite romance), but the stories are engrossing and just plain fun.

I do find Karigan a bit annoying at times, and to borrow a fanfiction phrase, she's quite the Mary Sue. Not only does saving of the kingdom/world always come down to her, but she has three love interests (her friend in the Rider's corps, the king, and the dashing thief), and she's oh-so-special and unique. She has the First Rider's brooch, she talks to the elves, the ancient and elite warrior class have adopted her as one of their own. But even that didn't really detract from how much I truly enjoyed these books.

If you're a fan of classic, high fantasy, I definitely recommend this series. They're long and meaty enough to really sink your teeth into, without dragging too much. There are 4 books so far, but the fifth is slated to come out sometime next year, so now's a good time to jump on in.

TV
Castle- Serial killers always make for the best storylines. I had forgotten that 3XK had "died," so that was actually the first thing that I thought of, and then I got mad that they took so long to realize it. Then Beckett said, "don't chase ghosts," and I was like, ooooh right.

Sleepy Hollow- I feel like the more they get into the backstory, the less it works. Still, awesome episode. I heart Crane and Mills (just not together. Can we not, please? For once?)

Supernatural- D'aww, the softer side of Dean

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.- *FANGIRLY SCREAMING!!!* OMGOMGOMGOMG. Coulson was in the Dollhouse. Coulson was really in the Dollhouse. THIS EXPLAINS EVERYTHING. I can't even breath I'm fangirling so hard.

You see, when the show premiered, I asked a friend if she had any theories about Tahiti, and she said, "Obviously, he was in the Dollhouse, and S.H.I.E.L.D. is really run by the Rossum Corporation," which is the most brilliant theory ever, imo. And ever since then, we've found all sorts of things in the show that supported that theory (my own personal riff was that they couldn't fully revive Coulson, so they put him in the attic, and this is just a scenario he's playing out in his comatose head, and that would explain all the improbable and unrealistic storylines, and the impossibly pretty people)(I'd explain what the attic is, but... just watch Dollhouse). I mean, the way he says, "It's a magical place," every time someone mentions Tahiti? Classic Doll call and response. And then, when he was dreaming of Tahiti, and he asked the masseuse, "Did I fall asleep?" She actually responded, "For a little while."
*SCREAMING**SPASTIC FLAILING**MORE SCREAMING* I honestly thought the background was going to flicker or something and you see the imprint room, or Coulson floating in the blue Jello goo of the attic.

Also, Agent May- love. Ward- less love. Ward and Skye making gooey eyes at each other again- Blecccchhh. Agent May would totally be a better supervising officer for Skye. Less gooey eyes, more badassery.

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