Worlds Enough and Time

Fri, 07 Aug 2020 06:30:55 GMT

2020 is such a wild year. Sometimes I look at the calendar and think of everything that's happened and it's tiring.

Since I've been away from Doctor Whow for quite a bit, the all-encompassing negativity and toxicity was just... too much I kind of want to write a little more about the reveal about the timeless child.

I am still honestly baffled at the fandom reaction that thinks Timeless Child reveal makes the Doctor a god, a chosen one, or an immortal.

The Doctor's already an immortal, and not just in the story but because of the function of the show works, the Doctor will never die.

As for being a god and a chosen one... that's the one that baffles me the most. It doesn't change anything about the Doctor, the Doctor is still a renegade, and the Doctor still chose to run away. But for me, as a new Classic Who viewer, I feel like it helps me give context to the Doctor more, and actually Hits Different now.

The post here. ( some snippets and thoughts )

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[initial reactions] Doctor Who and the Timeless Children - 12x10

Mon, 02 Mar 2020 00:35:45 GMT

First of all, I have to stand up on my table and clap.

I actually don’t know how this will land for New Who viewers since there was a lot of lore drop there.

( Timeless Children )

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[reactions] Doctor Who and the Ascension of the Cybermen - 12x09

Tue, 25 Feb 2020 02:16:04 GMT

( Spoilers is a Believer )

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[initial reactions] Doctor Who and the Haunting of Villa Diodati - 12x08

Mon, 17 Feb 2020 01:47:55 GMT

I really liked this episode, it had the proper creepiness of a ghost story and good mystery in the center.

( *She* is from somewhere much, *much* stranger. -- The North. )

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[initial reactions] Doctor Who 12x07 - Can You Hear Me?

Mon, 10 Feb 2020 00:43:52 GMT

I find it so hilarious that the reason Thirteen hasn’t been doing emotional talks with other people... is because she’s deliberately trying not to be left one on one with people because she doesn’t know what to say.

( My brief is quite wide ranging. )

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[initial reactions] Doctor Who and Praxeus - 12x06

Mon, 03 Feb 2020 00:26:19 GMT

( Just watching the planet turn across a day. )

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[initial reactions] Doctor Who and the Fugitive of the Judoon - 12x05

Sun, 26 Jan 2020 23:58:07 GMT

I think I need to rewatch that again, that was a lot of lore drop and what a surprise too.

( The curve ball in the Judoon )

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[January meme] Thoughts on Killjoys

Sun, 26 Jan 2020 21:51:11 GMT

Thoughts on Killjoys? What fandom do you love to revisit? for aurumcalendula

I really really love Killjoys and I'm forever sad it never became popular in fandom as it should be. I love the complicated dynamics between the characters and I adored the worldbuilding in the first two seasons, especially the politics and religion of that world because it played off nicely with each other, especially the religion. Because it made sense, the Qresh was the main planet and the water levels rose and swallowed up the majority of the other lands, the other people fled, the remaining people became royalty called the Nine Families.

Birthright is based on land ownership and where they're born rather than blood ties, hence the important royals all have "Land" attached to their names. The Trees are rare and became sacred to them and are folded into their religion, "Praise the Trees".

If I think about it, it's really just so elegant which makes me sad they moved away from all of this to pursue more intergalactic storytelling. It took me a while to like the new direction of the show, which involved fewer Killjoys and politics and more outright war.

I do love the whole theme of memory and living on through that legacy, and how Dutch struggled hard for that remembrance.

Most of all I love Dutch a lot because she's strong but flawed, she was raised to be an assassin but the toll of that was something she wore heavily around her shoulders. Also, this is the first show I watched the engaged honestly with abuse and how it's not a cut and dried emotion because Dutch both hated and loved Khlyen, her father.

I love Dutch's stronger than blood relationship with Johnny and eventually, I did come around D'avin (much, much, much later).

This was such a fun cracky show with excellent characters and even better characterizations.

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[January meme] - Comfort foods

Thu, 23 Jan 2020 02:00:07 GMT

Something about food: routines, comfort foods for rose_griffes

My comfort foods are my favorite Filipino dishes, especially now with everything, and my allergies acting up.

I love eating Arroz Caldo, a savory rice porridge, despite the Spanish name its actually similar to a congee. I love Arroz Caldo when I have a cold especially when I load it up with calamansi. Lots of calamansi. It's like a tiny lime but so, so much more sour.

And pork sinigang, think of Tom Yang without the heat. It's very sour and really good hearty meal to eat with rice. Just like with Arroz Caldo it's fantastic if you have a cold or just want a really good home cooked meal.

There's also manggang hilaw with bagoong, green mango with bagoong sauce (shrimp based sauce).

The theme here is, I really love sour foods. Like, a lot.

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Wed, 22 Jan 2020 23:47:49 GMT

Dammit, Disney!

I thought I was done with Star Wars! And then this!

It has everything I want! The Epic-ness, the tragedy, the way so many people are fighting so hard in the face of everything else, and the inevitability of fate. And, of course, the music

This is my Star Wars.

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[initial reactions] Doctor Who 12x04 - Nikola Tesla's Night of Terrors

Mon, 20 Jan 2020 02:41:07 GMT

I really, really enjoyed this episode! It didn't have any of the messiness and excesses of the last episode, it had just the right amount of cast and proper use of villains! I love Nina Metivier's writing and Nida Manzoor's direction, can we keep this team up forever???

( Fantastical! )

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[January Meme] Top three most loved and despised moments in TV for the decade?

Sat, 18 Jan 2020 02:42:58 GMT

Top three most loved and top three most despised moments in television for the decade? A book that changed your life? for thymejot

My instincts is to go as far back as Buffy only to realize they're not in the decade!

Top 3 Most Loved moments in Television

The ending of Contingency and Bad Code, I had chills through all the flashback and the revelation that Nathan's death could have been preventable but like a Greek Tragedy, choices and chance meant that he would die.
Sarah Shahi as Shaw, the whole ending sequence of Relevance, I had chills.
Not a moment but the whole episode of RAM in Person of Interest, I love circular storytelling and finally getting the full backstory of how everything connected.

I just remembered how much I loved Person of Interest

Top 3 most despised moments in TV

The moment I realized Olivia Dunham is no longer the protagonist of Fringe
Carter in Person of Interest dying.
Any moment the writers of Grey's Anatomy makes characater do something stupid or killing half the cast and then I have to break-up with the show again.

A Book that changed my life

I wouldn't say it changed my life but its formative to me was: The Riddlemaster Trilogy by Patricia McKillip where the heroes spent significant time apart from each other growing and learning and still loving each other. It had such an impact on me, and blew me away that a couple didn't need to be in the same continent or even staying together joined to the hip to love each other.

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[January meme]

Thu, 16 Jan 2020 00:27:56 GMT

Favorite moment for each Doctor in this decade? for justphoenix

Oh, this is interesting, let me think, this decade so... that's 2010's... that's Ten (End of Time), Eleventh Doctor, Twelfth Doctor, and Thirteenth Doctor.

Tenth Doctor happens in End of Time, not my favorite two-parter, but I loved the moment when Ten visits Martha, Mickey, and Rose. Rose, in particular, because I thought I'd never see her again, and that was such a lovely grace note to end it with.

Eleventh Doctor: I went back and forth on this, and I ended up on Vincent and the Doctor, because of this:

Amy: So you were right. No new paintings. We didn't make a difference at all.
Eleventh Doctor: I wouldn't say that. The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. Hey. The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant. And we definitely added to his pile of good things. And, if you look carefully, maybe we did indeed make a couple of little changes.

Twelfth Doctor: There are two moments, the speech he made to the Masters:

No! No! When I say no, you turn back around! (catches up with them) Hey! I'm going to be dead in a few hours, so before I go, let's have this out, you and me, once and for all. Winning? Is that what you think it's about? I'm not trying to win. I'm not doing this because I want to beat someone, or because I hate someone, or because-- because I want to blame someone. It's not because it's fun and God knows it's not because it's easy. It's not even because it works, because it hardly ever does. I do what I do, because it's right! Because it's decent! And above all, it's kind. It's just that. Just kind. If I run away today, good people will die. If I stand and fight, some of them might live. Maybe not many, maybe not for long. Hey, you know, maybe there's no point in any of this at all, but it's the best I can do, so I'm going to do it. And I will stand here doing it till it kills me. You're going to die too, some day. How will that be? Have you thought about it? What would you die for? Who I am is where I stand. Where I stand, is where I fall. Stand with me. These people are terrified. Maybe we can help, a little. Why not, just at the end, just be kind?

But of course, the number 1 moment for me with Twelve, is in Heaven Sent:

There’s this Emperor who asks this shepherd’s boy, “How many seconds in eternity?” And the shepherd’s boy says, “There’s this mountain of pure diamond, and it takes an hour to climb it, and an hour to go around it. Every hundred years a little bird comes and sharpens its beak on the diamond mountain, and when the entire mountain is chiseled away, the first second of eternity will have passed.” You might think that’s a hell of a long time. Personally, I think that’s a hell of a bird.

Thirteenth Doctor: For Thirteen, I don't think she's had her moment yet, also I don't think speechifying is her thing. There is a momenet in It Takes You Away, I felt was very Doctor-y:

From the Solitract, yes. Don't know if it survived. But it won't be coming back here. Shame. Made a new friend, a whole conscious universe, then I had to say goodbye.

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[January meme] Thirteenth Doctor for braddersbangerz

Wed, 15 Jan 2020 02:13:14 GMT

Thirteenth Doctor of course :P for braddersbangerz

Thirteen! I love her the moment I saw her, she worked for me really fast, I love the feeling I got in The Woman Who Fell to Earth where it felt like she had to paraphrase American Gods she's fighting for the sheer joy of it, for the fuckin' holy delight of it.

The thing about Thirteen is she was born amidst contrasts, the Doctor was actually contemplating death before they changed their minds last minute, this is a last-minute reprieve life. She wants to be joyful and new this time around and she's grabbing every instance of joy she can find but she's also actually depressed. She's being hopeful with all her being because if she lets go for one second she'll sink into a quicksand of despair, just like what happened in The Ghost Monument.

She pinned all her hopes on finding the TARDIS, and for everything to be fixed once she gets her TARDIS back that when she reached her destination and didn't find it -- everything went crashing all around her. She also didn't tell the team a lot about herself because she never intended to travel with any of them, it was the TARDIS that decided to keep the Humans for the Doctor until the Doctor became attached to them.

Still, the pattern of behavior has set in with the Doctor, she didn't tell them a lot about herself other than surface level because she never intended for them to stay. And when the team decided they wanted to stay, I think the Doctor made a conscious decision to just not say anything about her life.

She looks open and carefree, but she's actually closed off. She doesn't answer any personal questions about herself because as missmarthanightingale put it:

ok but the doctor really has been going “due to various traumatic events, including the betrayal of my entire species followed up by that of my oldest friend, i will from now on refuse to acknowledge anything about my past beyond surface details”

I think that's a decent summation of where Thirteen's head at, and what's becoming more apparent since series 11, is that Thirteen shares Twelve's aversion to touch, but this time she's smart about it by not broadcasting it to anyone, since the last time they did, it seemed to encourage people rather than discourage people from coming into contact with him. Also, I feel like her touch telepathy is more sensitive this time around. (Again, I feel the text in series 12 is highly encouraging of that reading).

She's had a whole year (give or take a few more months in between) off from any kind of trauma and this year explodes into TRAUMA, BIG TRAUMA.

( spoilers for Doctor Who 12x02 events )

And now she's back to a lot of internalized anger, and I won't be surprised if she pulled out the psychic paper and just like with Twelve it would be full of swearing.

Thirteen's going to be in it for a while, and she's been dealing with it on a low simmer going on boil. On the other hand, it's so fun to watch the Doctor being 100% Sparkling Gallifreyan Sass. I can't wait to watch where all this is going tbh.

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[initial reactions] Doctor Who 12x03 - Orphan 55

Mon, 13 Jan 2020 02:10:38 GMT

Doctor Who coming in as a good distraction from all the volcano stuff.

I liked this episode it’s not great, and as an Ed Hime script it didn’t live up to expectation. More on those thoughts later.

( If I had a crayon and half a can of SPAM, I can build you from scartch! )

( Overall thoughts )

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[January Meme] - About the Twelfth Doctor

Sun, 12 Jan 2020 22:23:35 GMT

s!10Twelve for 12 please???? i miss my grumpy space granddad, his lesbian granddaughter, his weird cyborg friend, & his spouse/nemesis/constant pain in the ass for yesokayiknow

The Twelfth Doctor, oh, Twelve. Honestly, I had such a journey loving Twelve. I was immediately on board with him the moment I saw his eyebrows and thundered, "No, sir, all Thirteen!"

I screamed when that moment happened because prior to the The Day of the Doctor I stopped watching the show so I haven't been keeping up with the news, I had no idea Matt Smith was leaving or the next Doctor was cast. So, yes, I was on board and I loved Deep Breath, it felt like such a refreshing change from the things that have alienated me from the Eleventh Doctor... until he became so abrasive, Twelve turned me off and I stopped watching again.

Fast forward to learning about Bill Potts, and contemplated starting back again... Then I watched Husbands of River Song, and I was so charmed by it and I feel addressed the things that put me off the River/Doctor relationship, also Capaldi and King's chemistry just popped.

I decided to do a full rewatch starting with The Time of the Doctor and then found myself going through a journey of really loving Twelve, by the time I reached Heaven Sent, he rose the ranks into number 1. And then Bill happened, and Pearl Mackie is fantastic, she has such fantastic chemistry with Peter Capaldi, and IMO series 10 was when Peter really felt comfortable in the role. He truly felt like the Doctor to me.

Not that he wasn't before, but Twelve's uncertainty about himself really came off and he had to have 'Doctor moments' that made me go, each time, oh! There you are!

But in series 10? That feeling was there from the first second of The Pilot.

And the team has settled in with such fun dynamic, the first few episodes with the focus on Bill Potts were amazing, but alas, as much as I adore and love Missy her story arc intruded on Bill's. In a 12 episode season, there's not enough room for two character development arc so by the time The Lie of the Land happened the emotional focus of the show pulled heavily on Missy's direction.

Still, by the end, I honestly love Twelve and the small family unit he made, it's unfortunate we only had one season with them. I love Thirteen a lot but I felt Twelve and Bill could have done with one more season, but ah, well, such is the wheel of Doctor Who.

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[January meme] Upcoming movies/series/etc you're excited about

Sat, 11 Jan 2020 07:14:28 GMT

Upcoming movies/series/etc you’re excited about? for Anon

Honestly, aside from Doctor Who which is airing now, I don't have a lot of new shows I'm excited to watch, for movies, I think I'm looking forward to Little Women airing here because I've heard good things.

BTW Knives Out deserves all the hype. I can't say more because spoilers but it is an amazing watch.

There's a lot of old shows I'm excited to watch though like Halt and Catch Fire and 12 Monkeys, HCF I've seen the end but I'd love to see the whole show come together and I have heard nothing but good things regarding 12 Monkeys.

Honestly, there are so many new things to watch that I find myself revisiting old favorites because there's a level of comfort and familiarity when I do.

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January Meme - A fandom you wish you were more invested in

Wed, 08 Jan 2020 23:22:41 GMT

How about... a fandom that you wish you were more invested in (and why you're not) for rose_griffes

I have to think... I think the only thing I can think of, maybe The Expanse but that's only for season 3 where I've stalled because I really couldn't stand one character and he's marring my enjoyment of the show. I know I shouldn't let him because there are so many awesome women on the show but whenever I see his face and trying to be self-righteous I have a strong urge to close the video.

I have to get over that to get to the good parts or fast forward because I know I'm missing a lot.

This is entirely on me, and not a reflection on a really great show.

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January 6 - Top Ten favorite female characters of the last decade

Tue, 07 Jan 2020 16:34:21 GMT

Top Ten favourite female characters of the last decade and why? for mihrsuri

Sorry, it's late but here are my favorites in the past 10 years.

Sameen Shaw (Person of Interest) From the moment go, I loved Shaw. She is exactly who she presented to be but also so much more deeply loyal, grumpy, and despite everything has a strong moral code.
Dani Reese (Life) - Yes, this is another Sarah Shahi character, but this was the first character I discovered her and what a revelation. Shahi is always amazing at portraying characters who are broken but with a core of pure steel beneath everything.
Korra (Legend of Korra) - I had a hard time getting into her series but boy when I did, her show and Korra herself took hold and never let go. I love her journey and her growth.
Lois Lane (Smallville) - Erica Durance Lois Lane made it to the list but just barely! I love how ED portrayed Lois Lane she gets her almost immediately. Her unstoppable force blows into Clark's like a whirlwind but also she has such a great sense of self and boundaries, which apparently 90% of Smallvile people don't seem to understand.
Liv Chenka (Doctor Who - Big Finish) - Liv is so amazing. She's an audio-only Companion but my god does the writing and the acting make her come alive. Dry, sarcastic and practical she's a great foil for Eight.
Tess Mercer (Smallville) - I loved Tess from the first because she's determined, and owns every single flawed decision she's made with a clarity we don't often see from characters but Cassidy Freeman plays her amazingly.
Olivia Dunham (Fringe) - Oh gosh, Olivia. I immediately glommed on to her as my character. Her anger, her determination. Also, before there was the technology for Orphan Black there was this show doing multiple Olivas at once.
Diana of Themyscira (Wonder Woman) - I mean, Wonder Woman!
Sarah Manning (Orphan Black) - this post by sharkodactyl explains why I love Sarah alot.

"can you believe that an international eugenics factory was brought down by the one thing they never anticipated: a ragged, snarling foster-system punk who just kept throwing herself forward even though she had nothing but her own bare knuckles and sharp teeth."
Katherine Pierce (The Vampire Diaries) - The ultimate survivor, just like Tess Mercer she's very clear on the choices that led to her life. Yes, she's a villain but man does she make getting to know her fun.
Honorary mention because her story is still on going, but boy do I love her: Thirteenth Doctor (Doctor Who)

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[initial reactions] Doctor Who 12x02 - Spyfall, part two

Mon, 06 Jan 2020 01:25:04 GMT

Fandom: We want continuity!

Chibnall: You want lore? I’ll give you lore.

( A very personal code. )

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January 5 - In honor of Spyfall, crossover of all kinds (Doctor Who) for Anonymous

Sun, 05 Jan 2020 14:51:32 GMT

Oh! Well, there are a few, I'd like a crossover with Doctor Who:

Avatar the Last Airbender/Legends of Korra
Deep Space Nine (Possibly because I really am into an idea of a regenerating/reincarnating immortal support group.)
Stargate
Farscape, maybe John meets the Doctor first as Nine around season 3? And then again as Twelve or Thirteen post-series with Aeryn and John
Legends of Tomorrow (for the shenanigans)
Buffy
Firefly
Other Star Trek: Voyager and Discovery

I already wrote a Person of Interest and Criminal Minds one, sort of.

In-Universe crossover: Thirteen meeting Bernice Summerfield, Class, and the kids from Sarah Jane Adventures

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January 4 - Something about Buffy Anne Summers

Sat, 04 Jan 2020 13:50:45 GMT

January 4th is my birthday so i'm picking that. and i would like to hear anything you have to say about buffy anne summers for queenofattolia

Happy Birthday! queenofattolia!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer and it's titular heroine, Buffy Anne Summers was very formative for me and to this day I don't think anyone can shake her status as My Forever Girl.

Buffy is given such enormous responsibility and it's just amazing to watch her grow and struggle and win... and sometimes not win, which are also important moments. And God, the excitement of watching season 2 unfold for the very first time and see her struggle through that season and win in the end, with cost.

The first time that Sarah Mclachlan song came on, I started crying. Like, legit crying. Season 1 was fun and I liked the show but oh, season 2... that was a game-changer for me. And Sarah Michelle Gellar was a revelation! I am still sad we didn't get more SMG on TV because she's so GOOD. (Although post-Buffy SMG was weirdly stereotyped in very humorless roles).

I know there are so many other characters who were modeled on Buffy and they're all great and special in their on way, Buffy Summers still holds a very special place in my heart.

And to end it, here is 30 minutes of Buffy being, according to the YouTubes, iconic!

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[initial reactions] Doctor Who 12x01 - Spyfall, Part One

Thu, 02 Jan 2020 06:52:11 GMT

Series 11, all about taking the slow road, gently taking the new audience by the hand and slowly bringing everyone into the fold.

( Just draining the water slides, and the bone lakes, and the rainforest floor. )

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[End of Decade] January 1 - On Doctor Who

Wed, 01 Jan 2020 14:34:58 GMT

January 1 - At the risk of being predictable, Doctor Who? for feferiactualpeixes

Happy New Year and Happy Doctor Who Day!

My relationship with Doctor Who is very much akin to an on again and off again relationship except, I think much less tumultuous than my other TV relationship, Grey's Anatomy.

I started out with Doctor Who in 2005, I was still on livejournal and I've heard rumblings about the show -- I did have vague recollections about a guy with a long scarf and a guy in a beige suit being replayed on the local station when I was a kid. And I've heard about Doctor Who now and again but never actually knew what it was, cue, 2005 and I honestly can't recall what the catalyst was but I decided to look for the show and started watching Rose.

I was I think, 19 at that time, as old a Rose Tyler was and I was immediately taken in but it wasn't until Nine gave the 'turn of the Earth' speech when I bought it. It wasn't a perfect scene. There was the whole 'RTD glow', and the sound mixing was terrible, I could barely hear anything Nine said but how Christopher Eccleston acted in that moment -- yeah, it got me.

And then Parting of the Ways happened and Nine gave his 'Live, Rose, do that for me. Have a fantastic life' Emergency Protocol thing and let me tell you I was a mess. PoTW was RTD's perfect finale that in my head he had never managed to live up to. It was also a perfect regeneration scene. Heartfelt, gracious, and warm. Just enough time for feelings and heart without high strung and over wrought emotions.

What happened next was discovering Big Finish and Classic Doctors via audio. And the up and down nature of my Doctor Who fandom because boy did I struggle with Ten especially when he started believing his press release. And then the succession of Martha and then what happened with Donna, and I kind of lost interest around that point and barely paid any attention to The Next Doctor, Planet of the Dead was not my favorite, and Waters of Mars would have been better if there was another special between WoM and End of Time.

EoT btw, I was, well, DONE.

I adored the cameo of Rose and Jackie and the lovely smile but b o y, was End of Time a struggle. I didn't watch series 5 because Ten had left such a bad taste in my mouth. It wasn't until I saw a gif where Eleven arrived in an exploding TARDIS just in the nick, and River going, "And what kind of time do you call this?"

I was hooked again but series 6 was a bumpy ride and I fell off again. I think my most consistent watch of Doctor Who is with Capaldi to Series 11. I also usually catch up on the show with a good binge -- which helped more when it was on Netflix, and then much less none on Amazon Prime -- which unfortunate as of January 1, 2020 is no longer available on Prime Video on streaming.

And brings me back to today -- where we all waited for a year for a new episode! Hopefully it would live amazing and live up to the hype!

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[vid] DLZ (long winded blues of the never) [DW]

Wed, 25 Dec 2019 01:03:26 GMT

Title: DLZ (long winded blues of the never)
Fandom: Doctor Who
Editor: grimorie
Music: DLZ by TV on Radio
Summary: your methods dot the disconnect from all your creeds | there's a straight line from twelve to thirteen
Beta: thanks to mswyrr, my sister, feferiactualpeixes, and dealanexmachina. as usual all mistakes are mine.
Stream: YouTube
Password: play

DLZ (long winded blues of the never) from Isa on Vimeo.

ao3 | tumblr

( Notes )

( Lyrics )

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