choo choo

Toronto is rainy and vaguely warmish, so pretty much like Halifax. I'm driving to Ottawa tomorrow with my cousin (we'll be there for about an hour, see my friend, pick up my other cousin and the baby, and then drive back, oy gevalt) so I hope that I'll at least get to glimpse snow there! But there's still 10 days until Christmas, so I'm optimistic that some fluffy white stuff will show up before then. This is the only time of year I'm partial towards snow, winter! Don't disappoint me now.

You remember how nearly a year ago now, the Robin Hood writers decided to be "shocking" and kill off Marian? Yeah. Well, every time I feel I've pretty much come to terms with it, I let myself go and watch old episodes, and read fic, and then get really irrationally upset again. IT WAS SO GOOD (especially all the fic). AND IT WAS FUN. AND REALLY, REALLY ROMANTIC AND HOT AND LOVELY (cuz have you seen Jonas and Lucy?) AND THEN THEY RUINED IT. AND I STILL DON'T KNOW WHYYYYYYYYYYYY.

And now it's got me wondering if it's why I'm so reluctant to watch Merlin. Because I've been burned by cheesy, horribly anachronistic, retellings of British legends before, and oh yes, they start all sweet and innocent and we-would-never-do-anything-see-how-fun-and-non-serious-we-are-here-have-a-unicorn AND THEN THEY BREAK YOUR HEART. (Not to scare off any Merlin fans, I really hope you keep enjoying it. And I'm sure the BBC would never take another something silly and fun and effervescent and then... You know this totally doesn't work 'cause y'all are Who fans too. YOU KNOW HOW IT IS. BE PREPARED.)

So Robin Hood heartbreak still in place? Check. Tried to turn to Life on Mars for a balm, but then of course you have the ( Ashes to Ashes Spoilers ).

So I could turn to American television, except The Office has been kind of disappointing of late, and Chuck is sweet and fun but nothing too substantial and Pushing Daisies is WONDERFUL and is better and better with each episode but I can't watch it now without constantly reminding myself that its expiry date is completely un-cheeto like and is instead fast-approaching.

SO... Robin Hood breaks my heart, Life on Mars just makes me wibbly, American tv is a wash, Slings and Arrows is over and done so let's not get into the Canadian options, and REALLY IS IT ANY WONDER I CONSTANTLY CYCLE BACK TO MINISERIES AND YES THAT MEANS OH, MR. CLENHAM, I MISS YOUUUUUUUUUUUUU! Yeah that whole "I'm not going to talk about Little Dorrit anymore after it finishes" was a total lie.

The obvious solution would be to give up on tv all together but... pfft. Like that's going to happen. ;) No, I'll just read more fic, and watch Robin/Marian scenes of awesome super-spyness, and remember that when it was good, it was good.

(And fervently hope that Jonas and Lucy have future projects together, with 100% more hot make-outs and 100% less stupid death. *G*)

I finally got around to finish iconing the first series! Phew. Now we'll just have to see if I ever tackle the second. ;)

[1-20] Life on Mars: 106
[21-36] 107
[37-60] 108



( 'Don't... abandon me, Annie.' 'I wouldn't do that, sir.' )

Wow, it's been over a week since I posted! Unfortunately, nothing too exciting has been happening, though I've succeeded in making some interesting dinners (Thai party noodles! Tilapia with carrots and balsamic vinegar! Brownies! [What do you mean that's not a full dinner?]). I've also spent time at the beach, having my toes lapped by the gentle frigidness of the Atlantic, thrown various sports-like equipment around (I can now almost throw a frisbee in the direction I want it to!), gotten half way through various knitting projects - so... not too much to complain about. :)

One thing I did discover today is the wonders of Doctor Who audio books. I don't know if I'm late to the game with these, but they're fantastic, and just the perfect sort of accompaniment to go with all the post-"Journey's End" porn fic I've been reading.

I just finished listening to "The Stone Rose", read by none other than David Tennant, and he uses his actual accent for the narration and it's all very... mrow. Anyway, I highly recommend it. It starts out at the British Museum, which gives it MAJOR points for me, Mickey and Jackie are there, and the Doctor is hanging about the Rosetta Stone (which I totally did too! Isoamprobablyatimelord). And then they go to Ancient Rome and it's awesome and adventure-y, and the Doctor has to save Rose and then she saves him right back and there are smoochies (well, more of the "I'm so glad you're alive!" lip-pressing than anything else, but you can tell the author is a shipper) and I loved it. And did I mention how it's read by David Tennant? Who's Rose-accent makes me giggle? And who's Jackie-accent is scarily accurate? Yeah.

*RECS*

Also, don't forget, if you're interested, that there is a Sam/Annie prompt battle open for business at notcowards. We need more fic!

The Catherine Tate Show, what! In which Donna (well, not really) and Gene (...close enough) are onscreen together. For like ten seconds! WIN. *g*



*hides the crack*

Title: The Trick
Author: hjea
Summary: Alex is using Gene to find out about Sam Tyler. She doesn't quite get the answers she was looking for.
Words: 757
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairing: Alex, Gene; implied Sam/Annie
Spoilers/Timeline: Ashes to Ashes 1x01. General spoilers for Life on Mars.
Disclaimer: Credit is all due to the BBC and Kudos. Thanks, guys!
Author's Note: Happy (belated) Birthday to inara223! This might be a little shameless, but I really wanted to explore what might've happened to Annie in Alex's world, how that effects the intrepid Gene Hunt, and whether that is at all important to how she will get home. Clearly, this show left me with a LOT of questions. ;) Thanks to maidm for the read-through.

( Gene was pissed, and talking about Sam again. )

In a somewhat selfish and shallow way, I'm mad at the Life on Mars fandom for not having more Annie/Sam fic.

And maybe not even the really shippery stuff (though I would NOT say no), but just some more general exploration of the characters and plot as seen during the show and after episode 2x08 - I would REALLY like to read some of that.

Now granted, I've only actually been looking through this fandom for about a week, so obviously I haven't found everything, and there's always the case to be made to "stop whinging and write it yourself" but I'm just kind of discouraged that in most of the fic that even involves Annie, she suddenly becomes an evil in-league-with-the-TestCardGirl person, forcing Sam into the waiting arms of Gene, or you know Sam doesn't actually like her (all evidence in almost EVERY episode to the contrary) it's just a ruse, or whatever, for his throbbing desire for Gene bloody Hunt.

So yeah, this is getting ranty, but I think I've just got to lay it on the line that one of my problems with a lot of slash (other than my obvious canon!obsession reason) is that it comes about at the expense of the female characters. Now OBVIOUSLY this is NOT the case for all slash - I have in fact read and enjoyed the odd slashy fic (xtinethepirate, you can stop looking so shocked) and I know there's a lot of slash fic I haven't read that doesn't abuse female characterization at all - but it's still scarily prevalent. WHY does Annie have to be evil, or an idiot, or simply not there for this fic to come about? And why is it not just Annie in Life on Mars, but so many other characters in other shows as well. And in a media that is still largely dominated by male characters (how many shows and movies can you think of that really only have one female lead?) isn't it just a bloody waste to throw out the few women we do have?

I know I'm not the only person to notice this, right? And again, this isn't my attack on slash itself, but just in this off-handed shoving aside or twisting of these characters in a form of fic that's, let's face it, I'm guessing 98% written by women.

Anyway, I do apologize if I've offended - obviously this is just my opinion - but I wanted to say it. Now, I think I'll go dream up some fic where Annie is sweet and kickass and opinionated, and Sam is just crazy about her, in his confused sort of way. Because I love Annie. And Sam.

And even Gene Hunt.

The Office - "Goodbye, Toby"
( Just a quick reaction )

Also, I finished Life on Mars lickity-split, and !!!!!!!!! I LOVE SAM AND SAM/ANNIE IS MY NEWEST OTP OF WIN AND ALL. Also, I watched so many episodes that I'm now expecting everyone around me to start speaking in Manchurian accents. Really, I think the Gene Genie himself narrated this post in my head as I wrote it. ;)