ofwanderersin-thefourthdimension

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A mouse actually.

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"lungbarrow is so hard to get hold of" physical copies? yeah. pdf copies? a well-formatted version of it is on archive.org, complete with author's notes, and you don't even have to borrow it. i am aware this is not common knowledge but like it very much is there

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⚠️Vote for whomever YOU DO NOT KNOW⚠️‼️

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hey Lungbarrow enjoyers do you ever think about how "barrow" can mean "a burial mound" then just let the themes wash over you

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Cape. 1912, French. 

House of Worth.

Source: Met Museum.

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i need to squeeze him until he explodes or something like that

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you can tell that ian chesterton is not normal because he is a science teacher. science teachers are rarely normal

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So apparently there's an official Gallifreyan translator now.

On the one hand, I'm really excited that Sherman's Circular is becoming more and more canon. On the other hand, it feels weird that such major part of the fandom is now being kinda... corporatized. But this blog isn't for my opinions and I don't want to influence yours. All I will say with conviction is that I really hope they credit the original creator.

However, for those who want some more info, I did a comparison between the new "official" translator, the old translator that most people just getting into Gallifreyan probably used, and my own style.

The first image in black is the old translator, the second in yellow on blue is the new one, and the third in blue is my style from two years ago, and all of them say "Never Give Up, Never Give In". (Though only mine includes punctuation). The first and biggest difference between the computer-translated ones and mine is that mine has the various words interlocked. This is something that anyone can do when they write the Gallifreyan on their own, little practice required, but it cannot be done by the computer translators. They only ever put the words in fixed, equidistant positions. Another major difference is the curve of the connecting lines -- this is another thing that neither translator will do for you. The old translator does allow you to curve the lines yourself, but is very finicky about it. The dots are worth noting as well -- in both translators, they are quite small, while I make them big and pretty separated, for ease of reading. In other words, in terms of style and readability, these computer translators will never replace those created manually.

However, there are clear benefits to the translators. They are extremely helpful for those who are just getting into Gallifreyan and want to double-check their work. So long as you remember that what really matters for readability -- the shapes and positions of the circles and the number of lines and dots -- the rest is just stylistic flourishes. And both allow you to download the Gallifreyan as a .svg so that you can edit it in Inkscape or Illustrator or whatever vector editing software you prefer. As for the comparison between the two translators, the new one has more color customization, and will probably better match how Gallifreyan appears on-screen (though I find it interesting that the Gallifreyan on the new Sonic has the starting point of each word be at the furthest point from the center of the circle, while this translator has them at the usual bottom), but the old one allows for more in-engine editing, and as the lines actually connect to somewhere and the dots are slightly larger, it is easier to read.

TL,DR: Manually-made Gallifreyan still allows for far more stylization and is generally the most easily readable, but both translating websites can be useful, especially as both can be downloaded as editable .svg files. The old one is more readable and has in-engine editing capabilities, but the new one allows for color customization and may be more accurate to what is seen on-screen. And Sherman needs to be credited for its creation.

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Doctor and companions in regency attire 🥰

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So after listening to that person’s beautiful, slowed down version of Murray Gold’s ‘Hello I’m the Doctor’, I decided to do some wibbly-wobbly timey-whimey music stuff of my own. I DON’T KNOW WHAT I JUST DID.

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Some Black History In Classic Doctor Who

Something I've been itching to make a post about as I made my way through classic who! I hope you enjoy ^o^

In the 4th season of Doctor Who (1966), the missing serial "The Smugglers" featured the first black character with a speaking role. This character was named Jamaica and he was played by Elroy Josephs! He was tasked with guarding the captured 1st Doctor, and was later killed for failing to keep guard over him.

Elroy Josephs was born in Jamaica, and besides being an actor he was also a dancer. He became the first black dance lecturer at IM Marsh in Liverpool, which is part of Liverpool John Moores University.

Elroy Josephs is often overlooked for his influence on black British dance and on November 1997, a bench and plaque was unveiled in Elroy's memory at John Moores University.

More about his influence of black dance in Britain can be read here

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The serial immediately after was called "The Tenth Planet" and this serial featured Earl Cameron as Glyn Williams, the first black astronaut in television (I've seen people say it's actually Nichelle Nichols in Star Trek, since she appeared on Star Trek JUST a month earlier in 1966, though I'd argue the portrayal in Doctor Who is more akin to what we know an astronaut to be. Still, a crazy close call!)

Glyn Williams, alongside another astronaut, discovers the Cyberman home planet Mondas in their rocket. This is the first serial to feature the cybermen, too! Their rocket gets pulled in by Mondas's gravitational pull and they die in an explosion.

Earl Cameron was born in Bermuda, and is well known as the first black actor to take a leading role in a British film! The movie was called "Pool of London" and was released in 1951. It was his performance in this movie that led to him becoming "Britain’s first home-grown, non-American black movie star"!

Earl Cameron passed away in 2020 at the age of 102, making him the 5th Doctor Who cast member to reach his 100th birthday!

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"The Tomb Of The Cybermen (season 5)" and "Terror Of The Autons (season 8)" featured 2 characters, both played by Roy Stewart. Both characters have been criticised for their racist depiction of a black man. In TTOTC, Roy played the character of Toberman, who was a mute servant of an expeditioner and the strongest one of the team. He had no say in any matters and was supposed to be purely muscle. He was partially cyberconverted and sacrificed himself to save everyone.

In TOTA, Roy played the character Tony, a strongman with animal furs also tasked to be brute force. He helped keep the 3rd doctor captive, but was knocked out by Jo Grant.

Born in Jamaica, Roy Stewart came to the UK with the idea to become a doctor, though he ended up changing his mind to start acting. There weren't many black stuntmen out there (they would have white people "black up"). He ended up doing a lot of stunt work and became one of Britain's top black actors/stuntmen! Though, a lot of his earlier work went uncredited.

Roy Stewart also ran a gymnasium in 1954 with a policy allowing people of all races to train together. He also opened a Caribbean restaurant and bar called The Globe in 1960, which he ran until the day he died (2008). The Globe is now one of longest-running nightclubs in London, still with a Caribbean restaurant upstairs.

"Frequented by Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, The Clash and Bob Marley, The Globe became the place to be. Its notoriety was such, that even Mick Jones of The Clash named his album after it and wrote the title song about the nightclub." - The Globe Website

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In season 5 the serial "The Enemy Of The World", Carmen Munroe played the role of Fariah Neguib, a food taster for the powerful politician, Ramón Salamander. She was a food taster by force, and rebelled against Salamander by giving the 2nd Doctor's allies important documents, revealing a black mailing side to the politician. She was shot and died in the arms of the enemy, pridefully refusing to give them information. Though sources are a bit muddy on this (1 sketchy source and the rest is my memory of classic who), Carmen Munroe could very well be the first black woman in Doctor Who. And if not, She is most certainly the first with a prominent speaking role.

Born in Guyana, Carmen Munroe played an instrumental role in the development of black British theatre and representation on tv. She played a good number of leading roles, but is best known for the role of Shirley in British TV sitcom Desmond's. Carmen is also one of the founders of Talawa, the UK's leading black theatre company, which was created in response to the lack of creative opportunities for Black actors and the marginalisation of Black peoples from cultural processes.

Today, Talawa is the primary Black theatre company in the UK, with more than 50 award-winning touring productions from African classics to Oscar Wilde behind it. In total the company has produced more than 80 productions. Our name, Talawa, comes from a Jamaican patois term and means gutsy and strong - Talawa.com

Carmen was also appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), which is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organizations, and public service outside the civil service.

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Hope you enjoyed reading this bit of Doctor Who/Black History! Please feel free to add to this post with more black history in Doctor Who!

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Time Ladies aaw yeaah <3

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That's it, that's the show.

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Anyone missing a heavy stone/concrete Dalek?

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After rewatching "An Unearthly Child" last night, I can't stop thinking about how grateful I am that Doctor Who was created in the 1960s, because there is NO WAY a show with an opening story arc like "An Unearthly Child" would have lasted past the pilot in our current entertainment environment and we would have been robbed of one of the best (and craziest) shows of all time.

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Random Doctor Who Facts You Might Not Know, Part 68

The Second Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria once encountered a Dalek patrol after they landed on a peaceful planet. The Daleks recognized the Doctor as Ka Faraq Gatri but did not have time to fire on him as the Doctor had activated a beacon, having redirected the electromagnetic pulse out rather than up. This fried the Daleks alive and brutally killed the mutants within. Victoria was appalled after seeing the Doctor's hatred for the Daleks for the first time and, seeing him differently, decided that she will soon leave the TARDIS. (Comic: Bringer of Darkness)

According to one account, Ace died very young during her TARDIS travels. She was kidnapped by the Threshold and sacrificed her life to destroy one of the Lobri - psychic parasites eating the collective fear of humanity - with Nitro-9. In this version of events, she died cradled in the Seventh Doctor's arms. (Comic: Ground Zero)

One time, the Seventh Doctor discovered that Ace's TARDIS bedroom had been deleted, noting that the TARDIS seems to be planning ahead... (Comic: Cat Litter)

The Calendar Man was the figure in a Time Lord fairytale that the Eleventh Doctor encountered. The Calendar Man judges people; if they have not lived their lives well, he kills them and erases them from all memory. (Audio: The Calendar Man)

The Kraken was a rogue timeship (or TARDIS, simply put) with the exterior of a giant squid. She became Cousin Cecelia in the Faction Paradox. Her interior is just as organic-looking as her exterior. (Novel: Weapons Grade Snake Oil)

One time while looking through their wedding photographs, Alistair and Doris Lethbridge-Stewart suddenly started seeing images of the Seventh Doctor. They knew he wasn't there, but then they started to vaguely recall his presence. They believed the Doctor might have altered time, so he could attend the wedding. (Short story: A Romantic Evening)

When Leela found a "Wanted Dead or Alive" poster with the Fourth Doctor's face plastered on it, the Fourth Doctor complained about the picture they had chosen for it. He wished they chose a picture showing his left size. (Audio: Requiem for the Rocket Men)

The Decayed Master thinks other people should find his face distressing - he finds his face distressing. (Audio: Requiem for the Rocket Men)

When the Decayed Master thought he had killed the Fourth Doctor, he mourned about how insignificant the death was, said he felt empty like he himself had died instead of the Doctor, and wondered what he would do tomorrow. (Audio: Requiem for the Rocket Men)

The Seventh Doctor took Ace to London and Moscow in 1967 with the purpose of testing her to see if she could attend the Time Lord Academy. He had submitted an application on her behalf without telling her. A Gallifreyan Adjudicator even got involved to assess her potential. One of the tests set up for her had to do with the Ice Warrior Hsessh. Ace was, of course, furious about this. (Audio: Thin Ice)

The Ergon - one of Omega's creations, one of his agents in the matter universe - was once mistaken by Ace to be a man in a costume while she was working as a waitress (she served up a box of fries). (Short story: Anti-Matter with Fries)

Shortly after Leela's wedding, the Seventh Doctor showed up and met K-9. K-9, of course, recognized him because he always knew the Doctor. The Doctor urged K-9 not to inform anyone, even Leela, of his appearance and unclipped a gold medallion identity tag from K-9, keeping it as a "memento to remember his second best friend by." (Short story: Affirmative)

Peri's consciousness was projected into the past after being pushed into a stasis chamber attached to a chronotopic projector. Her consciousness was dropped into different avatars, including a male soldier named Perry, a man on a hot air balloon expedition named Perrault, a trapeze artist named the Amazing Perpugilliam, surprised that she appeared female again, a 19th century woman in Venice, a fisherwoman, and Pushinka, an astronaut dog. (Audio: The Authentic Experience)

One time, the Seventh Doctor was offered a fully functional brand new replacement TARDIS. While he was having this discussion, the TARDIS had a conversation with this replacement about whether Time Lords love their TARDISes. The TARDIS believes the Doctor does love her, but the replacement wasn't sure, thinking that they were meant to be used and then replaced. However, the Seventh Doctor chose to keep the older TARDIS. (Short story: Time, Love, and TARDIS)

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