#I swear bbc has ten actors

[tryingtoorbitthesun]

have you guys seen crowley and izzie hands kicking each other's arse? (to be fair it's more crowley's ass being kicked...)

[nitannichionne]

Leading Lady, Chapter 1: At First Sight (A Henry Cavill Cast Fic)

Chapter 1

KIKI/KIT POV

"Not....again! Kiki!"

I looked up at my friend Laura Davidson. She was so pretty, Britain was really good for her. She had already adapted a style that turned heads, and if she was quiet, no one would think she was American, especially with that ginger hair and hazel eyes. Me? I was easy to spot as a dark skinned woman, always in form fitting athletic pants and some sort of top because it was comfortable. I hardly ever wore makeup. For what? To clog my pores? I took my mom's advice and left the face paint alone, however Laura was already complaining about the blemishes she had to cover, but it was because she was wearing makeup and ruining her skin before with that stuff when she actually had no blemishes to cover at all. Me? Well, I was used to being overlooked-high school, college...it was okay, I guess. "What, Lala?"

She plopped down on the chair opposite me. I was working on one of my writings, as usual. I had one successful book, and no new bites on my next ones. I had just buried my mother, and Laura suggested a vacation to breathe and banish writer's block. I knew she wanted to go shopping and sightseeing, but I just wanted to relax and try to write. I'd spent enough money, time to try to make some. "I thought you said you'd go shopping with me!"

"I did," I said, still concentrating on my work. "My closet is as full as yours." Why wasn't this coming together? I had outlines, I had my research...something was missing! I closed my laptop, and yanked off my glasses. "I am trying to get things done, here, Lala--!"

"No you're not, you're hiding behind that laptop!" Laura accused, but then her look softened. "It is nice to see you at it again, though."

"Did I or did I not go shopping with you this morning?" I asked. "And we had lunch at the place you picked? You were hitting those boutiques, and I decided to take a break--"

"To work!" She interjected, rolling her eyes.

I looked around. Some people were listening now. I rested my head on my hand, readying for a lecture. "To create."

"How's it going?" she asked. "Your face isn't all lit up and focused like it should be--"

"Have some coffee, Lala." I grumbled. "Or some water--" I offered her my bottled water.

"No, don't think so!" she whispered. "You get up with the chickens to write, then..."

I didn't hear another part of that speech. In fact I barely breathed.

Walking down the street was this absolutely...well...work of art, actually. Tall, dark hair, handsome features, light eyes, broad shoulders...just plain wow. He looked familiar...

"Whoa." Laura's exhale and low whistle snapped me out of my daze, and I began to breathe again. "I've seen him before."

"I know, me too," I whispered, ducking behind my laptop. My glasses slid to the end of my nose, and I pushed them up. "Uh...wait, we saw him on BBC!"

"We did?"

"We fell asleep to the TV last night," I said softly. "and I swear to God I saw him--he was in a movie or a show or something--uh, God, come on, Kiki!" I chastised myself. I was dozing until his face appeared, and then I stayed up all night for the whole mini-series.

"Stop talking to yourself, Kiki!" She reclined in her chair, looking relaxed.

"Murder on the Moors!" I hit my laptop with my fingertips like it was a game show buzzer. He heard the noise, and I gasped. Too loud! I leaned forward and whispered, "He played a--a writer who moved after the death of his wife to try to start writing again. He'd been accused, but was found innocent because her lover killed her." I sighed. "Talk about shades of insanity. He went from rage to depression to being delusional, and then there were murders happening, and he was suspect but they'd been happening before he moved there, so..." He smiled our way. "Oh, my God. He smiled this way." I looked more closely. No, he was smiling at Laura. I exhaled. "Laura, he's looking at you!" It hurt, but I had become used to not getting attention. She was really put together well--a beautiful culmination of Vanity Fair, Marie Claire with a Cosmopolitan flair-size five. Not me. I looked down at my comfortable but nicely fitting wear, size ten. I looked like I was a dancer or personal trainer, a worker of some sort. Laura looked like she was ready for her close up most of the time.

She gasped softly and turned to look at me. "Give me the laptop for a minute."

"For what?" I wasn't ready to give up my cover.

"To look busy, silly!" Laura winked at me, and I grudgingly slid it over. I pulled out a notepad, where most of my stories began before they became digital, and began leafing through story ideas to find an outline to work on. "Well?"

"Definitely watching." I said with a nod.

"Oh God, you said he was who?"

"Uh...Sheridan...the last name is Sheridan."

"Google it!"

I was way ahead of her, tapping away on my cell. "Okay, Zachary Sheridan." I stifled a giggle. "What kind of name is that?"

"No better than Kendra Knight," She said, mentioning my writing pseudonym. "Probably a stage name."

I snorted at her, but then coughed. He was coming this way with his order! He'd caught us watching him so now he was going to give us a better look. I for one appreciated that--

"Excuse me!" Laura called, a lilt in her voice.

Zachary Sheridan turned, flashing a smile I knew was rehearsed, but I enjoyed anyway. "Yes?"

"Aren't you Zachary Sheridan from Moors Murders?"

"Murder on the Moors," he and I corrected her, and we shared a small laugh.

"I saw it too," I nodded. "Very complex character, you were very believable."

He seemed pleased with that. "Thank you."

"Oh, I'm sorry--" She extended her hand. "Laura Davidson."

"Call me Zach," He shook it lightly, and then extended his hand to me.

"Kiki," I said, and averted my eyes as if I had work to do. I gave his hand one quick shake.

"Kiki," he repeated. "What brings you two ladies to Britain?"

"Work and play," Laura said with a ladylike chuckle.

"Well, at least it's both," he nodded, laughing with her.

"Yes, I'm an agent--"

"Oh, I have one--"

"Literary," she said quickly.

"So you promote writers," he said.

"Well, someone has to give you actors something to say," I joked flatly.

"True, very true," he said, raising his eyebrows as he nodded. I averted my eyes again. His gaze was a bit much to take, mostly because I could see the intelligence. Smart good looking guy, that's lethal.

"Would you ever consider doing covers?" she asked as I sipped water. I almost choked, and covered it by sliding the laptop back over, pretending to frown over something.

"I don't think so," he shrugged. "What bothers me is that I don't know who I would be posing as."

My eyes lifted to him. Now he had my attention. He was looking at Laura, of course, but now I had a chance to look at him.

"I mean, I would think a writer would want to convey as much as possible in the cover, not just slap a snapshot there."

I nodded slowly. I felt like curling up in my chair. I liked his voice. He could read a story to me, anything really. I began to soak him up like a sponge-his thick straight eyebrows, his light eyes, his nose which looked like it might have been fractured at some point, the shoulders...oh, I go all weak on that...and he works out...a lot...a British guy with glutes like that is doing something...oh, great, I missed the conversation!

I almost gasped as they exchanged cards to get in touch with each other. I felt a pang of jealous sadness. I knew he was interested in Laura--what guy wasn't--but this time my reaction left me surprised and a bit shaken. He said his goodbyes, and he was gone.

"Why didn't you say something?"

My head snapped up when Laura hit my arm. "What?"

"Why didn't you say something?" she asked again. "You were definitely into him."

"Sometimes it's nice to appreciate beauty for what it is, not try to capture it, let it go by." I sighed. "He's a rose-beautiful to look at, but painful to hold, I'm sure of it."

"Bullshit," she looked at the card, then fanned herself with it. "He looked sturdier than that."

"Nothing that a pair of soft cuffs wouldn't cure," I joked naughtily, and we both shared a conspiratal laugh as he disappeared from sight.

Laura's eyes went back to the card.

"What?"

She gave me the card. "Happy birthday, Kiki. Use it, keep it, whatever."

I was surprised, but took it greatfully. "You're not--"

"No, I am not one to stand in the way of love," she smiled, collapsing in her chair and putting the back of her hand to her forehead in a melodramatic gesture as she closed her eyes. I shook my head at her when she opened one eye to look at me. "Just remember to do the same for me in Italy."

We both laughed and ordered lunch.

THANKS, LEMME KNOW IF YOU WANT TO BE TAGGED! 

[yeonchi]

Doctor Who Hiatusbreaker Update 2

Although the premiere of Doctor Who Series 13 is still a while off, let alone the announcement of a premiere date, there are a few things I’d like to talk about before that time comes. Let’s get right into it.

Filler series plans to talk about Series 1-10

Some time ago, I had plans to make a ten-part series talking about Series 1-10 in detail, but because I had a lot of stuff going on, those plans were reduced to something I call Doctor Who 10 for 10 - 10 Things for 10 Series, which was to state ten things about each series with at least 4 to 6 of these things being my opinions on each series. This was intended to be a filler series to bide the time before Series 13 comes out, but that may have to come at another time. I’m also continuing with Kisekae Insights if anyone wants to check it out.

The post-Series 13 forecast

Since Series 13 would be Jodie Whittaker’s third series as the Doctor, signs are pointing to this being her final series. There are also rumours stating that there will be two specials in 2022 that would serve as her final episodes. If this is the case, then it means that Jodie Whittaker would have been the Doctor for five years; a five-year-long ordeal of pain because series seem to be released pretty much every other year as a result of the almost-year-long gaps between them, not to mention the fact that less episodes are being produced as time goes on. Whether Chris Chibnall will be remaining on is still unknown at this time. Frankly, I’ll be glad when this is all over because I (and many other fans) have been kept hanging for so long. I just hope the Timeless Child payoff will be worth it.

At this point, the only reason why I’m still watching the series is mainly because I want to know how the Timeless Child arc plays out. The initial shocks have come and gone, but now this is where we wait and see if the aftershocks are as worse.

When I started my Thirteenth Doctor Reviews, I made a pact that I would cut off all ties with the series going forward if the Fourteenth Doctor was another female. Given the Timeless Child arc and the rumours that Olly Alexander would replace Jodie Whittaker (which would make him the first gay actor to play the Doctor) that came and went because his agent stated that he was focusing on music for the time being, I’ve honestly stopped giving a shit at this point. I’ll probably continue being a casual fan of Doctor Who, watching episodes as they come out, but regardless, all that this series will be to me is like what the Koei Warriors series has degraded itself to over the past decade. I’ll still be grateful for all the inspiration and opportunities it has provided me with over the years, but I’ll probably accept that the series has gone on a downward spiral with seemingly no way of coming back up. But hey, all will be revealed in due time, so the forecast isn’t that bleak for now.

The first look into Series 13 (added 26 July 2021)

So just today, two days after I originally published this post, the teaser trailer for Doctor Who Series 13 was released following the 2021 San Diego Comic Con@Home. Aside from the Doctor, Yaz and Dan, the only other character we see is Vinder, a recurring character throughout the series who will be played by Jacob Anderson. Recurring character, you say, and that’s because Series 13 will apparently be a single serialised story. This brings callbacks to The Trial of a Time Lord or more loosely, the multiple two-parters of Series 9. We still don’t get an exact premiere date, only that it will premiere “later this year”, but given that Series 11 and 12 took about 10 months to film, we can predict that filming of Series 13 will likely be wrapping up in the next month. Whether there will be a shorter run of five or six episodes (thereby reserving two of those episodes for the 2022 specials, assuming they won’t be filmed separately to Series 13) is unknown, but regardless, I’m looking forward to watching and reviewing the series for myself.

Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall leave Doctor Who (added 30 July 2021) 

In news that will surprise no one, Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall have announced that they will be leaving the series in 2022. Technically, the news isn’t much of a surprise in terms of Whittaker than it is for Chibnall, as Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat have been showrunner for two Doctors each. But hey, with this, it means that my Thirteenth Doctor Reviews will also be a review of Chibnall’s run as showrunner.

My initial thoughts on this, which may or may not change coming up to Whittaker’s final episode - it was an okay run while it lasted, but honestly, good riddance. How’s that five year plan of yours going, Chibnall? If your plan was to divide the fanbase and leave them hanging with gaps between series, then you’ve really done it.

On top of this, Series 13 will be six episodes long, with the remaining two episodes to be broadcast as specials in 2022. The first of them will be a New Year’s Special (surprise surprise) and the second will follow in Spring 2022 (Northern Hemisphere). The Thirteenth Doctor’s final episode will premiere in Autumn 2022 (Northern Hemisphere) as part of the BBC’s Centenary celebrations. Some tentative dates I’m predicting are 18 October 2022, the 100th anniversary of the BBC, 23 November 2022, the 59th anniversary of Doctor Who, or 1 January 2023, which would make it another New Year’s Special (I’m not discounting 25 December 2022, I just think it’s less likely given how this era has been).

With this, the Fourteenth Doctor is expected to debut in 2023, the 60th anniversary year of Doctor Who. I just hope the new production team doesn’t disappoint the fans with that.

In terms of statistics, Jodie Whittaker has played the Doctor for 31 episodes, making her run the second shortest behind Christopher Eccleston. Peter Capaldi played the Doctor for 40 episodes, Matt Smith for 44 episodes and David Tennant for 47.

My hopes for Whittaker and Chibnall’s final episodes haven’t changed; I want to see what happens with the Timeless Child arc (and also Ruth). Whether the Fourteenth Doctor will be male or female (or played by a non-binary or trans actor), I have a few basic preliminary hopes for the next run; make each series 13 episodes again with a Christmas Special each year and put the series back on Saturday nights, like it was before Whittaker and Chibnall. Also, can we go back to filming in the 16:9 ratio? I can never get over how weird it looks on my screen (at full screen, it doesn’t look so weird when I have it playing on half screen, which is what I usually do when I write my reviews).

Jay Exci - The Fall of Doctor Who

Yes, it has been a while and I know I could have told everyone about this earlier, but better late than never I suppose. A couple of months ago, Jay Exci did a 5-hour long critique of the Chibnall era in his video, The Fall of Doctor Who. For some reason, there are those who see it as controversial because they’re NPCs who don’t want to hear criticism of the Chibnall era or they’re spergs who aren’t mature enough to sit through a 5-hour video they can watch in chunks, but hey, it’s pretty good. This is more in-depth than the reviews that people like Bowlestrek or Nerdrotic make, which essentially put Jay on their level in the eyes of the NPCs despite denying that they are on their level and being a sperg about how they’re better than them. Welcome to the party, Jay, you can check out anytime but you can never leave. 

Anyway, you can check out the video below. Even if you don’t feel like watching the whole video, I highly suggest that you watch section 4.2 onwards (timestamped link here) as it does resonate with my feelings on the Timeless Child arc. I swear, this is just like Dynasty Warriors 9 all over again. I know the feeling.

Cancel culture comes for Noel Clarke and John Barrowman

The thing about cancel culture is that people can be petty about things other people have done or said years ago and they can justify it with the excuse that they’re doing it to hold those people accountable. Depending on the context, it can expose the fact that that person is a major piece of shit or it can be an overreaction to something, which in the minds of today’s society is normally the latter.

Around the time that Noel Clarke was nominated for a Bafta at the end of March, allegations emerged of abuse and sexual misconduct against him. 20 women came forward with their stories and as a result, the final episode of Viewpoint was pulled from broadcast (but still released on Blu-ray and DVD) and Bulletproof was cancelled before filming on the fourth series would begin.

In May, video emerged of Clarke at Chicago TARDIS in 2014 talking about how John Barrowman would expose his genitals and slap it on people and things. This led to allegations about Barrowman surfacing, resulting in him apologising for his actions even though he had already been reprimanded for them over a decade ago and apologised in November 2008. Despite this, his contribution to the immersive theatrical event Doctor Who: Time Fracture was pulled and Big Finish have decided to shelf the release of Torchwood: Absent Friends, which would have featured David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor.

Now, I don’t care about Noel Clarke by any means, but this situation is honestly sad for John Barrowman because it shows that cancel culture spares no victims and leaves no fossil undiscovered. These PR stunts have clearly shown that the spineless people involved with those productions are so concerned with saving face that they are unable to just overlook these transgressions for the sake of fans who actually wanted to see him reprise his role as Captain Jack Harkness. But hey, what do I know? I don’t really care for anything other than the TV series, but it really shows how shameless corporations can be.

Once again, we don’t exactly know when Doctor Who Series 13 will premiere, but if you ask me, I predict that it will premiere in October or November. I’ll see you all again around that time.

[dapperappleton]

John Watson

Word count: 1,226

Summary: How did you meet John when you aren’t from the same universe?

Warnings: None

The day you met John was an interesting one. You got up, got ready, and left your apartment to go to your favourite book store. Seems normal, yeah? But walking down the street brought an, odd, situation. You were walking, enjoying the rare bit of sunlight that broke through the London clouds, and you see your two favourite actors. They were none other than Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch.

Yes, I realise this conflicts with the fact that this is the story of how you met John Watson. I’ll get to that part. Of course, upon seeing your favourite actors that you would probably never get the chance to see ever again, you fearfully approached them.

“Hey, I’m Y/N,” you said somewhat softly, fidgeting with your hands. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I’m just a really big fan. Especially of both your Marvel roles.”

“I’m sorry I think you might have mistaken us for someone else,” John apologised, while watching Sherlock out of the corner of his eye.

“Wrong person.” Sherlock, of course stated bluntly. “We’re not actors.”

“Oh I’m sorry. It’s just you look exactly like Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman.” You rubbed the back of your neck, face flared at the mistake. “Like, literally the exact same.”

“Bendydork Cabbagepatch who?” Sherlock looked at you as if you were standing on your head with your clothes upside down. “And who’s Martin Freeman?”

Your turn to look at them oddly. “How do you not know who they are? They’re both famous actors, and they look the same as you, you have to have been mistaken for them at least once. Here I’ll show you a picture on my phone.”

You whipped out your phone. Typing in “Martin Freeman” into Google, you chuckled a little at hedgehog Martin. A few seconds later, and nothing came up from the search. No pictures, no Wikipedia page, no film list. Not one bit of information on him.

“Odd, there’s nothing on Martin.” You types in Benedict’s name instead. “Why is nothing coming up?”

“Are you ok?” John asked, but you were too busy questioning reality to notice. “Ok, you’re coming with us. Sherlock, we’re go...”

“Sherlock?” Your head jerked up harshly. “Wait a second... I’m either insane, being pranked in some super in-depth and cruel way, or, somehow, I’m in the... the multiverse is real... wrong universe...”

Sherlock, tired of your jibberish, tanked your arm in the direction of the flat. He’d dealt with many people who had gone insane, and you seemed to be one of them, but there was something odd about you. You seemed more genuine. It was strange and he didn’t like not knowing what was up, so he just wanted to figure out your problem as quick as he could. And the multiverse theory you mentioned? There is no scientific basis for that. None. Not one bit. Sure, there isn’t anything against it, but does that mean that unicorns exist? No.

John behind Sherlock’s long strides and your shorter, quick ones. Upon seeing the front door, John smiled a bit with the knowledge that he could finally sit down after running around London all day. Sherlock adjusted the knocker and walked inside, you trailing behind. You were mumbling something about how this is supposed to be a museum, an attraction, not an actual flat. John was worried about your mental health. I mean, if someone shows up, says you and your friend are actors that don’t exist, start talking about the multiverse theory, and then mumbling about how things are supposed to be, then I think anyone would be worried.

“Name. Why are you here. Where are you from,” Sherlock asked, more like stated, bluntly. “Why do you think you’re in the wrong universe, which is obviously false, but explain.”

“I’m Y/N L/N, I live about a ten minute’s walk away. I’m here because you dragged me here, of course. I mean, this still should not exist, but whatever.” You trailed off. “Oh! I swear I’m not insane. I was going to my favourite bookstore, I saw you two, and I mean, of course I’m not going to pass up the chance to talk to two of my favourite actors, so, I went up to you, obviously... I’m clearly not supposed to be here. In this universe I mean...”

John watched you from the corner of the room, which was unusual for him. He normally sat in his chair and tried to keep Sherlock in check. John tried to concentrate and just observe you. Figure something out. It was hard when you didn’t seem bonkers, except for the fact that you kept rambling, and you really didn’t seem like you were lying. Sherlock was thinking the same. You weren’t lying, you seemed to be genuinely a good person who wouldn’t fake this for personal gain, and you clearly were not insane.

Basically, the only different important information that he got, was that John was attracted to you. Oh, did I not mention that? John thought you were hecka attractive, like is it getting warm in here? His face was a pale pink and he was staring at you with his face slack. Sherlock rolled his eyes at that. It was childish in his opinion. John managed to get a crush on this person who randomly showed up. How nice.

“Are you two going to keep staring at things?” Your nervous laughter sliced the silence. “Am I actually in a different universe? Because that would be super cool. Like, the BBC Sherlock universe is a good one to be in. There aren’t like, dragons eating people, superheroes aren’t accidentally causing civilian deaths in collateral damage, blah blah blah. The only bad part is Moriarty, but he’s pretty cool. Hey, have you faked your death yet?”

“I’m sorry what?” John asked, jaw loose and face incredulous. “How do you know about Moriarty? And what do you mean has Sherlock faked his death?”

“Oh I probably shouldn’t tell you about the Sherlock part then.” You nodded in thought, thinking of the consequences of messing with the plot too much, which, to be honest, you had thought about before, about being in another universe. “But how can you not know Jim? He’s the villain. And Andrew Scott is an adorable little bean, so added bonus.”

Even Sherlock looked shocked. Clearly, you were actually from another universe. No one knew who Moriarty was, except them and Scotland Yard.

How on Earth you got here, they didn’t know. After that day, you stuck with them to see if they could figure out what happened. Evidently, they couldn’t. But, along the way, Sherlock pushed John closer to you, did some meddling, and got you two together. It’s surprising that it worked, with Sherlock being aroace, but it did and you’ve stuck with John ever since you arrived. Sherlock didn’t mind the blehck of it all, but only, he insisted, because you helped him on his cases by giving little hints that didn’t ruin his fun. (He secretly thinks you two are cute, and Moriarty teases him endlessly for actually having a soft spot for you. Moriarty would never hurt you though.) And John is just glad that Mrs. Hudson stopped teasing about Johnlock.

Well, you supposed, all’s well that started with weird things that never should’ve happened in the first place.