#an ordinary life

[twojamie-o-clock]

Steven Taylor with “eyes kinder than his manner” who will listen to everyone, who questions everything, who won’t fall in love again so soon, who goes so he won’t lose Sara, who stays so the Doctor doesn’t lose him too, who builds a family over and over again with Vicki and Sara and Dodo, who chooses to leave only to save another civilization. I wish we saw more of him 😭

[touhoutunes]

Title: Unbind

Arrangement: GCHM

Vocals: みぃ

Album: An Ordinary life

Circle: GET IN THE RING

Original: Battlefield of the Flower Threshold

[dailyquotes6563]

No one tells you that, do they? That no matter what happens to our bodies, you feel the same inside?

Amanda Prowse, An Ordinary Life

[wyllwithay]

🌹

(For the WIP ask thing 😊)

OMG I DIDNT THINK ANYONE WOULD ACTUALLY SEND ONE

anyways, here's a moment from the show in An Ordinary Life that I can't stop thinking about:

"They took her chin in their hand, forcing her face upwards and kissing the alcohol into Karlach's mouth without hesitation. Cheers rang out from the audience as their lips met, blurring the line between putting on a show and indulging in their own pleasure."

[milkytheholy1]

An Ordinary Life Masterlist

Part 1 Part 4 Part 7

Part 2 Part 5 Part 8

Part 3 Part 6

[hifithepanda]

An Ordinary Life- 7.5/10

An Ordinary Life was performed by Peter Purves and Jean Marsh, written by Matt Fitton, and released December 2014.

I had been waiting for this one.  I’ve been anticipating it since it was recommended to me a very long time ago (I’ve been slacking on this goal) and I’m pleased to say it lived up to expectations.  

I wasn’t particularly sure what to expect from it.  I had no idea what it was about but was pleased with the result.  There were two main plot points running through the majority of the story– the Doctor vanishing into thin air and the racist harassment towards the Jacobs/Newman family.  Towards the end, it is revealed that Michael Newman is, in fact, an alien double.  From there, the story wraps up rather formulaically.  The Doctor arrives and helps Sara destroy the doubles and release the victims.  

I did really enjoy this story!  It wasn’t super complicated but, as I said in my previous review, a story doesn’t need to be complicated to be good.  I liked the emphasis on the mundane– Steven and Sara living together and squabbling over cooking and rent and such was a nice thing to hear.  Especially when you think of what An Ordinary Life is bookended by– the Daleks’ Master Plan.  This does have the unintended (or, I suppose, maybe intended) effect of making Sara’s death that much more devastating for Steven.  

I’d say my only main qualm with this story was that there was never really any good connection to the racism the Jacobs/Newman’s faced.  It needed to be addressed but I felt that it wasn’t particularly tied into the end of the story.  I’m not criticizing the story for having it be present (the opposite is true, I would’ve been annoyed if it hadn’t been) however, I think it needed to be addressed towards the end rather than just sort of… forgotten about.

Overall though, I really enjoyed this one!  I love the mundane and I think it was a great little adventure to give Steven and Sara a little break from the Daleks’ Master Plan.

7.5/10

Friend Death Count: 0

Steven Tortured Count: 0.5

The Doc does some messed up shit to Steven Count: 0

[tagerrkix]

Eden was their ✨disney princess era✨

[alienssstufff]

from that one convo they had in the 12 Hour Limited Life special

The sprites (updated their liml designs a lil)

[juniemunie]

[Abandoned by the Lightners, his heart became cracked with hatred.]

Hitting a lil' too close to home?

[modernchemical]

[twojamie-o-clock]

Finished “an ordinary life” from the early adventures. Audio 1.4 I believe. And….wow. At first I was worried it was going to be boring or a bit all over the place (kind of like how the anachronauts flip flopped everywhere although I loved that) and I was very much surprised. It was definitely unique and I like how diverse the first doctor’s big finish is in that sense.

Spoilery review below.

1. Steven & Sara getting trapped in a domestic setting, having to live together, starting quite literally an ordinary life….I’m eating that up okay. I loved their dynamics with the other family, as well as their exposure to the struggles of the 20th century, especially regarding racism and misogyny. I wish both of those were explored just a tad more but it might have been for the best given big finish’s track record with feminist stories (I’m looking at you prison in space/the suffering). I liked how Steven & Sara, because they are being written in 2014 and not 1966, can be given different views on these subjects by being horrified at the primitive aspects of humans before their time. Not just for their characterizations as good humans but also for their bonding as being the odd ones out in this time/place.

2. Steven & Sara’s separate stories. Steven settled in very quickly to life in London, working his own job with Michael until they face trouble, living in the apartment, and while it’s hard without the Doctor, he’s adapting and above all enjoying it. Meanwhile Sara is itching to leave, although she appreciates the company of the family. Her whole police officer scene was kind of hilarious but also frustrating that they didn’t go into how her encounter with 60s values was nothing she should have been prepared for.

3. Steven & Sara as a family. Going back to Steven adjusting, you can clearly see in the audio how badly he wants this normal life. I kind of see Steven’s narrative of being. well. haunted by death. as Sara-centric as I’m sure we all do, although Katarina was obviously the first death. Because he hasn’t seen her nor anyone else die the only reason he could want to settle down is because he simply wants to. He’s not running from the danger of the tardis, or their travels, or the Daleks. He’s running to something he wants: a life with Sara. This actually makes me want to kick and scream and throw up because doomed x haunted is my favorite thing ever and I am sobbing thanks.

Steven mentions staying in London, back before they find the Doctor, and Sara simply protests that this life would never suit the Doctor, nor could she settle down “with kids” because of her life in the SSS. I’m not sure if this was supposed to imply social duties she still retained - such as, not having children - or something biological which kind of gets to a deeper level of headcanon of future taskforces such as her own that aren’t warranted in this post. I do like to see their conflicting views again, not quite as foil-like as their blind obedience v. unceasing questioning, but more in how they are changing in comparison to their past selves. I’m starting to sound pretentious so I won’t act like this is going anywhere other than Sara being a strict solider who now sees the rest of her life in the TARDIS facing the world (with Steven) vs. Steven who is seeing the appeal of a stable life with Sara.

This kind of elaborates/becomes verbal at the end of the audio when Steven says he can recover his memories of the antagonist more sharply if they stay back in London for a few more months. He’s very obviously seeking the stability of life outside the TARDIS. Sara shoots this down immediately, probably without realizing, and unlike Vicki, Ian, or Barbara, Steven just chooses to stay with her in the TARDIS. I think this makes them the ultimate companion duo I’ve seen so far because one is choosing to stay with the Doctor for the other. Up until now, in companions before Steven, we’ve only seen people *leave* the Doctor for others/better things. Ian and Barbara wanting their home. Susan and Vicki staying for lovers. But Steven wanted stability with Sara. He wants the TARDIS life with Sara. And no one will ever be happy because they don’t communicate but whatever 🥰

4.(yikes) the antagonists. When I first heard Steven likening them to mushrooms I was a bit disappointed because, in my timeline of listening to his audios, that makes this his third big finish story involving alien, hostile fungus and it’s getting a bit tiring and a bit concerning. I wasn’t blown away by the clones/mind control/hive thing because it felt too adjacent to too many other Doctor who aliens, such as the Zygons or the time mushroom in Upstairs. But seeing how much the tv show leans on audio stories for inspiration I’m not gonna be picky about that. I did like how they were simply trying to survive, that it felt halfway between benign technology gone wrong & malicious aliens rather than either or, AND how Michael’s family dynamics slowly built up as foreshadowing. I would give these creatures incorporated into the story a 8/10 but on their own a 5/10.

Overall if I had to rate this one I’d give it 8/10 simply because Steven and Sara were displayed so well here. Hinting that Steven wants a settled life but will choose Sara over anything…anyway I love their relationship so far in audios because nothing is verbalized except for some mistakes in the anachronauts.

P.S. for big finish Steven x Sara audios I’m only disappointed because a lot of it is just them already having their connection and then the miscommunication/supposed one-sidedness of it all. I haven’t actually heard an audio where the relationship is developed, only where it’s commented on - aka peter purves narrating how steven feels or how they hold hands, but not as many scenes showing their dynamic as a whole, save for the end of the anachronauts. Anyways I still love them and I’m so glad they have eu media. Bye!

[relatablepicturesofyuukoaioi]

[geopsych]

Yesterday morning’s walk was scattered with beautiful light and then as I climbed the hill to go home I found myself in an area where swallows of two kinds were skimming low over the grass all around me as wood thrushes sang in the woods nearby. (Sadly I only caught one on video) This is an ordinary place but it has its moments.

[dailyquotes6563]

There's something about those of us who have suffered loss, Miss Collway. We tend to fall into two camps: those who crumple, sink, wither and fade under the weight of the unimaginable pain; and those of us who take that hurt, ball it tightly, put it in the base of our gut and use it as fuel. And when that happens it is a very powerful thing, the most powerful. It is an unstoppable force and one that can do good, immeasurable good.

Amanda Prowse, An Ordinary Life

[thesillyexpresser]

More Nano because she’s my beloved ✨

[ratqng]

What will MARI and friends do? (Nichijou x OMORI)