#he endured because he had jenny how on earth can he lose her now? and it certainly won't be by his hand

[jannacalendar]

I understand why it wasn't possible, but it's such a shame we couldn't get Jenny back for The Wish. She and Giles fighting a losing battle side by side and being hardened from it, but remaining each other's solace. Them piecing together the puzzle Cordelia presents to them and having faith in a world better than this, only for Anyanka to try and throw them by hinting at Jenny's death should they return. Giles faltering at the thought of losing her and Jenny, once again, sacrificing herself and destroying the necklace. The way she sees it: she'll either be dead by The Master's hand or by her own, and only one of those inevitabilities gives the man she loves a chance of survival. She kisses him as she plunges herself into the abyss, wanting the last thing she experiences to be his love.

Giles waking up the following morning, the pang in his heart he always feels whenever he remembers Jenny accompanied by a newfound feeling of emptiness, and he's not quite sure why.

[wthtorke]

Eofer is very interesting. I get the impression that she struggles with not singling out the stations Yautja, just because of their species and her experience with them. Would like to know how the meeting with i’mara went and if she got a chance to spare with dak’hir, would she? How is her relationship with the tattoo boys?

Eofer would most definitely spar with any yautja that said yes and probably beat the shit out of them before being taken down as well lmao Eofer would lose if Dak'hir had his axes but hand on hand combat could be very interesting as Eofer's endurance and strength would very much surprise Dak'hir (and anyone in the room, really).

I'mara and Eofer's first meeting went like this!

Eofer had just stated the reasons she thought she wasn't fit for the Andromeda job, she didn't trust yautjas.

The Station's staff begged I'mara to change her mind, 'bring her to his side' as they said.

I'mara accepted to talk to her not because it was a challenge,but because something had clearly happened,and he wanted to know what.

Reading Eofer's file had I'mara nodding in understanding of her actions,of her defensiveness.

They met on a human ship just outside the earth,Eofer wouldn't set foot in his ship and that was final.

I'mara had been sitting when Eofer entered the study room he was in,I'mars always felt more at ease with books near him, he hoped Eofer felt the same.

"I take it you already know my name",I'mara started, removing a speck of dust from his blue cape.

"Yes,I do", Eofer said stiffly, "As you know mine".

I'mara nodded,"What I don't know,however,is why you're declining the job many of your kind would kill for".

Eofer sighed, "You read the file,or else we wouldn't be here,you know fully why".

"My people conquered space because we wanted more-,we always do. Your people go to space because they don't have anything left to lose...but you do,don't you?".

Eofer frowned at that,metal hand clenching and unclenching at her side.

"You lost the dearest person in your life, what's to lose now? What's holding you back there? Another love?"

"Shut up-".

"Too recent, I know..",I'mara trailed off, "and how do I know...Well,if its not a lover, a family member? Brothers? Sisters?"

"My sister died, years ago".

"Ah,my condolences...Well,not a brother,not a sister...but it's surely someone close,maybe not as close as when you lost your arm but close now".

Eofer couldn't help but glance at her arm at the mention.

"Your arm...Very well crafted, tenderly even, who made it?"

Eofer sighed,

"My niece".

I'mara's face lit up with a smile, "How precious-,a niece".

"I can't show my face in some intergalactic space station when that freak is loose in the galaxy"

"If you accept this job,you become an ally, protected by every honored warrior of my species, for however long you honor our agreement-, that protection extends to your niece as well".

"I can't leave her alone-,I lost my wife and she lost...we lost my sister".

I'mara's heart tugged at that,he sighed as he thought, "She made you that arm,Eofer,she can come with you,she'd be more than welcome".

Eofer looked at I'mara, obviously not believing him.

"What better than to have your eye on her than to take her with you?...Give yourself time to heal,meet new people-,hell, arrest some criminals! What's good to us isn't always of our desire at first...And if something goes wrong,I'll take you both back to earth myself".

"I will hold you to that".

"Excellent!".

"I will accept your offer...if you promise to look after her if anything happens to me".

I'mara was surprised, "I thought you hated my species?".

"I hate one of you-, my niece will not pay for it".

I'mara took a few seconds to think and then reply, "I accept your conditions. I swear on my honor to be your niece's guardian shall you ever perish or lack in presence".

Eofer smirked, "Then I accept the job".

-

Eofer and Dha'ra know each other and get along well seeing as Dha'ra is also very good friends with Jenny! Jenny got called over Dha'ra's shop (when he was still in the mothership) to fix one of his chairs,broken under the weight of a particularly big yautja customer. While Jenny worked,she noticed a few human tattoo machines on the walls and asked Dha'ra if they worked,Dha'ra said it was just decoration. Jenny being Jenny, offered to fix those too, since she was already there, she worked on them as well and soon got called off somewhere else.

Dha'ra gifted Jenny with a wall scroll of a serpent painting for her efforts, which Jenny loves with all her heart.

[flynnspeaks]

Flynn Marathons Doctor Who, Part III

(for anyone needing caught up--I’m doing a watch of Doctor Who from the very beginning of the show, bingewatching it by episode instead of by serial (which I find to be closer to the original spirit of the episodes, albeit still nothing like it at all), and then doing a writeup roughly every three serials or so)

Starting off Season 2 (which is, for the record, one of my all-time favorite seasons of the show):

Planet of Giants: Such an odd duck, isn’t it? I don’t think in the entire first block of the show there’s an episode that’s so “well this is nothing like the rest of the show” as this one is, which is ironic given this was the first premise for an episode attempted for the show. That being said, it’s really rather charming, essentially being “Doctor Who intrudes on an episode of the Avengers” before that kind of intrusion became standard, the effects work surprisingly well, and losing the fourth episode does wonders for the pacing. I’m in the minority that I don’t care for the “Barbara gets poisoned with the insecticide” plotline, but Hill sells it amazingly, and the scenes between her and Hartnell are sublime as always.

(random little notes: the way they frame the exposition to be simultaneously told by the Doctor to Barbara and by Susan to Ian via crosscutting is remarkably sophisticated. I never got the chance when I was discussing The Sensorites to comment on how good the direction was, and lo and behold, Mervyn Pinfield directed both serials (or at least, the episodes in question that made me notice the direction). Also, it’s still so goddamn weird to see Alan Tilvern in these episodes, because in my mind he will always be R.K. Maroon from Who Framed Roger Rabbit?)

The Dalek Invasion of Earth: Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh this one always makes me giddy. By miles the best Hartnell Dalek story (which, admittedly, isn’t saying a whole lot), and for my money the first bona-fide classic the series produces after its first episode. This and The Rescue mark a real turning point for the show, and the next run of episodes really cement the Lambert era as one of my all-time favorites in the series.

So, the episode itself. One of the things that really stuck out to me on this watch was, despite being really poorly structured in comparison to The Daleks it paces so much better. This is I think partly because Nation finds a lot more to do with his premise here than he did last time, but mostly because The Daleks only had the Thaals to interact with as characters, where here we have a really rock solid supporting cast (our first since “The Aztecs”, though “Reign” at least had Lamaitre), with Tyler, Jenny, and Dortmun all being good, engaging characters, and even smaller parts like Ashton or Craddock given a lot of color from their actors (David is a bit of a wet fish, mostly due to his role as generic love interest. Still, it’s hard not to think about how improved the serial would be if his actor switched places with Tyler). The episodes are also littered with side characters that enliven the piece and give a great picture of the larger world--Ian’s excursion with Larry and Wells, with Larry discovering his brother was turned into a Roboman, or Barbara and Jenny coming across the two old women who sell them out to the Daleks in exchange for food. Yeah, in the midst of that we also get the Slither and the awful padding of Episode 5, but man, isn’t it great that for once a six-parter only has one episode of bad padding?

This is also one of the first episodes we’ve gotten in a while where it genuinely feels like each companion has something interesting to do--though in the end its still Barbara that gets the best showcase. I love her interactions with Jenny, and the whole arc with her essentially inspiring Jenny from callous hopelessness into believing she can actually make a difference is lovely. Especially given that the change comes in the form of Barbara mowing down Daleks in a truck. But even Ian gets some great moments, which is rare (”get new orders” is one of my favorite lines in the serial). And of course this is a great showcase for Hartnell, who here becomes the Doctor we know and love. His initial spar with the Dalek is delightful, as is his figuring out the prison key with Ian (“we shall have to ‘Boyle’ this down, now, shan’t we?”). This is where Hartnell enters the ‘loveable grandfather’ stage of his performance, and it’s absolutely delightful.

And then, of course, there’s Susan. So, I’m staking a claim here--I actually think this is an incredibly well-written companion departure that’s handled very gracefully, and not for nothing does it become the model for a lot of future companion departures (most notably The Green Death). Having said that, I do have to hedge against myself a little bit--as well-written as it is, Susan’s departure is incredibly problematic. Given that her arc through the episode is centered around her own maturity and finding her place in the world, the resolution being essentially that the Doctor gives her away and she gets married off is just yucky and outmoded even for 1964.

And I want to be clear, it’s not the quickness of the romance that makes this an issue--a lot of people complain that she’s just randomly thrown off with the first guy she shows an attraction to, and that’s not what I think is the problem. For what it is, the David/Susan relationship is actually incredibly well-done, with the both of them being able to bond in a real, human way, and one that’s intensified by the hardships they endure together. But it wouldn’t matter if it was rushed or if David was a plot arc that had been building 5 serials ago--the idea that for Susan to mature and leave the Doctor she has to get married is awwwwwful, and displays a reductive and sexist view of gender roles that a lot more people should pillory Nation for (worse that, as I said, this forms the basis of a lot of future companion departures, which essentially means that when they don’t have a good idea on how to get rid of a companion, they’ll marry them off (Leela and Peri are the worst offenders here)).

All that said...I do think you can create redemptive readings that hedge against the ickiness, and a large part of that is how much the episode focuses on Susan and builds her interiority. The episode continually stresses Susan’s desire to belong somewhere, and we see often how much the idea of staying with David and rebuilding the Earth appeals to her--especially by the end where she desperately wants to stay, but crucially feels she can’t abandon her grandfather. That’s the crucial thing about her departure, which is that she actually does want to go off somewhere on her own, but doesn’t feel she can because of a fealty to the Doctor. This is why he ends up pushing her out--he knows simultaneously that she won’t leave him by choice and that leaving him is really the best thing for her--that he’s essentially holding her back,

So he makes the choice any good parent or teacher does, and essentially pushes her out of the nest. This is what makes the actual departure so effective for me--the Doctor does not want to actually leave Susan, but feels he must for her own growth (”your future lies with David, and not with a silly old buffer like me”) It’s exceedingly problematic that marriage is treated as such a necessary part of that growth, but all the same it’s rare that a companion departure be treated with this much focus on the wants and needs of the companion herself, and I think that focus makes the episode really sing in the end.

(oh, and also the main plot is that the Daleks want to carve out the earth and drive it around as a spaceship. How can I not love it?)

The Rescue: Absolutely delightful. Just as the previous serial was the model for future companion departures, this becomes the model for future companion intros, and for good reason. This one’s great for most of the reasons people say it is, so I don’t have a lot to add, except to say that the Vicki/Ian/Barbara trio might be my all-time favorite TARDIS team, and Vicki’s quiet little “oh, I’d like to, yes, if you’ll have me” when Barbara asks her to join them is heartbreakingly sweet. If I was to pick a random Hartnell episode to show to someone who’s never seen the era before, it’d be this one without a doubt.

(also, I love the Doctor’s little monologue to himself...”I wonder if I was to tell Ian [landing on Dido] was deliberate, whether he’d believe me or not...oh no, of course, I was asleep! Ohhh, pity.”)

[inloveandwords]

It works like this

Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf.

Order on ascending date added.

Take the first 5 or 10 books (I’m doing 20 because I have way too many on my list)

Read the synopsis of the books

Decide: keep it or should it go?

Penmort Castle (Ghosts and Reincarnation #1) by Kristen Ashley

CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS

Cash Fraser is planning revenge and to get it he needs the perfect woman. So he hires her. Abigail Butler has lost nearly everything in her life and she’s about to lose the home she loves.

Cash meets Abby, who is posing as a paid escort, and the minute he does he knows he’s willing to pay for more than Abby being his pretend girlfriend. A lot more. Abby needs the money or the last thing that links her to her dead family and husband will be gone. The deal is struck but both Cash and Abby get more than they bargained for.

Cash realises very quickly that Abby isn’t what she seems and while he changes strategies, Abby discovers that Cash’s legacy, Penmort Castle, is like all the tales say – very, very haunted. Making matters worse, the ghost in residence wants her dead.

Abby’s found herself in the battle of her life so she enlists Mrs. Truman, her nosy neighbour; Jenny, her no-nonsense friend; Cassandra McNabb, white witch and clairvoyant with a penchant for wearing scarves (and lots of them); and Angus McPherson, dyed-in-the-wool Scot (which means he hunts ghosts in a kilt) to fight the vicious ghost who has vowed that she will rest at nothing to kill the true, abiding love of the master of Penmort.

Date added to TBR: 1/24/17 Keep or Ditch? Keep Comments: This actually sounds really interesting and I believe I have it on audio.

    Moonstruck (Diablo Lake #1) by Lauren Dane

CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS

In Diablo Lake, Tennessee, a town populated by werewolves, witches, and more, magic woven deep into the earth protects the town’s secrets from outsiders.

Katie Grady left Diablo Lake to get over a humiliating breakup; but her family needs her help, so she’s back, in a sublet right across the hall from the guy she’s lusted after for years. Jace Dooley is hotter than ever, and their friendship picks up along with massive doses of grown-up chemistry.

The very scent of Katie sharpens Jace’s canines, makes the wolf within him stir. There’s nothing more alluring to a Pack Alpha than a sexy female who is so very in charge. She won’t be coddled, but if he plays his hand just right she might be convinced to become his.

Katie presents a challenge to Jace’s wolf nature, whose chief instinct is to protect. Especially now that she’s coming into the magic that is her birthright – and suddenly Jace isn’t the only one who’s interested in Katie, or the raw power she’s just learning to use.

Date added to TBR: 1/24/17 Keep or Ditch? Ditch Comments: I’m not super interested in this one anymore and the ratings aren’t that great on Goodreads.

    Doing It Over (Most Likely To #1) by Catherine Bybee

CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS

Voted Most Likely to Succeed, Melanie Bartlett ended up anything but. The down-on-her-luck single mom wants a complete do-over—is that too much to ask? With her family long gone from River Bend, strong, independent Mel is as surprised as anyone to end up in the quaint small town she once called home. But with her friends, Jo and Zoe, by her side, and a comfortable room at Miss Gina’s quirky bed-and-breakfast, she just might have turned the corner on a new life.

Wyatt Gibson never liked the big city. River Bend suits the ruggedly handsome builder just fine. Wyatt knows he’s home, even if that means being charmed by the appearance of Melanie and her spunky, adorable daughter. Is Wyatt’s calm devotion—even amid a coming storm—enough to convince Mel she may have found a home to call her own, a family that never leaves, and a true love to last a lifetime?

Date added to TBR: 1/24/17 Keep or Ditch? Ditch Comments: I think I owned this at some point (given to me by my mom), but I don’t see myself reading it any time soon.

    Staying For Good (Most Likely To #2) by Catherine Bybee

CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS

Zoe Brown may have been voted Most Likely to Never Leave River Bend, but the paper-thin walls and suffocating air of her family’s double-wide trailer were not what she wanted for her life. Other than BFFs Melanie and Jo, the only thing that kept Zoe sane during high school was her boyfriend, Luke.

She didn’t just leave, she escaped—turning her back on the shame of her black-sheep siblings and imprisoned dad. Now a celebrity chef in Dallas, she can afford all the things she never could have growing up. But when she returns to rustic, ruggedly beautiful River Bend, Zoe has to face all that she abandoned—including Luke.

While Luke was a refuge for Zoe in the past, he knows they inhabit totally different worlds now. Anchored by his parents and his job as a mechanic in his father’s shop, Luke never felt the urge to leave River Bend—until Zoe’s return.

But when the two rekindle their old flame, Zoe is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: remain in River Bend and confront her past before it destroys her, or say good-bye to everyone she’s ever loved…again, this time for good.

Date added to TBR: 1/24/17 Keep or Ditch? Ditch Comments: Same as above.

    The Rosie Project (Don Tillman #1) by Graeme Simsion

CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS

An international sensation, this hilarious, feel-good novel is narrated by an oddly charming and socially challenged genetics professor on an unusual quest: to find out if he is capable of true love.

Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. He is a man who can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand, whose lifelong difficulty with social rituals has convinced him that he is simply not wired for romance. So when an acquaintance informs him that he would make a “wonderful” husband, his first reaction is shock. Yet he must concede to the statistical probability that there is someone for everyone, and he embarks upon The Wife Project. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which he approaches all things, Don sets out to find the perfect partner. She will be punctual and logical—most definitely not a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver.

Yet Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also beguiling, fiery, intelligent—and on a quest of her own. She is looking for her biological father, a search that a certain DNA expert might be able to help her with. Don’s Wife Project takes a back burner to the Father Project and an unlikely relationship blooms, forcing the scientifically minded geneticist to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie—and the realization that love is not always what looks good on paper.

The Rosie Project is a moving and hilarious novel for anyone who has ever tenaciously gone after life or love in the face of overwhelming challenges.

Date added to TBR: 1/25/17 Keep or Ditch? Ditch Comments: I used to have this on my bookshelf, but I unhauled it recently.

    Worth the Wait (McKinney/Walker Brothers #1) by Claudia Connor

CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS

He broke her heart. When he finds out just how badly, it will break his too.

Nick Walker found the love of his life when he was just nineteen.

Found her. Loved her. Lost her.

It’s been ten years since Nick watched the only woman he ever loved walk out of his life. Now this FBI Special Agent will do anything to win her back.

But it won’t be easy…

Mia’s heart was shattered by Nick. They’ll have to face their painful past if they want a future, including Mia’s own secret about that day it all fell apart.

Do you believe in second chances?

Date added to TBR: 1/25/17 Keep or Ditch? Keep Comments: This is available on Kindle Unlimited and it has great ratings on Goodreads.

    All That Lies Within by Lynn Ames

CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS

How far would you go to hide who you really are inside? And what do you do when you find the one person from whom hiding your true self isn’t an option? Glamorous movie star Dara Thomas has it all-an Oscar nomination, dozens of magazine covers proclaiming her the sexiest woman alive, and people of both sexes clamoring for her attention. She also has a carefully guarded secret life. As Constance Darrow, Dara writes Pulitzer Prize-winning fiction, an outlet that allows her to be so much more than just a pretty face. Rebecca Minton is a professor of American Literature in love with the work of the mysterious, reclusive author Constance Darrow, with whom she strikes up a correspondence. A chance phrase in a letter leads her to a startling conclusion about the author. What happens next will change the course of both of their lives forever.

Date added to TBR: 1/26/17 Keep or Ditch? Keep Comments: I’m not a big fan of the famous trope.

    The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett

CLICK FOR SYNOPSIS

What if you had said yes? The moments that change everything… One Day meets Sliding Doors in this outstanding debut that is causing a buzz across the publishing world Some moments can change your life for ever. Have you ever wondered, what if…?

A man is walking down a country lane. A woman, cycling towards him, swerves to avoid a dog. On that moment, their future hinges. There are three possible outcomes, three small decisions that could determine the rest of their life.

Eva and Jim are nineteen and students at Cambridge when their paths first cross in 1958. And then there is David, Eva’s then-lover, an ambitious actor who loves Eva deeply. The Versions of Us follows the three different courses their lives could take following this first meeting. Lives filled with love, betrayal, ambition but through it all is a deep connection that endures whatever fate might throw at them.

The Versions of Us explores the idea that there are moments when our lives might have turned out differently, the tiny factors or decisions that could determine our fate, and the precarious nature of the foundations upon which we build our lives. It is also a story about the nature of love and how it grows, changes and evolves as we go through the vagaries of life.

Date added to TBR: 1/26/17 Keep or Ditch? Ditch Comments: Ehhhhhhh

  Decluttering my TBR #3 It works like this Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf. Order on ascending date added. Take the first 5 or 10 books (I’m doing 20 because I have way too many on my list)