The Doctor Who special brought this back up for me and I need to express it.
So like. Good Omens fanfic, yeah? There is a tendency in that sphere to assume that Crowley is pretty...ah...bendy.
Which is more or less justified. He's an ageless and immortal angelic being for whom size and shape are just options, and furthermore his animal aspect is a snake. So. Flexible. Makes sense.
It's just that you read it and you're like, ah, this is something that could only be represented in fanfic!
David Tennant is in his fifties!
It wouldn't be realistic to expect it in the show!
Goran Višnjić as Nikola Tesla in Doctor Who 12.4, Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror.
image descriptions below the cut
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[1] A still from an episode of Doctor Who, showing Goran as Nikola Tesla in front of Niagara Falls with an audience of men in suits and top hats, only their backs shown to us. Nikola is gesturing towards the waterfall as he speaks. He's a tall, slim man of about fifty in an old-fashioned suit with a tailcoat, pinstriped trousers, a waistcoat and watch-chain. He has a moustache, and brown hair parted in the middle, a few inches long and styled neatly with a bit of a wave.
[2] Goran as Nikola Tesla gesturing towards a device I don't understand well enough to even describe except that it's two corrugated metal cylinders and electricity is arcing between them, blue and dramatic, while he gestures like a magician. His other hand is on a lever, his face obscured by a starburst of blue light.
[3] A close-up of Goran as Nikola Tesla with a lightbulb in the foreground gleaming with warm light. He's looking off-screen and smiling slightly, eyes large and grey-blue, eyebrows raised, creases in his forehead and around his mouth. He's wearing a butterscotch-yellow tie with a wing or tuxedo shirt collar.
[4] A side-on view of Goran as Nikola Tesla bent over a workbench doing something with a tool we only see as a faint gleam of metal. He's bent almost double, intent on his work, a curl of hair falling down above his forehead, his coat gone and his shirt sleeves rucked up to the elbow so that his arms are bare and evidently hairy. The scene's dark, lit only by a candle lamp.
[5] A view of Goran as Nikola Tesla looking at a figure mostly out of view, visible to us only as blonde hair at the side of the screen. Nikola's eyes are a little wide, his mouth slightly open, making him look bewildered, and perhaps wary - I thought of it as his "okay, either you or this situation is bonkers" face. His thumb is just visible at the bottom of the screen, suggesting he's gesturing or fidgeting with his hands.
[6] A view of Goran in a crowded street, no coat, standing almost a head taller than everyone else and gesturing with one hand in a way that signals frustration or defensiveness, his eyes closed, mouth open as he speaks. A few bowler hats are visible around him, and a few of Nikola's companions - Dorothy, a serious-faced woman of thirty or so with tightly curly hair and smart clothing; the Doctor, currently a woman with straight blonde hair looking curiously past Dorothy; and just a glimpse of Yasmin in the background in a flat blue hat.
[7] A side-on view of Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor and Goran as Nikola both paying rapt attention to a glowing green mechanical-looking ball in a dish, with the Doctor pointing her sonic screwdriver at it and Nikola bending down to watch at the opposite side of the desk, hands folded together as if he's fidgeting, intent on her work. The Doctor's in a long light grey coat with a hood, incongruous for the era, and it's clear she'd be a lot shorter than him if he weren't currently courting back pain.
[8] The same scene as before, minutes later - the Doctor only visible as blonde hair in the foreground, Nikola's face transformed like he's realised something wonderful, eyes on the Doctor and leaning forward slightly, or still leaning on the desk. His mouth is open as he talks, his eyes bright, skin creasing faintly at the corners with a real smile.
[9] The same scene as before, seconds later. Goran as Nikola is looking to the side, no longer smiling but serious and thoughtful.
[10] The same scene as before, seconds later. Nikola is looking back at the Doctor and raising his eyebrows in a question at something she said, his forehead creasing, his expression perhaps a little doubtful.
[11] A close-up of Goran as Nikola in a room with warmer and dimmer lighting, his hair coming loose a bit as short curls on his forehead, frowning as he talks to someone off-screen. The angle exaggerates his nose, emphasises the lines around his mouth.
[12] A different view of the scene, zoomed out. Nikola is bent over a worktable beside Yasmin, a young woman with curled hair and a smart navy-blue jacket, and they're looking at each other as though discussing a problem, Nikola folding or rubbing his hands together. The desk of a mess of wires and oddments, lit bulbs in metal cages and what might be the odd green ball from earlier.
[13] Nikola and Yasmin in a very different location, dimly lit, with strange red lights in the background and a green light over their faces. (They're on an alien spaceship.) Yasmin is looking down at the floor like she's stunned, mouth open, and Nikola is holding her arm like he's just pulled her back, but his eyes are on something or someone else we can't see. His eyes are wide, his expression startled and openly afraid.
[14] Nikola and Yasmin still on the spaceship, blurry machinery behind them, but Nikola is almost level with Yasmin now and they're standing close, both looking at a third party off-screen. Yasmin's expression is one of distaste and a little anger, and Nikola's eyebrows are drawn down, expression somewhere between bewildered and worried.
[15] A different scene, different lighting - deep blue in the background, warm light on Nikola's face. It's an odd angle, his head ducked as though looking at something, his expression serious.
[16] A different scene, perhaps daytime with electric lighting, Nikola in conversation with someone off-screen who's clearly shorter than him. His hair's a little disarrayed, eyebrows raised and forehead creased, but there's something of a smile to his eyes and his mouth that gentles it.
[17] The same scene, seconds later, slightly zoomed in. Nikola's eyebrows are lower, forehead still creased and eyes a little scrunched, like he doesn't understand yet what the other person means. There's something tender about it still.
[18] A different room, darker, Nikola grinning while the Doctor is mostly off-screen, just a little of her hair visible, except she's raising a hand for a high-five that he isn't reciprocating. Creases are splayed out from his eyes, deep ones around his mouth, his nose sharp from this angle.
[19] A different view of the high-five moment, focusing on the Doctor as she realises he doesn't know to reciprocate - the high-five wasn't invented yet - and starts to lower her hand. Her mouth is wide open, teeth showing, somewhere between a grin and talking, and her body language is open exuberance. The creases around Nikola's eyes are still very visible from this angle, though most of his face isn't.
[20] A view of Goran as Nikola with his eyes closed as if he's blocking something out, and a look of forbearance and faint frustration on his face.
[21] A side-on view of Goran as Nikola, a shorter man in the background and the TARDIS behind them both, its windows glowing white. Nikola's expression is determined and a little grim, more hair curling messily against his forehead.
[22] A view of Goran as Nikola outside, trees in the background, a blurry blue-white sky and what might be yellowish grass. He's wearing old-fashioned aviator goggles on his forehead, where they're pushing his hair up so it's even messier, and he's looking down at something with a troubled expression.
[23] A view of the Doctor and Goran as Nikola in the TARDIS, the scene awash in electric blue and peach-pink, and no other lighting. The Doctor's leant over the TARDIS controls doing something there and looking back at Nikola, who has picked up some sort of contraption and is looking down at it, expression either troubled or focused. The light on his face is blue, throwing his features into sharp and unflattering relief.
[24] A view of Goran as Nikola in the TARDIS still, the lighting blue, the angle of his shoulders suggesting his hands are on his hips, and his expression now one of open joy. His eyes are large, his mouth open and smiling slightly, soft creases on either side.
[25] A view of Goran as Nikola on the street, looking with his head tilted at someone in the foreground - barely visible, except for the bowler hat. Nikola's expression is tolerant, a restrained smile with narrow eyes, and his hands are probably clasped behind his back.
[26] A view of Goran as Nikola on the street, now talking to the Doctor, only the back of her head visible. Nikola's in the same pose as before, hands behind his back, only leaning slightly towards her now, his expression warm as he talks to her. The creases around his eyes are back, and it's another angle that emphasises his nose.
[27] The same view as before, only now Nikola's ducked his head, almost like he's shy, or needs a moment to collect himself. The creases have gone from his eyes, but the smile's still there at his mouth.
there’s been a trend going around on tiktok of editing fictional characters with stuff from ur own culture/country and i think that tumblr also deserves to see ashke jew law
everyone say mazel tov to law on his late bar mitzvah
a batch of assorted ghost au stuff i found sitting in my files:
self-indulgent crossover with @indigorithmic's (friendly!! and chill) exorcist / private detective oc piper. imo in a world where ghosts and exorcists are a well-established Thing, the doctor would be pretty eager to seek out expertise that might know what's going on with him:
two sketches are from a variant on the ghost au where the doctor dies during series 3, comes back as a ghost with no memories (as usual), and is eventually accidentally found by martha, who was brought back to earth by emergency program 1 and started working freelance investigating alien sightings. i think while tracking down some sort of psychic trace she ends up building a machine that can pick up the ghost doctor's voice, but she still can't see him. and he still can't remember. yeah:
ngl i think the plaid coat + trousers combo is a bit much?? especially bc fourtennant's outfit is also mostly plaid, which makes this costume seem like an afterthought 😐 i'd love this outfit with a different coat, maybe taking the plaid in a four/seven/twelve direction:
also fourteen NEEDS to accessorize more!!!!!! i saw the gallifreyan nails and rings, which i absolutely love, but he needs more pizzazz. give me funky sunglasses and lapel pins and wacky cuff links and striped orange socks!!!
I really have to write down all my ship headcannons at some point, I keep thinking about them constantly <3
Art Rambles below
I actually finished 90% of this a week ago but I couldn't decide if I wanted to add Novabots or not. I'm glad I did, they added the extra details that this piece needed.
I tried a new shading technique, not only was much quicker than my usual method, it m think it doesn't look half bad! I used two gradient maps, one set to multiply and the other to color dodge. I think I'll try to practice this technique during the Art fight, see if I can get used to it.
I think this may break my current record for "Longest I've Gone Without Knowing the Name/Artist of a Song".
Sometime in the late 90s, I was listening to my local rock station (99X, 99.7 FM) and recording songs onto tape. A song came on with a rocking base line and synthesizer, later joined by drums and lead guitars. No lyrics (that I could understand). And of course the DJ never tells you the name of the song afterward, but he's happy to talk over the first 30 seconds of it.
As is the case with most instrumental music, it's difficult to describe a song unless you can hum it. And I could not hum this one. It was too weird.
So I spent the next twenty-fiveish years in a state of maddening non-consensual ignorance. The era of tapes ended, and though I still have mine stashed away, the tapes themselves are wearing out and already sounding pretty bad. I don't listen to them but maybe once every ten years, so I had forgotten all about the song.
Until earlier this year, when I was watching Carl Sagan's Cosmos (1980). The song playing in the background of this scene from Episode 09 "The Lives of the Stars" is the one I'm talking about:
When I heard it, I launched out of my chair faster than you could say "billions and billions". Finally! I had a piece of the song! ...but it still wasn't doing me any good. Was there a site I could run it through to identify the song? Would some kind stranger on Reddit possibly solve my dilemma? Disheartened, I put it on the back burner.
A few months passed. Then, a few days ago, as I was looking up something related to Cosmos, I came across a website—a wonderful, wonderful website—that had the complete soundtrack of Cosmos listed out in excruciating detail, every little clip and soundbite.
I bookmarked it because I'd forgotten which episode my mystery song was on and needed to go back and search. Sigh.
Well, I finally got around to it tonight. By sheer luck I found the episode almost immediately, and at long last, I finally have a name and artist.