#took me 3 weeks to do a tardis and 2 weeks to do a weeping angel

[junaip3r]

i'm doing a handmade 2005 dalek figure that i probably gonna finish the building next week

thank fucking god

[penguinwithitsarseonfire]

Didn't Have It In Myself to go With Grace

Part 1 (You’re here!) | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 |

Pairing: 10th Doctor x Reader

Word Count: 1,735

Warnings: None in this installment, major character death and minor violence in future

Summary: You, Donna, and the Doctor, have a conversation over the merits of what counts as a ballgown after you saw Donna wear one. The thing is though, she blatantly denies it.

A/N: This will be a 4 part series, followed by a sequel series with the 13th Doctor. Don’t be too scared by the warnings, the sequel will 100% provide a happy ending, I’ve already written it.  Next part will be (hopefully) posted next week. Hope y’all enjoy!

You were dangling your legs in the air when you remembered it; that sparkly, silver ballgown that had somehow made Donna look both simultaneously like a mirror ball, and an elegant member of royalty. You turned your face to the side, watching Donna on the other sofa. She was casually flicking through a magazine, looking completely engrossed in whatever counted for pop culture back in 2007.

“Hey Donna?” She hummed, her eyes not leaving the page she was on. “Yeah?” “What happened to that ballgown of yours?” Donna lifted her head up slowly, squinting at you slightly, like she couldn’t fully work you out. “Ballgown? I don’t think I’ve ever worn a ballgown in my life.”

Beside you, the Doctor jiggled with something underneath the console. He looked as though he was doing it just so he could have something to do. Although, to be fair, he always looked like he was just fiddling with things, and last week he temporarily repaired the chameleon circuit – so he had to be doing something.

“Well that’s not right,” you frowned, tearing your gaze away from whatever the Doctor was doing to look back at Donna. “You were wearing one when you visited me the other month, whilst I was on that little break from life on the TARDIS.”

“When we what?” Donna folded the corner of her page, dog earing it, then placed it by her side. You tried not to cringe, internally weeping for the damaged paper. “We didn’t visit you. The Doctor dropped the pair of us off at this fair, nothing remotely life threatening happened, he got bored, and so we landed to when your holiday was finished.”

You snorted. “It was hardly a holiday – and wait, that can’t be right,” You sat up, your legs dangling off of the yellow sofa rather than in the air. “I distinctly remember this. We had dinner, you had this cut on your forehead.” Donna’s hand flew to her forehead, and she prodded it carefully. “Well I don’t have a cut now. Is one of us having a memory problem?”

The Doctors head popped up from under the console, the rest of his body still under the grating. “What’s this about a ballgown?” “Donna,” you said. “She was wearing a ballgown when you two visited me the other month-”

“When we what?”

“-And I was wondering what happened to-” you groaned when you registered what the Doctor had said. “You don’t remember either?’

“Nah, I took Donna to a fair on Westramorticolous,” he grinned. “Say that 5 times fast.” He sounded the word out slowly. “West-ra-mor-ti-co-lous. Oh, I love a planet with a long name.”

Part of you was actually tempted to try, but Donna spoke before you could. “Again, don’t know how many times I have to say this, but we didn’t visit you whilst you were gone.”

You floundered. “Then who on Earth did I meet the other month, if it wasn’t you two?” The Doctors grin fell, and he looked at you studiously. “You’re saying you spent time with us the other month, whilst you were on a break from the TARDIS.” “Yes.”

The Doctor pushed himself up, whacking his head into the console. He threw his hands to his skull, hissing out what you were sure was a collection of alien expletives that you’d bet the TARDIS was purposely not translating, and a petulant stream of “Ow, ow, ow, ow , ow,” at the end.

You scrambled off of the sofa, reaching his side and trying your best to hide your small laugh at his reaction. “Oh, are you okay?” He rubbed at the spot he had hit against the console, frowning sullenly. His eyes met yours and he paused his movements. “Huh – oh, yes. I’m fine. Always fine.”

“Next time you should have the TARDIS translate those curse words,” you heard Donna comment from behind you, and you couldn’t help your little bubble of laughter.

The Doctor glared at you both half-heartedly, and waved a finger at Donna. He opened his mouth to speak then clammed it abruptly. He turned to you. “Wait, a ballgown?”

You groaned. “Yes, a ballgown. one of those big poofy things, like something out of a Disney movie, oh - like what Cinderella would wear. A ballgown.”

The Doctor turned to Donna. “Well, there was your wedding dress.”

Donna’s mouth fell. “That was not a ballgown!”

The Doctor paused his movements to throw his hand in the air. “It didn’t have pockets!”

“Most dresses don’t have pockets!” Donna protested. “What do you think we do? We just wander into a store and if a dress doesn’t have pockets then we don’t buy it?”

“I like dresses with pockets,” you supplied, rather unhelpfully.

Donna ignored you, enunciating each word towards the Doctor as she spoke. “It was a wedding dress!”

“I’m pretty sure Serena Williams’ dress had pockets,” you added. “At the very least, she had a cape.”

Donna turned to you suddenly. “Serena Williams gets married?”

You nodded. “Yeah, it was a pretty big deal.”

“Oh I bet it was,” Donna looked off into the middle distance, then turned to both of you and spoke just before the Doctor could. “It still wasn’t a ballgown.”

“A cape,” the Doctor said to you. “Really?”

“She said she felt like a princess and superwoman all at once,” you replied quickly, because you were sure you had derailed the conversation. “And you weren’t wearing a wedding dress Donna, it was clearly a ballgown.”

“And this was when we apparently visited you during your holiday?” The Doctor said, interrupting Donna before she could speak.

“Again, not a holiday,” you almost went on a tangent explaining all the different loose ends you had to tie up whilst you were there, but stopped yourself. “And yeah, exactly. Although it’s not really ‘apparently’, it was most definitely you two.”

“So we knew you?” The Doctor said.

“Yes,” you flopped onto the floor, exasperated. “You were all roughed up,” you gestured to the Doctor, “and you,” you gestured toward Donna, “were wearing a ballgown. Both of you most definitely knew me,” you sighed, trying to think of a way to articulate it. “It was almost like-”

You paused, the explanation dawning on you.

Oh.

Oh.

“Oh wow this is hilarious,” you laughed out brightly, standing back up in and leaning against the console. “I think I just spent time with an older pair of you.”

“An older pair of us?” Donna said. “Well, at least I age alright if you couldn’t tell.”

“So,” the Doctor stood up gingerly, this time missing the console . “This means you have worn a ballgown Donna, you just haven’t worn it yet.”

Donna groaned. “I don’t think I’m ever gonna understand time travel.”

“No it was actually pretty funny,” you said, remembering their comically fallen jaws when they first stepped out of the TARDIS. “You tried so hard to make it seem like you hadn’t gone on an adventure without me, even though you clearly had,” you lit up. “Oh! When it actually happens to you guys, I must be camped out on the TARDIS or something!”

You wouldn’t mention how shattered they had been. They didn’t need to know that, not now, and especially not when they hadn’t told you the details.

“As long as you don’t go into the pretzel room,” The Doctor said, fiddling with a couple of the consoles controls. “Last time you and Donna got in there… well, I’ve banned you both for a reason.”

You rolled your eyes. Of course he was going on about the pretzel incident. “The salt was easy to clean up,” you protested, but it was half hearted at best, you’d all gone over this so many times that it was almost like a routine by now.

The Doctor paused his movements and gave the pair of you a pointed look. “Yes, but the chocolate sauce was not.”

Donna laughed. “Oh I don’t regret that, and you,” Donna then turned towards you. “I look forward to seeing you then.” You snorted. “What, when I’m younger and cringier?”

Donna raised an eyebrow. “You’re talking as if you weren’t as old as you are now when this happened.”

“And, there’s no such thing,” The Doctor added, turning and leaning onto the console so he was next to you and facing Donna.

"What? Being younger?” You frowned slightly. “Doctor you’re 900 years old, please tell me I don't have to explain ageing to you."

"No, n – what,” The Doctor looked at you, flabbergasted. “No, I was referring to you being ‘cringey’. There's no such thing.”

You choked out a laugh, and bumped your arm against his. "You never met me when I was 12 and it shows."

"Oh!" Donna gasped. "Can we? I bet you were a cracker of a kid."

You smirked. “Only if we can meet 12 year old Donna Noble, too."

Donna paled. "Oh god no-"

"We can't anyway," The Doctor said suddenly, standing up and wandering around the console, flicking various switches. You frowned slightly, it almost seemed like he was about to take off. "It would be crossing your time stream, could rip a hole through space and time."



You blanched. "Ah yeah no, that wouldn't be good."

“How about Antarctica, ey?” He was going through the motions of setting up the TARDIS for flight as he spoke, dancing around the console with that childlike glee of his. “Emperor penguins! Go through their migration around March, we can go check it out, see a couple baby penguins, how about it?”

Donna laughed. “Doesn’t look like we have much choice.”

You threw your hands onto the console, leaning forward so your nose was level with his. “Can I say it this time?”

The Doctor grinned. “By all means.”

With a whoop that was in time with the engines, you shouted. “Allonsy!” The thrill of another adventure already thrumming through your veins.

It was so much so that you didn’t notice how the Doctor looked at you with an almost glassy expression, like he was trying not to think about the ramifications of his future self, seeing you. You couldn’t be on the TARDIS when it happened, that just wasn’t possible. That infamous hole should have ripped through all of time and space just at the mere proximity of your current self and your future self.

A future version of yourself couldn’t be there in the first place, and The Doctor didn’t want to think about what that could mean.

He wasn't successful. A/N^2: So, bc of the scale of this fic, I’m thinking of doing a tag list, so if that’s something that interests you, lemme know! I’d love to have you on board this ride!! And thanks again for reading!

[lirlovesfic]

5763

Doctor Who fanfic

Summary: Stuck in a hotel in Bergen on the parallel world, the metacrisis Doctor and Rose Tyler have some things to discuss before they can move forward.

Characters: Tentoo, Rose Tyler

Genres: Angst, romance

Pairings: Tentoo/Rose Tyler

Rating: Teen (rating may go up)

Warning: brief mention of the death of a minor canon character, and extremely minor spoilers for BF audio: Flight into Hull!

a/n: Still not entirely sure how long this is going to be, but I'm now guessing 4 - 5 chapters rather than 2 - 3. Also, I don't usually do warnings, but I'm going to give a warning here for the brief mention and minor description of the death of a minor canon character that some people might find upsetting. If you are worried about it, message me. Finally, one line in this chapter is based on something Billie Piper said at a convention. Kudos and virtual Jammie Dodgers to the first one to spot it!

Part One:  tumblr, AO3, TSP, ffnet

Part Two: AO3, TSP, ffnet

 Part Two

Rose Tyler, former time traveler, current Torchwood agent, and traverser of universes, sometimes called the Valiant Child, Defender of the Earth, and Bad Wolf, was hiding in the bathroom.

Oh, it hadn't started out that way. She hadn't lied about needing a shower. After the last group of stars had disappeared and they'd found the timelines focusing on Donna Noble, there'd been a final push by the joint Torchwood/UNIT taskforce to find the Doctor, realizing that if they didn't find him now, not only would they never find him, they probably wouldn't need to because their whole universe, and by extension each and every one of them, would no longer exist. Everyone, from the Joint Chiefs down to the catering staff, had been on double shifts and subject to recall 24/7. Even her mother had been volunteering as a dinner lady. She'd discovered a hidden talent for it too, not only recalling everyone's name but each and every food and beverage preference, from the way General Stewart took her coffee to the fact that Pete's assistant Todd liked barbecue-flavored crisps and didn't like mayo on his ham sandwiches.

Rose, for her part, had spent the last three weeks—at minimum, since with the dimension cannon, it was almost as difficult to track personal linear time as it was on the TARDIS—working nonstop, taking catnaps in her office and showering when she had the chance in the Torchwood gym's locker room. Emphasis on "when she had the chance". With the insanity of the last few days, she couldn't remember when she'd last had the chance. Maybe the day before yesterday? Maybe the day before that? Whenever it was, it had been a while.

For a moment, when she saw the luxuriously appointed bathroom and its generously sized tub, a pleasant surprise considering the age of the building, she considered a bath rather than a shower. A long soak in a tub would feel so good. But she didn't want to fall asleep, a very real possibility given past history and how exhausted she was. No, she decided, she couldn't risk it, not with the man she'd left in the other room.

She peeled off her damp clothes—leaving them in a heap on the floor—climbed into the tub, and turned on the shower. After turning up the heat on the water three times—showers at the gym always felt a little cold no matter how high she turned it, what with the draft caused by people walking in and out of the locker room all the time, so this was absolutely lovely—she switched the lever to change from the handheld to the rain showerhead. For several long moments she just stood there, allowing the water to chase away the chill caused by getting drenched at the beach. She sighed. It felt like the height of decadence to bathe somewhere where she didn't have random people—often total strangers—walk in on her. And not just the shower. If she had a fiver for every time someone from the scientific branch, man or woman, followed her into the Ladies with a tablet and tried to debrief her while she used the toilet…

But eventually, standing underneath the steaming water, after she'd scrubbed every inch of herself, shaved using the razor from the hotel's complimentary toiletry kit, and washed her hair twice, she realized she was hiding.

From him.

Oh, Lord, what had she done?

When she'd been woken up that morning—or possibly yesterday, was it after midnight yet?—by the science team with the urgent news that they believed they'd located the Doctor, she'd hoped that by now she'd be back in the TARDIS with her Time Lord, or at least back in her home universe. Of course, as with every trip with the dimension cannon, she'd been prepared for the possibility that she'd be accidentally stranded on a different parallel. She'd even been prepared for the possibility that her mission would fail and she'd be dead. But in all the possible scenarios she had envisioned, once the confirmation had come that they'd found him, returning to Pete's World, and permanently, hadn't even been on the radar.

Particularly with someone who both was and wasn't the Doctor.

God, what had she been thinking? The Doctor himself had warned her of gingerbread houses, of parallel people who weren't who they seemed to be. And he'd been right. Pete Tyler, her stepfather, wasn't the same person as Pete Tyler, her real father. As her father had been, this Pete Tyler was a good man, and over the years they had developed a father/daughter relationship, but it hadn't been easy. In marrying her mother, he hadn't been prepared to take on an adult daughter, especially one who was grieving and didn't want to be in his world and made that fact known every chance she got.

Oddly, it was the fact that she was grieving that was the catalyst for improving her relationship with the parallel Pete. After yet another emotional display that culminated with a shouting match between her and her mother, she'd stormed out only to realize she had nowhere to go, no friends to stay with, no Bucknall House roof to hide on. For a lack of anything better to do, she'd spent the afternoon aimlessly wandering the grounds of the Tyler Estate. She'd discovered they were enormous, consisting of formal gardens and vegetable patches, woods and lawn, ponds and fountains, rivaling the size, if not the scope, of Kew Gardens in her own world.

Finally, exhausted as much from her emotional outburst as from her walk, she'd sunk down on a bench overlooking the flower garden. To her surprise, within moments, Pete had joined her. He'd listened silently as she'd railed, yet again, against the unfairness of it all. When she was finally finished, in quiet tones he told her that he understood, that in addition to his first wife, he'd lost his entire extended family and most of his friends to the Cybermen, and that he'd give anything, his company, his riches, even his own life, to have the past few years undone.

Even the dog Rose had been killed, he told her with a rueful chuckle that was entirely without humor, a dog he'd thought he hated. It wasn't until he'd found her broken body in the wreckage of his home, crushed and kicked under a piece of furniture, that the enormity of the losses struck home and he'd finally allowed himself to weep.

As he described holding the tiny animal in his hands, his eyes had glistened with unshed tears, and her own prickled as well. And for the first time she saw him as an individual, a person separate and complete in himself, with hopes and dreams and pains and losses of his own, not just as a parallel of her father. Instinctively she'd reached out and took his hand. He'd blinked in surprise at the gesture. And then, with her father's lopsided grin, he'd suggested dryly that perhaps one of the reasons she was having trouble adjusting to the parallel world was that she was spending too much time with her mother. And she'd laughed, for the first time since she'd been trapped there.

Then, in his lowkey way, he'd asked if she'd be interested in helping out with a small project he was working on with Mickey and Jake.

Small was an understatement. He was trying to rebuild an old organization that had dealt with the odd, the inexplicable, the bizarre. Ghouls. Vampires. Werewolves.

Aliens.

He was rebuilding Torchwood.

It was this Pete Tyler she was thinking of when confronted with two Doctors on the beach at Dårlig Ulv-Stranden: Pete Tyler, the multi-billionaire founder of Vitex; Pete Tyler, the freedom fighter who led the fight against Lumic and the Cybermen; Pete Tyler, the head of the newly-revived Torchwood who held the rank of Captain (strictly honorary, he insisted) in UNIT. How different he was from her own father. Her father had never done any of those things. Perhaps he could have done if he had lived, but the hard truth was he hadn't and no one would ever know one way or another. There was every possibility that he wouldn't have. Because when you came right down to it—regardless whether it was due to nature or experiences—they were different people. Similar, but not the same.

Just as this one-hearted man who wore the Doctor's face was.

Similar—oh, so similar—but not the same.

She'd argued that herself, to the both of them, even as the Doctor insisted that this new Doctor was still him.

But then he'd said what he'd said and she'd kissed him and he'd kissed her back and…

And the TARDIS had left.

Without her.

Taking all her hopes and dreams with it.

At the memory of an empty square pressed deep into the sand where the TARDIS had stood only moments earlier, she sniffed and wiped at her face. If the Doctor didn't want her anymore, he should have just said. She was a big girl. She could have taken it.

As soon as she realized she was hiding, Rose snapped the water off and grabbed one of the fluffy white towels that hung on the warming rack. This wasn't who she was anymore. She wasn't a girl who cried in the shower over a disappointment, no matter how earth-shattering, and she wasn't a woman who hid in the bathroom, avoiding the consequences of her own actions. She'd stood up to presidents and prime ministers, military leaders and royalty. She'd faced off against werewolves, ghosts, zombies, and vampires. The list of aliens she'd dealt with was as long as her arm. She'd even absorbed the Time Vortex and destroyed the Dalek Emperor. She could face one human/Time Lord metacrisis of her former lover.

The butterflies in her stomach didn't agree.

Rose vigorously toweled off, rubbing hair and skin with a vengeance before rehanging the towel and wrapping herself in the smaller of the two hotel robes that hung on the back of the bathroom door. Then she glanced at herself in the mirror. And grimaced. Her hair was a mess. She really needed to do something about it before it dried that way.

She quickly sorted through the remaining toiletry items in the basket on the counter. Soap, more shampoo, lotion, a shower cap... Nope, no brush, and no comb. Oh, well. She hadn't really expected one to be there. She'd been lucky to find the razor.

Looking in the mirror again, she slowly and carefully combed out the knots in her hair with her fingers.

Still hiding, a tiny voice inside her head singsonged.

"Shut up," she said to her reflection, unable to deny the truth of the statement. Her reflection stared back accusingly, reminding her that he was out there waiting for her, and urging her to get a move on.

Giving up on her hair, she turned back to the door.

Well, she'd made her bed, she'd lie in it, Rose told herself firmly as she tightened the belt around her waist. She took a deep breath.

When she opened the door, she was met with a blast of cold air, and the Doctor half-hanging out the window.

"What on earth?" she exclaimed. She rushed to the window and hauled him, head and shoulders, back into the room. "What do you think you're doing? You'll catch your death!"

"Just needed a little air," he said, his teeth chattering.

"So you thought you'd hang out the window in the middle of a rainstorm?"

"Well…" The accompanying shrug turned into a violent shiver that shook his thin frame.

"You're freezing!" She huffed and shook her head. "We've got to get you out of these wet clothes." She started pulling the bottom of his T-shirt out of his trousers.

"Not exactly how I pictured you undressing me,” he told her.

She shot him a look. "Seriously? You been taking chat up lessons from Jack?"

"Why?" he asked curiously. And then added, "Is it working?"

The latter was said in such a hopeful tone that she had to bite the inside of her mouth not to laugh.

"No," she said firmly. She yanked upward, and he cooperated by bending over and holding out his arms. The shirt came off with a squelching sound, and she dropped it in a heap on the floor. "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"You are going in the shower," she said as she tugged him into the bathroom. He sat down on the toilet and began to untie his shoes. Or tried to. His hands were shaking too much to be successful. She knelt down in front of him.

She sighed. No wonder he couldn't undo his laces. The knots on his Converse were a stuck, sodden mess. With a little effort, and hard-won experience undoing Tony's shoes, they eventually came loose. She pulled off his shoes. When she pulled off his socks, his toes wiggled, as if happy to be free from their confinement.

"Care to join me?" he asked as they stood again. "Looks big enough for two."

"I've already showered, thank you very much. Now, I've done your shirt and your shoes; you can do your own trousers."

"Oh, you're no fun," he said, still shivering.

"You HAVE been taking lessons from Jack."

He unfastened his trousers and dropped them to the floor. Along with his pants. She tried very hard not to stare. "Not exactly. Spent a year imprisoned with him; you pick up a few things."

"Now that's a story I want to here. But later." When he didn't move, she gently shoved his shoulder. "Get in."

"Yes, ma'am." He gave her a mock salute and climbed into the shower. As the water began to flow, he closed his eyes and stepped under the rain showerhead. He dropped his head forward as it poured over him, running in rivulets down a wide, toned chest and flat abs, down a tight arse and long, runner's legs. He groaned. "Oh, that feels so good." Pushing his hair away from his face, he opened one eye and looked at her.

Oh my god, she was staring. And he had caught her.

One eyebrow arched in an oh, so familiar expression. "Sure you don't want to join me?"

Yes, I do. The words came unbidden to the tip of her tongue, and she had to force herself not to say them. Gingerbread houses, she reminded herself silently.

"No, thanks," she said instead. She grabbed both their clothes off the floor and fled the room, pulling the door closed behind her.

Rose leaned with her back against the bathroom door and closed her eyes. She suddenly felt very, very warm. She tugged on the collar of her robe, tempted to hang out the window herself. "Oh, boy."

[iamlordmoldyshorts]

As my time in London quickly comes to a close, I’ve been scrambling to attend to the last of my wishlist with the time I have left. On a whim, I decided to hop a bus to Cardiff to visit the site of many beloved BBC shows, specifically Torchwood and Doctor Who.

I’d heard rumour going in that the Doctor Who Experience was potentially closing soon. In fact, I’d heard this rumour before I’d even left the United States. So I knew that while I was in the proper area of the world, I should take advantage of my proximity and check it out. (Luckily I did so — two weeks after I visited, they officially announced their imminent closure.)

Getting to Cardiff from London was super simple. My round-trip ticket via bus cost all of £6.50 using MegaBus. I found a super-cute hostel (Mrs. Potts)

 that was located right in the middle of the City Centre and used that as home base to my travels.

Upon my arrival, the temperature held an unexpected amount of warmth. My first stop was to Primark to purchase shorts because I’m just not about that life…

Now armed with mighty pink shorts, I set off to face the world. And by world, I mean Cardiff Bay.

I decided to walk, as I feel it’s always the best introduction to a city.  (This was a mistake, but more on that later.)

Literally the first thing I saw. A bit ominous, really…

Millennium Centre

Roald Dahl Plass Water Tower

What I hadn’t realized before my arrival and subsequent Cardiff Bay adventure is that the 2017 UEFA Champions League final (a super-mega-huge soccer event) was going to be held in Cardiff the following weekend.  To accommodate, the entire city was under construction, building concert venues and pavilions to handle the influx of football hooligans. These monstrosities make valiant efforts to thwart my photography but I tried my damnedest anyway.

For those of you less interested in the soccer and more interested in the fandom, this water tower is the location to the hidden entrance to Torchwood. Unfortunately, there were no John Barrowman sightings during my time in Cardiff. (Womp womp…)

Knowing that I was close, I made my way down to Mermaid Quay where I had heard tell of an Ianto Shrine. FOUND IT!

My favorite part (aside from the part where I live in a world where this exists…) was where I saw that despite the government’s efforts at taking it down, the fans just kept bringing more things for the shrine till eventually the government conceded to leave it up and it has now been there longer than the show was on air.

Now content with life, I decided to slowly work my way back to the city centre, stopping in some shops along the way. (I bought a scarf!) I also stopped by the water tower one last time because it’s just so cool. Couldn’t help it, I took a selfie.

The nostalgia was STRONG this weekend…

However, I’d underestimated the walking distance and by the time I got back to the hostel, my first were aching quite a bit. Guess I shouldn’t have worn sandals? The one benefit to my poor feet being tortured was that I was very aware of those very feet as I walked home and I saw this in the sidewalk on the way there.

By the time I reached Mrs. Potts, I knew I was hungry but it was about 8pm and didn’t know where to go. I asked the helpful employee at the front desk for recommendations and he didn’t really have any, so I kinda just walked around for a bit until my feet could stand it no longer.

Evidently, everything in Cardiff closes by 8pm, leaving dining options limited. (I just don’t get it…) I wound up at Pizza Express of all places. Yes, I know. I’m disappointed in myself too.

Day 2

Saturday morning I had tickets to go to the Doctor Who Experience.

Daleks: This way.

I really had no clue what I was in for. I expected some form of Doctor Who museum, considering the show has been on air for 50+ years. However, logic and common sense dictate that I should have expected more of a…wait for it…”Experience.”

When I arrived, I was taken from set to set with a guide in costume where-in we had to help the Doctor find some crystals to save his ship. I got to pilot the TARDIS, walk on Skaro (Daleks are terrifying, okay?), and hasten through a darkened graveyard filled with Weeping Angels (SOOOO not okay.) In the end we saved the Doctor and our reward was the entrance to the more-museum-esque area of the building.

What follows are a shitton of pictures. If you don’t like Doctor Who, feel free to skip along merrily till they end.

Costume: Rassilon

Costume: Ianto

Costume: Jack (Torchwood)

Costume: John

Costume: Donna

Costume: Doctor (10)

Costume: Doctor (9)

Costume: Rose

Costume: Martha

Costume: Jack (Doctor Who)

Face of Boe

Clockwork Android

Davros

Is there something behind me?

I found K-9!

No but really…is there something behind me?

Just don’t do it. The Thames is polluted enough as it is…

Destroyed TARDIS from 9’s regeneration.

Inside the TARDIS.

Another pic of the destroyed TARDIS.

Tosh’s Torchwood desk.

Compilation of Who companions.

After spending a good chunk of time in nerd heaven, I decided to nostalgically meander my way back through town towards the bus while reminiscing about the good ole days of Doctor Who before Moffat took over.

On my way, I found this fun monument.

It serves as a tribute to those lost at sea.  I thought it was beautiful.

I caught my bus and took it north to the National Museum Cardiff where I scoped out a moon rock and some lovely paintings before heading over to Cardiff Castle.

To my delight, I discovered that there’s an underground cavern, literally within the walls, wherein a few days out of the year, they show films for super cheap. To my eternal delight, I discovered that they were showing The Goonies. To my dismay, the website was reporting that the show was sold out. Determined to try anyway, I walked over to the castle to check in person.

Here be dragons…

Luck was on my side when the ticketing agent found a single ticket for me and printed it out before her boss showed up to tell her to stop selling the tickets to the sold out show.

While the theatre itself wasn’t exactly the most high-tech of theatres, it was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime type of venue wherein I got to watch one of my favorite childhood movies (with a bunch of children who had never seen it before…always a fun experience.)

That evening, I went to Sully’s Cafe around the corner for a late dinner. (This time, I specifically asked the front desk which restaurants in the area were local and open late. This was the result.) I got an interesting roasted cauliflower monstrosity that tasted fine but presentation left much to be desired. I think I ate more of the paper tray-liner than I did of the cauliflower. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t share such events, but I am setting up a scenario wherein I was sitting alone, in this bar/restaurant, eating dinner late at night…when I look up and see this extremely serious business transaction happening directly across the street.

Evidently I am not the only one who witnessed this suit…because the couple in the picture stopped to take their own photo of him as well.

As I trekked the three minute walk back to my hostel, I also spotted this.

Lots of stag-do’s in town. My tolerance and patience level are minimal. So I called it a night.

Day 3

Honestly, I woke up thinking I was going to go back to Cardiff Castle to actually take a look around, as I hadn’t had the chance when I saw the movie the day prior. However, I took literally three steps inside the gate before realizing I’ve seen so many castles throughout my time in the UK. I reached the conclusion that I was going to Cardiff Castle out of a sense of obligation rather than because it was something that I wanted to do.

So I turned right around and walked back to Mrs. Potts where I grabbed my book for my dissertation and went to find a place in the sun to sit and read.

There I parked till the sun hid behind a cloud and it got just a smidge too chilly to continue sitting there. At that point, I got up and wandered around a bit, shopped a bit, found a breakfast place for the following day, and found this lovely guy.

There’s a joke in there…………somewhere……….

I ended up spending the remainder of my day in the lobby of Mrs. Potts where I finished my book for my dissertation (go me!) and then went on an epic (and ultimately, failed) quest for this recommended pizza place on the other side of the river.

I made my way back to my side of the river and ended up eating at, I kid you not, The Real Italian Pizza place across the street from my hostel. (It wasn’t that great. Do not recommend.)

After giving up on my pizza, I wound up talking to the lovely man at the Mrs. Potts desk, Christopher (I think), for something approaching two hours about all manner of things Marvel and DC. (A solid culmination to my nerd trip.)

All in all, I’m glad I went — especially as the Doctor Who Experience announced their closing just a few short days ago. I wish I could recommend this city to other DW/TW fans, but as 70% of the appeal will be disappearing within the next three months, I wouldn’t go unless you can get there before September.

Or if you’re just particularly obsessed with Torchwood. I don’t think Roald Dahl Plass, the Millennium Center, or Ianto’s Shrine are going anywhere any time soon. (In fact, if you’re as nerdy as I (because I embrace the inner (and outer) nerd), I’d recommend looking up a list of places in Cardiff where DW and TW have filmed. Especially if you have access to the shows just before or while there.)

As to my blog, this will be the last post for a while. We’re getting into the nitty-gritty bits of dissertation writing now. I have three months left in London, 25 days of travel planned in five cities with two different people, and I’m also participating in GISHWHES again this year. (If you want more information on GISHing, please click any of the links provided…)

Around all that, I’m writing my dissertation on how technology has revolutionized Disney’s marketing and brand strategy for their remakes and sequels. In theory, because I haven’t actually started yet. *shifty eyes*

Due to that egregious studential (made-up-word-alert!) oversight, I’ll likely not write my Budapest, Vienna, Salzburg, Athens, or Santorini blog posts until I’m firmly back on United States soil. (But never say never! Who knows!?! Maybe I’ll finish my dissertation early with plenty of time to spare!!!)

So — so long for now and I’ll catch you next time.

Fan-Based Travel (Part 2) As my time in London quickly comes to a close, I've been scrambling to attend to the last of my wishlist with the time I have left.