Cathryn

So I've finally - after, uh, three years or so of going "I am going to watch that someday, no really, I am" - gotten around to watching Life on Mars. The files I legitimately acquired are ripped from the original airings for the most part, I believe, and I was entertained to learn that S1/S2 aired back-to-back with S1 of The Thick of It. (Until TToI ran out of eps, I would assume.) I find the idea of a Gene Hunt-Malcolm Tucker double feature to be both awe-inspiring and deeply terrifying.

I've been sitting on this one for a while, hoping to get the specials done, but there hasn't been a chance for that since the semester began. I have a vacation week after next (spring semester is so weird), so I'm gonna shoot for getting them done then. They're gonna be tougher going because they're twice as long and pretty political - I might have to do, like, research or some shit to manage anything coherent. But then I get to do series three, and I'm still looking forward to that.

Anyway!

Here we have a proper finale, which would eventually prove to double as Hugh Abbot's exit from The Thick of It. Yeah, I told you we'd get back to that.

( intelligent ventilators )

I'm still trying to stockpile these a little, and not post one until I have one or two more written up. It's easier to deal with that way. So at this rate, I will definitely finish the first six eps before classes start back up a week from tomorrow (yay), and maybe even have done the specials.

Second series premiere? Well, it'd be a good premiere ep, if that weren't completely fucking stupid. Anyway.

( The Thick of It, 2x01 - thanks honeybunny )

O HAY Yuletide reveal. Yeah, that kind of got lost for me in the last few days. I wrote "All of Denmark", a modernized Hamlet AU set at the beginning of WWII and drawing a little on actual events in Denmark at the time. It was fun to write and I thank my recipient for explicitly giving me permission to go for AUs or modernizations, so that I felt comfortable getting a little out there and settling on a premise that was a bit of a reach.

In the spirit of the thing, have that fic meme that's been going around!

( Cut because I talk a lot. )

Okay, so. Have a proper post-Christmas update, plus random thoughts. In bullet format!

* I don't do a Christmas Haul List these days, because I'm lazy and I don't think you guys care that much, so here are the highlights that might actually be interesting:

Series one and four of Doctor Who! Amazon had a one-day sale like a month ago where the seasons were something like thirty-five bucks each, which is much better than usual freaking eighty or whatever ridiculous amount every single place I've been to charges for them. I let my mom know, told her which ones I wanted most, and voila. I may buy series three for myself out of completist urges (and because it's also awesome, but on that particular day I prioritized Nine and Donna over Martha; sorry, Martha), but I'll skip series two unless I find it really really cheap someday, because there aren't enough eps I rewatch relatively often for it to be worth the money.

An iCarly calendar. Which only sotto_voice cares about, but still. XD

ELECTRIC TEA KETTLE. These things are not exactly ubiquitous in the States, and I've wanted one for so long. Plan for when I have extra money again: buy lots of delicious tea. ♥

* My mom kind of collects performances of "O Holy Night," so I played her the John Barrowman version I stumbled across a while ago. She loved it, was interested when I told her he was a trained stage singer and there was more Barrowman where that came from (oh my god SHE HAS NO IDEA), and long story short too late, it looks like I'll be legally purchasing a copy of Another Side after all. And probably Reflections from Broadway. She has a birthday next month, after all.

And, thanks to comments Mom made about useful birthday gifts and the boringness thereof, I think I will pack them in a box of tampons. I firmly believe Barrowman would approve. (Come on, you know he would.)

* One of our holiday traditions includes watching Love, Actually while wrapping gifts late Christmas Eve. I will have to add this to the list (short, but slowly growing) of things that The Thick of It has, uh, enhanced, because during the scene at the pageant where the curtain rises on the Prime Minister kissing the assistant chick, I was giggling helplessly at the thought of the bricks Malcolm Tucker would shit over that. I think this is a crossover that needs to happen.

* YULETIDE. My recipient adored hir fic and was one of those able to get a comment through before everything asplode, and it was a long awesome comment and I can't wait for the reveal so I can reply. XD The fic I received was an adorable Sam-centered iCarly fic, which was just what I wanted. It is a fandom crying out for non-shippy Samfic.

* And finally, regarding last night's Doctor Who: My first though upon becoming conscious enough to have thoughts this morning was, "Oh my god, what did I watch last night?"

Oh, thank god, I got a halfway reasonable amount of sleep last night. If I hadn't, it would not have been the first time I'd gone two days in a row with minimum sleep. My only guess on that is that sometimes my body just hates me.

But! I can has brain now, so! I'm gonna take a shower, go out for some lunch, and then plant myself at Starbucks and write my damn Yuletide already. Then tonight I will probably post properly in Milliways for the first time in a billion years. Also at some point I will have to do laundry. I'm in the "wearing everything uncomfortable" phase.

Tomorrow I shall brave the crowds at Walmart, for each year my workplace gives its employees Walmart gift cards for Christmas, which this year shall enable me to get gifts for my little brother and sister. Then I think I'll finally get started on watching and writing about The Thick of It, which I have not dared to get onto before dealing with Yuletide. Must not distract my brain!

So there that is, and I wish the fellow Yuletiders on the flist the best of luck.

As things stand now, here are my plans for the next two days.

Sunday:

1. Shoot out of bed to download The Thick of It finale. That's been part of my routine every Sunday morning for almost two months, and I'm going to be sad to see it go. (Mind you, if anyone can get it to me sooner, I will owe you the firstborn I'm never going to have, or something.)
2. Judging from the reaction posts that I am currently forcing myself not to read (but still have tags and such), I will then fall down and die.
3. Perform self-resurrection.
4. Go for lunch and a movie with Mom, who has agreed to see the Boondock Saints sequel.
5. (optional) Facepalm quietly but repeatedly in my seat as this particular sequel proves itself to be every bit as unnecessary as I have believed it will be for the last decade.
6. Grocery shopping.
7. Preliminary work on Stupid So-Called Final paper - coming up with a thesis, picking the bits I'm going to use, and maybe write a bit of it. (My approach to papers is pretty casual; I'm only start anything at all on Sunday because of the seven-page minimum.

Monday:

1. Go to campus.
2. Spend day writing Stupid So-Called Final paper, because I can't focus on writing papers at home to save my life.
3. Hand in SSCF a day early, because Tuesday needs to be spent on studying for Wednesday's WWI&II test.

Which, by the way, my prof DID e-mail us on. I am vaguely proud of him.

. . . I am less proud of the part where he's going to teach a few last-minute things before we take the test, but eh, how else can he work it? That snow day was the worst fucking timing ever.

And after that, the semester shall officially be over. And I shall spend a week doing FUCK ALL before I pick up more hours at work for the rest of vacation.

The final version to post to communities. Or, well, community. Substantially rewritten from the rough, including a different ending.

TITLE: "Fixes What's Broke"
AUTHOR: Cathryn (catslash)
RATING: PG-13 for, of course, swearing
SUMMARY: Nicola Murray awakens at the tail end of a series of interesting decisions. Nicola/Malcolm; takes place not too long after 3x07.
WORD COUNT: Approximately 1200.
NOTES: I am from the States; I've done my best with the British English in here, but if I've made any glaring errors, or even not-so-glaring, please let me know so I can fix them. Thanks!
NOTE THE SECOND: The title is borrowed from the political satire musical The Fix, by Dana Rowe and John Dempsey; the song is, appropriately, titled "Spin." It is my opinion that TToI fans should look the soundtrack up.
DISCLAIMER: The Thick of It was created by Armando Iannucci and belongs to the BBC. I take no credit and make no money.

I'm still not sure this is ready for public consumption, but it's likely to get jossed (Iannuccied?) to hell and back when the finale airs Saturday, so I wanted to get it posted before then.

SPOILERS for 3x07.



( It's the shrilling of Nicola's mobile that wakes her, but she spends several seconds blinking at unfamiliar walls before the sound even registers. )

OMG today. Today is new The Thick of It (which I have watched, and which was excellent, as usual; I may post to say more later, but I haven't the time now), FINALLY some new Doctor Who, AND I woke up this morning to an e-mail informing me that there was new iCarly available for download.

Plus my mom and I are going to see 2012, which promises to be utterly ridiculous.

Today is made of geeky win. ♥

The Thick of It omg I fucking love this show so much. I know I was gonna save major observations for later after I've had more time to spend with the show but fuck it I cannot keep quiet on this one. (I only wish I had a clearer understanding of British politics, because even though I can follow the show regardless, I just know there's some good shit I'm missing.)

( 3x03. This show's episodes don't have titles, isn't that refreshing? )