The Memory Cabinet (Doctor Who fanfiction)

I actually wrote this for #Eleverday on Wednesday and shared it to the Star Cult, but now I have a free spot to post it on my blog. Just a short, fluffy story with Eleven and River. Enjoy!

The Memory Cabinet

"You've got a screwdriver, go build a cabinet!" she had told him. So that's what he did. 

"Sexy, are there any books in the library about how to build a cabinet?"

Yes, Doctor. What do you want to build a cabinet for?

"I want to make one as a present for River."

Then you'd better stop calling me Sexy, she teased. Your wife will get jealous. The Doctor chuckled and went off in search of the library. Thankfully, it was not in the swimming pool this time. He soon found a book that would do just fine. Then he remembered his sonic didn't do wood. "I'll just build it with my hands. That makes it all the more special," the Doctor said to himself. So he set off to work, pouring every ounce of his love into this mundane task.
***
"Hello, sweetie!"
"Happy birthday, River." They kissed for a long time.
"So what surprise have you got for me this time?"
"Spoilers!"
"Hey, that's my catchphrase! You thief!" She pointed at him accusingly.
"You're a worse thief than me- you stole both my hearts!” the Doctor protested. River laughed.
"It's good to be flirting with you again."
"Good? It's amazing to be flirting with you again! Especially with you, my love."
"I flirt now. Flirting is cool."
"Now who's stealing catchphrases?"
"And we're even," River replied with a smile. "So, what have you got for me? I can't wait any longer."

"Remember when you told me to go build a cabinet?" the Doctor asked with a cheeky smile. River's eyes widened in shock.
"You didn't!" The Doctor said nothing. He simply led her to a room with a suspiciously cabinet-shaped present wrapped up. River opened it and it was indeed a cabinet. “Oh, sweetie!” she said, clearly disappointed.
“Open it up,” he insisted. River sighed and opened the first drawer.

Inside was a book titled “Let’s Kill Hitler”. On the cover was an image of Hitler in a cupboard. River’s eyes widened.
“It may not have been our best time together, but it was the first time you met me, and it is there to remind you that you are forgiven. Open the next one,” the Doctor told her. She did. It had an astronaut’s helmet inside it. River slowly picked up the helmet, and a ring fell out. A wedding ring. It was a duplicate of the one she already wore. River took a moment to kiss the Doctor, then opened the next drawer, sensing a theme. She found a beautiful painting of Asgard. It was so lifelike she almost thought it was real. The next drawer was a strange one, covered in grass with a few fake bones inside. The Bone Meadows. River laughed when she opened the next drawer and saw a photo of Jim the Fish. He was such a funny guy. After that, she opened another drawer and saw a small statue, just like the ones on Easter Island. The drawer she opened next had two items: a book telling the story of Pandora’s Box, and a book about the Big Bang theory. The next drawer also contained a book, and this one had a detailed cover. It showed demons running from a man, and it said “Demons run when a good man goes to war”. The final drawer had a copy of the book that had given River all that useful information about the Weeping Angels.

River looked up at the Doctor. “You collected all this?” He nodded.
“I made the cabinet, too. And, contrary to popular belief,” he looked at River with a sort of flirtatious accusation, “it can’t be built with a sonic screwdriver. My sonic doesn’t do wood.” River gasped.
“You did this all by hand - for me? Oh, sweetie, I love you!” She hugged the Doctor as hard as she could, until he had to kiss her so she’d focus her energy on something other than crushing his ribs. “So why did you make all this?”
“Well, you did say I should build a cabinet…” They laughed. “But no, really, I made this because this is my diary. It’s my way of keeping track of what we’ve done together, and it’s something we can share.”
“Speaking of keeping track, how did you know all the stuff that’s happened? Our times go in the wrong order!”
“Spoilers,” the Doctor said again.

“If you steal my catchphrases again, I’ll call the catchphrase police. And don’t say they don’t exist; I’m sure they do in some reality. Do they?”
“Spoilers!”
“How dare you! I’m out of here! Geronimo!” The Doctor followed her, until he was within speaking distance.
“Hello, sweetie.” River slapped him, but being River, somehow managed to do it playfully.
“When will you ever learn?” she asked with a sigh.
“Oh, fine. I promise not to steal your catchphrases and you won’t slap me. Okay?”
“On one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“You make me have the best birthday ever.” River thought for a moment. “You’re certainly off to a good start with that present.” the Doctor smiled.
“I’ve got lots more to show you. Are you ready to have a great time?”
“Always.”

You Matter (Wholock fanfiction)- Chapter 2

Chapters: 1 2 3

Chapter two of my story featuring Doctor Who characters comforting Sherlock characters and vice versa. This time it's Jackie Tyler and Mrs. Hudson. Enjoy!

Mrs. Hudson sat down on the couch and sighed. "There they go again, about to get themselves hurt to solve a case. And then I have to clean up the mess."

"Says who?" asked a woman walking into the room.

"Well, I always have to clean up their mess... But I'm their landlady, not their housekeeper." Mrs. Hudson sighed again. 

"Tea?" Mrs. Hudson started to get up. The other woman shook her head. "No no, I'll make it," she insisted. "I've been told I make an excellent cup of tea," she continued, setting the kettle on. 

She sat back down with Mrs. Hudson while they waited for it to boil. "I'm Jackie, by the way. Jackie Tyler." They shook hands. 

"I'm Mrs. Hudson." They sat in pleasant silence and sipped their tea for a few minutes. 

"Do you worry about them?" Jackie asked. 

"Yes. Every day, they step out into danger. I worry that one day, they won't come back." Jackie nodded. 

"I have a daughter, and she's only just an adult. One day, she disappeared, and I didn't see her for a whole year!"

"Oh my!" Mrs. Hudson almost spit out her tea. "What did you do?"

"Well, when she finally did come back, she was with some strange man." Mrs. Hudson gasped. "I was worried, too, so I slapped some sense into him." Jackie paused, remembering the look on his face. "Then he saved my daughter, me, and the world from aliens, so I decided she was safe enough with him. Not that I could really stop her from running off with her, anyway."

"So you trusted him after that?" Jackie laughed. "No! But I saw that she would be alright with him, and I decided that would have to be good enough."

"But what about you?" Jackie asked.  "How do you feel about those two running off?"

"Oh, I don't trust them, either. In fact, I can be fairly confident that when they go out, they'll get into some sort of trouble." Mrs. Hudson sighed. "But they always seem to be able to take care of themselves, so I let them go. Besides, if they stay in here too long, they go stir-crazy. Especially Sherlock. Once he shot a wall just because he was bored!"

"Yeah," Jackie said sympathetically. "If I try to keep Rose at home too long, she gets all insistent and begs me that she needs to see the Doctor."

"The doctor? Does she get ill?"

"No, that's just the name of the man she travels with. He calls himself the Doctor."

"So do you get lonely?" Mrs. Hudson asked.

"Oh, yes, I miss Rose so much. But I have to let her go. She wouldn't be happy if I was always hovering over her. As much as I want to be with her, I love her enough that I want what makes her happiest, and that's the Doctor."

"Sherlock's happiest running around London with John, solving murders and other mysteries."

"Rose and the Doctor run around the universe, traveling in time and fighting aliens." She sighed. 

"They go off on adventures, and we're stuck here."

"But it's not so bad."

"No, I suppose not." Mrs. Hudson thought for a moment. "We get the all-important job of taking care of the house and all the other little things so that when they come back, everything is in place for them to have a great time. That's not so bad after all." Jackie nodded. 

"And I get to know my daughter is happy." Mrs. Hudson smiled. 

"I may not be related to Sherlock and John, but sometimes they feel like family to me, and it's good to see them happy." They both smiled. 

"Here's to taking care of all the little things," Jackie said. And with that, they made a toast with their last bit of tea. Then the two women went on their ways, satisfied that they were special and important, no matter how little recognition they got.

What Species Are You?

I made another quiz. What species are you?

What Species Are You?

Your Result: Time Lord

Like the Doctor, you are a Time Lord. You have two hearts and can regenerate instead of dying. You only get 12 regenerations though, so be careful.

Elf

Human

Wizard/witch

Vulcan

Dragon

What Species Are You?

Fandom Texts: Doctor Who Edition

My earlier post with texts from Sherlock characters was quite popular, so now I'll do another fandom: Doctor Who. Enjoy!

   

P.S. If this one is as popular as my other post with texts (the Sherlock one), I'll make this a regular thing.

Fandom School (4th period): Fanfiction

Hello, dear readers! I hope you all like reading my blog. Today I'm going to talk about another kind of writing: fanfiction. So happy, Wednesday, and welcome to another class at Fandom School.

Fanfiction is my life!

What is fanfiction?

Simply put, fanfiction refers to a type of fiction that is based off of existing fiction. This includes books, TV shows, movies, comics, games, and much more. Most fanfiction stories include a disclaimer, although it's typically assumed that fanfiction writers do not have the rights to the fandom they are writing about. Topics of fanfiction include ships- for canon ships, this is a way to make "deleted scenes", and for non-canon ships, this is a way to imagine "what if?"- sequels to canon events, behind the scenes stuff, AU (short for "alternate universe", meaning "what would the story be like if this happened differently?"), crossovers (multiple fandoms), and many more.

Where can I read fanfiction?

There are many websites that allow you to read and write fanfiction. Examples include www.fanfiction.net, archiveofourown.org, www.wattpad.com and many more.
To see a list of all my fanfictions, go to the page labeled "My Fanfictions".

So I hope you enjoyed that. Also, take note that today is #Elever (Eleven/River) Day and Clara Pond's (owner of "The Star Cult" on Google+) birthday. I might post something about Elever Day later today, and I might not. We'll see. Anyway, have a great day!

Book Review- The Fault In Our Stars

I was elated when I finally managed to get a hold of a copy of The Fault In Our Stars, and I was not disappointed as to its quality. So, here's my review:

The Fault in Our Stars

This book is about two teenagers with cancer. Hazel is a girl whose struggle with cancer is obvious and a part of her daily life. She meets Augustus and falls in love. However, she's afraid to be with him because she's feels that she's a "grenade" who will hurt everyone when she dies. She thinks it's almost better not to care, but she comes to realize that love is precious because it gives you an infinity in the limited time. Meanwhile, Augustus loves Hazel, but he doesn't want to tell her he's not as healthy as he looks. His cancer has come back. The two of them fight a battle, but they don't fight to defeat cancer, they fight to keep love and all the little things that make life meaningful for as long as they both love. And that is a worthy goal. 

This book was terribly sad because it was realistic. Life doesn't have fairy-tale endings. Bad things happen, and people get hurt. But in the meantime, they keep on living and breathing and loving. It's beautiful to see the way Hazel and Augustus think about the meaning of life and find meaning in their lives. This book shows that even if you didn't die for something special, you can still be an amazing person and have a life worth living. Even if the world doesn't remember you, there will still be the people whose lives you've touched, and that is beautiful. 

A Very Sherlock Musical

Hi, guys! Recently, I found this Sherlock fanfiction that is set in a musical AU. As in, a universe where bursting into song is perfectly normal and a regular occurrence. Then, I found that there is a group of people dedicated to making this into an actual musical. (Click here for the tumblr page.) Since I liked the idea, I joined the team. I'm mentioning this now because I just finished a song that's going to go in the musical. It's called The Comforts of Tea, and it's the song John sings as he makes tea. To find out more about the context, read the original story that started this idea.

As I understand, we're always happy to have more people join, so if you're interested, feel free to let us know. The best way to do this would be through the ask box on the tumblr page, but if you don't want to do that for some reason, you could talk to me by commenting on this blog or talking to me in hangouts, and I can refer you to Josephine, the person in charge of this all.

So I guess that's all for now. Enjoy!

Geek Pride Day

Today is Geek Pride Day. No, I didn't know such a thing existed either. I only know this because I randomly happened to find out.

If you're wondering why May 25 is the day that was chosen, it's because it coincides with a few other holidays:

• Towel Day, the day two weeks after Douglas Adams passed in 2001, when hoopy froods keep their towel handy
• The anniversary of the first Star Wars film, Episode IV: A New Hope, released on May 25, 1977
• Glorious 25 May, the day in Terry Pratchett's Discworld when wearing lilac and hard-boiled eggs (and raising awareness around Alzheimer's research) is appropriate

So, today is a day for all things geeky. With that, here's a list of geeky things I like, just for fun.

1. The geek code - apparently such a thing exists. Each letter tells something about your geekiness. For those interested, here is my geek code:

-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.1
GCS/MU d- s-: a--- C++>$ U? P L E? W++>$ !N o? K- w O? M+>++$ V? PS++ PE-- Y- PGP- t++ 5? X? R tv+ b+>+++ DI+ D? G e- h! r++ x- 
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------
[translation: Geek of computer science/music, I'm usually in jeans and a t-shirt, I look up to most people (I'm short) but I'm average weight, I'm age 15-19, Computers are a large part of my existence, and I'd like to make money at a computer related job someday, I don't know much about Unix, I know Perl exists but that's all, I know what Linux is but that's about all, I don't know what Emacs is, I'm pretty good at the world wide web and I'd like to make money at it someday, I don't like USENET News, I don't know what USENET oracle is, I don't know who Kibo is, I use MS Windows but I don't have to like it, I don't know what OS/2 is, a Mac has its uses and I use it quite often but I'd like to get better and make money at it, I don't know what VMS is, my political views are fairly liberal, capitalism is evil and government should provide the services we need and nobody should be rich, the government must be able to protect itself from criminals and the populace from indecent speech, I don't have anything to hide, Star Trek is great, I don't know what Babylon 5 is, I don't know what the X files is, roleplaying is something to do to kill a Saturday afternoon, I watch some TV every day, I enjoy reading but don't get the time very often and I'd like to read a few books a week, I read Dilbert daily and often understand it, I don't know what the game DOOM! is, I know what the geek code is and even did up this code, haven't finished high school, I am stuck living with my parents, I've dated my current significant other for a long time, female and not having sex by choice]

If you'd like to find out what your geek code is, go to http://www.geekcode.com/geek.html

2. Geeky jokes - there are way to many of these to count. This is my favorite one:
Heisenberg gets pulled over for speeding. The officer asks, "Do you know how fast you were going?"
"No, but I can tell you exactly where I am."
Confused, the officer replies, "You were going 80 miles per hour."
"Great! Now I'm lost!" he shouts. Then Shrodinger gets out of the car, too. This is enough to make the officer suspicious, so he inspects the the car.
"Did you know you have a dead cat in your trunk?"
"Well I do NOW!" Shrodinger replies.
(To see more geeky jokes, go here and here.)

3. Geeks who change the world - this world would be a very sad, boring, place if it weren't for the geeks and nerds who come up with brilliant ideas. Without them, we would probably still be living in caves, ignorant and lacking innovation. Now, for some examples... my stats tell me that 48% of you use Windows, so you should thank the geek Bill Gates. For the 41% of you using Apple products, you should thank Steve Jobs, another awesome geek. Larry Page is the geek the 10% of you who use Android have to thank, but since this is a Google Blog, none of you would be reading this if it weren't for that genius. And just to make sure I include everyone, there's also Dennis Ritche, creator of Unix (which 1% of you are using), and Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux (which another 1% of you are using). Now, this isn't to say that computer geeks are the only kind of geeks that exist, but they are the best example I could think of here.

4. This. Without geeks and nerds, we wouldn't have this awesome video.

Just for fun, I watched this video again and kept a tally of the number of times one of the things the geek or nerd said applied to me (this included accomplishments and insults). The score? 11 points for geek, and 8 points for nerd. It was actually closer than I thought it would be.

5. The obsession to understand the difference between nerds and geeks. There is so much on this discussion/debate. Just out of curiosity, I googled "what makes a geek". I got 129,000,000 results. That's a lot! (In case you were wondering, "what makes a nerd" has only 51,800,000 results, but that's still a lot.) There are also a good number of results for "geek vs nerd": 5,220,000. Interestingly enough, though that last search query is popular, "nerd vs geek" is about twice as popular, with 10,200,000 results. I could point you too some websites/web pages about the issue, but there are so many that I don't know where to start.

So those are a few of my favorite geeky things. Happy Geek Pride Day!

Morse Code

I had no idea what to write about, so I randomly googled "this day in history". I found out that on this day in 1844, Samuel Morse sent the first message in morse code. (And what were his first words? "What hath God wrought?")

It's really a great invention, and morse code has been used for a very long time. The useful thing about this code is that it doesn't have to be written. Each letter is represented by a collection of dots and dashes (or short and long signals, as the case may be). This gives it great versatility, so that you could send a message in morse code by radio, writing, foghorn, flashlight, or basically anything.

Now you're probably wondering: what does this have to do with fandoms? The short answer is: nothing. But I can loosely relate this to a fandom.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle invented his own code, the Dancing Men Cipher. In one of the Sherlock Holmes stories called "The Adventures of the Dancing Men", a woman keeps receiving these strange notes with dancing men on them. It turns out, the dancing men are a code.

Yes, it's missing some of the letters. That's because Doyle didn't use all the letters in the story. That means there are a few letters that we don't know how to use. There are different ideas as to what symbols these letters might have. (See here and here if you want to know what the missing letters might be.)

Long story short: codes are awesome.

Sherlock Parody Ringtone

I got BORED of listening to my iPhone's preset ringtones, so I began searching the iTunes store. I got two Doctor Who ringtones- when I get a call, it's the 10th Doctor, and when I get a text, it's the 11th Doctor. (Both of these are with the actual actors' voices, which is awesome.)

And that was good for a while, but then I wanted a ringtone for an alarm, because I need something interesting to wake up to. I looked for a Sherlock ringtone, but couldn't find a good one. So, I decided to make my own. This is me doing my best Sherlock-style deduction (complete with a British accent) for an alarm to wake up in the morning.

Sherlock Alarm Ringtone

You should be able to download this and use it for yourself if you like it. If for some reason the link doesn't work, or you can't download it, let me know.

Fandom Texts: Sherlock Edition

What would happen if our favorite fictional characters began texting eachother? This is what it would be like in the Sherlock fandom. (Let me know if you like these. I'll do texts for another fandom if you guys like these.)

           

         

     

Crossover. Yay!

   

Fandom School (3rd period)- I Can't Even: The Heart of a Fangirl

It's time for another class at Fandom School. Today, we are learning about the heart of a fangirl (or fanboy, or simply a fan). As anyone who has ever joined a fandom will know, being that devoted to any show/book/movie can cause serious emotional trauma. We get excited when things go well, happy when we see more of our favorite characters/actors, and when characters die... well... let's just say we're not too happy. In any case, when these things happen, we often say things like "I can't even!" or "Too many feels!"

What are feels?

Apparently we fangirls and fanboys are too impatient to say/write a full word, so when we talk about feelings or emotions, we say "feels". Typically, these relate specifically to fandoms. For example, "That trock (Time Lord rock) song brought back the feels. Why must you do this to me?"

What causes feels?

Basically, anything the least bit emotional. A new character? Feels. A character/actor leaves? More feels. A character dies? Even more feels. Your favorite character dies? The feels are off the chart!
Fan works, such as songs, fan art, fanfiction, etc. can also cause feels if they are made well.

How do you deal with feels?

From what I've heard, Game of Thrones fans would be the best people to answer this question, as lots of people die in that show. But more on how to deal with feels next class. That's all for now. Next week's topic will be either "Fanfiction" or "How To Survive Hiatus". Comment and let me know which one you want next (I'll post both of them, it's just a question of which comes first). Thank you all. Bye!

Book Review- The Mysterious Benedict Society

"Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?" That's the question asked by a strange ad in the newspaper. Many children respond, and they take a series of increasingly difficult and confusing tests. Only four children succeed, and they find that they were gathered together for a very important purpose: to go on a secret mission that will require every last bit of their intelligence, resourcefulness, and courage. They must stick together to face impossible odds and thwart the evil scheme of a genius who has been manipulating people for years. With the future of the world depending on them, will they be able to pass the most important test of all?

(Okay, so that was more of a synopsis than a review. But don't worry, I am going to actually review the book.)

The Mysterious Benedict Society

One of the things I really like about this book is the way the characters are portrayed, and the way they change throughout the story. The four children start off as fairly normal (apart from being gifted, of course), but as they face different challenges, they develop incredible strength of character. Each of them starts off with their own fears (for example, loneliness) and weaknesses (for example, nervousness), but they are forced to overcome these in order to succeed. The group also learns the importance of teamwork, and they find out that every person is essential to the mission, no matter how unhelpful they might seem.

I also really like the way this book tested my wits. Just as the children were trying to find the answers to the test questions and discover just what their enemy was up to, I too got to follow along and think about how to solve their problems. This book is really interesting, and it was nice to read something that not only kept my attention, but had me engaged as well.

The Pensieve and the Stranger- (Sherlock and Harry Potter fanfiction)

In this story, Harry gets to visit Sherlock's mind palace. This is chapter two of Use the Force (Or the Mind Palace). Chapters 3 and 4 can be found on this blog.

The Pensieve and the Stranger

Harry Potter went into the pensieve, hoping to find the memory he had left in there. But he soon grew confused as a vision unfolded before him that he could not recognize as his own. 

He was in an elaborate palace, standing at the top of a spiral staircase. There was a tall man running up the staircase, his dark brown curls bouncing, as if trying to keep up with him. "Ah, yes." he said, sitting down and putting his hands in a steeple in front of his chin. "This is the best place in my Mind Palace to think. Now then..." he looked in Harry's direction, and Harry almost ran and hid, but then he remembered that Sherlock couldn't see him. This was a memory, not an interactive experience. "Solving a mystery. What fun! So, what do I have to go on?” The man looked into the distance and thought for a while. 

"Liberty." A loud bell began to ring. It sounded like it was quite large, and Harry was confused until he realized it must be Liberty Bell. But why would the bell be here? It was American! And how could this stranger replicate the noise? He had no wand; how could he possibly have done it? Harry didn't have long to think about this, for the bell was soon to be replaced by a huge marching band. They walked right through the place as if it was perfectly normal to do so. Who was this wizard, to bring so many musicians here? Or else, who was he to conjure up such a detailed image? Harry was so deep in thought he almost didn't hear the man.

"Liberty, liberty, liberty..." The man kept repeating it to himself as if it was of crucial significance. "Never mind. Moving on. In..."

The palace transformed into a hotel. An inn. Harry looked around, amazed. Who was this man? Then a large map of Asia appeared out of nowhere. Harry would have suspected the man was using accio to summon it there, but he had said nothing. Harry walked closer to get a look at the map, remembering that the man would be unable to see him. A country that Harry recognized as India was highlighted on the map. Harry tried to think about what was going on. Maybe the man wanted to book an inn in India… but Liberty Bell and the Liberty March were American. It didn’t make sense. Perhaps the man was planning a long trip? The scene changed again. Harry found himself in Germany. Okay, definitely planning a trip. Harry looked up at a sign to see where in Germany he was. He was in Ingolstadt, or at least, that was what he saw around him. Harry reminded himself that he hadn’t actually moved. Then the scene dissolved and they were back in the palace. Harry noticed a small chunk of metal. The man picked it up and muttered to himself. “Indium. Atomic number 49… No, that’s no good. There’s got to be something!” 

Harry thought a moment. Then he remembered what the man had said earlier. This stranger wasn’t planning a trip, he was trying to solve a mystery. All these different things that had shown up were clues. Or rather, what he was trying to make of the clues.

Two dogs ran up the stairs, but the man quickly decided they weren’t relevant. Then an American came in and started singing. Harry didn’t recognize the singer at first, but the song sounded familiar. To his surprise, the man joined in with the singer. It was then that Harry recognized the song as “Hound dog”. As Harry began to wonder what a hound had to do with anything, the man dismissed the singer quickly and looked very frustrated. 

Harry realized that that must have been the last of the clues. He wished he could do something, so he thought a moment. Then it occurred to him: the least he could do was put all the clues together. This was a pensieve, but maybe it would work. Harry used his wand to write the words “Liberty in Hound”. He let them float for a moment. Then he realized that “in" wasn’t capitalized, which didn’t look quite right. He fixed it: “Liberty In Hound”. Wait a minute, wasn’t “In" an abbreviation for Indiana? All three of the clues had had possible links to America. “Liberty IN Hound”. Liberty, IN. Maybe Liberty was in Indiana. “Liberty, Indiana Hound”. No, that didn’t look right. What if “hound” was all in capital letters? “Liberty, Indiana HOUND”. If it was all capital letters, it must be an acronym. “Liberty, Indiana H.O.U.N.D.”

The man did see, and he smiled in satisfaction and accomplishment, then disappeared. The memory was over, and Harry left the pensieve, utterly confounded by this strange phenomenon.

***

A few months later, Harry saw the man again. Could this really be him? Harry was awestruck.

“Well, what are you gaping at? Don’t just stand there, you idiot!”

“I’m sorry, I just…”

“Just what?”

“I just… thought I’d seen you before.”

“I’m known by the whole of London, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve seen me in the papers.” Harry hadn’t read a muggle paper in a long time, and he certainly hadn’t seen the man in any of the wizarding world’s papers.

“No, not like that.” Harry decided to take a chance. “Liberty in hound. Liberty, Indiana. H.O.U.N.D.” The man’s face froze.

“How did you know that?” He relaxed a moment later. “Oh, you read John’s blog, don’t you?” Harry shook his head.

“Never. I don’t even know your name… So how did it go? Did you solve the case? It was a case, right? Are you some sort of detective?”

“It went very well, thank you. I always solve my cases.” The man stuck out his hand. “Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective.”

“Harry Potter, wizard. I’ve also been known as the boy who lived, and the person who defeated Voldemort.”

“Well, then. Nice to meet you, Mr. Potter. It seems you have quite the resume.”

“Thank you.”

“Well, if I ever need a wizard’s help in a case, you’ll be the first one I ask.”

“Thank you. Goodbye!” But the enigma of a man had already left.

Announcement: May 25 Is Geek Pride Day!

I'm going to take a chance here and assume that at least some of you who read my blog are geeks. It's a reasonable assumption, since fandoms are a geeky thing, and I myself am a geek. It has come to my attention that May 25 is Geek Pride Day. (I didn't even know there was a "Geek Pride Day"!) Obviously, I'm going to write a post about it. The reason I am writing now is because I'd like to include thoughts from my readers on this one.

When did you know you were a geek? What is your favorite thing about being a geek? What's the geekiest thing you've ever done? What do you think makes a person a geek?

Answer any of these questions, and I'll include your response in my post about Geek Pride Day on May 25 (next Sunday).

Or, if you don't want to ask me a question, try this:
Come up with a particular challenge of something geeky for me to do or say. I'll do (almost) anything. Go ahead, and don't forget to think about what you'll do for Geek Pride Day. Allons-y!

Fandoms Unite!

Hello, dear readers! I'm sure most, if not all of you, know how awesome it is to be in a fandom. We all have our favorites, and many of us join Google+ communities, Facebook groups, Tumblr groups, etc. Those of us who have joined a group dedicated to a fandom know that it can be like a family (see my earlier post to read more about how fandoms are like family), and even those of us who haven't have friends and/or family members in the fandom. Things are great.

Except when they're not. There are far too many trolls, spammers, bots, etc. on the internet who mess things up for us dedicated fans. But that's not all. There are also the real people we know who insult our fandoms. 

For example, I have a good friend who is fun to hang out with and talk with- except that he really hates two of my favorite fandoms. He told me that Doctor Who is stupid and pointless, and when I mentioned Sherlock, he said, "I suppose I can tolerate it. At least it's better than Doctor Who." Thankfully, we've managed to just avoid the subject of those fandoms altogether, so we can still remain friends. While I probably would have picked kinder words than that to say that I don't like something (e.g., "I don't really like Twilight because I'm not into vampires, and it's just not the kind of story that interests me."), we did at least choose to tolerate each other and not argue about fandoms. That's a case of respectful disagreement, which is probably the best scenario for talking with someone who just doesn't like your fandom. But sadly, not all people are willing to do that. Often, people get into heated debates about which fandom is better, and an innocent discussion or post can quickly lead to a huge argument, with nasty words and ideas being hurled from both sides.

So I think we can all agree that we should tolerate each others' fandoms even if we totally don't like them. If there's a book that you think should never have been written or a movie you hate with all your might, I feel sorry for you, and you may want to even consider giving it more of a chance. But whatever you do, don't go around spreading your hate and insulting the people who like it.

Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about the other half of fandoms uniting. Inside a fandom itself, there is a lot of division. For example, Whovians can easily get into an argument about which Doctor is the best (there are 12 Doctors, 13 if you count the War Doctor, and 14 if you count the metacrisis Doctor). He's just the Doctor, people! Each incarnation of the Doctor is awesome, and while it's okay to have a favorite, saying that one incarnation is the best and the others don't matter is disrespectful to the show, the character, and the actors. But of course, this problem isn't limited to Doctor Who. Besides arguments about which characters, actors, writers, etc. are the best, there are also shipping wars. (Read this post if you want to know what shipping is, or this page if you want to see my ships.) People get into huge arguments about who should be with who, arguing that a certain ship is stupid, unreal, etc. These arguments can get really nasty really quickly, as many people are very defensive of their OTPs. It's really sad that people who share a common interest spend so much time arguing about all the things they don't agree on.

Check out this video about fandom tolerance which inspired me to write this post:

So let's just remember to all tolerate each other. For fandoms you're not a part of, let them like what they like, and don't hate on them for their interests. For your own fandoms, get closer to each other and act more like a family. Fandoms unite!

Shakespeare As A Dalek

A while ago, I wrote a story on fanfiction.net that was a collection of Dalek-themed poems. When I remembered that I had downloaded a Dalek voice effect on my computer, I decided to have some fun and record myself reading it. Ladies and gentlemen, this is what Shakespeare's 18th Sonnet would have been like if it had been written by a Dalek. Enjoy!

Thinking back to the title of this post, I realized that Shakespeare as a Dalek would certainly be different. There would be no Romeo and Juliet- they would never have fallen in love, and if they were somehow from families with a feud (again, unlikely in the Dalek world), they wouldn't have dreamed to disobey orders and associated with each other. There go the stories with any emotion besides hate! That being said, the battle scenes would be a lot more epic because they would be real. That's kind of scary.

Maybe that would be a form of torture: the Daleks show you their bad acting skills until you beg for mercy. (And if that fails, they get to the battle scene and you have to join in. Good luck!)

All in all, it's fun to imagine what poems would be like if Daleks wrote them, but I'm glad Shakespeare was a human and not a Dalek.

Who Am I? (Doctor Who fanfiction)

Warning: this story has major spoilers. Do not read on if you haven't seen "Day of The Doctor", the 50th anniversary special.

Who Am I?

At first, I was just another Time Lord, but then it happened. The moment. The one thing that changed my life forever. I became a murderer of my own people, guilty and alone forever. Two regenerations later, I had to return.

I stood there, with two of my past selves. I placed my hand on the glowing red button that reminded me of the horror of the Time War and the blood that was on my hands for ending it. And there I was, ready to kill them all again.

I thought about how I’d changed in those 400 years. That choice stayed with me. At first I regretted that choice– I looked at my Tenth regeneration. I could see the lines of worry in his face, and I saw that he still regretted it, just like he regretted having to push the button again.

But then after I regenerated, I began to forget. I looked over at Clara. What if only needed companions because I needed a distraction? What would that mean? I shook the thought away. Too painful. Just being here brought it all back, and those memories I had suppressed for so long began flooding through.

Flooding. That made think of fire. Burning. Planets burning. I made the planets burn. And I was about to do it all again. The Doctor, savior of the universe, killing them all. Who was I? What sort of person would do that? But I had to. There was no choice. I sighed, closed my eyes, and… looked back at Clara.

I was reminded of why I need companions. I don’t just need a distraction. I need a person who complements me, who sees things differently. I realized that she was seeing this differently. I had traveled with her long enough that I knew something was wrong.

“What? What is it? What?” I had to know what was going on.
“Nothing.” I knew that wasn’t true. I needed to know what she had to say. It could change everything.
“No, it’s something. Tell me.”
“You told me you wiped out your own people. I just. I never pictured you doing it, that’s all.” The scene changed and we saw a projection. I saw all the Time Lords and Daleks, the horror and devastation. I saw everything, all the things I was about to destroy. And it hurt. Again. It was almost like the universe was trying to punish me.

Clara turned to look at the three of us. “The warrior, the hero, and you.”
“And what am I?” How could she forget me? Was I nothing? Didn’t she care about me? Why had she been traveling with me for all that time if she cared more about them than me? What was I? Worthless?
“Have you really forgotten?” I thought about that for a moment. I’d spent all that time trying to forget the Time War, trying to forget all the awful things that happened, and in the process, I’d forgotten myself. I had acted cool, but I was lonely and empty inside. I wasn’t a hero anymore, just a madman with a box. A madman with a box who’d lost his sense of identity. All that time filled with pain and tears, and what had come of it? I had forgotten who I was. “What do I do?”

“What you’ve always done. Be a doctor. You told me the name you chose was a promise. What was the promise?”
“Never cruel or cowardly,” my Tenth regeneration said. I thought about it. Yes, I had tried to be kind and courageous- especially after I killed all my people.
“Never give up, never give in,” the Warrior added. I’d tried to keep going and do everything I could, persevering to the end- especially after I gave up on finding a solution and ended the Time War with double genocide.

And then I realized I couldn’t do it. I didn’t want to. It went against everything I’d ever lived for, the only sense of identity I had. There had to be another way. I thought for what felt like eternity.
And then, I knew exactly what I would do, how I would live up to my name even at the time when it seemed like I had to go against my very nature. I had found a way out. “Gentlemen, I have had four hundred years to think about it. I’ve changed my mind.”

I called on all my past selves to be the Doctor in a way none of us ever had, and I don’t think any of us will ever do again. We saved them all, and I remembered who I am. I am the Doctor, bringer of hope. Gallifrey falls no more.

A Day In the Life of a Fangirl (with GIFs)

Here's a fun post for today. This is a day in the life of someone in a fandom, with gifs from lots of different fandoms.

You wake up in the morning

And remember that you have to go to school/work.

But you overslept, so you have to run to catch the bus.

And then you hope the driver will be nice and stop for you.

Somehow, you make it. Your teacher/boss is talking, and it seems like they're repeating the same thing over and over again.

You get distracted (probably by your fandom), and he calls you out on it.

And then he asks you a question you know you can't answer.

The day goes on. By the time it reaches lunch, you're starving.

You make a fandom reference while talking with your friends and nobody gets it.

You get home and say hi.

Or if you're not so nice, it might be more like this...

The formalities over, you get to your work.

But then you give up, because it's too hard.

So you get to your real work: being a fangirl. You are about to watch your favorite show, but then you remember it's on hiatus.

 So you start writing fanfiction, but the ideas are coming slowly.

And then you get the hang of it.

But the computer breaks, so you try writing on paper instead.

Somebody walks in and suggests you should get back to work.

Since you're distracted now, you decide to do something different. You log on to the computer to do roleplay, because it makes you feel awesome.

But there's nobody online.

So you rewatch an old episode- and are reminded that your OTP isn't canon.

So you go back to doing your homework, and the cycle starts all over again. It's the circle of life.