See the Fangrrl Squee

That's it. It's official.

I want to be Benny Summerfield when I grow up.

To be honest, had I gotten my head out of my arse and encountered this character ten (*ahem* or more) years ago, I'd probably be wearing a tinfoil helmet, today. More so than usual, I mean...

I finally understand why so many Whovians of even slight acquaintance would ask me if I'd read the Summerfield stories/listened to the audios.

Mea culpa, Mr. Cornell et al! I was a fool!

And, for what it's worth, I think Lisa Bowerman is doing a wonderful job.

Alright, internets, I admit it. I've been a fool.

Bernice Summerfield has grown on me. I think perhaps the fact that the last (and first) time I tried to tackle the NAs, I was in a very bad headspace about Who - very much the grumpy fan who didn't want to see "her" Who changed in any way - which is a stupid point of view, really. I plead youth and, er, stupidity.

I've since dabbled my toes into the NAs again and I've enjoyed them quite a lot - although I realize that I need to read them in something approximating publication order and starting with Happy Endings is going about things in entirely the wrong way. But it has such a jolly cover, I had to read it. Ah well, it's not the first time I've tackled a series ass-backwards. At the moment, I'm reading Dry Pilgrimage for no reason other than I happened to pick up a copy of it over the weekend and so it was close to hand.

Unfortunately, this means there's going to be another BFA monkey on my bank. I've listened to some excerpts of the Bernice Summerfield stories and between that and seeing Lisa Bowerman at Gallifrey (she's off the guest list for Chicago, boo!) I think they'll be worth a go. Unfortunately, there's no way in hell I can afford them right now. With luck, by the time money loosens up enough for such frippery, BF will offer 'em for download, rather than my having to shell for a CD I'll crack open precisely once, to rip to iTunes and then never touch again...

So, yeah, another aspect of Who has sunk its claws into me. ;)

"Blink" costume at Dragon*Con - yes, it's one of the weeping angels.

In that post, there's also a link to the creator's notes re: construction.

Amusingly enough, I'm wearing my "The angels have the phone box" tee-shirt at work, today...

This should go on the gamers and gaming filter on my regular journal (and I'll no-doubt crosspost) but given the nature of the idea, I want to discuss it here.

Bit O'Context
Years and years ago - at this point, something like ten of 'em, in fact - my hubby and I looked at each other and said "Let's run a Doctor Who LARP¹". To be fair to the husband, it was largely my idea, but he humors me in all sorts of ways. The idea was largely inspired by the live-action RP/scavenger hunts that a friend of mine hosted once a year so, the final premise that Alex and I bashed out was that the participants are all final-year students at "The Time Academy" on Gallifrey (keeping it simple) and they had been sent forth in a slightly wheezy Type 60 TARDIS to do their final exam in the field. Things, of course, would go wrong, with the upshot that the half-a-dozen players would spend a pleasant afternoon dashing around central San Francisco collecting clues from various NPCs, solving little riddles and, y'know, saving the world. Simple enough, so to speak, and much like the highly-enjoyable events a pal of mine used to run, albeit set in another gaming world entirely.

Naturally, Alex and I called our little idea I Left My Hearts In San Francisco.

The idea was abandoned when I realized that the logistics were way out of hand - I was looking at needing at least half a dozen assistants, scattered across downtown SF and possibly even in to Berkeley (cellphone connectivity mandatory!) in order to support half a dozen participants and, even then, there was going to be lot of unseemly scrambling as the helpers doing a turn as NPCs² Zed and Vee would have to rush off and get ready to be NPCs Gee and Aitch at another location because when you realize you've written something like twelve NPCs, none of which encounter the players more than once, you're going to ask your volunteers to double-up on NPC duty. Potentially fun for the players, yes, but also a potential nervous breakdown for the GMs - namely me and Alex.

Later on, I devised a second idea for a much smaller "locked room" event, focused more on The Doctor, himself - and assorted nemesii, of course. This idea is in a constant state of 'in development' but hasn't been abandoned. In fact, I'd write the whole damn thing up in a moment - certain outstanding plot issues notwithstanding - if I knew I could get the players together. The one huge-and-unfixable disadvantage of the plot is that it must have exactly X number of players and if one of them flakes out on the event, the entire thing croaks. "Tightly knit" barely describes how the PCs and plots are woven together, although I will admit that X keeps wobbling between eight and eleven people, depending on how I'm feeling about a particular plot line on any given day, so that's still to be fixed. I'm not going to share any more details about that one, because, as I say, it might yet happen - and it'll remain untitled until I can think of one that wouldn't give the game away in half a dozen words.

So, it's established that I've got a history of wanting to do something gamer-ish and Whovian - a history of being bonkers, yes.

***

This morning, I woke up with the shreds of some dream fading from my head and, without any bloody prompting from me, the following permutations for a complete revamp of I Left My Hearts In San Francisco fell into my head. Of course, they're still ludicrously ambitious.

( Details Behind The Cut )

My second-favorite photo from San Diego Comic Con (well, so far)

Picture courtesy of kgaleway

( extreme silliness (and a very large, sorta-slashy, picture!) ahead )

I've got a fair bit of fannishness going on at the moment, albeit of the at-home/online variety. Brace yerselves, luvs.

***

I've an invitation to collaborate on a monthly Prisoner podcast. As it happens, it's at the "Hey, let's do a Prisoner podcast!" stage of production, so there's, er, room to develop ideas.

There are so many excellent guides out there - online and on paper - that doing something new could be a bit of a challenge. I don't see much point in doing any episode-review type content, as I think it's fair to assume that anyone who downloads the 'cast is going to have a certain familiarity with the show - and opinons, ditto.

Myself and the two other fellas are going to brainstorm for a bit, but I'm not above asking the denizens of the 'net what they'd like to see.

I'm sure that, at the very least, there will be reviews/discussion of the more-recently-released novels and guides - such as Andrew Cartmel's Miss Freedom and Fall Out: The Unofficial and Unauthorized Guide To The Prisoner by Fiona Moore & Alan Stevens, and whatever news happens to be floating around - although I'm sure we've all heard about the Ian McKellan casting.

Poking around the 'net, I've identified a couple of websites that might be worth befriending/arranging a bit of mutual support with. Hm. Hm...

Anyway, as I said, I'm not above asking y'all for what you'd like to see - and what you think is tired old hat, for that matter.

***

Readers of my regular journal might have seen my recent posts asking for suggestions re: RPG systems for a one-shot game featuring a handful o'motifs. I might as well admit that I'm kicking around an idea for a Sapphire and Steel tabletop game. It would definitely a one-shot-at-a-convention sort of thing, though, as such a thing wouild be completely unsustainable as a long-term campaign and players at conventions are generally willing to take more risks and/or try something new.

It, too, as at the "Wouldn't it be neat, if..." stage of development. As I do more reading and jot down ideas, I'll no-doubt discuss it on the gaming filter of my regular journal. If it comes together, I'll no-doubt be running it at ConQuest/PacifiCon in September 2009.

***

I've been listening to a fair whack of BF's Doctor Who audios, of late, and belatedly stumbled across the BF podcasts.

(I really must work on this being-the-last-to-find-out habit of mine. Bad fan! No biscuit!)

They're clever little lads at Big Finish, and no mistake. The "Top 5" lists are marketing research and promotional gimmick in one tidy package - I admit, it's worked to its intended purpose in my case, as I've just added a couple of the older DW stories on my to-purchase list... Meanwhile, the same clever chaps are allowing 'casters to use BF's trailers in their podcasts. Free advertising for them, and a slickly produced nubbin for the 'casters. Win-win - which is a bit of a rarity in many promotion schemes, I've noticed. Kudos to all involved and no, I'm not being sarcastic. Most marketing campaigns drive me mad - it's why I'll give up my DVR when they pry it out of my cold, dead hands - and so to see it done with a bit of tact and with a bit of give-and-take with the target audience, I'm pleasantly surprised.

***

I've just realized that if I'm going to manage Chicago (I hope so!) I need to start thinking about any costuming projects, now. Aside from Ms. Evangelista's mourning garb in The Forest of the Dead - which would be a bitch to take on a plane, as it would take up most of one suitcase by itself - I'm rather short on inspiration at the moment. Given that I'm flat, stony broke, though, it's probably for the best. *grumble* I'm sure I'll think of something, three weeks out from the convention, as I usually do...

Lo, I have found some relief for nigh-overwhelming stress:

The audio commentary for Caves of Androzani.

I've scared the cats clear out of the den by laughing too hard twice, already - and I'm only ten minutes in.

Meanwhile, I can't help feeling the twinges on oncoming middle-age as I'm looking at Peter Davison and and Nicola Bryant and shrieking "Oh my god, they're children!"

Edited to add: I'm such a costume-wonk. I'm staring at Sharez Jek's mask and thinking "painted leather, or what?"

Found via rm

NYT article on Russell T. Davies - and his impact on British telly and culture via Who and the spinoffs.

It's a good commentary piece, and an interesting read.

Favorite quotes: ( Behind the cut )

No, I haven't finished Torchwood, yet, but I just watched Partners in Crime. ( More behind the cut. Very minor spoilers. )