This is a bit late, but I wanted to get some time to digest the newest season of Doctor Who and get away from the inevitable fandom discourse in order to get some perspective on it that wasn't super clouded by external chatter. Overall, I really liked this season, and I thought this serial was, more or less, successful in what it set out to do. I also thought this was probably the strongest overall season of the Thirteenth Doctor's run, owing at least partially to not having a low-tier episode like The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos or Orphan 55 to pull down the average.

( Spoilers ahead )

Usually by the second series of a Doctor's run I have a pretty good grasp of their character and what the actor in the role is ultimately aiming for, but it's not until the end of this one that I really felt like I've met the Seventh Doctor. It really highlights both how short his overall tenure is, and how the shorter season format doesn't mask the fact that there are, in fact, fewer episodes. (Seasons 24 and 25 combined is 28 episodes, which is around the length of what a single season previously was.) Suffice to say, much like last season this season feels like a very mixed bag. Though, unless it's a fluke, by the end it really feels like the show and the new head writer have found their footing. Though, in a weird way, it didn't evoke a lot of strong feelings in me as a whole, so I suspect this might be the shortest review I've written so far.

Like the previous twenty-four seasons, the serials are available to watch via streaming on Britbox. Ranking this season felt very... odd. The stories all felt very different so it was strange comparing them, though picking my favorite story in the bunch was relatively easy.

( Doctor who? Have you never wondered where he came from, who he is? )

Yesterday I turned 30, and I ended up not doing much of anything (partially due to the pandemic, partially due to poor planning and foresight on my part). I did think a lot about certain milestones I hadn't hit on my fitness goals/writing/etc., but a day out it all feels just as arbitrary. Aside from the number on my social media changing it doesn't really feel like I'm in my 30s, especially since pretty much everyone agrees the past year has been a wash so I can still pretend I'm 29 if I want and society probably wouldn't judge me for it.

I didn't meet my arbitrary goal of finishing Classic Who before I turned 30 but that might be for the best, since I would have rushed through the Seventh Doctor era at lightning speed (and I'm enjoying it too much to do that). I also realized that I was so eager to see how'd they'd handle the regeneration I started Season 24 without reading those Companion novels like I'd planned, so now I think I need to go back and think about when I'm going to tackle those. (Especially since the Brigadier shows up in that and I know he pops back up in Season 26's Battlefield.)

July will be ten years since I started a particular multi-chapter fic so I think my immediate writing goal is finishing that up before anything else. I am in the midst of consuming a bunch of gay media (mostly Tales of the City) for Pride Month though so I may end up seguing into writing something more in line with that first. I have some Merlin prompts due at the end of the year that might be a good outlet for that.

Well I finally made it to the end of the Sixth Doctor era (though I honestly made it two weeks ago, but I'd been putting off finishing this review), and I'm honestly impressed that I managed to stretch it out as long as I did. Knowing this era's reputation, I was ambivalent going in, but I actually ended up really liking Colin Baker's spin on the character. I just wish his batch of stories wasn't so decidedly mixed (and it definitely had more duds than home runs). This season was no exception, though I think a lot of the blame lays squarely at the feet of the trial sequences which throw off the pacing for a lot of the serials-within-a-serial. I like the conceit, but the cracks in the production really showed this season, and despite having the same production team as the past few seasons, it has the same energy as a transitional year. As much blame can (rightfully) be laid at the feet of John Nathan-Turner, I can't say I disagree with any of the creative decisions he made on this season specifically, and I think going into the Seventh Doctor's era with some fresh blood is definitely a good thing.

After knowing about this season for years, actually watching it unfold was a mix of missed and exceeded expectations. In a way, I guess it sums up the Sixth Doctor's era. The format of this season at least allows for a peak of where it could have gone on television and where it did on audio years later, and I ultimately do thing the show is better having gone through this experimental season. It's for this reason that, while I'm frustrated this Doctor doesn't have the same kind of ending as other Doctors, it's afforded him the opportunity to revisit and grow in the role in the time since.

Like the previous twenty-two seasons, the serials are available to watch via streaming on Britbox. This season was one big story divided into four smaller chunks, which made it interesting to rank.

( Planets come and go. Stars perish. Matter disperses, coalesces, forms into other patterns, other worlds. Nothing can be eternal. )

Managed to finally fix my sleep schedule and get on a cycle where i don't have to drug myself to get to sleep and set six alarms to get up, but it's also coinciding with things ramping up at work so I'm still feeling a bit tense. It's been one of the few times this past year where I think I would actually benefit from being at the office.

I feel like if I can manage to get back on some semblance of a consistent exercise routine it'll do wonders I just haven't quite been able to make it over that hump yet. It's (finally) starting to get warm enough that I can walk around outside in a sweatshirt so maybe I'll try spending some more time doing that, especially now that I'm back to going through podcasts and audio productions and not just listening to the same five year old Waterparks song or Love Live deep cut on a loop for a week straight.

☆ Television: I finished Drag Race US season 11 and Drag Race UK series 1 and I think I might be burnt out on it a little. I'm almost caught up though so that's great! I can't really psych myself up to watch anything else though even though I'm behind on a bunch of anime, so we'll see how that goes I guess.

☆ Writing: It's nothing really publishable, but I'm writing snippets of fanfic again, which has been fun! Some of them have been off dw100 prompts so maybe I'll end up cleaning those up and posting them. I'm hoping I can get myself back into a headspace where I can finally finish off some projects that have been sitting in my drafts for years. Hetalia finally coming back next month should hopefully help motivate me with the fic for that.

☆ Gaming: I'm gonna try to pick up Animal Crossing again for the St. Patrick's Day event. I made a lot of progress in my BioShock playthrough last week, and I preordered the new Pokemon Snap and Story of Seasons games and I'm looking forward to taking a crack at those too. I forked over the cash for a monthly pass for Love Live All Stars but it's not bringing the same levels of serotonin as it had so I may stop that after this month.

The past month has been pretty uneventful for me personal life-wise (which imo is fine because December was pretty much hell and my dad is mostly past his health issue). Mostly I've kind of been stuck in a holding pattern of wanting to create/not being able to, and running hot and cold with whatever it is I'm watching on TV. I made it through the end of season 9 of RPDR and now I'm back to toggling between The Crown and Leverage with some occasional Classic Who sprinkled in. I thought Quarantine would be easier in winter because I kind of spend this time of year cooped up inside anyway, but at least during the bulk of 2020 I could still go for walks and sit outside as a change of pace.

I've been getting back into Hetalia mostly because I'm back to tracking news/updating the wiki for it. I have some fic drafts for it I'd like to finish but I haven't really had the motivation to write even when putting myself under the pressure of fests or challenges. Even going full caveman horny brain hasn't really moved the needle on the two decidedly nsfw drafts I have (Weirdly both for Glee. I have no idea how I suddenly got re-energized for that fandom of all things this year.) It snowed today and it's supposed to snow again tomorrow, but I'm hopeful this week I can get back in the routine of regularly exercising and that might help jump start me mentally... assuming the hot water in my apartment starts working again and I don't have to drag the landlord down here to fix it.

Other random thoughts:

☆ Best Boys™: I've already fallen behind but I'm still watching a lot of anime this winter season, and it's been a reminder of past best boys and the introduction of new best boys. The fresh roster that's been living rent-free in my brain includes Yuji and Gojo from Jujutsu Kaisen, Chrome from Dr. Stone, Keiichi from Higurashi When They Cry, and Reki and Langa from SK8 the Infinity. The boys from Jujutsu Kaisen especially are popular enough that I've hopeful there'll be some really fun merch I'll be able to buy of them in the future.

☆ Game Girls: I've been playing a lot of Love Live All Stars to the point I decided to pay for the monthly membership for the next month specifically, for the serotonin. My bias for the Nijigasaki girls aside, I just really like the gameplay style and story mode of this app more than the original (which I've barely touched this past year save for snagging some login bonuses). I just hope I don't overextend myself and end up burning myself out on this too.

☆ Music: If you told me a year ago that the album I'd have listened to the most at the start of 2021 was Miley Cyrus's I wouldn't have believed you. Between that, Machine Gun Kelly's album, everything Aly & AJ have done the past year and the upcoming Waterparks album I've been very happy. I wasn't a fan of the Waterparks live album though which bums me out since I actually have the bluray for that concert (which I haven't gotten around to watching yet oop). I've also been so used to listening to music by people several years older than me (or in the case of Lorde, several years younger), that it's actually kind of nice to listen to stuff by people roughly my own age (pushing 30).

I've had a rough week. My father ended up in the hospital (not with COVID thank god) and past the initial anxiety it's clear he's going to be okay but he's also going to be there a while, and it's going to continue to be a bit bumpy for at least the next couple of days.

☆ I distracted myself by binging all of Central Park and Emily in Paris. The former starts out shaky but gets really good as it finds its footing. The latter starts out bad and I think continues being bad, but you become used to how bad it is so at a certain point you just kind of let it wash over you. I'm currently halfway through The Queen's Gambit and it's clear why this show has been such a massive success, though I'm kind of surprised so many people were willing to give it a shot considering what could be a very dry subject matter. Speaking of dry, I'm enjoying the performances in The Crown but aside from some emotional moments in the second episode that really got me, I haven't been blown away by it. I'm only on the third episode though so I highly suspect that will change.

☆ I'm very behind on the anime I'm watching this season, and I want to catch up on some of it while exercising (I need to get rid of this holiday weight) but I haven't been in the mental headspace to really do that. I got a cavity filled today so that's definitely not happening tonight either. At least I'm current on Love Live! as I fall further into my addiction with the mobile game.

☆ Haven't written anything in a while. I usually get some inspiration around this time of year but with life stuff it's kind of zapped all my energy from me. Which is frustrating because I do have stuff I could finish off for the Buffyverse Bingo amnesty round but I don't know if I'll end up getting there.

☆ I signed back up for HelloFresh on a whim and I'm honestly glad I did, because I ended up cooking myself dinner again for the first time in weeks. I'm not sure I'll keep it for the first five weeks but it's nice not to have to go to the grocery store as often right now.

I waited a couple of days to get my thoughts together and let the full impact of the finale sink in, especially coming off the waves of a fandom that seemed really determine to hate everything about this finale going into it, which is something I honestly don't understand. I hated Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and the recent series finale of The 100 but I went into both of those with an open mind and with the hope that I would love them. It's an attitude I think has served me well because the amount of finales I either love or feel mixed about vastly outweigh the number of finales I truly hated. (It also probably helps that I tend to bail on shows/franchises I don't enjoy watching.)

All of that is prologue I guess to the fact that I very much did not hate the finale of Supernatural. I wouldn't go as far as to say I loved it, but I did really like it.

( It's okay. You can go now. )

While I've enjoyed every season of Classic Who so far, I think it's been pretty obvious that my enthusiasm has been dampened a bit during the previous two seasons, since it felt like for every great thing they did there was another two things that felt underwhelming. So with that in mind, it really feels like the show got a massive shot in the arm this season, and it may actually be among my favorites of the whole series. While last season struggled to balance an usually large regular ensemble, this season more than rose to the challenge while also following up on several major characters and story arcs from across the whole history of the show. I had high hopes going in, but this really reminded me how much I love this show, and couldn't have been a better lead up to something I've been anticipating for years - The Five Doctors, which, after some consideration, I'll be reviewing separately from this season.

I've previously acknowledged John Nathan-Turner and Eric Saward's proclivity toward longer, ongoing story arcs, but this is the season where it feels like it really bears fruit. The Black Guardian Trilogy in particular stands out not just in this season, but among the previous E-Space and New Beginnings Trilogies. Considering how much it was built up, and with the Black Guardian getting the occasional namedrop since The Key to Time arc in season 16, this could have so easily shit the bed. However, I feel like it ended up being easily the best Fifth Doctor material thus far, and I wouldn't be surprised if it grew in my esteem upon rewatch. It's also incredible to think that it also deftly handled the return of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, the introduction of Turlough, and the departure of Nyssa.

Like the previous nineteen seasons, the serials are available to watch via streaming on Britbox. This season had six stories, and honestly ranking most of these felt like comparing apples to oranges. I still did though.

( Well, there's a probability of anything. Statistically speaking, if you gave typewriters to a treeful of monkeys, they'd eventually produce the works of William Shakespeare. )

☆ I had planned to do some serious writing this past weekend, but those plans got derailed and I ended up not writing anything, so as a result I've resigned to defaulting on seasonofkink for this year and trunk a couple of summer-themed fics I've been working on until next year. Considering the amount of stress from current world events this isn't a huge shock, but I'm hopeful I'll still be able to finish up those additional nordipalooza fill chapters at some point since they're mostly done. I also still have time left to finish buffyversebingo, which I can focus more on since I guess spooktoberchallenge is not happening this year. I also have a couple of autumn/halloween-themed drafts from the last couple of years I can try to finish too.

☆ The Q3 anime season is ending this week, along with my rewatches/completions of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Higurashi When They Cry. I've been collecting some brief thoughts on a running twitter thread, but suffice to say I was very surprised and impressed by the bits I hadn't seen before. In a lot of ways I actually think I enjoyed The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan more than the original show, and The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya is an actual masterpiece. And aside from the very fanservicey first episode, Higurashi When They Cry Kira was actually really solid, and Outbreak was fantastic and it bums me out that they decided to not to further explore the storyline it had set up. The remake of Higurashi is one of the shows airing next season though, and I'm excited to see what changes/improvements they make to this version.

☆ As far as other TV goes, I've been slowly making my way through Classic Who season 19. I'm enjoying it, but it's definitely a mixed bag, and the show is clearly trying to figure out what its strengths are now that Tom Baker isn't in the role anymore. I'm planning on taking a break once I'm done with the season in order to focus more on Halloween/Spooky fare for October, and it feels appropriate to watch The Five Doctors for the first time in November. (Plus, I suspect November is going to be a waking nightmare, so it'll be nice to have something to distract me from it). I've also been binge-watching Sister, Sister, and depending on how I pace it out I should be finished pretty soon. I watched the Twitches movies over Kast with some friends so I've been getting a lot of Tia and Tamera lately.

☆ My finger has basically healed completely, though its still sometimes stuff when I wake up. My depression has also come and gone in waves, and I think is less because of quarantine now and mostly because of all the terrible things happening in the world. Not forcing myself to adhere to any real specific watch/writing schedule has probably helped a little. I'm hoping that diving full force into Halloween will be what salvages my mental health for at least the next five weeks.