FIC Torchwood poem: Jack's Pick...

fatchickengirl challenged damalan to write a short piece of Torchwood poetry of eight syllables per line. His poem, End of Days, is here.

I couldn't resist doing the same, with my own 'constraint'. fatchickengirl and damalan were okay with that. Seems to me this form of poetic drabble ficlet thingummy should have a name of its own.

And strangely enough, mine is a Jack/Gwen piece. Have I written any of those before? I don't think so, but I've thought about it.

( Jack's Pick )

Odd legal characters...

A strange but oddly charming story.

Fannish 5: Teachers...

The fannish5 question for the day: Who are your five favorite fictional teachers or mentors?

Thinking about this has led me to realize how many of my favourite characters have teaching roles, how few are actually teachers. I thought of Qui-Gon in Star Wars: but I only like him as a Jedi hero and slash-partner for Obi-Wan and only in The Phantom Menace. And Yoda? He's right there on my list of least favourite characters of all time. Annoying little puppet.

And yet so many of my favourite characters have roles which involve teaching by example, or taking on unofficial acolytes and helping them to learn. Examples: Francis Crawford of Lymond, Captain Cairo Azarcon, Aral Vorkorsigan, Claude Raines (mentor to Peter in Heroes), the Doctor in Doctor Who (not just in "School Reunion", though he's lovely there), Captain Jack Harkness - in Torchwood, in Doctor Who he is only the acolyte. I'd put Methos from Highlander in this category, though he'd deny it with scorn.

My list of favourite fictional teachers:

1. Christophe, in The Feast of All Saints by Anne Rice.


2. Jane Eyre in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.


3. Professor X in The Uncanny X-Men and other Marvel mutant comics.


4. Justin McLeod, the reclusive retired teacher in The Man Without a Face by Isabelle Holland, whose past contains tragedy. Resemblance to the character in the Mel Gibson movie of the same name is... unfortunate.


5. Bradley Headstone, the cruel and hypocritical teacher who falls in love with Lizzie Hexham in Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens. No, I don't like him, I love to hate him. A villain, but an interesting one, and I loved the twist Dickens was making here on traditional morality - the hardworking schoolmaster is a creep, the indolent seducing lawyer is a hero.

See, as this list probably makes clear, I don't really like teachers. On principle. Because I didn't like school. Bad associations.

Funny, these are all from print media. I can't think of any teachers I like in movies or television. Indiana Jones comes close, but... no. I'd be lying. At best, it's Harrison Ford I liked there.

Drinks party...

I got this meme from silverwhistle, who presented it in honour of Aubrey Beardsley - an artist I admire. My own version of it will have to be in honour of Captain Jack Sparrow, a pirate I admire.

This despite the fact that I don't drink and have a secret horror of drunkenness. Go figure. How'd I ever make it through university?

( But why is the rum gone? )

The Doctor on Comic Relief...

I watched the Comic Relief skit with David Tennant and Catherine Tate. I had trouble understanding some of Catherine Tate's lines - was it her accent? Made me feel all foreign and clueless. Except for the bits I did get, like mostly the Doctor Who jokes. Loved the ending, "A Rose by any other name...."

Also saw the trailer for the third series that's now up on the BBC website. I'm delighted they're letting people who aren't residents of the UK watch. I hope that trend continues!

So... how many days now?