I feel like I haven't updated in about a million years! Mostly because I haven't had anything to actually post with - I'm hideously behind on all the icon and fic plans that I had. I still love Merlin fandom, and I'm planning on scouring rec lists for everything I haven't read and really should have, recently - our little fandom has exploded! But it's the hiatus, and I always cool off in between brand new episodes. Plus, I've been using all my spare time to indulge my old loves, Gabriel Byrne and Trevor Eve. I cried more at In Treatment than I have at any TV show in a long, long time. I've also been immersing myself in Waking the Dead, reminding myself how much I love crime drama and a fucked up, aggressive prick solving them - seriously, Peter Boyd may be my favourite detective ever. Trevor Eve is just knocking everyone else's acting out of the ballpark with him. I also totally want to write a crossover where he and Sandra Pullman have a history and solve crimes and are ridiculously hot.

I do have another excuse for my hermitude(?) - my new job. Which is weird and fun and totally crazy. It's all to do with Scottish heraldry, and I get to chat with Dukes and Viscounts and a million other peers and baronetcies, etc., and lonelyfajita, how cool is this? There are like, loads of Heralds in Scotland, and whatever they are, I call them by their location. So Albany Herald, even though his real name might be Derek Putney (it isn't), has to be called Albany. And so I get to call Unicorn Herald Unicorn. His actual name that people call him by is Unicorn. It's the coolest name of an otherwise not so interesting bunch of names, unfortunately, but still. Unicorns!

Meme time! I've made a pledge to actually read 50 books this year, and despite my new commute every day, by train, I'm ridiculously behind schedule. So I thought I'd fill in this list to make myself feel a bit prouder - feel free to steal!

( Apparently, the BBC say that the average person will only have read 6 of these. Yay! )

So, I am swamped with revision and am not allowing myself to renew my PSP until the exams are over. This essentially means that instead of turning to icon-making instead of working, I am watching far too many TV shows and movies, and playing Sims 2 like crazy! Quick and brief catchup though:

The Dark Knight? Rocks.

I have to admit that my knowledge of Batman wasn't amazing prior to seeing Batman Begins. It was, essentially, some dude dresses up as a bat and fights crime. I don't actually know why I wasn't more involved, because people being kickass and fighting crime is one of my favourite things ever. But I saw BB and you know, loved it, especially the part where Christian Bale is possibly the hottest thing evar. And The Dark Knight is just, crazily good. I've seen it twice and the second time is better because you remember all the bits you were a bit fuzzy on and how exciting it was - I just love it, and I'm planning on seeing it next week too. Though WTF is with the new flavour popcorn they've started selling? Someone was eating it next to me and I seriously thought I was going to throw up, it smells terrible! I'm really not fussed by most smells, as a rule (I have horses and dogs and live next to a farm), but this was awful. They finished it after about half an hour, but for the first thirty minutes of the film I had my hair pulled across my upper lip like a 'tache so I could breathe that in instead. Jim/Batman is probably my favourite pairing, if I have to choose one from the film, but I loved every single scene between Bruce and Alfred and Bruce and Lucius - they were just perfectly pitched. And Heath Ledger is impossible to overrate.

I also watched Equilibrium, and thought it was extremely cool. I love good fight scenes and Christian Bale, and the bonus of a Pertwee and Sean Bean (when is new Sharpe out?) just made me love it more - and the cutest puppy in existence! Jen, we need to show that to Marian when he comes over. It's totally his thing - I've been trying to make him go see TDK too - we are having movie night(s), right? Love you!

I'm running way behind on New Tricks, but it is still the best programme on TV right now and Monday nights are fantastic. I was so pleased Jack came back, although he could have been a bit more apologetic about the fact he upset them all so much. I want Strickland and Gerry to release a CD together. Sandra generally couldn't get any cooler, although I really hate those tops with the big ruffled sleeves she's wearing at the moemnt - I think they're from Topshop and she seems to have them in every colour. She can pull off practically any colour, actually, but those sleeves hurt my eyes. Brian was fantastic in this episode tonight, and made a really great puppydog expression at one point that I am going to have to cap. I really want to see more of Brian and Scampy (not that he was in this ep, I just miss him, and the puppy in Equilibrium made me really feel for dogs today). I want to see them solve crime in a K9 kind of way. And I secretly want Sandra and Gerry to totally be getting it on without anyone knowing, because they've had such a great relationship this series and I love the two of them together. I also want Sandra and Jack backstory, them working cases back in Murder Squad, and just more fic and shows in general.

Everyone should go watch Paris Hilton's hilarious presidential ad she made to retaliate against McCain. I am one of the few people that finds Paris hilarious - she's cute and funy and seems totally aware of how dumb she makes herself out to be, and the ad is wicked cool, even if, like me, you have no clue about politics. Loves it!

I'm going to go play Sims 2 now because I've decided to play the Maxis Young Adults through university, and it is really kind of fun deciding which ones are so ugly I have to kill them because letting them reproduce would be cruel and then giving the okay-looking ones makeovers.

Yeah, I really need to revise.

Go see The Dark Knight, guys!

Some Farscape and New Tricks icons. I'm still playing around with colour, so there are a few repeats to choose between. For Farscape, lots of Chiana! Also, I say New Tricks, but they're mostly Sandra, with one team and a couple with Jack. Capping that show takes ages - does anyone have any recommendations for a good program for capping?

Examples

1	2	3	4

( You shoot one bloody dog... )

I am utterly engrossed in New Tricks at the moment (somebody, please, join me!) and so I have produced fic. This is my first fic on here and my first after an extremely long hiatus, so it's as much a writing exercise as it is a story.

It may seem ridiculous laying it out so formally, when there are, at most, about two or three people other than me who might be interested, but I have dreams of one day New Tricks being an active fandom swamped with thousands of people writing fanfiction for it. Have I mentioned that Sandra Pullman is really, really awesome?

Title: Five Times Sandra Kissed a Member of her Team
Author: julesoh
Rating: 12 in British film ratings, as they're the only ones I understand. There's a lot of kissing (duh) and some naughty language.
Fandom: New Tricks
Word Count: 5976
Summary: See title. Essentially, this is just the result of my slightly bizarre, though completely understandable, adoration for Sandra Pullman. She's awesome.
Pairings: Sandra/team. Three of them are a given, but the other two are a surprise!

( Five Times Sandra Kissed a Member of her Team )

Very quick reaction to New Tricks 5x2, put under a cut because how many of you actually watch New Tricks? (You all should, by the way.) And also because most of the points consist of, "Oh my God, Sandra is so cool and beautiful and amazing!" (Which is true, and one of the main reasons you should all watch this show.)

( Sandra Pullman is so awesome! )

Also, Jen, I have found some HD Torchwood caps, got any special requests?