#androzani

My D&D party as vines!

inspired by similar things I’ve seen around the web, I made a compilation of vines with the characters from the dnd game I play with my friends :D

Featuring: Lyra the elf bard; Nija the tiefling warlock; Eirianwen the dwarf druid; Elariah the human barbarian; Zanna the gnome rogue; Rowan the oni cleric; Oleander the half-dragon sorcerer; and several of our DM’s fabulous NPCs!

Robert Holmes’s second script for Dr Who, and only one episode exists of six. I watched that episode, two, on its lonesome on 27 January 2023. I also watched the teeny clips made available on the Lost in Time DVD. 

From what I’ve been able to watch of this serial, it’s surprisingly ambitious. All of it is set in space or on alien worlds. Episode two establishes the real danger in which our heroes find themselves. The bits with Madeleine Issigri reminds me of the politics of Androzani in a tale also written by Holmes some years hence. Otherwise, it seems to be a fairly basic pirate/cowboy/navy adventure with a bit of brutal rich people dashed in. I was getting similar vibes from what survives of this to the three seasons of The Expanse that I’ve seen (I really wish that the rest of that show becomes available on DVD or blu-ray soon).

@androzani re this

Hollyhock: Describe your ideal day.

A day without pressing obligations, spent in the company of the people I love who don’t live close to me. Doesn’t really matter what we’re doing - whether we’re going on a little adventure or grabbing coffee or just hanging out. Extra bonus points if the day includes a very good cup of tea, petting an animal, and D&D.

Hellebore: How do you show affection? 

Depends on the person. In a lot of ways I’m still kind of developing my love language - growing up I think I was only really shown one or two expressions of affection so it’s kind of a learning curve now. Biggest one is words of affirmation, followed by physical touch and quality time. I love leaving little notes for people I love to find later, so that they might get a smile when they weren’t expecting it. I like complimenting them about things they do and the ways they’ve influenced my life. I like listening to them talk about the things they’re passionate about, and noticing the different ways they light up when they’re engaged. I like sharing a space, not necessarily interacting all the time but just being near them and knowing they’re near. I also like just little platonic touches, little affirmations that we’re there together, and if I’m very close with someone I like giving shoulder rubs and playing with their hair. It feels really nice to be able to drain away someone’s tension and to feel them be super comfortable and relaxed in my company.

Begonia: Favourite colour?

This changes somewhat frequently but I like soft (but not quite pastel) green. It feels soft and clean and fresh, and feels colourful without being overwhelming. I’m also partial to steel blue, which oddly I associate with writing and creativity as it was my favourite colour back when I first started writing for fun, and I’ve developed a fondness for purples since figuring out I’m ace. Adding a splash of purple to an otherwise neutral outfit feels like a soft allusion to my identity, which feels kind of nice?

Transvaal Daisy: What’s your favourite item of clothing? 

4. how do you take your coffee/tea?

I still haven’t found an enjoyable way to drink coffee without making it into a different drink. But tea: two milks, half sugar - or just a little less, just enough to balance the bitterness of a strong tea.

16. what’s your favorite pasta dish?

I think this is a tie between chicken parmesan and fettuccine alfredo. I really love the latter as done by the owner of the restaurant where I used to work - he added just a touch of white wine and it was a lovely little flavour at the end of each bite. So yummy.

18. tell us about something dumb/funny you did that has since gone down in history between you and your friends and is always brought up.

Oh man this is a tough one because a) I have done a lot of dumb/amusing shit, and b) I’m really bad at recounting stories about myself. But please, friendos, feel free to tell those stories in the replies!

29. what’s something really cute that one of your friends does and is totally endearing?

Oh shit this is even tougher! How am I supposed to choose? Um… universally, the shape of my friends’ smiles when they’re really happy is really fricking endearing? Specifically, picking on you because you asked and also you’re my friend - when you’re really passionate about something you light up and just radiate this really beautiful type of energy? It’s tough to explain, but the combination of the energy with which you speak, the excitable little gestures, and the way your eyes light up are just the absolute fricking most adorable thing fricking fight me Holliver you’re cute.

41. what’s the last book you remember really, really loving?

It Devours!, which I’m almost finished. It’s so weird and weirdly-written but compelling and I’m so mad at how much I love it. I love Nilanjana. I will fight anyone for her. I will also fight anyone for Carlos. They’re both wonderful and I know they’re fine, but I also want them to be happy and to ease the pains of what they’ve been through.

92. are you a person who drowns their pasta in cheese or a person who barely sprinkles a pinch?

If it’s not drowned in cheese it’s not worth eating (primarily because I’m fussy on sauces and frequently eat naked noodles with only cheese for flavour).

99. list some songs that resonate to your soul whenever you hear them.

Look I’m bad at identifying them when my soul isn’t directly resonating but here are a few from my current playlist:

The Graveyard Near The House by The Airborne Toxic Event

For Forever from DEH

Both of You cover by Caleb Hyles

A Pocketful of Gold by Crazy Arm

So Big/So Small from DEH

Would you like a dragon or would you rather be a dragon?

whynotboth.jpg

But I mean… thinking about it, I think owning a dragon would be a terrifying amount of work and stress. Being a dragon is 300% better I think.

When you were little, what did you want to become when you grew up?

Mum likes to remind me that when I was super little I wanted to be a mother bird. But my strongest memory wasn’t so much wanting to be, as much as it was assuming that I’d be in an equestrian-related field. Either as a rider or a vet or a farm owner or instructor. Horses took up so much of my childhood that little!me would’ve found it inconceivable to think I’d settle for anything but.

There’s a book I like flipping through every now and again, which has one-page stories of different types of horse people, and there’s a phrase from one of them that has always stuck with me. I can’t guarantee the exact wording as it’s not in front of me right now, but the gist is: “If you walk through the parking lot at night you’ll hear the sound of girls crying into their horses’ necks. That’s the sound of dreams dying.” As melancholy as it is, it hits pretty close to home.

What is the coolest thing you’ve ever done?

That’s difficult to define because what is ‘cool’? But objectively, I suppose, it was pretty fricking cool to be able to race in a legitimate race on a legitimate racetrack in front of a legitimate crowd as part of the Harness Racing Youth League. I was 13 at the time. I didn’t win, but my horsemanship throughout the week and my ability to handle horses that scared other kids and required an incredibly steady hand impressed the organizers so much that they invited me, over all of the rest of the kids, to join them in New Jersey to compete against other members from the league.

As a result, I have my own racing colours (made for me and me alone, and presented to me at another famous racetrack), and I was able to go to New Jersey and race in the States at one of the tracks there. I didn’t win there, either, but I had an incredible time. The other cool part, to me anyway, is that I was only able to go to this camp in the first place because I wrote a really good essay - it was the first time my writing had won me anything, and one of the first times I’d been recognized on a professional level as being a fucking good equestrian.

Have there been any people that you care about now, but you had a bad first impression of?

This is mostly true of my first horse, to be honest. He was pig-stubborn and mulish to ride - truly exhausting compared to nearly every other horse I rode at the time, because he made you coax every single stride out of him. I’ve always preferred horses with a bit of zest to them, and he was the unzestiest beast I’d ridden. But we learned how to work together and as he got fitter and stronger and we put in the miles together, he became a lot more fun to ride, and his personality shone for miles. Still an exhausting horse to ride, but a productive exhaustion.