Creatures of the Night

Ell stole this list for her blog and now I'm unceremoniously stealing it for my own :) The point of this list is to mention a novel I've read that included one of these supernatural creatures:

1. Vampire
I am a fan of vampires. Saying that as a girl and people immediately think I'm referring to Twilight. No. I like the classics! But to be fair I haven't really read that many books including vampires. The latest one I can remember is the short story The Vampyre, written in 1819 by John Polidori. The story to inspire them all, and it really is amazing.

2. Werewolf
On the other hand I'm not overly fond of werewolves, and since I really want to do this list without mentioning Harry Potter I'm going to have to go with The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack by Mark Hodder. Though what features in that book probably isn't 'true' werewolves... But it's the only one I've got!

3. Zombie
I haven't even started reading The Walking Dead yet. Does it count with the resurrected family members in the end of Pet Sematary? Cause they really aren't alive anymore... I don't really do zombies.

4. Ghost
The obvious choice here is Death Watch by Ari Berk, and basically the entire Undertaker Trilogy. Read it if you haven't. It's a book series about death. Old lore about death and burial traditions in lots of different cultures. Lots of ghosts feature, and wraiths, and liches...

5. Witch/Warlock/Spellcaster
Not going with Harry Potter the obvious one for me here is The Belgariad by David Eddings. Belgarath was my first ever favourite character in a high fantasy series. He's a magician, a sorcerer, a warlock, and there are so many more of his kind involved in this series. Granted that last time I read the series I was 18, but I thought it was wonderful back then. I should re-read it.

6. Fairy/Fae
Stardust by Neil Gaiman. I don't remember much of the story unfortunately, but I know there are fairies in it!

7. Demon
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman. Could've gone with Sandman, but I want to keep this list free of graphic novels. One of the main characters in Good Omens is a demon.

8. Angel
He's not a very good angel, but he's an angel all the same - Islington in Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.

9. Alien
I don't read much sci-fi. Unless it's Doctor Who. So I'm gonna go with Ten Little Aliens by Stephen Cole. The title says it all, right?

10. Superpowered human
I thought this one would be easy, but I was wrong :P I'm going with Firestarter by Stephen King. A couple needs some extra money while in college and apply themselves as test subjects. Both of them develop supernatural abilities, and their daughter is born pyrokinetic.

This was fun and Halloween appropriate :D However, while writing this I came up with several more titles that I'd like to recommend to people interested in any of these creatures. Some of these suggestions may be better/more appropriate than the ones mentioned above, but I decided to keep it as I wrote it.
Vampires - The Vampyre, By Blood We Live, Skulduggery Pleasant, Vampirates, Låt Den Rätte Komma In, The Decided Ones
Werewolves - Skary Childrin and the Carousel of Sorrow, The Werewolf
Zombie - The Walking Dead, Necronomicon, The Cunning Man
Ghost - The Graveyard Book, Rivers of London
Witch/Warlock/Spellcaster - The First Law, Rivers of London, Den of Thieves, Courtney Crumrin, Assassin's Apprentice, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, The Wild Hunt, Skulduggery Pleasant
Demon - Dancing Jax, Sandman, Courtney Crumrin, Mister B. Gone
Alien - Necronomicon
Superpowered human - Heroes, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, The Dead Zone

Comic Con Stockholm

Comic Con has come to Sweden! Technically, it's a mash-up with Gamex, but it's here! So we decided to go there today. It's in Stockholm this weekend and then in Malmö next weekend :)

The first thing I noticed when we went inside was the booth with mochi ice cream. Just like that I was in heaven. I didn't have a lot of money to spend so I decided to be careful.

We went around the entire place. It wasn't very big tbh. I had expected something like UppCon, which had three floors of stuff when I was there in 09. This was just one floor. Anyway it was a lot of fun walking around the booths.

 Crowd pictures from UppCon:09

I don't know a lot about comics tbh. I only just started out in the comic world a few years ago. Before that I was so much into manga. However there was enough Japanese/Korean manga/anime stuff that I felt up to speed. And there was so much Doctor Who! I was so excited when I discovered a volume of Prisoners of Time and then I was so disappointed when I realised they didn't have the first volume.

We walked around looking at stuff in all the booths and also looking at some gameplay in the different Gamex booths that were in the same hall. But it did annoy us that it was mostly 10 year olds who played the new Battlefield. The game is PG-18! You're not allowed to play it. GTFO. It was so much fun and such a flashback to UppCon watching people play Dance Dance Revolution. It was also interesting to see people play The Sims 4, Dragon Age 3, Witcher 3, Little Big Planet 3, Kingdom Hearts, and Assassin's Creed Unity.

But the stuff! I get excited about nerdy stuff and there was so much I wanted to buy. Cute alpacas, Gloomys, MyMelo, Mokonas, etc... Japanese sweets, a whole bunch of Studio Ghibli movies, half a library of graphic novels, art books, and comics, and a whole lot of Doctor Who, Elder Scrolls, Harry Potter, Death Note, One Piece, and Naruto merch. Basically, I wanted to buy most of the place. But in the end I let my Gaiman fangirl take over and I bought The Graveyard Book graphic novel vol. 1 along with The Sandman Companion. I haven't read the entire Sandman series yet, but I love what I've read and in-depth interviews with Gaiman and the artists behind it? Yes, please! The Graveyard Book graphic novel is new - released this year - and I've been excited about it since I read about its release. Mostly because I have read and loved the book.

I also decided to buy the first collection volume of Fables. Ever since I started playing The Wolf Among Us I've wanted to read the comics it's based on, but I haven't been able to find the beginning of it anywhere. So when I saw it I grabbed it.

After about 3 rounds around the hall we were pretty tired so we decided to grab our coats and leave for home. While the boys grabbed our coats I decided to buy a bunch of mochi ice cream. I was most interested in the purely Japanese flavours. One mochi for 25 and 5 for 100 (SEK) I decided to go for 5. Here are my flavours: Sakura, matcha, azuki bean, strawberry, and vanilla. I wasn't a fan of matcha when I was in Japan, but I thought I'd give it another go. Still didn't like it. I took only one bite out of it and was 'nope'. But the other ones were so delicious! Especially the azuki and vanilla ones :D Need to remember to check out Bubbies in Stockholm!

And I'll end with this one - Halloween and comics. Very appropriate for this post, don't you think? Then there's the fact that Amy Dallen is paramount for me to learn about the world of comics!

Skyrim adventures #2

Part 1.

Although I had been a member of the Mages Guilds in both Morrowind and Cyrodiil I had never really learnt how to use magic. In Morrowind I only ever used enchanted objects, scrolls, and potions. Never any spells or magic of my own. And in Cyrodiil the only spell I ever used was a simple healing spell. Now I thought it high time I learned! At the College I was introduced to my teacher Tolfdir and my fellow apprentices Onmund, J'zargo and Brelyna. As I've said before luck was never really on my side and I had a tendency to fall into things best left forgotten. This time I managed to get in contact with the Psijic Order and find a huge magical orb which no one seems to know what it is. Just my luck!

So while the Masters tried to find out what it was I busied myself with my fellow apprentices, and also with some of the more senior members. Arniel's experiment intrigues me and I hope to be with him all the way and see what he's working on. J'zargo's scrolls almost killed me! Brelyna turned me green and then into a cow! Thank the gods Onmund only asked me to get back an amulet of his. But Brelyna was incredibly cute and when I asked her if she liked me she said yes. We got married immediately. Maybe a little too soon? But it always warms my heart to come home and see her there. J'zargo became my follower for a while, while I found out more about the Orb inside the Midden Dark, and while the entire College unravelled once the Thalmor Ancano got his hands on the Eye. However, Onmund became the friend who went with me to Labyrinthian to find the Staff of Magnus to help control the Eye. There's no way to describe the relief I felt after I had defeated Ancano and the Psijic Order came and took the Eye away. I'd rather not have that thing anywhere close to me, thank you very much. The Psijic Order also appointed me the new Arch-Mage after Savos had died during the fight. It felt weird. I had just joined! I was no master of magic! But if he said so...

Arniel's experiment involved Keening! Never thought I'd see Keening again. Keening and Sunder, such big help when I defeated Dagoth Ur :) Arniel managed to recreate the events that led to the Dwemer disappearance. I was impressed. Not even Yagrum Bagarn knew what happened to his people.

I started noticing that I was being pulled back into Morrowind. I got several quests asking me to go to Solstheim, and I was even attacked by cultists accusing me of being a fake Dragonborn! The hell? The notes on them mentioned Solstheim. But I don't want to go back to Morrowind. Not yet anyway. Instead I decided to check out the Companions, which is the Fighters Guild equivalent in Skyrim. I had been a member of the Fighters Guilds in both Morrowind and Cyrodiil, and expected something similar. But the Companions have a secret: the most trusted members are werewolves. Farkas scared the shit out of me when he transformed in front of me to fight off the group that's been hunting them for being werewolves.

Because I knew of their secret I was very soon inducted into the Circle after I had joined the Companions. I became a werewolf. Aela brought me to kill off some Silver Hands, and that's when we found they had killed Skjor. Vengeance had us chasing down the Silver Hands, killing their leaders, stealing their plans... and then Kodlak found out. He admonished us for our behaviour and then sent me off to kill the Glenmoril Witches so that he might be cured of his lycanthropy. But when I got back it became awfully obvious that something was wrong. The Silver Hand had attacked Jorrvaskr, and when I got inside I found out that they had killed Kodlak. That old man had become so dear to me during the short time I had been with the Companions. I went with Vilkas to get back the shards of Wuuthrad and wipe out the Silver Hand in vengeance. I thought it had diminished my sorrow to deal with them, but then I found Kodlak's journal when Eorlund asked me to get Kodlak's piece of Wuuthrad. I read his thoughts and hopes, and it made me miss him so much. I attended his funeral and then agreed with the remaining members of the Circle to go to the Tomb of Ysgramor and attempt to cure Kodlak even in death.

At the Tomb we battled the Companions of old to prove our worth, and then we found the burial chamber. Kodlak was there and we attempted his way of curing himself. Aela and I fought his wolf spirit and won, thus succeeding in curing Kodlak. He promised to try and help cure the Harbingers before him when he had arrived in Sovngarde. Before he left he made me the new Harbinger. Once again it felt weird. I had only been with them for a short while. Maybe it's a Nord thing to place trust in someone you've only just met just cause they seem honorable?

Anyway, after having become both Arch-Mage and Harbinger I decided to take Hadvar up on his word that I should join the Legion. I travelled to Solitude and spoke with General Tullius. I soon became very attached to both him and Rikke as we fought to reunite Skyrim. While fighting in the civil war I also kept doing small jobs for the Blades, the Companions, and the College. Those jobs helped me a lot in exploring Skyrim. There's so much to see!

The thrill of fighting a big battle in a war should never be underestimated. The rush of adrenalin during the battle of Windhelm was incredible. But Tullius, Rikke and I made our way to the Palace of the Kings and inside Ulfric was waiting, along with his right hand Galmar. We killed them both and just like that Skyrim was free of his fake reign. It felt sort of anti-climactic but still very elating.

Magic, horror and history

I haven't blogged in forever again. That's what happens when I get stuck in something. Most recently it's my latest Skyrim playthrough, but I also have a whole bunch of short story competitions that I want to send stuff to, so I'm working on several ideas for short stories right now. Making deadlines is so stressful. I wonder how I'll do when NaNoWriMo starts next week xD I'm not really sure what to do with this post. Books, maybe? I haven't really talked about books in a while.

So the last book I had started reading when I last talked about books was Dancing Jax by Robin Jarvis. It took a really long time for me to really get into the book. It was slow to start and none of the characters managed to catch my attention. None of them were really interesting. I loved the concept of the book and I may continue reading the series just because the concept is amazing, but the execution still remains tedious. It was kind of disappointing tbh, because the cover looked so exciting. It looks like it promises a chilling, possibly horror-filled, ride through something fantastical. In reality it's the real world with something evil in it. I assume that the author has read Lovecraft and tried to make the bad guy Lovecraft-inspired, but failing miserably. I know Lovecraft is adult fiction and this author aims for youth fiction, but nah... The storytelling is too simplistic. The only thing that made me smile occasionally was the several references to Doctor Who and Star Trek, coming from the main character who's a major nerd.

I picked up Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch after that. It's sort of a crime novel involving magic. I thought the magic part would make the crime genre more interesting, and it did, but not as much as I would've liked. Crime really isn't my thing. So although this crime novel was more interesting than general crime novels, it wasn't as exciting as I had hoped. There was a Sorcerer's Apprentice vibe to it too. That was fun, but I feel like the author tried too much. He tried to be a little bit of everything and the final picture ended up being very divided. Since it's a British contemporary novel about magic and wizards there were ofc plenty of Harry Potter references that made me smile.

"So magic is real. Which makes you a... what?"
"A wizard."
"Like Harry Potter?"
"No, not like Harry Potter."

"What about Voldemort?"
"He's got my number." 

"Would it kill us to have an official branch of government that handled the supernatural?"
"A Ministry of Magic?"
"Ha-bloody-ha."

Then there was The Complete History of Jack the Ripper by Philip Sugden. I've always had a thing for Jack the Ripper. Like a fascination with his story. I'm not fascinated by the murders (I'm not that guy), but by everything surrounding it, and the legend that grew from the fact that they never caught him. I had my own theory about why - they were all so focused on the fact that it was a man that they never looked for the possibility that it might be a woman and thus she walked free. A woman, maybe a prostitue herself, could've been around the victims without arousing any suspicion from the surroundings or the victims. But although I can't remember what convinced me now, there was something when I read that made me realise that no woman could do that. I think it was the fact that some of the victims had been strangled by hand. And I believe no woman of that time had enough upper-body strength to do that against somebody of her own size. Unless the woman was very big and that wouldn't have been very inconspicuous. Anyway it was a very interesting read. Recommended to everyone with the slightest fascination for the legend that is Jack the Ripper.

Most recently I read Den of Thieves by David Chandler. It was a fairly standard fantasy novel. The young thief in the rich city that gets pulled into an adventure with magic, demons, wizards, maidens and knights. It was entertaining, but not much more than that. I'll probably continue reading the series, though, because this is just the type of story that I like. Although it wasn't extremely captivating it was still entertainment of an easy kind. I enjoy that from time to time.

The book I'm currently getting into is a short story collection: Night Terrors: The Ghost Stories of E.F. Benson. Perfect at this time of year!

When I decided to make my new Skyrim adventures into a serial #1

I started up Skyrim again. Mostly because I wanted to get those last four pesky achis  on Steam. But while I worked on my old char I fell in love with the game all over again and decided to start anew. I Skyrimised the dark elf I used in both Morrowind and Oblivion, and after an intense modding session I was off into a whole new world, although it was my fourth attempt at a playthrough (fifth if you count the one I started on the 360). But while playing with this new char an idea formed in my head to make a sort of serial, or feuilleton, of my new char's adventures. I thought it would be a fun way for me to keep my writing active while I'm looking for new ideas, and also maybe someone would find it fun to read? Anyway, here we go.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Hi, my name is Neela and I'm a Dunmer born and raised in Mournhold, the capital of Morrowind. When I was little I was told by my parents that shortly after I was born I was cursed to live a 1000 years, by some unknown wizard. Thus far I'm about 250 years old (I've lost count), but I neither look nor feel any older than 20.

I was very young when I ran away from Mournhold and made my way into Cyrodiil. I found my way to the Imperial City and there I was soon arrested for thieving. Before I knew it I was on a ship, transported to Vvardenfell, and thus back to Morrowind. While I was there I got caught up in all sorts of things and I hardly had time to stop and reflect. Soon I was frequently speaking with Azura and after no time at all I found myself in the middle of the Red Mountain on my way to fight Dagoth Ur and end the Blight. I still don't know how that happened, but for a long while afterwards people kept calling me the Nerevarine.

I got involved with the Morag Tong and found myself fighting a war against the Dark Brotherhood. I was sent to Cheydinhal to find out where they were hiding and finish them off, but I was discovered and once again found myself in a prison cell in the Imperial City. In Cyrodiil no one knew of the Nerevarine and the title that gave me access anywhere in Morrowind held no value there. I was released by one of the Emperor's whims and had to watch him die. I once again got caught up in events I couldn't control and before I knew it I was the Hero of Kvatch, the Savior of Bruma and the Champion of Cyrodiil. All because I was dim-witted enough to enter through a portal to the Oblivion realm of Mehrunes Dagon. Repeatedly. And come out alive. Repeatedly. After saving Cyrodiil I felt like I belonged there more than I did in the politically divided, hostile and complicated province of Morrowind from which I hail, so I decided to stay in Cyrodiil. My loyalties changed and I soon found myself a member of the Dark Brotherhood rather than Morag Tong. That's when I found the door to Sheogorath's realm of the Shivering Isles.

I lived in the city of Mania in the Shivering Isles for 200 years, before I decided that I had had enough of madness and I made my way back to Cyrodiil, up north, past Bruma and towards the border to Skyrim. Maybe some rowdy Nords would be a nice change of scenery? But luck was never really on my side, and just before crossing the border I found myself in an ambush and taken to my execution. It had been 200 years, no one would believe me if I told them I was the Nerevarine or the Champion of Cyrodiil, so I kept my mouth shut and obediently walked towards the execution block. I was cursed to live for another 750 years - either the curse had broken during my time in Sheogorath's realm or something would happen. Something did happen. A huge black dragon something. I managed to escape a destroyed Helgen with Hadvar who showed me the way to Riverwood and from there to Whiterun to get a message to the Jarl. There I made my first friend in Lydia, who followed me on my adventures. She was a great help on my journet up the 7,000 steps to High Hrothgar! Though, she did have a tendency of always blocking my way. Lydia, you're adorable but a little dense.

Things spiralled out of control again and after I had enforced a temporary treaty in the civil war I found myself riding on the back of a dragon named Odahviing, on my way to Skuldafn and then onwards to Sovngarde. Sovngarde was amazing and I suddenly wished I was a Nord. It was amazing battling Alduin alongside the Nord heroes of old, and when he was finally defeated and dissolved into nothing I didn't miss one second of it. I was returned to Skyrim and the Throat of the World by the gatekeeper Tsun, and there I was greeted by Paarthurnax and many other dragons as Dovahkiin. Great - another title.

I returned to the Greybeards and then the Blades and was devastated by Delphine asking me to kill Paarthurnax if I wanted to continue being one of them. I decided I'd rather be a Blade than living the Way of the Voice and travelled back to the Throat of the World to kill one of the dragons who'd become my friend. With Paarthurnax dead I returned to the Blades and asked Lydia to become one of us. I did the same with the sellswords Jenassa and Marcurio, both of whom I had run into while finding a way to defeat Alduin.

I bought a house, my first, in Whiterun and then went on to explore the Bards College in Solitude. I thought that would be a nice way to relax after fighting dragons and saving the world (again), but nope. Viarmo immediately had me running off into a Nord ruin fighting draugr to find Olaf's verse. I succeeded in becoming a bard and after helping several of the members of the College recover stolen instruments of value, I decided to take a quick trip back home. There I brawled with Uthgerd and won so she became my new friend and follower when I went on my way to explore the College of Winterhold.

Social stigma in literature

So the Nobel laureate in literature has been revealed. Yet another guy I have never heard of, and probably whose work I'll never read. Yet another French guy. Haven't we had a truck load of those already?

I was excited to learn that Haruki Murakami was among the nominees this year. I thought that maybe some things were beginning to change. But no.

It's my opinion that there's a social stigma in literature. It has to be realistic and fanciful. There's no room for any fantastical sort of book in "proper literature", not even if it's the sort of fantastical realism that Murakami has in some of his books. There's a social stigma towards sci-fi, fantasy, steampunk, horror, and generally any book containing fantastical elements. As soon as the fantastical element is introduced the book is degraded as second-rate literature, not worthy of the literature snobs. I could give many examples of authors who've shaped today's literature, and none of them would have any place in any literature snob's bookcase, and most of the mainstream populace would never have heard of them. On the other hand, the mainstream populace generally doesn't seem to know about the Nobel laureate until he's revealed and then everyone rushes to read his work to appear educated. I say 'he' because it generally is a man.

I can tell you about authors who are important and who a great deal many people have heard of:
• Astrid Lindgren - her children's books shaped Swedish culture. But she wrote children's books (sometimes with a fantastical streak) and is thus not a worthy nominee for the Nobel prize. Not even posthumously.

• H.P. Lovecraft - laid the groundwork for the horror, sci-fi, and fantasy genres back in the 1930s. Without his influences would we have a certain successful writer called Stephen King today? But his stories are fantastical and not worthy of the Nobel prize.

• Lewis Carroll, C.S. Lewis, L. Frank Baum, J.R.R. Tolkien - all part of our culture today. Or do you seriously want to tell me you've never heard of Alice in Wonderland, Narnia, The Wizard of Oz, and Lord of the Rings? They shaped children's books and fantasy for us. But their stories are fantastical and/or children's books and not worthy.

I know most of them wrote their stories in the late 19th century or very early 20th century, but the stigma from those days persist until today. When someone says they study literature you immediately assume they're talking about Shakespeare, Voltaire, Balzac, Proust, Steinbeck etc... Not even once do you consider that there might be other literature besides the snobbish classical literature that's worthy of study. That's wrong. Why would Balzac or Steinbeck be more "worthy" than Jules Verne and Tolkien? Alright, so I know that none of those I mentioned in my list are possible nominees today, but how about my next one. And consider this: I'm telling you from an outside perspective and not because I'm a huge fan.

If there's someone today worthy to be a Nobel laureate it's J.K. Rowling. How many of you sighed and rolled your eyes just now? Most of you, I assume. But hear me out.
• Harry Potter is the most sold children's book series ever. Not just the past 20 years, but since forever. That means it has sold more than The Wizard of Oz books and more than the Narnia books, and those series have had a 60-100 years to sell - Harry Potter has had less than 20 years.
• There aren't many places you can go (if anywhere) where people haven't heard of Harry Potter.
• And if you're looking for a reason those books have benefited humanity (as is the original demand for the prize): in an age where books have lost their importance in the eyes of young people the Harry Potter series has made an entire generation interested in reading. Fans have expressed a wish to learn Latin to better understand the spells. A book series that promotes reading and learning and succeeds - isn't that something special? Something to note?
But although I'm the one writing this, and although I really wish this would happen - I honestly think it never will. Because the social stigma that states that fantastical literature is crappy literature lives on.

I found today that outside of the world of Nobel laureates and mainstream book shops that only host half a bookcase of fantasy - that stigma has also nestled it's way inside me. I recently sent a short story to a competition via a community. Everyone who's a member of the community can read and rate the short stories - even if they don't compete. I read through some of the stories today and all of the ones I read were realistic ones. I'm not a fan of general fiction. I tend to think it's boring and I have problems getting drawn into the story and general fiction hardly ever catches my eye or interest. But the comments and ratings for those stories were generally favourable. And there I am having sent in a fantastical one. And although I feel myself that it's one of my greatest pieces I feel that no one else will really feel that way. Not because I think too highly of myself, because I generally don't, but because of the stigma that says fantastical = crappy.

So just for once I wish a fantastical writer could become a laureate. People always rush to buy and read the work of a newly announced laureate, and if my dream ever comes true that a fantastical writer is awarded the prize then that social stigma might just disappear and my work along with the work of other writers of fantastical genres will maybe finally be seen in a new and better light. The way it is now fantastical genres (especially fantasy, sci-fi, steampunk, and horror) tend to be obscure genres for nerds that the general populace don't read.

It's fine if you've tried and didn't like it, but you can't throw a whole world away because it's, like one of my classmates in university French once said, hittepå (meaning made-up).

Currently on TV

Autumn is here and that means that a whole lot of the TV shows I'm following have new seasons. Here's what I'm following this autumn:

America's Next Top Model, cycle 21: I'm not a fan of reality shows, honestly. But with ANTM I just can't help myself. I've been watching this show since I was 15, and although it's not as good anymore I just can't help but keep following it. I love that it wasn't a one-time thing to have guys on the show. They're back for this cycle! I love that Miss J is back! ANTM without the Js just felt wrong. I don't have any clear favourites this cycle, though. The ones I like the most are Lenox and Will. I liked Romeo as well, because he was the odd one out and I tend to like the odd ones. I just wish he hadn't gotten that drunken temper and hit Adam. He'd still be there if he hadn't. But on the upside, Lenox wouldn't be around if Romeo still was...

Doctor Who, series 8: CAPALDIIII!!! Still love him. I don't understand why everyone seems to complain that he's too grumpy. I love his personality. I love how he's different from the other New Who Doctors and how Capaldi's Doctor is more like the Classic Who Doctors. My favourite episodes this far have been Time Heist and Into the Dalek. Listen was great but fell flat when the source of everything was revealed. That just ruined everything.

The Big Bang Theory, season 8: Penny changed her hair. She looks so grown up now. Not much has really happened in the two aired episodes yet, but I laughed my ass off this week when Howard was gonna make that pitch.

Downton Abbey, season 5: I feel so sorry for Edith. I hope the plan works out for her so she can be with Marigold. I'm not sure I like where the difference of opinion is taking Tom and Robert... And I'm not sure Mary will manage to keep it a secret that she snuck off on a sex trip with Tony... And I'm so shipping Mrs Hughes with Carson!

Grey's Anatomy, season 11: Maggie Pierce. She's good. I like that they gave her a whole episode to introduce her properly. Meredith is an ass to her, but she probably just misses Cristina. Who doesn't miss Cristina? I just hope Richard will find the courage to tell Maggie what he knows. I laughed out loud during the latest episode when Maggie burst out: "Is everyone in this room somehow related?!" and I was like "Yes. Yes, you are." I really like how she's becoming friends with Derek's sister (I can't remember her name). I think I'm gonna like this season. But Meredith needs to stop being cranky.

Once Upon a Time, season 4: Frozen has come to Storybrooke. I'm actually a little disappointed that they went full-out Frozen and not H.C. Andersen. But I'm gonna have to live with that. I loved Sven, but I'm not sure about Kristoff. I'm on team OutlawQueen so I hate Marian. And as per usual the big question after the first episode was: WTH is Rumple up to?!?
Some things never change.

The Vampire Diaries, season 6: DAAAAAAAAAAAMOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!! T_T After the first episode of season 6 that's basically still all I feel. Still want to punch Stefan because I don't like him. I don't like the twins. Elena is moody. Tyler is back to his old aggressive self. Alaric is too mellow. Basically the only character I like is Caroline. I need Damon back.

Gracepoint, season 1: I love how they treat Gracepoint as a brand new thing, when it's just a remake of Broadchurch that screened last year. The first episode of Gracepoint wasn't as intriguing as the first episode of Broadchurch. Gracepoint seems to basically be Broadchurch without all the good parts :P Why is there even a need for an American remake? I watch it because Tennant is in it. Other than that I don't recognise any of the actors.

The Originals, season 2: Spin-off of The Vampire Diaries. I watched the first season earlier this year and was completely hooked. I really like Davina and Elijah is still my favourite Original. With Haley as a hybrid it's bound to be an interesting second season.

The Walking Dead, season 5: Next week! There was so much shit happening last season that I'm really excited about this one. Though I have a bad feeling one of the mains is gonna die... I'm almost scared to watch. As long as no one touches Glen&Maggie! Or Daryl. And call me crazy but I ship Daryl with Beth.

Otherwise there are a few other TV shows that I'm trying to watch along side these: Classic Doctor Who (currently at season 8), Star Trek TOS, Lost, Pokémon and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. Currently. There's a long list of series I should watch so I have my work cut out for me :P