something growly, something cheery
Nov. 17th, 2012 06:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakNot a new fanfic pet peeve, an old one, but I was reminded of it the other day when hunting for M or Eve focused stories and finding nothing but Q - there are few things I abhorr more than people writing in fandoms where they're not familiar with the source. And just go by other people's fanfic or not even that, just the photos of pretty actors as inspiration. I LOATHE IT. I guess I should be grateful if people tag their stories to indicate they haven't seen the movie/haven't read the book/haven't watched the tv show, because that ensures I can stay the hell away from their stories, but I'm growling like a werewolf mid transformation whenever I read a tag or summary like that anyway.
Don't get me wrong: yes, I've occasionally read fanfic where I wasn't familiar with the source. Usually via a crossover where I knew about one of the fandoms but not the other and was curious enough to check out the story anyway; rarely, but it did happen, in cases where I liked the author via other stories so much and the summary made me think I might be able to follow the story despite not knowing the source. But that's reading. Writing is different. If you don't know the canon, how can I trust you as a reader to get the characters even remotely right?
That was your frustrated rant for the day. Meanwhile, on more fun news, we got a Doctor Who minisode and a trailer for the Christmas special. Hooray for the return of Madam Vashta, Jenny and Starx! Also given all the "of course it couldn't possibly be the same person" talk between Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Colman, I fully expect there to be a direct connection between Clara and Oswin. (And now my inner Buffy fan has to insert the obvious quote: "You mean there is a connection between Ben and Glory?") Speaking of Clara, whether or not she's related to Oswin or IS Oswin in a mysterious yet to be discovered fashion, one thing she's not is from contemporary England, so three cheers for that, too! I think she's the first female Companion not to be since Nyssa. (Not counting the audios, of course, all hail certain Egyptian queens in same.) (Which reminds me we also got an Egyptian queen on screen - do we now have debates whether or not Nefertiti counts as a Companion, a la debates about Sara Kingdom?) (The last non contemporary male Companion was Jack, natch.) And the first "historical" Companion since.... *squints* H.G. Wells travelled with Six? Anyway. Cheers for Clara!
On the downside, one thing in the prequel made me frown. Which is the Doctor deciding he's retired from the mystery investigating and people rescuing business post Amy and Rory. Look, fixed points in time exempted, Nine post Time War at his most shell shocked didn't do that. Nor did Ten. (Before anyone jumps on me, yes, Ten did plenty of other crappy things. But not that one.) The Doctor has his Companion-less interludes, but they don't stop him from adventuring and helping on his own. Yes, I get that this is so the new Companion can make her debut re-tying the Doctor to the universe and revitalizing him, but I think she could do that without this added melodrama which reminded me unfortunately of one of my least favourite things about Spider-man II, the scene where Peter Parker, having decided to quit the vigilante business, sees a mugging, and walks away. (The film giving us the wrong alternative of either being Spider-man or not helping people at all, when he could interfere in non-superhero ways - as, you k now, other people have been known to do when watching someone getting attacked by muggers.) Of course, we don't know yet that the Doctor will actually refuse to help in a comparable situation, and I hope I'm prematurely panicking here. Because it just strikes me as wrong. Also as angst for angst's sake, given that The Angels Take Manhattan went to some length to assure us Amy and Rory will have a good life together through the 20th century.
Don't get me wrong: yes, I've occasionally read fanfic where I wasn't familiar with the source. Usually via a crossover where I knew about one of the fandoms but not the other and was curious enough to check out the story anyway; rarely, but it did happen, in cases where I liked the author via other stories so much and the summary made me think I might be able to follow the story despite not knowing the source. But that's reading. Writing is different. If you don't know the canon, how can I trust you as a reader to get the characters even remotely right?
That was your frustrated rant for the day. Meanwhile, on more fun news, we got a Doctor Who minisode and a trailer for the Christmas special. Hooray for the return of Madam Vashta, Jenny and Starx! Also given all the "of course it couldn't possibly be the same person" talk between Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Colman, I fully expect there to be a direct connection between Clara and Oswin. (And now my inner Buffy fan has to insert the obvious quote: "You mean there is a connection between Ben and Glory?") Speaking of Clara, whether or not she's related to Oswin or IS Oswin in a mysterious yet to be discovered fashion, one thing she's not is from contemporary England, so three cheers for that, too! I think she's the first female Companion not to be since Nyssa. (Not counting the audios, of course, all hail certain Egyptian queens in same.) (Which reminds me we also got an Egyptian queen on screen - do we now have debates whether or not Nefertiti counts as a Companion, a la debates about Sara Kingdom?) (The last non contemporary male Companion was Jack, natch.) And the first "historical" Companion since.... *squints* H.G. Wells travelled with Six? Anyway. Cheers for Clara!
On the downside, one thing in the prequel made me frown. Which is the Doctor deciding he's retired from the mystery investigating and people rescuing business post Amy and Rory. Look, fixed points in time exempted, Nine post Time War at his most shell shocked didn't do that. Nor did Ten. (Before anyone jumps on me, yes, Ten did plenty of other crappy things. But not that one.) The Doctor has his Companion-less interludes, but they don't stop him from adventuring and helping on his own. Yes, I get that this is so the new Companion can make her debut re-tying the Doctor to the universe and revitalizing him, but I think she could do that without this added melodrama which reminded me unfortunately of one of my least favourite things about Spider-man II, the scene where Peter Parker, having decided to quit the vigilante business, sees a mugging, and walks away. (The film giving us the wrong alternative of either being Spider-man or not helping people at all, when he could interfere in non-superhero ways - as, you k now, other people have been known to do when watching someone getting attacked by muggers.) Of course, we don't know yet that the Doctor will actually refuse to help in a comparable situation, and I hope I'm prematurely panicking here. Because it just strikes me as wrong. Also as angst for angst's sake, given that The Angels Take Manhattan went to some length to assure us Amy and Rory will have a good life together through the 20th century.
