Interesting thoughts about post-Doomsday fic

[drakyndra]

I haven't been reading as much fic as of late - namely, since Doomsday aired. Partially because of the inevitable badfic wave which is swamping fandom, but mostly because even some fic writers who I normally quite like are taking their fics in directions I am not entirely comfortable with.

And I was having a bit of difficulty in expressing why.

However, then I stumbled across Battle of Wills (which is a highly amusing parody of said fics, by the way, and I'll recommend it to anyone), and castrovalva9 managed to explain the summary of said parody exactly why these fics weren't working for me.


"I've read quite a few post-"Doomsday" stories by now. While the odd one here and there has been outstanding, the plots of many horrify me. You've probably seen (perhaps even written!) some of the stories I mean: the ones where Rose spends most of her time bemoaning her meaningless life, mopes around listening to sappy songs and thinking about how well they describe her pathetic existence, cuts herself or commits suicide, etc. These stories basically posit that a Doctor-less Rose is a shell who can never lead a fulfilling life, because she is not an entire person in her own right and needs the Doctor to make her whole. I think that concept is pretty insulting and shallow, and it makes it seem like the authors don't like the character of Rose for herself, that they only like her when she is an extension of the Doctor.

Which is a long way of explaining why I wrote this story. I haven't always liked Rose, but she deserves some credit and respect."

And this is exactly the same for me. Yeah, I am not a particular fan of Rose. But the way these fics have been treating her is horrific. Aside from the rather offensive implication that the ordinary life isn't good enough for Rose (Dude, evem the Doctor can express how precious that is), the fact that people seem so content to make Rose wallow in her grief, or to fix things seems to show a remarkable lack of respect for the character.

And the remark about Rose only being liked as an extension of the Doctor - a terrifying thought, really, from the so-called fans of Rose, but it would account for a disturbingly large amount of reactions and fics.


So, to everyone else, thought, opinion?

Comments

[ant-power.livejournal.com]

I totally agree. I think the great thing about Rose is how independant she is. She's such a survivor and she really takes things as they come. I mean obviously she's going to be broken-hearted, but she's such a practical character it's impossible to imagine her not getting on with things. I really think that in the end, Rose would just be grateful for the time they did have together and that she got to travel with him and see all the things she got to see.

I think it basically just comes down to bad writing. Nearly every post-Doomsday fic I've read (not that I've read a heap yet), has had both Rose and the Doctor acting terribly OOC. The Doctor is all gushy and whiny and Rose is all co-dependant and pathetic, and the whole plot of most of these stories is either 'some miraculous happenstance reunites Rose and the Doctor, the end' or 'Rose and the Doctor are terribly distraught, the end' and I guess I just think there should be more to it.

[casirafics.livejournal.com]

My (slightly ship-centric) approach to Rose post-"Doomsday" goes about like this: if you've been cut out of a relationship with no real choice in the matter and no way to fix it, a mix of frustration, pain, helplessness, grief, and anger (if not at the person -- as in this case -- at least at the situation) are pretty much a given. But it doesn't mean you stop, or at least it shouldn't. I can't imagine Rose getting over it without the emotions lingering, but I also can't imagine her just lying down and pining away. She'd get on with things, and probably quite fiercely, as some redirected sort of revenge....

imho, etc., but I'd like to think that's not too far off base. ;)

[xwingace]

I'm going to rec a Rose-fic at you. :-) I'm biased because I beta'd it, but seti_drd really does a nice job of showing a Rose who is proactive and moves on. She doesn't hesitate to grasp her chance when she thinks she might get the Doctor back, but she makes the best of it and shows what she's learned even when it doesn't work.

As to the post itself, I can't do much more than agree. I haven't actually read all that many either, but a fair few of those I have show the Doctor moping and/or frantically trying to get her back in a way that implies that, Rose is *incapable* of doing anything other than get rescued. At best, Pete and his Torchwood staff get to do something to help.

XWA

[dune-drd.livejournal.com]

THis note is the exact reason why I haven't read the Doomsday fics out there. And it is exactly the reason why I wrote Rose/OC *hides*

[nostalgia-lj.livejournal.com]

It's the idea that they can't live without each other, isn't it? That they can't be allowed to. They have to be reunited, no matter what that says about either of them. So many scenarios that are plausible don't seem to be getting written. Her getting the chance and deciding to stay because now she knows what she needed and she misses it, but she's not going back. The one where the Doctor could go back for her and gets all "do I have any right to do that?" And Rose, at least with time to reflect on it, would realise that the Doctor moves on. If she waits for twenty years, she's setting herself up to get horribly let down when he's with someone new.

No one really cares about them outside their ship. Rose especially, which is pretty distressing when fandom claims to love her so much. I notice in the little I've read that the reunion is often (usuall?) taken as an end in itself. The story is over once they're back together, because that's the only thing that matters. And no matter what Rose is doing, of course she goes back, because what she wanted when she was crying at that wall is what she wants five years later when she's got a new life and has had a chance to think about it all.

[--kali--.livejournal.com]

Maybe now we've got Martha (and lots of the more passionate Doctor/Rose shippers have left fandom in disgust because Rose isn't with him anymore) this won't be such an all pervasive thing...

[plsteward.livejournal.com]

Eh, lucky me, DW isn't my only fandom (& not my main one either.) DW fics, well, there are older ones that I'm just now finding that I like, but I have yet to find a fic I love. For me it isn't just the flood of badfic (not that it isn't playing a roll) it's that DW is something I watch & read meta for.

I've yet to find a Rose in fic that strikes me as the Rose from 2005 or the Rose I like (in 2006 Rose kinda felt flat.) But even if I could find a good fic Rose, I'm still more into Mickey, Jack, or the TARDIS. Maybe it's how I was introdused to fanfic, but for the most part Rose in fic has never done anything for me & now with the fixits, redos, & such, I'm bored with DW fanfic & have left for more interesting climes (like Stargate Atlantis & anime.)