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So, I have worked out what it is that gave me that blood blister on my foot yesterday. There's a broken zip on the cushion next to my bed. How did I work this out, you ask.
Well, I stepped on it. Again.
I hope I didn't get blood on the carpet.
Teh Links List is almost done - I'll have it up later tonight. It's rather shorter than the last (being out of the inital post-Doomsday boom), and appears to contain a worryingly high proportion of Martha fics. The advantage of an as yet impossible to be OOC character, I suppose.
Oh, and there are two more sections of the bad_penny thing up.
Also, on a vaguely meta note: "if [x] was here now they wouldn't love this version, how could they love this version?" is quite possibly the stupidest bit of Doctor vs Doctor character criticism I have ever come across.
Newsflash: There are plenty of truly horrible people - in fiction and in the Real World - who have been loved fiercely by others. And there are plenty of good characters, of good people who are alone, who receive little love. Love is not a question of worthiness. Someone's love is not a prize given to the most deserving.
And yet, time after time, I've seen this used in the Nine versus Ten thing. Sometimes the criticism is derived from it "Well, Rose/Jack/the TARDIS can't possibly love Ten as much as Nine, so he can't possibly be as good." Love is not a measuring stick. Love is not controlled. Love is not like money, that you can hand out to worthy. Love is not a promotion, that is handed out to the most deserving. More love does not make you a better person. Not being loved does not make you a worse person.
And from the other side, I'm pretty certain you've heard the quote, "Love is blind." We do not choose who we love, it's not something that can be controlled. People love others for all sorts of daft reasons, others who might be utter saints - or horrific monsters. You can't help loving who you do (though how one acts on this is a different topic). If X does not love Ten as much as Nine it does not mean Ten is any less good. It means that for whatever reason - the randomness of chance, the interplay of personalities, the specific points in life of both characters - that X does not love Ten as much. Nothing more.
Certain fans ought to keep that in mind, too: Just because you dislike a character/episode/series doesn't mean it is bad. It just means that aspects of said thing are less desirable to you. Like I said, Love isn't a measuring stick, you can't use it to quantify things.
Of course, there's also the "I don't like Ten as much as Nine, so [insert chracter of choice] won't love them as much" argument. Um, do people who state this realize how obvious they are making their character as fan-avatar here? Shock, horror, your opinions are not the characters, okay? Just because you like a character less doesn't mean that your favourite will, too. You are not that character.
This may explain my dislike of bashing and agenda fics. Because they are so obviously the author's bias instead of the actual canon. It's making the characters act how you think they should act, rather than how they would actually act.
*determinedly does not go off on a tangent wondering about certain Nine/Rose fen with a dislike of S2!Rose (who also never liked Ten) comes from genuine dislike of the canon, or just residual anger that Rose showed love for a character they thought wasn't worthy of her ala Harmonians bitching about the degraded Hermione in HBP, who incidentally showed attraction to Ron*
Dislike an incarnation of the Doctor as much as you will, but for Christ's sake, stop trying to lay your opinion on the other characters - or even thinking that romantic love matters in how good a character is. And if your main criticism of a certain character is that"x could never love them", then you really ought to take a good look at the fandom you are in.
As I always say, when it comes to (this) fandom, shipping is the icing, not the blooming cake. It's an extra, not the entire point. If all you can focus on is the icing, you might want to remember too much can do some bad things for health.
Well, I stepped on it. Again.
I hope I didn't get blood on the carpet.
Teh Links List is almost done - I'll have it up later tonight. It's rather shorter than the last (being out of the inital post-Doomsday boom), and appears to contain a worryingly high proportion of Martha fics. The advantage of an as yet impossible to be OOC character, I suppose.
Oh, and there are two more sections of the bad_penny thing up.
Also, on a vaguely meta note: "if [x] was here now they wouldn't love this version, how could they love this version?" is quite possibly the stupidest bit of Doctor vs Doctor character criticism I have ever come across.
Newsflash: There are plenty of truly horrible people - in fiction and in the Real World - who have been loved fiercely by others. And there are plenty of good characters, of good people who are alone, who receive little love. Love is not a question of worthiness. Someone's love is not a prize given to the most deserving.
And yet, time after time, I've seen this used in the Nine versus Ten thing. Sometimes the criticism is derived from it "Well, Rose/Jack/the TARDIS can't possibly love Ten as much as Nine, so he can't possibly be as good." Love is not a measuring stick. Love is not controlled. Love is not like money, that you can hand out to worthy. Love is not a promotion, that is handed out to the most deserving. More love does not make you a better person. Not being loved does not make you a worse person.
And from the other side, I'm pretty certain you've heard the quote, "Love is blind." We do not choose who we love, it's not something that can be controlled. People love others for all sorts of daft reasons, others who might be utter saints - or horrific monsters. You can't help loving who you do (though how one acts on this is a different topic). If X does not love Ten as much as Nine it does not mean Ten is any less good. It means that for whatever reason - the randomness of chance, the interplay of personalities, the specific points in life of both characters - that X does not love Ten as much. Nothing more.
Certain fans ought to keep that in mind, too: Just because you dislike a character/episode/series doesn't mean it is bad. It just means that aspects of said thing are less desirable to you. Like I said, Love isn't a measuring stick, you can't use it to quantify things.
Of course, there's also the "I don't like Ten as much as Nine, so [insert chracter of choice] won't love them as much" argument. Um, do people who state this realize how obvious they are making their character as fan-avatar here? Shock, horror, your opinions are not the characters, okay? Just because you like a character less doesn't mean that your favourite will, too. You are not that character.
This may explain my dislike of bashing and agenda fics. Because they are so obviously the author's bias instead of the actual canon. It's making the characters act how you think they should act, rather than how they would actually act.
Dislike an incarnation of the Doctor as much as you will, but for Christ's sake, stop trying to lay your opinion on the other characters - or even thinking that romantic love matters in how good a character is. And if your main criticism of a certain character is that"x could never love them", then you really ought to take a good look at the fandom you are in.
As I always say, when it comes to (this) fandom, shipping is the icing, not the blooming cake. It's an extra, not the entire point. If all you can focus on is the icing, you might want to remember too much can do some bad things for health.
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Shall we be blister sisters?
Yes this whole comment was so I could make that rhyme. I am sad.
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Lulz blister sisters.
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Fandom is weird. Sure there are characters I identify with more than others, but I don't think they are me. And I certainly don't expect any of them to love (or hate) another character just because I do. It's like all those post-GitF fics where the Doctor suddenly decides he didn't like Reinette all that much after all. Just because you want the Doctor to love only
youRose, doesn't mean it's in character for him to do so!From:
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Incidentally, I've only ever read this for shippy related stuff. Funny, that. Which is possibly where the tangent I am not going to go off on came from.
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Oh, and major points on the excellent icing/cake metaphor as well. ^_~ I'm becoming irritated with all the people who forget that Doctor Who isn't just about who's (possibly) in love with whom, and whether or not they're having random sex all over the TARDIS. (If you want to exercise all your uber-emotional romance/sex fantasies via television, that's what American programming is for! =P)
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And getting the actor mixed up with the character is never a good thing - I mean, in the HP fandom, the actress who played Cho got hate mail before she ever hit the screen, just because she got to kiss Harry, OH NOES!
Crack metaphors are a sort of running theme with my meta, as people on my flist can tell you. And, yeah, romance isn't the sole thing in characterisation. At times I get a bit sick of looking for good character fics, and only being able to find shippy stuff. *is fond of genfic*
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