Meta-Level Rubbish Disguises

[x_losfic]

Read a 'Twissy' fic (smush names and I will never be friends) today which was *awkwardly reminiscent* of a particular older D/M fic. At least the second time I've read a Twelve/Gomez!Master fic and thought 'maaaaan, of course there's likely to be some influence from older D/M fic coming through, but that is a really *specific* unacknowledged

Comments

[jisa_patryn]

I think what really frustrates me about trying to be engaged in the Twelve/Gomez!Master fandom, meta, and fanfic is that I'm constantly looking for someone to take the issues and tropes around gender and romance and subvert them. I'm having trouble finding that sort of thing. Not only is there a real lack of fic, most of what I've found has not really the things I like. (Gallifrey, world-building, other Time Lords, best enemies- it'd be fun to see some sort of engagement with the idea that Time Lords got rid of biological procreation in exchange for Looms and what that means in terms of gender and identity, or something.) I wish I saw more inclusion of the history of the characters and relationship too. There are times when I love everyone-is-human+ trope AUs, but this isn't one of them. I just want them to have all the previous regenerations, and if they don't why not and how does this change them?

I've also noticed that there are a lot of praise for Gomez!Master, but no critical discussion about some of the ways the story-line is...problematic.

Not that all fic needs to be thoughtful and tackle huge issues. And obviously when there are fics or tropes that an individual fan doesn't like then that person doesn't have to read it. I suppose I've been frustrated by the fic I've read for "Twissy" because it doesn't have the dynamic I prefer for the characters.

And now I'll resume lurking.

[x_losfic]

Yeah, agreed strongly on your first para. Like, what IS gender for them? I could do with exploring it, or putting it aside to focus on all the things you say, but at the moment it's Present as modern-Western-human-gender-and-age-attitudes, which strikes me as unfair to the character and SFFnally weird (why would they care exactly like we do when they have 0 reasons to?). I could do with a FEW coffee-shops here, but this juuuust isn't one of them, and I sort of expect, even for coffee shop, to have a sense of--SINCE CHILDHOOD WE HAVE BEEN COFFEE RIVALS!!, rather than Meet Cute, no real history or opposing ideas/values.

I just want them to have all the previous regenerations, and if they don't why not and how does this change them? good call

I've also noticed that there are a lot of praise for Gomez!Master, but no critical discussion about some of the ways the story-line is...problematic. Yeah. I mean I--am not very interested in praising the inclusion of a female character qua female character, because yes it's something, representation ho, but I REALLY care about the quality/effects of a given representation? Like, there's more to this than showing up. And beyond 'is it erasure?!' (eh--I can see it but it's *not* the hill I'd die on), the thing itself raises questions that people aren't--unpacking, per se.

Yeah, exactly, not to like, say this work is Bad or Invalid if it IS meeting the needs of its readers and writers--I'd mind it less if it was part of a bigger scene, for sure? But the type of fic getting produced maybe ties back into your immediately-previous point about the quality of the story line/its gender portrayal/our surrounding critical discussion.

[jisa_patryn]

SINCE CHILDHOOD WE HAVE BEEN COFFEE RIVALS!!
-This? this might be fun. I would strongly approve of something along these lines. So, yes I wonder if my actual critique is a desire for them to retain the same type of relationship they have, and avoid the 'Meet Cute'.

To be fair, I really enjoy analyzing, unpacking, and generally looking deeper into story and character, but I know that that is not necessarily going to be a focus of my fellow fans. Still, I do want more...recognition that a story can be enjoyable while simultaneously acknowledging a lack of representation or the use of common tropes and what that means for the characters or representation.

I think my reaction to the fandom does also stem from a somewhat slash-heavy background where a pairing is heavily implied but rarely acknowledged in a frequently queer-baiting sort of way. It doesn't entirely feel like that within "Doctor Who" especially when taken in the context of the show in it's entirety, NuWho and old. Still, it got my back up, so to speak, and I really would have preferred it if the Master only switched gender OR became more demonstrative of his/her affection for the Doctor. I ran across more than one in-light-of-the-new-gender-let's-reconsider-this-relationship which didn't help.

And yes, I did want to tie in that connection between the type of fic, and the quality of the story/gender meta, but trying to do that without being accusatory or judgmental-sometimes mindless fluff is the answer.

[x_losfic]

Yeah, like, it'd take a SPECIAL modern human AU for me to be into it. I like aralias's Sleepwalker stuff, but even then, I prefer her trad work.

Still, it got my back up, so to speak, and I really would have preferred it if the Master only switched gender OR became more demonstrative of his/her affection for the Doctor. I ran across more than one in-light-of-the-new-gender-let's-reconsider-this-relationship which didn't help yeah, exactly

[jisa_patryn]

My head-canon would be they treat gender differently and there's no reason to stick to conventions of gender the way Moffat does. My head-canon also says Gomez!Master goes into girly mode mainly to fuck with Twelve's head, and should have been written that way.

Earth humans treat gender as an immutable binary (even most trans people seem to just think they want to swap rather than argue for a more fluid alternative).

Just because the BBC might think having a female/black/anything else incarnation of our favourite Time Lords is a step too far doesn't mean fanfic writers need to abjure SF world-building.

Gallifreyans have a ton of possibilities we don't, not least their weird relationship to body and time (swapping bodies seems to have no direct relationship to visible age at all). I'd like to see more fanfic writers writing Gomez as the Master, rather than trying to fit her into girly tropes. Gomez was playing her dark/dangerous/with a screw loose under a thin layer of 'girly' which is good, and it's a missed opportunity most fanfic writers seem to just write her as Vulnerable Woman.

(The only thing I have against Gomez!Master is that Moffat does his usual hack job of writing powerful women as Godmode-Sue, and I invariably want them to DIAF because of how that messes them up as characters).