Ah, fannish life. How I have missed you! (And a bonus rant about romance in New Who.)
Which should be taken to mean that I have finally had time to have a mini-marathon or two, which always makes me happy. ^_^
My fannish love of the moment is Doctor Who, which should come as no surprise to anyone who's read my last few entries. (Space Precinct is next in the slot, franzeska. It arrived in the midst of the Doctor Who obsession and I couldn't quite tear myself away.) This series is awesome. All 40+ years of it. *hearts*
I have concluded that I love both Classic Who and New Who. In a head-to-head slugfest, I think Classic Who would come out on top but it'd be close. Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor is what pulled me back into the series and David Tennant as the Tenth is more than enough to keep me here. And Captain Jack, of course. Buuuuut...the new series dwells FAR too much on the "Rose is his ONE TRUE LOOOOOVE!" story. (In my highly biased opinion. Not helped by the fact that I'm not the hugest Rose fan, thanks in no small part to her behaviour in the second season.)
See, I will admit that I think that Nine, as traumatized and grief-stricken as he was, needed someone like Rose to make him remember that life was still worth living. But the key phrase in that sentence is "someone like Rose." I've seen FAR too much squealing and fangasming and bad fic about how she was the ONE PERSON IN THE WHOLE UNIVERSE that could INSPIRE HIM TO LIVE AND LOVE AGAIN! *TWITCH* Oh PLEASE. (And I know that's mean but this is my private journal and no one's reading it and it's behind a cut, anyhow.) Sure, I'll concede that Rose was (okay, okay, IS) very important to the Doctor but I don't think she was the ONLY ONE who could have brought him around. It might have taken him a while but I think he'd have eventually found another bright-eyed, curious, brave teenager who'd have piqued his interest and made him want to show him/her around the universe. The Doctor is unique. Rose, not so much.
The other thing that tends to make me grit my teeth is how very heavy-handed the writers were about it. The blatant and obviously set-up hand-holding in the first episode (and later ones) made me cringe. As did the "I'm so glad I met you" exchange in episode 3. It's not so much the words I object to as the depth of feeling behind them. It didn't feel natural or true. It felt like the writers were cramming her importance to him down my throat - and I never react well to that particular tactic. I especially don't like it now that I've gone back and watched Four and Sarah Jane - my absolute favourite Doctor-and-Companion pair. I don't know if the credit goes to Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen or to the writers and directors but the interaction between those two is gorgeous. They're tuned into each other in a way that's a pleasure to watch, from their smiles to their banter to his gestures to their mutual lack of awareness of personal space. THAT is how it's done. And they weren't even supposed to be deeply and truly in love. Even if they did remind me of an old married couple more than once. But that's another rant (squeal, rather) entirely.
Oh, and don't get me started about the writers of New Who coming out and declaring that the Doctor-Rose love is completely requited. And that he was "going to say it back" in reference to her declaration of love. *TWITCH TWITCH* I have issues with this. BIG issues. As much as I anticipate enjoying the sight of Ten in tears 'cause I'm mean like that, the fact that it's over his LOST TRUE LOVE makes me angry. Mostly because I'm disappointed and disagree with the story but... *shrugs* I mean, really. Have the writers totally forgotten the difficulties inherent in the Doctor falling in love with a human companion? The heartbreak of watching her grow old and die ALONE gives him a reason to run far, far away. As fast as he can. In fact, I remain firmly convinced that this is precisely WHY companions like Sarah Jane never saw him again. So long as he doesn't see them growing old, he can believe that they're alive and happy and young and living their lives in his absence. Despite the fact that he damn well knows better. Then there's the fact that he's a 900+-year-old Time Lord and most humans have NO idea of what that actually MEANS. Writing him as a man hopelessly in love with a teenage girl who clearly DOES NOT UNDERSTAND what he is or pining endlessly after his lost girlfriend, well, diminishes the character somehow. To me, anyhow. It's not that the Doctor is beyond personal devotion or grief but I never pictured him as limited to it. (But then, to be honest, I really haven't seen all of the relevant episodes and MAY change my mind. Somewhat. But I don't think so.)
Which isn't to say that I don't have half a dozen AUs in my head in which Jack wasn't left behind, Sarah didn't wait 30 years before he came back, the Doctor made good on some of his flirtations, etc, etc... Hey, I never claimed to be above hypocrisy. ^_^
Classic Who (what I've seen of it, anyhow) has a lot more of the cheese and the zany adventures and the friendship and the near-death escapes that I enjoy about this franchise. Without the over-the-top melodrama of angsting about lost soulmates. (Which they bloody well were NOT but that's a rant for another time.) *twitch* So! Love 'em both, with an emphasis on Four and Ten for Doctors and Sarah Jane and Jack as companions.
In other news, I am a complete SAP. (This should not come as news to anyone who knows me decently well.) For serious. I tracked down my copy of School Reunion (the New Who episode that reintroduces Sarah Jane) after blitzing my way through her adventures with the Fourth Doctor. THE ENDING MADE ME CRY. Actual eyes-brimming-over, tears-rolling-down-my-face, fumbling-for-the-Kleenex CRY. Of course, this may be because I watched Hand of Fear last night, which broke my heart.
In the spirit of my current fannish obsession (and because I've been wandering through other people's journals in search of discussion and fic), I have taken a quiz! And am amused and pleased with the results. *beams*
Which Doctor Who are you?
this quiz was made by Auntie Krizu(:>)
My fannish love of the moment is Doctor Who, which should come as no surprise to anyone who's read my last few entries. (Space Precinct is next in the slot, franzeska. It arrived in the midst of the Doctor Who obsession and I couldn't quite tear myself away.) This series is awesome. All 40+ years of it. *hearts*
I have concluded that I love both Classic Who and New Who. In a head-to-head slugfest, I think Classic Who would come out on top but it'd be close. Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor is what pulled me back into the series and David Tennant as the Tenth is more than enough to keep me here. And Captain Jack, of course. Buuuuut...the new series dwells FAR too much on the "Rose is his ONE TRUE LOOOOOVE!" story. (In my highly biased opinion. Not helped by the fact that I'm not the hugest Rose fan, thanks in no small part to her behaviour in the second season.)
See, I will admit that I think that Nine, as traumatized and grief-stricken as he was, needed someone like Rose to make him remember that life was still worth living. But the key phrase in that sentence is "someone like Rose." I've seen FAR too much squealing and fangasming and bad fic about how she was the ONE PERSON IN THE WHOLE UNIVERSE that could INSPIRE HIM TO LIVE AND LOVE AGAIN! *TWITCH* Oh PLEASE. (And I know that's mean but this is my private journal and no one's reading it and it's behind a cut, anyhow.) Sure, I'll concede that Rose was (okay, okay, IS) very important to the Doctor but I don't think she was the ONLY ONE who could have brought him around. It might have taken him a while but I think he'd have eventually found another bright-eyed, curious, brave teenager who'd have piqued his interest and made him want to show him/her around the universe. The Doctor is unique. Rose, not so much.
The other thing that tends to make me grit my teeth is how very heavy-handed the writers were about it. The blatant and obviously set-up hand-holding in the first episode (and later ones) made me cringe. As did the "I'm so glad I met you" exchange in episode 3. It's not so much the words I object to as the depth of feeling behind them. It didn't feel natural or true. It felt like the writers were cramming her importance to him down my throat - and I never react well to that particular tactic. I especially don't like it now that I've gone back and watched Four and Sarah Jane - my absolute favourite Doctor-and-Companion pair. I don't know if the credit goes to Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen or to the writers and directors but the interaction between those two is gorgeous. They're tuned into each other in a way that's a pleasure to watch, from their smiles to their banter to his gestures to their mutual lack of awareness of personal space. THAT is how it's done. And they weren't even supposed to be deeply and truly in love. Even if they did remind me of an old married couple more than once. But that's another rant (squeal, rather) entirely.
Oh, and don't get me started about the writers of New Who coming out and declaring that the Doctor-Rose love is completely requited. And that he was "going to say it back" in reference to her declaration of love. *TWITCH TWITCH* I have issues with this. BIG issues. As much as I anticipate enjoying the sight of Ten in tears 'cause I'm mean like that, the fact that it's over his LOST TRUE LOVE makes me angry. Mostly because I'm disappointed and disagree with the story but... *shrugs* I mean, really. Have the writers totally forgotten the difficulties inherent in the Doctor falling in love with a human companion? The heartbreak of watching her grow old and die ALONE gives him a reason to run far, far away. As fast as he can. In fact, I remain firmly convinced that this is precisely WHY companions like Sarah Jane never saw him again. So long as he doesn't see them growing old, he can believe that they're alive and happy and young and living their lives in his absence. Despite the fact that he damn well knows better. Then there's the fact that he's a 900+-year-old Time Lord and most humans have NO idea of what that actually MEANS. Writing him as a man hopelessly in love with a teenage girl who clearly DOES NOT UNDERSTAND what he is or pining endlessly after his lost girlfriend, well, diminishes the character somehow. To me, anyhow. It's not that the Doctor is beyond personal devotion or grief but I never pictured him as limited to it. (But then, to be honest, I really haven't seen all of the relevant episodes and MAY change my mind. Somewhat. But I don't think so.)
Which isn't to say that I don't have half a dozen AUs in my head in which Jack wasn't left behind, Sarah didn't wait 30 years before he came back, the Doctor made good on some of his flirtations, etc, etc... Hey, I never claimed to be above hypocrisy. ^_^
Classic Who (what I've seen of it, anyhow) has a lot more of the cheese and the zany adventures and the friendship and the near-death escapes that I enjoy about this franchise. Without the over-the-top melodrama of angsting about lost soulmates. (Which they bloody well were NOT but that's a rant for another time.) *twitch* So! Love 'em both, with an emphasis on Four and Ten for Doctors and Sarah Jane and Jack as companions.
In other news, I am a complete SAP. (This should not come as news to anyone who knows me decently well.) For serious. I tracked down my copy of School Reunion (the New Who episode that reintroduces Sarah Jane) after blitzing my way through her adventures with the Fourth Doctor. THE ENDING MADE ME CRY. Actual eyes-brimming-over, tears-rolling-down-my-face, fumbling-for-the-Kleenex CRY. Of course, this may be because I watched Hand of Fear last night, which broke my heart.
In the spirit of my current fannish obsession (and because I've been wandering through other people's journals in search of discussion and fic), I have taken a quiz! And am amused and pleased with the results. *beams*
Which Doctor Who are you?
this quiz was made by Auntie Krizu(:>)