50th Anniversary Fanwork-a-thon-a-thon, Round Five: Seven
50th Anniversary Fanwork-a-thon-a-thon, Round Five: Seven
(Secondary prompt: The "Expanded Universe")
Round Four remains finely poised, but that doesn't mean there's any time to hang around. The 50th Anniversary approaches remorselessly and we must press on to the next leg of our 'thon-of-'thons. Remember, though, those of you still working on entries for prior legs - I've said it before and I'll say it again, deadlines are a state of mind. Please still post your works to the comm whenever they are finished - I know I for one can't wait to see them.
For now, though, allow me to introduce the next in our cavalcade of Doctors. For May we have a Doctor of many facets, the beginning and the end of many things. A sad clown with a gift for slapstick and wordplay. A harsh but fair mentor who'll relentlessly test and manipulate his companions...for their own good, probably; because he loves them. A terrifying vengeful demigod who'll blow your home planet the heck up if he thinks you deserve it. But he might feel bad about it afterwards. A magician, a philosopher, a plotter, a jazz-lover, but the music he likes most of all is the sound of empires toppling. The best friend you'll ever make...or the worst enemy. And he has a pretty cool Hat, long before the other Doctor had one. All this and he also plays a mean pair of spoons. Yes, it's the one, the only, the rrrrenowned:
Seven is this month's study. The very last of the original series Doctors, and one whose reputation and standing seem to fluctuate wildly as fandom progresses over the years. You'll never convince me, though, that he's not one of the very best. It's true that the Seven era got off to a somewhat shaky start and Sylvester McCoy took a while to feel his way into the role, but at some point during Season 24 it all started to come together, and from the beginning of Season 25 things just grew and grew, to the point where "classic" Who, in my opinion anyway, went out on a definite high - "People made of smoke and cities made of song" - makes me get "something in my eye". And like most Doctors he would be much the lesser without his companions - the probably gravely underrated Mel and then, of course, Ace, who in my opinion cannot be rated highly enough. But that wasn't the end of the story - there followed the Virgin-published New Adventures novels that seemed to run and run and took Seven in some interesting - not to mention dark - new directions. And latterly, like most of the other classic Doctors, we have the audios, where McCoy has had the chance to ride again with companions both old and new. He has continued to be a Doctor of many parts. The word I think I'm looking for is "enigmatic".
Usual drill, my friends. All forms of fannish endeavour are welcome - that goes for fanfic, fanart, fanvids, fanmixes, icons, podfic, and absolutely any other medium in which you want to express your creativity and celebrate your love for that which is Who. Seven himself might be your starting point, and what a fascinating starting point he is, but think of the companions, the enemies, the other features of his era, as well. That might take in the companions Seven has travelled with - Mel and Ace, of course, but also the nearly-companion Ray from Delta and the Bannermen, Roz and Chris and above all Benny from the NA novels, not to mention Hex and the other new characters from the audio adventures. From my own point of view as a fanficcer, Seven seems to pose endless questions and conspiracy theories - what was Lady Peinforte going on about - how did Seven's rather drastic actions contribute to the start of the Time War - just what the heck was going on at the start of the TV Movie? All good questions, and don't forget the "Cartmel Masterplan"!
As ever, something that evokes the idea of the oncoming 50th Anniversary would be especially welcome, but maybe the best way to do that is by creating the most quintessentially Seven-esque Seven fanwork you possibly can?
And once again, we have a secondary theme for those of you who like to go for the other option. And for May 2013, that will be...
The "Expanded Universe". It seems appropriate for a month where our chosen Doctor has featured in so many adventures beyond the confines of television to take a look at Doctor Who's life in other media. There are whole Doctor-companion teams, whole story-arcs, whole shadow-canons, existing in print, in comic book, possibly above all in audio form, that while they are at times difficult to reconcile with what we see on our screens (and indeed at times actively contradict it) are nevertheless deeply cool and undeniably form a large part of the greater thing that is Who, including some of its best-loved and most compelling characters. I'm talking Bernice Summerfield, I'm talking John and Gillian, I'm talking some of the jaw-dropping, free-wheeling DWM comic stories from the 80s and 90s. I'm talking Romanadvoratrelundar's Presidency in all of its backstabbing, complicated glory. I'm talking companions who were (sometimes) penguins! Basically, the idea is that if it's part of Doctor Who but it doesn't exist in televisual form then it's part of what Star Wars calls its Expanded Universe and if you find it all as enjoyable and inspiring as I do, you may find that there lies the inspiration for your fanworks.
Whatever you end up doing, my friends, I urge you to go forth and create. Go for "it"! Whatever "it" might be.
I hope that somewhere in all of the above you will each find the grist for your own fannish mill. If you do, please express your wish to participate in the comments to this post. I would love it if you could name a date too (list provided below) as it helps spread the contributions out over the whole month, but it is not an absolute requirement for those of you who prefer to play it by ear.
The Days
May 2013
1 - jael1973
2 - femme_slash_fan (first go-around)
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14 - femme_slash_fan (second go-around)
15
16
17
18
19 - fannishliss
20
21
22
23
24 - demonicsymphony
25 - ponygirl72
26 - clocketpatch
27
28 - ghost2
29
30 - jael1973 (again!)
31 - akashasheiress
Members who would like to participate but would prefer not to be tied to a specific date include: brunhilde_1013 and jjpor
Oh, I suppose it's probably worthwhile familiarising yourselves with what we laughingly call the rules:
- Please feel free to post your fanworks directly to the community, or link to your own Livejournal/Dreamwidth account or any external archive or site you use for hosting your stuff.
- There are no minimum length requirements, but please put any large images or, in the case of fanfic, anything over 1000 words, under a cut or the other side of a link.
- There are no rating restrictions, but again please cut and provide warnings for anything over PG-13, or which might be considered triggering. Use your common sense.
- Character-bashing is in the eye of the beholder, but there are ways of critiquing or lampooning something you don't necessarily like about the show without resorting to straight-up hatchet-work that is going to cause angst on the comm. Common sense, again.
- Disclaimers may or may not actually work from a legal standpoint, but they help me sleep at night.
- Most importantly, HAVE FUN!
Enough from me, anyway. I leave it up to you. :)
(Secondary prompt: The "Expanded Universe")
Round Four remains finely poised, but that doesn't mean there's any time to hang around. The 50th Anniversary approaches remorselessly and we must press on to the next leg of our 'thon-of-'thons. Remember, though, those of you still working on entries for prior legs - I've said it before and I'll say it again, deadlines are a state of mind. Please still post your works to the comm whenever they are finished - I know I for one can't wait to see them.
For now, though, allow me to introduce the next in our cavalcade of Doctors. For May we have a Doctor of many facets, the beginning and the end of many things. A sad clown with a gift for slapstick and wordplay. A harsh but fair mentor who'll relentlessly test and manipulate his companions...for their own good, probably; because he loves them. A terrifying vengeful demigod who'll blow your home planet the heck up if he thinks you deserve it. But he might feel bad about it afterwards. A magician, a philosopher, a plotter, a jazz-lover, but the music he likes most of all is the sound of empires toppling. The best friend you'll ever make...or the worst enemy. And he has a pretty cool Hat, long before the other Doctor had one. All this and he also plays a mean pair of spoons. Yes, it's the one, the only, the rrrrenowned:
Seven is this month's study. The very last of the original series Doctors, and one whose reputation and standing seem to fluctuate wildly as fandom progresses over the years. You'll never convince me, though, that he's not one of the very best. It's true that the Seven era got off to a somewhat shaky start and Sylvester McCoy took a while to feel his way into the role, but at some point during Season 24 it all started to come together, and from the beginning of Season 25 things just grew and grew, to the point where "classic" Who, in my opinion anyway, went out on a definite high - "People made of smoke and cities made of song" - makes me get "something in my eye". And like most Doctors he would be much the lesser without his companions - the probably gravely underrated Mel and then, of course, Ace, who in my opinion cannot be rated highly enough. But that wasn't the end of the story - there followed the Virgin-published New Adventures novels that seemed to run and run and took Seven in some interesting - not to mention dark - new directions. And latterly, like most of the other classic Doctors, we have the audios, where McCoy has had the chance to ride again with companions both old and new. He has continued to be a Doctor of many parts. The word I think I'm looking for is "enigmatic".
Usual drill, my friends. All forms of fannish endeavour are welcome - that goes for fanfic, fanart, fanvids, fanmixes, icons, podfic, and absolutely any other medium in which you want to express your creativity and celebrate your love for that which is Who. Seven himself might be your starting point, and what a fascinating starting point he is, but think of the companions, the enemies, the other features of his era, as well. That might take in the companions Seven has travelled with - Mel and Ace, of course, but also the nearly-companion Ray from Delta and the Bannermen, Roz and Chris and above all Benny from the NA novels, not to mention Hex and the other new characters from the audio adventures. From my own point of view as a fanficcer, Seven seems to pose endless questions and conspiracy theories - what was Lady Peinforte going on about - how did Seven's rather drastic actions contribute to the start of the Time War - just what the heck was going on at the start of the TV Movie? All good questions, and don't forget the "Cartmel Masterplan"!
As ever, something that evokes the idea of the oncoming 50th Anniversary would be especially welcome, but maybe the best way to do that is by creating the most quintessentially Seven-esque Seven fanwork you possibly can?
And once again, we have a secondary theme for those of you who like to go for the other option. And for May 2013, that will be...
The "Expanded Universe". It seems appropriate for a month where our chosen Doctor has featured in so many adventures beyond the confines of television to take a look at Doctor Who's life in other media. There are whole Doctor-companion teams, whole story-arcs, whole shadow-canons, existing in print, in comic book, possibly above all in audio form, that while they are at times difficult to reconcile with what we see on our screens (and indeed at times actively contradict it) are nevertheless deeply cool and undeniably form a large part of the greater thing that is Who, including some of its best-loved and most compelling characters. I'm talking Bernice Summerfield, I'm talking John and Gillian, I'm talking some of the jaw-dropping, free-wheeling DWM comic stories from the 80s and 90s. I'm talking Romanadvoratrelundar's Presidency in all of its backstabbing, complicated glory. I'm talking companions who were (sometimes) penguins! Basically, the idea is that if it's part of Doctor Who but it doesn't exist in televisual form then it's part of what Star Wars calls its Expanded Universe and if you find it all as enjoyable and inspiring as I do, you may find that there lies the inspiration for your fanworks.
Whatever you end up doing, my friends, I urge you to go forth and create. Go for "it"! Whatever "it" might be.
I hope that somewhere in all of the above you will each find the grist for your own fannish mill. If you do, please express your wish to participate in the comments to this post. I would love it if you could name a date too (list provided below) as it helps spread the contributions out over the whole month, but it is not an absolute requirement for those of you who prefer to play it by ear.
The Days
May 2013
1 - jael1973
2 - femme_slash_fan (first go-around)
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14 - femme_slash_fan (second go-around)
15
16
17
18
19 - fannishliss
20
21
22
23
24 - demonicsymphony
25 - ponygirl72
26 - clocketpatch
27
28 - ghost2
29
30 - jael1973 (again!)
31 - akashasheiress
Members who would like to participate but would prefer not to be tied to a specific date include: brunhilde_1013 and jjpor
Oh, I suppose it's probably worthwhile familiarising yourselves with what we laughingly call the rules:
- Please feel free to post your fanworks directly to the community, or link to your own Livejournal/Dreamwidth account or any external archive or site you use for hosting your stuff.
- There are no minimum length requirements, but please put any large images or, in the case of fanfic, anything over 1000 words, under a cut or the other side of a link.
- There are no rating restrictions, but again please cut and provide warnings for anything over PG-13, or which might be considered triggering. Use your common sense.
- Character-bashing is in the eye of the beholder, but there are ways of critiquing or lampooning something you don't necessarily like about the show without resorting to straight-up hatchet-work that is going to cause angst on the comm. Common sense, again.
- Disclaimers may or may not actually work from a legal standpoint, but they help me sleep at night.
- Most importantly, HAVE FUN!
Enough from me, anyway. I leave it up to you. :)