prompts of christmas past

[bagheera_san]

Before posting my newest invitation to give me prompts, I checked whether there were any old prompts waiting to be written, and unearthed a half-finished draft for a prompt given to me by dragonofmemoryTitle: All Been Done Before

Comments

[bellona_rpg]

Lovely! Thank you for finishing it and letting us read it. :)

Have you thought of posting it on AO3?

[bagheera_san]

Thank you! I will post it to AO3 in due time, no worries.

[neveralarch]

Oh man, I really like this. I've been feeling kind of distant from Doctor Who fandom in general and Doctor/Master in particular, but this fic reminded me about all the elements I love from the pairing. It's got a really nice mood to it, calm on the surface but a little frantic underneath.

[bagheera_san]

I know, I've been feeling the same way, our whole corner of fandom probably has. Eleven is difficult to write, because the elements of his characterisation that make sense to me (god complex, time war issues, manic/depressive, babbling) are basically the same as Ten, and the difference is only in Matt Smith's interpretation and mannerisms, which you can't really get across in a scene written from Doctor-POV. So the calm/frantic mood is an attempt give it an Eleven-era feel (or if you will, Eleven era leaving its mark on my writing, because I don't actually LIKE the frantic pace.)

[elviaprose]

I really enjoyed this! I admire your Eleven voice, and I particularly love the bit about the Doctor looking at the Master like a picture of an acquaintance.

“And now you’ll ask again,” the Doctor guesses.

“Naturally,” the Master says with a mad grin

They both sound to me, here, like they're parodying their little Three/Delago exchanges. I like it.

[bagheera_san]

Well, Eleven often seems to me as if he's ironically self-aware (not in a cool way... not sure there is a cool way to do that in the age of hipster-ness) and quite often, he seems to be going through the motions rather than living in the moment. He knows his own patterns of behaviour, and doesn't necessarily like them, but he doesn't think he can change them either, and he doesn't apologize for them like Ten. Which is why he might well sound like he's parodying himself. And the Master... I tried to write a Master who's post-Simm, and post-Time War, but at the same time saner than any of him have been in, well, ever. So he's parodying their old dynamic (like Simm!Master) and he's not quite as painfully sincere as Delgado, but he still resembles him quite a lot in that he's polite and calm and does want a solution rather than total destruction.

[aralias]

what you say about eleven here is one of the things i particularly like about this fic - it has a very good, self-conscious and tired eleven, which is something i'd never have pointed at before but agree is true. it works very well - and i like that they settle down and write books and also the ending is brilliant! i have the vague feeling erin hates utopia (although maybe she doesn't), but as someone who hasn't read it and just likes the pure symbolism of the thing - i think it's a very good ending to a fic.

what else? oh yes! good work reviving the fandom. long may it continue.

and you also made me think 'yes, i suppose the coat is ok...' (and i like that benny has her own hall. nice touch).

[bagheera_san]

Benny has her own hall, obviously, because she's an awesome archeologist - also, I think there's a crossover between Benny canon and River (the guy who accepts her thesis right before she's kidnapped and brainwashed is a dude called Candy who IRC taught at St Oscar's at the same time as Benny? Edit: yes, I checked it, he appears in the Moffat story with Benny and in the novel of Oh No It Isn't, which of course makes you wonder - how did this guy get to the 51st Century? Probably by becoming a casualty of Benny's time travel shenanigans).

I wasn't sure about the utopia touch myself - too much pathos? Also, slightly ironic in a horrible way, given what Simm!Master did with the people who wanted to go to Utopia. Oh, and I didn't intend it to actually be the More version, now that would be weird...

[tkei]

Oh, that's magic... And a kind one)
thank you)

[bagheera_san]

I'm glad you enjoyed it :)

[dragonofmemory]

This is lovely! I love how you've used the song, especially the turn about from Eight to Ten, then finally Eleven and the Master writing books. It's a fantastic circle, and I'm glad I could do my part to spark this. Though the magic is truly all you!

Also, I loved this bit:

and whose irritating presence grounds the Doctor when nothing else can, when he feels too much like a legend, and not like a man: because legends don’t have irritating older brothers.

<3

[bagheera_san]

Heh, I'm glad you like the bit about Brax! I was thinking: what's Brax even doing in this fic, he has no business being here, and nearly cut the line.

[dragonofmemory]

Characters do that sometimes. I've learned not to argue with them when they decide to troll my fics, and Brax seems like he'd be a rather troll-worthy character, so it fits. XD I'm glad you didn't cut it.