1. The Doctor is not some Greek god who litters the earth with half-human offspring. His family was lost in the Time War, with Susan (possibly) and Jenny the SOLE exceptions. He didn’t have children with any of his companions.* **
2. No slash. I don’t read it, don’t review it, don’t approve of it. No exceptions. And for heterosexual romance, going beyond a kiss is going to turn me off.
3. No other Time Lords escaped the Time Lock besides the ones we already know about.
4. No word-for-word rewrites of the episodes. Dialogue borrowing is fine in moderation.
5. I’ll read self-insert companions if: a. I’m in the mood, b. They’re funny, or c. They actually have depth. Haven’t found any of C yet.
Companion Gripes
Rose: She is happy with 10.5 and stuck in a parallel dimension. If not, I’d rather see it as her fault then the clone’s.
Martha: Stop making her into a jealous ‘other woman.’—Granted, that is how the writers treated her, but that’s why she left: SHE DIDN’T WANT TO BE THAT WOMAN!
Donna: SHE CAN’T REMEMBER. As much as I would love that, she can’t remember. Dreams and flashes are fine, but no full-blown remembering.
Amy: She MARRIED Rory. She stays with Rory. Same goes for Rory.
River: Since season six, I’ve been seeing A LOT of new stories with her. Most of them are good.
I don’t have particular gripes about Classic characters, but in general, I like stories where characters are kept intact and developed along canonical lines. For example, I’m venturing to the edge of AU with “River, Pond; Melody, Song,” but I am trying to keep River as she would be onscreen.
Side grip about Sarah Jane Adventures:
Stop adding new kids to the gang. We have wonderful characters without adding new ones. What I’d really love to see is some stories developing Sky’s character.
*I have found one author who writes this well enough that I love it. I might read. But it would have to be very, very good.
** Because of his human aging, I will read Rose/Ten II relationship. But I'm not a huge romance fan overall. (Added in response to Losterial.
My gripes are something like yours, with modifications. I don't mind Rose and the human Doctor having children as long as they're married. In fact, I'm pretty sure that eventually, they WOULD have kids, especially if you don't go for the deleted scene and he's doing domestic. I completely agree with 2. 3... I haven't actually read many other Time Lord fics, except pre-Time War, although I'm still at some point planning to write a one-shot that's a crossover with Mary Poppins. Because she's definitely Time Lord. I don't know when it would be set, though. The hardest part in 4 (this more in writing fanfic than reading it) is writing AUs without being boring. I don't mind it at all in snippets that focus on episodes, or characters within them.
ReplyDeleteI'll read self-inserts if the Doctor doesn't fall in love. I've maybe found ONE of these.
I'd like to insert a little something about the self-insert you're reading by me and Sara... Yeah, right now it's just funny, although we tried to give a little more depth in Fourteen Hours. Later, when we get to Saxon and the Year-that-Never-Was, emotional depth will increase (or should if we have our heads on straight!).
Rose is my Doctor OTP, and I read a lot of one-shots both for her time with the Doctor and with 10.5. I like fics, long or shot, that deal with the problems Rose and the human Doctor will experience - because it's NOT a perfect relationship - but I HATE when they have unhappy endings. I've read one or two fanfictions that I liked where the Doctor and Rose met again, but I see two very wrong things. 1. The Doctor just shows up and the universe is fine. 2. PEOPLE ALWAYS WRITE
OFF HANDY. They're together. She's not going to run off on him!! (Which is why I'm writing my OWN fanfic about this so that I really know how I'D like to deal with the subject!)
I love Martha. DO NOT MESS. Granted, I have trouble getting her in-character myself, but she didn't let her crush on the Doctor get in the way of being a companion, and she was so strong. Just once, though, I'd like to read a good story about what happened to Tom.
My favorite fics about Donna are set DURING her time with the Doctor. I also like the ones where the Doctor pays a visit, though.
Same with amy and Rory.
Generally I avoid River Song fanfic, because I'm not reconciled to the ship. A one-shot here and there is as far as I go. I really like yours, btw.
"I like stories where characters are kept intact and developed along canonical lines." Agreed. I love AUs, but you have to give me a good excuse to put someone ooc.
I haven't read much SJA fanfic but yours, but I will once I finish the series. I'm not sure if that would bother me or not. I do love our characters, but they do meet new people in almost every episode...
But quite often, I don't even think about these rules. I read the summary, and if it looks like a good story, I'll go ahead. Then I read it, and if I hit anything immoral, I stop. And if I don't, I read it and review, and if I like it enough, I favorite it too.
Wow, that was long...
-Lostariel
As for Handy and Rose, I don't read much, and the two one-shots I have done with him focus more on his adjusting to a human life then them going kissyface. I did once find one called "Taking in Strays" by LilahKat in which Handy ends up with Sarah Jane...not generally my cup of tea, but it was well-written and plotted realistically. Plus, the Luke/Doctor conversations were really good.
ReplyDeleteWe're an odd bunch, those who read and write fanfic...
ReplyDelete-Lostariel