A Post Most Decidedly NOT About Martha

[earlgreytea68]

From

jlrpuck: I challenge you to post on...pet peeves in DW fanfiction, without mentioning Martha.

 

Oh, that jlrpuck. She thinks she's so clever and hilarious. Well, not so much, darling, because I wasn't going to mention Martha BECAUSE I NEVER READ MARTHAFICS! So there! Hahahaha! I win!

As for a pet peeve in DW fanfiction, well, it used to be Jack calling the Doctor "Doc," as well you know, but it turns out I was totally wrong about that and it does take place in canon and I should therefore get over it. I'm also not a big fan of the Doctor using "Rassilon" the way we use "God," just because, well, I guess I don't have a very good reason for it. It just feels weird to me. And I am almost positive the Doctor does use "God" as an exclamation on DW (I think, in GitF, it's "Have you met the French? My God, they know how to party!"). But is it a pet peeve just because it feels weird to me? DOes that qualify? 

Hmm.

To be completely honest, I don't read very widely in fanfiction, unless you pass it onto me, so I don't read very many fics that make me cringe. My biggest pet peeve is an OOC fic: I hate when Rose or the Doctor or Jackie just become caricatures. (Unless it's crack!fic. I adore crack!fic.) And I have major issues with dialogue that's too...grandiose, maybe? (Says the girl who doesn't use contractions. And who just used one there. So there!) Dialogue that sounds like it ought to have been internal monologue, but is said out loud. It makes me squirm for the characters, because I always feel like, "Oh, no, don't be so obvious about it! You're going to get yourself hurt that way!"

This is a very dangerous topic here. Someone is totally going to read this and quote some portion of "Chaos Theory" in the comments and demand, "Oh, really? You hate that? So explain THIS." To which I respond, preemptively, that in moderation everything is okay...

Comments

[brivinex.livejournal.com]

I agree with both the Doc and Rassilon things. It just doesn't sound right. Especially Rassilon. Time Lord's don't have a god figure do they? I mean, maybe they do, I'm not all knowing on Who cannon, but I don't think they do... Especially considering the Doctor's attitude toward Satan.

Anyway, I'm overthinking this. But those things are aggravating.

[earlgreytea68.livejournal.com]

I think the theory is that Rassilon is the closest Time Lords come to a god figure. But for some reason it drives me spare. Maybe it wouldn't if David Tennant would say it for me. ;-)

[principia.livejournal.com]

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrassilon, you mean? XD

[earlgreytea68.livejournal.com]

Exactly!

[principia.livejournal.com]

You'll note (well, assuming you've read any o' me fics 'sides Mirrorball) that when I have someone using one of the Rassilon constructions (either Rassilon's X or The Y of Rassilon) it's in smart-assery.

He has indeed - in new Who at any rate - said God, damn, hell... he may have said dammit at some juncture, and now that the B-bomb has been dropped without fanfare may in fact issue forth with a 'bloody' at some point.

[earlgreytea68.livejournal.com]

I think the Doctor does swear, so that rings true for me.

[fid-gin.livejournal.com]

I'm also not a big fan of the Doctor using "Rassilon" the way we use "God,"

Oh thank...Rassilon, it's not just me! Seriously that bugs - I can overlook if it happens like once or twice in a fic, but I've read some where it gets mentioned every other paragraph, and that's just obnoxious. I understand Rassilon was a Very Big Deal in the old series, but you are totally correct in remembering that the Doctor does, in fact, say 'God'. I'm thinking specifically of Dalek, where Nine tells Rose that he's closing the doors and "...for God's sake, hurry!"

My biggest pet peeve is bad porn cliches where women have 'molten cores' and men have 'rigid members', and when people try to write in dialect.

[earlgreytea68.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'm with you: Once or twice doesn't bother me, but sometimes it's just used way too much, and feels unnatural to me.

Oh! Dialect! That's a good one! That drives me crazy, too!

As for bad porn cliches, well...I once told jlrpuck that it's very difficult to keep sex scenes interesting. There's too limited a vocabulary of words to use. ;-)

[earlgreytea68.livejournal.com]

Maybe I would be okay with other Doctors using "Rassilon." But it rings false for Nine and Ten for me, somehow.

As for the internal monologue thing, well, I think you get the hang of it eventually; you just have to write through that tendency.