The big post of MEH.

[caz963]

I've been off work for the last couple of days with this bloody cold. By yesterday's standards, today has been rather unproductive - yesterday I produced 2 picspams, a ficlet and wrote up a rather long DW episode recap!

Today? Meh.

It would help if I could stop writing new fics when I've got old ones to finish. Today's effort was probably one of the most angsty, UST-y things I've ever written. It's not finished, and I'm not sure if I'll post it even if I do finish it - it's just so... I dunno. Daft?

I'm having a problem. As someone who has written mostly shippy fic, I'm naturally gravitating towards writing it again.

BUT.

Before, the couple I wrote did at least end up as a couple in canon, and there had also been loads and loads of signposts along the way that that was going to happen eventually.

But in DW, there are no canon ships (well - there might be, but not yet!). No, not even Nine or Ten and Rose. There is some UST but there is no "R", whichever pairing you like best. So I find that I'm continually pulling myself back - not from writing RST, because I can't bring myself to do that, but from piling on the "U" by the truckload.

Those of you out there who write fic - let me ask you a question or two. If you write shippy fic, do you usually write characters who are either together or pretty likely to end up that way? Or doesn't that matter, because this is "just fic"? If you write non-canon ships, what is it about the characters and what you've seen on screen that makes you think they should pair up?

I suppose I'm trying to adjust my mindset and I'm interested in your thoughts.

Comments

[hibernate.livejournal.com]

I usually prefer ships that AREN'T canon actually. I like to write or read about characters that make for interesting and unusual combinations and maybe my tastes are just odd but it's quite rare for me to feel that way about canon couples. It could be that I just don't like traditional romance very much. And I'm very fond of femslash, which there is sadly very little of in most canons. If canon won't give me what I want, then I'm going to make it happen myself in fic. That's what it's for! Exploring things that wouldn't be possible in canon.

In terms of Donna/Ten, I think what I like most about them are the blurred lines between friendship and something else. They're amazing friends and partners, but they'd also be dead hot together. With the Doctor, though it's always going to be very complicated. I love it when they sort of hover over that line.

[caz963.livejournal.com]

That last paragraph is more or less where I'm at on Ten and Donna, too. But like I said somewhere upthread, I'm not sure how much of it is the characters, and how much is the actors, if that makes sense?

I think that if Ten and Rose were, as David so succinctly put it, "a romance without the shagging", then Ten and Donna are a marriage without the shagging :-)

[luinel-anduril.livejournal.com]

Dang, i might have to quote you on that! That's so brilliantly put... and yet so sad. What's wrong with Time Lords getting to shag? /cry

[caz963.livejournal.com]

What's wrong with Time Lords getting to shag?

Being serious, it's a family show and lots of kids watch it! My eldest has been watching it since it came back in 2005, and she's ten now, so...

But yes, it's no wonder Ten is so manic most of the time. He needs to work off some of that excess energy! *g*

[ebony-steinbach.livejournal.com]

I think that if Ten and Rose were, as David so succinctly put it, "a romance without the shagging", then Ten and Donna are a marriage without the shagging

This. Is. Perfect. What I've tried to express about Doctor/Donna in 1 1/2 years, you've done in 50 words or less. They do have an old married couple vibe going on, especially in Midnight. At the same time though, my personal in-canon theory is that he Doctor's the one with the crush and Donna's clueless about it. Out of canon, anything goes, as long as they're in character and keep the banter.

[caz963.livejournal.com]

Banter is not a problem! My OTP is Josh/Donna (West Wing) who are also all about the banter, and have that whole screwball comedy thing going on as well - which is what I also love about Ten and Donna.
I don't do lovey-dovey - because it's not in character for the characters I write, even when, as with Josh and Donna they are a couple. If you've spent nine years snarking at each other, it doesn't just stop because you're in a relationship! (I've been with Mr Caz for almost 20 years and we still have the snark-factor!)
I do like your idea about the Doctor having the crush - I have something on the go from his PoV that could be seen that way :)

[abbyromana.livejournal.com]

If canon won't give me what I want, then I'm going to make it happen myself in fic. That's what it's for! Exploring things that wouldn't be possible in canon.

Very true! Fanfiction is for exploring the impossible or unlikely, but it also can stay within canon by exploring what was left unsaid or not shown.