Meta-Level Rubbish Disguises

[x_losfic]

Read a 'Twissy' fic (smush names and I will never be friends) today which was *awkwardly reminiscent* of a particular older D/M fic. At least the second time I've read a Twelve/Gomez!Master fic and thought 'maaaaan, of course there's likely to be some influence from older D/M fic coming through, but that is a really *specific* unacknowledged

Comments

[philstar22]

What bugs me is when Missy is suddenly super submissive to the Doctor just because she's a woman now. Uh, no. This is still the same person we're talking about, regardless of gender. And in general when stereotypes slip in that weren't on the show. Missy was pretty feminine, but she wasn't shy, retiring, quiet, meek, or passive in any way. She's still the Master first, girl second.

[x_losfic]

Yeah, if anything, shouldn't we be aiming to do 'same character, gender aside, no wonky stereotypes' *better* than the show? After all, we lacquer over a lot of other canon unevennesses... :/

[philstar22]

Exactly.

Notes on Camp

[x_losfic]

So, here are some general sourpuss (caveat: I'm not v squeeful about this, so be warned!) observations about Twelve/Gomez!Master fic what I have read

Re: Notes on Camp

[x_losfic]

Also--I've not seen a lot of Twelve/Other Masters, Gomez!Master/other Doctors (or even selfcest). These could be fun and could help people get more of a handle on this *as* a D/M relationship, getting that power/personality/gender balance right?

Re: Notes on Camp

[x_losfic]

Having just checked, can find NO Gomez!Master/any other Doctor, Classic or New, labelled Missy or otherwise. *Really?*

[fiveainley_ohmy]

Yeah, seriously. I want a Five/Gomez!Master fic. Can you imagine? Wriggly!Five versus Gomez's death grip of love? Maybe Ainley shows up and the two Masters have a “who can violate personal space the best" contest. Meanwhile Fivey cowers in the corner, wanting to regenerate from humiliation. (As you can tell from my username, I'm a bit of a Dashing Velvet enthusiast.) Or since we knew Gomez was hanging out on Earth for centuries till Dark Water, she had to have been there for the UNIT years. Gomez/Delgado teamup, anyone?!?!

OT, but I had to comment

[kshandra]

(smush names and I will never be friends)

Dear gods, THIS. Especially in long-standing fandoms where the pairing never needed a portmanteau before - I'm terrified of what newfen are going to do to MSR when the new X-Files debuts.

Re: OT, but I had to comment

[x_losfic]

Smulder, surely!

[jisa_patryn]

I think what really frustrates me about trying to be engaged in the Twelve/Gomez!Master fandom, meta, and fanfic is that I'm constantly looking for someone to take the issues and tropes around gender and romance and subvert them. I'm having trouble finding that sort of thing. Not only is there a real lack of fic, most of what I've found has not really the things I like. (Gallifrey, world-building, other Time Lords, best enemies- it'd be fun to see some sort of engagement with the idea that Time Lords got rid of biological procreation in exchange for Looms and what that means in terms of gender and identity, or something.) I wish I saw more inclusion of the history of the characters and relationship too. There are times when I love everyone-is-human+ trope AUs, but this isn't one of them. I just want them to have all the previous regenerations, and if they don't why not and how does this change them

[x_losfic]

Yeah, agreed strongly on your first para. Like, what IS gender for them? I could do with exploring it, or putting it aside to focus on all the things you say, but at the moment it's Present as modern-Western-human-gender-and-age-attitudes, which strikes me as unfair to the character and SFFnally weird (why would they care exactly like we do when they have 0 reasons to?). I could do with a FEW coffee-shops here, but this juuuust isn't one of them, and I sort of expect, even for coffee shop, to have a sense of--SINCE CHILDHOOD WE HAVE BEEN COFFEE RIVALS!!, rather than Meet Cute, no real history or opposing ideas/values.

I just want them to have all the previous regenerations, and if they don't why not and how does this change them? good call

I've also noticed that there are a lot of praise for Gomez!Master, but no critical discussion about some of the ways the story-line is...problematic. Yeah. I mean I--am not very interested in praising the inclusion of a female character qua female character, because yes it's something,

[jisa_patryn]

SINCE CHILDHOOD WE HAVE BEEN COFFEE RIVALS

[x_losfic]

Yeah, like, it'd take a SPECIAL modern human AU for me to be into it. I like aralias's Sleepwalker stuff, but even then, I prefer her trad work.

Still, it got my back up, so to speak, and I really would have preferred it if the Master only switched gender OR became more demonstrative of his/her affection for the Doctor. I ran across more than one in-light-of-the-new-gender-let's-reconsider-this-relationship which didn't help yeah, exactly

[neveralarch]

Gomez!Master is weird to me because there is so much I typically would like about the character, but I'm super not feeling Twelve/Gomez!Master yet. She reminds me a lot of Roberts!Master (very predatory in movement and features, looks like a snake, a little unhinged... in the jaw department, I'm sorry, I'm so stuck on their CHEEKBONES) who is one of my favorite Masters. But I just didn't get a good feel for Twelve & Gomez!Master, maybe because there was so much other stuff going on in those episodes. And I'm bothered by the suspicion that I would be all over Eleven/Gomez!Master for some reason that I can't pin down.

This is a very incoherent comment. I haven't read really any Gomez!Master fic. If people have Eleven/Gomez!Master recs, I would like to see some so I can figure out why I think it's a good idea.

[x_losfic]

I'm sorry, I'm so stuck on their CHEEKBONES You and several insects they will consume later.

Whereas I have only done the fic and not the show... and tragically I can find NO 'anyone but Twelve'/Gomez!Master. Which, ? Surely Seven or Eight or Five could be some fun, too.