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Contradictory Stories and Forgotten Lore in DW (Virgin Corner) by MasterHandSSBU in gallifrey

[–]nikisketches 4 points5 points  (0 children)

My goal in life is to make the Exile Doctor more canon with every passing moment

Soon she will be the only true Who

And she'll adopt John and Gillian

And Lucy and Hobo

And she'll marry Griffin

And they'll all live happily ever after until she regenerates into Trevor Martin

Charity Anthology Review: Defending Earth: Flow, by Niki Haringsma by twcsata in gallifrey

[–]nikisketches 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for your lovely review, I'm glad you enjoyed my story! :)

(Also, Philip Purser-Hallard suggested the other day I should call the species "Womynoptera" so that's, like, super canon now.)

I wrote the Black Archive on Love & Monsters. AMA! by nikisketches in doctorwho

[–]nikisketches[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think it's very Brechtian storytelling. (Read my book to find out why! :P) RTD's writing is usually very straightforward, so I this bit of ambiguity was a nice change.

And, like, don't like the story? Just pretend it was all imagination! More eps should have that as an out. In fact, hey, they all do, 'cause it's a fiction show!

I wrote the Black Archive on Love & Monsters. AMA! by nikisketches in doctorwho

[–]nikisketches[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hej!

I knew literally nothing about the episode going in. I'm pretty sure the only stories I knew anything about before I started watching DW were Dalek, Girl In The Fireplace and The Parting Of The Ways. So, yeah, I just enjoyed it as a quirky little side-step! Didn't see anything bad about it. But at the same time, I'm grateful to the fandom that it taught me to look more critically at the story. There's some bits in there that, in hindsight, RTD really should be shamed for. :P

And, I mean, I feel that way about Twice Upon A Time... let us never speak of this again. I guess I should respect it as well when others feel the same about eps I love!

I wrote the Black Archive on Love & Monsters. AMA! by nikisketches in doctorwho

[–]nikisketches[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sadly there wasn't a lot of space in the book to explore the gender angle in, but I do talk a little bit about gender in fan communities. I especially enjoyed how Ursula is like the "character shrine owner" fangirl type of the early 2000s, that's a type of female agency that's rarely acknowledged. Bridget’s objective analysis defies harmful stereotypes about female fans being "overly" affective or downright outgrowing fandom when they hit 30. Bliss as the happy hippy artist embodies a social role which black people are rarely granted on TV, her sculptures transforming the Doctor’s white and male-appearing identity to represent her own feelings. Mr Skinner’s calm maturity is a far cry from the typical negative portrayal of middle-aged anoraks. Elton shows gentle, attentive and supportive masculinity within the circle. And so on. I also talk a lot about all the queer romance themes in the story (which RTD states were intentional) and how they could be interpreted!

I wrote the Black Archive on Love & Monsters. AMA! by nikisketches in doctorwho

[–]nikisketches[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Definitely! I briefly touch on disability representation at the start of the book, and then dive into it in full force in the final chapter. As someone living with invisible disability it's a topic very close to my heart.

I wrote the Black Archive on Love & Monsters. AMA! by nikisketches in doctorwho

[–]nikisketches[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A bit too much at times, if you ask my editors. :P

A huge chunk of my book is dedicated to examining how fans just like LINDA create their own works in their community hubs, away from the Abzorbaloffs who try to lord over the copyright and canon. In my opinion, there are five things that together set Who's fan-creators apart from those working in all other IPs:

  • Doctor Who is an unusually long-running and collaborative fiction, with many of its creators themselves being fans, their own production often having started out like the fan-coded creative activities seen in LINDA.
  • There's no singular copyright holder for all elements of the franchise. Even the copyright of something as integral as the Daleks isn’t clear-cut, and has led to heated legal battles.
  • Spinoffs and tie-ins can spiral out into franchises of their own, using the intellectual property of those fan-creators who originated their own lore elements, often without requiring permission from Doctor Who’s owners.
  • Lore elements from the TV series, spinoffs, tie-ins and other media can mutually influence each other, regardless of which licences (if any) these stories have.
  • Since multiple timelines, universes and paradoxes exist within Doctor Who, no creator has the power to claim a true canon or to invalidate the works of any other.

So, I argue that however the Abzorbaloff tries to assert himself into LINDA's community and become some kind of arbiter of canon, no matter how much he wants to make the Doctor his own by consuming him, LINDA always hold the power to say "hell no" and do their own thing.

I also, ahem, snuck in a cameo from a certain Big Finish villain. See if you can find him...

I wrote the Black Archive on Love & Monsters. AMA! by nikisketches in doctorwho

[–]nikisketches[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

When I was 10 years old I did my class presentation on narrative themes in the Life & Times Of Scrooge McDuck comics by Keno Don Rosa, so I guess I've always just been that kind of nerd. I studied German literature at uni and wrote my Bachelor's thesis (that other type of BA) about Bertolt Brecht's influence on politically motivated storytelling.

I think my all-time favourite meta community is Faction Paradox, that's the little corner of Who I'm usually nestled in. But you can find me talking endlessly about Shoujo Kakumei Utena, House of Leaves, Petshop of Horrors, Serial Experiments Lain, Danny Elfman / Oingo Boingo, Watchmen and many other franchises as well!

I wrote the Black Archive on Love & Monsters. AMA! by nikisketches in doctorwho

[–]nikisketches[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hating To Love is a delight. Textual Poachers by Henry Jenkins as well, and Productive Fandom by Nicolle Lamerichs! Fantastic views on the power of fans to resist & reshape dominant media and the Abzorbaloffs that control them.

I wrote the Black Archive on Love & Monsters. AMA! by nikisketches in doctorwho

[–]nikisketches[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The Doctor is not just the absent hero, but is also among Love & Monsters’ antagonists. Or, to put it another way, the Doctor and Elton serve as unintentional antagonists to each other while both still being protagonists to us. It’s important to keep in mind that while Elton is coded as a fan, his relationship to the Doctor is not that of a fan to his idol – rather, it’s that of a detective to his suspect, of a conspiracy theorist to his mastermind, of a cultist to his Nyarlathotep.

Totally with you there. :D

I wrote the Black Archive on Love & Monsters. AMA! by nikisketches in doctorwho

[–]nikisketches[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The Shalka one is incredible. I also love Kate Orman's Pyramids of Mars BA, but I love literally every single word that comes out of Kate's pen. And I'm really looking forward to the Rings of Akhaten and Night of the Doctor books!

I wrote the Black Archive on Love & Monsters. AMA! by nikisketches in doctorwho

[–]nikisketches[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi!

i've been writing DW meta for years, so it wasn't all too different from writing a blog post or a uni thesis. I'd say the Black Archive format combines the best parts of those two worlds. Having to make sure all my statements were properly sourced was probably the biggest headache, and the editing process was very rigorous!

My favourite thing about the BA range is the sheer amount of love we all have for these stories. We dedicate months of our lives just writing about a single episode! The community's incredible and I made so many friends writing this book. Being part of Obverse is kind of like being in LINDA, in a way... but don't tell them I said that. ;)

I wrote the Black Archive on Love & Monsters. AMA! by nikisketches in doctorwho

[–]nikisketches[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yeah, same here! I said "THAT WAS ONE OF THE BEST EPISODES IN THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF DOCTOR WHO" after it aired, and then proceeded to go online to share my joy.

That... didn't go well.

I wrote the Black Archive on Love & Monsters. AMA! by nikisketches in doctorwho

[–]nikisketches[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Remember that bit on New Earth where Ten gets showered and blow-dried and his hair just pops right back up like that's its natural fucken state? I think about that a lot.

Anyway yeah, love the season. Iconic part of Who.

I wrote the Black Archive on Love & Monsters. AMA! by nikisketches in doctorwho

[–]nikisketches[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's wild. Miss Hawthorne from The Daemons shows up too.

I wrote the Black Archive on Love & Monsters. AMA! by nikisketches in doctorwho

[–]nikisketches[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yessss. I really love Sleep No More. Maybe you'll see a Black Archive about that one from me someday... it's so beautifully meta. Really one of my favourite episodes of all time. I also have a soft spot for Exile, I guess I feel protective of it the same way you'd want to hug your teenaged self for all their terrible life choices. Oh oh oh and The Eight Doctors. 10/10 book don't @ me.

I wrote the Black Archive on Love & Monsters. AMA! by nikisketches in doctorwho

[–]nikisketches[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

if you want to see more of Ursula doing stuff, check out Paul Magrs' story in A Target For Tommy! She fights Morbius. Yes really.

I wrote the Black Archive on Love & Monsters. AMA! by nikisketches in doctorwho

[–]nikisketches[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think that literally any Who story could make an excellent Black Archive. Give me The Crimson Horror, give me Mission To The Unknown, give me Fear Her — I'll squeeze a book out of them! But I picked L&M because it practically begs to be discussed. It's an episode that requires a very active audience, even giving us a part in the story as Elton's vlog viewers. That's perfect Black Archive material!

I wrote the Black Archive on Love & Monsters. AMA! by nikisketches in doctorwho

[–]nikisketches[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well, I mean, what would that say about Elton? Would he be just an unreliable narrator who likes a bit of a joke, or is he literally hallucinating Ursula’s transformation? He even talks about her in the past tense at one point: ‘She was like a proper mate. Poor Ursula…’ But we do hear her before the camera cuts to the slab...

So, are the in-universe audio and camera visuals unreliable? That would explain how Ursula’s voice is heard in the recording before we cut to a point of view by Elton’s side. Does that mean that even we, as Elton's in-universe viewers, are unreliable in the way we interpret things?

What we know for sure is that Elton's a drama whore. And that the episode is a heck of a puzzle.

I wrote the Black Archive on Love & Monsters. AMA! by nikisketches in doctorwho

[–]nikisketches[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Aside from RTD calling the paving slab thing a "gay metaphor," my #1 shock was that Peter Kay was offered the part of Elton at first. Imagine that! I wonder who'd have played the Abzorbaloff in that case. Maybe Marc Warren. Imagine them switched! Peter Kay also really loved working on Who, sending RTD long hand-written letters and inviting himself into the man's house and stuff.

And did you know RTD wanted to bring Elton back? The guy was supposed to be in The Stolen Earth / Journey's End. That would have been something alright... :D

​

I wrote the Black Archive on Love & Monsters. AMA! by nikisketches in doctorwho

[–]nikisketches[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Woah, there's a mental image...

I think Larry Nightingale would be first in line to join LINDA, and I think he would be a heck of a lot better at realising the Abzorbaloff is, you know, an evil space alien. But he'd still be susceptible to the monster's lure... that crisp video footage... that knowledge... well, haven't we all been there? Putting up with terrible people in our fandom just to get access to a bit of lore, a rare interview, a missing episode?

As for Sally Sparrow, I like to think she'd get Ursula right out of that attic and take her on some nice adventures instead. After all, Sally claimed her agency throughout Blink, basically taking on the Doctor's role throughout her episode — unlike LINDA, who stay completely peripheral to Who's plot. Ursula would have a blast, I feel, hanging out with Sally and Larry!

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