Aaaand... we're at the end of the meme. This has been extremely fun and enlightening. I will have to do this again, maybe in six months or a year. It's amazing how things change over time, and doing this kind of thing every so often can really teach you about how you grow and change.

30. Do you have a favorite fic you've written? What makes it your favorite? And don't forget to give us a link!


Anyone who has read even a handful of posts in this meme already knows the answer to this question, and that's The Actor. It's my David-Tennant-meets-the-Doctor multi-chapter fic, which was inspired by the base idea of Don't Call Me Doctor by K. Sinclair on ffnet. I believe I started writing it in late December of 2013, and started publishing it in early March, 2014.

Why is it my favorite? Lots of reasons, and let me warn you that I can talk about this for hours, so this might end up as a very long post. First, I'm an unabashed David Tennant fangirl. The Actor really did start out as a fan tribute to that brilliant actor and amazing Doctor, and at first, I hadn't intended it to actually have a point or any meaning. I started writing it partially because I wanted to give Mr. Tennant his childhood fanboy dream and put him in the TARDIS (boy, that looks really stupid in print, me giving him anything at all, but I think you know what I mean), and partially because I wanted to write the first part, where David lands in the TARDIS and he has to figure out what's going on while the Doctor is insisting that he's him. It was a scene that was glossed over in Don't Call Me Doctor but I thought was just perfect for a bunch of hilarity, with the Doctor being, well, the Doctor while David was the straight man.

However, the work took on a life of its own. As usual, if I'm going to write, my brain forces it to be in-canon, and I was compelled to figure out why David was in the TARDIS: how his universe could have actors recreating the Doctor's life on TV, why he looked exactly like the Tenth Doctor, etc. Then, when I came up with why, everything else fell into place: where in his and the Doctor's timelines the events were happening, what relationship I wanted him to have with Rory and Amy, and what experiences I wanted to him to go through.

The Actor is the only truly ambitious project I've done so far. It consists of a number of adventures which, as you start reading it, seems to be simply an account of David's unexpected and exciting journey in the TARDIS, though, as a fan, he has a lot of background knowledge about the Doctor and the universe that other companions don't. As the story goes on, though, it turns dark, as the situations David faces become more dangerous and start to ask more of him than he thinks he can give. And the ending brings him back full circle, fitting him into the canon universe, which sounds strange if you haven't read it. Due to the time tricks I played in the story, it had to continue to be consistent if it was re-read (which took a lot of mind-bending). The story does deal with a few serious issues, such as fear, courage, and sacrifice. And, I consciously wove a couple of themes throughout the story, such as David wanting to be a storyteller. All in all, I think it turned out pretty well.

One other reason it's my favorite is the character of David. I just really like him. It's important to understand that the character David is completely separate in my mind from the person he's vaguely modeled on. To create him, I used a few of characteristics of Mr. Tennant that I knew - that he's been a Doctor Who fan since he was three, that he's clever, and that he a good and generous person (inferred from his tireless charity work) - but the rest was made up, as I really don't know a single thing about Mr. Tennant as a person. David is just David to me; he just happens to look like that guy that plays DI Alec Hardy.

I'm very much an optimistic person, and that shows in my writing (which is why I don't do war and angst very well), and David is exactly the kind of hero I like. He's an ordinary guy and he's got his hangups and flaws, but he's clever and good at heart, and tries his best. He knows he's good at his trade but he doesn't think he has much to offer beyond that, but he gives it all when it comes down to it. In a way, that describes the Doctor as well (at least, the Doctors that are my favorites). I think David's a bit too ideal as a character, but I still like him. I've got an idea on how to use him again in a future story.

I've gotten a lot of compliments on The Actor, so that helps, too. I'm very proud of it, and, going back to the original reason I started writing it, I think it's a pretty good tribute to my favorite Doctor and the actor who played him. So, that's the end of my fanfic writing meme, finishing on a discussion of something I'm pleased to have written. Thanks for reading!

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