Sarah Jane, Jonathan Strange, and very strange fanfic indeed

[icepixie]

I watched "The Hand of Fear." I was very sad and sniffly at the end, because it's Sarah Jane, and she's leaving, and she doesn't want to, and the Doctor doesn't want her to, and even though he says he'll come back for her, he DOESN'T, and it's REALLY SAD. *sniffle* But there was also this conversation, which was very nice:

DOCTOR: Right, you stay here. I'll go on; it shouldn't take long, one way or another.
SARAH: Good. Let's go.
D: Not you. You stay with Professor Watson.

[The Doctor walks on; Sarah tries to follow, but Watson grabs her and pulls her back.]

WATSON: I think you'd better do as he says this time.
S: Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I should. [pause] But I'm not going to!

[She ducks away from Watson and catches up with the Doctor.]

S: [off the Doctor's look] I worry about you. Anyway, who found that thing?
D: You did.
S: Right. So I'm involved. It could've been me, not Driscoll, and besides, I'm from Earth and you're not.
D: That's true.
S: Exactly.
D: Yes, but--
S: Oh, but what?
D: I worry about you.
S: So be careful.
D: We'll both be careful.

Awwww. *melts*

I actually don't ship Sarah with the Doctor (well, Four; haven't seen Three, but when I do, I imagine I won't ship her with him either), but I absolutely believe the Doctor when he calls her his best friend. I like that there's flirting, and gestures or lines that can be read in a number of ways onscreen, but I don't think they ever crossed the line from being the best of friends into A Relationship, nor do I think they should've in canon. Shipfic (and shipicons, shipwallpapers, etc.), of course, is great fun and I heartily encourage it. *g* The actors have fantastic chemistry, and they just act like best friends knocking about in a time machine and occasionally saving the universe.

But one other thing about that episode sticks in my mind, and it's Sarah's hideous pink-striked overalls done up with lace or something at the legs and waist, combined with a red shirt and red-and-white sneakers. *raises eyebrow* I know it was the seventies, but even in 1976, no grown woman should be wearing something like this. There's hideousness, and then there's a point where I think the PTB are trying make, well, a point, and I'm pretty sure this is it. Because Sarah wore much more professional--or at least more grown up--clothes earlier in her tenure, and then she turns up looking like a friggin' Raggedy Ann doll, and no. There must be a purpose behind that. "Traveling with the Doctor will make you regress to childhood" seems a strange statement to make, though. *shrug*

*

Somewhat concomitant with that last bit, this entry from nostalgia_lj and the comments on it are really quite fascinating. I don't agree with everything said there, but it's interesting to think about. (Obviously, I am missing academia today.)

Speaking of academia, a link in the comments to that post led to whileaway, which led to this "seminar" on Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. The articles are not always the most well-written, but Susanna Clarke's response to them is really interesting.

*

Can someone explain this to me? (Scroll down on the page a bit and click on "Background Explanation.") I...okay, I've run into weird fic before, but this is just utterly bizarre. Doesn't taking away the whole idea of regeneration and having each incarnation of the Doctor be split up into separate people, called by the names of the actors, some of whom are evil and some of whom work for Gallifrey, contravene essentially everything about the show? And then an extended plotline with a romance between Peri and Legolas (yes, that one)? I...WTF?

I mean, AUs are all well and good, but even the AU-est AU is generally not as...different...as these. In this case, I think fiction is very much stranger than truth could ever dream of being.

*wanders off, boggling at the bizarreness of it all*

Comments

[elflore.livejournal.com]

Y'know, sometimes writers just have to get the crack in their head out onto paper/the screen. Call it exorcism...

And Hand of Fear hits DVD here in the fall...woo!