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I promise you no hate here, just a simple thing. Because I'm curious. Regarding your Doctor Who post (Why You Can't Frequently Deal With The Fandom), do you hate the entire fandom? If so, why? Because there are some nice, (somewhat) sane ones there. Second, what other problems are there? Why exactly has it 'always been problematic'? Again, just curious. Thank you

It breaks my heart that I have to clarify this, but I absolutely do not hate the entire fandom.

Yes I know it came off that way in the post, but that was not my intention. In fact I just want to take a moment and clarify that I never wanted this. I never wanted that post to get so many notes or so much attention when I made it in a fit of frustration and anger over a month ago. I never wanted to have what will likely be something I’ll be “remembered” for be a post that makes me come across as a shrill harpy who paints the entire Doctor Who fandom under one broad brushstroke. That’s what’s happened though, and I regret it more than I can say.

Whovians are wonderful. The Whovians I know in real life are some of the best people I’ve ever met and my closest friends, and by and large the same goes for people on tumblr. Fans of Doctor Who have made some of the most beautiful art and writing and music that I’ve seen for any fan community, and even when I disagree with their opinions most are thoughtful and intelligent and respectful. But those aren’t the people I was talking about. I was referring to the extremely vocal subsets of the “fandom” (it’s important here to distinguish between fans and fandom, because there is a huge difference) who are not nice. Or respectful. They are the ones who proclaim with a sneer that if you like anything to do with Moffat, you must be an idiot (yes that is a real thing I have seen people say, repeatedly). The people who get on tumblr after every single episode and take it apart piece by piece because they didn’t like one line or one action. The people who call Amy a whore because of her skirts (also a real thing) and then turn around and call Moffat a sexist pig. Those are the people I hate. That is the side of the Doctor Who fandom that makes me sick, and unfortunately there are days when it seems like it’s the only side of the fandom. It was a day like that that inspired me write the post, and days like today that help show that all is not necessarily lost.

I’m sorry that I can’t really go into detail here to answer the second part of your question. It can be answered by people much smarter and more informed than me, and I’m afraid that today is not the day for me to try. I was having what can be politely called a really fucking shitty day before I got home and this all blew up on me, and it’s not exactly gotten much better, so I don’t really have the energy to answer that question in the detail it deserves. But to be brief and way too general, almost every single thing that people complain about today has happened before throughout the entire history of the show, and yet it’s only on Moffat that people throw every ounce of their hate.

To sum up before I leave again, let me just say this. Moffat isn’t perfect. Obviously. There are huge problems with his writing, real and valid problems that people should discuss when they think critically about the show. But those problems are not unique to only him, and there are problems that have existed with every writer and era of this show and of every show. Moffat is not perfect, but he is not evil. He is not a monster. He is a writer, and he has chosen to take the show in a particular direction that happens to be closer to its cult sci-fi roots than the extremely different direction than the one RTD chose. RTD radically changed the format and tone of Doctor Who when he brought it back, and yet because people have so much fiercely-held nostalgia for his time on the show they treat him with as much blind reverence as Moffat gets blind hatred. You don’t have to love everything or worship at his feet, but to say that Moffat has ruined the show forever because your personal opinion is that it’s not as good as what you remember is reductive and absurd. Be critical of your media. Analyze things. Discuss them. But be fair.

And a quick comment to the person who commented that Ursula was not used to make a cheap and dirty joke at the end of the episode - I want you to go watch it again, and then try and tell me with a straight face that the line “We’ve even got a bit of a love life” said while smiling lecherously at the girl who has to spend the rest of her life as a face in a slab of concrete isn’t horrifying beyond belief. Go on, I dare you.