The Doctor Who Fanfic Review Interview: Theclockiscomplete

Interviews by Fans
Title:	The Doctor Who Fanfic Review Interview: Theclockiscomplete
Interviewer:
Interviewee:	Theclockiscomplete
Date(s):	July 19, 2015
Medium:	online
Fandom(s):	Doctor Who
External Links:	Theclockiscomplete Part One, Archived version Theclockiscomplete Part Two, Archived version
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The Doctor Who Fanfic Review Interview: Theclockiscomplete was posted at The Doctor Who Fanfic Review on July 19, 2015.

See: The Doctor Who Fanfic Review Interview Series.

Some Excerpts

TDWFR: Many of your works contain hurt/comfort and angst. I’m guessing these are genres you really enjoy reading. What is the appeal for you with h/c? What do you think makes a great hurt/comfort fic?

Theclockiscomplete: When I think back on my life before I knew that the word “asexual” existed and what it meant, a lot of things make more sense. I hit puberty like everyone else, and had weird and unpredictable hormones once a month like everyone else. So occasionally, I would write smut as a catharsis of those feelings. My parents found a story of mine once in eighth grade, and you know, that was probably the start of my anxiety. I still wrote it when the urge got to be too much, but I would tear it up afterwards and put different pieces in different trash cans. Just. In. Case. Back on topic, though, hurt/comfort was absolutely so much better than any other genre because I have always been someone who craves intimacy but finds romance and sex (outside of the page) to be absolutely against my nature. So to read and write stories where two characters love each other, would die for each other, have gratuitous scenes carrying their unconscious object of affection…that was me crafting the extreme of the intimacy I crave(d?). But I could never write them kissing or having sex. I knew the mechanics of slot A into slot B and I knew that most people found these activities pleasurable, but my first and only boyfriend kissed me on the cheek in eighth grade and I broke up with him almost immediately after with no idea how to articulate why, so. What I wrote was what I wanted. Minus the bullet holes and creepy spider demons. Please keep all wayward appendages inside at all times.

TDWFR: There is a theory that hurt/comfort is actually a substitute for sex. You get all the deep feelings, dedication and physical touch without writing a romantic relationship with sexual intimacy. Some people may have no interest in writing sex but enjoy their characters experiencing physical touch in a caring way. As a writer of h/c and as an aromantic/asexual person, what are your thoughts on this?

Yes. All the yes. Casual, platonic cuddling? *Grabby hands* Romantic twitch of a finger in my direction? Later dude, I am out of here and am probably going to be too embarrassed to ever speak to you again. H/c is explicit intimacy. It’s as close to regular porn as I get as an aro/ace. It helps that I headcanon the both of them as aromantic, and the Doctor as additionally asexual. He can be aroused by touch in the way that anyone can be, but sex is not a driving force of his. He mainly does it as an expression of his love for Clara that he knows she likes. So yes. H/c is my preferred genre because it’s like the ultimate ideal of intimacy. Person A sees person B at their worst and vice-versa, and they learn and grow and heal and help and love endlessly.

Anonymous: Who’s more fun to whump? A companion or the Doctor?

Theclockiscomplete: I try to change it up. Clara is not someone who is easily damseled—in fact, in my opinion nobody is. Everyone is strong in some capacity, and everyone has situations that get them right in the chink of their armor. Such as illness. You can’t reason your way through that, so it’s fun to bring otherwise capable, strong characters to their knees and let them get the care and comfort of the non-affected one. I super like writing whumpy Twelve because he is just so offended at the thought that he could be anything less than Time Lord Victorious 24/7 and Clara’s just like “Yes dear I believe you but you cannot explain that to a bomb/virus/pointy stick, you giant space dork.” And then he pouts because the Time Lord Victorious shtick is what he thinks she likes and she is infuriatingly hard to please, but he’s sure he could do it—he could impress the pants off her if he wasn’t wincing as she’s pulling space grit out of a scrape he earned by sassing a sand dinosaur. I love that.

TDWFR: What is the most helpful feedback you have ever received on your writing from a reader?

Theclockiscomplete: “This was just what I needed! Please write more! What happens next? Omg I saw that character’s expression you described PERFECTLY and it made me laugh so hard!”Encouragement. Validation. Proof that the little things are noticed. You get better at writing by doing a lot of it. You maintain your motivation to do more of it through the heartfelt reactions of your readers. And here is a tip: If you think a review has a line that could be construed as negative, consider your writer. Some of us like to hear what we can do better, or like to know if you thought that a certain line was OOC. If we do, we say so. But we are on the whole a pretty sensitive bunch, so it’s often taken all of our courage to even present this for your viewing pleasure. So please, if you are in doubt, tell us only what you liked or want to see more of. You’ll never go wrong with that—it’s a win-win situation.