A Delicate Matter

[Sky Blue]

Now, to make things absoloutely clear, I have nothing against Doctor_Whooves as a player, but... his RP presence greatly troubles me.

He is played as The Doctor, from Doctor Who, and thus makes things officially a crossover. This makes as much sense and canon as having an Optimus Prime pony, or a Darth Vader pony; IT JUST DOESN'T WORK.

I'm a HUGE Doctor Who fan, let me get this straight, but I think Doctor Who has as much place in My Little Pony and Equestria MUCK as Star Wars, Metal Gear Solid, and Harry Potter.

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the issue, everypony. <3


Edit: I just want to re-iterate, this is NOT a dig at Doctor_Whooves' player, who is FREAKING AWESOME. My problem is with the character. Again, Doctor_Whooves player kicks plot. <3

[Sugar Rush]

While I can see where someone would find amusement in playing Doctor Whooves as being, outright, "The Doctor", it is a bit like showing up to a Ren Fair in a Star Trek uniform. Sure, I can see the funny side of it, but it also messes with the whole idea and theme. A while ago, when I was playing on some anime-themed mucks, I came up with some suggested rules based on things that I had seen that drove people off and tended to make things go south. One of them was that all character should conform to the overall them of the muck. If one wanted to play as a Klingon, they should find a Star Trek themed muck.

Now, in the case of Doctor Whooves, there is some leeway. However, I would say that playing him as clearly the same character as "The Doctor" isn't good. I would, instead, make such a connection subtle. Use the "canon" name of Time Turner, for example. Don't overtly make references to things like the TARDIS and such, but dropping hints of things might be fine. For example, Time Turner might be looking about for his "screwdriver", that sort of thing. Leave the connection as vague as MLP:FIM has. I think that might work out.

Coincidentally, a few days ago, I wrote a short story giving a possible explanation of how "Time Turner" came to Equestria....

[Twilight Sparkle]

He seems like a difficult character to play. I mean, it's a lot easier to act like Twilight Sparkle than it would be, for me at least, to act like Dr. Whooves. What exactly it means to act like Dr. Whooves (or any other fanon character) is a discussion worth having; I don't personally have strong opinions about it.

[Derpy]

I agree with Sugar Rush. When I gave Whooves to his player, I made sure he understood that the connection would be subtle, and that (in particular) any implication of time travel would have to be ambiguous. We even thought about naming him Time_Turner.

Are you saying I'm going to have to chat with the good doctor? (Feel free to reply privately if you want.)

[doctorwhooves]

I would LOVE to play a more subtle Doctor. But I get asked for wacky Hijinks doctor on a semi-regular basis. It's why I took such a long break from him. So how do I keep everypony happy?

[doctorwhooves]

Derpy Just suggested renaming him to 'Time Turner' rather than full on 'Doctor Whooves'. That might help a bit. It really would be nice to be able to get real RP with the good ClockPony in.

[Twilight Sparkle]

I suppose I can contribute this to the conversation:

I've never seen any Dr. Who. I have friends who adore the show! The sheer amount of it intimidates me. I may or may not eventually plunge in.

In my RP interactions with you, my good doctor, I've certainly wanted more, in that you're an enthusiastic, committed and clever roleplayer. However, not knowing your source material, I'm left scrambling a bit for details and references.

I think a pony unfamiliar with Dr. Who ought to find your RP understandable! If it were me that's a standard I'd aim for.

[Bardigan]

I agree. A fairly normal yet eccentric Time Turner has just as much room for wacky hjinks as a Time Lord Doctor Whooves!