animate-mush:

“I’ve seen worlds you’ve never known”: Whovians, can I have an opinion? I was just talking to a girl I know…

avenging-hiddles-heroine:

Whovians, can I have an opinion?

I was just talking to a girl I know from school on facebook, and I mentioned I’ve been watching Doctor Who. She asked me how far I was. I told her episode eight of the Ninth Doctor, and that I have watched a couple episodes of Ten and Eleven to see what they’re…

Yes, it’s okay to consider yourself a fan.  If you derive pleasure from the watching of the show, and continue to watch it for that reason, you are as “real” a fan as you can possibly be.  And I sincerely doubt that the person diminishing you for no reason has seen the first half of the show, thereby failing at her own (albeit flawed) metric.

As someone who has watched every episode from 1963 to 2013 in order, I feel qualified to say that this piece of trivia about myself is utterly irrelevant in determining how “true” a fan I am, and even less relevant to determining how “true” a fan anybody else is.  All it allows me to do is to state confidently that I quite like the show, and I am glad you do too, and sincerely hope that you will continue to do so despite unwarranted criticism from your fellows.

If you watch the show, and you like the show, then you are as “real” a fan as you can possibly be.  Not only is it okay to consider yourself a fan, it is an absolutely true representation of reality, and nobody has the right to tell you otherwise.  

The person who just posted: “I watched the first episode of Doctor Who and it was great!” is a real fan

The person who wore tally marks all over their arms last week is a real fan

The person who just finished season 2 and doesn’t know how to deal with life now that Ian and Barbara are gone is a real fan

The person who just finished series 2 and has no idea what that last person is going on about is a real fan

The person who only posts first doctor era caps and fic is a real fan 

The person who absolutely loves Eleven and Clara and is on their seats edge for the 50th but hasn’t seen series 1-6 is a real fan

The person who stumbled across the TV movie while stalking Paul McGann and now wants to know what this is and where they can get more of it is a real fan

The person who is anxiously awaiting the next Big Finish Audio to come out is a real fan

The person who is honestly more excited about “the Twenty-Three Doctors” by Rich Morris than about the televised special is a real fan

The person who fell in love with David Tennant and then went back and watched Tom Baker and found that it was a slippery slope from there is a real fan

The person who thinks Six is the best and Ten is the worst is a real fan

The person who begs the internet not to skip Nine is a real fan

The person who skips Nine is a real fan (who happens to be missing out, but that’s besides the point)

The person who ships all the things is a real fan

The person who ships none of the things is a real fan

The person who only started watching to find out what the big deal was and now can’t quit is a real fan

The person who wrote “I want to watch Doctor Who but I don’t know where to start” is…well, not a real fan yet, but with any luck will be one tomorrow :D

So…this was long and rambly, but I hope it helps.  It’s not my call to make, but I see no reason to believe that you are anything other than a real fan.  The person who’s giving you a hard time is, sadly, also a real fan…just not a particularly nice one.  

And episode…8 you say?  ”The Empty Child,” right?  That’s a good one!  Enjoy!

Further evidence that Lia is the best thing to ever happen to tumblr

Just want to say.

Dr. Robert Vaughn, you are an awesome man.

And you have so very much more patience than I.

Link is to his debate with William F. Buckley on the topic of the Vietnam War.  I have no respect for Mr. Buckley, and am tempted to find Fox News reasonable in comparison.

It’s like an internet argument. Vaughn tried to be polite, reasonable and well-researched.  Buckley kept proving Godwin’s Law.

So. Many. Times.