FAQ Authors: Imran Inayat, Douglas B. Killings and B. K. Willis (with thanks to Paul Andinach, Daibhid Ceannaideach, Gordon Dempster, Helen Fayle, Mags L. Halliday, J2rider, Clive May, Joe Wade, Graham Woodland, Igenlode Wordsmith and Ken Young)

Disclaimer: This isn't official, or anything close to official. [thinks] Then again, neither is the 'Round. It's intended as an intro to the place, rather than the be-all and end-all of the place.

Questions:

1) So what _is_ This Time Round, anyway?
2) Do I need to have written anything beforehand to write a TTR story?
3) Which characters can appear in a TTR story?
4) How about crossovers?
5) Who created This Time Round?
6) What's the 'Round look like?
7) Does anyone run/staff the place?
8) Umm... do I need to ask anyone's permission to write a This Time Round story?
9) Okay, done the story. _Now_ what do I do with it?
10) How about doing a Round Robin?
11) Hey! That character died in the last story and now he's back! How'd _that_ happen?
12) So what's with all the Muses/Sirens/Succubi/etc. around the place?
13) What's this 'To Die For' stuff? Or that creche? Or the high school?
14) Where do I _find_ the TTR stories?
15) Which TTR stories should I read first, to get a hang of the place?
16) Are there any equivalents to the 'Round in other continuities?

---


1) So what _is_ This Time Round, anyway?

It's a pub that exists outside Doctor Who continuity. _Every_ Doctor Who continuity.

Which, in practice, means that any Doctor Who characters can meet in the 'Round. TV series, novels, plays, audios, comics, fanfics, annuals, movies, computer games... as long as they've appeared in Who, they can come in. It's basically where they go when they're not having continuity-set stories.

This even extends to different versions of the same character... so it's possible that (for example) a fanfic post-Earthshock Adric (yes, there are several) could meet a pre-Castrovalva Adric.

It's not just Doctor Who continuity, either - it exists outside /every/ continuity.

And it's not alone out there.

The 'Round, and surrounding region, is one of a number of Outside Dimensions. Most residents of the Round keep things simple by calling the 'Round's dimension 'Outside', and use a variety of terms when referring to the other dimensions (eg: Otherside, Outside's dark reflection, is also known as the darkside or the flipside).

Which leads to the rather interesting conclusion that denizens of the 'Round would be known as Outsiders...

The other subverses can be accessed from the 'Round either by using one of the many PLOT holes around the place, or by using a TARDIS.

PLOT holes are openings in the Panreality Logarithmic Oscillation Template that enable characters to go from one point to another without traversing the intervening space/time/reality distance. The Panreality Logarithmic Oscillation Template is a technobabbly concept whose only real meaning is to form the acronym PLOT, so as to be the basis of bad puns.

It's relatively easy to find natural PLOT Holes around the place; they can be opened by a PLOT Device, magic, cats or the babbling of a crazed physicist called Winifred (don't ask).

A Siren's songs can also open a PLOT Hole - however, this method usually means something comes through from the /other/ side before the hole closes.

So far, only the 'Round's resident Sirens and their family know this. And said family is keeping a very, very close eye on them.

'Inside' usually refers to what happens inside a specific continuity. 'Reality' refers to the authors' home universe.


2) Do I need to have written anything beforehand to write a TTR story?

Nope. No previous TTR stories, no previous 'Doctor Who' stories, no previous /stories/, no restrictions, period. Not even suggesting something for the FAQ.


3) Which characters can appear in a TTR story?

Any character... as long as they've appeared in a piece of Doctor Who fiction. Doesn't matter which medium, just that they've appeared (or _will_ appear, in the case of future companions) somewhere, in some form, in Who fiction.

Original characters (like Francois, the Ogron bartender), Muses, or 'author avatars' (how an author chooses to write themselves into the 'Round... which may be nothing _like_ the.Real Life author) can appear too.


4) How about crossovers?

The situation on crossovers has been... messy, in the past. You _could_ crossover characters straight into TTR... but people tended to get a little irritated when that happened.

To be on the safe side, it's been recommended that the crossover characters in question appear in at least one non-TTR Who story.

However, given it's the place where the characters go when they're off-duty, some of them can have friends and acquaintances from other continuities (like we have friends who don't share our job. Or our fascination with Who, for that matter). So... provided there's an understandable reason for a straight crossover... go ahead.


5) Who created This Time Round?

TTR was created by Tyler Dion in 'A Quiet Night Out', posted 23/1/1998, as an adaptation from Kielle's Subreality Cafe. (bows before Tyler and Kielle).


6) What's the 'Round look like?

Umm... as far as we can tell, it's a fairly small building, painted dark brown, a bit creaky at times. The main floor has bay windows. There's a car park outside, where various means and methods of transports are left (apart from the sentient TARDISes. But don't bring that up with them. *Really*).

There's a wood just outside it, and an old people's home opposite, which backs up on a gentle hill.

Nearby is the small town of Nameless, which has a strange and wide variety of shops, a high school, and a day care centre... but we won't go into those. Believe me.

The 'Round, Nameless, and surrounding environs are usually held to lie somewhere on the British coast (quite where, however, has never been specified).

Inside... the Round is subject to writer fiat. You can make it look any way you want. But there's usually a saloon room, and a number of back rooms, including a common room, a games room, toilets for all species and genders, a room with a Time Scoop, a library, and the Proprietor's office, along with a wine cellar - and dungeon - in the basement.

Also, there's the scheduling board (where all the stories, novels, audios, etc. are listed along with which characters they involve), the LAN room, (run by Mel, the TTR Systems Operator), and the Juke Box (which seems to have every song ever released somewhere in its memory, and which automatically will tailor its descriptions and content to whoever happens to be looking at it at the time).

The 'Round has at least one upper floor, with a number of sleeping rooms (you _don't_ wanna know what an Ogron sleeping room looks like...), which are often used for the more 18-rated things, sort of thing...

Oh yes. One big thing. This Time Round is _not_ bigger on the inside than on the outside. It just looks that way.

It's currently listed in the CAMRA (CAMpaign for Real Ale) Guide to the Universe, Fodor's Guide to Subreality, and the Michelin Guide to Trans-Continuity Hotels, Pubs and Restaurants.

Ratings hover around two stars.

(No, This Time Round's location isn't based on any RL location, as far as we know. It seems to work on the 'if you want to find it, you will find it' narrative rule.)


7) Does anyone run/staff the place?

It's run by a figure known as the Proprietor. He doesn't usually get involved in the 'Round's chaos, and when he does, it's usually with the staff, as they complain about their jobs... He has been referred to as 'Tyler', on a couple of occasions, but the connection to Tyler Dion, who opened up the Round to the writers, is... uncertain...

One thing that should be noted is that if something loses the Proprietor money, he tends to get... rather unhappy about it.

On the other hand... is he all that he seems? TTR _does_ exist outside continuity, after all...

The regular staff at present are:

Bartenders: Francois the Ogron, Harry Sullivan, Adric, Chang Lee (who usually takes graveyard shifts), Fitz and Sandra, the resident phantasm. Of these, Francois and Sandra are the only ones who definitely work full time, although Harry and Adric often work near-full time (Adric probably because he's got nothing better to do and at least it keeps him safe from the Psycho for a few hours). There's also a long tradition of the remaining companions taking turns as bartender, so the hours where the above are not scheduled or when extra hands are needed are when the others take their turns.

Other staff: Katarina is usually on waitress duty, Mel, as mentioned above, is Systems Operator, and Polly is (of course) the 'Access Control Monitor' (read: 'continuity cop'). Charlotte, Francois's sister, is the cook.

With the 2005 Who series coming up, plus what seems like a near-constant influx of crossover characters, the Proprietor found he needed more staff to deal with the workload.

He started off by looking for suitable vict- , er, *applicants* from throughout the subverses; as a result, he ended up hiring Luna Inverse (elder sister of Lina Inverse, of 'Slayers' fame), wannabe alien Kelly Kendin, Tainted refugee Hayley Rhodes, and fugitive catgirl Mia.

Attempting to /buy/ suitable help didn't work out much better, resulting in the hiring of android girl Neimi and Discworld golem Treader 27, both of whom are entirely too familiar with their rights for the Proprietor's liking...

(the various stories behind this can be found here...)


8) Umm... do I need to ask anyone's permission to write a This Time Round story?

Uh-uh. Though it's generally considered polite to note who/what in the Round belongs to which authors/companies. (One of the writers of this FAQ (Imran) admits to not having done this himself)

It's usually also considered good form that if you're intending to write a story significantly using another fan writer's characters or storylines you ask that person beforehand via email (if possible). 99.9% of the time there's no problem, but it's better to make sure.


9) Okay, done the story. _Now_ what do I do with it?

Usually, you can post them to the alt.drwho.creative newgroup (preferably with [TTR] in the heading as a flag, so people know it's a This Time Round story).

(Been lucky. Haven't seen TTR 'plagiarised' stories, or flames in story form. Apart from that, as long as it's about, or set in, This Time Round, it counts as a This Time Round story.)


10) How about doing a Round Robin?

Mm. The first 'Round Round Robin involved Pinky and the Brain, the Author Mafia, Shub-Barneyrath, Sailors Gallifrey and Marinus, Philip Seagull and some _Thing_ in the Corner...

Then we finished the /second/ TTR Round Robin (involving Eric Saward, Sailor Fitz, the Evil, Neutral, and just plain _odd_ Odd Trios, the Infinity Doctor's evil twin brother and a fuzzy toy Yeti)...

The third, 'Dark Carnival', is still in progress. The Tod Brothers' Carnival has arrived in town, and the usual suspects have descended on it, suspecting dark forces at work.

This time, the dark forces are prepared for them.

There are two main ways you could start one.

- There's improvisational (post the beginning of a story to adwc, and hope someone else takes it up.), which we used for the first two Round Robins.

- Or moderated. Post a call to alt.drwho.creative, asking for writers for a This Time Round Round Robin. Then, after receiving responses from authors who'd like to get involved (give this about a month or so), plan it out, decide how long you want it to be (how many chapters it should have), assign an author (if you have enough) to each chapter, get them to post the submission to you first, for approval and editing, (preferably, should be about a week between chapters), then post the chapters to the newsgroup.

Ooof.

And it's also probably a good idea to decide how many chapters (and how many slots for authors, thereby)


11) Hey! That character died in the last story and now he's back! How'd _that_ happen?

Oh yeah. That's another rule of the 'Round. If someone dies in the 'Round, they come back to life shortly afterwards.

In other words... no-one dies in the 'Round. At least, not permanently.

(And Death is usually on hand to prepare the deceased for return...)

However, it gets murkier if it happens off-premises. Basically, it appears that if you die outside of the 'Round, you have to get a deferment from the Mortality Deferment Office in Limbo, (aka the waiting room of the afterlife), in order to come back to life.

Adric is the only one with an express-ticket, (his mortality deferment card, aka 'the punchcard'), but that's because he keeps getting bumped off. He undeniably holds the record for number of times killed.

Some characters remain in Limbo - they usually end up working for the Mortality Deferment Office, or hanging around Limbo aimlessly. Most of the MDO's staff are selected from characters who committed suicide.

(Apparently, there's a PLOT Hole somewhere in the subverses that leads to Limbo. Probably somewhere anime side, accessible only to celestial agents, and those they bring with them.

Oh, and to Ryouga Hibiki.

Long story.)

Some characters don't choose to come back - they choose to go on to whatever fate awaits them, walking the path that opens before them. For those we've seen, it manifests as a column of light; there are almost certainly others.

After that... while past and alternate versions of that character may still be around, the character is /gone/.

Permanently.

No living character knows what happens to those who decide to go on.

There is another choice, though - undeath.

In this case, there has to be something powerful enough to call - or send - the deceased back in undead form, and it ends up causing a /lot/ of paperwork for the office... but when they /do/ come back, they're effectively immortal and nigh-on indestructible, barring preset conditions. They're also pretty much stuck as undead, barring unique circumstances. Punchcard holders are /not/ exempt from this - one version of Adric has undergone this, coming back as a revenant. To the best of anyone's knowledge, he's still out there...

When corporeal undead - vampires, zombies and so on - are killed and resurrected, they come back in their undead forms.

Whether /non-corporeal/ undead - ghosts - can be killed remains open to debate...

(Reanimated mindless corpses come under the heading of 'special circumstances' - the deceased's soul isn't present, the corpse is animated by the forces involved, whether that's emotion, magic, or weird science.)


12) So what's with all the Muses/Sirens/Succubi/etc. around the place?

Ah. That would be Imran and B. K.'s fault, really.

It has its foundation in two different main sources.

The first is the anime/manga series 'Oh My Goddess!', where we're introduced to the idea of a Divine licencing system - that is, the idea that the gods are licenced in accordance with their type, their power, and their discipline with said power.

The second is Subreality, which created a society and culture for modern-day Muses - the Divinities who inspire works of creativity - headed by the Nine Muses of Greek mythology, with Calliope (Muse of Epic Poetry) ruling over all.

B. K. was the first to establish the presence of Muses Outside in 'Shock Value 4: Current Affairs, the Musical'. Imran, however, ended up being the first to actually introduce one - his Muse Allie - in 'Musings', shortly before B. K. introduced his - Nyssaias and Embericles - in 'Shock Value 5: No Muse Is Bad Muse'.

From there, the circle of Muses expanded rapidly - from Carrie, the embodied AI who serves as Graham Woodland's Muse, to Bob the Muse, the enigmatic entity who acts as Muse for Daibhid Ceannaideach, taking in many others along the way.

And in conjunction with that rapid expansion, we discovered the existence of other Divinities.

First were Xeffy and Ayna, the resident Sirens, in 'The Time The Stories Went Dark' and 'Maybe Some Other Time' respectively.

Then, with B. K.'s 'She Talks To Rainbows', we got our first look at the wider organisation of the Divine - the Celestial Bureaucracy, based in the City of Dreams, and the many Divinities it oversees (or not, as the case might be). We've met Dryads, Demon Lords, Succubi, and Counterfeiting Demons... and that only scratches the surface of the Divinities out there.

As for _what_ a Divinity is - a Divinity is any being who possesses a spark of the Divine. Where exactly that spark of Divinity comes from, however, is presently unknown. We know that the child of two Divinities is Divine in their own right, and that the child of a Divinity and a mortal is semi-divine. We also know that, under the right circumstances, it's possible for someone to become Divine, receive the Divine spark... but the spark's origin remains unclear.

What we _do_ know are the effects of possessing such a spark.

Each spark is aspected towards what, for want of a better term, can best be described as 'forces', among which are the Dark (demons), the Light (angels), the Elemental (elementals), and the Natural (nature spirits). The nature of each individual spark determines its bearer's function as a Divinity, and, more often than not, shapes their form to follow that function.

Each type of Divinity is ranked into classes, ranging from First Class at the top down to at least Fifth Class, the lowest known to date; First Class Divinities have maximal power and control over their area of influence in their immediate vicinity, while Fifth Class Divinities' influence is minimal.

There's also a hierarchy _between_ types - the typical rule of thumb is 'the wider and more diverse the area of influence, the higher in the hierarchy that type ranks'. So, for example, Archangels rank highly among the Light, whilst gremlins rank somewhere near the bottom of the Dark.

There are, however, those above even the Archangels and Demon Princes - the Powers, whose understanding of their domain is second to none, and whose power can span countries, continents, or even the entire globe.

And above them all stands the Allfather, whose word is law for the Divine.

All the Divinities operate in the context of the Divine Plan, a scheme in which all Divine types have a place - even if the nature of that Plan is unknown to all save perhaps the Allfather.

The end result of this is that it's perfectly possible for, say, a Divinity of Light and a Divinity of Dark to be best of friends, or mortal enemies, and other Divinities will at least comprehend that such is possible, even if their own opinions differ significantly. There is no 'universal' policy regarding relationships with other Divinities, regardless of type; it's down to the judgement of the individual Divinity.

The Divine are also not precluded from interacting with mortals outside of their duties; again, however, individual attitudes to this will vary from Divinity to Divinity.

As might be guessed - not least from the existence of Counterfeiting Demons, among others - Divine law is significantly different from mortal law, focusing on the duties and responsibilities expected of a Divinity. What mortals hold as crimes are _not_ necessarily what a Divinity would hold as a crime.

Those Divinities who decide to live among mortals, however, will usually abide by the mortal law applicable to their present location.

In a realm with a unique grasp of law - like Outside - this can have interesting consequences...


13) What's this 'To Die For' stuff? Or that creche? Or Fantasy Island?

TTR has a number of continuing threads independent of the main Doctor Who multiverse. In this way, characters can be bashed together in unconventional ways for whatever reason the authors feel are appropriate. Most of these storylines have been concocted for one-off comedy pieces, but some have evolved significantly and are practically series in their own rights.

It should also be noted that only changes Inside a character's original continuity are permanent. Any other changes are optional (on the character's part) - but there are a couple of things that appear to bend the rules, when it comes to this.

Quite how that happens is still up in the air.

Anyway, on with the story arcs...

'To Die For' (aka Psycho Nyssa) :

(takes deep breath)

At this time TDF is the single largest ongoing-story in the TTR continuum. Its genesis was a drabble (100-word story) by Erin B. Tumilty called 'Sadism', but soon after a number of writers (including Douglas B. Killings, Bradley K. Willis, and others) jumped on the bandwagon and hijacked the original concept for their own evil ends.

And what is this evil concept?

Imagine Nyssa. (Ok guys, you can stop drooling). Now, imagine that beneath that sweet, calm, prim and proper Trakenite demeanor is a suppressed, raving, psychopathic, murderous loony, and you get the idea. Mix in the fact that she seems to have a fixation for not only venting all of her rage at Adric but doing so in the most inventive and creative ways she can dream up, and you have the basic story of TDF.

Now add various factions of loony fans (the militant and very well armed Adric Defence Force - the ADF; the inept and pathetic Wondrous and Adorable Nyssa's Knights-Errant Regiment - WANKER); Adric's several non-DW friends (which include Wesley Crusher and Lucas Wolenczek); various mysterious organisations that watch everything very intently; a cadre of other evildoers such as Catbert, Sherriff Lucas Buck, and the Spring-Water Drinking Man; and loads of other crossovers that usually show up just to complicate matters; mix them all in a blender, and you get some idea as to the complex mayhem this series has reached.

And this STILL isn't all, because despite all of their protestations to the contrary, it's slowly dawning on the two main combatants (Nyssa and Adric) that there are some things neither of them are willing to publically admit to, and that maybe (just maybe) their public actions have nothing to do with what they REALLY think about each other....

If you've ever enjoyed anime SF/F romantic comedies like Ranma 1/2, Urusei Yatsura, or Tenchi Muyo, you should immediately recognise along what lines TDF is modelled. The series' two main writers (Douglas B. Killings and Bradley K. Willis) are also big anime fans, and decided to import those conventions into the universe of Doctor Who. TDF is also almost unique in DW fanfiction in that it is one of the few series around that is generally sympathetic toward Adric (as opposed to Adric-friendly _stories_, of which there are quite a number), a fact which its writers are unashamedly proud of.

The TDF cycle is archived at http://www.ttrarchive.com/todiefor.html.

'Look Who's Talking', aka 'the creche', on the other hand, is _my_ (Imran Inayat's) fault. Sorry. (Which means only I get to destroy it. Sorry...)

It's... (shuffles)... the day care centre outside continuity. Or the creche outside continuity. It's where the baby versions of fictional characters can be left.

Think 'Rugrats' crossed with 'Dexter's Laboratory'. Regress your favourite Who character to toddlerdom. Then let them loose in a day care centre where all the other toddlers are _also_ baby versions of their adult selves. Then let the day care centre allow the toddlers to find, or build, virtually any weird gadget or magic artifact imaginable (or unimaginable).

_Then_, watch the fireworks start....

To be honest, I have very little idea where it came from. Its genesis was an aborted TTR fanfic of mine where the Eighth Doctor and his coterie of companions got splashed by water from one of the Jusenkyou Curse springs (familiar to 'Ranma 1/2' fans) - namely, Spring of Drowned Five-Year Old. It somehow mutated into Look Who's Talking, the creche outside continuity. Then B. K. Willis brought Psycho Nyssa in. And then came the jet-powered pushchair... and the pirate TV station...

Here... the 'Who' babies can (and do) do virtually anything.

Rule the world, become the first toddlers to time travel, get their hands on Excalibur, lead a break-in of the 'Round, fight over who gets the cookies... _anything_.

(And you do _not_ want to go in the toybox... Then again, you don't wanna go in the kitchen, either...)

It's run by the Supervisor, a man with a _very_ relaxed attitude towards his job. We've never seen what would piss him off. Hopefully, we never will. As long as the babies' parents collect them on time...

He's ably assisted by Izzy S, from the Eighth Doctor DWM strips. Izzy's the one who deals with the toddlers most of the time - playing with them, pacifying them, reading them stories, feeding them, giving them naptime, etcetera - although sometimes, the Supervisor finds himself having to deal with the babies personally...

Whilst Izzy spent some time off dealing with a personal crisis Inside, the Supervisor cadged in two new - and very, very reluctant - assistant helpers to help out: Kiyone, a Galaxy Police Officer First Class - and Mara, a /Demon/ First Class, both from anime-side.

Now, Izzy's back to deal with the toddlers - unfortunately for Kiyone and Mara, however, they're not getting off that easily. They still have to deal with the kids as well...

(The Look Who's Talking stories can be found at: http://www.ttrarchive.com/lookwhostalking2.html.)

_Then_, we have 'Then Do That Over', the stories of the kids at H. G. Wells' High School.

Being where and when it is, it should come as no surprise that H. G. Wells is simultaneously both an American and a British high school, depending on which iteration you visit. All the kids can be found in both iterations of the high school.

Normally, in Reality, given the differences between the school systems, a set-up like this would be impossible - but since H. G. Wells is outside continuity, no-one particularly worries about it.

In its British incarnation, H. G. Wells is divided up into eight years. The class presidents for each year are teenage versions of the first eight TV Doctors, from Paul Doctor at Year One through to Bill Doctor at Year Eight, with most of the pupils assigned to the year of the Doctor they're associated with.

Those pupils who weren't originally 'Who' characters are assigned to a year based on their age, as in other British high schools, so 11 year olds start in Year One, and 18 year olds start in Year Eight.

In its American iteration, H. G. Wells is divided up into four years. Each year group is split in two, with a teenage Doctor as president for one of the half-year groups. Paul and Sylv Doctors are the freshman presidents, Colin and Peter are sophomore presidents, Tom and Jon are juniors, and Pat and Bill are the seniors. Most of the other pupils are either assigned to the group of the Doctor they're associated with, or to the Doctor they'd be assigned to in the British iteration.

In both iterations, Chris Doctor is usually assigned to Paul Doctor's group.

The odd thing about this - well, one of the odder things - is that a lot, if not all, of the pupils stay in their original year, year in, year out. Even more oddly, they don't appear to age.

That doesn't mean they're _happy_ with this, though...

As regards the teachers: Barbara Wright has History, Professor Chronotis does Future History, Rorvik and Varne are the P.E. Instructors, Mr Davros has Chemistry (another one Varne shares), Mr Borusa takes English and Law, Magnus takes Physics, Maths, and Basic Magical Theory, Professor Azmael takes Temporal Physics and Combined Science, Sabalom Glitz does Economics, Jessica Marlowe (from B. K. Willis's non-TTR story 'A Family Affair') has English Literature, whilst Tara Maclay - late of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' - and her counterpart from Paul Gadzikowski's imaginary TV series 'St. Pudentiana the Fairy Bane', Gaia, take Basic Applied Magic, Combined Magic, and PSE. Grace Holloway is the school doctor, a Mr Merlin is school librarian, Maxil is Assistant Headmaster... and that's only the known staff.

The position of Headmaster at H. G. Wells' needs some explanation. Headmaster turnover at H. G. Wells' has reached legendary proportions, to the point where none of the staff or students bother paying attention to who the Headmaster is, since it's virtually certain they'll be gone by the end of the story.

Meanwhile, among the kids, Mike Yates is captain of the football team, Sarah Jane Smith edits the school newspaper, ably asissted by sports reporter Harry Sullivan, cub reporter Nyssaias the Light Muse, and tech-head Mel Bush, whilst the Doctor and Master brothers are engaged in an ongoing rivalry - not forgetting the school's very own super-being, a lunatic with a green squid-head who calls herself the Mask...

Then there are the school clubs, which include Amish, Anime, German, Military and Procastinators'. (There used to be a French Club, but it got taken over by the German Club.)

'Then Do That Over' was originally created by Paul Gadzikowski, with additions by B. K. Willis, Ken Young, and Imran Inayat.

The stories are archived at http://www.ttrarchive.com/thendothatover2.html.)

Back in the 'Round, there's:

- Paul Gadzikowski's Peri arc, as Peri and the Doctor(s) found themselves falling for each other... with the Valeyard trying to create trouble, as per usual, and having it blow up in his face, also as per usual...

(the Peri Arc stories are archived at http://www.ttrarchive.com/periarc2.html.)

- and the near-legendary MPT3K sequence by B. K. Willis. In an effort to 'cure' Psycho Nyssa, Number One, and Doug & Diane, Adric's Timescooped them all to the Satellite of Love, where Adric and Harry make them read bad fanfic (and the occasional crazed rant). Francois has turned into _TV's_ Francois, the series is a cable _hit_, Adric's making obscene amounts of money, Harry smiles pleasantly (as he usually does...), the gorgeous Mistress Helen has found herself trapped on the satellite as part of a sordid (and successful) plan to keep the money rolling in...

...and our unlikely stars are, for some reason, as yet uncured. Can't think why...

The MPT3K stories can be found at http://www.ttrarchive.com/msts.html.

Yep, other authors can use the concepts - you don't need our permission. (Keep question 8 of the FAQ in mind, though.)

Oh, and don't forget... Karaoke Night at the 'Round just got resurrected. Be very, very, careful...

(And, for the even _more_ cautious, Crossover Poker Night, usually on Fridays, when crossovers are encouraged to show up, provided they can get past Polly's watchful eye - which _wasn't_ usually that difficult...)


14) Where do I _find_ the TTR stories?

Ahem. This question's basically for the newsgroup posting.

New TTR stories are usually posted to alt.drwho.creative.

(current running total: 484 complete stories, round robins and filks, 8 incomplete.)


15) Which TTR stories should I read first, to get a hang of the place?

Mmm. Try Tyler Dion's 'A Quiet Night Out', or Erin Tumilty's trilogy of 'Sadism' drabbles, to start off with. Then... well, see where it goes from there...

For a further introduction to the To Die For sequence, try 'Red Tape Blues', by Bradley Keith Willis, and 'Friendly Advice', by Douglas B. Killings.

If you'd like to take a look at the Then Do That Over stories, try Paul Gadzikowski's 'Then Do That Over' or B. K. Willis's 'She Talks To Rainbows'.

For a general introduction to LWT, try 'You Have _Got_ To Be Kidding', by Imran Inayat. For those familiar with the TDF conventions, try 'Look Who's Stalking', by B. K. Willis.


16) Are there any equivalents to the 'Round in other continuities?

This /can/ get a little complex, mainly because there's a difference between those created in other continuities, and those created as part of the 'Round's continuity.

A few subverses have been mentioned in the TTR stories, five of which were created in the 'Round's continuity. Those five include:

- The Pro-Fun Party, a pocket subverse devoted to pro-fun. It's centred around the pro-fun trolls' TARDIS, based somewhere in southeastern Virginia.

There's an annual party each year - it usually begins around May or June, and has, to date, been hosted by Eloise, the first pro-fun troll to come out of hiding. Characters from a *lot* of subverses have ended up at the Hoedown.

There've been three parties so far - with the fourth party recently finished - and each time, the would-be partiers have ended up saving the Universe...

(The first annual Hoedown, 'Chaos in Cyberspace', can be found at http://profun.roundrobins.info/.

The second Hoedown, 'The Time The Stories Went Dark', can be found at http://curry.250x.com/HoedownII/.

The third, 'Goodnight, Sweetheart', can be found at http://narm00.tripod.com/h3.html.

Alternatively, all three can be found, sans additional resources, at http://www.ttrarchive.com/roundrobins.html.

For the fourth party, the format was changed from a Hoedown to a Quadrille; it's currently being prepared for Web publication.

Created by Ann Magill, Eloise's alter ego - or is that the other way around...?)

- Otherside, home to the 'Round's sinister counterpart, Some Other Time Round. Events there go in a ...darker direction... than the 'Round.

Everyone in the 'Round has a counterpart in Otherside. Most are darker, a few are brighter, and some are about the same - but the darker turn of events leaves its mark on all of them.

Contact between the two 'Rounds is limited, but there's at least one known PLOT Hole linking the two - in both universes, it's situated at the top of the hill opposite the pub.

The SOTR stories currently lurk at http://www.ttrarchive.com/someothertimeround.html.

Originally created by K. M. Wilcox.

- Toonside, home to the 'Round's /animated/ counterpart, This Toon Round. Where This Time Round is focused on 'Doctor Who', however, the 'Toon is focused on British animation (and claymation), and has become home to a good number of British 'toons.

The 'Toon also has equivalents to all the settings in the 'Round - including an Othertoonside, with equivalents to all the settings /Toonside/.

And since Otherside rapidly spawns its /own/ equivalents to the 'Round's settings... um...

Created by Daibhid Ceannaideach and Imran Inayat.

- Fantasy Island is a holiday resort subverse for the characters from every /other/ subverse, whenever they need to take a break.

Narrative causality here tends towards giving tourists a happy - or at the very least /interesting/ - holiday.

The original chronicles can be found at http://www.ttrarchive.com/fantasyisland2.html.

Originally created by Imran Inayat.

- In at least one timeline, the Outsiders failed to stop the Dark Carnival.

As a result, the 'Round is a burned-out shell, the Doctors are priests to a mad god, a god hungry for sacrifices...

...and the little town of Nameless has been renamed Tribulation.

Originally created by Joe Wade.


Then there are the settings created outside the 'Round's loose framework.

For this, I need to establish some historical background.

Metafictive setups like TTR - where it's possible to meet characters from multiple stories, or have them meet, regardless of whether or not said characters are aware of their fictional status - have a long history, stretching back into the Victorian era at least (the 1872 novel 'Kennaquhair, A Narrative of Utopian Travel', by one 'Theopholis M'Crib' (pseudonym), is perhaps the earliest known). Among their number are such stories as John Kendrick Bangs' 'House-Boat On The Styx' series (1895-1901), Walter de la Mare's 'Henry Brocken' (1904), L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt's series 'The Incompleat Enchanter' (1940-1953, available in single-volume form under the title 'The Compleat Enchanter'), John Myers Myers's 'Silverlock' (1949), Poul Anderson's tales of the Old Phoenix inn (1974-?2001), Marvin Kaye's 'The Incredible Umbrella' (1979), the Tuesday Next books by Jasper Fforde (2001-present), the 'League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' graphic novels by Alan Moore (2000, 2003), and the film 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit?' (1988)

(Two of the three 'House-Boat On The Styx' novels are available for download as free etexts. It should be noted that the fictional characters only show up in 'Pursuit' - 'House-Boat' sticks to historical characters.

('A House-Boat On The Styx' can be downloaded at http://www.gutenberg.net/etext/2618.

('The Pursuit Of The House-Boat' can be downloaded at http://www.gutenberg.net/etext/3169.)

The catch with most officially produced metafictive settings, though, is that the range of characters and places they can draw upon is limited by copyright legislation - that is, they can't use anything presently copyrighted without permission. Failing that permission, they're limited to works of fiction where the copyright has lapsed, or was never given, which usually means fiction from the 1920s or before. (Toontown, in 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit?', is an example where they _did_ get permission to use copyrighted characters.)

Fanfiction, however, has had a far looser relationship with copyright legislation, bounded mainly by how far the copyright holders are willing to tolerate works of fiction based on the copyright they hold. It also has a history as long - if not longer - than metafictive settings; for example, there were Sherlock Holmes pastiches, parodies, and knock-offs almost from the time the Great Detective first appeared.

(And then there's the case of 'Don Quixote', where Cervantes found another author had knocked off a sequel to the first volume before he'd started writing the second.

(What Cervantes did, in retrospect, was something many authors could empathise with - he wrote the publication of the knock-off into the second volume, and had his narrator comment on it.)

I have no evidence for this next, but I suspect that metafictive settings - places where characters from different works of fiction could meet - turned up in fanworks for much of the twentieth century.

Certainly they showed up in computer BBSs, the predecessors to present-day newsgroups and webforums; again, I have no evidence for this, but I suspect this is where the idea of shared-world metafictive settings may have first appeared, as communication between authors became easier and fanfiction could reach a wider audience.

The proliferation of the Net in the 1990s saw fanfiction establish a solid presence on the Web - and with it came the metafictive settings. They aren't nearly as prevalent as the amount of slash fanfic, but still, they _do_ have a presence.

Among the more notable are:

- Kielle's Subreality Cafe, located in Subreality, the borderland between Imagination and Reality (at http://www.subreality.com/sc.htm) - and the inspiration for This Time Round.

Subreality's home to the comic characters - fanfic and mainstream - and to Calliope's Muses, now the Muses of creative writing (who get trained in the Collegium Imaginarium).

The rules there are _not_ the TTR rules. Read Kielle's FAQ to get an idea of what you're getting yourself into.

Discovered by the Scribe Kielle.

- Nerima Ward and the surrounding area, centred around Ucchan's Okonomiyaki Restaurant (a fixture from 'Ranma 1/2'). The anime/manga subverse, where the laws of anime apply... and given the many genres that slot under that label, things can get very, *very* interesting... (Apparently, this was created separately as its own unique thing - if someone could point me to an URL for stories here set independent of adwc, I'd be grateful.)

- The Official Fanfiction Universities.

The explosion of 'Lord of the Rings' fanfic in the wake of Peter Jackson's epic movie trilogy also saw a commesurate increase in _bad_ LotR fanfic.

So Camilla Sandman, aka Miss Cam, created the Official Fanfiction University of Middle-Earth, a combination story/setting/workshop, where the canon characters teach fanfic writers how to write good fanfic (or at least less painful fic).

From there, Official Fanfiction Universities have sprung up in many and various fandoms; however, as of yet, there is no 'Doctor Who' equivalent.

The OFUs have a webpage at http://www.misssandman.com/LOTR/ofum.html

- The PPC (Protectors of the Plot Continuum)

Okay. Above, I mentioned the amount of bad fanfic that swamped 'Lord of the Rings'. With that also came a disturbing number of Mary-Sues ('perfect' self-insert characters).

Now, self-inserts _can_ be written well, can be written as complex characters. The trouble is that Mary-Sues, in the main, are largely written by newbie writers, (who, in some cases, appear to be new to writing _period_), and usually turn out to be rather /too/ perfect for anyone's good.

The PPC were created to take out badfic Mary-Sues. They enter the badfic, take out the Mary-Sue, and hopefully restore the setting and characters to approximate normality.

Like the OFUs, the PPC have spread to various other fandoms - and, again like the OFUs, there is, as yet, no 'Who' equivalent.

A good point to start is http://www.misssandman.com/PPC/ppc.html; failing that, http://www.oddlots.digitalspace.net/PPC is a good alternative.

Created by Jay and Acacia.

- Arisugawa's Locket is a single-author metafictive setting, created and written by Shanejayell, which focuses on lesbian anime only. The bar is run by Juri Arsugawa, of 'Revolutionary Girl Utena'.

It can be found at http://www.shoujoai.com/fanfics/utena/locket/

- Club Anipike, created by Nightbreak, and run by Mitsao Katsuragi; mainly written by Nightbreak, with a small number of spinoffs. Webpage:
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Rampart/3552/fics.html.

Most of the other equivalents (that I know of) are set in Subreality (if you know of others elsewhere, let me know) - and are comparatively smaller than the settings above (that is, there are about three or four stories for them), including ones for both Buffy and ReBoot, as well as a few you might not expect.

The concept of a metafictive setting isn't limited by setting or plot: I know of at least one themed bar on rec.arts.anime.creative, for which so far only one story exists - Erica Friedman's 'Ladies' Night at the Chained Heart', set in the Chained Heart, a bar for anime characters with unrequited love interests, which's run by Princess Ayeka of Jurai, with Ryoko, her rival, as bartender (both of 'Tenchi Muyo!').

The story can be found at http://www.shoujoai.com/fanfics/smoon/ladynite/

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