AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Y'know, like all fandoms, being a fan of Doctor Who carries with it certain things you have to watch out for. And it's not just knowing which fans you need to run away from, either (they're the ones who think it's "too gay" or have other emotional problems).

For a Doctor Who fan, specifically one living in the US, you have to be especially careful if you want to avoid spoilers for episodes you haven't seen. And I am, with the able assistance of Corey Klemow, who's usually further ahead on his DW-viewing than me.

Corey gives me special caution! warnings when something really "big" is out there. He says "don't read media blogs or news pages." Only thing is, every blog is a media blog. The only way not to read them is not to read blogs at all. But I do avoid all specifically Doctor Who message boards because they're worldwide. If I see that someone is blogging about episodes I haven't seen, I skip the entry.

And if Aaron, aka SamuraiFrog, had put the word SPOILERS in his subject line like a thoughtful person, I would have avoided his recent post. Unfortunately, by the subject line and the photo, it looks like it's going to be a discussion of last year's Christmas Special, Runaway Bride. Which for all I know he's only just seen on the Sci-Fi channel, which only just started the third/29th season, and which I had seen several months ago. So I proceeded, reassured.

Then he goes and plops a big honking fucking spoiler for the end of the season in the second line of his post, with no ramp-up whatsoever.

I stopped reading at once, but...

There's a reason my reviews tend to err on the side of keeping the big plot points unclear, folks, and it's not just that I hate reciting story synopsis (although I do). I learned the hard way by unthinkingly spoiling a thing or two for others.

When posting anything to the world-wide web, you really have to act as though the words "WORLD-WIDE" are tacked up on the wall behind your monitor. Not everyone knows exactly what you know when you know it, and it's good to be aware of them.