Fic Rec: "Well, You Know"
Every once in a while, you come across an AU fic that's written with such love and such delicacy that you want to read it slowly so it doesn't end so quickly, to savour it, to run your metaphorical fingers over its intricacies and absorb them.
Well, You Know is one of them.
It is July in New New York, 099: the dawning of the latest and greatest era of beauty, freedom, truth and love, but mostly love. And when it comes to Rose Tyler and Jack Harkness, a lot of beauty. John Smith is so hopelessly in love with his two best friends that sometimes he thinks he could just about explode. But he's no one special. Not really.
This is an AU OT3 fic set during series 1, so with the Ninth Doctor. A Ninth Doctor who's used the chameleon arch and has no idea that's who he is; a Rose and Jack who spend their days protecting him from himself, until it's time to come back.
Seen through John Smith's eyes, the bohemian underbelly of New New York comes to life in this fic, underscoring a city that's ruled by a repressive authority. We're never really told what it is the Doctor's hiding from, and that's okay; the rest of the story is so beautifully drawn that we don't really need to. (Though if roachpatrol wanted to write the epilogue a few people are clamouring for, I certainly wouldn't complain.) The love each of the three has for the others is drawn so clearly here, and even though John Smith never really believes the others feel that way for him, it's obvious to the reader that they do--as obvious as it was to me when I first saw "Boom Town"; maybe even more so. I read it twice before I ever commented; I read it a third time before I came over here to write this review. And I'll be reading it again. It's that beautiful.
No spoilers, rated PG, safe for work, all that jazz. Go read it. You won't be sorry.
Well, You Know is one of them.
It is July in New New York, 099: the dawning of the latest and greatest era of beauty, freedom, truth and love, but mostly love. And when it comes to Rose Tyler and Jack Harkness, a lot of beauty. John Smith is so hopelessly in love with his two best friends that sometimes he thinks he could just about explode. But he's no one special. Not really.
This is an AU OT3 fic set during series 1, so with the Ninth Doctor. A Ninth Doctor who's used the chameleon arch and has no idea that's who he is; a Rose and Jack who spend their days protecting him from himself, until it's time to come back.
Seen through John Smith's eyes, the bohemian underbelly of New New York comes to life in this fic, underscoring a city that's ruled by a repressive authority. We're never really told what it is the Doctor's hiding from, and that's okay; the rest of the story is so beautifully drawn that we don't really need to. (Though if roachpatrol wanted to write the epilogue a few people are clamouring for, I certainly wouldn't complain.) The love each of the three has for the others is drawn so clearly here, and even though John Smith never really believes the others feel that way for him, it's obvious to the reader that they do--as obvious as it was to me when I first saw "Boom Town"; maybe even more so. I read it twice before I ever commented; I read it a third time before I came over here to write this review. And I'll be reading it again. It's that beautiful.
No spoilers, rated PG, safe for work, all that jazz. Go read it. You won't be sorry.