Rec: They Say by Lyricwritesprose
Story: They Say
Author: Lyricwritesprose
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 744
Author's Summary: The oppressed rely on whispers.
Characters/Pairings: None, directly.
Warnings: Some references to slavery and the violence and brutality involved in same. Nothing graphic, however.
Recced because: Another author who has become no stranger to these pages in recent months and years, and there's a reason for that. If you ask me (and seeing as you're reading my rec post, in some sense you already have), Lyricwritesprose is one of the very best new Whofic writers to emerge onto the scene in the past few years, maintaining a consistently high standard of interesting fics with things to say about Doctor Who, its characters and universe that are worth thinking about. This fic is no exception.
There's a wariness among some Who fans regarding what I've heard referred to as the fetishising of the Doctor. The tendency, perhaps, to invest him with godlike or superheroic status over and above that of an extremely clever and resourceful adventurer in time and space. Probably the prime example in many of these fans' minds would be the moment in Forest of the Dead - "Look me up." I think the point is that the Doctor shouldn't be able to rely on the power of his reputation alone in confrontations with powerful enemies - and I think it's an opinion Stephen Moffat has at least paid lip service to in the idea of making the Eleventh Doctor "anonymous" again and portray him as deliberately trying to lower his profile in the universe, even if this was perhaps not executed perfectly in practice.
This fic deals in these sorts of areas, takes them head on, and paints a brilliantly thoughtful and original picture of the, for want of a better term, Whoniverse and what it must be like to exist in it. This is a dangerous cosmos, the author makes clear, perhaps more dangerous than the series itself occasionally remembers, filled with conflict and oppression and evil. And yet, quite literally its saving grace, it has the Doctor. And this isn't the Doctor as some sort of lionised godlike superhero - his personality and indeed existence are immaterial. This is about the footprint the Doctor leaves, the effect his actions have upon the universe he exists in and the lives of the people living in it, and the hope that footprint provides for all of the others out there in the darkness, regardless of whether they know how or why it exists. It is, quite simply, lovely stuff, the kind of thing I really relish in a good fanfic.
I would characterise this as a companion piece to the author's other story "Invisible Road", which was also recently recced on the comm. That's more than worth your reading time as well. If I were you, I would go and read both of them right now and leave appropriate words of encouragement for the author.
Listen. This isn't a story I'm supposed to tell you. This isn't a story that someone of your rank is ever supposed to hear.
Author: Lyricwritesprose
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 744
Author's Summary: The oppressed rely on whispers.
Characters/Pairings: None, directly.
Warnings: Some references to slavery and the violence and brutality involved in same. Nothing graphic, however.
Recced because: Another author who has become no stranger to these pages in recent months and years, and there's a reason for that. If you ask me (and seeing as you're reading my rec post, in some sense you already have), Lyricwritesprose is one of the very best new Whofic writers to emerge onto the scene in the past few years, maintaining a consistently high standard of interesting fics with things to say about Doctor Who, its characters and universe that are worth thinking about. This fic is no exception.
There's a wariness among some Who fans regarding what I've heard referred to as the fetishising of the Doctor. The tendency, perhaps, to invest him with godlike or superheroic status over and above that of an extremely clever and resourceful adventurer in time and space. Probably the prime example in many of these fans' minds would be the moment in Forest of the Dead - "Look me up." I think the point is that the Doctor shouldn't be able to rely on the power of his reputation alone in confrontations with powerful enemies - and I think it's an opinion Stephen Moffat has at least paid lip service to in the idea of making the Eleventh Doctor "anonymous" again and portray him as deliberately trying to lower his profile in the universe, even if this was perhaps not executed perfectly in practice.
This fic deals in these sorts of areas, takes them head on, and paints a brilliantly thoughtful and original picture of the, for want of a better term, Whoniverse and what it must be like to exist in it. This is a dangerous cosmos, the author makes clear, perhaps more dangerous than the series itself occasionally remembers, filled with conflict and oppression and evil. And yet, quite literally its saving grace, it has the Doctor. And this isn't the Doctor as some sort of lionised godlike superhero - his personality and indeed existence are immaterial. This is about the footprint the Doctor leaves, the effect his actions have upon the universe he exists in and the lives of the people living in it, and the hope that footprint provides for all of the others out there in the darkness, regardless of whether they know how or why it exists. It is, quite simply, lovely stuff, the kind of thing I really relish in a good fanfic.
I would characterise this as a companion piece to the author's other story "Invisible Road", which was also recently recced on the comm. That's more than worth your reading time as well. If I were you, I would go and read both of them right now and leave appropriate words of encouragement for the author.
Listen. This isn't a story I'm supposed to tell you. This isn't a story that someone of your rank is ever supposed to hear.