The Tenth Doctor category
This is the first time I've actually posted here from the web. Why is Ikea advertising on my journal? (I mean, I knew when I chose a plus account that there'd be ads. But Ikea? Do they know of my love for their $2 breakfasts?)
1. Feeling By Proxy by Fid_gin and Unfolded73
The author's notes indicate that this Ten/Handy/Rose fic is the third in a trilogy, and cannot be read alone unless you're just there for the porn. Okay, then, I'm just here for the porn. But then there's a reference to “the chocolatey back of [the Doctor's] suit jacket”, and ... no. Just no. The Doctor is not an Easter egg, not even when he's wearing brown.
2. A Few Days In The Life by Unfolded73
The Doctor's life, after “Journey's End”. Features an awkward and not-wholly-in-character scene with Martha (who ships Doctor/Rose); a totally out-of-character scene in which the Doctor leaves a man to suffer a brutal death; an encounter with a very young River who doesn't bear much resemblance to the actual character; and a really lovely scene with Donna. All in all, a disappointing effort.
3. A Small Piece of Coral by Paladin
This story is fascinating and maddening. The premise is interesting: that the Doctor left his duplicate with Rose to keep an eye on her, to prevent her from breaching the universes again; now she's obsessed with getting back to the 'real' Doctor, and slowly killing the duplicate to do it.
The problem is that it's difficult to convincingly write Rose in such an unsympathetic light. “Selfish, genocidal millionaire's daughter” is the sort of deliberate exaggeration coined by Rose-haters; having it presented seriously in a fic is more difficult. True, “Journey's End” left us with some ambiguity regarding Rose's motivations and actions, but I can't buy the notion that she's this crazy.
With more subtle writing, the fic would probably pull it off, but seventeen exposition-heavy chapters, and dialogue like, “I can't believe the Doctor left me here to nursemaid this shadow of himself. Presenting him to me like a consolation prize at a church picnic. My Doctor, the proper Doctor, wouldn't be tired", it's difficult to regard this as anything other than glorified Rose-bashing.
4. The Gift of the Mad Guy by Sam-Storyteller
The Doctor gets mixed up with some camels (alien), wise men (actual masculinity: variable) and astronomical phenomena (significant). Coming soon to a Christmas pageant near you, probably. This is terribly funny, even before you get to the talking sheep. And the final, brilliant twist. One minor quibble: there's no need to capitalise 'companion'.
5. The Top Five by funmonkey
The Doctor and Jack get drunk. Very drunk. I have a weakness for comedy drunkeness, so this won my heart right around the time the Doctor lost his feet. The weak bit was the Doctor's list of the top five humans he'd sleep with, if he was going to do something like that; it's inevitable that companions are going to be listed, it's equally inevitable that the audience is going to go, “But why her?” On the other hand, number four more than made up for it.
6. Imaginary by Dune_drd
This is a short fic with an extraordinary premise, which I'm not going to spoil. I do have a criticism - this idea would be a great premise for a wonderful plotty fic - but that may simply be because I want more. I've read this twice, and I'm going to go back and read it again.
7. Naming Day by Fourzoas
A series of vignettes featuring Ten, Handy and Martha. Has lots of good moments, and some very clever dialogue, but the actual Handy/Martha (for that is the ship) left me cold, possibly because a lot of the scenes put Martha in situations of objectification. Exotic dancing, for example, or simply being groped by Handy. The author's disposal of Tom Milligan is downright cold-blooded, and not particularly convincing, and the means by which Handy winds up in our universe raises more questions than it answers. A flawed gem.
8. The Breathing Series by Kae_nine
Yet another damn final-in-a-series nominee. Fortunately, this one's easy - it's essentially an adaptation of the scene in “The Stolen Earth” where Frank the Dalek enters Skaro history by almost exterminating the Doctor. This story has nothing new to add to a familiar scene, and one begins to wonder what the point is.
9. Simple Gifts by Jessa L'Rynn
Post “Journey's End”, the Doctor believes he's ruined the lives of all his companions. The Brigadier sets out to show him otherwise. It's a concept that's been done before, and better, but this is a very sweet fic (despite the unfortunate and highly sporkable tendency for companions to name their children after other significant characters).
10. To Calm The Storm by selenityshiroi
The summary contains a grammatical error, which isn't a promising start. The fic itself is exposition-heavy, misspells “Judoon” and randomly capitalises words like “sonic screwdriver” and “console”. As for the plot, I find it impossible to believe that the Doctor is more upset at being separated from Rose (again) than losing Donna.
1. Feeling By Proxy by Fid_gin and Unfolded73
The author's notes indicate that this Ten/Handy/Rose fic is the third in a trilogy, and cannot be read alone unless you're just there for the porn. Okay, then, I'm just here for the porn. But then there's a reference to “the chocolatey back of [the Doctor's] suit jacket”, and ... no. Just no. The Doctor is not an Easter egg, not even when he's wearing brown.
2. A Few Days In The Life by Unfolded73
The Doctor's life, after “Journey's End”. Features an awkward and not-wholly-in-character scene with Martha (who ships Doctor/Rose); a totally out-of-character scene in which the Doctor leaves a man to suffer a brutal death; an encounter with a very young River who doesn't bear much resemblance to the actual character; and a really lovely scene with Donna. All in all, a disappointing effort.
3. A Small Piece of Coral by Paladin
This story is fascinating and maddening. The premise is interesting: that the Doctor left his duplicate with Rose to keep an eye on her, to prevent her from breaching the universes again; now she's obsessed with getting back to the 'real' Doctor, and slowly killing the duplicate to do it.
The problem is that it's difficult to convincingly write Rose in such an unsympathetic light. “Selfish, genocidal millionaire's daughter” is the sort of deliberate exaggeration coined by Rose-haters; having it presented seriously in a fic is more difficult. True, “Journey's End” left us with some ambiguity regarding Rose's motivations and actions, but I can't buy the notion that she's this crazy.
With more subtle writing, the fic would probably pull it off, but seventeen exposition-heavy chapters, and dialogue like, “I can't believe the Doctor left me here to nursemaid this shadow of himself. Presenting him to me like a consolation prize at a church picnic. My Doctor, the proper Doctor, wouldn't be tired", it's difficult to regard this as anything other than glorified Rose-bashing.
4. The Gift of the Mad Guy by Sam-Storyteller
The Doctor gets mixed up with some camels (alien), wise men (actual masculinity: variable) and astronomical phenomena (significant). Coming soon to a Christmas pageant near you, probably. This is terribly funny, even before you get to the talking sheep. And the final, brilliant twist. One minor quibble: there's no need to capitalise 'companion'.
5. The Top Five by funmonkey
The Doctor and Jack get drunk. Very drunk. I have a weakness for comedy drunkeness, so this won my heart right around the time the Doctor lost his feet. The weak bit was the Doctor's list of the top five humans he'd sleep with, if he was going to do something like that; it's inevitable that companions are going to be listed, it's equally inevitable that the audience is going to go, “But why her?” On the other hand, number four more than made up for it.
6. Imaginary by Dune_drd
This is a short fic with an extraordinary premise, which I'm not going to spoil. I do have a criticism - this idea would be a great premise for a wonderful plotty fic - but that may simply be because I want more. I've read this twice, and I'm going to go back and read it again.
7. Naming Day by Fourzoas
A series of vignettes featuring Ten, Handy and Martha. Has lots of good moments, and some very clever dialogue, but the actual Handy/Martha (for that is the ship) left me cold, possibly because a lot of the scenes put Martha in situations of objectification. Exotic dancing, for example, or simply being groped by Handy. The author's disposal of Tom Milligan is downright cold-blooded, and not particularly convincing, and the means by which Handy winds up in our universe raises more questions than it answers. A flawed gem.
8. The Breathing Series by Kae_nine
Yet another damn final-in-a-series nominee. Fortunately, this one's easy - it's essentially an adaptation of the scene in “The Stolen Earth” where Frank the Dalek enters Skaro history by almost exterminating the Doctor. This story has nothing new to add to a familiar scene, and one begins to wonder what the point is.
9. Simple Gifts by Jessa L'Rynn
Post “Journey's End”, the Doctor believes he's ruined the lives of all his companions. The Brigadier sets out to show him otherwise. It's a concept that's been done before, and better, but this is a very sweet fic (despite the unfortunate and highly sporkable tendency for companions to name their children after other significant characters).
10. To Calm The Storm by selenityshiroi
The summary contains a grammatical error, which isn't a promising start. The fic itself is exposition-heavy, misspells “Judoon” and randomly capitalises words like “sonic screwdriver” and “console”. As for the plot, I find it impossible to believe that the Doctor is more upset at being separated from Rose (again) than losing Donna.