#also yes that is exactly how many people the doctor killed with sarah jane smith

[grzyb-grzegorz]

more or less what happened

[ofstormsandwolves]

We Need To Talk About School Reunion

One thing that’s always baffled me about School Reunion is how Rose is held up as an example of a selfish, spoiled, self-important young woman who refuses to recognise that the Doctor has had other companions before her. Does she maybe come across that way at least in part? Yes. But that’s not the part that baffles me. What baffles me is that Rose is made an example of, while the Doctor and Sarah Jane walk away relatively untouched by fandom.Why is that? If Rose is being a selfish child having a tantrum when she and the Doctor fight outside the cafe, then what does that make Sarah Jane and her snide comments? If Rose is selfish for wanting the Doctor to be straight with her about how many people have come before her, doesn’t that make him selfish for wanting to string her along allowing her to believe that she was ‘the One’?

Do I think that all the negative comments about Rose are undeserved? No. Of course she’s being a bit selfish, of course she’s a bit childish when Sarah Jane gets involved. She’s a young woman in her early twenties, suddenly intimidated by this older woman walking back into her best friend and crush’s life. She feels threatened, can see that Sarah Jane knows about Gallifrey, and the Time Lords, and lots of other stuff the Doctor has never told her. She gets upset, she gets angry, she lashes out. Her snide comment about Sarah’s age is petty and childish, but it’s also in character for a young woman who feels threatened and who grew up on a council estate. I���m sure arguments like that back at the Powell Estate happen frequently, possibly with even more name calling and swearing. That doesn’t justify Rose’s actions in the slightest, but she is also not the only person who needs their actions called out.

Let’s start by looking at Sarah Jane’s actions. Sarah Jane is clearly on the back foot when she meets Rose. Of course she is, the Doctor told her he was just dropping her off for a quick stop, and then he cleared off for, what? Three decades? Of course she’s going to be upset to find that the Doctor now has someone else, someone who seems to know him just as well as Sarah, someone who has inside jokes with him, and is the one by his side. But Sarah Jane also knows that the Doctor had companions before her. Unlike Rose, she is aware of the Doctor’s former ‘assistants’, and yet she takes out her anger on Rose herself. She makes snide comments about how ‘your assistants are getting younger’, and when Rose resents being called an ‘assistant’, she makes a sarcastic comment which- now I’m older- is clearly a dig at the idea of the Doctor bedding Rose. Sarah Jane is an adult, a journalist, and is fully aware that she would not have been the first or last companion aboard the TARDIS. Rose may act her age and throw sarcastic comments about Sarah’s age in her face, but what’s even worse is that Sarah Jane decides to act the same age as Rose.

That is one thing that I’ve always found odd about the episode- Sarah Jane’s pettiness really made me dislike her as a child, because although I could see that Rose was also being childish, I knew that Sarah Jane was an adult. Like, a proper adult. Rose is 20/21 in that episode (technically 21 as it is 2007 and she was 19 in 2005, but she skipped a year and her date of birth is screwed up, so she’s one of those ages) and is still arguably young enough that that sort of behaviour is frowned upon but not wildly unusual. As I said before, on the Powell Estate that’s probably common behaviour. But Sarah Jane is an actual adult, in her 50s (60s?), a journalist who should be able to keep her behaviour in check, and who you’d think had grown out of that sort of behaviour. Had she been respectful of Rose, had she accepted that her anger is for the Doctor, then Rose wouldn’t have had a leg to stand on. And maybe that would have been a good thing for Rose. She can be rather confrontational, probably a by-product of being in her early twenties, raised on a council estate with Jackie Tyler as her mother. And it certainly would have knocked the wind from her sails if Sarah Jane had been polite and calm. That wouldn’t stop Sarah from being angry at the Doctor, but had she been a bit more mature when faced with Rose she could have changed a lot.

Understandably, she’s upset at the Doctor, and she’s upset that Rose has no idea who she is, but surely that should be enough to tell the rather clever Sarah Jane Smith that it’s the Doctor rather than Rose that she should be angry at. How is Rose supposed to know about former companions? The Doctor has been shown to not talk about his past much, especially with Nine coming fresh from the Time War. Every little detail Rose is told is something she cherishes, because she understands that, for whatever reason, the Doctor doesn’t want to talk about the past. Yet Rose is the one that is often described as ‘childish’ while Sarah Jane picks fights and takes out her anger at a man out on another woman.

The Doctor, meanwhile, is just as selfish as people say Rose is being. He is selfish because he enjoys keeping Rose in the dark about things. While him not talking about Gallifrey is understandable, there is no real reason for him not to talk about former companions besides guilt and selfishness. Perhaps he thinks Rose will leave him, should she learn how many former companions died. Perhaps he just wants to keep Rose believing that she’s special, that the things he offers her are hers and hers alone. Perhaps he selfishly doesn’t mention previous companions because of what happened in Boom Town, when Mickey announces he’s dating someone else just an hour or two after trying to get Rose to spend the night with him. If Rose were to find out that he’s just like any bloke off the estate, with a string of- for want of a better word- exes that he’s kept secret for so long, she might not be too happy with him. And then there’s the fact he’s a father and grandfather. But whatever his reasons, he is for all intents and purposes leading Rose on. 

People accuse Rose of leading Mickey on, particularly in series one, but no one ever mentions the Doctor. But that’s exactly what he’s doing; leading her on. Letting her think that she’s special, that she’s different. Of course she’s going to be upset when she finds out, and the confrontation in the street shouldn’t mark Rose as ‘selfish’ or ‘naive’ or ‘childish’ so much as ‘upset’ and ‘confused’. He came back for her, gave her a second chance to travel with him. Her, a girl from a council estate, with no job, coming from a single parent family and no A-levels. He wanted her to travel with him. And then he says things like ‘I could save the world but lose you’, and ‘I only take the best. I’ve got Rose’. He threatens to kill a Dalek because the Dalek tried to kill her. She nurses him back to health after his regeneration, not knowing if he’d still want her around, only for him to insist that he would love her to come. He’s furious when Cassandra takes over her body, he wraps his entire body around her to pull her into the library in Tooth and Claw. Of course the conclusion any young woman in that situation would draw is ‘this man likes me’. She’s fully aware of his age, it’s an exaggerated ‘older man, younger woman’ relationship, and of course in those sorts of relationships the young woman always thinks she’s special that a man wants someone like her despite her inexperience. He leads her to believe that he travels alone, except for rare occasions, and that she was an exception. And then in walks his ex and Rose is left arguing with him in the middle of the street, because she probably feels like an idiot for not realising sooner, for not questioning whether other people travelled with him. There’s probably a nagging voice that sounds like Jackie saying ‘I told you so’ in the back of her head. Mickey brags about how the Doctor’s just a normal bloke, in Aliens of London he gloats that the Doctor’s left her, and then he does the same after Sarah Jane turns up.

The Doctor is a normal bloke, a normal, selfish bloke. He is the reason Rose thought she was special, not because Rose has an inflated sense of self-importance, but because she doesn’t. Because her feeling of self-importance comes only from him. Comes only from his praise, his beaming smile when she gets something right, comes from him saying things like ‘Rose is asking the right questions’, all of which suddenly makes her feel like she’s worth something. Rose may act like she thought she was this ultra-important, special person, but that’s only because that’s what the Doctor led her to believe. They’re together 24/7, they’re best friends, and he’s constantly praising her and bigging her up, he’s constantly yelling and fighting anyone who wishes harm on her. He gave up his own life to save hers when he took the vortex out of her. How else is she supposed to react when a former companion walks in?

So maybe we need to talk about School Reunion. And maybe we need to stop blaming one character when there are several who need to be discussed.

[raining-v-coffee]

River Song/11th Doctor One-shot fic recs

*Multichapter    ~my notes

River's Thesis

 While doing some research, River has a much-needed visitor pop in at half past crazy o'clock in the morning.

Four Times River Isn't At All Surprised, and One Time She Is

The first time he tries to surprise her, he’s foiled by their back-to-front-ish timelines and just the right amount of not paying attention.

the lady is a vamp

As much as River loves any and every version of her husband, she’s grown to dread the adventures when he and Amy barely know her. He’s surly and obstinate and at times, downright resentful. When he’s this young, it’s hard to imagine he ever falls in love with her.

And he realized

~Introspective fic for the Doctor.

I'll teach you how to drive me wild

“This is the first time you’ve been in the TARDIS isn’t it? Since Berlin?” River nodded as he swung off the seat and approached her. “I guess now is as good a time as any.”

“For what?”

He smiled down at her, crooked and teasing, standing beside her and fingering the controls. “To teach you how to fly her.”

it's a crazy world, but at the end of the day, you're still my family

Ficathon prompt 23: Amy and Rory spend time with the Doctor and River not long after the Doctor comes back from pretending to be dead and find it weird seeing just how married the two are

You Can't Carry It With You If You Want to Survive

Melody Pond was born and raised to take the Doctor's life, and now she's saved it -- not only saved it but reversed death with her own regenerations. She can't go back to where she was, but she's not sure that she can go forward. Behind her is Melody and the Silence who have made her into the perfect weapon and are now chasing after her, and in front of her is the mad, impossible Doctor who knows a woman with her face named River Song.

A Fairy Tale Called Gallifrey

spoiler_song Guns and Curls Ficathon prompt: Doctor/River "I speak baby." Doctor talking with their timebaby, please. A little father/daughter bonding time.

Little Talks

"I just never thought I would see the big, bad River Song melt over a baby," he teased.

Family Emergency

The Doctor and River's vows had been short on details, it was true, but Amy thought it was rather implied that you didn’t dump your sick husband on your unsuspecting parents and scarper off in his time machine. Rather obvious spoilers for 6x13.

Secrets

River gets the Doctor drunk... and learns a lot.

Stories, songs, and gallant girls

Even before she knew The Doctor properly, River knew him well, and Donna Noble's story had caught in her mind.

River Song rights a wrong, and finds herself rather charmed in the process. Written for the Hell in Heels ficathon.

~Mostly a River/Donna fic

a gift confers no rights

It had been River he’d turned to though, River he’d stared at with an icy demeanour, River who he lashed out at as he pressed her for details he knew she wouldn’t provide, poked her in places he knew she didn’t like to be poked.

happiness is an allegory

Melody Malone.

Her heart leaps into her throat when she realizes just who Melody Malone is. She has to physically put the book down in order to indulge a brief fit of tears because – because spoilers.

She has never had this adventure with the Doctor.

doctor in distress

If River were to attempt to explain exactly how the TARDIS communicated with her, she would fail every time. It was like a voice – but not a voice, more like a sudden thought that wasn’t her own. But it was because she’d just thought it.

That idiot is in trouble.

Again.

Mine

For the first time in their whole twisted timey-wimey relationship he feels like he’s stumbled on an actual, big, genuine spoiler. Not just a teaser, not just some quip that she could be making up to annoy him or turn him on, but a real, proper, life-changing, future-revealing spoiler. And he can’t handle it. It’s too much, too big, too, too, tooish for him to even consider, so he dives so deep into denial that there’s not enough light to see the surface, let alone the truth.

Professor Song

~A series of fics exploring River’s life after she became a Professor.

The Time Lord's New Clothes

The day River discovers holographic clothing nearly kills him.

Or Not At All

"If we're going to hurt anyway, why don't we hurt together?"

The aftermath of Manhattan. River is determined to hide the damage even if it kills her. And it just might.

Something is going to crumble, she's just not sure if it's going to be her marriage or herself.

And the Waves Sing

Grabbing a nearby dishcloth, River wiped the sticky from her fingers before lifting the curtain and peering out the window. She could instinctively pick out the Doctor’s silhouette in the distance standing with his back to her, head bent to his hands. In front of him stood—River had to squint a bit—was that Amy and Rory? Yes, she decided, it was. They were together, Amy’s hand tucked into the crook of Rory’s arm. Their body language was clear enough. River didn’t have to hear what they were saying to know she was watching a show down between the Doctor and his Ponds. Her only question was why they were here, arguing in her garden at half past ten, Earth time.

If you're lost, you can look, and you will find me

River was ready to die to save him. She'd accepted her fate, and her time would come an end in the Library. Of course, the Doctor always has a plan.

you go your way, i'll go your way too

He’d picked her up nearly a week ago, declaring it the Month of Christmas, and has steadfastly refused to return her to Stormcage until after the 25th.

“That could be any time, sweetie,” she’d reminded him, only to have him grin and tap her nose.

“Exactly.”

a love that even time will lie down and be still for

She would never admit it out loud, but in the safety of her own head, she likes to imagine this strange man exists outside her childish imagination and that one day, when her purpose has been filled, he’ll find her. Or maybe she’ll find him.

The way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline no matter how many times it's sent away

Sitting in the backseat and trying desperately not to worry about her husband, Amy does her best to make herself invisible. It isn’t difficult to do considering the other two occupants of the car are too focused on each other to pay her any mind. Missing scene from TATM.

Weighted sorrow in perfect clouds

After the events of The Angels Take Manhattan. This Doctor is older, more distanced from what happened to his Ponds. River tugs the coat tighter around her shoulders and tries to stop crying.

Left a clouded mind and a heavy heart

It’s true that the inside of the TARDIS is like a universe unto itself and her parents could be on board somewhere, but by all accounts, the Doctor doesn’t travel with more than one or two people at a time often.

Friends in Need

The Doctor's desperate, he turns to his oldest friend for help, Sarah Jane Smith...

~Super cute!

Grow Old With Me

"Never let him see the damage. Never let him see you age..."

Finding What You Never Lost

She found them long before they knew to miss her.

"You've still got poison lipstick on your mouth," she says. "I do not." "You really do Sweetie." She leans forward and up, and her fingers are wiping at the corner of his lip and he's holding his breath.

In which the Ponds and the Doctor come to terms with losing/finding Melody Pond in the aftermath of Berlin.

Keep Your Relationship Private

First a home box written in a language that once could burn stars, raise up empires, and topple Gods. Then the oldest cliff face in the universe with a tongue that no linguist could read. All to tell the Doctor, "Hello Sweetie". He had to be impressed with that, and he came up with a way to say just to her: "Hi, honey. I’m home."

The caged bird sings with fearful trill of the things unknown

A real marriage wasn’t all fairy-tale picnics and ice-skating on the River Thames. It had fights and periods of stony silence. It also had times when you watched your husband be smitten with his younger companion and wonder if, despite his pleas to let him make things up to her, that he would be really happy with someone else.

You Turn Me Into Somebody Loved

There was the Doctor, and he did things to her. He had left her that first time all blushing and not quite meeting her eyes before he kissed her cheek and sent her on her way. Not even a night out with her friend banished those thoughts. River stared at the ceiling, thought about the Doctor’s innocent kiss and wondered why that had made her toes curl more than a night of good sex did.

Conditioned Responses: or Five Times River Song Almost Killed the Doctor

River’s been trained her whole life to kill the Doctor. It’s hard to overcome that…

Possibilities

The Doctor has to make a quick pit stop before he starts searching for baby Melody Pond. Set immediately after A Good Man Goes To War.

The Most Important Question

The Doctor wakes River up one morning with the most important question of all.

who's to say what's impossible

The baby is, of course, a surprise.

your eyes look like coming home

“Don’t try and lie to me, River. You’ve been avoiding me the whole night. You wouldn’t even correct me when I was flying the TARDIS. You always do that, no matter what.” His eyes slid to hers. “First visit since Berlin, I’m guessing.”

I can see the perfect sky is torn

There was only one thing River could do to get rid of the monster in her memories once and for all - kill it.

if one heart can mend another, only then can we begin

“I’ll be back before you know it.”

As she turns away, she hears him mutter something under his breath – faint but just loud enough to carry across the room and reach her ears. She tenses, drawing in a sharp breath as she glances over her shoulder. The Doctor watches her from where he stands, leaning over the console, fringe falling into his eyes. He looks at her like he’d wanted her to hear it.

She swallows, already knowing she’ll regret asking. “What was that?”

He grits his teeth. “I said maybe you shouldn’t come back.”

I feel shot right through with a bolt of blue

Clara eyes her up and down with intrigue and more than a bit of interest in those wide brown eyes, and River smirks. The Doctor, however, remains oblivious.

But we wait for the wave just to wash it away

He’s looking for Professor River Song, the one who ran. The one he hurt so badly with his stupidity and his callous words that he isn’t sure if he’ll ever be able to make it right.

The Third Way

Archeology, angst, roads not taken and timey-wimey romance. River during her postgraduate studies. Includes implied library fixit.

Responsibility

River Song is pregnant and the Doctor on her doorstep isn't himself yet.

On That Distant Lonely Planet

“Of course,” the Doctor said. “Hello Clara Oswin Oswald. It's good to see you again.” I was born to save the Doctor. It was only natural that once I was born his daughter.

Press your space face close to mine, love

Prati has fantastic fairy rings. Well, they don’t really call them fairy rings. They’re actually called veritas rings. And there aren’t any fairies either. Don’t tell me you aren’t intrigued. Fancy a trip, wife?

My Age Has Never Made Me Wise

Good men had no need of rules. Days like this were the reason he had so many.

Days like this, he tossed them all to the side.

To my Master Post of Doctor Who fic recs <3

I also have rec lists for Harry Potter and Naruto.