Rec [Fic]: An Old Friend by BittyBlueEyes

[gettinggreyer]

Title: An Old Friend
Creator: BittyBlueEyes
Rating: T
Word Count/Length/Size: 4 chapters, 17,000 words
Creator's Summary: The Doctor is taking the Ponds on one last trip when something - or someone - bursts into the TARDIS. "She's an old friend. Her name is Rose." Reunion Fic
Characters/Pairing: Eleventh Doctor/Rose Tyler, Minor Eleven/River
Warnings/Notes: Published in 2015, so not entirely canon compliant (outside of Rose's appearance of course), so without spoilers, keep that in mind when reading. Also, some minor Rose v. River stuff, pretty much entirely subverted, but it still takes a pretty monogamous (for lack of a better word) approach to the Doctor's relationships and I really see the Doctor and River as polyamorous so that was mildly jarring to me and might be for other readers.

Reasons for reccing: This is just an absolutely brilliant fic. It brings Rose back into the Eleventh Doctor's life in a really clever and heartfelt way. There are so many great romantic moments between these two, you can really feel these two characters grappling with their feelings of both love and loss as they come together again. And I think this fic did a great job with River Song too. Too often fics will lowkey bash other love interests or lazily discard them in a way that doesn't feel narratively fitting, but this fic treats River's character with a lot of respect and love—even though, admittedly, some aspects of the River v. Rose in this fic I don't entirely care for. But the fic did a great job with everyone's characterization and while being a Eleven/Rose fic, it didn't treat Eleven and River's relationship like it was nothing and portrayed its tragic beauty with love and respect.

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4405598/chapters/10005080

Rec: First Responders by PlumOolong

[eve11]

Title: First Responders
Author: PlumOolong
Characters: Eleven, Rory, Amy
Summary: Amy and Rory's vacation weekend with the Doctor takes a turn as the TARDIS whisks them away to answer a distress call. They find a disabled cargo ship, its cheery AI, and its pilot who is screaming in pain from no obvious source. Rory must use his nursing skills to keep the pilot alive, Amy must work on her own to fix the ship and the Doctor must rely on the power of his mind to get to the alien entity at the bottom of the mystery--if he can do it without breaking the TARDIS or himself.

Reason for Reccing: The summary above definitely hits the plot points but the execution is really well done. It's like a lost episode between Asylum of the Daleks and Angels Take Manhattan, with visual world-building, imaginative and well-rounded OCs, spot-on dialogue and pace and storytelling, and understands how to put characters in situations that let both their vulnerability and strength come through, while understatedly pointing out how well this TARDIS team complements and relies on each other. Just a gem all around for this era.

Link:https://archiveofourown.org/works/20713316