Fic: Two Roads Diverged in a Yellow Wood

[jjpor]

Fic: Two Roads Diverged in a Yellow Wood

So, I was sitting down this morning to write some fic (in between watching the Grand National - my donkey didn't even finish! - and the footy). I swear that I was trying to write the next part of Battlelines; I swear. However, instead I wrote this, straight off the bat, more or less in one sitting (which is unusual for me).

You see, I've been thinking about some of the stuff I’ve written about the Time War and Romana’s part in it. And more particularly, about my own feeling that in some sense I may have wussed out a little in ignoring some of the more difficult strands of continuity in the novels and audios, in particular the whole issue of Romana III and the hardening of her relationship with the Doctor. So this grew out of that; maybe it’s an apologia, maybe just an effort to organise my thoughts on the matter. I borrow some elements here from the Eighth Doctor novels, although it isn’t set in that version of continuity, and from Lawrence Miles’s Faction Paradox universe, and must also acknowledge a debt to my good buddy clocketpatch, whose fic about Romana in E-Space got me thinking on some of this stuff again. Anyway, here it is; as always, Doctor Who and its concepts belong to the BBC and to their individual creators; in particular, the Daleks belong to the Terry Nation estate:

www.whofic.com/viewstory.php

Comments

[gm-andy.livejournal.com]

I look forward to reading this one once it is up. Should be very interesting.

[gm-andy.livejournal.com]

Read. Reviewed. You is awesome. :D

[clocketpatch]

That was lovely you know, if lovely is the word? It doesn't seem right to call it lovely when the actual story was so harsh, but then, I am tired, and a lot of things go wibbly when I need sleep. I was *this* close to crying at a few points, at:

"She knows the Doctor would disapprove, were he here, would probably side with Varstad, but the Doctor is an idealist; he has never had to direct a War, and she hopes that he never will."

When Romana is thinking about Leela and Andred

And quite a bit towards the end.

There are some glorious insights into human (Time lord?) nature in this, and I think I'll be coming back to read it again in the future. There fearful symmetry of the two paths had me shaking in my boots. I appreciated the pause for humour in the middle of it: "Such a heavy-handed attempt to cow the visitor with sheer scale; quite adolescent, she considers; Rassilon, or whoever really built this place, must have been overcompensating for something." Made me lol.

Yes, and the glimpse of Morbius, who you keep saying that you're going to write fic on.

[thisbluespirit]

Heh. I might read it, if I'm feeling brave. I'm not very much into reading angst, nor Time war stories, but I suspect I'll have to take a peek. ;-) The title's lovely anyway.

What I want to know is who was entering a donkey in the Grand National in any case and how they got away with it? Eh? (:lol:) (Confession: I totally forgot!!)

[akashasheiress.livejournal.com]

I'll be reviewing this (and some of your other work) on the Teaspoon itself but I have to say that I'm so glad you had Romana chose the less ruthless path. To me she'll always be a freedom fighter rather than a politician (and RTD and co are already blaming her for the war *glares*).

I'd be able to relate more to that poem more if it wasn't so damn... forresty. We don't have natural forests in the Faroes. Now, ocean on the other hand: ''Water, water everwhere and not a drop to drink!'' That I can relate to.