you're always running into people's unconscious (![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png)
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crack_van2011-02-22 02:10 am
innocentsmith.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2011-02-22 02:10 am
Entry tags:
Free Bitch, by thefourthvine (Gen)
Fandom: DOCTOR WHO
Pairing: Gen (Nine, Rose Tyler, Jack Harkness)
Length: 5,203
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
thefourthvine
Author Website: At the AO3
Why this must be read:
One of my favorite offerings from the latest Yuletide story exchange was this bit of genius, in which Nine, Rose, and Jack stumble upon a piece of time that's been rewritten, changing the history of a planet and enslaving a legendary Time Agent, and must try to put it right. Put another way, Nine, Rose, and Jack stumble into several scenes from the video to Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance."
It's an awesome, episode-like story, with great dystopian world-building done to explain the surreal images of the video. The plot is super-cool, twisty and timey-wimey, and the three Doctor Who characters are excellently themselves.
And ever since reading it, I have been convinced that Lady Gaga secretly really is a Time Agent. I bet it'll convince you, too.
The three of them pressed against the alley wall, which was a fairly heroic undertaking, given the slime dripping down it. In the sky, some kind of flying craft circled, shining searchlights on the ground, so minutes of almost pure blackness alternated with seconds of blinding light. Rose couldn't see a thing except the data crawl running along the top of the wall near her. Every building she'd seen on this planet had one, just an endless string of characters in soft blue lights against a midnight blue background.
"Through there, I think," Jack said. His eyes apparently worked better, or maybe he was just sounding confident again. He did that, projected confidence like he'd done a training course on it.
The Doctor was looking around, eyes narrowed. Rose didn't think it was from the searchlight. "Right you are, Captain," he said, and they plunged ahead. The Doctor found a door and yanked it open. Bath Haus of GaGa, Rose read on it as they went through. She wondered why just GaGa, when the planet was named GaGaSaSa.
It wasn't exactly pretty inside. "Ah, the Concrete Minimalism school of architecture," Jack said, surveying the empty room. "So very dystopian empire, I always think."
The Doctor said, "Always makes me think of those little cheese nibbles with the crackery bits. Love those." Rose and Jack exchanged glances and shrugs. The Doctor led them forward, through the room of cracked cement and bare light bulbs and weird twisted metal rods, down a corridor. After a few seconds with the sonic screwdriver, he opened a door and walked in.
The girl from the auction was taking a bath. At least, Rose thought it was the girl from the auction. She looked different, big-eyed and sort of pink-haired and vacant. She had headphones on, and she was singing to herself. Her hands didn't seem to work right - they twitched, but not in rhythm. It was hard to look at them.
The Doctor tapped her on the shoulder, and she turned to look at him, but much too slowly, not at all like a person startled in the bath. After a moment, she hesitantly removed her earphones. "Hello," he said. "We're here to rescue you."
She blinked. "Hello," she said. "I'm more than a woman. I'm a lady. I give good value for money."
Rose leaned forward. "We're here to save you from the auction," she explained. "Do you want to be in the auction?"
"Oh, you're pretty," the woman said. "So pretty." She turned to Jack. "How may I serve you today, master?" Jack frowned at her, and Rose stepped back.
The Doctor said, "Sorry. Wrong time," and led the way out.
"Blanked?" Jack said. "I didn't think they were using that in these parts."
"Blanked?" Rose asked him.
"A kind of selective brain damage," Jack told her. "Readies the body for cyberbiological reprogramming. Can't be reversed. Banned. It's one of the big illegal mindhacks."
Rose said, "I'd hope that would be illegal."
"It's not only that. I didn't think anyone knew how to do it during this time. It was supposed to have been developed during the Sancifrangi 73 Second War, and that's not for another, oh, seven hundred years."
Jack and Rose both turned their eyes to the Doctor's back. He was walking in front of them, radiating anger. "This isn't right," the Doctor snarled.
Free Bitch
Pairing: Gen (Nine, Rose Tyler, Jack Harkness)
Length: 5,203
Author on LJ:
thefourthvineAuthor Website: At the AO3
Why this must be read:
One of my favorite offerings from the latest Yuletide story exchange was this bit of genius, in which Nine, Rose, and Jack stumble upon a piece of time that's been rewritten, changing the history of a planet and enslaving a legendary Time Agent, and must try to put it right. Put another way, Nine, Rose, and Jack stumble into several scenes from the video to Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance."
It's an awesome, episode-like story, with great dystopian world-building done to explain the surreal images of the video. The plot is super-cool, twisty and timey-wimey, and the three Doctor Who characters are excellently themselves.
And ever since reading it, I have been convinced that Lady Gaga secretly really is a Time Agent. I bet it'll convince you, too.
The three of them pressed against the alley wall, which was a fairly heroic undertaking, given the slime dripping down it. In the sky, some kind of flying craft circled, shining searchlights on the ground, so minutes of almost pure blackness alternated with seconds of blinding light. Rose couldn't see a thing except the data crawl running along the top of the wall near her. Every building she'd seen on this planet had one, just an endless string of characters in soft blue lights against a midnight blue background.
"Through there, I think," Jack said. His eyes apparently worked better, or maybe he was just sounding confident again. He did that, projected confidence like he'd done a training course on it.
The Doctor was looking around, eyes narrowed. Rose didn't think it was from the searchlight. "Right you are, Captain," he said, and they plunged ahead. The Doctor found a door and yanked it open. Bath Haus of GaGa, Rose read on it as they went through. She wondered why just GaGa, when the planet was named GaGaSaSa.
It wasn't exactly pretty inside. "Ah, the Concrete Minimalism school of architecture," Jack said, surveying the empty room. "So very dystopian empire, I always think."
The Doctor said, "Always makes me think of those little cheese nibbles with the crackery bits. Love those." Rose and Jack exchanged glances and shrugs. The Doctor led them forward, through the room of cracked cement and bare light bulbs and weird twisted metal rods, down a corridor. After a few seconds with the sonic screwdriver, he opened a door and walked in.
The girl from the auction was taking a bath. At least, Rose thought it was the girl from the auction. She looked different, big-eyed and sort of pink-haired and vacant. She had headphones on, and she was singing to herself. Her hands didn't seem to work right - they twitched, but not in rhythm. It was hard to look at them.
The Doctor tapped her on the shoulder, and she turned to look at him, but much too slowly, not at all like a person startled in the bath. After a moment, she hesitantly removed her earphones. "Hello," he said. "We're here to rescue you."
She blinked. "Hello," she said. "I'm more than a woman. I'm a lady. I give good value for money."
Rose leaned forward. "We're here to save you from the auction," she explained. "Do you want to be in the auction?"
"Oh, you're pretty," the woman said. "So pretty." She turned to Jack. "How may I serve you today, master?" Jack frowned at her, and Rose stepped back.
The Doctor said, "Sorry. Wrong time," and led the way out.
"Blanked?" Jack said. "I didn't think they were using that in these parts."
"Blanked?" Rose asked him.
"A kind of selective brain damage," Jack told her. "Readies the body for cyberbiological reprogramming. Can't be reversed. Banned. It's one of the big illegal mindhacks."
Rose said, "I'd hope that would be illegal."
"It's not only that. I didn't think anyone knew how to do it during this time. It was supposed to have been developed during the Sancifrangi 73 Second War, and that's not for another, oh, seven hundred years."
Jack and Rose both turned their eyes to the Doctor's back. He was walking in front of them, radiating anger. "This isn't right," the Doctor snarled.
Free Bitch