Seed Pearls

From Fanlore
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Fanfiction
Title: Seed Pearls
Author(s): HonorH
Date(s): 2007
Length: 47,846 words
Genre(s): Het, Amnesia
Fandom(s): Doctor Who
Relationship(s): Doctor/Rose, Nine/Rose, Ten/Rose
External Links: Seed Pearls tag at author's LiveJournal; archive link
Seed Pearls at A Teaspoon and an Open Mind
Seed Pearls at FFN
"Images of: the Ninth Doctor looking worried, in the background is a dead tree against a cloudy sky; The Doctor Who logo; Rose Tyler, in the background is a rose and a seas cove. Text reads '"Feels like I've Waited my entire life for this." "I don't even know you Rose Tyler. How did this happen?" Seed Pearls by Honor H.'"
Cover art by the_sandwalker (2007)

Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Seed Pearls is a Doctor Who story by HonorH focused mostly on the Nine/Rose pairing. Canon-divergent, it plays with the idea that Rose Tyler would lose her memories of her time with The Doctor after the events of the episode Doomsday. It often considered a fandom classic in NuWho fandom, especially for fans of the Nine/Rose pairing.

Summary and Author Commentary

Summary

When Rose loses all her memories of the Doctor, she knows that something is terribly wrong. Sometimes, though, the universe gives back even more than it takes away.

Author Commentary

So, the genesis of this fic: At some point, I read a fic summary, I think, that led me to believe Rose would lose all her memories of the Doctor in her new universe. I quickly found out that wasn't the case, but the idea stuck in my head. What if that *was* the effect of her new universe, that she'd forget everything from her old one? I started building a story around that idea even before "Doomsday" aired in the States, but waited to see it before actually writing anything.

The germ of the idea was this: Rose would lose her memories of the Doctor much as she does in this chapter, and at some point afterward would meet Doctor John Smith, fall in love and end up married and giving birth to the progenitors of a new race of Time Lords. Simple, straightforward romance, ultimately, with a couple of curveballs thrown their way, but ultimately, they live happily ever after. The major differences were that 1) Doctor John Smith really *was* just a construct of Time (though fully human) placed in the Alt!Verse kind of like Dawn Summers, and 2) Rose would not regain her memories. I had a vague idea of a sequel with Captain Jack in which someone was trying to pull a Sarah Conner with a pregnant Rose, and she did regain some of her memories. I ended up combining the two ideas and turning my "simple, straightforward" romance into a plotty epic.

The other major difference was Ten's narration. I was planning on having Ten speaking to Martha at the beginning and the end to kind of tie everything together. Obviously, that idea mutated.[1]

Reactions and Reviews

Every fandom has its Epic Stories, the ones that should be canon except the writers of the show, gods love 'em, aren't even this talented. It takes a very special kind of fic to keep me intrigued for 17 chapters, but this one does, oh does it.[2]

This story is, put simply, extraordinary. Ten's narration in particular is just amazing.[3]

HonorH is very good. She writes an inventive, believable tale of Rose and the man who won her. It's not the Doctor.[4]

A classic. A really sweet, lovely story with a happy ending. So rare in Who fandom![5]

Really, the consummate post-"Doomsday" story. It's beautiful, and full of hope, but there are still challenges and struggle. It's so well-written, it's practically plucked out of canon![6]

This is such an amazing story with such a neck-breaking plot twist! Also, it is Nine x Rose, although Ten makes an appearance. No spoilers, it’s known in the beginning. Just…just go and read it! The ending is happy one. Wow-worthy.[7]

This story was unbelievably extraordinary. To note, for future reference, the fic takes place in Pete's world.[8]

Critical Reviews

Post-"Doomsday" fic where the closing of the rift causes Rose's memories of her original universe to fade. The dialogue is a bit stilted, and Rose's is (as happens so often) inconsistently phonetic. It also features the funniest lines I've ever encountered in a sex scene:

“Bad Wolf,” John growled into Rose’s ear.

And she howled.

Despite those problems, it's not a bad fic, just deeply mediocre. At one point, the author features the Eighth Doctor, despite a note saying she knows nothing about him. Reader, I facepalmed.[9]

References

  1. ^ ""Seed Pearls" Commentary!". Archived from the original on 2024-07-17.
  2. ^ "Everyone else is doing it..., Feb 20, 2008 Livejournal post". Archived from the original on 2024-07-17.
  3. ^ "Doctor Who Nine/Rose Multi-recs". Archived from the original on 2024-07-17.
  4. ^ "Dept. of two months of DW memeishness". Archived from the original on 2024-07-17.
  5. ^ "I rec because I love". Archived from the original on 2024-07-17.
  6. ^ "So what do you reccommend?". Archived from the original on 2024-07-17.
  7. ^ "Time for cool fic recs!, April 17, 2021 Tumblr post". Archived from the original on 2024-07-17.
  8. ^ "DOCTOR WHO RECS". Archived from the original on 2024-07-17.
  9. ^ "New Who: Classic fic". Archived from the original on 2024-07-17.
Retrieved from "https://fanlore.org/w/index.php?title=Seed_Pearls&oldid=2651195"