Friday, June 1, 2012

The Best of Me: Martha Jones

Martha Jones, second female companion of NuWho, tends to catch a lot of flake from Rose fangirls. From everything I can read, the writers deliberately set Martha up as the counterpart of Rose. These means a lot of Rose-fans see Martha as an interloper between the two, and Rose-haters claim Martha beats Rose into the dust. While I don't fall into either of these camps, I think the best way to see Martha is on her own merits. She walks the world during the Year that Never Was and manages to put up with racism in Human Nature/Family of Blood.

Fanfiction Recommendations:
A rewrite of Human Nature/Family of Blood, this story takes a harsher view of 'John Smith's' treatment of Martha that may annoy some readers.
A missing scene from Human Nature that's very well-done and sad.
Suggests that Martha may have run into Harry when they were stranded in 1969.
An absolutely brilliant exploration of Martha Jone's relationship with the Doctor, including TARDIS conversations.
While exploring the universe with the Doctor, Martha hears about Nyssa of Traken. I love how Martha connects with what the aliens know of Nyssa.
A reflection by John Smith on his peculiar housemaid.
Losterial recommended this on my post about Mickey, and it does help explain the seemingly random Martha/Mickey relationship glimpsed in End of Time.
One of the longest and best AU's I've ever read, and really gives Martha a chance to shine. I'd say more, but I don't want to give anything away.
The title says it all, really--Martha and the Doctor met the crew of the Enterprise and Firefly. A great crossover that's easy to follow, even if you haven't seen Star Trek or Firefly.
A great story with an Expanded Universe character that will still feel familiar.
When Martha and Mickey met up with two professors at an alien dig, she starts to wonder about them...absolutely great.
An AU in which Rose and Martha enter the Hunger Games. It has a lot of background detail and works the characters into Panem naturally, instead of just plopping them there.

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