Explore the art of blogging
I love these so much !!!
So, it's time for a little theory that may spiral into its own AO3 fic. My theory on what 14 uses his TARDIS for in his own time. Like 15 suggested, he uses it for therapy. 14 chooses his solo travel, not for adventure but for closure.
His first stop is to his oldest friend. He takes the TARDIS back to 2011, wearing a perception filter so he isn't mistaken for 10. And 14 attends the funeral of Brigadier, Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart. He stands in the back, out of sight. He mourns and grieves, letting himself stop and feel. He pays his respects to The Brig and says goodbye, promising to watch over his family. Then he catches sight of Sarah Jane and knows his next stop, another old friend.
He takes the TARDIS forward from 2011 to 2017, from one funeral to another. Still wearing the perception filter, 14 stands on a nearby hill, watching and hearing the funeral of Sarah Jane Smith. And like his old friend Jo Grant said, it breaks both his hearts. 14 leaves a TARDIS key and a version of his sonic screwdriver on Sarah Jane's grave and turns away. Unlike The Brig's funeral, 14's grief over Sarah Jane is raw and quiet. He steps away and simply whispers
"Goodbye. My Sarah Jane" and then leaves for The TARDIS, to a much happier location. 14 uses The TARDIS to attend every single major event he missed from his companions lives.
He visits Jamie McCrimmon back in 19th century Scotland, finding his old friend regained his memories in his twilight years and the two embrace and catch up with each other.
He attends weddings of his friends, Martha and Mickey, Tegan and Nysaa, Jack and River (that one throws him off slightly). He dances and laughs and lets himself feel.
He visits Chiswick in the late 2000s, standing outside the hospital and seeing Donna and Shaun leave, carrying a tiny little baby that he knows will one day be Rose Noble.
He's there for Kate Stewart after her father is gone, explaining how he was there, that he's a future Doctor. 14 lets Kate scream and shout at him and then cry on his shoulder, just holds her.
14 visits Jack Harkness after he lost both his grandson Steven and Ianto Jones and helps his friend. He drags Jack up out of his depression and helps him, even letting Jack hate him and blame him, for which Jack later apologises for.
14 goes back again to 1970's New Jersey and breaks the rules, visiting Amy and Rory in their later life. He meets their adoptive son and talks about everything that's happened to both of them, reassuring them he saved River in the end and spent 24 years in the same place as her at the end of their time together.
While 15 is off amongst the stars, fighting robots and racism and shapeshifters and Gods of Chaos, 14 is bouncing all around Earth, dropping in on old friends and healing broken trust. He goes everywhere, everywhen for everyone. He is The Doctor in a way he never was before. And he loves every minute of it.
@emilythezeldafan @crypt--creature
most of these take place after the events of the giggle
the Nobel fam soon discover what it's like to live with a (semi) retired time-lord with a sonic screwdriver and far FAR too much spare time on his hands
Donna will come downstairs for a glass of water in the middle of the night, and he'll just be sitting there with the disassembled parts of what she's pretty sure is her new microwave spred out of the floor in front of him
the term "I don't want to know" becomes a common household phrase very quickly
Rose and him become partners in crime almost immediately, of course
one time Shaun introduced him to power tools in an effort to 'bond'
ask any of the Noble family what happened in the days that followed and you'll be met with a face that looks like it's reliving war-time memories (it is)
Rose takes him out thrift shopping and is delighted to realise that the doctor has the exact same reaction that she once did to seeing all the gorgeous tops and skirts and dresses that are available for under £9
he also loves all the antique shops dotted around London
he once found an old map of 'the known universe' complete with star charts and the Earth, right in the centre
"It's practically primitive, of course, no offence Rose, it just is, but it's rather charming in its own, unintelligent way."
after talking with Wilfred one day, he decided to try his hand at gardening (it's meant to be rather therapeutic, apparently)
he planted a bunch of wildflowers in the garden beds without rhyme or reason to them
Donna thought it was lovely but secretly doubted that they would take seed properly and make it through the winter
come springtime, however, the whole garden was blooming with wildflowers <3