REC: they are the lantern (and you are the light)

[biichan.livejournal.com]

Story: they are the lantern (and you are the light)
Author: livii
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 2065
Author's summary: "It does not matter," Leela said, throwing back her shoulders. "We are together now. We shall live each day as it comes." An attempt to knit a love story of sorts for Andred and Leela.
Characters/Pairings: Leela/Andred, Romana II, Torvald,
Warnings: Spoilers for the first two seasons of the Gallifrey audios.

Recced because: Somehow livii takes Leela and Andred--a canon pairing that even the writers, actors, and producers involved thought made very little sense--and gives them a love story to believe in. It's passionate and heartbreaking and just a little bit epic. All livii's character voices are strong and the story is written both clearly and eloquently. Of all her fics, it's my personal favorite.

As livii says herself:

Later, neither of them could satisfactorily explain why they'd offered, or accepted. But to those who understood love (so, so few on Gallifrey, cold, barren Gallifrey), one look at their faces whenever they smiled, whenever their hands brushed together, it was plain as day.

rec: around the universe in 26 letters

[netgirl-y2k.livejournal.com]

Story: Around the Universe in 26 Letters
Author: Koshiroryuu
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 5778
Author's Summary: Martha experiences the universe from A-Z.
Characters/Pairings: Tenth Doctor, Martha Jones
Warnings: None

Recced because: Twenty six ficlets about the Doctor and Martha. Some funny, some sad, all of them lovely. My personal favourites are the ones where the Doctor keeps accidentally landing his TARDIS in a Welsh quarry.

Rec: This is How it Ends

[samantha2074.livejournal.com]

Story: This is How it Ends
Author: Wiccagirl24
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 1,219
Author's Summary: A dozen years traveling the galaxies together, saving planets and people, sharing small moments and cups of tea. It had to end sometime.
Characters/Pairings: Ace, Seventh Doctor
Warnings: Character death

Recced because: This story is short, but I think it beautifully encapsulates the Seventh Doctor and Ace relationship. The ending is bittersweet but fitting.

Rec: Past Imperfect

[samantha2074.livejournal.com]

Story: Past Imperfect
Author: ponygirl
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 14,191
Author's Summary: Sometimes you need a little help, and it's good to see a familiar face from the past.
Characters/Pairings: Sixth Doctor, Evelyn Smythe, Tenth Doctor, Rose Tyler
Warnings: None

Recced because: This is kind of like the cozy cardigan (one of Evelyn's perhaps?) of fics. I'm a sucker for multi-doctor stories to begin with, and if you include Evelyn Smythe, one of my favorite companions, all the better. Ponygirl's story is full of breezy action and humor, tempered with moments both sweet and bittersweet. I enjoy all of the character interactions and always finish this story with a smile on my face.

REC: After Life

[biichan.livejournal.com]

Story: After Life
Author: Amy Wolf
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: ~20,000
Author's summary: Rationally speaking, you know you’re not dead. Also, there aren’t eight other people in here, and you aren’t trapped in Jean-Paul Sartre’s vision of Hell.
Characters/Pairings: Ninth Doctor, Sixth Doctor, Second Doctor, Seventh Doctor, Fourth Doctor, Third Doctor, Eighth Doctor, Fifth Doctor, First Doctor
Warnings: Spoilers for pretty much every Dalek episode or regeneration ever. Oh, and second-person narration.

Recced because: This fic is important to me, because it was the first Doctor Who fic I fell in love with and even now, months later, it's still one of my favorites. It's beautifully written and elegantly structured and it's one of the few fics that pulls off second-person narration perfectly.

There's a symmetry built into the structure of the fic, which takes place wholly inside the Doctor's mind while he's busy regenerating during The Christmas Invasion. The Ninth Doctor is sent on a quest that he doesn't quite understand at first, one that takes him back through his incarnations and then forwards again. It deals with the nature of guilt and the nature of casualty and the importance of accepting all parts of oneself, even the parts one would rather not. It's a fic I really think everyone in this fandom ought to read, it's just that good.

( Here, have a short excerpt... )