Rec: "The First and Last Time"

[shelwass.livejournal.com]

Hello, everyone! I'm very excited to be back reccing at Calufrax for the second time! My primary ship is Ten/Rose, so a chunk of my recs will involve that pairing, but I've also got several recs lined up for you involving 11th Doctor era characters...and one interesting look at the Cybermen conversion process. :)

So, without further ado...here's my first rec of the week!


Story: The First and Last Time
Author: Incurable Romantic
Rating: Adult
Word Count: 2382
Author's Summary: River Song senses her time with the Doctor is growing short on a visit to Paris. Short, sad, angsty one-shot.
Characters/Pairings: Eleven/River, with hints of Doctor/Rose
Warnings: Explicit Sex

Recced because: As a Doctor/Rose shipper who also really likes Eleven/River, this was a perfect mesh. It's a heartbreaking story, told from River Song's (3rd person) POV, and captures the bittersweet nature of her timey-wimey relationship with the Doctor. It also captures just how heart-wrenching it would be to love someone who still loves somebody else.

He picked up a bunch of flowers wrapped in white paper that were lying on the table. “These are for you,” he said, thrusting them at her. It wasn’t the first time she had received flowers from him. She hoped it wasn’t the first time he was giving them to her.


“Thank you,” she said coyly, a flirtatious raise of one eyebrow and a tiny smirk on her lips. “They’re lovely.”


And they were. Carnations and baby’s breath. Sometimes it was lilies, sometimes irises, often painted daisies, occasionally a huge bouquet of a mix of beautiful, fragrant flowers without names from far flung planets. But never roses, and occasionally she wondered why. She had never asked. It felt like cheating, somehow. Spoilers.

Be sure to let the author know if you enjoy it! :)

rec: The Nightmare Child

[redjaywrites.livejournal.com]

I am so, so sorry for the quiet! Life went a bit hectic, this week. ): Last few recs, coming up!

Story: The Nightmare Child
Author: Mandragora
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 2,677
Author's Summary: A war in Hell collides with a war in Heaven
Characters/Pairings: Seventh Doctor
Warnings: war themes, explicit violence, swearing and horror

Recced because: Now, you see, I don't know much about the 7th Doctor but from what I know, this is an absolute gem, and I want to see more of him. A dark and mysterious tale about the Time War and the Master that actually makes me like the 8th Doctor movie a little more... The dialogue is amazing (can you see a theme in fics I like?), and so is how it ties Doctor Who canon in with real life warfare. It also has a nice snippy pace that works well and makes me feel a little breathless.

rec: Check-Up

[redjaywrites.livejournal.com]

Story:Check-Up
Author: Calapine
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 1,721
Author's Summary: The Doctor and the Master go for a lovely drive in the country.
Characters/Pairings: The Doctor (10th), The Master (Simm)
Warnings: n/a

Recced because: Pure. Fluff. I love little AUs where these two run off and get to be a happy family of friends again! And then you go and ask Bessie into the mix and, well, frankly, I'm in love. Oddly enough it also has a charming feel of the British to it, which is a nice way to read something. The Master is a bit Stephen Fry-ish, too. Aaaaand then it punches you in the feels, in the middle. Read on, dear reader, at your peril! Your delicious peril...

rec: Time, Patience (And a Pinch of Hate)

[redjaywrites.livejournal.com]

Story: Time, Patience (And a Pinch of Hate)
Author: a_phoenixdragon
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 297
Author's Summary: The God would learn there was no such thing as Mercy.
Characters/Pairings: Other Character(s), River Song, The Doctor (11th), The TARDIS
Warnings: Discussion of death

Recced because: A very short piece, since Is started with a very long one. It is short, sweet, and to the point. It feels a little to me like a shopping list for somebody planning a murder. The structure is interesting (one sentence per paragraph) but that adds to it's charm. The author really gets into the head of the psychopath while making you feel that the villains are clever gits who really don't know what they're doing, and the theme and word repetition is dizzying. I especially love the baking imagery.

rec: Over the Rainbow

[redjaywrites.livejournal.com]

Is that all we have time for? Well then, thank you for watching my calufrax recs and here's hoping I'll be back again soon with 7 more fics! Roll on shelwass's reign! To finish one I'm going to end with something a little fun... There's no place like home.

Story: Over the Rainbow
Author: rickmaniac101
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 2,097
Author's Summary: The Doctor's been wandering about the strangest place of all, Oz. A little slice of his time with the mystical Wizard.
Characters/Pairings: Donna Noble, Jack Harkness, Madame de Pompadour, Mickey Smith
Warnings: n/a

Recced because: Oh, this is a beautiful, clever piece. I love it when an author can so successfully place the canon of one story into the canon of the other and make it seem like they were made for each other. The chemistry between the characters makes it obvious who everyone is and why, and it works so well. It is also, absolutely, a barrel of laughs. I was giggling from start to finish. Hands on my side stitches, lemme tell you. Not to mention it's just plain well-written, structure and grammar wise. And then somewhere... it grows dizzy. Disorientating. The ending was the biggest surprise ever, given the start. A brilliant way to end the recs and a reminder that not all is as it seems...