rec: Mercy by Bagheera

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Hello! Thought I'd close out the rec period with two REALLY different fics for the same pairing, to sort of--highlight Directions In/Ways With. (I may find a final gen/genish fic to properly close, because I feel fairly guilty...)

Story: Mercy
Author: Bagheera
Rating: Adult
Word Count: 3152
Author's Summary: “It's mating season for Traken males. The Doctor saves the Master's life.”
Characters: The Doctor (5th), The Master (Ainley)
Pairings: Five/Ainley!Master
Warnings: Explicit Sex
Recced because:

So this is some In Heat/Pon Farr fic—honestly, I wish Who fic played more with classic fanfic tropes? Not exclusively, obviously. I’m glad for the variety and the particularly of a lot of Who fic, but I still wish that we got our quota of the classics and new standards. Where you at, Cave Fic? Et tu, ridiculous A/B/O? I sort of feel owed these things, even where I don't particularly like the trope in question!

( More about why this fic's interesting )

rec: The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Theta (etc) by Aralias

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SStory: The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Theta of Houses Lungbarrow and Oakden (as related by his father, and not meant for publication). Chapter One. ←the title is just a Dickens joke, there aren’t more chapters
Author: Aralias
Rating: All Ages (reccer’s note: actually, writer, there is a bit of sex in this—not elaborately rendered, but I don’t think ALL ages are quite ready for some of these allusions, this isn’t a panto :p)
Word Count: 8152
Author's Summary: “It had come as no real surprise to the Doctor that the Master owned a fully functional genetic loom. Kidfic in which Five and Ainley!Master are living together for some reason and have a kid and also wacky parenting misadventures.”
Characters: The Doctor (5th), The Master (Ainley)
Pairings: Five/Ainley!Master
Warnings: None
Recced because:

“It was this combination of events that led the Doctor to kidnap his own son in the middle of night.”

So... you either like kidfic, or you don’t. Obviously there’s a lot of variation within the subgenre in terms of quality, but the actual idea seems a bit marmite regardless of that. I can only say that this fic’s sharp and wry and funny. There’s nothing smotheringly smarmy about it, despite the premise sounding like a vat of treacle the Candyman would for sure drown you in.

( Why I like this fic more than is reasonable. )