Calufrax

Story: I could never live with me before you came along
Author: Nancy Brown
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 8664
Author's Summary: Canton Everett Delaware III is on a mission from God, er, River to put the band back together.
Characters/Pairings: Amy Pond, Canton Everett Delaware III, Jenny Flint, Madame Vastra, River Song, Rory Williams, The Doctor (11th), plus Anthony Williams and OCs
Warnings: None

Recced because: I was actually planning to rec another fic by this author, and I came across this more or less at random while looking for the other one on her Teaspoon page yesterday...and loved it. And couldn't believe it had no reviews and decided the best way of remedying that with a vengeance was to get it out here on Calufrax. So win/win for me - I get to rec this magnificent fic and still have one in the hole for my next reccing stint! :D

In all seriousness, though, this is a great fic, written with excellent characterisation and just common sense, decency and humanity. You know, like the best fics are. The fact that it also ticks quite a few of my fannish boxes as regards the tail end of the Eleven era (the Capaldinator is obviously brilliant, but I'm unashamed to say Eleven remains "my" NuWho Doctor) certainly doesn't hurt either. I've made no secret of the fact that I was, and am, seriously dissatisfied with the ending Amy and Rory got in The Angels Take Manhattan, not even because of their fates but mainly because of the slapdash way it was all plotted and the way we were expected to swallow rl attempts to plaster over those plot holes by authorial "word of god", so this sort of semi-fix-it (it doesn't actually fix it, but makes its point by illustrating one of the several blatantly obvious ways that it could be fixed) will always hold a certain appeal for me. The fact that it's wise-guy G-Man Canton Everett Delaware III, still one of my all-time favourite one-shot Who guest characters, who gets to be the main instrument of that sort-of-fix-it is, for me, the shiny cherry on top.

The author gives Canton an OC boyfriend, fittingly also a smart-mouthed hard-boiled cop type, who is also the everyman observer of the Doctor's strange world, as they go about reuniting Canton, the Paternoster Row crew, Amy and Rory and their adopted son Anthony, and eventually River and Eleven himself, and even get a bit of fraught adventure along the way. Throughout, we are reminded deftly and thought-provokingly of the difficulties and dangers facing same-sex relationships over the ages, with Vastra and Jenny's relationship also portrayed with great perceptiveness and sensitivity. I think the main thing I like about this, though, is the obvious love for the diverse cast of characters; even the ones that don't get that many lines (Eleven, actually) are vividly portrayed; as I often say of fanfic I find has particularly true-to-life characterisations, you really can hear the voices as you read it.

So get over there and see what you think, and please leave some words of appreciation for the author...!


( A Taste )

Story: Emissaries from A Charitable Earth
Author: ClocketPatch
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 4,260
Author's Summary: Stranded on Earth following a non-EDA-compliant version of the Time War, Fitz finds himself falling in love with a most unlikely woman.
Characters/Pairings: Fitz Kreiner/other characters
Warnings: None

Recced because: I think it would be fair to say that the Eighth Doctor Adventures novels were a bit of a mixed bag. The NAs that came before them had their high points and their low points, but I think on the whole they had a certain consistency, if not in quality then in general vision and (grim, dark 'n' edgy 90s) tone. The EDAs certainly went through phases and had arcs and so on, but I always thought they were a bit more pot luck. They certainly had their moments, for both good and ill. They're a strand of Who's not-really-canon I'd like to see addressed more in fic (along with all of the other strands in their seemingly infinite multitudes), but that's just me.

One of the things that the EDAs really had going for them was the character of Fitzgerald Michael "Fitz" Kreiner, one of that select band of non-television companions from the various spinoff media who really could hold their own with the best of the televised lot. He was a complex character, Fitz, with some rather dodgy tendencies, but tended to overcome them as he travelled with the Doctor and on the whole his heart was in the right place. An exceedingly human companion, Fitz. Or rather, his biodata clone after a certain point, because...well, the EDAs were just like that sometimes, especially after Lawrence Miles got involved. In any case, I consider that Fitz (or his clone) really should be in more fic, so that's another tick in favour of this fic in my opinion.

And this fic makes excellent use of the character, exploring his combination of cynicism and romanticism, the naivety of the long-distance time traveller and how his yearning for love crashes into bitter everyday reality and his own difficult baggage after years spent travelling with the Doctor. The author paints a convincing picture of a damaged individual, out of touch with the time and place he finds himself in, but desperate - painfully so - for something better. It is a very affecting portrayal, and made all the more so by the revelation of how the post-EDAs Fitz came to be the way he is. The portrayal of the Time War and the Doctor's part in it given here is no longer strictly in line with what we know, or think we know, by this point in the post-2005 series, but such are the perils of fic. It is, however, convincingly horrible and horrifying. Even if the particulars were not like this, the general tone of the proceedings are probably not very far from the way it "really" was for the wartime Doctor.

And then there is the fic's final revelation. I didn't see it coming on my first read, although I think I can see a couple of clues on subsequent readings, but it is in any case a genuine "gasp of surprise" sort of moment and will stay in your memory long after reading.

On top of all that, we're talking about another author who is never less than reliable. You know you're going to get good fic reading one of her stories, usually with interesting character insights, great use of descriptive prose and a pleasing combination of high concept and realistic meditations on real life and the human condition. All of which you are getting if you go and read this fic. Please be sure to leave words of appreciation for the author.


( An Excerpt )