Calufrax

Story: Plumbing’s Very Important
Author: johne
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 100
Author's Summary: Can the Doctor save Rose from the rising waters before it's too late?
Characters/Pairings: The Doctor (Duplicate Tenth), Rose Tyler
Warnings: None.

Recced because: It’s not just a drabble, it’s a sonnet. Yes, really. Now, go and read it…

Story: Balm of Hurt Minds
Author: Curuchamion
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 151
Author's Summary: Why the Doctor doesn't sleep. (Third Doctor exile)
Characters/Pairings: Third Doctor
Warnings: None.

Recced because: It’s a beautifully done, telling look at Three in his exile with, yet again, so much said in so few words.

Story: Picnic
Author: Laurus Nobilis
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 427
Author's Summary: The Doctor has a great idea and even greater timing. As usual.
Characters/Pairings: Fourth Doctor, Romana II, K9
Warnings: None.

Recced because: It’s a joyful bit of banter and fluff for Four, Romana and K9, entertainingly rounded off by the wonder that is the Doctor’s sense of timing. I’ll say no more…

Happy 50th, Doctor Who!! \o/ And, continuing with the bonus recs, we have Two...

Story: To Any Watch They Keep
Author: infiniteviking
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 100
Author's Summary: History is a grim business, and Victoria is getting fed up.
Characters/Pairings: Victoria Waterfield, Second Doctor
Warnings: None.

Recced because: Two, Victoria, history, time travel and hope – it’s one of those drabbles that prove how much 100 words can be worth and in many ways it’s also a quiet stating of the series’ ethos.

Story: An Infinite Number of Roads to Dallas
Author: EllieLaBelle
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 1937
Author's Summary: This is a Doctor Who/Red Dwarf crossover. Twistedskein on LJ pointed out that the Doctor was spotted at the assassination of JFK, and that the crew of Starbug also visit Dallas in 1963 while looking for the world's largest takeaway order.
Characters/Pairings: Rose Tyler, Ninth Doctor, Various Other Characters
Warnings: None.

Recced because: It’s a whole heap of fun! Apparently, there are just some points in time that attract all the travellers in the fourth dimension, like tacky tourist hot-spots, and Dallas, 1963 is one of them. You needn’t worry too much about the crossover element – it’s that concept and spotting the nods to yet more time travellers that is the joy of this humorous fic, plus the great description of time-space at the start (very New Who, and very Red Dwarf in itself). Grab your time machine of choice and join in…

Hello, calufrax! In a fit of muddle-headedness, I forgot to introduce myself yesterday (sorry!), but what’s a little non-linearity in this fandom? Anyway, I’m lost_spook (vvj5 on Teaspoon), and I’m your reccer for the next two weeks, steering us over the upcoming anniversary weekend (with some extra recs, gosh). I’m still very much in love with all eras of our favourite 50 year old TV series, so hopefully there’ll be something for everyone at some point along the way. And now, in terms of recs, I think I could honestly say I’m going from the sublime to the ridiculous here, so let’s waste no more time in idle chat…

Story: Just the Two of Us
Author: kesdax
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 1155
Author's Summary: That one where the Master and the Rani get stranded on a desert planet.
Characters/Pairings: The Master (Ainley), The Rani
Warnings: None.

Recced because: As it says, it’s the Master, and the Rani, stranded together on a deserted planet with a broken TARDIS. And, as it happens, a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Yes, people, if you’ve ever wondered what happened after the ending of The Mark of the Rani, here is your answer! It’s a fic filled with bickering, death threats, unaccountable moments of life-saving, and hyperbole. And a dinosaur. I grinned pretty much the whole way through, and I hope you will too.

And now, the week is over, but there's time for one final story! Thanks for having me, calufrax, it's been fun - and if you liked something, please don't forget to feed the author! (Authors can survive for up to several weeks at a time on a few nice comments, flailing and love; it's a well known phenomenon.)

Story: Pinions of Time
Author: ClocketPatch
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 727
Author's Summary: A few moments of reflection in the Yukon for Nine and his companions
Characters/Pairings: Ninth Doctor, Rose Tyler, Jack Harkness
Warnings: None

Recced because: I’ve shared some fics this week that have taken a look at alien worlds, at the places we can go in our imagination – now here’s a fic, and an utterly gorgeous one, that takes a moment to appreciate some of the smaller things – a moment where everything is fine, those we share it with – and this amazing planet we live on, that is every bit as marvellous as anything we could imagine, and more.

Story: Glossolalia
Author: eve11
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 971
Author's Summary: "Like all the other tourists, we're here for the Fable."
Characters/Pairings: Tenth Doctor, Donna Noble
Warnings: None.

Recced because: It’s beautiful, quite simply. It’s beautiful, imaginative and mysterious, as the Doctor takes Donna to a planet to explore a phenonmenon that he can only experience, now the Time Lords have gone. If you’ve read any of this author’s stories before, I don’t need to tell you that it’s also exceptionally well-written, and that there’s a real sense of an alien world and slightly fairy tale concept being evoked here.

Story: Illusions
Author: DameRuth
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 1934
Author's Summary: Sometimes we deceive ourselves as much as we deceive others.
Characters/Pairings: Seventh Doctor, Ace
Warnings: None.

Recced because: It’s just gorgeously done, pitch perfect Ace and Seven, something that’s still all too rare in fic. What more can I say? In surprisingly few words, there’s an intense action-packed scene, an intriguing alien enemy, some danger and explosions and plenty of running – and a little moment of truth for the Doctor and Ace to contemplate. Wicked.

I'm lost_spook (vvj5 on Teaspoon) and I'm your reccer for this week. I love pretty much all eras, so there should be a good mix of recs over the week - hopefully something for everyone somewhere along the line!

Story: How Iris Wildthyme finally got her man
Author: Lurky Mclurklurk
Rating: All ages/PG
Word Count: 1382
Author's Summary: "Oh, you're joking! The Time Lords were wiped out completely, and the only survivors were me and Iris bloody Wildthyme?"
Characters/Pairings: Tenth Doctor, Iris Wildthyme, the TARDIS, (Tenth Doctor/Iris Wildthyme)
Warnings: None. (AU for S3.)

Recced because: It’s very funny, and brilliantly done. The Doctor discovers he’s not alone after all, but the sole other survivor of the Time War is - to his dismay - Iris Wildthyme! If you know who Iris is, you’ve probably already hurried off to read after spotting the summary, but if you don’t, don’t worry. Iris is a Time Lord from various spin-offs, whose adventures mirror the Doctor’s in improbable ways, and she’s been chasing him for rather a while – that’s all you need to know to enjoy this story.

Anyway, with some lovely glimpses of the TARDIS’s pov, and lots of gems like the line about the cabbage (no, I’m not explaining) and all the clues just happening to converge in south-east England, it’s a great fic to start the week with. And the ending – the ending is perfect.

Story: Four Things Jamie Learned about Time (and Travelling in it)
Author: Doctor Tam
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 517
Author's Summary: As the title says. "Jamie frowned at his watch, then shrugged. Maybe he’d get the Doctor to explain in later."
Characters/Pairings: Jamie McCrimmon, Second Doctor, Polly Wright, Victoria Waterfield, Zoe Heriot, Ben Jackson
Warnings: None.

Recced because: Another, much earlier companion, trying to make sense of travelling with the Doctor – this time Jamie, learning about time itself. Despite the brevity, this fic gets a lot into each of its sweet and perfectly-characterised snapshots of Jamie’s days aboard the TARDIS and the strangeness, pleasures - and friendships - they bring.

Story: Human Behaviour
Author: st_aurafina
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 1690
Author's Summary: The TARDIS learned a lot from her time in a human body; this doesn't mean she knows how to put a human together again.
Characters/Pairings: Idris, The TARDIS, Leela, Nyssa, Tegan Jovanka, Eleventh Doctor, Seventh Doctor, Ace McShane
Warnings: None.

Recced because: It's a beautiful and fascinating fic that follows on from The Doctor's Wife and explores the relationship between the TARDIS and Idris in a way that’s humorous, painful, and non-linear – and always coming back to the TARDIS with her Thief. In passing, there are some lovely cameos from past companions, especially Ace (and the brief interaction with Seven). It’s well worth a read - and then reading again and again.

Story: Lost Art
Author: eponymous_rose
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 1262
Author's Summary: This, a new world, full of alien sands and discovery.
Characters/Pairings: Sarah Jane Smith, Third Doctor
Warnings: None.

Recced because: It’s a perfect, beautiful vignette of Sarah’s very first alien planet that also plays lightly with the differing reactions of Sarah and the Doctor. What more can I say? It’s a gorgeous, brilliant little capturing of a moment and their characters. Just go and read it - you won't regret it.

Well, the week is over, but I have one more rec to offer. This time it’s about cake. And why not?

Story: An Ingenious Plan
Author: secooper87
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 2326
Author's Summary: Ten. Chained to Three. Naked. With Cake. And the Master. Gallifrey is gone, and so are the spare parts shops that the Doctor needs to fix up his Tardis. Luckily, he's found a way to deal with that!
Characters/Pairings: Third Doctor, Tenth Doctor, Eleventh Doctor, Ninth Doctor, The Master (Delgado)
Warnings: None. Unless – here be cake?

Recced because: There is a sub-genre of Doctor Who whose very existence is fast becoming the stuff of legend.* It involves Ten, naked, chained to Three, and covered in cake, due to the scheming of the Master. And, as yet, an amazing lack of smut.

This one is the latest offering in this mouth-watering category – and not only does it have all the correct ingredients, mixed together in yet another new and ingenious way, but I just love the logical yet crazy and timey-wimey notion that Nine, Ten, and Eleven (due to Gallifrey’s inconvenient non-existence) head straight back to Three’s UNIT lab every time they need a spare part. I mean, you don’t need me to tell you anything further about why that’s brilliant, do you? Other than that, yes, they are all splendidly in character. Multiple Doctors! The Master with a rubbishy plan! Cake! Theft! Enjoy!

(Let me put my hand up and admit that I manage this series on Teaspoon, but I promise I have nothing to do with the origin of it, or any of the fics but one. I just keep things tidy.)


*Well, all right, maybe not, but I’m sure it will be eventually….

Story: The Barmpot and the Skoth
Author: Gary Merchant
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 3152
Author's Summary: Compo, Clegg and Foggy offer their help to a bohemian-type stranger wearing a floppy hat and a long scarf. A crossover with Last of the Summer Wine.
Characters/Pairings: Fourth Doctor, K9, Norman Clegg, Compo Simmonite, Foggy Dewhurst (etc.)
Warnings: None.

Recced because: It’s an unlikely crossover with the long-running UK sitcom Last of the Summer Wine and it’s well done, and charming. I don’t know how it reads to a newbie to the other show (although I hadn’t seen it for years – a little of LotSW goes a long way - & I loved it anyway), but this is a summery story set in the Yorkshire Dales, where the Doctor encounters three new friends, sorts out the business of a lost alien and has a sticky bun while being disapproved of by the female half of the population. It’s one of those things you’d assume no one would ever write, but this author did, and it’s brilliant.

Story: Business As Usual
Author: johne
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 12, 945
Author's Summary: The Doctor, Jo and UNIT investigate a haunted house. Oh, and the year is 1793.
Characters/Pairings: Third Doctor, Jo Grant, Mike Yates, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, The Master (Delgado)
Warnings: None.

Recced because: It’s a splendid, in-character adventure for the UNIT ‘family’ as they investigate a haunted house. As ever, they’re busy saving the world, Jo stays plucky (and keeps up with the latest fashions), the Brigadier arrives in the nick of time, the Doctor complains about the primitive era he’s stuck in, and the Master is up to no good. It’s just that the year happens to be 1793.

The idea behind this being that UNIT dating being as inconsistent as it is, why should it not be more so? Why can’t our heroes at UNIT simply go about their daily business in any decade or century a fanfic author chooses? Which is a brilliant idea, but I think the thing that impresses most about this story is that it isn’t gimmicky – it’s first and foremost, as I said, a marvellous, straight, Three-era adventure. The century, as the premise suggests, is irrelevant, although rest assured, the historical setting is well done, too. Whichever way you look at it, it’s an excellent piece of fanfic!

Hi, I'm lost_spook, your reccer for the week, and otherwise known as vvj5 on Teaspoon. I'm a big fan of all eras of our amazing show, so hopefully there'll be something for everyone as we go through the week.

Story: The Road Untraveled
Author: Daystar Searcher
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 1424
Author's Summary: Just because you part ways with someone doesn't mean they stop influencing your life, as Ace, Mags, and the Doctor find out.
Characters/Pairings: Ace/Mags, Seventh Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith, Third Doctor, Frobisher, Sixth Doctor, Evelyn Smythe, Second Doctor, Martha Jones, Rani Chandra.
Warnings: None.

Recced because: Well. Two recs in two days that feature a suspiciously similar long and strange list of ingredients? What are the chances? There is an explanation, which lies in a recent challenge I made, using 12 prompts that could be played with individually, or together. (And I had no idea what yesterday's rec would be, but I was delighted - I can now rec the other, utterly amazing resulting fic containing all 12 here today.)

What I never envisaged was that someone could take all twelve and write a beautiful, short and serious fic that ties them all together. It should be impossible, but, as it turns out, if the writer is as talented as Daystar Searcher, it suddenly becomes perfectly natural and coherent. The main strand of the story follows Ace and Mags and their separate fortunes and whether either or both regret not staying with each other, but it doesn’t forget to include Welsh myths, vampires, evil giraffes, Rani Chandra, Frobisher etc. etc.. It’s amazing. Really. I could stand here and flail a little more about how impressed I am, but you’d be much better off running away to read it now. So, go; read!

[Entirely irrelevant, but yay, ‘tis Saturday, and I have such a lovely Saturday-ish rec to share…]

On what it is like to live in the TARDIS with the Doctor (Yes. It is just as crazy/amazing as you thought it would be):
Story: Death in the Tealeaves
Author: aralias
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 1807
Author's Summary: The Doctor likes tea, but this morning tea seems not to like him.
Characters/Pairings: Eighth Doctor, Lucie Miller
Warnings: None.

Recced because: This story is a sheer joy from start to finish. It may feature Eight and Lucie (perfectly characterised; I can hear Paul McGann and Sheridan Smith in my head as I read), but it’s absolutely the sort of thing that happens in between adventures when you travel with the Doctor – any Doctor – and I love fics that give us glimpses of the madness of TARDIS life. There are no spoilers and all you need to know is this: the Doctor loves tea, really loves tea. Lucie Miller is less fussed about tea and tea-related anecdotes, but she is handy with a frying pan when there’s tea-related trouble in the TARDIS kitchen. Oh, and it’s just gorgeously written throughout, and a really fun romp. (No, not that sort of romp, even if Lucie is wearing her penguin pyjamas…)

On timey-wimeyness, and those who have to clear up the mess afterwards (in honour of the topic, this one is out of chronological order):

Story: Strangers in Bow Ties
Author: sciathan_file
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 2364
Author's Summary: Martha returns home to find a strange man sitting on her sofa. Spoilers through 5x07, "Amy's Choice."
Characters/Pairings: Martha Jones, Eleventh Doctor, Amy Pond
Warnings: None.

Recced because: It’s a fic that ties up loose ends with style (and bow ties) and also, in many ways, explores the fall-out of the Doctor’s adventures for those left with the more prosaic clearing up to do. Eleven returns to ask Martha if UNIT have noticed a crack anywhere. Of course, he manages to turn up early, and the result is a funny, sweet fic – and a convincingly creepy use of S5 to tie up continuity from The End of Time. The characterisation is great (even Amy’s short cameo is very recognisable) and I always love a fanfic that can take some of our show’s innate craziness and make something well worth reading out of it. This is one of those stories.

On the Doctor and his companions – and why it is he finds himself travelling with humans so often:
Story: and the lightning
Author: Doctor Tam
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 547
Author's Summary: During a visit to a far future, the Doctor reflects on how human his perspective has become.
Characters/Pairings: Second Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon, Zoe Heriot
Warnings: None.

Recced because: This is a beautiful ficlet, and a rare peek into the Doctor’s mind, as he reflects on how travelling with his companions has changed him and the way he sees the universe. It’s tightly-written and moving, and while it happens to be Two thinking of Jamie and Zoe (and those that came before them), it would be easy to imagine similar thoughts from other Doctors at other times – Nine and Rose, Seven and Ace, Four and Sarah, Three and Jo, Eleven and Amy. It’s true here, and true throughout the show. (Well, just look at what happens when Ten travels alone…)