Calufrax

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. )

Hello! I’m x_los here and on Teaspoon. I haven’t rec’d here before, and I solemnly swear I will lj-cut the many teal deers I have brought along with me.

Story: Kept Man
Author: Aralias
Rating: Adult
Word Count: 30953 words
Author's Summary: In Scream of the Shalka, REG!Doctor (the ninth Doctor who almost was) was seen travelling round the universe with a robotic Master for no apparent reason. The ninth Doctor (who actually was) has a much better reason for travelling with a robotic Master, given that his entire race are dead. This fic assumes that he was and that the Master just kept out of sight so as not to alarm anyone.
Characters: Jack Harkness, Jack Harkness, Martha Jones, Mickey Smith, Mickey Smith, Professor Yana, Rose Tyler, Rose Tyler, The Doctor (10th), The Doctor (9th), The Master (Jacobi), The Master (Other), The Master (Simm)
Pairings: Shalka!Master/Nine, Shalka!Master/Ten, Doctor/Master generally implied
Warnings: Explicit sex, swearing (goodness, there’s a warning for that? Huh.)

Recced because:

( A little about the author. )

Kept Man is relatively early but essential work from an essential writer in Doctor/Master and, really, the fandom. This fic tracks the first three series of the reboot, imagining that all along, an android version of the Master, built by the Doctor, lives in the TARDIS, preferring not to interact with the Doctor’s various human companions (a plot device that pulls on Scream of the Shalka’s presentation of the Doctor and an android Master voiced by Jacobi living together). It slots neatly into the show as we know it, but not in a facile, consequence-free ‘episode coda’ kind of way. ‘The Doctor keeps the Master on the TARDIS after the events on the Valiant’ is a big subgenre of Doctor/Master fic (especially the fic that came right after s3) (Kept Man is also probably a little influenced by Ariastar’s generally well-regarded Ten/Simm!Master alternate series—alternate series 4 and 5 are another sort of sub genre.). Aralias is engaging with that here, but pulling the trend/trope in directions that chime with her overall interests and sensibilities.

( A little about why this fic is compelling and important. )