calufrax

primsong.livejournal.com

Story:Bad Judgment
Author: Van Donovan
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 3,055
Author’s Summary: Poor judgment leads to tragedy.
Characters/Pairings: The Second Doctor, Jamie, Zoe, the Cybermen.
Warnings: Angst, Character death

Recced because: There are so many times when one slip of fate, one twist of luck or mistake in timing would have meant overwhelmingly terrible disasters for so many of those dear to the Doctor. The author here introduces us to one such a time and hauntingly takes us through to the tragic end.

Van Donovan has had several stories recommended, something which is no surprise in light of the intensity and crafting of this sampling here. The Second Doctor has, as usual, failed to properly communicate what he is up to with his companions and the results are literally fatal. My heart was wrung for Jamie, for Zoe and for the Doctor; it is a tragedy indeed but none of it is written gratuitously, and it is not graphic in its descriptions; the tale is skillfully and precisely measured out. This is a dark but excellent read that you will remember.

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ihasstopwatch.livejournal.com

Story: Back Home
Author: Van Donovan
Rating: Adult
Word Count: 14,923 (six chapters, each averaging at about 2,500 words)
Author's Summary: Turlough returns to Earth, not entirely of his own volition, and finds that while some things have changed, some are exactly the same.
Characters/Pairings: Turlough/Tegan, Turlough/Owen, Turlough/Various others/implied, Gwen Cooper, Ianto Jones, Jack Harkness, Toshiko Sato
Warnings: Explicit sex, swearing
Note: (this is taken from the A/N at the beginning of the first chapter) Helps to be familiar with Turlough's run on Doctor Who, or at least his intro triology/exit serial. Basic Torchwood knowledge helpful, but not required. Set in the three month glossed-over gap in Torchwood, somewhere probably late 2007, early 2008.

Recced because: The author managed to capture Turlough's personality perfectly and in such a subtle way that it's hard to pinpoint exactly what makes the characterization so perfect. The descriptions of things Turlough smells and feels are so detailed that it's hard to not imagine you're standing right there alongside him. And the intimate moments, while not as explicit as the warning implies, focus more on the emotions between the characters and not the physicality. Overall, a beautiful story that leaves you wanting more by the time you've finished the last chapter.

livii.livejournal.com

Story: The Power of Pol
Author: Van Donovan
Rating: All Ages
Author's summary: Ben is shot and Polly is fearless. Watch out for the blink-or-you'll-miss-it cameo.
Characters/Pairings: Ben/Polly
Warnings: none
Word Count: ~1,600 words

Recced because: This is just delightful: written for me in a ficathon, it gets Ben and Polly exactly right, and they are just too cute for words here. Polly gets to wear a fabulous dress, Ben gets to see her turn it into a mini, they fight Cybermen – the perfect returning enemy for them to face - and there's even a cameo by a young Harry! Sweet, funny, and a loving look at some very underrepresented characters.

kseda.livejournal.com

Story: It's About Choices
Author: Van Donovan
Rating: Mature
Word Count: 9,056
Author's Summary: Turlough influences some of Tegan's choices.
Warnings: graphic sex

Recced because: I keep saying that fandom needs to be fired for not producing more Tegan/Turlough fic, and this story is my Exhibit A for why the pairing works. The characterization is spot-on, from the snappy dialogue to the perfectly captured mannerisms. Tegan's observations of Turlough, his analysis of her, their reactions to each other all meld into a snarky, bittersweet piece made all the better by the inescapable conclusion. Also: hot like burning.

( Excerpt: )

Current Mood: good

elyssadc.livejournal.com

Here's my second long-story rec.

Story: Reflections
Author:

vandonovan
Rating: Adult
Word Count: 90,812
Author's Summary: Charged with saving the universe, can the Doctor overcome his own darkness to defeat the Daleks?
Characters/Pairings: Second Doctor/Jamie, Victoria
Warnings: Dark AU

Recced because: I should probably start by explaining what this story is really about. Perhaps best summarized by one of it's reviewers, it's a story about a ""Dalek-blighted universe created by a Doctor corrupted by his own heart." This piece is an AU based off of the serial The Evil of the Daleks, which I think is one of the best stories in all of classic Who. Sadly, most of the episodes were burned in the BBC purge of misery and woe, but the storyline is worth suffering through reconstructions for. However, if you absolutely refuse to watch this serial, or simply can't for whatever reason, this recap provides all the information you would need to make sense of Reflections. And Van's story is definitely worth the effort.

Although it's pretty darn long by Who-fic standards, I think this one is absolutely worth the time commitment. Not only is it a brilliant Two/Jamie story, but the plot is completely engaging and seriously intense. Van has an excellent grasp of the characters, particularly the Second Doctor (he also does a great Victoria), and the result is that you really understand the motivations of his AU-self. You can believe that this dark version is someone the Second Doctor could have become. (And did I mention the sex is hot as hell?) But most of all, I love this story because it's just so damn angsty. The first time I read it I was hooked from chapter one through the very last line and yes, I cried.

( a small taste from the first chapter... )

usuallyhats

Story: Observation Interference
Author: Van Donovan
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 2874
Author's Summary: Leela runs away with the Doctor's nostalgia.
Characters/Pairings: Four/Leela, Leela/Jo, Doctor/Jo
Warnings: None

Recced because: Van Donovan's characterisation of Leela is brilliant. She leaps off the page in all her pride, her fearlessness, and her ability to cut clear through the Doctor's circumlocutions. It shows how they balance each other - she has a directness that he lacks, but he sees dangers and subtleties that escape her. The Doctor's affection for Jo is touching, and his impatient explanation of what happened to her makes it obvious how much he still misses her. And Leela kissing Jo is wonderful, the reasoning behind it is both very clever and very Leela.

tgjerusalem.livejournal.com

There is an unfortunate lack of slash recs.

So... yay! Slash! :D

Story: Obsession
Author: VanDonovan
Rating: Adult
Word Count: 13160 (in six parts)
Author's Summary: Some obsessions are impossible to ignore.

This is a bit cliché but should be fun anyway. At least, I hope you'll like it. There certainly isn't enough Second Doctor fic, cliché or not. :)
Characters/Pairings: Second Doctor/Jamie, Victoria
Warnings: Moderately graphic sex
Recced because: VanDonovan is the high priest of Two/Jamie awesomeness, and this fic exemplifies why. It is cliché fic at its best – it has a touch of aliens-made-them-do-it, but with a decent plot, spot-on characterization, and is absolutely adorable. And really, lets be honest – the Doctor and Jamie are gay married in space.

biichan.livejournal.com

Story: Winterlude
Author:Van Donovan
Rating: None, probably Teen
Word Count: ~12800
Author's summary: There is fun for all at a winter carnival.
Characters/Pairings: Second Doctor/Jamie, background Ben/Polly
Warnings: none, really

Recced because: One of the more difficult periods of canon to find fic for is Patrick Troughton's first season as the Second Doctor, where he travels with Ben and Polly as well as Jamie. This isn't really surprising: we don't actually have a full, un-burninated episode with the four of them. Half of them don't even have surviving episodes. (In fact, we only have one full surviving serial with Ben and Polly: The War Machines, where they join the First Doctor. The only companions that come off worse for surviving episodes are Katrina and Sara Kingdom. Even Steven and Dodo have more episodes extant.)

To find any fic at all for this underrepresented period in canon is a happy accident and to find a fic as good as Van Donovan's Winterlude is pure unbridled luck. Set during a fortunate lull in monsters, the Second Doctor and his companions attend a winter carnival together. Ben and Polly decide to go off together on that date they never got to have and so Jamie and the Doctor are left to explore the carnival together.

Van Donovan is well-known for his Classic Who slash fic. I think perhaps Winterlude is my favorite of them, though it can be quite hard to choose when they're all very good. Van's voices for his characters are absolutely spot-on, so much I could virtually hear Patrick Troughton and Frazier Hines as I read this fic. His characterization is similarly well done--Jamie is particularly well captured in all his stubborn pride--and Ben, Polly, and the Second Doctor are quite true-to-character as well. The awareness between the Doctor and Jamie builds slow and gradually and there's an immense sense of achievement when they finally kiss.

Current Music: Stereophonics - More Life In A Tramp's Vest

reccity-rec-rec

calufrax is sleeping in your mind. One day, it may be brought back in front of your eyes.

April 2018

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A rec comm for A Teaspoon And An Open Mind

Entries tagged with author: van donovan

bad judgment by van donovan

Rec: Back Home, by Van Donovan

Rec: The Power of Pol by Van Donovan

Rec: It's About Choices

rec: reflections

rec: observation interference by van donovan

Rec: Obsession

REC: Winterlude

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April 2018

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