Calufrax

Well, it feels like returning to an internet home from home, being back here on calufrax for another reccing stint. Long may it continue, and I would urge any of you reading this who haven't already to sign up to have a go yourselves. It's pretty fun indeed, you know!

And we open with a consideration of this little gem:

Story: A Gentleman Can Have it All
Author: Sakura Tsukikage
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 4,182
Author's Summary: The Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria discover the perks and drawbacks of gentlemanly behavior in 19th century Cardiff. And there's some time-traveling shenanigans thrown in.
Characters/Pairings: Jamie McCrimmon, The Doctor (2nd), Victoria Waterfield
Warnings: None

Recced because: I think we can all agree that there isn't anything like enough top-notch Two fic. Even if every fan in fandom devoted the rest of their fanfictional careers to writing top-notch Two fic, there still wouldn't be enough. Like the era of Who that inspires it, when Two fic is good - as this most certainly is - it is a unique pleasure to behold. Just like all of the other eras in their different ways, I suppose. That's just what it's like living the dream in the greatest fandom of them all...

Here, the Doctor and his companions Jamie and Victoria go undercover, more or less, in order to interact with a Victorian gentleman and get to the bottom of some space/time-related shenanigans involving the sinister interloper Mr. Johns. Well, at least the Doctor and Victoria go undercover; Jamie can't be persuaded, understandably, to part with his very fetching kilt. Much teasing, naturally, ensues at the very idea of the cosmic hobo attempting to smarten up his appearance. And then the action starts.

The thing I really like about this fic is the way it captures the main characters and their deceptively subtle and distinctive interpersonal relationships. All of the little interactions, the rhythms of the dialogue and the characters' attitudes towards each other are absolutely spot-on, not in the slightly heightened way common in a lot of fanfic, but the way they actually are on screen together. There's an argument to be made that most of us, as fans, only think we know Two and his character, based on the somewhat exaggerated versions portrayed in the multi-Doctor stories Troughton guest-starred in so magnificently during the 70s and 80s, and I think those latter-day performances certainly inform a lot of fic. Not this one, though; this is the real deal. Old school Two and two of his most memorable companions on fine form. Bask in it.

This is one of only two fics by this author on the Teaspoon, both of them lovely pitch-perfect Two fics, and I am glad to have recced both now on the comm. As I usually do, I urge you - go over there and read this and leave some nice words for the author.

( A Snippet... )