Calufrax

Story: An Outrageous Amount of Running
Author: gnossienne_nr1
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 2006
Author's Summary: It's Monday. It's raining. It's three days till Christmas, Donna's new boss is an idiot and nothing exciting will ever happen to her again. Not that anything exciting ever happened to her in the first place. Your basic JE-fixit.
Characters/Pairings: Donna Noble, The Doctor (10th)
Warnings: None.

Recced because: It's Christmas (or at least it is where I am, just), and I am more than slightly tipsy, and after today's episode of Doctor Who some old(ish)-fashioned fix-its were in order.  Donna rocks, the Doctor is told for once and for all how terribly he acted at the end of Journey's End, and everyone ends up okay.  Christmas is saved.

I hope you've all had a wonderful day!

Story: A Spot of Festive Shopping
Author: vvj5
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 2636
Author's Summary: Tegan's on an unexpected Christmas shopping trip with the wrong Doctor.
Characters/Pairings: Tegan Jovanka, The Doctor (1st), The Doctor (5th)
Warnings: None.

Recced because: It's time to break out the Christmas recs!  And what a great story to start with.  Tegan and the First Doctor bond over Christmas shopping, and it's festive in the very best of ways: by having as its focus two characters who are thrown together and end up having a huge amount of fun.  At Christmas.  With costumes and mince pies and department stores.  I read this with a smile on my face the whole way through, because Tegan and the First Doctor just work so well together that I can absolutely see this happening.  Go forth and read!

( have a snippet.... )

Story: A Change Is As Good As A Rest
Author: Netgirl_y2k
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 3154
Author's Summary: Now she had a half Time Lord-half human lounging on her sofa watching the X-Factor, and the heart of a TARDIS growing in an empty jam jar in her kitchen.
Characters/Pairings: Donna Noble, Rose Tyler (Donna/Rose)
Warnings: None.

Recced because: It's an AU for Journey's End where the Doctor!Donna stays in Rose's dimension instead of the duplicate Doctor, and it's by turns hilarious and poignant.  The snippets of their lives that we get weave together to make the whole thing so believable.  The humour is pretty perfect too - "It was Christmas day. Rose had grown to hate Christmas, or, as it was known in the rest of the galaxy, Let’s Invade the Earth Day." - and the core friendship/relationship grows in a gorgeous way.  Plus, the ending.  I'd say more about it but...spoilers.  Go and read it to find out!

Story: Within A Mile Of Home
Author: sleepismyfriend
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 3924
Author's Summary: Eleven takes Amy to Bannerman Road, only he encounters a few more than he expected once he arrives.
Characters/Pairings: Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Jack Harkness, Jo Grant, Liz Shaw, Martha Jones, Mickey Smith, Sarah Jane Smith, Tegan Jovanka, The Doctor (11th), Wilfred Mott, Luke Smith, Amy Pond
Warnings: n/a

Recced because: To round off the week, a return to the multi-era ensemble cast - just look at that list of characters!  Full disclosure requires me to say that the author is one of my friends, but this is one of those stories that I'd have to admit to loving were it written by my worst enemy.  Plot takes a backseat to a beautifully-written interlude of friendships and nostalgia that still manages to feel fresh, and the interactions between the Doctor's former companions and friends are delightfully genuine.  I particularly love the portrayal of Amy, who bounces around full of teasing energy but clearly holds a great deal of affection for the Doctor - and, of course, the centre of the story is the eternal relationship between the Doctor and Sarah, which is dealt with in a sensitive and nuanced manner.  It really is one of my favourite stories, and one that reminds me just why I love the show so much.

Thank you for having me for the week, guys, and if you enjoy the recs then don't forget to go and tell the authors all about it!

Story: Stranger
Author: Doctor Tam
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 1369
Author's Summary: When Spencer Reid was ten years old, he had an imaginary friend named Susan.
Characters/Pairings: Susan Foreman, Spencer Reid (Criminal Minds)
Warnings: Crossover with Criminal Minds.

Recced because: This is technically a crossover, but perfectly accessible even if you don't know who Spencer is.  For those who are in the know, this is a bittersweet look at a difficult childhood that doesn't try to fix anything but simply adds another element: Susan.  Her underlying sadness, and the mystery behind her appearances, leaves you wondering about the story behind her choice to keep returning to this one child - and then the story behind her ultimate disappearance.  Short, but worth the read.

Story: A Winter's Tale
Author: JJPOR
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 8164
Author's Summary: In the deep midwinter, frosty winds will blow, but for the Doctor and Ace it's just another day at the office. Or is it?
Characters/Pairings: The Doctor (7th), Ace
Warnings: n/a

Recced because: This is one of those fics where I had to check and recheck to make sure it hadn't been recced before.  It's that good.  Seven and Ace do Christmas, but it's thoughtful and sensitive and manages to steer clear of the more cloying sentimentality that sometimes pervades seasonal stories.  From an aborted outing to a perfect Dickensian Christmas to a trip to the Western Front in December 1914, Seven and Ace consider the nature of the holiday and what it really means.  Seven is as mysterious as ever: glimpses of his underlying darkness come through subtlely but undeniably, and his relationship with Ace is ultimately adorable but still tinged with manipulation.  A wonderful story for two complex characters.