Calufrax

Well, that didn't seem like two weeks, did it? If I didn't know better I'd say something was going on with space and time. As usual, my reccing stint has flown over and I didn't manage to post all of the fics I had on my list, which means I'll have to sign up again. I'd strongly recommend you to think about it too. I will leave you with this lovely bit of fluff, until next time:

Story: Time And Relatively Distracting Innuendo-related Scandals
Author: TheBigCat
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 1,144
Author's Summary: A CIA agent was sent to bring Clara and Ashildr back to Gallifrey. That was the Time Lords’ first mistake.
Characters/Pairings: Ace, Ashildr/Me, Clara
Warnings: None

Recced because: I don't know about you, but I really liked Series 9/Season 35, and its ultimate ending, with the mostly-dead Clara and immortal "Me" taking off Doctor-like in a stolen TARDIS was, assuming they don't get revisited at some point, practically incitement to commit fanfic. What I like about this fic is that it takes its lead from that finale episode, but does so in a way that is more or less completely at odds with the generally heavy tone of the Twelfth Doctor's last round of adventures. It's not trying to make any big points about mortality, fate or the state of the universe, it's just silly, frothy, somewhat slashy and extremely amusing indeed. I for one was cackling quite a bit while reading it. Well, to be honest, I cackle quite a lot, but this made me cackle even more.

And the stroke of genius is the inclusion of the surprise guest character. Of course the restored Time Lords wouldn't just take the existence of a pair of living space-time anomalies careering recklessly around the universe lying down, of course they'd send an agent to hunt them down. Making that agent Ace, however, wins this fic several billion bonus points from me, and even makes a kind of sense in light of the long-ago 90s novel canon and/or John Nathan-Turner's reported brainwave of sending her to the Time Lord academy as a way of writing her out of the series during the Season 27 that never happened. Ace, as it turns out, isn't actually terribly good at hunting fugitives for the Celestial Intervention Agency, but given her deep anti-authoritarian streak it makes sense that she wouldn't actually be trying that hard. Indeed, she mainly seems to be interested in exchanging rather charged banter with her would-be quarries, and very funny it is too.

So if you're looking for something light and enjoyable to round off the weekend, this could well be the fic for you. Go and have a look and if you like it (I think many of you will) be sure to let the author know. And if you're like me, you'll be beaming to yourself for some time afterwards just at the bit where we find out who Gallifrey's new President is. I hope Chris Chibnall is of the same mind as this author!


( A Preview )


And that, for now, is that. See you around soonish, I hope!

Story: Serendipity
Author: Thriaemis
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 2,315
Author's Summary: In which Theta Sigma doesn't just dig his own grave, but Braxiatel's as well. Braxiatel has roughly two micro-spans to think 'Rassilon's balls, a cliff,' before he crashes back onto the earth and loses all the air in his lungs in a single whump.
Characters/Pairings: Irving Braxiatel, The Doctor (1st)
Warnings: None

Recced because: There's a school of thought in Who fandom that the less we know about the Doctor's origins and his years on Gallifrey before he took the momentous decision to nick a TT capsule and go on the lam the better. Certainly that element of mystery about exactly who or what the Doctor was and what had led him to that abandoned scrap yard in 1963 has always been important part of the series' central premise (indeed it's right there in the title), not least because when it first began the production team themselves knew no more about the character's past than the audience did. And largely the series has continued in this vein ever since, with hints and snippets gradually revealed about that part of the Doctor's life or lives, but even in the modern era really no more than that.

And this is almost certainly the best way to go about things, because not only does it mostly leave room for the rich tradition of weird and wonderful Gallifrey-related lore developed in various Who spinoff media over the decades, it also leaves plenty of space for fan extrapolations upon that lore, such as in this very well done fic. Taking bits and pieces that have been suggested by various sources over the years and extrapolating upon them according to the whim of the author, this is a delightfully warm and whimsical bit of fannish speculation about the young Doctor's family life and friendships, as he goes on an early adventure and falls foul, characteristically, of his own curiosity and sense of adventure.

The portrayal of the Doctor's relationship with his brother is really top notch, capturing all of the petty antagonisms and frictions of that sort of relationship, while also showing that deep down they really do love and need each other. Of course, this is a Gallifreyan childhood, so there are also some good insights and speculations concerning how a budding Time Lord's experience of that time of life would differ from a human's, as well as lots of nice references and nods to different bits of Who's not-really-canon. Most of all, it is told with great humour and compassion, with an ending that will leave you smiling wistfully.

Highly recommended - go over to the Teaspoon and give it a whirl.


( A Preview )

Story: Self-Made Man
Author: vvj5
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 1,012
Author's Summary: JOSEPH: "Close to the Kandyman, were you?" / GILBERT: "I made him." Gilbert M and the Kandyman.
Characters/Pairings: Other Character(s), The Kandy Man
Warnings: None

Recced because: I can't shake the feeling that there have been few stories in Doctor Who history more unfairly maligned over the years than The Happiness Patrol. It started almost as soon as it first aired, and continued, with what is in reality a deceptively smart, subversive and brutal story about how oppressive regimes work and ways they can be resisted becoming instead Exhibit A whenever any discussion turns to Doctor Who being "too silly." And no aspect of the story came in for more of this sort of thing than its most iconic figure, the infamous Kandyman. It didn't help that the character visually resembled a famous British advertising mascot of the day, but it does irritate me intensely that one of the more compellingly unpleasant villains in 80s Who became a poster child for its supposed decline and fall on a decade or more of "I love the 80s" type television programmes. The irony being that most of those leading the mockery either hadn't seen the story itself, or hadn't understood it, instead judging it purely on its dayglow sugar-coated visual façade, one of the things the story itself was arguing against.

Enough ranting from me. Instead allow me to recommend this fic which goes a long way towards redressing the injustices I outline above. Starting from the television story, and riffing on the extra backstory for the characters described in the really rather good Target novelisation, the author paints a vivid picture of the monstrousness of the Kandyman himself, who is at once a tragic and horrifying figure, and the strange, abusive co-dependency he has with his creator/sidekick/prisoner/husband Gilbert M. The story itself is told from the point of view of Gilbert himself, and really gets inside the head of this weak, fearful, morally malleable character, the sort of person tyrannies like the one on Terra Alpha cannot function without, simultaneously a victim and an enabler of its terror and repression. And like all of this author's stories, it is very well-written indeed.

This author is no stranger to this comm, and for a very good reason. If you are at all appreciative of the Seventh Doctor and his era, go and read this story now. You won't be disappointed.

( An Excerpt )

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... )

Story: You Know Me Better
Author: hangingfire
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 1,011
Author's Summary: As the Master's prisoner, the Doctor gets to know the connection between pop music and world domination.
Characters/Pairings: The Doctor (10th), The Master (Simm)
Warnings: None...apart from mass murder on an apocalyptic scale.

Recced because: I find that even all this time and a number of re-watches later, I still have an ambivalent relationship with The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords. Sure, it's a deeply flawed two-parter (I won't have a word said against its prologue, Utopia, mind you - one of the very best Ten episodes, imho), and Magic!Fairy!Doctor and John Simm's more self-indulgent moments as the Master aren't to everyone's taste (or to mine, really)...but there's still something deeply compelling about it. I think in part it's that dark, pessimistic streak Russell T Davies shows in many of his better stories. When RTD allows himself to imagine horrible things in the context of Who (or Torchwood), he doesn't half imagine them.

Simm!Master has arguably been eclipsed by Missy in the NuWho Master stakes, and in the hearts of many fans, but there's something about him, something unhinged and disturbing. He's the Master with all of the brakes off, every pretension to being a gentleman-villain or cackling supervillain stripped away so that the pure evil and madness can bubble through. He actually does what the Master has spent a lot of time threatening to do, and on an almost unimaginably vast scale. Of course, at the same time he remains very much cackling a supervillain, but there are moments when the camp actually complements rather than detracts from the chilling murderousness of his actions, probably none more so than the all-singing all-dancing mid-story cliffhanger where he unleashes the Toclafane upon the Earth.

And this fic takes its lead from that moment and others in its consideration of Simm!Master in relation to his appreciation of popular music. In doing so, it absolutely nails his character and his relationship with Ten in that story, the traditional Doctor-Master "thing" stretched to its breaking point and taking on a new level of dysfunction. The conceit that as the Master gets more violent his taste in music grows more flamboyant is at once amusing and telling in what it tells us about the motivations behind him being the way he is (I think, ultimately, it's all about acting out for the Doctor's benefit). Ten's pain at being the captive audience for this show is also captured very well indeed, rising above run of the mill Ten!angst to evoke a genuine sense of sadness, horror and despair.

So if you like your Master fic dark and horrifying, you ought to like this one a great deal, as do I. Please go and have a read and if you agree, be sure to leave some words for the author.


( A Preview )

Story: The Darkness of Mere Being
Author: Sakura Tsukikage
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 1,833
Author's Summary: Set during the Season 4 Serial "The Moonbase." The Doctor and Jamie discuss the nature of the Cybermen.
Characters/Pairings: Ben Jackson, Jamie McCrimmon, Polly Wright, The Cybermen, The Doctor (2nd)
Warnings: None

Recced because: I like to think of myself as a tolerant Who fan, all in all. Indulgent of the foibles of my fellow Who fans where others might be moved to irritation and internet rage. Well, unless it's about The Angels Take Manhattan...or angst about viewing figures. Then I get...animated.

Anyway, apart from the above hot-button topics, one of the things that is guaranteed to make me frown slightly when I encounter it in Who fandom is somebody claiming that (insert name of bigtime Who monster/villain - usually but not always the Daleks) is "overused". I maintain that while such icons of the show's lore are quite often used badly, or even worse blandly, there's always the chance that this time (e.g. in both the Capaldi-tastic Series 8 and 9 imho) they won't be, and that these hoary old concepts might even throw up a few surprises. They are classic monsters for a reason, at the end of the day; Daleks, Cybermen and their select few peers are, by and large, concepts that keep on giving. And that's just as true of fanfictional treatments of them as it is of official stories.

And this piece, by an author who unfortunately only has two stories archived on the Teaspoon, is an excellent meditation upon the denizens of Mondas, on what they have done to themselves and continue to do to others. It is even better for being filtered via a conversation between the Second Doctor and Jamie. The author really captures the traits of both characters; this Doctor's combination of compassion and a deep morality with a steely and at times vaguely worrying certainty that some things "must be fought", set against Jamie's relative innocence, especially when it comes to adventuring in time and space, but also genuine, for want of a better word, canniness and sense of right and wrong. At the same time, the examination of the Cybermen in all of their folly and tragedy (they are both monstrous and pathetic, the author reminds us) contains more than one sly parallel to human history and politics, and to another society that we have seen much of in Who canon.

What really makes this fic worthwhile, however, is the aforementioned characterisation. It used to be a truism that the Second Doctor was hard to write properly in (fan)fiction, but I think that was mainly down to the fact that not enough people tried it. Two leaps off the page here, as does Jamie (some will have an aversion to phonetic spelling of Jamie's dialect, but it's practically traditional in Who fanfic - I for one would be rather hypocritical if I complained about it!), and when Ben and Polly show up for a brief appearance at the end, it serves as yet another reminder of just what a good Doctor-companions team this one was, albeit one with far too few stories.

So as you may be able to tell, this is another one I like very much. I hope you will too when you read it, and if so I also hope that you will leave some words of appreciation for the author.


( An Excerpt )

Ahoy there, Who fanfictioneers! As always when I begin a new stint reccing here on calufrax, I am struck by how little time at all it seems since last time I did this, and how long it in fact was. Tempus fugit and all that. Well, without further ado, allow me to kick off this round of recommendation with something of a rare gem:

Story: Bounce
Author: Nancy Brown
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 5,470
Author's Summary: A mysterious device affects the lives of the Doctor and his friends.
Characters/Pairings: Amy Pond, Canton Everett Delaware III, Jenny Flint, Madame Vastra, Rory Williams, Strax, The Doctor (11th)
Warnings: None, apart from some references to Victorian-era murders

Recced because: Well, full disclosure, this was written in response to one of my prompts in the EleventyFest ficathon, way back in 2013. When I gave the prompt, though, I don't think I was expecting it to elicit anything as seriously good as this bit of prime Eleven-era fic. This is the fic I was going to rec last time around before being distracted, magpie-like, by another story by the same author, but this time I'm making very sure indeed to put this one front and centre.

The story follows the trail of a strange, and possibly deadly, presumably alien device across three time periods, and with three groups of investigators. In the Victorian era, Madame Vastra, her wife Jenny and the inimitable Strax are called in by Scotland Yard to consult in a case of multiple murders. Meanwhile in the late 1960s, G-Man Canton Everett Delaware III looks into a slew of missing persons against the backdrop of the countercultural anti-war movement and the Nixon administration. And finally in futuristic Scotland, the Doctor and the Ponds are drawn to a museum of extraterrestrial curiosities. The skill with which the author weaves these various strands together to tell a single story, using time travel pleasingly to tie the plot together, is only one of the several great things about this piece.

I especially enjoy the way the different eras each have their own distinctive style, from the Sherlockian stylings of Vastra and Jenny's nineteenth century adventures to the hardboiled inner monologue that drives Canton's sections (and I don't think you have to find him as cool a character as I do to really dig those parts). As with those of this author's other works that I have read, it is the characterisation and the voices that I find most compelling about this. Canton's private-eye-esque patter aside, the Doctor-Amy-Rory team TARDIS (one of my favourite of all time) really shine here, and even Strax gets one excellent, and very Strax-like, exchange.

I urge you - don't walk, (metaphorically) run over to the Teaspoon and read this one, and please be sure to tell the author how much you liked it.


( An Extract )

Story: Fifteen Minutes
Author: TheBigCat
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 4845
Author's Summary: Solving a murder mystery on a train? All in a day's work for the Doctor and Ace.
Characters/Pairings: The Doctor (7th), Ace
Warnings: Some mild murder/violence

Recced because: Well, it's no secret by now; I love the Seventh Doctor and Ace, both individually and collectively as they go about writing wrongs, fighting for justice and generally injecting a little anarchy into space and time. And this fic offers a fine example of them doing what they do best, unplugged, as it were; no aliens, no universe-threatening eeevills from the dawn of time, just a Professor and his eager pupil unable to stand by and let evil go unpunished and just too good at it for any hapless villain who isn't even an alien or an aforementioned eeevill to stand a chance (although comparatively small-scale evils are still, you know, evil and as far as Seven and Ace are concerned still need to be sorted out). Just to make it even more impressive, they do it all aboard a moving train carriage in the space of time it takes to get from one station to the next.

Even more than a lot of other Doctor-companion relationships, I think a big part of the appeal of Seven and Ace is their interactions with each other, the banter and conversation, the way there's always more to what they say to each other than simple exposition. It's the way they interact, more than anything, as well as the teacher/pupil relationship and the genuine bond of friendship and affection they have even as he's testing her half the time and the rest of the time they're lying to each other more often than not. This all shines through in this fic, with some delightful Seven-Ace repartee and all of the little quirks and tics you come to expect from the pair of them. Like most of the best Seven fiction (fan and otherwise) it's told from Ace's p.o.v. and manages to pack in a lot of subtle characterisation by showing the world through her unique lens. And the Seven portrayed here is, I would say, extremely Seven-ish, with some great little bits of business that you can imagine Sylvester McCoy carrying out with aplomb were this a scene from a television story.

Anyway, go over to Teaspoon and see what you think, and be sure to let the author know that you like it (because I'm sure you will).


( A Sample )

Story: In Alien Soil
Author: Lyricwritesprose
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 1957
Author's Summary: Peri and the Doctor discuss botany, and the Doctor remembers what interests her.
Characters/Pairings: Peri Brown, The Doctor (6th)
Warnings: None

Recced because: Only the other day, I was discussing the venerable Who tradition of offloading surplus companions by marrying them off to random guest characters, and mentioned that I thought Vicki taking off with Troilus was actually one of the occasions when it worked as a storytelling choice. One of the more bizarre examples has to be Peri's apparent romance with Yrcanos at the end of Trial of a Time Lord. I think in recent years I've come around to the idea of it, however ill-advised it might seem. For one thing, it's a better outcome for Peri than the other alternative facing her in that particular story. For another thing, I've found that I actually quite like BRIAN BLESSED's turn in "Mind Warp" and his interactions with Peri - you can almost believe in their relationship if you, like, squint a bit. I also rather like the bizarre version of events given in the epilogue of the Target novelisation, where he somehow ends up as a pro wrestler in 1980s California with Peri as his manager. I think the main thing that's brought me around to quite liking Peri's ending, however, is that there is so much really nice fic out there about what she did next. And this, from a writer who needs no introduction around these parts, is a very fine example.

There is much more to this fic than that, however. We get a nice scene from the period when Peri was still travelling with Six, which features a discussion of botany (nice to see Peri getting a chance to use her expertise) and of Gallifreyan botany in particular. I'm a sucker for Gallifreyan worldbuilding at the best of times, but this is some tip-top stuff addressing a bit of lore we've all heard of but perhaps not thought too deeply about and in a genuinely science-fictional manner too. The part of the story set in Peri's post-Doctor period is just as good, with lots of nice hints about just what sort of society Krontep is (Yrcanos, you may not be entirely surprised to discover, is not some weirdly violent outlier as far as his culture and people go), and how Peri's time there hasn't always been easy but how she has managed to make a fulfilling life there. The main thing I like about this fic, however, is the great characterisation (something I always come back to when discussing fics I like); Peri and the Doctor both shine here, with Six's unique manner and verbosity coming through particularly clearly. I think it's Peri you'll remember afterwards, though, for her wit, her wisdom and her overcoming of adversity, as well as the heartfelt but not uncritical affection she has for both of the men in her life beyond Earth.

Well, go on - go and read it!

( An Extract )

Story: The Unlikely (But True) Tale of Troilus & Cressida
Author: Meadowlark
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 1249
Author's Summary: Vicki had heard the stories told about Troilus & Cressida, of course, but the reality is much stranger - and better- than fiction.
Characters/Pairings: Other Character(s), Vicki
Warnings: None

Recced because: Of all the instances in which Doctor Who has rid itself of surplus companions by randomly marrying them off to guest characters (and there are quite a few when you start to add them up), at least Vicki's departure in The Myth Makers makes a kind of sense and does have the added bonus of making her a mythological/Shakespearean figure in her own right. And I guess the temptation, for fans and fan-fictioneers, is to wonder what happened next. Things didn't work out that well for the actual Troilus and Cressida, but the TV serial had already deviated significantly from the original story (that being one of the points of the serial) so we have room to speculate.

There have been a couple of "official" versions in various Who spinoff media over the years, most of which tend to assume (as was at one point very much the fashion in such works) that whatever happened it was kind of grim and angsty. I like this fic's version of events a lot better than those.

The thing about Vicki is that while it's easy to dismiss her as a Susan substitute (and I think I was one of those who did, at one point in my fan career - foolishly) and to argue she was underused, she's actually a pretty awesome character. Maureen O'Brien really shines whenever she gets the chance and Vicki's relationship with One is really a joy to behold. I think this fic more than does her justice, especially by emphasising the fact that it is Vicki, with her knowledge of future events and therefore status as a prophet, who is the wise, important half of her relationship with Troilus, really leaving her stamp on the ancient world and overcoming adversity with her own quick wit. The relationship itself is portrayed as a storied sequence of surprises and unexpected turns, but also one of love and compassion. Vicki, basically, gets a happy ending, and I am all for that. I hope you will be too.


( An Excerpt )

And so I come to the end of another Calufrax stint, and as usual it's a bittersweet moment. Glad that people enjoyed the recs over the past few weeks, disappointed that I didn't make time to post the full ten recs (I promised more Torchwood, but alas there will be no more Torchwood - maybe next time!). By way of apology, I leave you all this parting rec:

Story: Twistin' the Night Away
Author: Maggadin
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 436
Author's Summary: It might not actually be Valentine's Day. But that won't stop the Doctor from celebrating it (Seven/Romana).
Characters/Pairings: The Doctor (7th)/Romana II
Warnings: None I can see.

Recced because: Well, I don't know if you've noticed this somewhat embarrassing Doctor/Romana problem I have. It's nice to encounter other fic writers who have the same sort of condition from time to time, and this very nice short fic (whose author, I hasten to add in the interests of disclosure, I do kind of knock around with online) shows all of the symptoms.

It's my deeply held private fanon that in that brief gap between the end of the NA novel Lungbarrow and the unfortunate San Francisco shooting incident that we don't talk about (before he got sent on that patently absurd mission to claim the Master's remains from the notoriously fair and scrupulous Dalek judicial system) the Seventh Doctor basically just hung out on Gallifrey with the Lady President Romana, and they might have gone on the odd adventure together, or just out on dates, but they generally had a bit of a "thing" going on. Yes, I'm a sap, I know. Stop sniggering.

And this fic basically takes the same position, which wins it massive bonus points. The thing is, though, it actually works. Seven probably isn't an obvious choice to be having a romantic relationship with anybody, despite us fan-fictioneers and our little foibles, but the way he's portrayed here, it's actually plausible. You can imagine Sylvester McCoy doing that kind of Sylvester McCoy thing with some of the lines, and Romana II is basically as appreciative as she used to be when Four used to take her out on "dates" (that is, not very, on the face of it, but you know she is really, underneath). And it is exactly the sort of time and place Seven would choose for a romantic night out, based on his track record.

So yeah, this kind of overt Doctor-shipping may not be everybody's cup of tea (or your preferred Doctor ships may vary) but I like it, and recommend it. And I strongly suggest you should read it and leave some words for the author. :)

Until next time...


( A Moment )

Story: Emissaries from A Charitable Earth
Author: ClocketPatch
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 4,260
Author's Summary: Stranded on Earth following a non-EDA-compliant version of the Time War, Fitz finds himself falling in love with a most unlikely woman.
Characters/Pairings: Fitz Kreiner/other characters
Warnings: None

Recced because: I think it would be fair to say that the Eighth Doctor Adventures novels were a bit of a mixed bag. The NAs that came before them had their high points and their low points, but I think on the whole they had a certain consistency, if not in quality then in general vision and (grim, dark 'n' edgy 90s) tone. The EDAs certainly went through phases and had arcs and so on, but I always thought they were a bit more pot luck. They certainly had their moments, for both good and ill. They're a strand of Who's not-really-canon I'd like to see addressed more in fic (along with all of the other strands in their seemingly infinite multitudes), but that's just me.

One of the things that the EDAs really had going for them was the character of Fitzgerald Michael "Fitz" Kreiner, one of that select band of non-television companions from the various spinoff media who really could hold their own with the best of the televised lot. He was a complex character, Fitz, with some rather dodgy tendencies, but tended to overcome them as he travelled with the Doctor and on the whole his heart was in the right place. An exceedingly human companion, Fitz. Or rather, his biodata clone after a certain point, because...well, the EDAs were just like that sometimes, especially after Lawrence Miles got involved. In any case, I consider that Fitz (or his clone) really should be in more fic, so that's another tick in favour of this fic in my opinion.

And this fic makes excellent use of the character, exploring his combination of cynicism and romanticism, the naivety of the long-distance time traveller and how his yearning for love crashes into bitter everyday reality and his own difficult baggage after years spent travelling with the Doctor. The author paints a convincing picture of a damaged individual, out of touch with the time and place he finds himself in, but desperate - painfully so - for something better. It is a very affecting portrayal, and made all the more so by the revelation of how the post-EDAs Fitz came to be the way he is. The portrayal of the Time War and the Doctor's part in it given here is no longer strictly in line with what we know, or think we know, by this point in the post-2005 series, but such are the perils of fic. It is, however, convincingly horrible and horrifying. Even if the particulars were not like this, the general tone of the proceedings are probably not very far from the way it "really" was for the wartime Doctor.

And then there is the fic's final revelation. I didn't see it coming on my first read, although I think I can see a couple of clues on subsequent readings, but it is in any case a genuine "gasp of surprise" sort of moment and will stay in your memory long after reading.

On top of all that, we're talking about another author who is never less than reliable. You know you're going to get good fic reading one of her stories, usually with interesting character insights, great use of descriptive prose and a pleasing combination of high concept and realistic meditations on real life and the human condition. All of which you are getting if you go and read this fic. Please be sure to leave words of appreciation for the author.


( An Excerpt )

Story: Where Lies The Honour?
Author: Gary Merchant
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 4,963
Author's Summary: A lone Sontaran Commander begins to question the meaning of the Empire
Characters/Pairings: The Sontarans
Warnings: None

Recced because: It's the Sontarans, as you've never seen them before! Would be the tagline if this were a Hollywood movie as opposed to a Doctor Who fanfic. It would also be a particularly accurate tagline in this instance, where we are presented with tale of the Sontaran Commander Styne and his lonely quest to make sense of his own existence and that of his entire species.

It's one of the things about Doctor Who, something I've increasingly found myself thinking about as a fan. The programme' ideals and values as embodied in the Doctor are, broadly speaking, progressive and inclusive. And yet, you have at least a couple of alien species knocking around (Daleks and Cybermen, I'm looking at you) whose members are pretty much exclusively and irredeemably evil, and are viewed as such, by and large, by the Doctor. It's something the people making the original series were at least aware of and played with, most noticeably with the Ice Warriors in the first Peladon story (although they had reverted to type in the second one), and the likes of the Silurians had a degree of ambiguity. The Sontarans, though, occupied a unique position to my mind. They never did anything, really, that wasn't negative or, for lack of a better term, evil, but there was no indication they were inherently so inclined, the way the Daleks are. They're stone cold militarists with a callous disregard for collateral damage in the course of their operations, but on the whole it's a more down to earth sort of evil than that displayed by some of the threats the Doctor runs up against, more relatable.

And so we have the new series character Strax, who demonstrates that for all of being clones trained from birth as soldiers, individual Sontarans can and do break the mould and use their training for relative good. And this fic, written some seven years before Strax ever leapt from Steven Moffat's computer to the television screen, covers similar ground, but arguably in a more thoughtful and interesting way.

If the idea of a fic where all of the characters are Sontaran OCs doesn't appeal to you, I would urge you to give it a chance. It shows the potato-headed clone-soldiers in an interesting new light, and does so mostly through its portrayal of Commander Styne, who gradually comes to the realisation that something about his way of life and what he has been told by his superiors just doesn't make sense. That he does so in a halting and confused, convincingly Sontaran, way is a clever bit of characterisation by the author, as is the portrayal of the other Sontaran characters Styne encounters. Also noteworthy is the amount of interesting worldbuilding this fic manages to pack into relatively few words, casting unexpected sidelights upon the Sontarans, their way of life and their culture, and also suggesting the inequalities and corruption creeping into their supposedly implacable military structure.

And if you want to win those super-fan bonus points, look out for the references to the Sontaran appearances in the 1990s video spinoffs Shakedown and Mindgame (with something of a downer sequel to the latter story also provided in passing).

All in all, a strikingly different and original piece of writing that I hope you will take the time to read as well as offering words of encouragement to the author.


( A Snippet )

Story: Ports of Call
Author: rutsky
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 1,192
Author's Summary: They eventually discovered he'd lied about New York
Characters/Pairings: Amy Pond/Rory Williams, River Song
Warnings: None as such, but does contain a good dose of grit and reality in its portrayal of Amy and Rory's post-Doctor relationship.

Recced because: I think it would be fair to say that I was, and definitely remain, a huge fan of the Eleventh Doctor and his era. I even, gods help me, genuinely think that New Who would have been very much the poorer without Steven Moffat's tenure as showrunner and that most (most!) of his judgments and instincts as writer and general head-honcho-type have been bang on the money. I recognise that as a whole the era had good stories and bad stories, as every Who era does, but I refuse to subscribe to arguments that it somehow declined in quality over the course of its run or that "it was time for a change". I'm very much enjoying the Twelve era so far and think Peter Capaldi is nothing less than a demigod in human form, but I could have lived with another season or two of Eleven, no problem at all.

Having said all of that (just so you know where I'm coming from)...

I @#&%ing hate The Angels Take Manhattan. Or at least its ill-conceived ending which, imho, fails on so many levels I'd be listing them all night and clocking up more words than the fic I'm theoretically reccing. Your mileage, as they used to say, and as is the case with all things fan-related, may and probably does vary. I consider it a poor exit for the two companions I consider to be probably the best (certainly when considered as a pair) of the 2005 series.

So, having laid my cards so verbosely on the table, I probably wouldn't classify this fic as a fix-it (which the author admits to being in two minds about) so much as a statement of the facts as they stood at the end of said story. One senses perhaps in reading the piece that the author was as nonplussed by that ending and as aware of its gaping plot-holes as I and, going from comments I read at the time, quite a lot of other people were. That's really beside the point, though. I'm not reccing this fic because its author happens to come down on my side in a fanw*nky argument, but because it highlights two really important things about the Eleven era.

The first of these is that Eleven was a bit of a slippery customer, morally. I'm not really convinced by some of the PR efforts to paint Twelve as a particularly edgy and ruthless Doctor, although he's certainly more up front about it, because it always seemed that Eleven got up to some dodgy stuff, more or less constantly and unapologetically (although he did tend to hide it behind his goof-ball exterior) and I think most of the time we the audience were supposed to notice that and think about it. I say most of the time, because some of the dodgiest stuff he did, though, particularly in his personal relationships, went more or less uncommented upon and indeed tacitly condoned "by the show", for want of a better term. I think even as big a fan of Eleven and his era and Moffat's work as I will admit to being, or indeed somebody really invested in the relationships between the characters, can see some of the morally problematic things that are going on there and wonder why "the show" seems unaware of them. It's an important aspect of the era and one I see confronted in too few fanworks. This one takes it head on; this Doctor's a liar, and not always for good reasons.

The other really important thing about the Eleven era this fic highlights and plays homage to, one of its central planks, is the relationship between Amy and Rory. These are two imperfect people (like all of us) and they have this very complicated, not always easy, bond but it ends up being one that they both draw strength from and one that neither of them can live without. This fic examines that complex relationship warts and all and the way Amy's and Rory's situation in Manhattan after parting from the Doctor might have affected it. It also confronts us with the incredible strength both of these characters have shown in adversity and the toll the sorts of adventures they have been involved in have taken upon them. I would say that that is the main selling point of this fic for me, apart from the fact that it is very well-written; it is unflinching in its consideration of how this situation might really play out. For a supposed "fix-it", it pulls few punches, either in its portrayal of the characters, their relationship and their predicament, or in considering the off-screen Doctor and his actions. And it does so not out of a desire to bash but out of a deep concern and investment in the material and the characters. Good stuff, in other words.

Anyway, thanks for reading my rant. Now go and read the fic and tell the author how much you liked it. ;)

( A Taste )

Well, these two weeks have flown by and my reccing stint here on this lovely comm is now at an end. I didn't manage to post the maximum ten recs allowed by the new rules...this time, but hopefully there will be other opportunities. Before I sign off, then, and your next intrepid reccer takes over, I will leave you with this parting shot:

Story: What Dreams May Come
Author: Misato
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 393
Author's Summary: In his new beginning, the Doctor finds something he'd lost.
Characters/Pairings: The Doctor (11th), Unspecified Companion
Warnings: None

Recced because: Very shortly, we are going to be venturing into the unknown once again, with the demise of the current Doctor and the introduction of a new one. And during all of the excitement over the summer surrounding this impending event, I've found it amusing and informative to remind myself of some of the buzz surrounding the last time this happened. The wild press speculation on possible Doctor actors (and even some of the names suggested) was practically identical, then and now. And once the announcement was made, well I suppose Peter Capaldi is less of an unknown quantity than Matt Smith was to most of us back then, but still he's a versatile actor; we have no real way of knowing exactly what his Doctor is going to be like until we see him in action.

But we can speculate. As you may have noticed, there is already a Twelfth Doctor section over on the Teaspoon; it already has stories in it, even. And it makes me remember when fandom was in the same position with regard to the as-yet-unseen Eleven, all of the various versions of him that fluttered about in the fanfic space before The Eleventh Hour hit our screens and collapsed that particular superposition.

This fic is one of those speculations that I especially enjoyed at the time, and it still makes me smile fondly now. It stems from the announcement of Karen Gillan as the new companion (before we even knew Amy was called Amy) and the fact that she is Scottish. I recall, perhaps fancifully, the idea this fic is based around actually being discussed as a serious theory for a short while in online fandom. And as much as I enjoyed the Amy we got, a little piece of me still thinks "what if...?" This is also a very nicely-written fic that I hope you will all enjoy even as you wallow a little in Who nostalgia for those legendary days of 2009. Go on; read it, love it, leave some complimentary words for the author.

Oh, and the tone of the opening line does sound scarily like the real Eleven, if you ask me:

“Why are you still following me?! Didn’t I say to let me alone?”

And that's your lot from me for the time being. :)

Story: The Future
Author: hangingfire
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 1,472
Author's Summary: In which the Master suffers a setback. Set before the events of "The Deadly Assassin".
Characters/Pairings: The Master
Warnings: Some somewhat grotesque imagery related to what happened to the Master in the gap between Frontier in Space and The Deadly Assassin

Recced because: We looked at a story yesterday that dealt with the Daleks, so it seems appropriate today to move on to a fic that considers his other great enemy, the other one that really gets under his Timelordly skin...

I think it's one of the big shock twists in Doctor Who history, yet another reason why The Deadly Assassin is the timeless classic it is; and not only does the Master make an unexpected reappearance, but...it's not the Master we remember from last time. Not at all. Of course, the offscreen nature of the changes the character undergoes, and even the fact that the Master is still around at all after the end of the Three era, is largely down to the circumstances of Roger Delgado's untimely and tragic death, which also meant that the planned "final confrontation" between Master and Doctor was never made. It's still extremely effective, and really set the stage for the career the Master had afterwards, where no matter how unlikely it might have seemed at the end of his last story, the Master always survives and returns for another round with his best enemy (any day now in the new series, I tell you - any day now). One of the great questions in Who fandom, though, remains - just what did happen to him between stories, to change him from the droll and debonair evil mastermind he had been into...that thing?

One attempt to answer that question came in author John Peel's novel Legacy of the Daleks, part of the EDA range. Legacy, and its companion piece War of the Daleks are, strictly imho mind you, something of a waste of space and time, what with their weak attempts at retconning great swathes of onscreen Dalek continuity for the sake of making some not particularly good fanw*nky points. Still, that shouldn't discourage you from giving your love to this fic, which takes the scenario presented in the novel as its starting point and examines the Master's horrific but ultimately self-inflicted predicament from his own inimitable point of view.

The thing is, even in that predicament and undergoing the horrifying changes forced upon him by having the bad luck to get so badly injured while being out of regenerations, he's still at the end of the day the Master. This fic does an excellent job of conveying that, of highlighting all of the characteristics and viewpoints that make him the character he is, doomed to failure in the end perhaps, but still intensely dangerous and capable of getting out of the tightest of scrapes. He's always looking for an angle, an opportunity he can exploit, and when that opportunity falls to him, he sets about using it and manipulating it like, well, like a master.

I would say that this fic greatly transcends its source material from the novel, building upon it and enriching it with its character insights. As far as missing scenes bridging the gap between Delgado!Master and the Deadly Assassin Master go, this might well be the gold standard. It's also very nicely written indeed.

I urge you once again - go and read this fic now. And leave some words of encouragement for the author to see.

( An Excerpt )

Story: Making It Stranger
Author: Bad_Dickens
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 26,771
Author's Summary: The Doctor arrives in Arkham Asylum while Jack Harkness meets Batman. Cardiff must brace itself for a visit from the Clown Prince of Crime. A Batman/Nolan!verse cross over with Doctor Who and Torchwood.
Characters/Pairings: The Doctor (10th), the survivors of Torchwood S2 (Gwen Cooper, Ianto Jones, Captain Jack Harkness), Martha Jones, Mickey Smith, plus crossover characters.
Warnings: Some violence, both physical and psychological and all of the attendant creepiness and tastelessness you'd expect from The Dark Knight version of the Joker.

Recced because: Who doesn't like a good crossover? Well, some people probably don't, but I'm not one of those people. I love a good crossover, and this is a very good crossover indeed.

Cast your minds back to the distant, heady days of 2008. We'd just picked our jaws up off the floor, for a variety of reasons, after watching Journey's End. We still had the festive rollercoaster thrill-ride that was The Next Doctor to come in a few months' time. How to kill some time while we waited? Well, the announcement that David Tennant would be leaving the role of the Doctor, eventually, and the attendant media scrum did that to an extent, but before that a lot of us, in the UK at least, went to the cinema and watched... Mama Mia. Not me, though - I was in the screen next door watching The Dark Knight and loving it.

This was before it made a squillion dollars at the box office and the fan backlash set in, before last year's rather Marmite-ish conclusion to the Nolan Bat-trilogy muddied the waters still further. At the time, TDK was the hot ticket (it had Eric Roberts from the Eight TV Movie in it!) and the late Heath Ledger's nightmarish Joker was burning up the screen just like Jack Nicholson's had back in 1989 (scarily, I can remember the hype around that one when it came out too). Good stuff. Even better, though, when my enthusiasm for the film and its world was still at its height, this excellent crossover fic was posted to the Teaspoon. I remember following it avidly, checking every day for updates, and generally lapping it up.

Essentially, this story takes the Batman and his rogues' gallery from the Christopher Nolan films and, via a bit of Rift-related jiggery-pokery throws them up against the Tenth Doctor and Captain Jack's much-depleted Torchwood Three team, with Mickey and Martha thrown in for good measure. Everybody's in-character, and gets nice character moments to boot, but it's also all hung on a good, well-plotted story in which everybody gets things to do and a chance to shine. The Joker is, as you would expect, a force of nature, using the villainous plot-armour that is basically his non-super superpower to throw a spanner into our heroes' works and put them through the wringer. And, to be honest, who doesn't think the idea of the Joker versus a Dalek is a good idea? Oh, right. Well, I do.

All this and Weevils too! Seriously, even if you're not a Batman fan, or a fan of the Nolan/Bale movies, go and read this just for the Who and Torchwood characters and their reactions to the off-the-wall situation. You won't regret it. And when you're finished, please leave your words of appreciation for the author.

No, of course I haven't forgotten that I'm reccing here these two weeks - I'm just spreading them out a bit. Yes, that's right. Spreading them out. Clearly. Anyway, without further ado:

Story: Blood From A Very Tall Stone
Author: nostalgia
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 1,416
Author's Summary: So, like, Romana and Duggan clearly liked each other in 'City Of Death'. This is the post-ep fic about how the Doctor was like really jealous or something. Can the epic timelove be saved? Will K-9 survive? What happens to the cups of tea that vanish early on in the story?
Characters/Pairings: Romana II, The Doctor (4th)
Warnings: None that I can think of

Recced because: Well, as may have become embarrassingly clear based on some of my earlier reccing spells, I'm more than a bit partial to a bit of Four/Romana, especially Four/Romana II, and even more especially when it evokes the spirit of those gloriously silly Season 17 stories as well as this does.

File this one under the by now bulging dossier of fics I can't believe hadn't already been recced on the comm. I mean, it's a really good fic by a well-known member of the LJ Whofic community and it seems like years since I first read it (five years in fact, from the timestamp on the review I left over on Teaspoon), so it would seem to be a shoe-in for having already been brought up here. In fact I was fairly sure it had been, but it turns out not.

The idea of a Romana/Duggan "thing" during City of Death, and of imagining the Doctor's reaction afterwards seems by now to be a well-worn path for Four-ficcers to take, although it's always interesting to see the different takes on it. For my money, this is one of the very best versions out there, and what really makes it work is the dialogue. Sparkling, I believe is the word for it. Every other line is a zinger. Those wonderfully absurdist word-games that the Doctor and Romana managed to veer into at the most unlikely moments, rendered here with incredible fidelity to the original source material. It's a bit of a cliché to observe when praising dialogue in fanfic that you can hear the original actors saying the words, but I really can when I read this. And as I know from bitter experience, unless you're a genuine comedic genius like Douglas Adams (and who of us is?) writing that stuff even reasonably well is hard. So hats off, really, to anybody who can do it as seamlessly as in this fic.

So yes, if Four/Romana is your thing, then this is the real deal. 24 carat stuff. Go and check it out and leave a word or two of appreciation.

( An Excerpt )

"They" say time flies when you're having fun. Well, this week certainly seems to have flown past and I have indeed had fun sharing some recs with all of you and hopefully turning you on to some good fics you wouldn't otherwise have read. Until next time, then, I leave you with this, a very funny drabble:

Story: Flying Visit
Author: johne
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 100
Author's Summary: The head of Torchwood Three catches a couple of trespassers.
Characters/Pairings: The Doctor (Fatal Death), Emma, and another character...
Warnings: None

Recced because: Well, I'll try and keep this brief or it will end up being longer than the fic itself, but it made me laugh like a drain the first time I read it, and that's reason enough to be going on with, I think. It also features the Doctor from the Red Nose Day charity special Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death, as portrayed by Rowan Atkinson, and his companion Emma as played by Julia Sawalha, and you don't get enough of that kind of thing. Now, if you're not familiar with a certain other television programme also starring Rowan Atkinson, you're probably not going to get the joke, but see it as an opportunity to broaden your pop cultural horizons (I'm sure you'll find at least a couple of relevant clips if you go searching on YouTube). And then you can come back and read this and marvel at the author's masterful bait and switch here, while also agreeing how very, very appropriate his choice of character is. Plus, you'll be better able to imagine the unimpressed expression on Atkinson!Doctor's face:

"The Doctor rolled his eyes."

And with that, I bid you au revoir. ;)

Story: Every Rank Begins With N
Author: Brunhilde
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 689
Author's Summary: Another universe's Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart. Comes with severe warning for craziness!
Characters/Pairings: Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart/Dr Elizabeth Shaw ...or are they??
Warnings: None

Recced because: Well, the title and the severe warning in the author's notes really say it all more clearly than I probably can. Taking inspiration from Inferno and its eyepatch-wearing fascist Brig (and nasty fascist doppelgangers of the other S7 UNIT stalwarts), this fic explores the terrifying upside-down world that is the universe where...every rank begins with "N"!

It's one of those crack!fic premises that might seem a bit too silly (if that's even possible) at first glance, but it's not the only excellent joke and clever idea this fic has going for it (and after a couple of paragraphs you'll in any case find yourself going with the flow and chortling along anyway - or that was my experience, anyway). It's also poking affectionate fun at those much-loved (in my corner of fandom, at any rate) alternative-universe segments of Inferno and the horrible world they briefly sketched out (I don't know about you, but the allegations made about Brigade Leader Lethbridge-Stewart and Section Leader Shaw have the ring of truth about them as far as I'm concerned).

And on top of that, even, it's also subtly sending up the whole concept of mirror-universe episodes so beloved of television science fiction and the idea that in order to really mark that this isn't the world we know, you need some easily-identifiable visible gimmick. Like fascist!Brig's eyepatch. Or Spock's beard, to bring That Other Fandom into the proceedings. As well as fully revelling in that sort of thing, with characters who in our universe are heroes displaying the most black-hearted villainy (and dodgy fashion sense) you can imagine.

All that, and it's even a Brig/Liz fic of sorts, and I don't know about you but Brig/Liz is pretty much The Business from my point of view. And it also manages to bring out one of the very best aspects of the Infernoverse, eye-coverings and Evil!Sgt Benton aside - the fact that the alternative versions of our beloved UNIT characters aren't so much inversions of their normal personalities, but rather the same personalities with some of their pre-existing traits greatly amplified at the expense of the others.

Oh, and as I may have mentioned, it's dead funny too. I implore you; go and read it and leave some kind words for the author.

( The sort of thing you're letting yourself in for... ;) )