Calufrax

Story: Together, On This Same Earth
Author: Biichan (biichan)
Rating: Adult
Word Count: 3891
Author's Summary: Once you've started traveling in time and space, things are never quite the same when you stop. Luckily, Victoria's new friend Martha understands this.
Characters/Pairings: Victoria Waterfield/Martha Jones, Tenth Doctor, Ian Chesterton, Jamie McCrimmon, Barbara Wright, Polly Wright
Warnings: None

Recced because: This story, set during Ten and Martha's 1969 sojourn in "Blink," is a powerful look at how travelling with the Doctor changes people's lives. I love stories about the afterlives of companions, and Victoria is an especially good subject for one, since she's chosen to stay in a time not her own. Biichan writes Victoria extremely well, keeping her of her time while showing her growth as she explores the new possibilities of the twentieth century.

Victoria/Martha is not a pairing I would ever have expected to work, but it absolutely does. Biichan develops the emotional connection between them slowly and plausibly. (By the way, although adult-rated, the story's one sex scene is not at all graphic. You should be able to enjoy this story even if explicit f/f slash isn't your thing.)

Another delightful aspect of the story is its reunion of several companions from the First and Second Doctor's eras. They reminisce, naturally, and it's all great fun for the reader. "Together, On This Same Earth" has its sober side, however. 1969 isn't paradise, and neither, as Victoria and Martha both know, is the future. One of the things I really like about this story is its attentiveness to to the darker side of Doctor Who, and especially the emotional toll that all those monsters and near-apocalypses might take on a companion. Which isn't to say it's depressing--the story really captures the enthusiasm for life which has always been an important part of Doctor Who.

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I hope you like this story as much as I do; please don't forget to leave feedback for the author.

Story: A Moment's Grace
Author: Branwyn (cesario)
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 4446
Author's Summary: On the eve of her return to England, a weary Martha Jones meets an old friend for the first time.
Characters/Pairings: Martha Jones, Second Doctor
Warnings: None.

Recced because: On one level, this is fix-it fic: Martha meets a Doctor who values and appreciates her in a way that the Tenth Doctor seldom seemed to. But really it's much more than that. This is a story about fighting the good (long, exhausting, terrifying) fight against overwhelming odds, and the way the fight always brings pain and loss, and sometimes causes irreparable damage. The juxtaposition of Two and Ten allows a very clear-eyed look at Ten's flaws, but there's not a hint of character-bashing here. The story is full of compassion and insight. Plus, the character voices are wonderful and the prose is spare, disciplined, and a pleasure to read.

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I hope you enjoy, and please don't forget to leave feedback for the author.

Story: And I Will No Other to Follow Me Where I'm Going
Author: Aces (wishfulaces)
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 4225
Author's Summary: "Hang about," Fitz had asked once, very early on when this whole thing started. "Didn't you already destroy your planet, once?"
Characters/Pairings: Eighth Doctor, Fitz Kreiner (with some Eight/Fitz), Romana
Warnings: None.

Recced because: The Eighth Doctor was rather screentime-deprived, with just the TV movie, but he did feature in a fascinating series of novels called the Eighth Doctor Adventures. This story is set between the end of EDA canon and the beginning of the new series--which is to say, during the time war that leads to the destruction of Gallifrey. Unsurprisingly, it's a story about things falling apart, and particularly about the Doctor falling apart as he gradually realizes that there's no solution except the worst possible one. Meanwhile, Fitz, the Doctor's companion through fifty EDA novels, tries to hold things together. And dreams.

Aces beautifully captures the feeling of a universe that's collapsing as time turns angry, and she portrays the characters and their emotions with subtlety and depth. The characterization is so good that I think this story will work even for people who haven't read any of the EDAs. And for EDA fans (not to mention Fitz fans) this story provides an ending that feels right, whereas the EDAs themselves just . . . stop.

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