Calufrax

Story: The Girl at the Bottom of the Garden

Author: Atraphoenix

Rating: All Ages

Word Count: 1106

Author's Summary: Luke Smith has a new friend. She lives in the shed at the bottom of his garden.

Characters/Pairings: Luke Smith, Susan Foreman

Warnings: None

Recced because:

Darn it, I tried to rec authors who haven’t been recced before, but some of the stories I’ve marked as favorites are just too good to ignore.  I think Luke and Susan have a lot in common, since they are both very intelligent and slightly odd.  Luke’s fumbling attempts at romance are endearingly awkward, and would be even if he wasn’t a genetically engineered genius.

Story: Breaking Eggs

Author: Spikewriter

Rating: Teen

Word Count: 3318

Author's Summary: "You can't make an omelet without breaking eggs." "If you made an omelette, I'd expect to find a pile of broken crockery, a cooker in flames and an unconscious chef!" What if Romana had asked Duggan to come along at the end of "City of Death?"

Characters/Pairings: Fourth Doctor, Romana II, Duggan

Warnings: None

Recced because:

“City of Death” is one of my favorite classic Who stories, and Duggan is one of my favorite minor characters.  This is just a fun look at what it would have been like for him to travel with Four and Romana.  Predictably he picks fights, bashes people, and nearly causes an interstellar incident.  The dynamic between Four and Romana with him onboard is interesting too.   

Story: Five Times the Doctor Got in the Way of Captain Janeway (and One Time They Got Along Just Fine)

Author: vvj5

Rating: All ages

Word Count: 5,526

Author's Summary: Captain Janeway doesn't think much of time travellers and higher beings who turn up on board her ship.  The Doctor doesn't take much notice of prime directives.  It's a tea/coffee thing.

Characters/Pairings: Doctors One, Three, Six, Eight, Nine & Eleven; Vicki, Jo, Peri, Charley, Captain Janeway, various Voyager crew members

Warnings: None

Recced because:

This week I’m trying to rec mainly authors who haven’t been recced here before, but since this bit of crossover fun merges my two favorite SciFi fandoms it caught my eye.  The Doctors and companions are all spot-on, and so are Captain Janeway and her crew.  It’s always fun to see someone interacting with multiple Doctors, especially when it’s non-linear.  

Story: Seven Days in a Year that Never Was

Author: Ebbyzone

Rating: All Ages – One story rated Adult

Word Count: 14,932

Author's Summary: Seven days in the life of Martha Jones during the year she walked the Earth for the Doctor.

Characters/Pairings: Martha Jones, Tenth Doctor, others

Warnings: None

Recced because:

I'm starting with the longest one.  It’s somewhat unusual to rec a series, but these stories could easily just have been chapters in one story, so I decided to go for it.   I really like how Ebbyzone describes some of the moments Martha had during the YTNW when she wasn’t actively running for her life.   Martha’s memories of happier times with her family are what I imagine she would have thought about a lot during her travels, both because she was worried about them, and because it gives her strength to remember what normal feels like.   There are mild spoilers for the novel “The Story of Martha” in this, but to be honest that book disappointed me a little.   These stories didn’t.

Story: The Purloined Poet

Author: Philyra

Rating: Teen

Word Count: 17,327

Author's Summary: The Doctor and his new friend Emma encounter America’s darkest and most misunderstood poet on a train in 1849. Pursued by strange bird-like aliens, they are forced to jump into unknown dangers.

Characters/Pairings: Tenth Doctor, Original Companion

Warnings: None

Recced because:

I am a fan of Edgar Allen Poe, and clearly so is Philyra.  I love stories that take kernels of truth about a real person, and then imagine how they might have come to pass; this story does that extremely well.  It also contains scary, original aliens.   As a trio who have all suffered heart-breaking losses, the Doctor, Emma and Poe make a great team.  The final chapter contains an idea that I now like to consider reality, even though it is about a fictional character.

Story: Most of All

Author: thirty2flavors

Rating: All ages

Word Count: 1217

Author's Summary: It’s been months since he spent any decent amount of time on the TARDIS, what without eight-hour layovers as part of a daily routine, and so the prospect of finding a mug he hasn’t used in a room he hasn’t been in is, frankly, unsettling.

Characters/Pairings: Tenth Doctor

Warnings: Spoilers for Planet of the Dead.

Recced because:

This takes inspiration from one of my favorite deleted scenes between the Doctor and Donna.  It explores how the Doctor knows that his most recent companions would disapprove of his decision to travel alone, and yet he can't bear to lose another.  This implies that what he really can't bear is to let go of Donna.  It also mentions one of my all-time favorite poems, and is just too beautifully written to not have more reviews!

Story: A Butterfly for Every Storm

Author: Nostalgia

Rating: All ages

Word Count: 527

Author's Summary: Martha's tattoo is oddly appropriate.

Characters/Pairings: Tenth Doctor, Martha Jones

Warnings: None

Recced because:

I like so much about this short piece it's hard for me to explain why I like it.  Blending an idea from a throwaway line in The Shakespeare Code, Freema's real-life tattoo, and two of the Doctor's personas into a powerful ficlet takes skill.  Nostalgia uses the butterfly as a symbol of the Doctor's companions; ephemeral creatures that flit through his life so briefly.  The last line packs a real punch.

I’ve had a lot of fun reccing this week, and I hope that people enjoyed the stories I picked.  It is really hard to narrow it down to 7 choices, especially when so many good ones have been recced already, but I highly recommend doing it.  I’ll definitely sign up to do it again!

 

Story: Homecoming
Author: Time_Converges

Rating: All ages
Word Count: 3,547
Author's Summary: The connection between Donna and the Doctor is much more complex than we thought.  Set post the Journey’s End fix of your choice.

Characters/Pairings: Tenth Doctor, Donna Noble
Warnings: None

Recced because: I couldn’t let the week end without a story that included the amazing Donna Noble.  The fact that this assumes a fix happened post Journey’s End is just a bonus.

This takes our heroes to Gallifrey, where they meet a boy named Theta who’s scared about leaving home for the Academy.  Donna’s influence on the Doctor’s life started much earlier than either of them realized.  I love that the Doctor gets to revisit home, show it to Donna, and close a personal time loop.  With one sentence Donna manages to comfort both Ten and young Theta.  I also enjoy Donna's reaction to Time Lord clothing.

Story: Well Met in Sunlight
Author: xwingace
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 3,082
Author's Summary: Shakespeare didn't get to see the TARDIS the first time he met the Doctor.  But he's smart enough to know what it is when he comes across it later.

Characters/Pairings: Shakespeare, Madame de Pompadour, Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith
Warnings: None

Recced because: If you’re like me and you like “The Shakespeare Code,” “The Girl in the Fireplace”, and the Fourth Doctor, have I got a story for you!  Shakespeare walks into a strange blue box (this isn’t a joke) expecting to see Ten and Martha again, but there is a different pair traveling in the TARDIS.  (See, there was no punch line.)  He is accidentally transported through space and time, where he meets someone else who knows his Doctor.  It is a charming story, with just a hint of disappointment that the Doctor isn’t the right one.

Story: Dancing on the Head of a Pin
Author: Whovian42
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 603
Author's Summary: A prose-y day in the life of the Doctor in sudden short story form.

Characters/Pairings: Unspecified Doctor and Companion
Warnings: None

Recced because: Today’s selection proves the adage that good things come in small packages.  This is a lovely portrayal of the nature of the relationship between the Doctor and a companion.  The author doesn’t really specify which doctor or companion, so you are free to insert the pair of your choice.  I like one of the lines in this so much I added it as a favorite quote on my Facebook page.  See if you can guess which line!

Story: The Valiant Tales
Author: RobinC
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 3,200
Author's Summary: A series of drabbles about the people who lived, worked, and suffered on the Valiant during the Year That Never Was.

Characters/Pairings: Primarily Other characters, with appearances by the Tenth Doctor, The Master(Simm), Lucy Saxon, Tish Jones, Francine Jones, Jack Harkness
Warnings: Some explicit violence

Recced because: I’m going to start the week on an unusual note by recommending a series.  Never fear; it is a series of drabbles, which makes the length about the same as a regular story.  This author can do more with 100 words than some people can do with 1,000.  These are portraits of people who were either forced to work on the Valiant, or who volunteered to work there, during the Year That Never Was.  In 100 words RobinC paints a picture of the best and worst of humanity, and illustrates just what a terrible year it was.  Some are surprising, some are shocking, some make me cry, and some make me proud to be a human.  They all make me think; is this what I would have done if I had been there?