Calufrax

Story: Girl of Steel
Author: rosa_acicularis
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 4414
Author's Summary: "It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a blonde!" Rose Tyler has superpowers, a secret identity, and a really uncomfortable pair of tights. Remind you of anyone?
Characters/Pairings: Rose Tyler, Ten, Mickey
Warnings: none

Recced because: The author calls this a "demented AU", but I call it brilliant. This is a cracktacular romp through the Superman mythos with Rose as our heroine: she works at the Daily Planet with Lois, she fights crime, and she meets a skinny stranger with beeping devices who also has a secret alien identity. The story is both hilarious and, at the end, deeply touching. It also features a terrific cameo from Mickey, and with lines like “I’m an intrepid girl reporter. I know all sorts of things.”, how can you go wrong?

Story: A John Smith Situation
Author: carawj
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 954 words
Author's Summary: Emily found herself sitting in a cell, her right arm handcuffed to a young woman in an extremely short skirt, who seemed to know a hell of a lot about UNIT.
Characters/Pairings: Jo Grant/Emily Chaudhry, Three
Warnings: none

Recced because: Brigadier Emily Chaudhry is from the excellent Big Finish UNIT audios. Jo Grant, is, of course, our lovely and beautiful Jo Grant. Together they team up to save the world from Ogrons and go travelling in the TARDIS and do a little kissing. This little bite of a story is just so cute, and funny, and perfectly in character. Give it a try even if you haven't listened to the UNIT audios, because Chaudhry is that great , especially here - and then listen to the audios because Chaudhry is just that great!

Story: Chasing Memories
Author: paranoidangel
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 15,080
Author's Summary: When Ian and Barbara return home in a Dalek ship, they're relieved to find it's the day they left. However, they soon find that a two year absence coupled with the dangers lurking around Coal Hill School means they're not going to be able to go back to their old lives that easily. AU from the end of The Chase.
Characters/Pairings: Ian/Barbara, Ace, Seven
Warnings: none

Recced because: I’m not always fond of AUs, unless they actually do something clever with the original source material. This definitely fits that bill. This story starts from one tiny tweak to canon - Ian and Barbara returning home on time, rather than two years later. Doesn’t seem like much, but there are major repercussions since they are two years older and removed from their previous lives, and these are interestingly explored in the story. And then there’s the fact Remembrance of the Daleks is about to happen at Coal Hill School... All of the characterizations in this story are great, and I especially love the Ian/Barbara romance, of course, but there’s also Ian and Ace making Nitro-9 together, and Ian and Barbara getting to help smash up some Daleks with Seven and Ace is always awesome times. It’s a long story, but definitely worth your time!

Story: The Less Than Perfect Daughter
Author: nonelvis
Rating: Teen
Author's summary: Martha is pregnant, but Rose just won't take responsibility. How can the Doctor convince his companion that sometimes in this life, you've got to step up and do domestic? (Written for violetisblue's Afterschool Special prompt on the LJ churchontime comm.)
Characters/Pairings: Rose/Martha, Ten
Warnings: none
Word Count: ~2,900

Recced because: This is a hysterical bit of crackfic, with a great, breezy style that's indeed very reminiscent of a Very Special Issue TV movie. The characters are exaggerated in just the right ways to suit the story, and in particular I found the Doctor's attempts to promote an (almost traditional) two-parent family a riot. Fun, fresh, cracky – perfect for a weekend!

Story: Sing-Along Songs (The “You Better Look Out For Mr Stork” Duet)
Author: biichan
Rating: All Ages
Author's summary: Johnny and the TARDIS make music together.
Characters/Pairings: John Chesterton, the TARDIS, Barbara, Ian, Ten, Tegan
Warnings: none
Word Count: ~1,500

Recced because: This is a terrific example of a remix that really works. The original is Tigerkat's excellent Listening (previously recced on Calufrax here). This story is a wonderful, lovely take on the original, teasing out different aspects and full of lightness and love. The different POVs on display – the TARDIS' in particular, but also little Johnny and Tegan's – are perfectly done, and the story is full of great little details, like the TARDIS' joy at the new life being created inside her, the moon landing get-together/reunion (especially "Aunt Dodobird"!), and even the Inferno gets a mention. It's touching and terrific work.

Story: Leaving Footprints
Author: agapi42
Rating: All Ages
Author's summary: History is so many small steps.
Characters/Pairings: Ian/Barbara
Warnings: none
Word Count: ~500

Recced because: After a long fic yesterday, here's a little bite of one today that manages to be absolutely pitch-perfect; it's an incisive look at what "making history" would be like for Ian and Barbara after they come back to Earth. As they watch the moon landing, we get brilliant insight into the implications space travel has on their lives, with just the right touch of cozy domesticity and love and friendship.

Story: Five Things That Don't Usually Happen When The Doctor and Rose Get It On
Author: Red Scharlach
Rating: Teen
Author's summary: A set of five deeply daft drabbles that explore exactly what it says on the tin.
Characters/Pairings: Nine/Rose
Warnings: hilarious sex-related euphemisms
Word Count: 500

Recced because: Even as a Nine/Rose fan, it's great to see fabulous humour fic like this, where the idea of perfect mutual compatibility between humans and aliens is skewered. Each scenario is hilarious, from awkwardness, a lack of genitalia, quality control issues, euphemisms attacking, and my personal favourite, the interplay of regenerative powers and orgasm (And also, that was just the best EVER). An oldie but a goodie, this one is sure to make you laugh until you cry.

Story: Monday's Child
Author: Palmetto
Rating: All Ages
Author's summary: There's always that period of adjustment when a person first becomes a parent.
Characters/Pairings: alt!Pete Tyler, Rose, Jackie
Warnings: none
Word Count: ~920 words

Recced because: This is a great little look at a minor character who has more significance than he's generally given: the Pete of Pete's World, who has regained a wife who's not his wife, and especially, an adult daughter who is so much like him, but isn't his at all. As palmetto says, they're a bit of a Frankenstein family, and she does a great job of exploring what Pete's thoughts might be, his adjustment to a situation where he loves his daughter in near terrifying ways, despite not knowing how to show it. Quiet and careful, this is a satisfying fill-in of canon.

Story: From the Canyons to the Stars
Author: Elliptic Eye
Rating: All Ages
Author's summary: The Doctor, Leela, and two friends sampling infinity.
Characters/Pairings: Four, Leela
Warnings: none
Word Count: ~870 words

Recced because: A gorgeous little bite of a fic, with absolutely dead-on characterizations for both Four and Leela, characters who don't get nearly enough attention. This story is so evocatively written; the desert, as Four and Leela experience it, comes alive, and is a third character in its own right. This left me feeling warm and just that bit of lost that the characters describe, all in a very good way.

Story: Amuse Yourselves
Author: samfeasor
Rating: All Ages
Author's summary: With the Seventh and Tenth Doctors busy saving a planet without them, Ace and Rose find ways to pass the time.
Characters/Pairings: Ace/Rose
Warnings: none
Word Count: ~1,000 words

Recced because: This is a little gem of a story – fresh, fun, sexy, and clever. Both Ace and Rose are very well written, and it’s not just my bias of wanting to see Ace paired up with every girl ever, because they really fit, here, and make a wonderful team. There’s some very funny lines, a lovely light feel to the proceedings, the girls wrong-footing the Doctor, and a terribly sweet and hopeful ending that avoids being at all sappy.

Story: In An Interstellar Burst
Author: such_heights
Rating: Teen
Author's summary: Donna's got a teleport, Rose has an aversion to beaches, and maybe Martha's not quite as done with all of this as she thought. Next stop: everywhere.
Characters/Pairings: Donna, Rose/Martha
Warnings: none
Word Count: ~3,000 words

Recced because: A delightful little AU, wherein three excellent companions find a solution to all the problems presented in Journey's End and go out to explore the universe together. The friendship between the women is terrific (and Rose and Martha's relationship is subtle and hot), and it's comedic without being silly, sweet without being sappy, and lots of fun.

Story: Illumination
Author: Sarah
Rating: All Ages
Author's summary: In which a grieving Doctor stumbles into the alt-verse, meets a certain old companion, and takes an inconclusive road trip.
Characters: Ten, Mickey
Warnings: none
Word Count: ~2,800 words

Recced because: Sometime in the future, after Martha leaves him (this was written pre-S3), Ten returns to the altverse where he meets Mickey again, now old, and alone. The voices in this story are all beautifully done, and it’s tied together wonderfully. The Doctor reflects and learns about time, and getting to say goodbye, and the meaning of endings - Everything will be alright in the end, if it's not alright, it's not the end, the Doctor says – and while there’s no happy ending, the truth the story presents is absolutely right for this 'verse, and perfectly written. This is smart and careful and lovely.

Story: Pipe Dreams
Author: RainyD
Rating: All Ages
Author's summary: She doesn't remember, but she does dream.
Characters/Pairings: Ten/Rose
Warnings: none
Word Count: ~2,200 words

Recced because: A gorgeous take on 'Rose remembering the events of Parting of the Ways', this piece carefully and slowly takes us through a build-up so that when she remembers, it feels truthful and plausible. Repetition is used perfectly, with dreams and colours, and Rose's character is handled very lovingly, and the Doctor's characterization is spot-on. It's dark and rather sad, with a romantic subplot that gives the story a bit of hope without being sappy or intrusive to the larger story being told (there's a strong gen element to the affair), and is overall very affecting.

Story: The Waiting Room World
Author: stunt_muppet
Rating: All Ages
Author's summary: One day the Earth will burn. A series of short ficlets, centered around the crew of the Space Station Nerva (From "The Ark in Space") before their hibernation.
Characters/Pairings: Noah, Vira, Lycet, Rogan (Noah/Vira and Lycet/Rogan implied)
Warnings: none
Word Count: ~1,600 words

Recced because: This is exactly the sort of thing fanfic can do so well – take some minor characters and really bring them to life. I don't remember the crew from Ark in Space terribly clearly, having seen the episode over two years ago now, but this made them real again to me, and beautifully so. The end-of-days feel is captured perfectly, but with that little spark of hope that makes the whole crazy endeavour the crew is on feel so real, and so heartbreaking. This is careful, quiet, and lovely work.

Story: The Power of Pol
Author: Van Donovan
Rating: All Ages
Author's summary: Ben is shot and Polly is fearless. Watch out for the blink-or-you'll-miss-it cameo.
Characters/Pairings: Ben/Polly
Warnings: none
Word Count: ~1,600 words

Recced because: This is just delightful: written for me in a ficathon, it gets Ben and Polly exactly right, and they are just too cute for words here. Polly gets to wear a fabulous dress, Ben gets to see her turn it into a mini, they fight Cybermen – the perfect returning enemy for them to face - and there's even a cameo by a young Harry! Sweet, funny, and a loving look at some very underrepresented characters.

Story: Light and Shadow
Author: Every Little Breeze
Rating: Teen
Author's summary: The Seventh Doctor and Ace land in rural Wales in 1966, where the Doctor meets an old friend with some unfinished business.
Characters/Pairings: Seven/Ray (from Delta and the Bannermen, Ace
Warnings: non-graphic sex
Word Count: ~3,000 words

Recced because: Objectively, Delta and the Bannermen might not be one of the Seventh Doctor’s best serials, but I thought it was tremendous fun, and in particular I absolutely adored spunky, mechanically-minded Ray. This is a sweet story, set a few years later, with the Doctor accidentally ending up in Ray’s little Welsh village, and discovering that sometimes maybe he can stay, just for a little while. Ray is written wonderfully, Ace and the Doctor’s relationship is also well drawn, and overall while the story is a touch slight, it’s also cute, possible, and rather hot.

Story: Few of days, full of trouble
Author: Rivrea
Rating: All Ages
Author's summary: Five things that never happened to Mickey Smith and Ace McShane.
Characters/Pairings: Ace, Mickey (some Ace/Mickey)
Warnings: none
Word Count: 1000 words

Recced because: Five pitch-perfect little ways that Mickey and Ace could have (and should have) met; each is a gorgeous little slice of possibility. From a thirtyish woman in some retro punk outfit, who’s chain-smoking in the corner, to prison breaks and time-hoppers, to the idea of Ace joining the Ten, Rose, and Mickey TARDIS crew, to kissing in the Trevi fountain, the writing is lovely and intriguing, with terrific construction that plays with time in all the right ways, and is just delightful as a whole.

Story: Fire Answers Fire
Author: aces
Rating: All Ages
Author's summary: “A bike,” Martha said, looking it over as best she could in the dark. “You travel through time on a bike.” She looked up at Dorothy again. “How safe is that again?”
Characters/Pairings: Ace/Martha
Warnings: none
Word Count: 1923 words

Recced because: This story makes great use of the Year That Never Was setting: it provides the characters with motivation but is carefully placed as a backdrop to let Ace and Martha shine through. Ace (or Dorothy, as she's now calling herself), is older and wiser, and together they examine themselves and the role the Doctor plays in his companions' lives. It's quiet and fierce at the same time, and gentle without being at all sentimental. Really terrific.

Story: Echoes
Author: agapi42
Rating: All Ages
Author's summary: It slips away, hides in the cold and the white and the dark. (Spoilers for 'The Stolen Earth'.)
Characters/Pairings: Harriet Jones/Rose Tyler
Warnings: none
Word Count: 633

Recced because: This is just absolutely gorgeous: a possible snippet of time post-The Stolen Earth, frozen in an afterlife that may or may not be real. Harriet is beautifully drawn, and the story crackles with vivid description while also maintaining a dreamy, gauzy feel. For such a small bite of a story it's incredibly satisfying, and the last two lines are just dynamite.

Story: Gravity
Author: schildkroet
Rating: All Ages
Author's summary: Jenny soon learns that the cosmos is a better place if you can share it.
Characters/Pairings: Jenny (from The Doctor's Daughter)/Astrid
Warnings: none
Word Count: 735 words

Recced because: I wasn't crazy about Jenny on the show, but this story treats her so lovingly it won me over; I already adored Astrid, and this is a perfect examination of what could be post-Voyage of the Damned. This is a beautiful little bite of a story, with Jenny learning, exploring, and running both from and toward her past, and finding an ally in an unexpected form. They are each other's centre of gravity: together they can take on the universe.