Calufrax

Story: The Mysterious Twig
Author: whatthefoucault
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 971
Author's Summary: Turlough discovers an odd bit of a plant hanging from the ceiling of the TARDIS console room. Memories and feelings ensue
Characters/Pairings: Fifth Doctor/Vislor Turlough, Tegan Jovanka (mentions Jamie McCrimmon)
Warnings: None

Recced because: I'm fond of this short, fluffy, holiday fic where the Doctor and Turlough talk about why the Doctor hangs mistletoe in the TARDIS.

Story: The Two Romanas
Author: Lurky McLurklurk
Rating: Adult
Word Count: 4695
Author's Summary: When Romana comes back from E-Space to a universe where she never regenerated, the consequences expand exponentially, for the universe and herself.
Characters/Pairings: Romana I/Romana II, K-9
Warnings: Explicit Sex

Recced because: Reccer's Notes: I consider this fic to be the cleverest selfcest fic I've ever read in Who fandom. In this fic, the Romana II of canon, the one who left the (Fourth) Doctor to do work in E-Space, leaves E-Space for Gallifrey, only to find this Romana I in this fanfic, one that never regenerated and stayed on Gallifrey.

Story: Passengers
Author: Azar
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 690
Author's Summary: Before they leave 1913, there's one place Martha wants to go.
Characters/Pairings: Tenth Doctor, Martha Jones
Warnings: None

Recced because: It's a short fic where Martha and the Doctor visit the last passenger pigeon in existence, after "The Family of Blood." And yet it always breaks my heart whenever I read it.

Story: Perfect Package
Author: paynesgrey
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 205
Author's Summary: "He's going to love you."
Characters/Pairings: Clara Oswin Oswald/Missy
Warnings: Non-Con

Recced because: Yes, this fic is short. But this fic was the first Clara/Missy fic I liked. I felt their dynamic in this fic was similar to their dynamic in canon, and I could see this as a missing scene that could have taken place before "The Bells of Saint John."

Hello again! I'm here to rec all the way up to Christmas and the Christmas special, so let's go! I wanted to rec this fic the last time I recced here, but I hit my maximum number of recs. Here it is now:

Story: Venusian Aikido and Associated Disciplines
Author: Sproid
Rating: Adult
Word Count: 1631
Author's Summary: Featuring Benton learning fancy karate from the Doctor, and an annoyed Brigadier who keeps walking in on them with their hands all over each other.
Characters/Pairings: Third Doctor/John Benton, Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart/John Benton/Third Doctor, Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart/John Benton, Corporal Bell/Jo Grant, John Benton/Mike Yates
Warnings: Explicit Sex

Recced because: I love the interactions between Three and the UNIT crew featured here. I also like how the fic features Three's signature* Venusian aikido and shows him teaching it to others, not against the Villain of a Serial. And a jealous Brig tickles my id.

Venusian aikido is mostly featured in Three's serials, but other Doctors have used it in expanded material

Story: To Bring Him Back
Author: paynesgrey
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 315
Author's Summary: Amelia Pond wants her Doctor back, so she tries to lure him with food.
Characters/Pairings: Amy Pond, Eleventh Doctor
Warnings: no standard warnings apply

Recced because: This ficlet was written before "The Angels Take Manhattan," so it doesn't reference the end of that episode. I adore how Amy is portrayed here, confused and hurt that her Raggedy Man seemingly broke his promise to her, and how she'll do anything to get him back.

Sorry I'm a bit late! I had some internet connection problems about an hour ago.


Story: What He Didn't Say
Author: wishingstar (magic_7_words)
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 3045
Author's Summary: Locked in a psychic fight for his life, Jack needs all the help he can get.
Characters/Pairings: Tenth Doctor/Jack Harkness, The Master (Simm)
Warnings: no standard warnings apply

Recced because: The Master tries to take Jack's immortality, all while testing the Doctor's devotion to Jack. I love wishingstar's Master here--his taunting is playful, yet full of malice, and his threats are all too real for the Doctor and Jack.

Story: And Safety Shorts For Good Measure
Author: whatthefoucault (doctorpancakes)
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 465
Author's Summary: Nyssa decides it's time to make an exciting change.
Characters/Pairings: Nyssa, Fifth Doctor
Warnings: no standard warnings apply

Recced because: Short and humorous piece where Nyssa changes her clothes some time after the "Snakedance" serial, and the Doctor fails to notice her. It always makes me chuckle.

Story: Life Goes On
Author: Llywela
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 49785
Author's Summary: Case-file. The Doctor has left UNIT…but life goes on without him and so do extra-terrestrial incursions. When mysterious fissures appear and unidentified aliens attack, Liz Shaw finds herself drawn back to UNIT after an absence of several years, while a newly returned Sarah Jane Smith is wondering what the future holds for her, now that her dearest friend has left her behind.
Characters/Pairings: Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Harry Sullivan, Liz Shaw, Sarah Jane Smith, Sergeant Benton, UNIT
Warnings: no standard warnings apply

Recced because: After the Doctor leaves UNIT, several of his former companions and colleagues investigate a mysterious alien. I'm not usually someone who likes reading longer fics, and especially chaptered works (especially when those chaptered works are abandoned without a conclusion). I remember seeing this years back on who_daily and falling in love with it after the fic was completed. I find the mystery in this fic compelling. I couldn't stop reading this one, and I'm glad I did!

Hi! I'm merryghoul. I'm also on Teaspoon as merryghoul (my work there was formerly under a different name). I'll be with you for the next two weeks as this comm's reccer.

For this reccing period, barring one exception, I really wanted to highlight people who haven't been recced before or have been recced less than a handful of times on this comm. Several of these works have been lingering in my fic bookmarks for years, and I'm just getting to rec them now. I blame myself for not reccing a lot of these fics earlier.

With that said, here's my first rec of the reccing period.

Story: The Moth People
Author: Ember Keelty
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 1537
Author's Summary: "You aren't getting rid of me that easily, sweetheart. You can't; I'm inside of you."
Characters/Pairings: Gwen Cooper/Suzie Costello
Warnings: no standard warnings apply

Recced because: What if Suzie's resurrection glove never lost its connection after Suzie's second death in "They Keep Killing Suzie?" And why is Gwen not resisting this connection at all? I've always liked this fic's take on what could've happened after "They Keep Killing Suzie" for years now, and I'm finally happy I can rec it for Calufrax today.

Story: Somewhere Else
Author: Paranoid Seat
Rating: Adult
Word Count: 1585
Author's Summary: Charley, Zoe and the Doctor go back to the TARDIS for tea. Epilogue to 'How Very 1920s'.
Characters/Pairings: Charley Pollard/Zoe Heriot/The Doctor (8th)
Warnings: None

Recced because: I love the character interactions in this piece before the tea party becomes, you know, something else.

Story: Before We Rest
Author: Sproid
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 2352
Author's Summary: Benton looks after a slightly injured Brigadier, and sets some doubts at rest in the process.
Characters/Pairings: Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart/Sergeant Benton, UNIT
Warnings: None

Recced because: I find this short piece, looking into the lives of some of our friends from UNIT, touching. And I like hurt/comfort when it's done well. It's certainly done well in "Before We Rest."

Story: Arms and the Man
Author: nonelvis
Rating: Adult
Word Count: 1465
Author's Summary: Nefertiti and Riddell, afterwards.
Characters/Pairings: Other Character(s) (Nefertiti/John Riddell)
Warnings: BDSM

Recced because: It's a canon pairing seen in one of Eleven's crazier episodes, "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship," and it's a shameless, smutty fic.

Story: A Taste of Home
Author: Gary Merchant
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 884
Author's Summary: An elderly beekeeper receives a visit from an old friend.
Characters/Pairings: Other Character(s), The Doctor (10th)
Warnings: None

Recced because: Gary Merchant's been recced here several times before, but this fic is a gem. Who would've ever thought to have Ten check up on a friend from Wales who once helped him out? A short, but touching, fic.

Hi, I'm merryghoul, and I'm back for my second round of recs here at calufrax after a long hiatus. I've got my recs all ready to go for this round, so let's get started, shall we?

Story: Master's Thesis
Author: helluin
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 42,530
Author's Summary: When Nyssa tries to return home with the cure to a deadly plague, the TARDIS overshoots and slips back into her past, the Doctor's future. Worse, the Master is already there, taking a sinister interest in her family. Hemmed in by potential time paradoxes, there's only one person to whom Nyssa can turn for help: her best friend Tegan.
Characters/Pairings: Nyssa, Other Character(s), Tegan Jovanka, The Doctor (5th), The Master (Ainley), Turlough
Warnings: Swearing

Recced because: This fic is based on the Big Finish arc where an older Nyssa joins Five, Tegan and Turlough for a spell in the TARDIS, but this can be read without any knowledge of the Big Finish audios. What I love about this fic is that it feels like a Big Finish audio or even an old serial with Five in it. There's action, witty quips and a paradox that needs to be fixed or else. I highly recommend this for Classic Who fans.

Story: The Library of Blank Books
Author: ponygirl
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 5348
Author's Summary: Deserted libraries are creepy enough when the books have words in them. Let alone when the books are empty, and hungry.
Characters/Pairings: Ace McShane, Rose Tyler, The Doctor (7th), The Doctor (9th)
Warnings: no standard warnings apply

Recced because: Rose and Ace are two of the least likeliest companions to meet each other in the history of the Doctor's timeline. I really like that Rose and Ace get along well in this fic.

Story: awful tough lately
Author: Lady Mercury
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 2104
Author's Summary: “Is it poisoned?” Amy asks. The difficulty he has focusing on her probably means that it is, but he’s not about to tell her that.
Characters/Pairings: Amy Pond, Rory Williams, The Doctor (11th), The TARDIS
Warnings: no standard warnings apply

Recced because: If you like hurt/comfort stories, you'll like this story. It's a take on "The Doctor gets shot with a poisoned dart," but this hurt/comfort story is charming.

Story: Namesake
Author: johne
Rating: General
Word Count: 3027 for both parts
Author's Summary: A Royal audience for Section Leader Shaw.
Characters/Pairings: Liz Shaw, Liz Ten, Other Character(s)
Warnings: no standard warnings apply

Recced because: Parallel universes are nothing new in Who. This fic is set in a parallel universe where Liz Shaw meets herself as a queen in another dimension. Scratch that, it's Liz Shaw and Liz X from "The Beast Below."  I thought this fic was a fun ride myself.

Well, that’s it for me at calufrax. However, you can catch me reccing smut starting tomorrow at three_settings, and I have a few good selections prepared already. I’ll see you then.  But before I go, I’d like to rec one last fic.

Story: Look Who's Talking: Unbearable
Author: johne
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 3702
Author's Summary: Chaos in the nursery for the baby Doctor and his friends when the toys are brought to life (toddler AU).
Characters/Pairings: River Song, Amy Pond, Rory Williams, Eleventh Doctor, the Master, Izzy Sinclair, Jamie McCrimmon, Tegan Jovanka
Warnings: no standard warnings apply
Recced because: Written for dw_straybunnies, this fic has the Master attempt to kill Eleven with Care Bears. And all of the characters except for Izzy are toddlers. Also, there’s killer Teletubbies and Peanuts references. Need I add more?

Story: Sidera Vagari
Author: AceOnGallifrey
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 772
Author's Summary: When a stranger holds out their hand and asks "Come with me?" sometimes you just have to take the chance.
Characters/Pairings: Martha Jones, Compassion
Warnings: no standard warning apply
Recced because: In this AU future!fic, Martha’s lost Mickey to a Cardiff Weevil during a Torchwood patrol. (This was also written before Torchwood: Miracle Day, so the story’s been Jossed a bit. But don’t let that stop you from reading this.) One day, she gets a special visitor.

Martha is my favorite companion from the Tenth Doctor era, and I find her reward at the end of this fic to be fitting and heartwarming for her character.