Calufrax

Story: The Worst Doctor Who Story Ever
Author: Astrid
Rating: all ages
Word Count: 608
Author's Summary: For April Fools Day, I present something I wrote last year as a parody of all the bad Doctor Who fics (well, bad fics in general). I'm very sorry about this, I really am.
Characters/Pairings: Eighth Doctor, The Master, Adric, Ace, Peri, Mel, Romana II, Sarah Jane (and more)
Warnings: none

Recced because: I laughed non-stop at this absurd yet accurate send up of badfic. We've all seen them- probably lurking in the dark corners of fanfiction.net: fics written as one endless paragraph, riddled with misspelled words, oblivious to punctuation or grammar. They usually feature a Mary Sue and some character bashing for good measure. This one ticks all those boxes perfectly, and I couldn't stop giggling as it hit every cliched trope in Doctor Who fandom over the head with a mallet. This fic is short, so the (intentionally) terrible formatting shouldn't be an obstacle to enjoying this hilarious parody. (And honestly the misspellings just make it funnier- I nearly lost it at 'Parry' and 'Ramona' LOL)

Hi, I'm newmoonstar (Meadowlark on Teaspoon) and I'm finally squeaking in before my reccing period is over with a few great stories for you all! First up:

Story: Genius Loci (The Evidence of Things Unseen Remix)
Author: AstroGirl
Rating: all ages
Word Count: 685
Characters: Leela, Fourth Doctor, the TARDIS
Author's Summary: Leela does not believe in spirits. But she knows there is something here with them.
Warnings: none

Recced because: It's an interesting look at how Leela views the TARDIS, and how her supposedly primitive upbringing none the less gave her the ability to understand and connect with it without the Doctor having to explain it to her. A very lovely and insightful vignette.

Story: The Silent Land
Author: AJK
Rating: all ages
Word Count: 33,156
Characters/pairings: First Doctor, Barbara Wright, Ian Chesterton
Author's summary: A lost tomb, an archaeological dig, a near death experience and reality starts to slip.
Warnings: none

Recced because: This is an exciting and suspenseful adventure story that kept me completely absorbed through all five chapters. Set in the interval between Susan's departure and Vicki's arrival, it features the First Doctor, Ian, and Barbara joining an archaeological dig on Earth in the year 1999, and encountering some seemingly supernatural phenomena from Ancient Egypt. Featuring a fascinating dose of Egyptian mythology, using Classic Who's penchant for characters who are physical doubles of our regulars to good effect, and including a good deal of playful and charming banter from our TARDIS team (and a good amount of Barbara/Ian shippiness), this is an entertaining and satisfying story that I'm glad to have stumbled across.

Story: Afterward, Clear the Table
Author: Styrofoam monster
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 1795
Characters: Jo Grant, The Master (Simm)
Author's summary: AU. Jo Grant has a visitor.
Warnings: none

Recced because: This is a sad but interesting AU in which an older Jo converses with an oddly familiar visitor who shows up on her doorstep bearing grave news. The ensuing conversation alternates between measured wariness and stark candidness as old wounds and new are brought up, with the passage of time and the burden of grief poignantly leveling the playing field between them for one brief moment. A fascinating character study.

Hello all! I'm newmoonstar, (aka Meadowlark on Teaspoon), and I'm glad to be back reccing for the next two weeks! I'm going to start with a fic I recently found which has immediately become one of my faves:

Story: See Ye Not That Bonny Road
Author: Lyricwritesprose
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 12,195
Characters: Jamie McCrimmon, Eighth Doctor
Author's summary: Jamie McCrimmon is wounded, exhausted, and feels like a stranger in his own head.
Warnings: explicit violence (also spoilers for 'The War Games')

Recced because: Do you ever come across a fic that you read for the first time and immediately say to yourself 'omg, this is perfect'? This is one of those fics. I can't believe it hasn't been recced before, but I'm all too happy to do the honors!

Fresh off my first read of it, I'm still in flail mode, but I'll try to highlight it's strengths with a modicum of clarity:

First of all: Post-War Games Jamie. What happens to companions after they leave is a great subject for fic, and Jamie is a particularly interesting case, seeing as his memory is supposedly erased- but how can all the memories be truly gone after all the ways he's learned and changed? How can he forget the best friend he's ever had? In this story, he hasn't quite forgotten, and the memories come to him in snatches of ideas- and he makes sense of them in the context of his own time and culture. The references to Scottish faerie lore are perfectly fitting, and the attention the author has paid to all the little details made me, as someone who once considered getting a degree in folklore, absolutely delighted.

Second: The Eighth Doctor. The scenes between Eight and Jamie are spot on. Sensitively written, thoughtful, and a little bit heartbreaking, but in a good way. This fic does a beautiful job of highlighting the strength of the Doctor & companion bond regardless of which face he wears.

Third: Kirstie McLaren gets a featured role, in a way that makes her more than just an ancillary love interest to Jamie's story. (And hints at interesting possibilities for the future.)

Basically, this is a beautifully written, touching story, with a great mix of action/adventure and insightful character-based scenes. I could hear all the characters voices perfectly while reading it, and I'm accepting the whole thing as my new headcanon now. If you love Jamie and wish his fate had been different, reading this might be a tonic for some of those War Games blues. (Though I would advise having some tissues handy while reading it- the feels will sneak up on you!) Go forth and read: this fic is the kind of fic that ficcing is all about.

Title: Love in a Mist
Author: thefadingsoldier
Rating: teen
Word count: 660
Characters/Pairings: Lieutenant Carstairs/Lady Jennifer
Author's summary: Lieutenant Carstairs and Lady Jennifer meet in the Time Mist before the Time Lords send them back to Earth in their own era.
Warnings: none

Recced because: The Second Doctor's era had many great one-off characters, and Lieutenant Carstairs & Lady Jennifer from 'The War Games' are two of my favorites. Over the course of ten episodes we really got to know them, & I'm probably not the only one who hoped they'd get together at the end. (In fact, I know I'm not the only one, since they show up in the BBC novel 'Players' by Terrance Dicks, which I also recommend...) I never expected to see a fic for minor characters like them, so I was awfully glad to find this beautiful little vignette depicting the reunion between them that we didn't get to see on TV. As soon as I read it, I said to myself: "Headcanon accepted!!" :)

Title: Sweet Sorrow
Author: Alienist
Rating: all ages
Word Count: 912
Characters: Peri Brown, Fifth Doctor
Author's Summary: Peri stumbles across a box of memories.
Warnings: none

Recced because: The idea of the Doctor writing letters to his departed companions, saying things he wanted to say, but never to be sent, is an interesting one, and this little fic manages to pack a lot of emotion into it's short length. The letters presented here for Five's former companions are right on the nose, bittersweet though they may be, and it makes me wish I could read one for every companion.

Title: In the Kirkyard
Author: Penny
Rating: all ages
Word Count: 2034
Characters: Polly, Ben, Jamie
Author's summary: He flew to the moon and back. He liked the Beatles. He was one of the bravest people I ever knew. I miss him. On holiday in Inverness, Polly stumbles upon Jamie's grave.
Warnings: none except massive feels

Recced because: It's one of the sadder stories I'll probably ever rec, but it rings true all the same. It's heartbreaking to realize that companions who come from different times may never see each other again once they leave the Doctor- one may well have died before the other was even born, and how do we humans make peace with a paradox like that? This glimpse of Polly being confronted with the fact that she'll never see Jamie again makes your heart ache for her, but Polly has the advantage of having someone else around who understands. The hope that maybe Polly & Ben can help each other through gives a small uplifting note to this meditative, elegiac, beautifully written piece. You'll need to get out a box of tissues for this one, but trust me, it's worth it.

Hi, I'm newmoonstar ( Meadowlark on Teaspoon) & I'm glad to be back reccing for the next two weeks! Let's get started with:

Title: Alone and Palely Loitering
Author: IrishVampire13
Rating: all ages
Word Count: 669
Characters: Eleventh Doctor, The Master (Ainley)
Author's summary: Sick at hearts, he'd said.
Warnings: none

Recced because: This short fic is a moving vignette of a rare moment of genuine sympathy from the Master toward the Doctor. Their simple dialogue, and the Master's thought process behind it, are perfectly balanced to show the conflicting claims of the old friendship & the long estrangement between the two of them. The moment of almost connection being made possible only when both feel they have nothing left makes it all the more heartbreaking & poignant. A beautifully understated examination of the Doctor & the Master's 'best enemies' relationship. :)

Story: Roots
Author: Inkfire
Rating: all ages
Word count: 701
Characters/pairings: Susan Foreman/David Campbell
Author's summary: In which Susan builds a life made of little things and moments- learning to stand still. Classic!Who character insight piece, set after The Dalek Invasion of Earth. Susan/David

Recced because: I'm one of the rather small group of people who really loves Susan, and this little fic managed to encapsulate what I pictured her life being like after she leaves. I sincerely believe Susan would be able to make a happy life for herself without the Doctor, on Earth with David, and this piece has a hopeful slant, in a quiet, measured, yet lyrical way. It rings true for the Susan we know from the show, and that's good enough for me. An introspective, insightful, lovely piece, well worth the read.

( An excerpt )

Story: Christmas Cutaway
Author: Calapine
Rating: all ages
Word Count: 1232
Characters/pairings: Eighth Doctor, Grace Holloway
Author's summary: Too much sugar in your tea: the Doctor and Grace at Christmas

Recced because: We could all use some Christmas-themed fluff at Christmas. This one is actually as thoughtful as it is cozy, being a conversation over Christmas dinner between Eight and Grace. (The author lists it as romance, and there's a small kiss, but there's nothing especially shippy about it, and it could easily be read as platonic too.) They talk about silly things and serious things, and the third-person present tense gives us Grace's down-to-earth POV, but with a somewhat dreamy quality, which works well for a story featuring the dreamy, enigmatic Eighth Doctor. A nice stand-alone vignette to warm a winter evening.

( An excerpt )

Story: Encounters with an Opera Ghost
Author: Suzanne
Rating: all ages
Word count: 2423
Characters/pairings: Eleventh Doctor, Amy Pond
Author's summary: Crossover with the stage version of Phantom of the Opera. The Doctor and Amy have ended up in Erik's lair, and the Doctor has been here before.

Recced because: It's a Doctor Who/Phantom of the Opera crossover, what more do you need?? There's few things better than a good mash-up of two of your favorite fictional characters, and as a huge Phantom fan I enjoyed this one immensely! Even if you're only passingly familiar with Phantom of the Opera, there's fun to be had here in the clash of personalities between the goofy, happy-go-lucky Eleventh Doctor, no-nonsense Amy, and the angsty, melodramatic Phantom. (The Doctor and Amy have some good banter between them, especially.) It starts out spooky, then gets silly, and I laughed quite a bit through this, but it actually is kind of sweet to imagine the Doctor and Amy dropping in on poor old Erik and possibly helping him get over that nasty business with a certain soprano!

( An excerpt )

Story: Flight
Author: Astellya
Rating: all ages
Word count: 904
Characters/pairings: Sixth Doctor, Peri Brown
Author's summary: Peri and the Doctor have a heart to hearts about life, freedom, and what happened on Varos.

Recced because: This is a story I keep coming back to again and again. The Doctor and Peri had many unresolved issues in their relationship, and because of the brevity of Colin Baker's run as the Doctor, we didn't get a whole lot of time to explore it on screen. This fic offers a quiet, introspective moment between them, of the kind I always wished we'd have more of on the show. In relatively few words, the author manages to convey a whole world of understanding passing between them. Both the characters and the reader somehow can fill in the blanks of what goes unsaid, and when they do open up and voice their affection for one another, it feels direct and authentic. It has a melancholy to it, but also beauty in the ambiance of dusk and summer beside a lake, where two wandering souls find comfort in their friendship. If you love Six & Peri this is a must-read, and if you don't, you might just like them better after reading it.

( A snippet )

Hi! I'm newmoonstar (Meadowlark on Teaspoon) and I'll be your reccer for the next two weeks! Most of these recs will be on the shorter, more lighthearted end of the spectrum, since we could all use some relief from the stresses of the holidays. :)

Story: We Found Jesus In a Junkyard
Author: Lissy Strata
Rating: all ages
Word count: 1282
Characters/pairings: Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright
Author's summary: How did Ian and Barbara explain their disappearance anyway?

Recced because: This is possibly the funniest fic I've ever read. I laughed so hard through the whole thing! Ian & Barbara explaining away two years of absence is the missing scene we all wish we could see, and I think this is my favorite, because it's completely absurd, yet still oddly plausible. Anyone who's ever had dealings with actual evangelical types will recognize the dialogue as utterly spot-on, and the deadpan delivery is just hilarious. Ian & Babs were characters who could use their wits to get out of any sticky situation, and I could totally see this happening. The bonus cameo appearance of another favorite character at the end is the cherry on top of a delicious treat. Go forth and read, but don't do it in a library, your laughter will disturb the other patrons. ;D

( An excerpt )