Calufrax

Story: Sugar And Spice (And All Things Nice)
Author: Agapi42
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 4418
Author's Summary: Spicy sweetness, Martha thought, and liked the sound of the words together.
Characters/Pairings: Martha/Romana, Martha Jones, Romana II, Romana III, Tenth Doctor, Donna Noble.
Warnings: None.

Recced because: This fic just makes me grin like a loon every time I read it. As a matter of fact, I think the first time I read it I bounced around my flat for an evening squeaking about the cute that is Martha/Romana, having fabulous adventures and being cooler than the Doctor. ;) I'm flicking through it again, trying to come up with more coherent reasons to read it but it's Martha and Romana, having adventures in time and space, it's really really lovely. :D

Story: Things To Do Before You Die
Author: Doyle
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 1166
Author's Summary: "Take two pills, get a friend to whisk you off to another planet, and call me in the morning..." Tegan Jovanka lives. (Big Finish audios continuity)
Characters/Pairings: Nyssa, Tegan Jovanka.
Warnings: Spoilers for 'Caves of Androzani', 'The Gathering' and 'Circular Time'. Nothing major, if you're familiar with the basic plot summary of those you're fine.

Recced because: 'The Gathering' is quite a heart-breaking audio and this makes it ALL better? Yeah, that's my 'recced because', pretty much. This fic's just got lovely, lovely Tegan and Nyssa voice. I'm actually having a really hard time coming up with what to say, this fic manages to do so much with so few words, you get this perfect picture of what Tegan, Nyssa AND the Fifth Doctor's lives have all been like, both when they were together and after they parted ways, it's brilliant and if you're a Fivey fan this one's not to be missed. :D

(Um, sorry about the lack of recs this week. Life rather intervened, best laid plans of mice and men. Anyway, on with the show!)

Story: Rebuilding
Author: Lizbee
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 937
Author's Summary: Following the Dalek invasion of Gallifrey, Braxiatel pays a visit to Romana.
Characters/Pairings: Romana II, Braxiatel.
Warnings: None.

Recced because: I find that this fic encapsulates a lot of my ideas about Romana as President as well as the creepy (but awesome) of Braxiatel and Romana's relationship with same, it sticks in my mind and is really pretty much canon for me. A must if you're a fan of Romana, especially in the BF audio spin-offs.

Story: Second Fiddle
Author: LizBee
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 1114
Author's Summary: It's a perfectly normal (that is to say, disastrous) day for the TARDIS crew, except that Martha finds she might be playing second fiddle. Again.
Characters/Pairings: Martha Jones, Romana II, Tenth Doctor, Leela, Martha/Romana, Romana/Leela
Warnings: None

Recced because: I've been resisting reccing this one for ages and I really don't know why. It's possibly the first Classic Who fic I ever read yet I keep coming back to it again and again and it always makes me happy. It's actually partly responsible for how much I adore Romana II and it has wonderful Martha voice. I suppose I'm reccing this one for the same reason I've recced a lot of others this week, it has several lines that you come across and every time you just think "...Yes, exactly" and that, to me, is marvelous and a big part of what a good fic ought to do. I dunno. It has Romana/Martha AND Romana/Leela, ALL IN ONE FIC. What more could you want, except for it to be longer?

Anyway, that's all from me. I've had a lovely time reccing this week, sorry again for being a bit inconsistent!

Story: Like Ships That Crash In The Night
Author: tangerine
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 1526
Author's Summary: From a deep sleep Jo slowly became aware that someone was shaking her by the shoulders.
"Jo, you have to get up, there's some bloke at the door wants to see you. Funny old-fashioned coat, says he's the Doctor."
Characters/Pairings: Eighth Doctor, Jo Grant
Warnings: None

Recced because: The Eight Doctor needed cheering up during the Time War...so he went to visit Jo. I feel that should say it all right there, really. These two work fantastically well together and the author has their voices down pat, I think. Wonderfully captures Jo, her relationship with Three and Eight's view of same. The wibbley wobbley timey wimey aspect is really well played too. It's also heaps of fun to get a glimpse into Jo's life AWAY from UNIT and the Doctor. I don't know whether I ought to say this or not but there is the odd typo. It's nothing major that a quick beta wouldn't fix and they're so SO well worth ignoring.

( A snippet. )

(Second post to make up for missing yesterday. Apologies!)

Story: Seconds Ticking
Author: Biichan
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 908
Author's Summary: Of course they had a back-up plan. No one said that it was sensible.
Characters/Pairings: Leela, Tenth Doctor, Donna Noble, Martha Jones, K-9, Romana II, Braxiatel, Narvin, Jackie Tyler, Rose Tyler, Pete Tyler
Warnings: None.

Recced because: I love pocket-watch stories and I love Big Finish and this story manages to combine the two fantastically. Awesome, awesome theory and it's incredible how many good lines are packed in to so few words. I really sort of wish this were canon. Everyone's voice sounds just right, especially Leela's. This one's a must if you like the Big Finish series Gallifrey but is still heaps of fun even if you're not familiar with it, I think.

Story: had we but world enough, and time
Author: VegaOfTheLyre
Rating: PG 13/Teen
Word Count: 3388
Author's Summary: It’s the beginning of the end, and the Doctor can feel the anticipation of the impending battle drum so deep through his bones his teeth rattle with it. Romana and the Doctor at Gallifrey’s last stand.
Characters/Pairings: Eight Doctor, Romana III (not the EDA one), sort of Eight/Romana? It's not stated out loud but it's definitely there.
Warnings: ANGST. Time War shaped ANGST.

Recced because: The ANGST. Ok, wait, seriously. I forgot I was supposed to start reccing this week and I actually haven't read any fic in ages so after a couple of minutes of panicking I realised this could actually be a good thing, I'd see what I could remember off the top of my head. If I'd remembered it that long, it was bound to be exceptional, right?

This was one of the first fics that came to mind. It's mostly all about the beautiful imagery and the numerous nods to all the spin-off media, each one I found made me so very happy. The author also does a gorgeous job of showing us the Doctor and Romana's relationship throughout their various reincarnations, their shared history and affection for each other is palpable. This Romana III is great too, she's a tantalizing look at what the EDAs COULD've done with the War Queen stuff.

I feel like I'm doing a bad job of selling this but essentially, for me this is what Time War Eight and Romana look like and it's rather lovely and you should definitely check it out.

Story: The Bits With Daleks
Author: Ninamazing
Rating: All ages.
Word Count: 863
Author's Summary: She built four different kinds of vortex manipulator, then took the circuits apart and turned it all into a device for producing perfectly browned toast — which, if she thought about it, really seemed like something the Doctor might do.
Characters/Pairings: Fourth Doctor, Romana II
Warnings: Again, none given.

Recced because: This is set right after 'Destiny of the Daleks' and it's a short look at what Romana might have been feeling after her various experiences with Daleks in that episode and it's rather lovely. Her reactions are, imho, completely in character. This is just a reallly nice little character introspection and also some very well done hurt/comfort. Some of the imagery used is gorgeous and I really feel that if Romana were to freak out over anything, it'd look an awful lot like this.

(I feel a little bad, I promised all Romana, all the time. Slight fail.)

Story: The Polar Bears' Golf Club
Author: Doyle
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 4543
Author's Summary: 40th century Echlin has one of the most famous centres of time travel research in the galaxy. Rose and Ace have some nitro-9, a bronze medal in gymnastics (under-7s category) and a couple of really enormous false moustaches. No contest, really...
Characters/Pairings: Ace McShane, Rose Tyler
Warnings: None given. (This is becoming a trend...)

Recced because: It's FUNNY. Rose and Ace, if you think about it, would be FANTASTIC a team and this fic showcases exactly that. There's cross-dressing, ridiculous plans, the inevitable Doctor comparing, "Lots of planets have a Scotland", there just isn't any bad. This fic is really all about the hilarious exchanges between Ace and Rose as they try to rescue their respective Doctors. Look, there's not really a lot more I need to say about this fic beyond it's very very funny so here, have a snippet again.

( Rose and Ace show off their amazing planning skillz. )

...Did I mention the funny? Everyone needs a good laugh midweek!

Story: Four Times Martha Met Sarah Jane And One Time She Didn't Quite
Author: Wojelah
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 2405
Author's Summary: The first time Martha Jones meets Sarah Jane Smith, neither of them knows it. To be fair, Martha's just survived near-asphyxiation on the Moon and Tish is fussing and there's a thousand reporters everywhere, and Sarah Jane's really more interested in the odd puncture wounds on Mr. Stoker's neck and inclined to avoid anyone who might shoo her away - which is to say, they both have rather a lot on their minds.
Characters/Pairings: Martha Jones, Sarah Jane Smith
Warnings: None given.

Recced because: I know I'm not the only person here who LOVES a good 'Year That Never Was' fic and this is one of my favourites. I'm also a sucker for companions meeting each other and this one's fantastic and completely plausible for that, too. As a matter of fact, given 'Turn Left' this fic just became even more plausible. Sarah Jane and Martha are both spot on and Wojelah makes FANTASTIC use of a sometimes tired trope, the Five Things and it's just brilliant, really. Each situation could slot easily into canon unless 'The Stolen Earth' has Russelled/Jossed it somehow.