calufrax

wendymr.livejournal.com

This is my final rec for the week. Thank you for your lovely comments on the stories I've recced, both here and on the stories themselves! And many thanks to

nonelvis for giving me the opportunity to rec again. Between the mix of New with a bit of Classic, long stories and short ones, hurt/comfort and crack, I hope you've all found at least one story to enjoy.

Story: The Adventures of Ten, Rose and Jack (a series of - so far - three multi-chapter stories)
Author: Sanguine Ink
Rating: Up to Teen
Word Count: Story 1: 30291 words in 13 chapters; Story 2: 38913 words in 15 chapters; Story 3: 24705 words in 9 chapters
Author's Summary: For the series: Starts with an AU of Army of Ghosts/Doomsday and follows the Tenth Doctor, Rose, and Jack as they travel through time and space.
Individual story summaries:
Two Months "Woke up one morning and there they all were," said Jackie. "Ghosts, everywhere! We all ran around screamin' and that. Whole planet was panicking. No sign of you." But what if there was? A story in which the Doctor and Rose show up at Jackie's flat two months earlier, completely changing the events of Army of Ghosts and Doomsday.
The Planted Past Ten, Rose, and Jack intend to visit a nice festival. Instead, they end up with mortal danger, time-y wime-y enemies, and a whole lot of running.
Loop "He was the champion – no, the lord – of foolhardy plans, whipped together at the last second with barely a prayer of working. But this…this took the cake. It was all up to Jack now."
Characters/Pairings: Tenth Doctor, Rose Tyler, Jack Harkness, a whole host of guest characters including Jackie Tyler, Yvonne Hartmann, Ianto Jones, General Staal, a sentient plant and Captain Jack Harkness (no, that's not a mistake!).

Recced because: Sanguine Ink writes rollicking good adventures. From the first story, in which she creates an AU of her own stemming from an alternate ending to Doomsday, she takes her characters on a rollercoaster ride with lots of action and danger, solidly-constructed plot and plenty of humour, some of it laugh-out-loud. Her Jack has me nodding throughout, and she just gets the Doctor: the combination of extreme intelligence and manic hyperactivity, his ability to distract and feint, and even turning completely bizarre actions into the perfect plan. Rose is quick-thinking and determined, and Jackie is brilliant also in the first story. Even minor characters are drawn deftly and vividly in character; nobody is wasted in this story.

The series is Ten/Rose, but the focus isn't on the romance at all; it's there clearly enough for those who want it, but it never gets in the way of the story. A few Americanisms and occasional typos appear, but in stories as enjoyable as these they didn’t bother me at all.

A very short extract, showcasing the humour with no spoilers, is:( below the cut )

If you like plotty stories full of adventure, a great cast of well-written characters, lots of twists and turns, and humour around every corner, give this series a try. And if you enjoy it, please tell the author!

wendymr.livejournal.com

I'm sneaking in a bonus rec here, as I couldn't in the end narrow my choices down to seven. I'll be back tomorrow with my final rec for the week.

Story: A Final Toast
Author: MinervaFan
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 2750 words
Author's Summary: Jo Grant-Jones, Liz Shaw, and Sarah Jane Smith have a private gathering to honor the Brig.
Characters/Pairings: Jo Grant-Jones, Liz Shaw, Sarah Jane Smith, Doris Lethbridge-Stewart. Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart mentioned.

Recced because: There has been a lot of death-of-the-Brigadier fics lately, as is only to be expected and entirely deserved, too, given Nicholas Courtney's contribution to Doctor Who. But, in my opinion, this one is the best I've read. A Final Toast starts with Jo, Liz and Sarah attending the Brigadier's funeral, and thereafter adjourns to Liz's hotel room, where Jo instructs them on the proper and appropriate ritual to pay tribute to their departed friend: "Ladies, let's get pissed!"

There's plenty of humour in this short fic, including reference to suggestions that UNIT is a giant sex club, and this classic:

Jo has found several teeny, tiny bottles of Tequila.

She hands one to each of the women and with a grin says, "Five rounds. Rapid."

But, while the humour is indeed wonderful and completely in character, it's not what makes this story. It's the deft little character portraits of each of the women, now very much older than they were in their UNIT days. They're very different from each other, as Liz notes at one point, yet they've got a lot in common, and not just their love for and loyalty to the Brigadier (and the Doctor, who's both absent and unmentioned in this fic). It's clear too that, while they may well be getting older, not one of them's ready to give up their active and trail-blazing lives. They're all still making a difference.

This story is as much a tribute to three strong, intelligent and much-loved companions as it is to the Brigadier, and it's highly recommended.

As always, if you enjoy the story, please tell the author!

wendymr.livejournal.com

Story: The Captain Dances
Author: Companionenvy
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 3784 words
Author's Summary: The Doctor sends post-Children of Earth Jack back to wartime London - and Nancy.
Characters/Pairings: Jack Harkness, Nancy, Jamie, the Doctor (Jack/Nancy)
Warnings: None

Recced because: Have you ever seen a fic that contains a pairing you've never thought of, instinctively think you're not interested as you ship half the pairing with someone else, but decide to glance at it anyway because you're mildly intrigued? Well, that’s how I first read this fic. The pairing is post-Children of Earth Jack Harkness... and 1941, just post-The Doctor Dances Nancy.

Companionenvy is a new author on the Teaspoon, and in this fic the Doctor's real 'farewell gift' to Jack is to send him back to 1941. We're never told why the Doctor thinks that this is a good idea for Jack, but it's not difficult to figure out: Nancy needs him if she's going to carry on feeding London's orphans. However, she also has a five-year-old, blond-haired son.

It's a fairly short story, not much over 3000 words, but it's powerful. There are several moments where I just stopped and had to re-read what I'd just read, and this one, below the cut, is one of the most heartwrenching:

( Teaser )

For those who've had enough of never-ending angst, especially where Jack's concerned, let me reassure you: this story leaves the characters better off than it finds them.

Even if the idea of Jack/Nancy doesn't appeal to you - and it didn't initially to me - give this story a chance. I did, and I'm so very glad - I'd have missed a real gem if I hadn't. And if you like it, please tell the author! So far it's her/his only story on Teaspoon, and it'd be nice to encourage her/him to write more.

wendymr.livejournal.com

Story: Mercy of the Fallen
Author: TARDIS Stowaway
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 22190 words over four chapters
Author's summary: If wishes were horses, this spaceship would be even more crowded and smelly. Trying to escape his past, Jack instead comes face to face with it in the form of the Doctor, on the run from his own recent tragedies.
Characters/Pairings: Jack Harkness, Ninth Doctor, Tenth Doctor, a cast of very well-drawn OCs
Warnings: None

Recced because: Another timey-wimey story tonight, though this one's heartbreaking in parts rather than quirky. Imagine a post-456 Jack stumbling on an immediately-post Time War Nine. Yeah. About as angsty and heart-wrenching as you think, but also laden with so many beautiful and even humorous moments. Very true to character, as well, for both of them.

TARDIS Stowaway also creates a very realistic, gritty setting for her story, with alien planets and races, natural disasters and crises from the horrific to the mundane. Her aliens are distinctively alien, but also very naturally so - I never felt that I was getting banged over the head with ''this character is alien' reminders, yet I never forgot either.

It's a gripping story with some lovely yet heartwrenching hurt/comfort. Gritty and realistic, right down to the blocked plumbing on a ship overflowing with refugees, while containing enough humorous and even laugh-out-loud moments to lighten the mood.

And, to give you a taster, here's one of those lighter moments: ( under the cut )

If you enjoy this story, please tell the author!

wendymr.livejournal.com

Story: The One with the Cotton Candy and the Batteries
Author: Bananaqaiquiri
Rating: All Ages
Word count: 1190 words
Author's summary: It's 2012, and a bloke in leather pisses Mickey Smith off at the supermarket.
Characters/Pairings: Mickey Smith/Martha Jones(-Smith), Ninth Doctor
Warnings: None

Recced because: A couple of my recs this week are quirky timey-wimey stories, and here's the first of them. A man walks into a supermarket... yes, really! It's 2012, and Mickey Smith is minding his own business as he hunts down acceptable snacks in the supermarket - until he's accosted at the checkout by a man in black leather with big ears wanting to borrow a quid. While the Doctor wants to know what Mickey's doing in 2012, Mickey has a much more important question: why on earth is the Doctor buying batteries?

It's funny and unexpectedly sweet, and I loved it. You may need to suspend disbelief just a little given how different 2005 Mickey looks from End of Time Mickey, but the story's good enough to ignore that.

A little taster to whet your appetite: ( below the cut )

If you enjoy it, please tell the author!

wendymr.livejournal.com

Story: Eight Days a Week
Author: Roach Patrol
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 1089
Author's Summary: Post Journey's End, the Doctor and Rose earn their happy ending. It just takes them a little while.
Characters/Pairings: Duplicate Tenth Doctor, Rose Tyler
Warnings: Not unless a warning not to drink anything while reading this counts...

Recced because: Picture this: Rose and the Duplicate Doctor are living in the nice universe. The one with all the friendly aliens. The one where no-one tries to blow anyone up, and when an alien race wants to challenge the Earth for rights to the Solar System they challenge the President to... a cricket match. Oh, and let’s not forget the disparaging aside to Hershey’s chocolate (yes, it really does taste waxy!)

And there are gay Daleks. No, really. This fic is inspired. Sheer brilliance!

Even if you're not normally a fan of Doctor/Rose, give this story a try. I guarantee it's worth it. Have an ( excerpt to prove it! )

And if you like it, please tell the author!

wendymr.livejournal.com

Story: The Miracle Series
Author:

trobadora
Rating: Up to Adult
Word Count: 7 separate stories so far, with word counts varying from 918 to 4204.
Author's Summary: "I really don't mind." - A series of encounters between Jack and the Doctor after Last of the Time Lords.
Characters/Pairings: Tenth Doctor/Jack Harkness; also occasionally Jack/Ianto Jones, other Torchwood team members
Warnings: None

Recced because: There are, of course, many stories and series pairing Jack Harkness with the Tenth Doctor. But few of these do it in a believable way: not just taking into account the fact that Jack has a life of his own now, a team that matters to him and a relationship - with Ianto - which also matters very much to him, but also taking into account the history between Jack and the Doctor, and this Doctor's treatment of Jack in the past, as well as his massive avoidance issues. This series truly is a portrait of a dysfunctional relationship between an ancient alien with commitment-phobia and an immortal torn between his Earthbound team and the Doctor. The series is set some time after Last of the Time Lords, with Jack back with his team and the Doctor travelling on, but trying at the same time to build a relationship with Jack. However, the Doctor being the Doctor (and especially Ten), he does this rather backwards, in that they become lovers before there's been any attempt to sort out all the outstanding issues between them - let alone what they actually want from each other. This leaves Jack 'flying blind', as he puts it, because he has no idea if he can believe that this is real, that the Doctor will keep coming back - or that if he happens to say the wrong thing or give any indication that he's expecting too much the Doctor will disappear and never return.

And have a taster! This is from one of my favourite instalments in the series, the fourth, Leave:

( Excerpt below cut )

I hope you enjoy the series - and if you do, please tell the author!

wendymr.livejournal.com

Hi! I'm

wendymr, currently from snowy Canada (yes, still, even though it's almost April!) and I'll be your reccer for the week. I'll mostly be reccing stories from the Ninth and Tenth Doctor eras, with a variety of companions and settings, but I do have a couple of earlier/later era fics to round out the bunch. And I'm going to start off the week with an Eleventh Doctor era fic.

I hope you enjoy my recs this week; if you do, please leave a comment on Teaspoon for the author!

Story: The Witnesses
Author: Aiffe
Rating: Teen
Word Count: Two chapters, 8365 words
Author's Summary: They can say he existed because they were there, if only in dreams. [Major spoilers for Cold Blood]
Characters/Pairings: Eleventh Doctor, Amy Pond/Rory Williams
Warnings: None

Recced because: I don't want to give away too much of the story, because it's so cleverly constructed that it deserves to be read without spoilers. But the basic set-up is this: post-Cold Blood, Amy works out that she's forgotten something, or someone, and begins to put together more details (without remembering), and asks the Doctor to tell her. Instead of telling her, he finds a way for her to remember Rory.

The descriptions in the story are vivid and very well-drawn, pulling the reader into the author's universe and Amy and the Doctor's dreams, and characterisation is absolutely spot-on. Bar a few Americanisms here and there, it's note-perfect. If this were filmed as an episode, I would be thrilled.

One excerpt, to show why you should read it:

( excerpt )

I hope you enjoy this fic as much as I did!

wendymr.livejournal.com

This is my final rec for the week, so I'd like to thank

calapine, first, for allowing me to come back and share some more of my favourites with you all, and

isiscaughey for her own recs this week. It's been a pleasure, and I hope that you've found at least one story this week that you've enjoyed.

Story: Pages from a Broken Book series - 14 separate single-part stories
Author: Azriona
Rated: Most individual stories rated All Ages; one rated Adult, one rated Teen
Word count: 26501 (most individual chapters between 1000-3000 words)
Author’s summary: He thinks of life as a book, every page a different story. His life, as he once knew it, is broken; these are the pages therein. Told from 10.5's POV.
Characters/Pairings: Rose Tyler, The Doctor (Duplicate 10th)
Warnings: None

Reason for Recommendation: This, like The Devil You Know, is a post-Journey’s End story that sticks in my brain, because it makes me think. Fluffy, happy endings for the Duplicate Doctor and Rose are ten a penny. Stories where they have to work for their eventual happy ending are fewer, but still fairly plentiful. Stories where the author actually gets inside the Duplicate Doctor’s head to show us why this is practically a nightmare scenario for him, and not at all one where a kiss and a smile from Rose can make it all better, are very rare indeed. This one’s the best by far.

The Duplicate Doctor is half-human, which means he is also half-Time Lord. He’s been torn away from the only life he’s ever known, and from his constant companion, the TARDIS. Yes, he’s got Rose, but that’s not straightforward either because she’s still working out who he is to her compared with the original Doctor. This Doctor has no idea who he is; the only way he can define himself is that he’s not him, the original Doctor. He’s tied to one place and time, without even the final remnant of his own race and planet, and he’s suddenly genetically altered.

azriona doesn’t make light of the Doctor’s adjustment trauma, or the way he’s trying the patience of those around him and, while he does eventually find his measure of peace with the life he’s been abandoned to, this story still makes my heart ache for him.

( Short extract below the cut: )

wendymr.livejournal.com

Story: Atonement
Author: Sahiya
Rated: All Ages
Word count: 11092
Author’s summary: The Doctor goes back for Jack a bit sooner. But sooner still might not be soon enough.
Characters/Pairings: Jack Harkness, The Doctor (10th)
Warnings: None

Reason for Recommendation: There’ve been hundreds of stories where Jack finds the Doctor again and hostilities ensue. There’ve been hundreds where, after explanations and apologies, they fall on each other and make up in a variety of different ways, some tame, some X-rated. This one is different for a whole host of reasons. Here, the Doctor decides to find Jack himself, for a set of quite complex reasons he probably doesn’t fully understand himself. And he does find Jack, in a location and state of health that’s as uncomfortable for us to read as it is for the Doctor to see - and even more so as he realises that the situation, and Jack’s presence there, are both his fault. Sahiya pulls no punches, in description, in how Jack reacts to the Doctor, in the Doctor’s temptation to turn and run and in how Jack shames him into staying. It’s a story about consequences, of both actions and inaction, and about the nature of qualities such as friendship, loyalty, trust and selfishness - and about cleaning up your own mess, something the Doctor rarely sticks around long enough to do. Sahiya knows her characters well, and writes them flaws and all, and I can’t recommend this one enough.

( Little excerpt under the cut: )

wendymr.livejournal.com

Story: Visiting Alien
Author: Entilzha
Rated: Says All Ages on the site, but I’d say Adult
Word count: 11980
Author’s summary: 20 years after Doomsday and Rose has a life of her own. Then a familiar noise fills the park.
Characters/Pairings: Tenth Doctor, Rose Tyler
Warnings: None

Reason for Recommendation: Yes, this is a post-Doomsday Doctor/Rose reunion fic (AU from the end of S2), but - like my recommendation of The Devil You Know a few days ago - it’s no ordinary reunion fic. For one thing, Rose is twenty years older, and many more years wiser (she even has a PhD, in psychology). She’s competent, capable, doing a very efficient job for Torchwood, and the last thing she expects, or almost even wants, is her ex-lover, the Doctor, to turn up out of the blue looking for her. She’s certainly not the Rose Tyler the Doctor was expecting, and even though she’s perfectly happy to shag him she’s equally prepared to be brutally honest about his fear of commitment. Entilzha, as a psychologist herself, handles this aspect of the story very well indeed: while the Doctor’s character flaws are exposed, there’s no character assassination; it’s clear that both Rose and Entilzha love the Doctor. There’s also humour, and of course the smut’s not half bad!

( A little taster below the cut: )

wendymr.livejournal.com

Story: Operation Awesome
Author: AND
Rated: All Ages
Word count: 13981
Author’s summary: Does Donna really need to remember her travels with the Doctor to unlock the confidence and strength she found on her travels with him? Doesn't that suggest that there's something wrong with living on Earth? Sarah Jane and Torchwood gang up to save Donna - one way or another.
Characters/Pairings: Donna Noble, Sarah Jane Smith, Jack Harkness, Martha Jones, Ianto Jones, Mickey Smith, Clyde Langer, Luke Smith, Maria Jackson, Alan Jackson, Wilfred Mott, Other Character(s) - including some surprise Old-School companions
Warnings: None

Reason for Recommendation: Donna Noble is awesome. It's as simple as that. And so is Team TARDIS, or more properly the Doctor's 'biggest family in the universe'. AND set out to prove, in this story, that there is nothing less awesome about being a human being, living a life on Earth, than there is about travelling in the TARDIS with the Doctor. With or without the Doctor, with or without her memories of being with him Donna is awesome and has potential to be more awesome still. Oh, and the Doctor is a complete wanker - and that's a direct quote. I absolutely love the team effort in this story, from the Torchwood gang to Sarah Jane's crew to Martha and assorted others (Mickey and Jack's early conversation is side-splittingly hilarious), and the way they combine to - metaphorically - bang the Doctor's head against the wall of his own emo. AND writes Donna brilliantly too. Watch for Donna's meeting with the baby-faced man from Wales - and my favourite scene, close to the end, with the wonderful Wilf.

( Tiny excerpt below the cut: )

wendymr.livejournal.com

Story: The Shadow of Death
Author: Gillian Taylor
Rated: All Ages
Word count: 7780
Author’s summary: You can't change the past. Can you? And, if you do, can you live with the consequences?
Characters/Pairings: Jack Harkness, Rose Tyler, The Doctor (9th)
Warnings: None

Reason for Recommendation: I love a good OT3 fic, whether overtly shippy or - as in the episodes and this story - subtext. But that’s not why I’m recommending this one - well, it’s not the only reason. Far from it. Gillian Taylor is known, deservedly so, for good, solid plotting as well as excellent characterisation, and in particular she’s a master at twisty timey-wimey stuff. Imagine a situation where someone you love is killed, because of your mistake. Now, imagine that you had the power to change things so that your loved one didn’t die. Now... imagine the consequences. Can you ever really undo the past? And what if undoing it is only the start of the nightmare?

( Excerpt below the cut )

wendymr.livejournal.com

Yesterday, completely coincidentally,

isiscaughey and I both recced short but meaningful ficlets. Today, she's recced a crackfic, so I'm going for a complete contrast: dark-ish, twisty, plotty fic (with a bit of ship).

Story: The Devil You Know
Author: Rosa_acicularis /

rosa_acicularis
Rating: Adult
Word count: 13516
Author’s summary: Better the devil you know than the devil you don't. The question is: how do you know the difference? Rose and the Doctor after Journey's End.
Characters/Pairings: Rose Tyler, The Doctor (Duplicate 10th)
Warnings: Explicit Sex, Explicit Violence, Swearing

Reason for Recommendation: Journey’s End, and in particular the creation of the Duplicate Doctor, has spawned a thousand fics. Amid all of them, this one stands out. Why? Well, partly because it’s so very well-written; if you’ve never read Rosa_acicularis’s work before, this won’t be a surprise to you, and if you haven’t, what are you waiting for? Second, it stands out because of the clever, brilliant plot: fascinating, gripping, roller-coaster what the hell is happening here? I won’t give any of it away - including a certain guest character who I hope will take readers by surprise - because, seriously, this story must be read without spoilers. Suffice to say that I was gripped from the first three lines, and she kept me breathless throughout. Even if you’re not a Ten/Rose fan, I almost guarantee that you’ll enjoy this story.

( First few lines below the cut, just in case you need any further inducement: )

wendymr.livejournal.com

Hi! I'm

wendymr,or wmr on the Spoon, and I'm your second reccer for this week. Thanks to

calapine for giving me another week, and I'm delighted to be reccing alongside

isiscaughey. I'll be reccing New Who, a mix of Ninth and Tenth Doctors and all companions, ship and genfic.

A short but powerful gen story to start my week:

Story: Haunted
Author:

dave7
Rating: All Ages
Word count: 864
Author’s summary: Ninth Doctor, Pre-series, for the Ninth Doctor Ficathon.
Characters/Pairings: Ninth Doctor
Warnings: None

Reason for recommendation: The summary for this story really doesn’t provide us with much of a reason to read it, but trust me: this story needs to be read.

dave7 was prompted with a haunted abbey, the ocean, new shoes, and what he does with these is truly wonderful. We have Nine, immediately post-Time War, immediately post-regeneration. From the very first line, I was struck with an image that brought me to a skidding halt:

The Doctor lands the TARDIS on the edge of a beach, somewhere, on a planet he isn’t sure exists any more.

And so it continues. In a very short piece, typical of this writer’s economy with words, we’re given a picture of a man who has no idea who or what he is any more, what kind of universe he’s in - or how much of the universe he’s known all his lives is even left. Read it. It’ll haunt you.

As always, if you enjoy a recced fic here, please leave some feedback for the author! :)

wendymr.livejournal.com

Phew! My final rec. I hope people have enjoyed reading this week’s recs and that everyone’s managed to find at least one new story that you’ve loved between the recs made by eve11, lizbee and myself. Thanks to calapine for giving me the opportunity to be a guest reccer for a week; thanks to everyone who’s given me feedback on my recs; thanks, too, to eve11 and lizbee for their recs this week. And again, profuse apologies for getting my dates muddled and starting late.

Story: Here’s Another Lost Weekend
Author: Lydia Hunter

Rated: Teen

Author’s Summary: They’ve missed New York for the second time, and they’re snowbound in an isolated cabin in the woods. Sounds like a perfect, romantic weekend? Yeah, right!

Characters/Pairings: Rose Tyler, Tenth Doctor

Warnings: None

Recced because: Most shipper fics, for any Doctor or any companion (except perhaps Romana) tend to be fantasy wish-fulfilment, portraying a relationship we like to imagine but which we know would never actually happen. The Doctor just doesn’t do that type of thing - and I don’t mean the sex, but the relationship around the sex. This story, though, is the way I really could picture things being if there were shagging in the TARDIS. This is a Doctor who isn’t human, who doesn’t do - or even really understand - human relationships. He’s not a boyfriend. He may have a pretty good idea of what a human expects from a relationship (cuddling, being romantic, saying I love you, being ‘couply’), but the very thought of it is... well, a bit like being expected to share a mortgage. And the very thought of planning a romantic weekend is enough to bring him out in hives. And Rose, no matter how well she knows the Doctor isn’t human, is still 21st-century human female enough to want some of that. This is a snapshot of life within that relationship, a very different couple adapting to being a couple, with Rose learning to accept and be happy with what they have, while the Doctor also tries to come to terms with what making love with his companion might imply. In the end, declarations of love will never be made, but they save the universe together and are in “more-than-like” with each other, and that’s good enough.

( Selected Quote: )

wendymr.livejournal.com

My final two recs are explicitly ship-fics, but chosen because they stand out among a multitude of ship-fics in the modern Who era. Relationships, romance, even sex, but not as you’d expect, and again stories to make the reader think. If you’re interested in seeing Doctor/companion stories done well, try these last two recs of mine.

Story: At Thirty Paces
Author: Rallalon

Rated: Adult

Author’s summary: He's not coming. Not tonight.

Characters/Pairings: Jack Harkness, Rose Tyler, Tenth Doctor, Ninth Doctor, Gwen Cooper, Ianto Jones, Owen Harper, Toshiko Sato, Estelle Cole. Pairings: Tenth Doctor/Rose/Jack; Tenth Doctor/Rose; Rose/Jack; Tenth Doctor/Jack, Jack/Estelle Cole, Jack/Ianto.

Warnings: Adult, Explicit Sex

Recced because: Here, finally, is an explanation for Jack’s ‘wrongness’ that I can accept and completely get behind, and an AU in which the Doctor doesn’t completely abandon him. It’s not an easy story to read, because it’s a painful, tragic love story in which no-one gets a happy ending. Yet it’s haunting, sticking in my mind for a long time after I read it. The Doctor is actually ‘allergic’ to Jack: if he comes any closer to Jack than a distance of thirty feet, he’s in excruciating pain. This is the story, in part, of how the three of them deal with that over the century-plus of Jack’s living the slow path (they space out Rose’s life, ‘rationing’ her so that Jack doesn’t lose her too soon), and it’s also how Jack copes with the slow path, and with his own doomed relationships while he waits. Waits for the Doctor, and for Rose, who almost never come. Tissue-warning, I think.

( Selected quote: )

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Story: Think of Something
Author: Lightgetsin

Rating: None given; I’d say All Ages

Author's summary: The first thing the Doctor does after the fall of Gallifrey is go insane for a while. The second thing he does is accidentally cross timelines with an old friend he hasn't met yet.

Characters/Pairings: Ninth Doctor, Jack Harkness, Team Torchwood in the background.

Recced because: There are a few stories around in which immediate-post-regeneration Nine meets post-Satellite Five Jack, and to be fair most of them are really good. I’ve chosen this one because it is indeed one of the best, and also because I love lightgetsin’s writing and I really, really wish she’d post more of her fics on the Teaspoon. The newly-awakened Ninth Doctor knows he has to move on, to get on with his life despite the mixed feelings churning inside him about everything he’s lost. Until he finds another near-survivor - a dying TARDIS - a man who knows him, and a shred of hope for the future. One name, to give him hope that things will get better, and the knowledge that he’ll meet the man who knows him again too. Even if you’re not a Jack fan, or don’t care for the idea that Rose will be the saving of Nine, this story is worth reading for the scene with the fragment of dying TARDIS alone. Beautiful.

( Selected Quote: )

wendymr.livejournal.com

Story: The Life Fantastic
Author: HonorH

Rating: G (Doctor/Rose intense friendship, Jack friendship)

Author's summary: One life, from beginning to end. The Doctor grieves, lives, fights, dances, eats chips, and falls in love. Not such a bad life after all.

Characters/Pairings: Ninth Doctor, with insights into Rose Tyler, Jack Harkness
Warnings: None

Recced because: This is a gorgeous, poignant study of the Ninth Doctor. His life is defined by sacrifice: born out of one, dies in another. It’s a chronicle of his journey from that painful birth to his completely voluntary death, committed for love, and it’s a story about how he heals, helped by the most unlikely of companions for a battle-scarred Doctor: the nineteen-year-old shop-girl, Rose Tyler. It’s about why he needs people around him, and ultimately what leads him to sacrifice once more, for a much smaller cause this time than the fate of the universe. In companionship comes healing, and in death comes peace. This story is poignant, but ultimately so very affirming, and a perfect tribute to the Ninth Doctor.

( Selected Quote: )

wendymr.livejournal.com

Story: Jackie Tyler in the Fourth Dimension
Author: Cryptile

Rating: None given; I’d say all ages

Author's summary: Jackie Tyler hates time travel.

Characters/Pairings: Jackie Tyler, with guest appearances from Ninth Doctor, Tenth Doctor, Eleventh Doctor, Rose Tyler, Ace McShane

Warnings: Author warns for swearing; it’s pretty mild

Recced because: If you love Jackie, as I do, this is the Jackie fic to read. It’s about Jackie’s relationship with the Doctor(s), with her daughter and also with life in general. If you loved Jackie and Nine snarking at each other, this story will have you alternately laughing out loud, exclaiming that’s EXACTLY right!, and maybe even shedding a little tear on occasion. In a way, it’s also a love story, but it’s not romantic love; it’s the love between two people who can never make up their minds whether they like or hate each other. There are two incredibly touching scenes, very subtly written, both of which left me with a lump in my throat. On the other hand, we have crossing timelines, a Welsh Doctor who plays the spoons, Rose defending the Earth with Ace and a missing finger. This story is unmissable.

( Selected Quote: )

wendymr.livejournal.com

Story: Suture

Author: Fahye

Rating: All Ages

Author's summary: “Well, as adventures go, it’s certainly not up to your usual standard, Doctor.” Rose’s smile is two points west of normal, but it’s a brave attempt. She sets her tea down, untouched. “No running, no explosions, and no worlds about to end.”

Characters/Pairings: Ninth Doctor, Jack Harkness, Rose Tyler. Gen, with a hint of subtext - no more than was seen on-screen.

Warnings: None

Recced because: If you’ve ever thought that second-person fics don’t work for you, just give this one a try. This is so different from most stories you’ll find around the internet. In terms of plot, it’s fairly straightforward: problem arises, the Doctor diagnoses and works out a solution, Jack and Rose are essential in aiding him, and Jack the big damn hero is willing to sacrifice his life to help save the Doctor. But that really doesn’t do the story justice. It’s the writing style, the switch between the ‘mind’ of the TARDIS and the Doctor to the observations of Jack and Rose - the author really does know how to portray the Doctor as a different species - and the use of words and language to paint a vivid picture, leaving the reader breathless as we approach the conclusion, that makes this a brilliant, memorable story.

Selected Quote:
I am the boiling clouds of space and the jagged rain of the vacuum and I am the vortex of time. I am the inferno that swallowed the enemy.”

Ashes, ashes, the burning paradox of being split apart and existing in every possible time at once. The dust of eternity, and the single igniting spark. This is how a Time Lord kills, obliterates, exterminates.

This is how a Doctor of the Time Lords heals.

wendymr.livejournal.com

First off, a HUGE apology - I got muddled and thought I was reccing from the 17th, not the 11th. I also had been expecting a reminder email, but never mind; it's still my fault for getting the date wrong. I hope it's okay if I make two recs a day until I've caught up. Sorry, mods!

Story: Before I Sleep

Author: Dune

Rating: All Ages

Author's summary: Time and life blur. Sometimes Jack's grateful, sometimes he's not. But no matter what, he has to live with it

Characters/Pairings: Jack Harkness, with mentions of Tenth Doctor, Ninth Doctor, Rose Tyler

Warnings: None

Recced because: This story haunted me for quite some time after reading it. It's Jack's immortal life, many, many thousands of it, and how he manages to live it, 'woven into mankind's history', living and dying, saving the universe and becoming known throughout it. Dune spins a poignant, heart-wrenching, yet ultimately uplifting account of what Jack's life might be like and one way it could eventually end. It's a short vignette, yet packs a punch far greater than many stories ten times its length.

Selected quote:
There're legends about him. The Lonely Wanderer he's called; worshipped and feared throughout the universe. Yet the statues he finds are of an old, wise man, never anything like him. He never ages beyond that one grey hair.

reccity-rec-rec

calufrax is sleeping in your mind. One day, it may be brought back in front of your eyes.

April 2018

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A rec comm for A Teaspoon And An Open Mind

Entries tagged with reccer: wendymr

Rec: The Adventures of Ten, Rose and Jack (series)

Rec: A Final Toast

Rec: The Captain Dances

Rec: Mercy of the Fallen

Rec: The One with the Cotton Candy and the Batteries

Rec: Eight Days a Week

Rec: The Miracle Series

Rec: The Witnesses

Rec: Pages from a Broken Book

Rec: Atonement

Rec: Visiting Alien

Rec: Operation Awesome

Rec: The Shadow of Death

Rec: The Devil You Know

Rec: Haunted

Rec: Here's Another Lost Weekend

Rec: At Thirty Paces

Rec: Think of Something

Rec: The Life Fantastic

Rec: Jackie Tyler in the Fourth Dimension

Rec: Suture

Rec: Before I Sleep

reccity-rec-rec

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April 2018

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