Story: Five Times Polly Patched Up Ben (And One Time Ben Got to Do the Honours)
Author: vvj5/lost_spook
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 3126
Author's Summary: Ben gets injured by everything from Cybermen to TARDIS appliances. Luckily for him, Polly's always on hand to pick up the pieces. More or less, anyway.
Characters/Pairings: Ben/Polly, First Doctor, Second Doctor, Jamie.
Warnings: None, I think.

Recced because: Ben/Polly is pretty much on the same scale as Ian/Barbara when it comes to Companions Who Obviously Married Each Other. This story is packed with charm and sweetness, just like our lovely couple.

Story: Roman Holiday
Author: yesjamie
Rating: Adult
Word Count: 1346
Author's Summary: Ian and Barbara, alone together in the Roman villa.
Characters/Pairings: Ian/Barbara, First Doctor, Vicki
Warnings: Explicit sex.

Recced because: This is a kinkmeme story, which of course means that it's smutty. However, the porn - while lovely in its own right - is made even lovelier by Barbara and Ian being in character and Barbara getting her History on. Admit it, you all think they got it on in the Roman villa!

Story: If I Grow Old
Author: csg1
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 851
Author's Summary: Koschei's far too reckless.
Characters/Pairings: First Doctor (Academy Era)/Master (Academy Era)
Warnings: None. Angst, I suppose.

Recced because: A nice portrayal of the Master's early recklessness (and it must be fairly extreme if it upsets the Doctor) and the Doctor's feeling that his best friend is not all there. The final line is darkly ironic.

Story: Dancing
Author: jjpor
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 3781
Author's Summary: Sometimes a dance is just a dance. And sometimes, it is much more than that. And sometimes, it is hard to tell which it is.
Characters/Pairings: Four/Romana II
Warnings: *scratches chin thoughtfully* Hmmm, I guess you might want ice cubes nearby? Especially if it's warm.

Recced because: Because it's so very, very hot. No, really; it's one-step-removed smut, in that no actual sex happens and yet it's most definitely highly erotic. And intense. And intimate. Actually, maybe I shouldn't have posted this on a hot summer's day?

Story: The Odd Couple.
Author: Doctor Tam.
Rating: All Ages.
Word Count: 835.
Author's Summary: "But they’re laugh provoking; yet they really don’t know they’re joking. Don’t you find, when love is blind, it’s kind of odd?" A love story in retrospect.
Characters/Pairings: Fourth Doctor/Romana.
Warnings: None.

Recced because: this was my original OTP and this fic tells and retells their story and how they fell in love without ever quite realising it and how it was obvious to everyone but them. It's the layers and the internal repetitions that make this particular act of shippery reccable, the sense that one is shifting between more than two perspectives as the narrative voice brings in what they think and what they do and what they're perceived as. Also because I've been putting my fingers in my ears and saying "la la la she was never President she's ALIVE IN E-SPACE DAMN IT" and it's nice to know one isn't alone in this insistence.

"Maybe they'll meet again, two old eccentrics, kissing in the rain in Paris or something.

I hope they do."

I'd like it to be possible, anyway.



Thank you, Calufrax: it's been a fun week and I'd like to do it again some time.

-- Von out.

Story: UNITWOOD.
Author: AND.
Rating: All Ages.
Word Count: 1601.
Author's Summary: What if U.N.I.T. was run like Torchwood? A story for the cross-cliche ficathon.
Characters/Pairings: Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Harry Sullivan, Sarah Jane Smith, Sergeant Benton, the Fourth Doctor.
Warnings: Not to be taken seriously. At all.

Recced because: it's sidesplitting, and wonderfully deadpan, and gets away with what it's trying to do (ramming the cliches of Seventies Who and Torchwood into one another) without compromising anyone's characterisation too much, which is frankly an achievement in something like this. I don't know what else I can say about it, really - it's there and it's daft and I hope you enjoy it.


One more for the weekend, and I'll be through.

Story: Torchwood 1907: On His Majesty's Secret Service.
Author: JJPOR.
Rating: Teen.
Word Count: 11740.
Author's Summary: “We’re Torchwood.” The 20th Century is when everything changes.
Characters/Pairings: Captain Jack Harkness, Major Gerald Carter, Emily Holroyd, and various personnel of dubious canonicity.
Warnings: Bit violent here and there.

Recced because: what JJPOR has done here is frankly an achievement. He's taken a few fragmentary glimpses from the second series of Torchwood and woven them into rounded, complete characters, with histories and incidents and relationships and connections far beyond the superficial snippets the show itself dropped in our laps. It's brilliant stuff and I defy anyone not to like the weary Major Carter as a viewpoint character or be curious about the incidents and events that have gone before. There's a whole series of this stuff on the Teaspoon and it all comes heartily recommended, but this is the gateway fic and the one I still read over and over again.

Story: Concerto for Spoons and Time.
Author: Joan Milligan.
Rating: All Ages.
Word Count: 728.
Author's Summary: There’s this little pub in London where there’s a funny little man who plays the spoons.
Characters/Pairings: Seventh Doctor, Ace.
Warnings: Innocent as ducklings.

Recced because: I like these little glimpses into what the Doctors get up to when they're not saving planets, and hanging around a pub in an Area of Canon Significance playing the spoons for pennies and throwing them away like confetti is just such a Seven thing to do. I also love the last line, which faintly underscores the whole thing with sadness, and this one: "He’s got wicked rhythm and he makes music out of everything."

Story: Time for a Change.
Author: alouzon.
Rating: All Ages.
Word Count: 2337.
Author's Summary: Victoria's first day on board the TARDIS; set between the events at the beginning of "Tomb of the Cybermen".
Characters/Pairings: the Second Doctor, Jamie, Victoria.
Warnings: made of love and squish, fear not.

Recced because: I have had, historically, quite a low opinion of Victoria. Then I rewatched 'Tomb' and read this within the space of about a week, and rapidly revised my opinion because it was clear I was talking absolute guff. What this fic does in her favour is highlight that she's a coper. Victoria screams and gets upset but she also does her best to adapt to the situation, whether that involves shooting things or showing her ankles. The writing has its faults (minor anachronisms and repetitions), but the sentence structure is appropriately Victorian and polished and the characterisation is lovely, with Jamie being flirty and helpful, and Two being terribly well-prepared for this sort of thing, and Victoria displaying a quiet courage that frankly makes me regret having ever said anything bad about her.

Morning all! My name is vonquixote, and I will spend the next five days plucking choice niblets from the Teaspoon archives and regurgitating them for your reading pleasure. I'd like to pretend there's some sort of sophisticated plan or agenda behind my recommendations, but my mummy always told me not to tell lies. The one criterion I have is that I'm trying not to recommend anything that's appeared here before -- and a disturbing number of my favourites have, but never mind, necessity is the mother of opportunity, who knocks.

Enough of that. Let's start.


Story: Living Things.
Author: Bagheera.
Rating: Adult.
Word Count: 16865.
Author's Summary: How did the Doctor from Scream of the Shalka come to live with the Master?
Characters/Pairings: REG!Nine/android!Master.
Warnings: It becomes unabashedly, almost clinically physical - not just about sex, but about the Doctor's general ill-health - in the second chapter, and rapidly becomes pornilicious in the third. Also, there are swears.

Recced because: basically, this story has become my personal canon. Not only does it explore the skiffy how-did-the-Master-come-back-after-the-TV-Movie issues, it does so without compromising the story or the characters or the powerful recurring concepts of entropy, dissolution, repetition and confinement that make it go. It covers the process of this Doctor going to pieces, turning to drink, and basically letting himself fall apart, and contrasts that with the Master's desperate struggle to keep himself together, and they're taunting each other on and to the brink of destruction until they enter into a kind of mania as they save each other, and the sex is cruel and intense as it should be, and essentially it's a brilliant study of two men who adore and despise one another, trapping themselves together because there's no other way they could survive.

Story: Protect and Survive
Author: JJPOR
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 49,717
Author's Summary: The Doctor and Ace find themselves in a darkly altered version of the 1960s we know; somebody has been meddling with history, raising the spectre of nuclear Armageddon, and that somebody needs to be stopped.
Characters/Pairings: Seven, Ace
Warnings: Swearing, violence, graphic descriptions of the aftermath of nuclear war

Recced because: I was desperately hoping this story would be finished by the time my turn came up to rec. I know I just gave you a Seven story, but this one is very different and it needs a shout out:

This story doesn’t flinch. It goes dark as anything I’ve ever read on the teaspoon, but the terrifying part is that it goes dark while keeping every moment completely in-character. That, combined with the eerily beautiful descriptions of atomic war, is enough to give you nightmares. JJPOR shows us a version of the sixties which might have happened, had events transpired just a little differently. He spins a plot that keeps you reading, and gasping, and guessing at who might be responsible. The whole story is absolutely peppered with pop-culture references. Read this if you want a meaty, timey-wimey plot with perfect characterization. But don’t, I beseech you, read it late at night with the lights off…

Story: Matriarch
Author: nonstalgia
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 1773
Author's Summary: Visting time.
Characters/Pairings: Seven, Ace, Other
Warnings:

Recced because:
Don’t you ever wonder where he came from? Who he is?

This is a quite moment of contemplation as the Doctor sits with an old friend whom he loves dearly, but will never travel with. He brings her small presents from common places, and drinks tea with her by the fire on cold winter nights. It’s the little touches that make this work; the contrast between home and space, and the way Nonstalgia instils a sense of time and place while never really specifying either.

Story: The Man with Time in his Eyes
Author: Poetry
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 8475
Author's Summary: Mereisekarait, a medical student from the planet Emmeras and a former companion, meets a man with time in his eyes, a look she finds deeply familiar. He doesn't recognize her. Can they solve a mystery and untangle their timelines?
Characters/Pairings: Original character, other Doctor, the TARDIS
Warnings: Swearing

Recced because:
OCs can go either way, and their presence tends to deter potential readers. Other Doctors offer a world of possibility, but their unfamiliarity takes a leap of faith to accept. If you take that leap this story is so, so worth it. It’s heart-breaking, it’s reassuring, it’s about a character who endures through space and time no matter what face he wears. It’s about the companions he loves so very much. It’s about his ship, his lovely lady, and his chariot amongst the stars. The OC is one of the most remarkable aliens I’ve encountered in fic, for she is not alien-in-name-only but is a part of a complex and believable culture which we see from her point of view. Yet, she is still completely sympathetic, even if she isn’t as innocent as she pretends. To cut it short, this is a mastery of plot and world-building and frighteningly likely what-if.

I’ll give a shout out for the chapter titles as well, which provide a nice bit of nostalgia as well as being highly appropriate for each scene.

Story: Drinking Tactics for Nine Hundred Year Old Minors
Author: riversrunthroughme
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 4273
Author's Summary: “This is ridiculous,” said the Doctor at last, disbelievingly. “I’m nine-hundred and three years old. I shouldn’t be carded.” The adventures of Sally Sparrow and Eleven. (Response to the Jessa L'Rynn April ChallengeII lulz!)
Characters/Pairings: Eleven, Sally Sparrow
Warnings: Doctor age casting spoilers, if you somehow have been living under an internet rock these past six months...

Recced because:
Now that we’ve all got over the shock of the new Doctor, we can get down to business pondering the potential ramifications of this newest and as-of-yet unseen incarnation. For example, what might happen if his companion pranked him by, say… stealing the psychic paper just as he’s about to place his order at the pub?

Pure silliness, lulz, and socks. This story manages a plot, characterization, and backstory even as absurdities pile on absurdities. If you don't giggle at least once at the Doctor's predicament you are a hard, mirthless being.

Greetings! I'm Clocketpatch and I will be your assigned reccer for the week. Most of the stories I've picked out already are a trifle on the long side and I do apologise in advance. I'll try to get some shorter ones in as well for those who enjoy having tales which they can read and digest over a lunch break.


Story: Wibbly-Wobbly, Timey-Wimey (Book I: Exile)
Author: I Walk In Eternity
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 33280
Author's Summary: “People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect… but actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it’s more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly…. timey-wimey…. stuff.” (The 10th Doctor, ‘Blink’) An adventure spanning all of the Doctor's lives begins with a series of vignettes from the eras of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Doctors. May they rest in peace.
Characters/Pairings: Barbara Wright, Ben Jackson, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Dodo Chaplet, Ian Chesterton, Jack Harkness, Jamie McCrimmon, Jo Grant, John Benton, Liz Shaw, Martha Jones, Omega, Polly Wright, Romana (author created), Susan Foreman, The Autons, The Doctor (10th)
Warnings: Some swearing

Recced because:
For my first rec of the week I wanted to start at the beginning, literally. Using the simple, yet brilliant, premise of a diary bequeathed from companion to companion, this story follows the life of the Doctor and those many companions, allies, and enemies who have been swept into the whirl-wind of his existence. The plot is, in some ways, straight-forward, but at the same time it is very, well, I guess the scientific term is “wibbly-wobbly”, as it darts from past to present. This is, really, a love song to the show. Every character from Jack, to the Brig, to Ben and Polly, to the Doctor himself(s), is perfectly voiced and painted with the palate of an author who is both a very talented writer and a very devoted fan. There are continuity references galore for those who like them, though the story should still be a good romp for someone who has only basic knowledge. There's a mystery as well!

Well, the week is almost over already, but I’ve still got one brilliant story to go…

Story: The First Casualty
Author:Lurky McLurklurk
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 5255
Author's Summary: Benny's latest escapade leads to a meeting with a certain Fitz Kreiner.
Characters/Pairings: Bernice Summerfield, Fitz Kreiner
Warnings: None.

Recced because: It’s witty and fun, both a proper archaeological space adventure and a story that will make you laugh. And, please don’t run away because it’s two characters from spin-off media. Benny is introduced here at her wittiest, as she picks up her own almost-companion (who, absolutely wonderfully, is not what she seems) and the encounter with Fitz merely provides the perfect anti-climax to Benny’s spot of derring-do. It’s a quest to save (or possibly doom) a planet and it’s worth reading whatever era you favour, because it does it with style and it‘s entertaining from start to finish.

Story: “Just A Minute!”
Author:The Secretive Bus
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 3095
Author's Summary: "Just a Minute" is that wonderful panel game where contestants are challenged to speak for one minute on a given subject without repetition, hesitation or deviation. Chaired, as usual, by Nicholas Parsons, we have with us tonight as our four players the Master, the fifth incarnation of the Doctor, the first incarnation of Romana and Clement Freud.
Characters/Pairings: Romana I, Fifth Doctor, Delgado Master
Warnings: None.

Recced because: It’s so ridiculously funny (as well as being proof that there really isn’t anything you can’t cross Doctor Who with). I have to confess that (despite living in the UK and having had every opportunity todo so) I never got round to listening to the radio show in question, so, trust me, you don’t need to know the crossover. Just imagine Romana, the Doctor and the Master competing against each other on a game show, speaking on the subjects of socks, cricket and Aberdeen among others, well… Hilarity ensues, to say the least.

Story: Planes, Trains and Horseless Carriages
Author:Ligia_Elena
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 2263
Author's Summary: The Doctor, Vicki and Steven journey over land and sea to make a date with history.
Characters/Pairings: First Doctor, Vicki, Steven Taylor
Warnings:None

Recced because: I should confess here and now that I had this story written for me in tardis_gen, but, it’s a high treat and no mistake - I can‘t miss it out. For starters it’s that rare creature in fic, a straight historical (set in early 20th C America). What’s more, it’s a straight, fun historical that features a undeservingly neglected TARDIS team and makes full use of their characters. Only Vicki would have the boundless enthusiasm needed to overcome the obstacles in their race against time, the Doctor’s love of the many old-fangled vehicles they encounter is charming and, as for Steven - well, his wish is what drives the story and to reveal it would spoil the ending. You’ll just have to read it and find out.

Story: Backspin
Author: Infinite Viking
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 1843
Author's Summary:He had been strong before. Now he was a menace. Peri and the Sixth Doctor, edging toward an understanding despite the usual interpolation of mortal peril.
Characters/Pairings: Sixth Doctor, Peri Brown
Warnings:None

Recced because: This story almost leaves me breathless in admiration every time I read it. It’s such a perfect summing up of Six and Peri‘s relationship with all its contradictions and complications. Not only that, but it’s so vividly written I can see and hear and all but touch everything and there’s a brief but excellently drawn alien race in the background. It’s also one of the best introductions I could think of to this TARDIS team, so don’t ignore it if you’re a stranger to Six and Peri. It's a polished gem of a fic.

Story: An Old Cliched Joke
Author:A Moment In Subtext
Rating:All Ages
Word Count: 316
Author's Summary:How many Doctors does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
Characters/Pairings: K-9, Rose Tyler, Tegan Jovanka, The Doctor (10th), The Doctor (1st), The Doctor (2nd), The Doctor (3rd), The Doctor (4th), The Doctor (5th), The Doctor (6th), The Doctor (7th), The Doctor (8th), The Doctor (9th)
Warnings: None, but absolutely not to be taken seriously…

Recced because:How about a joke for the middle of the week? Okay, then: how many Doctors does it take to change a light bulb?

Frankly, anything would be quicker than all ten of him. It’s a short, daft fic but the sly humour at the Doctors’ expense makes me grin every time I read it. It’s completely silly, but it works and I keep sneaking back to it when I need cheering up.

Story: Lux Lucis Quod Sanus
Author: ClocketPatch
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 2318
Author's Summary:Free will is only an illusion of the light, and nothing really exists in the dark, so what is he doing wrong? The Doctor and the Master have very different ways of seeing the world.
Characters/Pairings: First Doctor, Second Doctor, Tenth Doctor, Simm Master, Other Master
Warnings: None.

Recced because: This story is the sort of thing that fan fic exists for. ClocketPatch takes the Master and Doctor’s choice of screwdrivers (laser as opposed to sonic) and out of what was empty one-upmanship on the TV spins a beautifully written exploration of the two, their history and their fundamental differences. It's the kind of fic that makes you look at something you thought you knew and presents it in an entirely new light. (And did I say beautifully, beautifully written? Because it is.) I omitted this one last time because I assumed the next person along would be sure to rec it. I was wrong: I make good my mistake here. One to read, and read again.

Hi, I'm lost_spook (vvj5 on Teaspoon) and I'm delighted to be back again to rec for this week. It should be a fair mix of eras and stories - I hope that everyone finds something to enjoy here. Let's pull up the curtain and begin...

Story: With A Little Illumination
Author: st_aurafina
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 6269
Author's Summary: When an opera critic is torn limb from limb, the Brigadier suspects that more than just bruised egos are at play.
Characters/Pairings: Third Doctor, Josephine Grant, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, The Master
Warnings: None.

Recced because: It's note perfect (sorry) right down from the nod to Phantom in the title to Jo Grant getting to save the day at the climax in her own endearingly stubborn fashion. It's in one sense a glorious celebration of the UNIT era, and in another it plays games and pokes fun at the cliches - how can you not like a fic which opens with the Brigadier telling the Doctor he's had crossword experts scouring phone books for likely aliases for the Master? With a suitably sinister and elegant original Master up to one of his improbable schemes, the Brigadier being forced to attend the opera with Undercover Jo (don't tell Doris) and the Doctor being rather too noble for his own good, this shouldn't be missed. And if you're a stranger to 1970s DW, why not start here?

Besides, it's worth it just to discover the Brigadier's verdict on the Master's efforts at opera composition. (Isn't that a sentence you thought you'd never see?)

(I should add that this was written for the tardis_gen ficathon, which produced some fabulous stories not so long ago, and I more or less bullied st_aurafina into archiving it on Teaspoon so I could rec it here, which she kindly did - thanks!)

So! It's been a week since I started reccing and this is my chance to say goodbye, hope people have enjoyed the stories I recced! For my last rec, I shall leave you with an especially sweet fanfic. Eeeew.

Story: Job Hunting, Back Soon
Author: csg1
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 3528
Author's Summary: Being stuck in the past once again is taking its toll on Martha, and the Doctor's not helping. Blink!Fic.
Characters/Pairings: Tenth Doctor, Martha Jones
Warnings: None

Recced because: Living with the Doctor must be a terrible experience. After all, despite his best (?) efforts, he's not human and he doesn't really understand the finer points of humanity. Running away from dangers with him looks fun, but when our heroes are stuck in one place - say, 1969 - it's a disaster waiting to happen. Job Hunting, Back Soon is an extremely realistic approach to those months the Doctor and Martha spent stuck in 1969, and captures beautifully all those annoying little habits of flatmates, all those things the Doctor just can't understand, and the sort-of friendship between the Doctor and Martha. there's been a bunch of these - and quite some good ones, too - but this is definitely my favourite of all the stories of the genre I've read. It's not an excuse to ship Martha and the Doctor (canon! canon!), it doesn't try and make the Doctor a better person than he is in the show, or Martha... it's a brilliant piece and I really see it happening on screen, if Blink wouldn't've been slotted as the Doctor-light of series 3.

Story: Future-Perfet-In-Past
Author: Veldeia
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 13,564
Author's Summary: Dead Weevils and an unconscious Doctor amount to a mystery more challenging and less straightforward than usual for the Torchwood team.
Characters/Pairings: Tenth Doctor, Captain Jack Harkness, Owen Harper, Toshiko Sato, Gwen Cooper, Ianto Jones
Warnings: None

Recced because: Torchwood/ Doctor Who crossovers can be either extremely cool or extremely terrible. This one's definitely on the "extremely cool" side - a double mystery surrounding the Doctor and weevils (what else?) is at the centre of this lovely adventure. The best thing about this possible crossover is very apparent in this story - the tension between the Torchwood team (and their way of doing things) and the Doctor, who finds himself working with them in order to solve the mysteries: Torchwood are trigger-happy (as usual), the Doctor is condescending (as usual), and Jack is, well, Jack. This could have been treasured for the simple fact I find a lot of Doctor/Torchwood stories to be terrible, but it's actually a good, interesting, funny story, that leaves a fuzzy feeling once it's finished.

Story: Deep Focus
Author: Pete Galey
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 62,564
Author's Summary: Benny, Chris and Roz help the Doctor decide what to do when a priceless work of art falls into his hands. While they're distracted, something very important is stolen: themselves.
Characters/Pairings: Seventh Doctor, Bernice Summerfield, Christopher Cwej, Ros Forrester
Warnings: Swearing

Recced because: This is a long fic. A very long fic. And I'm starting with this "warning" because I usually feel exasperation at seeing such high word count and don't read the story. And yet, I've read this story at one sitting. The author's comment says this was an attempt at writing an original New Adventure. Well, it was, to my opinion, a complete success. This story starts as a series of small hints and pieces being thrown at the reader, but in a very well-thought way: the plot isn't at all obvious and yet not far-fetched, and the moment the penny dropped my response was "OH!" and it still felt completely satisfying (and really, I'm not just squeeing over the plot because my plotting tends to be fuzzy round the edges at the best of times...:)). Not to give too much away about the plot, our four heroes find themselves in a middle of nowhere without the Tardis, and have to understand what's going on around them - and survive it. The mystery is excellent, the character voices are spot on, and the feel is that of an authentic NA: it doesn't try to be an episode, but instead plays on the strength of a written story. Oh, and the prologue/ epilogue are properly haunting and touching, too. A must read for NA fans - and actually,not just NA fans.

Story: Six Lies The Doctor Told Jack (And One He Told Himself)
Author: A Moment In Subtext
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 636
Author's Summary: Jack is naive, in the same way that all humans are.
Characters/Pairings: Tenth Doctor/ Captain Jack Harkness. sort of.
Warnings: None

Recced because: As a Jack/Ten slasher with a fetish for canon, I'm usually a very frustrated fanfic reader. Either the slash's not right or the characters aren't. Maybe that's why this extremely long titled story really works for me - it's not really slash and it doesn't really adhere to canon. Instead, it does one of the most important things fanfics are here for, but rarely do well - it shows something that is usually only hinted at by a television show aired on 7 pm on Saturdays, and beautifuly highlights the Doctor himself.

Story: Au Revoir
Author: Von Quixote
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 949
Author's Summary: Post-Battlefield. After the fight, after the supper, the Doctor and the Brigadier share Scotch and extended metaphors.
Characters/Pairings: Seventh Doctor, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
Warnings: None

Recced because: I'm somewhat ambivalent about the Seventh Doctor. On the one hand, I more or less hate his on screen period. On the other, there are stories that just make me love reading about him, and this is one of them. Can't really say much more than is already said in the summary about what happens in the story - but I can definitely recommend wholeheartedly the story itself as a brilliant small character piece - the kind that is so required after such an episode as Battlefield. And, of course, the Brigadier, one of my favourite Who characters of all time. He makes a killer combination with every Doctor he interacts with, and this story is no exception.

Story: Paying For It
Author: JessLRynn
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 3897
Author's Summary: Jack should have stayed in bed that morning. Furious Time Lords, time machines behaving oddly, something you might have wondered about, and an impossible problem all come to breakfast. One shot.
Characters/Pairings: Captain Jack Harkness, Tenth Doctor, The Tardis, rest of Torchwood.
Warnings: none.

Recced because: Good crack fics are important, especially to maintain my sanity. Getting a crack!fic that has such a ridiculous set up but manages to keep characters in character and still be hilarious is a rare bonus, and Paying For It is one of these bonus stories. Jack suffers a surprise visit from the Doctor with some terrible - yet hilarious - news, has to listen to the biggest rant in history, and gives the reader some thoroughly entertaining lines - including a wonderful punchline. Basically, it just left a huge smile on my face the whole time I read it.

Hello! I'm Pitry and I shall be your reccer for this week (be afraid, be very afraid). I've decided to go this week with stories by authors who have never been recced before here on Calufrax, just to add a little bit more to the mix. 'Sides, it gives me an excuse to sign up for a second round later this year...

Story:Towing the Earth Home
Author:mamfidd82
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 1873
Author's Summary: After the events of 'Journey's End', two women move back into their lives. But for a moment, one moment there, they moved together.
Characters/Pairings: Martha/Tom, Rose/Duplicate Ten
Warnings: none.

Recced because: THe one thing I would fix/change about Journey's End is the nearly-non-existant interaction between Rose and Martha. mamfidd82's story doesn't fix JE's, and doesn't add interactions between these two, but rather shows what happens afterwards - two women who could have had the same life, each one thinking about the other. The really brilliant thing about this story is the love and respect shown to both characters - there are too many stories that downplay one character in favour of the other, but not this one - each character is played to its strength, each character gets to show just why she became a companion in the first place, and you can really feel the love the author has for both characters - and that makes the whole story just a joy to read.

My last rec, and thank you all for allowing me to share some of my favorite stories with you!

Story: Never Been Kissed
Author: digitalfletch
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 971
Author's Summary: Swapping stories with some mates leads Sarah to an unexpected discovery.
Characters/Pairings: Tenth Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith, Jack Harkness, Donna Noble, Martha Jones, Rose Tyler
Warnings: None

Recced because: It's always fun to get companions of the Doctor together, and what could be more convenient than when an episode does it for you? Written before "Journey's End" aired and now slightly AU, this story has Sarah, Jack, Donna, Martha and Rose all going off to a pub with the Doctor to celebrate their saving of the Earth. The companions are swapping stories of their travels when a little fact comes out, one small detail that sets Sarah apart -- she alone, out of all of them, has never been kissed by the Doctor. It's funny, it's fluffy, and it's well-written; sweet without being sappy.

( a teaser )

Story: Like Clockwork
Author: Primsong
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 283
Author's Summary: He's going to be here a long, long time.
Characters/Pairings: Third Doctor
Warnings: None

Recced because: When I think of the Third Doctor, I think of him running around with all the marvelous people of UNIT, helping them defend the Earth from the never-ending crop of alien invaders. What I often forget, though, is why he wound up working as UNIT's scientific advisor in the first place: because he was exiled, because his TARDIS was forcibly broken, and because his mind was altered to deny him the knowledge he needed to fix it, knowledge that he used to have. This story skillfully shows those feelings of exile and loss in less than 300 words, and it's heartbreaking. No matter how many times I read this story, the emotional impact of it never lessens.

( a taste )

Story: Memories Are Killing
Author: rollingstone
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 1977
Author's Summary: Shortly after the Time War, the Doctor decides to visit an old friend.
Characters/Pairings: Ninth Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith
Warnings: None

Recced because: This was one of the first stories I read on Teaspoon, and it remains one of my favorites. The newly regenerated Ninth Doctor needs to say goodbye to his former, more carefree life, and so he spies on an old and very dear friend, Sarah Jane (who is pre-School Reunion when he finds her). The story is poignant, perfectly capturing the Doctor's feelings of loneliness and loss, and it leaves a bit of an ache -- but it's a good ache.

( a sample )

Story: Romantic (With a Lowercase R)
Author: thirty2flavors
Rating: Author says Teen, but I'd say All Ages (PG, but not PG-13 if you're familiar with those ratings)
Word Count: 3079
Author's Summary: Besides, Rose was quite certain if there’d ever been a human celebration crafted to make the Doctor uncomfortable, it was probably Valentine’s Day. Rose held no delusions about him being the sort to enjoy candlelit dinners or long talks about feelings – he was, after all, still the man who’d said “quite right too”.
Characters/Pairings: The Duplicate Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler, Donna Noble (Pete's World version), Jake Simmonds
Warnings: None

Recced because: The Duplicate Tenth Doctor is a fascinating character, and there are many excellent fics out there that explore how he deals with learning to live as a human. Some of them are moving, some of them are thought-provoking, and some of them, like this one, are just plain fun. The author quickly and deftly establishes a scenario where the Doctor is in a stable relationship with Rose and best friends with alt!Donna, then sets up the premise: it's Valentine's Day. The Doctor is, of course, clueless. What follows is perfectly in character all the way around -- Donna in particular is wonderful -- and it's an absolute joy to read. The learning-to-be-human Doctor and Valentine's Day? Be afraid. Be very afraid.

( click here if you dare )

Story: Within, the Enemy
Author: AstroGirl
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 2634
Author's Summary: An AU branching off from the TV movie, in which the Master succeeds in taking over the Doctor's body.
Characters/Pairings: Eighth Doctor, the Master, Jo Grant
Warnings: None

Recced because: Assume the Master takes over the Doctor's body and inhabits it as his own. What happens next? This is an AU from the TV movie and thus an Eighth Doctor story, but it can be fully appreciated by anyone who's acquainted with the Master, including readers only familiar with New Who. (There's a brief moment with Josephine Jones -- nee Grant -- but all you need to know is that she is a former companion of the Doctor. There, now you know it.) The premise of the story allows for a fascinating exploration of the Doctor, the Master, and the Doctor/Master relationship, and the author doesn't disappoint, forging fearlessly ahead with a gripping and thought-provoking tale. Perhaps the author's most amazing accomplishment is that the plot is full of surprises, but at the very end there is a sense that everything that happened was in fact inevitable. And speaking of the end, there are no words to convey its utter brilliance. But you'll have time to try to think of some, because it's an ending that will stay with you for long after you've finished reading.

( an excerpt )

Story: A Row (Or Two)
Author: vvj5
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 1353
Author's Summary: On the usefulness of knitting in an emergency.
Characters/Pairings: Sixth Doctor, Evelyn Smythe
Warnings: None

Recced because: Six and Evelyn are locked in a cell and have a discussion about escaping and knitting (not necessarily in that order). Evelyn is a character from the Big Finish audios, and I have a confession to make: I have never heard a single one of those audios. But not only do I love this fic, it has made me want to go buy BF audios so I can get more Evelyn, and my only worry is whether the Big Finish people can possibly write as wonderfully as vvj5 does in this story. If you're like me and don't know the audios, don't worry, because no background knowledge is needed (and you don't need to know Six, either -- just the Doctor). The dialogue shines, and while I can't vouch for Evelyn's characterization, Six is captured perfectly.

( to tempt you )

Hello! I'm dbskyler, and I'll be your reccer for the week. I'll be bringing you a mix of recs -- New Who and Classic, gen and shippy, funny and fluffy and dark. I hope you find in these recs at least one new story you enjoy.

Story: The Utterly Non-Committal, Generic, All-Purpose Eleventh Doctor Story
Author: Magnus Greel
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 474
Author's Summary: Some things of some sort happen to a Doctor we don't know yet, and Unspecified Companion. They suffer greatly at the hands of some old enemy or historical figure or maybe a vacuum cleaner with a faulty wire causing it to blow up and emperil the universe. It's hard to say.
Characters/Pairings: Eleventh Doctor, Unspecified Companion
Warnings: None

Recced because: As the author says in the author's notes, "Writing for a Doctor we know nothing about yet poses certain difficulties." This story unabashedly plays it safe by simultaneously including every possible alternative in a brief but hilarious look at a future Eleventh Doctor adventure. What makes this fic so brilliant, though, is that in among the extremely funny "let's-cover-all-the-possibilities" jokes are some very specific predictions for the Doctor Who tropes we all know and love, and will definitely be seeing in the future!

( here, have a taste )

Huge apologies for the lateness of this last rec; my laptop suffered sudden power supply failure yesterday.

Story: No Exit (Everybody Lives)
Author: Bagheera
Rating: All Ages
Word count: 3,453
Author's summary: "No, this is a very exclusive establishment. Our own private ever after."
Characters/pairings: The Doctor (Tenth)/the Master (Simm)
Warnings: none

Recced because: This fic is a bit like one of those pictures they used to show us in elementary school, where depending on how you looked at it you saw either a pretty maiden or a crone. It could be fluff, if you like. Like the pictures, though, once you see its darker possibilities, it's hard to unsee them. For me, this quick, condensed little fic subtly plays on everything that makes the concept of "happily ever after" both disturbing and intoxicating. But whatever you take from it, it's a stunning piece of work.

( Excerpt )

Story: Infinite Probabilities
Author: professor pangaea
Rating: All Ages
Word count: 1,709
Author's summary: "Our most glorious experiences are a kind of regret. Our regret is so sublime that we may mistake it for triumph. It is the painful, plaintively sad surprise of our Genius remembering our past lives and contemplating what is possible." -- Henry David Thoreau
Characters/pairings: The Doctor (First), the Master, Susan
Warnings: none

Recced because: The characters and situation may be fantastic, but this captures all the grim mechanics and conflicting emotions of one of the most awful facts of life we ever face: Friendships can decay. Painful to read and worth it.

( Excerpt )

Story: Ghostmeat
Author: Cathica
Rating: All Ages
Word count: 2,612
Author's summary: A chronic meddler should always consider the worst-case scenario.
Characters/pairings: The Doctor (Tenth), Rose Tyler, Harriet Jones
Warnings: none

Recced because: The world can always use one more fic that plays with a bifurcation point in canon's timeline, or explores what being a time-sensitive might mean for the Doctor. This one does both.

In this particular worst-case scenario, Cathica traces out all the ramifications a slight shift in the events of The Christmas Invasion might have for the characters and their interactions. The picture ends up looking very, very different from the one we saw onscreen, but every step Ghostmeat takes to get there feels logical, inevitable. Rose and Harriet are particularly compelling here in the new, too-sharp triangle that unfolds between them and the Doctor when Ten does something—a small thing, comparatively—that makes good sense, coming from a man who's always liked to think that there should have been another way.

( Excerpt )