A Doctor Who Reccing Community

Title: Children of My Civilisation
Creator: patrexes and Shrrgnien (mylordshesacactus)
Rating: General Audiences
Word Count/Length/Size: 2,035 words
Creator's Summary:

Alone and afraid, Clara and the TARDIS share the most precious memory in all of time and space.

Meanwhile, Theta Sigma is kind of a dick.

Characters/Pairings: Doctor/TARDIS; various Doctors, Clara Oswald, Susan Foreman
Warnings/Notes: author tags "Xenophobia"; author's tags also include "Canon Backstory, All Three of Them! All at Once!" and "Two and Jamie Show Up For About Three Seconds It's a Thing"

Reasons for reccing: For Doctor/TARDIS in the Claim a Ship Seasonal Challenge.

Clara and the TARDIS are arguing and in danger, and the ship tries to communicate by sharing some of her memories. Most importantly, how she got herself stolen. The younger First Doctor and Susan are very well portrayed--I especially love the Doctor's combination of awe and panic about bonding with his ship--and Clara's perspective (not knowing what she's seeing, but plenty of opinions) is a really interesting way to approach it.

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/780195

Title: The Only Water in the Desert
Creator: BerylGrey
Rating: Teen and Up Audiences
Word Count/Length/Size: 4184 words
Creator's Summary: He didn't need to know. Nobody needed to know. She was Melanie Bush now, not Melody Pond.
Characters/Pairings: Sixth Doctor/Mel Bush, Seventh Doctor/Mel Bush, River Song (as Mel)
Warnings/Notes:

Reasons for reccing: For 1986 and the introduction of Melanie Bush, here's one of my favorite very recent pieces of Mel-and-Six-fic. Based on a longstanding crack theory ('Melanie Bush' could not sound more like 'Melody Pond had to come up with an alias quickly' if you tried!), this is both really moving and makes a surprising amount of continuity sense. It's a great exploration of Mel's character that thereby adds new layers to River's.

Also for the Multi-Era theme!

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51341845/chapters/129732031

Title: Barcelona
Creator: KelinciHutan
Rating: All Ages
Word Count/Length/Size: 2312 words
Creator's Summary: After Necros, Peri and the Doctor spend some time wandering together on an alien planet.
Characters/Pairings: Sixth Doctor, Peri Brown
Warnings/Notes: none

Reasons for reccing: For 1985, this is a lovely episode tag for that year's Revelation of the Daleks. Peri and the Doctor enjoy a quieter adventure and talk over some of the loose ends from their brush with the Daleks. Lots of fun banter and the Doctor worrying and caring about Peri.

Link: https://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=21283

Title: untitled
Creator: Heimeldat / Heimeldat
Rating: unrated (I'd give it a strong T for blood)
Word Count/Length/Size: 1 painting
Creator's Summary: a realistic digital painting from the climax of Vampire Science.
Characters/Pairings: Eighth Doctor, Joanna Harris
Warnings/Notes: blood and injury

Reasons for reccing: For the Reccer's Bingo square "injury/illness." This is an excellent rendition of Eight doing what he apparently does best--defeating villains by allowing horrific injury to be inflicted upon himself. Heimeldat's really good at capturing what's compelling about these angsty moments, and I particularly love this painting because it gives a face to Joanna Harris, an otherwise text-only character.

It also completes a line in my Reccer's Bingo!


Link: https://heimeldat.tumblr.com/post/723234722401107968/i-finished-this-painting-im-sooooo-happy-with

Title: The Knots that Bind
Creator: glompcat
Rating: General Audiences
Word Count/Length/Size: 2134 words
Creator's Summary: Getting tied up was an occupational hazard, but this was knot how Romana expected her day to go...
Characters/Pairings: Fourth Doctor/Romana II, followed by Eighth Doctor/Romana II
Warnings/Notes: none

Reasons for reccing: For the "Accidental Marriage" square in my Reccers' Bingo. It's a cute and pretty fluffy story where some guards tie up the Doctor and Romana (as usual) but accidentally use a ceremonial knot used in Gallifreyan weddings. They decide it doesn't have to count... but then, on the other hand, it could... Lots of very in-character banter and fun Gallifreyan worldbuilding.

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/34919116/chapters/86954761


Title: Renewal
Creator: CeruleanTactician
Rating: General Audiences
Word Count/Length/Size: 3657 words
Creator's Summary:

The Doctor and Charley accidentally get married after a misunderstanding on an alien planet.

It doesn’t have to mean anything. Not unless they want it to.

Characters/Pairings: Eighth Doctor/Charley Pollard
Warnings/Notes: none

Reasons for reccing: Also for the "Accidental Marriage" square. Eight and Charley were made for this trope, with their spectacularly ambiguous will-they-won't-they-are-they-aren't-they relationship, and this fic hits all the right notes, with the Doctor hilariously blasé about their accidental marriage and Charley unsure what to make of any of it. The alien planet is beautifully described, too. And the epilogue is adorable!

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/40875777


Title: Hitch in the Proceedings
Creator: thisbluespirit
Rating: General Audiences
Word Count/Length/Size: 530 words
Creator's Summary: Seven, Ace, a mysterious alien rite, and sadly no explosions.
Characters/Pairings: Seventh Doctor & Ace McShane
Warnings/Notes: none

Reasons for reccing: If Seven and Ace meet a trope, the trope is likely to end up in flaming bits all over the place... A cute and hilarious platonic subversion of the accidental marriage trope. I especially appreciated the punchline.

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5669533

Title: Animus Revertendi
Creator: QuokkaMocha
Rating: T
Word Count/Length/Size: 50k words
Creator's Summary: The Valeyard has come to Rohelian 4 to secure himself a new body, having lost his last one on Gallifrey. His plan was to land, collect his order, then skip off without paying but instead, he's caught up in a siege as the Rohelian Genetic Engineering Facility is held hostage by an alien war fleet.
Characters/Pairings: The Valeyard, OFC (pre-ship, but it's very slow burn across multiple stories, and this story is essentially gen)
Warnings/Notes: canon-typical violence, non-sexual slavery. This story follows on from QuokkaMocha's previous story Trial and Error, which establishes their version of the Valeyard's backstory but doesn't introduce the OC, and is part of the ongoing series Doctor Who: Darker Side. However, Animus Revertendi is perfectly readable alone.

Reasons for reccing: For the bingo space "Original Characters."

This fic features a post-Trial Valeyard who's trying to carve out his own identity: he's definitely not the Doctor, but he doesn't want to be just the Doctor's shadow either. Meanwhile, Solitaire was genetically engineered to be the perfect nanny, but was returned to store for flaws like "talking back" and "thinking for herself" and now works customer service for the company that produced her. The Valeyard initially wants nothing to do with her, but she sees him as a glimpse of a bigger life than she'll ever have. But then, of course, events throw them together...

QuokkaMocha's character writing is incredible. Solitaire is so alive, complicated and realistic. I love how she's sharp, clever, and emotionally intelligent, but limited by her limited experience of life. She and the Valeyard are on wonderfully parallel journeys, both trying to find an identity and a way of life outside the oppressive systems that created them, so although they have very different personalities they work incredibly well together. I particularly like that she doesn't start out with any very clear idea of what she wants to escape to, or even specific plans to run away--she just has this sense that there could be more to life, and then she responds with courage and curiosity as things kick off. I also like the Valeyard's slow exploration of the idea that there are ways to exist outside the framework of being either "the Doctor" or "the opposite of the Doctor." He starts out trying to be very self-sufficient, very much an island--snarky, prickly, pessimistic, and often unpleasant--but he slowly admits that while he never meant to take a companion, maybe he can have a friend...

Solitaire is perfect companion material and I love her. And if she gets the Valeyard instead of the Doctor--well, he needs her, and she wouldn't trade him!

Honestly, if I had to pick only one fic ever to reread, it genuinely might be this one. It would be a hard choice, but it might be this one.

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/34803979/chapters/86663257

(My alternative rec for "Original Characters" would be Cheer Up, Emo Time Moppet by LizBee, but I recommended that fairly recently on a spree of Romana recs, so I won't repeat myself. Same goes for The Light of Neustern by GrafEdelweiss, come to think of it.)

(Note on tagging: I hope it's OK to use both the type: gen and type: het tags. The fic is tagged on AO3 in the gen category but also has the Valeyard/OFC relationship tag.)

Title: Practical Mythology
Creator: lyricwritesprose
Rating: G
Word Count/Length/Size: 14,190 words
Creator's Summary: Jack Harkness is a conman and a survivor. He doesn't believe in legends. And he shouldn't be running towards the invisible menace—but he is.
Characters/Pairings: Jack Harkness, Ninth Doctor, Rose Tyler
Warnings/Notes: Graphic Depictions of Violence. Couple of allusions to Jack’s sexual exploits, but nothing shown on the page—just slightly more detail than you’d get on the show.

Reasons for reccing: I want to rec this fic for the “Rumour Has It” monthly theme because of how it explores the Doctor’s character from the perspective of Jack’s second-hand, legendary knowledge of Time Lords and of the War. It’s also about Jack’s character arc, and how his view of the Doctor changes as he learns more about both the Doctor and himself. I love stories where characters have their expectations of each other subverted, and this is very much one of those, in a tremendously hopeful and thoughtful way. Oh, and there’s also a great action plot!

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11044143/chapters/24619131

Title: The Edge of Frustration
Creator: DBC_82
Rating: G
Word Count/Length/Size: 9421 words
Creator's Summary: The TARDIS is traversing a dangerous region of space-time, but the Doctor assures Ace they're perfectly safe. Instead they go exploring deep in the heart of the TARDIS only to encounter the most unexpected pair, a pretty Northern schoolteacher and her best friend, a man with the angriest eyebrows Ace has ever seen...

The Doctor is having a very bad day. Both of him.

Characters/Pairings: Seventh Doctor, Ace McShane, Twelfth Doctor, Clara Oswald
Warnings/Notes: none

Reasons for reccing: A really delightful multi-Doctor story: great voices for everyone, wonderful character moments, and some fun TARDIS lore too. I feel like the character list pretty much sells itself, and the fic delivers! I especially loved Ace meeting Twelve, and Ace and Clara are also a very interesting pair. And of course, Seven and Twelve bite each other's heads off in the Doctor's own inimitable fashions.


Link: The Edge of Frustration

Title: How to Fall, How to Rise
Creator: kaffyrutsky
Rating: T
Word Count/Length/Size: 1297 words
Creator's Summary: Curiosity is definitely overrated: Clara's thoughts with and about Missy, during "The Witch's Familiar."
Characters/Pairings: Clara Oswald, Missy, Twelfth Doctor
Warnings/Notes: some violence as in the episode

Reasons for reccing: This is a fantastic character study of Clara, Missy, the Doctor, and the weird relationships among all of them. Plus, it builds on Clara's experiences with (/as) Daleks in a really interesting way!

This rec counts both for the seasonal challenge (Claim a Character, for Clara) and the monthly theme (the Master).

Link: How to Fall, How to Rise

Title: Silver Lining
Creator: lydiagwilt
Rating: T
Word Count/Length/Size: 14213 words
Creator's Summary: Romana, Leela and Narvin step through the portal into an alternate Gallifrey. Things start to go downhill from there.
Characters/Pairings: Romana II, Leela, Narvin
Warnings/Notes: canon-typical violence, torture & suffering

Reasons for reccing: It's a great day when you wake up to find someone has out of the blue posted a brand-new 10k+ story in your favorite small fandom. This is the author's first fic in the fandom, apparently, and what a debut! It's a story set during Gallifrey series 4, largely building on the aftermath of the spoilery thing that happens to Narvin in Reborn, but it does a fantastic job exploring the character of each member of the trio and strengthening the relationships between them. (Honestly, from the beginning of it I expected it to be mainly Narvin Must Suffer, and while he does indeed suffer I was blown away at how well-balanced among the three of them the fic felt.) The worldbuilding of the alternate Gallifrey is also fascinating, and plays on the symbolism and themes introduced in the show in some really interesting ways.

I'm also going to try to make it fit the TV Tropes Challenge theme "Decoy Getaway," in that there are both lookalikes and getaways, although the lookalikes do make the getaway harder, unfortunately for our heroes.

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/36651829/chapters/91423264

Title: untitled (Fourth and Sixth Doctor portraits)
Creator: doccywhomst
Rating: unrated (G)
Word Count/Length/Size: two art pages
Creator's Summary: two adorable yet highly unnerving clowns named ‘baker’ that i will henceforth continue to draw until the sun burns out
Characters/Pairings: Fourth Doctor, Sixth Doctor
Warnings/Notes: none

Reasons for reccing: As soon as I saw this month's theme, I thought of Doccywhomst's version of Six's blue coat. It's so chaotic and vivid and glowing and fun, and unlike the simplified animation in Real Time, it's just as ridiculous as the TV costume--just in shades of blue. In this portrait piece, he's back-to-back with an equally chaotic and gorgeous portrait of Four. It's a very Doctorish piece of art.

Also, his lapel pin is a cat with a knife.


Link: https://doccywhomst.tumblr.com/post/660053262075101184/two-adorable-yet-highly-unnerving-clowns-named
and for a closeup of the cat-with-a-knife pin: https://doccywhomst.tumblr.com/post/660085086389207040/i-did-the-thing

Title: Rewind and Repeat
Creator:nostalgia
Rating: T
Word Count/Length/Size: 1926 words
Creator's Summary: Going to dinner with someone outside of the proper sequence of events is not a risk to be repeated.
Characters/Pairings: Tenth Doctor/Romana I, Tenth Doctor/Romana II, background Fourth Doctor/Romana
Warnings/Notes: none

Reasons for reccing: This is the sort of bizarre, topsy-turvy, slightly messed-up, very sad romance that only time travel can give you. A post-Time-War Tenth Doctor meets Romana--the one still travelling with his former self. Is it cheating to go out with a future version of your partner behind the current version's back? Regardless of whether you think it is or isn't (the characters aren't sure, either), there's still only one way this can end, and it's sad and beautiful.

One of the things I love about science fiction is how it can make our metaphors literal. Who hasn't thought, in the midst of grief, "If only I could go back, if only I could see them one more time, have one more day with them, say the thing I never said?" This fic explores those longings in a really moving way.

And my favorite aliens kiss each other.


Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33199978

Title: some pain would leave a heart
Creator: miafey
Rating: Teen
Word Count/Length/Size: 1094 words
Creator's Summary: Romana runs herself into the ground. The Doctor is less than impressed.
Characters/Pairings: Seventh Doctor/Romana II
Warnings/Notes: portrayal of PTSD

Reasons for reccing: I've personally written over half the Seven/Romana tag, having fallen hard for this particular combination, but I'm not the only one! This follows up on the Big Finish audio The Apocalypse Element, but detailed knowledge of that audio isn't required for the fic--just the context that Romana was a Dalek prisoner on Etra Prime for twenty years, she was rescued by the Doctor, they never had a proper talk, and now she's the Lord President.

This is a fix-it for the lack of closure between them in TAE, an exploration of Romana's motivations and issues with Gallifrey, and a showcase of all the ways in which the Doctor and Romana are actually kind of incompatible--and why they're still somehow perfect for each other. The Seventh Doctor and Romana II feel so well-matched to me, true equals, the President of Gallifrey and Time's Champion, who have been through so much separately and together.

This fic is wonderfully angsty but the ending is soft and lovely, especially if you, like Romana, need a hug.

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33960823

Title: Hearts and FLowers
Creator: JJPOR
Rating: All Ages
Word Count/Length/Size: 973 words
Creator's Summary: Love triangles can be a terrible thing, especially when one of the corners is a tin dog.
Characters/Pairings: Fourth Doctor/Romana I
Warnings/Notes: none

Reasons for reccing:
There are surprisingly few actual straight-up Fourth Doctor/Romana I fics. I'm not entirely surprised--I used to headcanon that they didn't get together until between Destiny of the Daleks and City of Death--but, well, *gestures at icon*. But my goal is to rec fics for as many different versions of this pairing as possible, so I wanted to start here.

This fic hits a lot of the notes I love: it's funny, it's sweet, it's restful in the way this pairing can only be when Romana doesn't have the weight of a world on her shoulders yet, it's got K9 in it, there's that hilarious quasi-culture-clash between a Time Lord who's crazy about Earth and a Time Lady who thinks he must be crazy full stop. They're both shy about their feelings in their very different ways but they end up managing to communicate. Partially via poetry.


Link: https://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=35588