Rec: A Family Affair, by bagheera
Story: A Family Affair
Author: bagheera
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 19860 (still planning to podfic it!)
Author's Summary: Leela and Narvin in a buddycop story, set between 3.4 "Mindbomb" and 3.5. "Panacea"
Characters/Pairings: K-9, Leela, Narvin, Romana II, various excellent OCs
Declaration of interest: I not only ran the ficathon that spawned this fic, I also betaed it.
Recced because: When Gallifrey the series is good it has a cracking whodunnit type plot (where whodunnit is taken for whobetrayedme/whoissecretlyonmyside) and lots of cracking dialogue between people who either dislike each other but are pretending not to, or respect each other but find the other person utterly exasperating. The series is very funny, and very engaging, and it reaches its height in series 3. This brilliant fic should be a real episode of Gallifrey, because it has everything that a good episode of Gallifrey should have (except an appearance from Braxiatel). Then again, as an interpretation of the buddycop genre it's perfect, giving our protagonists, the free-spirited hunter and the by-the-book spy, time to get to know each other and misunderstand one another in between its action set pieces. It also works as Gallifrey-lover fan-service, featuring (almost) all our favourite Gallifrey regulars and lots of original characters, who all feel like favourite characters we've just not noticed in previous episodes. It also gives Narvin a convincing and compelling backstory, and fleshes out Leela's relationship with Andred. Some absolutely hilarious things happen, and the dialogue is pitch-perfect. I know it's long, but don't let that put you off. It won't feel that long.
Excerpt:
“When I entered basic training, I found this immensely frustrating. Machines don’t dissemble or act illogically. They obey their own laws to a fault. You can be a perfectly good data technician without ever coming across a moral dilemma. As a spy, you don’t just have to make compromises. You have to compromise yourself. You can’t afford trust or friendship or honour. To uphold your most precious ideals, you sometimes have to betray them. That’s what Andred tried to do, and it broke him. It would break you too, if you ever tried it.”
“It did not break you.”
Narvin glanced at Leela, unsure if that was a question, or a statement, or an expression of doubt.
“No,” he said. “I find it doesn’t affect me very much.”
As part of pod_aware I have recorded yesterday's rec, ceremony for the living, which can be downloaded here.
Author: bagheera
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 19860 (still planning to podfic it!)
Author's Summary: Leela and Narvin in a buddycop story, set between 3.4 "Mindbomb" and 3.5. "Panacea"
Characters/Pairings: K-9, Leela, Narvin, Romana II, various excellent OCs
Declaration of interest: I not only ran the ficathon that spawned this fic, I also betaed it.
Recced because: When Gallifrey the series is good it has a cracking whodunnit type plot (where whodunnit is taken for whobetrayedme/whoissecretlyonmyside) and lots of cracking dialogue between people who either dislike each other but are pretending not to, or respect each other but find the other person utterly exasperating. The series is very funny, and very engaging, and it reaches its height in series 3. This brilliant fic should be a real episode of Gallifrey, because it has everything that a good episode of Gallifrey should have (except an appearance from Braxiatel). Then again, as an interpretation of the buddycop genre it's perfect, giving our protagonists, the free-spirited hunter and the by-the-book spy, time to get to know each other and misunderstand one another in between its action set pieces. It also works as Gallifrey-lover fan-service, featuring (almost) all our favourite Gallifrey regulars and lots of original characters, who all feel like favourite characters we've just not noticed in previous episodes. It also gives Narvin a convincing and compelling backstory, and fleshes out Leela's relationship with Andred. Some absolutely hilarious things happen, and the dialogue is pitch-perfect. I know it's long, but don't let that put you off. It won't feel that long.
Excerpt:
“When I entered basic training, I found this immensely frustrating. Machines don’t dissemble or act illogically. They obey their own laws to a fault. You can be a perfectly good data technician without ever coming across a moral dilemma. As a spy, you don’t just have to make compromises. You have to compromise yourself. You can’t afford trust or friendship or honour. To uphold your most precious ideals, you sometimes have to betray them. That’s what Andred tried to do, and it broke him. It would break you too, if you ever tried it.”
“It did not break you.”
Narvin glanced at Leela, unsure if that was a question, or a statement, or an expression of doubt.
“No,” he said. “I find it doesn’t affect me very much.”
As part of pod_aware I have recorded yesterday's rec, ceremony for the living, which can be downloaded here.