From the Archives
We hope you're all having a lovely "vacation" - we know we are. Today we're giving you a bit of a mixed bag of reviews from three of the four areas of the Whoniverse. We'd also like to introduce you to two of our new reviewers: time_converges and tardismate. Welcome, ladies! We're very happy to have you on board.
We'll have more reviews from the various categories of Rounds One and Two for you in the next few days, as well as additional reviewers to introduce.
Today's Featured Stories Include:
*
Mirror Image by JayTheNerdKid Link goes to Teaspoon
Category: Dark in Classic Who
Characters: Seven Doctor, Mel, Ace, Ninth Doctor
Rating: Teen
Details: Short story, one-shot, dark.
Why It Rocks:
What led the Doctor down the road towards the Time War? What started him down the path to become the man who can destroy his planet and survive? JayTheNerdKid explores this through a series of visions. The Seventh Doctor sees his future in the mirror and wonders why he's being haunted by someone who shouldn't yet exist.
We see snippets of Seven's life, of the decisions he makes and how his companions react, but most of all we see those events reflected in the eyes of the Ninth Doctor, always, always seen in a mirror or a dream. Or felt, just hidden within the shadows.
"It all starts with you," he says, and vanishes before you can ask what he means.
But what starts with him? What is it that the Seventh Doctor could possibly do that could lead to becoming someone who looks like that?
It's the small things, first. The lies spoken, the manipulations, culminating in this:
"Kill her," you say, making your voice as cold as possible, ignoring as best you can the voice that screams that's Ace, you're hurting Ace, you can't, you have to stop. You tell yourself you're saving her, saving the universe, freeing her from Fenric, but the anguish in her voice is tearing at you and you have no choice but to harden your heart against it. One girl or the universe. You don't have a choice.
You apologise later, but the apology cannot erase from your mind's eye the sight of Ace, your dear, precious, brave, wonderful, faithful Ace, falling to her knees, defeated. You have broken her, and it is all your fault.
Is that it? Is that why he kept seeing his future self in the mirror? Does it begin with Ace?
That's when he learns the truth. Years later, he can trace it back to that single moment when he broke his best friend for the so-called greater good.
A lifetime ago, you became the sort of man who would hurt the one person who meant the most to you in the entire universe for the greater good, and it has come back to haunt you. Gallifrey or the universe. You don't have a choice.
That's who he is. Who he's become. He isn't seeing the future in the mirror, he sees himself. And that's what makes this story so incredibly haunting. It will stay with you long after you finish reading it. It absolutely deserves the award it won, because it's haunting, it's dark, and it is absolutely wonderful.
*
We Drew Our Own Constellations by biggrstaffbunch
Category: Ten/Rose in New Who
Characters: The Doctor (10.5), Rose Tyler
Rating: PG
Details: Post Journey's End, Pete's World short story.
Why It Rocks:
The first few weeks following Journey's End, there was a virtual explosion of Pete's World stories. I, for one, know I nearly drowned myself, soaking them all up, to the point where I could barely remember what happened in which fic, let alone who wrote what. One of the wonderful aspects of rec lists and awards is that someone takes your hand and leads you back to the gems you may have lost. I was delighted to find Biggrstaffbunch's We Drew Our Own Constellations again, and it still stands out as one of the absolute best TenII/Rose stories.
Biggrstaffbunch's tale provides a series of glimpses as Rose and her new, new, new Doctor navigate their new life together. There is a period of adjustment as they find their feet, but the characters never sit around and wallow in their angst, instead they choose to discover their path through the act of living.
The Doctor must learn how to function again on the slow path as a human, and he does so through some glorious experimentation. There are adventures in nail polish, and of course some fiddling with home technology, including blowing up the microwave. Best of all, there is joyous dancing in the rain:
"Feel that, Rose?" he asks, through a snuffly nose and blinking eyes. "That's the sound of a heartbeat drumming into the ground. That's raindrops and lollipops and rainbows! That's just--that's brilliant--"
This is an episode that is pure classic Doctor glee, but is followed by human Doctor feverish coughing, sneezing, and saltine munching. He is something new, but not entirely different. And he is struggling to understand himself, but without falling into too much maudlin self-reflection. Instead, this Doctor seems to appreciate the ups and downs of life, and tackles situations with his trademark mix of realism and optimism.
But this is not a story just about the Doctor. Wonderfully, Biggrstaffbunch reflects the changes that have taken place in him, with the changes that have also happened in his relationship with Rose. Just like the Doctor himself, their life together is now a mix of alien and domestic. They meet an alternate version of Jack, which brings up the always delicate issue of gingerbread houses and what could have been. They also share popcorn make up dialogue for late-night foreign films.
My favourite though, is the juxtaposition of the two final scenes. Rose and the Doctor banter over having to dress as Tweedledum and Tweedledee for one of Jackie's costume parties. Then they banter just as fabulously as they run for their lives from a giant mutant banana. In both cases the characters and their dialogue is brilliant and spot on. A sample because it's too good not to quote:
"It's already an alien!" Rose snaps, tugging the Doctor's hand in the universal/interdimensional sign for 'run faster, you crazy loon'. "You can't alienate an alien, that's a completely redundant play on words and oh my god, how do giant mutant bananas even run?!"
"No, no, giant mutant bananas are different than aliens, and anyway, it is possible to alienate aliens because aliens are people, too, except they're not, are they, and actually, it's sort of a sensitive issue about the legs," the Doctor pants as he runs alongside her, his fingers squeezing hers and his coat flapping behind him.
Finally, let's take a moment to appreciate the genius of the title. This is not random song reference, because the name sounds cool. Although, it is very cool sounding, indeed. We Drew Our Own Constellations the story reflects the themes from the Jack Johnson lyrics with a wonderfully subtle touch. There a few direct references, as Rose and the Doctor begin the tale, sitting on the beach, holding hands and gazing up at the evening sky. And later, months later, when Rose suggests they share stories about the stars.
The specific allusions help to reinforce the overall message: Rose and her Doctor are finding their way together. And they are not walking a path that has been directed for them; instead they are discovering their own journey. There are many stories these two could choose to live, but no matter what happens they are drawing their own constellations.
*
Lost Woman Song by apiphile
Category: Gwen Cooper in Torchwood
Characters: Gwen Cooper, Rhys Williams, Team Torchwood
Rating: PG
Details: Single-part, complete, mostly a character study of Gwen.
Why It Rocks:
Because, even in the first few paragraphs, this fic helped me to understand Gwen in a way I never have in two complete seasons. She’s a flawed character - as they all are - but apiphile paints her flaws and all and still renders her sympathetic and interesting. It’s also strongly Gwen/Rhys, and this story completely gets what I love Rhys for: his ordinary-bloke nature and his patient acceptance of who Gwen is and what she does for a living, no matter how weird it seems to him.
In the very first line, Gwen wakes up screaming. When that was followed in the very second paragraph by this:
Rhys is a miracle, Gwen thinks, when his only response to her waking up yelling is to mutter, "Go back to sleep, you daft woman, there are no little green men in here," before giving up and getting up bare-arsed naked in the night to make her an especially milky cup of tea.
I knew I was reading something extraordinary. First, without even saying so, apiphile tells us that Gwen waking up screaming isn’t at all unusual. Yes, what she does at work isn’t just something she takes in her stride. Second, Rhys - so very much in character - is intensely refreshing. Surely this is why their marriage works: because Gwen, being less single-mindedly geeky than Tosh or Owen or even Ianto, needs something, someone, outside Torchwood to keep her grounded. Rhys is surely as different from her Torchwood colleagues as she could get:
He's crude and ridiculous and not always bright, and he's gobby and he eats like a locust and he makes her laugh until she cries, so easily, so easily. And she loves him with a fierce possessiveness that borders on the demented; when he lies across the bottom of the bed and pretends to bite her toes. When he rests his head on her thigh and says, "How many worlds do you reckon there are?" and "Have you met many aliens?" and "What do they look like?" with the eager excitement of a child, unafraid and interested; he knows it's dangerous but he has accepted that Gwen will be okay on trust; Jack told him so. Rhys trusts Jack because Gwen trusts Jack. That's all.
By the time I read the above paragraph I was already in love with this story, but apiphile goes one better and shows us the other characters through Gwen’s eyes, highlighting what sets Gwen apart from them in doing so:
She's always found it easier to be friends with men, and it's kind of a self-fulfilling cycle, now - the closer she is to men, the less women trust her; jealousy, her Mam said, but it changes nothing about how it feels. Gwen talks to people by touching them, that's just … how things are, and because Tosh so plainly dislikes anyone touching her, Gwen's stuck on the outside.
This must of course be Gwen’s fatal flaw: what led her to that doomed-from-the-start affair with Owen, to her ongoing crush on Jack.
Gwen is, after all, a people person. Hence the awkward relationship with Tosh, who won’t allow closeness. Hence her observations of Ianto, likened to an onion, all compressed repression and polite shutdowns and personal space, but also a chameleon: Reserved for Tosh. Invisible for Owen. Open for her. Sarcastic and evasive and slightly flirtatious for Jack.
And then there’s Owen, also cleverly observed from Gwen’s perspective:
She can't stand the way he has to show how much he doesn't care by making fun of everyone who does, and it doesn't always help to know that it's just his way of coping, just his way of not being afraid. Obvious, yeah, that if Owen doesn't care about anyone then he won't have to lose someone he cares about, but Gwen can't see how you'd live like that and not go crazy.
Or not be able to sustain any kind of relationship, of course. Now, with this insight, it has to be obvious to Gwen why the affair was ill-fated right from the beginning.
There’s Martha’s brief appearance in the team, and Jack being less than perfect again, and also again towards the end: how many times has Gwen had to admit to herself that he has feet of clay, that maybe even if she could have him for herself he couldn’t make her happy? And there’s the Nostrovite pregnancy, which brings her back to Rhys, to where the story started, which reminds her why he’s perfect for her: as she has nightmares about unwanted foetuses, he pretends unconcern for their future family and only concern for her.
And she’s still waking up at nights sweating from nightmares, with Rhys her only comfort against the daily and nightly horrors of her life, much as she loves it.
This fic absolutely deserves its winning place, because it did for me what I didn’t think possible: it helped me to understand Gwen instead of judging her, as I too often tend to do. It shows her as an ordinary person living a life many of us would be too scared even to contemplate, something of a square peg in a round hole personality-wise - and, whatever about skills for the job, fitting in is such an important criterion of success. And it reminds us that everyone needs someone to go home to, someone who’ll get out of bed, naked or not, in the middle of the night to make a cup of tea because you’ve dreamed there’re aliens in your bedroom again. I wish I’d read this fic before voting, because then I’d have been able to tell you to go and vote for it, and mean it.
*
Inciting Arousal by sinecure Link goes to Teaspoon
Category: PWP in New Who
Characters: Nine, Rose
Rating: Adult
Details: Word count: 7230 Characters: Nine/Rose In this case, the first P of PWP does not stand for Plot ;)
Why It Rocks:
Sinecure takes the age-old ‘alien aphrodisiac’ cliché, and weaves it into this story so subtly and cleverly, it isn’t until you reach the last few sentences that you realise it’s actually in there. I had to go back and read it again, just to make sure (and that’s my excuse...) I’m a huge fan of the old clichés, you know the ones...alien aphrodisiac made ‘em do it...omg we gotta shag or you die, etc...but so many stories are so obvious about it (not complaining, honest! I’m as big a culprit as anyone else!) that it’s rare to find a gem like this, where the characterisations are so spot-on, and the interplay between them is completely believable, that the cliché is not immediately apparent.
The story itself is based around a visit back to the Powell Estate, so Rose can spend Christmas with Jackie. As expected, the Doctor is not particularly enamoured of that idea, but goes along with it anyway, just to make his companion happy. As they land, another Tardis is already there...and a glimpse of the future shows the Doctor that he really doesn’t have much time left with Rose. Back in the Tardis, Rose surprises him with a gift, and he rather ungraciously accepts it; a watch, which reminds him that time is something he no longer has much of in this body. It is thought-provoking to say the least; why a watch, especially when she knows he has an innate time-sense? Is she, too, sensing that time is short where her Doctor is concerned?
The watch is incongruous - a Mickety Mouse character portrayed on its face. Not a Mickey, but a Mickety. A portent, perhaps, of things to come. A sign also that Rose is still just a human teenager, and reminding him that she is quite definitely much too young for him to consider her in the way he had been; that his thoughts and wishes in that direction are completely inappropriate. Not wanting to upset her, in return for her gift, he fishes in his pockets for something to give her, and she is delighted with the apparent ring he has produced. He, in his head of course, rationalises that it’s only a coupling, but is pleased at her reaction...however, what happens next takes him completely by surprise. The little details like this are the things that stand out in this story - we know that his time as his ninth self is limited, but we see the dawning realisation in his mind; and that made my heart ache for him.
There is an inherent sadness hidden behind the joy of finally giving in and loving each other; he knows his time is now short with his beloved Rose, and that slips through. You will be fanning yourself at just how hot these two are together, whilst having tears prickling at your eyes at the thought they will not have each other like this for very much longer. It makes you miss Nine fiercely, and inspires a burst of creativity (at least in my case it did) - he was with us for such a short time, but left us with the lasting legacy of a wonderful character to write.
I love a smut!fic, but for me the characters and situations have to be believable; to ring true - in short, something you would happily imagine could exist in an episode, were the show to be made for an adult audience. Which this one does. Effortlessly. Masterfully. Like this...
‘Was there ever a time when he wasn't willing to give her anything she wanted? When he didn't want to simply live his life to please her? When taking a trip in the TARDIS meant more than watching Rose's face and feeling her happiness radiate from her body into his?
If there was, he didn't remember it.
His life, since meeting Rose Tyler, consisted merely of pleasing her. Keeping her happy. Seeing her smile.’
And this...
‘It was different with Rose. Oh, he cared about everyone, cared about all of his companions-- even Jack, asleep in his room after last night's drunken bout of sex with who knew what sort of species. He'd even loved a few in ways that were frowned upon by the council.
But he'd never been in love with one this deeply.
Sometimes he liked to attribute it to her having saved him from a life of loneliness. That she'd pulled him up by his bootstraps and made him see that the Universe wasn't a cold and lonely place.
Other times, he thought it was because she was so young and full of life and eagerness, the way he used to be, once upon a few centuries ago.
Truthfully, it was all of that, and so much more. There were so many reasons to love Rose Tyler. So many whys and hows and therefores that he'd lost track of them over the months. He just knew that he did, and that he had to keep it to himself, because, though he knew she was attracted to him like a moth to a flame, or a bear to honey, he also knew that he would end up hurting her, if not out and out destroying her.
So he kept his distance, stayed out of the domestics of her family and friends, and maintained a healthy distance from Rose herself.’
To me, that is the essence of this story - the undisclosed love and UST that Nine had for his Rose and vice versa, put into words so beautifully and eloquently that when it finally does describe (quite graphically, thank you very much!) them consummating that love, it doesn’t feel wrong or out of place; it feels right somehow...and not smutty just for the sake of it. They aren’t just having sex, they’re making love, and the difference is monumental. And did I mention that it’s hot. Very hot. Scorching, in fact.
If there were a category for beautiful smut, then this would be the template all others would be judged by.
Go. Read. Enjoy. But take some sort of coolant with you - you will need it. Seriously.
*
Hypothetically Speaking by shining_moment
Category: Ten/Donna in New Who
Characters: The Tenth Doctor, Donna Noble, original characters
Rating: Ranges from G to PG13
Details: Nine-part story, kid!fic, AU during/after Season 4
Why It Rocks:
The Doctor and Donna often go about things in their own unique way. Trust them to first decide to have a family, then to fall in love. The author conveys their shifting feelings in a compelling, completely believable way.
At the beginning of this story, they are the Doctor and Donna: best friends. So when the Doctor suggests they have a child together, Donna at first thinks he's bonkers, of course. The conversation where they decide whether to do things "the old fashioned way" or to try for a more high-tech approach is funny and touching all at once. Once she accepts the idea, their relationship begins to change, in subtle ways.
They’re still best friends, they’ll always be best friends, she knows that, but lately when they hug or hold hands, it feels different. He used to kiss her goodnight from time to time, a peck on the cheek or the forehead as he headed to his room but now it’s a kiss on the lips, lingering just long enough for him to be the last thing she tastes before she sleeps.
The author lets us in on the thoughts of both of them as they begin this new partnership, and Donna is pure Donna on the morning after their first time together.
She wonders what happens now, if they just carry on as normal not mentioning it until it’s time to try again or if they talk about it in passing like it was a game of cards or something. Not that cards is a great comparison, she can’t say she’s ever finished a game of rummy with her hair stuck to her forehead and a smile on her face like the one she has right now.
And the Doctor is just as confused:
He’s amazed by how natural this feels and wonders what happens next, whether they just carry on as before, in the knowledge that they’re still best friends who just happen to be trying to have a baby or whether this will start to move things in the direction he never thought they would go...
Of course it's the Doctor and Donna we're dealing with, and they manage to bicker a bit even while working out the new parameters of their relationship. The Doctor is, well, the Doctor, and thinks it's simple:
“Here’s what we have then- we’re great at the sex thing, we are brilliant at the best friends thing, we will no doubt have the cutest mini-Time Lords so that just leaves the rest of it.”
Donna knows it's not quite so easily dealt with, but allows him to reassure her.
The rest of the story is just as much fun. Of course, we have the wonderful scene where they break the news to her mother, with predictable results. Donna holds her ground, and in the end her mother manages to be happy for her. The Doctor is completely besotted with the idea of having a baby, and is adorably attentive to hormonally-crazed Donna.
They do manage to work out that they are an actual couple now, not just friends, before the baby arrives and they become a family. And once little ginger-haired, brown-eyed Amber arrives, she steals the show, and telling any more will ruin the surprises. Throughout, the Doctor/Donna relationship remains true to the characters, and completely fun.
In short, vote for Hypothetically Speaking: it has an adorable baby, Doctor/Donna banter, and Sylvia being Sylvia. It's funny, and touching, and all-around wonderful, and will leave you wanting to see more of this wonderful little family.
*
The End is Where We Begin (Again), by adina_atl
Category: Toshiko Sato in Torchwood
Characters: Jack Harkness, Suzie Costello, Ianto Jones, Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper, Gwen Cooper, other minor characters
Rating: Teen
Details: Single-part, complete, slightly AU version of S1 of Torchwood, though canon-compliant if you squint
Why It Rocks:
Imagine a version of Torchwood in which Jack was the enemy within, watched carefully by Torchwood 1 because of his known connection to the Doctor. Imagine that, once he was left in sole command of Torchwood Cardiff after the massacre shown in Fragments, a mole was planted to keep an eye on him, rein him in and report back to the bosses. This is one of those AUs that make the reader stop and say This is how it really was.
New Year’s Eve, 2000; Alex, Jack’s boss, kills his other staff before committing suicide. Jack doesn’t even have time to mourn; he’s on cleanup duty. He’s about to wipe the tapes when he has second thoughts:
Torchwood Three was casual, sloppy even at times, and that had given Jack wiggle room to follow his own agenda. Torchwood London had no tolerance for slop, no trust for an immortal semi-alien known to be searching for Torchwood's greatest enemy. They would take Torchwood Three from him if they could.
It’s no surprise, then, when we find Yvonne Hartmann reviewing the same tapes with one of her subordinates. Harkness is a cold bastard, they comment, yet a perfect example of how to follow procedure in this kind of situation. They have no choice but to leave him in charge, even if Hartmann would prefer not to: he’s got all the passwords, access codes and security overrides. Her problem with Jack is this: "Mr. Harkness's loyalty isn't in question. He is intensely loyal--just not to this organization."
Thus Hartmann’s associate is despatched to Cardiff.
As Mr. Harkness's second in command? Or as his keeper?"
"Both, of course."
And who is this subordinate? Why, Suzie Costello, of course.
Jack’s no fool; he’s well aware of why Suzie is there and what she’s up to. She’s controlling him, but at the same time he’s controlling her. The story of Toshiko Sato is the perfect example of this. Jack wants Tosh for her skills. Suzie sets conditions. Jack bargains, and they reach an agreement. No visits to her family, no fieldwork, monthly postcards, a phone call after two years. We’ll recognise this, of course, as the terms Jack put to Tosh in Fragments. But Adina gives us a twist: five months after Tosh joins Torchwood, Jack takes her to a hotel, orders her to take off her headset and sends her inside without telling her why.
One hour. One hour with her mother and Toshiko would be his. Not Suzie's, not Torchwood's.
Is Jack just buying loyalty with his subversive tactics? Or does he really care about Tosh? Either interpretation is consistent with canon. Either interpretation is consistent with this story - until we read what happens after Suzie dies.
Adina pulls no punches with Jack. She doesn’t sugarcoat him or write him as anything other than the complex, sometimes cruel, sometimes kind, sometimes mixed-up and flawed person that he is. He makes mistakes. He misjudges people - Ianto, for example - and he sometimes shows his feelings too clearly: watching the Daleks in Torchwood Tower on live feed. He’s clever, too, playing a long game to undermine Suzie against the backdrop of building a team of his own choosing.
While this story is principally about Jack, it was nominated in the Toshiko category. Admittedly, Tosh is a minor character in the fic, but her story here sticks in the reader’s mind: I don’t think anyone who watched Fragments could have failed to be moved by her predicament, even if (as people have pointed out) there were plenty of protocols she could and should have followed once her mother was kidnapped. The conditions Jack put on her were cruel, and of course it was a reminder that Jack’s not your typical good guy. I would like to think, though, that reality for Tosh went something like this story. There are a couple of beautifully tender moments between Tosh and Jack, where even if he’s telling himself he’s acting to ensure her loyalty it’s clear that - as he demonstrates many times in episodes - he loves each and every one of the team members he chose himself.
This story didn’t win in its category, but regardless it deserved votes for Adina’s very clever use of Suzie as a Hartmann mole and especially for the way she fills in the blanks in a possible post-Fragments history for Tosh. Tosh, really, was sadly under-used in both seasons and I would love to have seen something like this filmed. As it’s not going to happen, this story is the next-best thing. Read it. You’ll see why.
*
Today's Reviews were written by:
dark_aegis: Mirror Image
gowdie: We Drew Our Own Constellations
wendymr: The Lost Woman Song, The End is Where We Begin (Again)
tardismate: Inciting Arousal
time_converges: Hypothetically Speaking
We'll have more reviews from the various categories of Rounds One and Two for you in the next few days, as well as additional reviewers to introduce.
Today's Featured Stories Include:
*
Mirror Image by JayTheNerdKid Link goes to Teaspoon
Category: Dark in Classic Who
Characters: Seven Doctor, Mel, Ace, Ninth Doctor
Rating: Teen
Details: Short story, one-shot, dark.
Why It Rocks:
What led the Doctor down the road towards the Time War? What started him down the path to become the man who can destroy his planet and survive? JayTheNerdKid explores this through a series of visions. The Seventh Doctor sees his future in the mirror and wonders why he's being haunted by someone who shouldn't yet exist.
We see snippets of Seven's life, of the decisions he makes and how his companions react, but most of all we see those events reflected in the eyes of the Ninth Doctor, always, always seen in a mirror or a dream. Or felt, just hidden within the shadows.
"It all starts with you," he says, and vanishes before you can ask what he means.
But what starts with him? What is it that the Seventh Doctor could possibly do that could lead to becoming someone who looks like that?
It's the small things, first. The lies spoken, the manipulations, culminating in this:
"Kill her," you say, making your voice as cold as possible, ignoring as best you can the voice that screams that's Ace, you're hurting Ace, you can't, you have to stop. You tell yourself you're saving her, saving the universe, freeing her from Fenric, but the anguish in her voice is tearing at you and you have no choice but to harden your heart against it. One girl or the universe. You don't have a choice.
You apologise later, but the apology cannot erase from your mind's eye the sight of Ace, your dear, precious, brave, wonderful, faithful Ace, falling to her knees, defeated. You have broken her, and it is all your fault.
Is that it? Is that why he kept seeing his future self in the mirror? Does it begin with Ace?
That's when he learns the truth. Years later, he can trace it back to that single moment when he broke his best friend for the so-called greater good.
A lifetime ago, you became the sort of man who would hurt the one person who meant the most to you in the entire universe for the greater good, and it has come back to haunt you. Gallifrey or the universe. You don't have a choice.
That's who he is. Who he's become. He isn't seeing the future in the mirror, he sees himself. And that's what makes this story so incredibly haunting. It will stay with you long after you finish reading it. It absolutely deserves the award it won, because it's haunting, it's dark, and it is absolutely wonderful.
*
We Drew Our Own Constellations by biggrstaffbunch
Category: Ten/Rose in New Who
Characters: The Doctor (10.5), Rose Tyler
Rating: PG
Details: Post Journey's End, Pete's World short story.
Why It Rocks:
The first few weeks following Journey's End, there was a virtual explosion of Pete's World stories. I, for one, know I nearly drowned myself, soaking them all up, to the point where I could barely remember what happened in which fic, let alone who wrote what. One of the wonderful aspects of rec lists and awards is that someone takes your hand and leads you back to the gems you may have lost. I was delighted to find Biggrstaffbunch's We Drew Our Own Constellations again, and it still stands out as one of the absolute best TenII/Rose stories.
Biggrstaffbunch's tale provides a series of glimpses as Rose and her new, new, new Doctor navigate their new life together. There is a period of adjustment as they find their feet, but the characters never sit around and wallow in their angst, instead they choose to discover their path through the act of living.
The Doctor must learn how to function again on the slow path as a human, and he does so through some glorious experimentation. There are adventures in nail polish, and of course some fiddling with home technology, including blowing up the microwave. Best of all, there is joyous dancing in the rain:
"Feel that, Rose?" he asks, through a snuffly nose and blinking eyes. "That's the sound of a heartbeat drumming into the ground. That's raindrops and lollipops and rainbows! That's just--that's brilliant--"
This is an episode that is pure classic Doctor glee, but is followed by human Doctor feverish coughing, sneezing, and saltine munching. He is something new, but not entirely different. And he is struggling to understand himself, but without falling into too much maudlin self-reflection. Instead, this Doctor seems to appreciate the ups and downs of life, and tackles situations with his trademark mix of realism and optimism.
But this is not a story just about the Doctor. Wonderfully, Biggrstaffbunch reflects the changes that have taken place in him, with the changes that have also happened in his relationship with Rose. Just like the Doctor himself, their life together is now a mix of alien and domestic. They meet an alternate version of Jack, which brings up the always delicate issue of gingerbread houses and what could have been. They also share popcorn make up dialogue for late-night foreign films.
My favourite though, is the juxtaposition of the two final scenes. Rose and the Doctor banter over having to dress as Tweedledum and Tweedledee for one of Jackie's costume parties. Then they banter just as fabulously as they run for their lives from a giant mutant banana. In both cases the characters and their dialogue is brilliant and spot on. A sample because it's too good not to quote:
"It's already an alien!" Rose snaps, tugging the Doctor's hand in the universal/interdimensional sign for 'run faster, you crazy loon'. "You can't alienate an alien, that's a completely redundant play on words and oh my god, how do giant mutant bananas even run?!"
"No, no, giant mutant bananas are different than aliens, and anyway, it is possible to alienate aliens because aliens are people, too, except they're not, are they, and actually, it's sort of a sensitive issue about the legs," the Doctor pants as he runs alongside her, his fingers squeezing hers and his coat flapping behind him.
Finally, let's take a moment to appreciate the genius of the title. This is not random song reference, because the name sounds cool. Although, it is very cool sounding, indeed. We Drew Our Own Constellations the story reflects the themes from the Jack Johnson lyrics with a wonderfully subtle touch. There a few direct references, as Rose and the Doctor begin the tale, sitting on the beach, holding hands and gazing up at the evening sky. And later, months later, when Rose suggests they share stories about the stars.
The specific allusions help to reinforce the overall message: Rose and her Doctor are finding their way together. And they are not walking a path that has been directed for them; instead they are discovering their own journey. There are many stories these two could choose to live, but no matter what happens they are drawing their own constellations.
*
Lost Woman Song by apiphile
Category: Gwen Cooper in Torchwood
Characters: Gwen Cooper, Rhys Williams, Team Torchwood
Rating: PG
Details: Single-part, complete, mostly a character study of Gwen.
Why It Rocks:
Because, even in the first few paragraphs, this fic helped me to understand Gwen in a way I never have in two complete seasons. She’s a flawed character - as they all are - but apiphile paints her flaws and all and still renders her sympathetic and interesting. It’s also strongly Gwen/Rhys, and this story completely gets what I love Rhys for: his ordinary-bloke nature and his patient acceptance of who Gwen is and what she does for a living, no matter how weird it seems to him.
In the very first line, Gwen wakes up screaming. When that was followed in the very second paragraph by this:
Rhys is a miracle, Gwen thinks, when his only response to her waking up yelling is to mutter, "Go back to sleep, you daft woman, there are no little green men in here," before giving up and getting up bare-arsed naked in the night to make her an especially milky cup of tea.
I knew I was reading something extraordinary. First, without even saying so, apiphile tells us that Gwen waking up screaming isn’t at all unusual. Yes, what she does at work isn’t just something she takes in her stride. Second, Rhys - so very much in character - is intensely refreshing. Surely this is why their marriage works: because Gwen, being less single-mindedly geeky than Tosh or Owen or even Ianto, needs something, someone, outside Torchwood to keep her grounded. Rhys is surely as different from her Torchwood colleagues as she could get:
He's crude and ridiculous and not always bright, and he's gobby and he eats like a locust and he makes her laugh until she cries, so easily, so easily. And she loves him with a fierce possessiveness that borders on the demented; when he lies across the bottom of the bed and pretends to bite her toes. When he rests his head on her thigh and says, "How many worlds do you reckon there are?" and "Have you met many aliens?" and "What do they look like?" with the eager excitement of a child, unafraid and interested; he knows it's dangerous but he has accepted that Gwen will be okay on trust; Jack told him so. Rhys trusts Jack because Gwen trusts Jack. That's all.
By the time I read the above paragraph I was already in love with this story, but apiphile goes one better and shows us the other characters through Gwen’s eyes, highlighting what sets Gwen apart from them in doing so:
She's always found it easier to be friends with men, and it's kind of a self-fulfilling cycle, now - the closer she is to men, the less women trust her; jealousy, her Mam said, but it changes nothing about how it feels. Gwen talks to people by touching them, that's just … how things are, and because Tosh so plainly dislikes anyone touching her, Gwen's stuck on the outside.
This must of course be Gwen’s fatal flaw: what led her to that doomed-from-the-start affair with Owen, to her ongoing crush on Jack.
Gwen is, after all, a people person. Hence the awkward relationship with Tosh, who won’t allow closeness. Hence her observations of Ianto, likened to an onion, all compressed repression and polite shutdowns and personal space, but also a chameleon: Reserved for Tosh. Invisible for Owen. Open for her. Sarcastic and evasive and slightly flirtatious for Jack.
And then there’s Owen, also cleverly observed from Gwen’s perspective:
She can't stand the way he has to show how much he doesn't care by making fun of everyone who does, and it doesn't always help to know that it's just his way of coping, just his way of not being afraid. Obvious, yeah, that if Owen doesn't care about anyone then he won't have to lose someone he cares about, but Gwen can't see how you'd live like that and not go crazy.
Or not be able to sustain any kind of relationship, of course. Now, with this insight, it has to be obvious to Gwen why the affair was ill-fated right from the beginning.
There’s Martha’s brief appearance in the team, and Jack being less than perfect again, and also again towards the end: how many times has Gwen had to admit to herself that he has feet of clay, that maybe even if she could have him for herself he couldn’t make her happy? And there’s the Nostrovite pregnancy, which brings her back to Rhys, to where the story started, which reminds her why he’s perfect for her: as she has nightmares about unwanted foetuses, he pretends unconcern for their future family and only concern for her.
And she’s still waking up at nights sweating from nightmares, with Rhys her only comfort against the daily and nightly horrors of her life, much as she loves it.
This fic absolutely deserves its winning place, because it did for me what I didn’t think possible: it helped me to understand Gwen instead of judging her, as I too often tend to do. It shows her as an ordinary person living a life many of us would be too scared even to contemplate, something of a square peg in a round hole personality-wise - and, whatever about skills for the job, fitting in is such an important criterion of success. And it reminds us that everyone needs someone to go home to, someone who’ll get out of bed, naked or not, in the middle of the night to make a cup of tea because you’ve dreamed there’re aliens in your bedroom again. I wish I’d read this fic before voting, because then I’d have been able to tell you to go and vote for it, and mean it.
*
Inciting Arousal by sinecure Link goes to Teaspoon
Category: PWP in New Who
Characters: Nine, Rose
Rating: Adult
Details: Word count: 7230 Characters: Nine/Rose In this case, the first P of PWP does not stand for Plot ;)
Why It Rocks:
Sinecure takes the age-old ‘alien aphrodisiac’ cliché, and weaves it into this story so subtly and cleverly, it isn’t until you reach the last few sentences that you realise it’s actually in there. I had to go back and read it again, just to make sure (and that’s my excuse...) I’m a huge fan of the old clichés, you know the ones...alien aphrodisiac made ‘em do it...omg we gotta shag or you die, etc...but so many stories are so obvious about it (not complaining, honest! I’m as big a culprit as anyone else!) that it’s rare to find a gem like this, where the characterisations are so spot-on, and the interplay between them is completely believable, that the cliché is not immediately apparent.
The story itself is based around a visit back to the Powell Estate, so Rose can spend Christmas with Jackie. As expected, the Doctor is not particularly enamoured of that idea, but goes along with it anyway, just to make his companion happy. As they land, another Tardis is already there...and a glimpse of the future shows the Doctor that he really doesn’t have much time left with Rose. Back in the Tardis, Rose surprises him with a gift, and he rather ungraciously accepts it; a watch, which reminds him that time is something he no longer has much of in this body. It is thought-provoking to say the least; why a watch, especially when she knows he has an innate time-sense? Is she, too, sensing that time is short where her Doctor is concerned?
The watch is incongruous - a Mickety Mouse character portrayed on its face. Not a Mickey, but a Mickety. A portent, perhaps, of things to come. A sign also that Rose is still just a human teenager, and reminding him that she is quite definitely much too young for him to consider her in the way he had been; that his thoughts and wishes in that direction are completely inappropriate. Not wanting to upset her, in return for her gift, he fishes in his pockets for something to give her, and she is delighted with the apparent ring he has produced. He, in his head of course, rationalises that it’s only a coupling, but is pleased at her reaction...however, what happens next takes him completely by surprise. The little details like this are the things that stand out in this story - we know that his time as his ninth self is limited, but we see the dawning realisation in his mind; and that made my heart ache for him.
There is an inherent sadness hidden behind the joy of finally giving in and loving each other; he knows his time is now short with his beloved Rose, and that slips through. You will be fanning yourself at just how hot these two are together, whilst having tears prickling at your eyes at the thought they will not have each other like this for very much longer. It makes you miss Nine fiercely, and inspires a burst of creativity (at least in my case it did) - he was with us for such a short time, but left us with the lasting legacy of a wonderful character to write.
I love a smut!fic, but for me the characters and situations have to be believable; to ring true - in short, something you would happily imagine could exist in an episode, were the show to be made for an adult audience. Which this one does. Effortlessly. Masterfully. Like this...
‘Was there ever a time when he wasn't willing to give her anything she wanted? When he didn't want to simply live his life to please her? When taking a trip in the TARDIS meant more than watching Rose's face and feeling her happiness radiate from her body into his?
If there was, he didn't remember it.
His life, since meeting Rose Tyler, consisted merely of pleasing her. Keeping her happy. Seeing her smile.’
And this...
‘It was different with Rose. Oh, he cared about everyone, cared about all of his companions-- even Jack, asleep in his room after last night's drunken bout of sex with who knew what sort of species. He'd even loved a few in ways that were frowned upon by the council.
But he'd never been in love with one this deeply.
Sometimes he liked to attribute it to her having saved him from a life of loneliness. That she'd pulled him up by his bootstraps and made him see that the Universe wasn't a cold and lonely place.
Other times, he thought it was because she was so young and full of life and eagerness, the way he used to be, once upon a few centuries ago.
Truthfully, it was all of that, and so much more. There were so many reasons to love Rose Tyler. So many whys and hows and therefores that he'd lost track of them over the months. He just knew that he did, and that he had to keep it to himself, because, though he knew she was attracted to him like a moth to a flame, or a bear to honey, he also knew that he would end up hurting her, if not out and out destroying her.
So he kept his distance, stayed out of the domestics of her family and friends, and maintained a healthy distance from Rose herself.’
To me, that is the essence of this story - the undisclosed love and UST that Nine had for his Rose and vice versa, put into words so beautifully and eloquently that when it finally does describe (quite graphically, thank you very much!) them consummating that love, it doesn’t feel wrong or out of place; it feels right somehow...and not smutty just for the sake of it. They aren’t just having sex, they’re making love, and the difference is monumental. And did I mention that it’s hot. Very hot. Scorching, in fact.
If there were a category for beautiful smut, then this would be the template all others would be judged by.
Go. Read. Enjoy. But take some sort of coolant with you - you will need it. Seriously.
*
Hypothetically Speaking by shining_moment
Category: Ten/Donna in New Who
Characters: The Tenth Doctor, Donna Noble, original characters
Rating: Ranges from G to PG13
Details: Nine-part story, kid!fic, AU during/after Season 4
Why It Rocks:
The Doctor and Donna often go about things in their own unique way. Trust them to first decide to have a family, then to fall in love. The author conveys their shifting feelings in a compelling, completely believable way.
At the beginning of this story, they are the Doctor and Donna: best friends. So when the Doctor suggests they have a child together, Donna at first thinks he's bonkers, of course. The conversation where they decide whether to do things "the old fashioned way" or to try for a more high-tech approach is funny and touching all at once. Once she accepts the idea, their relationship begins to change, in subtle ways.
They’re still best friends, they’ll always be best friends, she knows that, but lately when they hug or hold hands, it feels different. He used to kiss her goodnight from time to time, a peck on the cheek or the forehead as he headed to his room but now it’s a kiss on the lips, lingering just long enough for him to be the last thing she tastes before she sleeps.
The author lets us in on the thoughts of both of them as they begin this new partnership, and Donna is pure Donna on the morning after their first time together.
She wonders what happens now, if they just carry on as normal not mentioning it until it’s time to try again or if they talk about it in passing like it was a game of cards or something. Not that cards is a great comparison, she can’t say she’s ever finished a game of rummy with her hair stuck to her forehead and a smile on her face like the one she has right now.
And the Doctor is just as confused:
He’s amazed by how natural this feels and wonders what happens next, whether they just carry on as before, in the knowledge that they’re still best friends who just happen to be trying to have a baby or whether this will start to move things in the direction he never thought they would go...
Of course it's the Doctor and Donna we're dealing with, and they manage to bicker a bit even while working out the new parameters of their relationship. The Doctor is, well, the Doctor, and thinks it's simple:
“Here’s what we have then- we’re great at the sex thing, we are brilliant at the best friends thing, we will no doubt have the cutest mini-Time Lords so that just leaves the rest of it.”
Donna knows it's not quite so easily dealt with, but allows him to reassure her.
The rest of the story is just as much fun. Of course, we have the wonderful scene where they break the news to her mother, with predictable results. Donna holds her ground, and in the end her mother manages to be happy for her. The Doctor is completely besotted with the idea of having a baby, and is adorably attentive to hormonally-crazed Donna.
They do manage to work out that they are an actual couple now, not just friends, before the baby arrives and they become a family. And once little ginger-haired, brown-eyed Amber arrives, she steals the show, and telling any more will ruin the surprises. Throughout, the Doctor/Donna relationship remains true to the characters, and completely fun.
In short, vote for Hypothetically Speaking: it has an adorable baby, Doctor/Donna banter, and Sylvia being Sylvia. It's funny, and touching, and all-around wonderful, and will leave you wanting to see more of this wonderful little family.
*
The End is Where We Begin (Again), by adina_atl
Category: Toshiko Sato in Torchwood
Characters: Jack Harkness, Suzie Costello, Ianto Jones, Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper, Gwen Cooper, other minor characters
Rating: Teen
Details: Single-part, complete, slightly AU version of S1 of Torchwood, though canon-compliant if you squint
Why It Rocks:
Imagine a version of Torchwood in which Jack was the enemy within, watched carefully by Torchwood 1 because of his known connection to the Doctor. Imagine that, once he was left in sole command of Torchwood Cardiff after the massacre shown in Fragments, a mole was planted to keep an eye on him, rein him in and report back to the bosses. This is one of those AUs that make the reader stop and say This is how it really was.
New Year’s Eve, 2000; Alex, Jack’s boss, kills his other staff before committing suicide. Jack doesn’t even have time to mourn; he’s on cleanup duty. He’s about to wipe the tapes when he has second thoughts:
Torchwood Three was casual, sloppy even at times, and that had given Jack wiggle room to follow his own agenda. Torchwood London had no tolerance for slop, no trust for an immortal semi-alien known to be searching for Torchwood's greatest enemy. They would take Torchwood Three from him if they could.
It’s no surprise, then, when we find Yvonne Hartmann reviewing the same tapes with one of her subordinates. Harkness is a cold bastard, they comment, yet a perfect example of how to follow procedure in this kind of situation. They have no choice but to leave him in charge, even if Hartmann would prefer not to: he’s got all the passwords, access codes and security overrides. Her problem with Jack is this: "Mr. Harkness's loyalty isn't in question. He is intensely loyal--just not to this organization."
Thus Hartmann’s associate is despatched to Cardiff.
As Mr. Harkness's second in command? Or as his keeper?"
"Both, of course."
And who is this subordinate? Why, Suzie Costello, of course.
Jack’s no fool; he’s well aware of why Suzie is there and what she’s up to. She’s controlling him, but at the same time he’s controlling her. The story of Toshiko Sato is the perfect example of this. Jack wants Tosh for her skills. Suzie sets conditions. Jack bargains, and they reach an agreement. No visits to her family, no fieldwork, monthly postcards, a phone call after two years. We’ll recognise this, of course, as the terms Jack put to Tosh in Fragments. But Adina gives us a twist: five months after Tosh joins Torchwood, Jack takes her to a hotel, orders her to take off her headset and sends her inside without telling her why.
One hour. One hour with her mother and Toshiko would be his. Not Suzie's, not Torchwood's.
Is Jack just buying loyalty with his subversive tactics? Or does he really care about Tosh? Either interpretation is consistent with canon. Either interpretation is consistent with this story - until we read what happens after Suzie dies.
Adina pulls no punches with Jack. She doesn’t sugarcoat him or write him as anything other than the complex, sometimes cruel, sometimes kind, sometimes mixed-up and flawed person that he is. He makes mistakes. He misjudges people - Ianto, for example - and he sometimes shows his feelings too clearly: watching the Daleks in Torchwood Tower on live feed. He’s clever, too, playing a long game to undermine Suzie against the backdrop of building a team of his own choosing.
While this story is principally about Jack, it was nominated in the Toshiko category. Admittedly, Tosh is a minor character in the fic, but her story here sticks in the reader’s mind: I don’t think anyone who watched Fragments could have failed to be moved by her predicament, even if (as people have pointed out) there were plenty of protocols she could and should have followed once her mother was kidnapped. The conditions Jack put on her were cruel, and of course it was a reminder that Jack’s not your typical good guy. I would like to think, though, that reality for Tosh went something like this story. There are a couple of beautifully tender moments between Tosh and Jack, where even if he’s telling himself he’s acting to ensure her loyalty it’s clear that - as he demonstrates many times in episodes - he loves each and every one of the team members he chose himself.
This story didn’t win in its category, but regardless it deserved votes for Adina’s very clever use of Suzie as a Hartmann mole and especially for the way she fills in the blanks in a possible post-Fragments history for Tosh. Tosh, really, was sadly under-used in both seasons and I would love to have seen something like this filmed. As it’s not going to happen, this story is the next-best thing. Read it. You’ll see why.
*
Today's Reviews were written by:
dark_aegis: Mirror Image
gowdie: We Drew Our Own Constellations
wendymr: The Lost Woman Song, The End is Where We Begin (Again)
tardismate: Inciting Arousal
time_converges: Hypothetically Speaking