Round Three Reviews - Part 26
Today, we bring you our last post of reviews, and leave you to the point of the matter - voting! Please remember to take time to vote for your favorite fics before the weekend is out. In the meantime - enjoy!
Today's Featured Stories Include:
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Power Play by lefaym
Category: PWP
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Rating: Adult
Details: After “Adrift,” Jack needs to teach Ianto a lesson. Light bondage. Approximately 2100 words.
Why it Rocks:
Sex and power. They’re inextricably linked, and in any pairing there are power dynamics at play, whether there’s overt Dom/sub business going on or not. The idea of power, of who tops and who bottoms, has been explored at length in the Jack/Ianto relationship. The circumstances of their liaison - the fact that Jack is Ianto’s boss, the fact that in the past Ianto calculatingly maneuvered himself into Jack’s life so that he could keep Lisa alive, and yet can be very subservient - all of it makes the power dynamics in their relationship fascinating.
In my opinion, the best sort of smut comes with a side order of thinky-thoughts, and “Power Play” delivers. It deals with the fact that in the episode “Adrift,” Ianto goes against Jack’s wishes and gives Gwen the information she’s looking for. When Jack returns to the Hub, he orders Ianto to his office, and Ianto (and the reader) expect a reprimand, or for Jack to reassert his dominance in some way. And at first it seems simply that.
“Jack, I-”
“Shh.” Jack adjusted his hand so that his index finger covered Ianto’s mouth. “No excuses. Not right now.” Jack brushed his thumb across Ianto’s lips. “Right now, I just need to know that you’re willing to do what I say,” Jack continued. “I need to know that you’re capable of following orders before you break them. Can you do that for me, Ianto?”
But it’s more complicated than that, because what Jack does is order Ianto to tie him up. He’s topping from the bottom, as they say, but the important thing is that he’s showing Ianto that in spite of his disobedience, he trusts him. And he needs Ianto to trust him, and his orders, in return.
“Did you know,” said Jack breathlessly, as Ianto moved inside him, “that right now, you’re the only person I let-the only one-allowed to see me like this?” He looked up at Ianto, at his flushed face, at his slightly parted lips. “No matter how many others there are-no matter who I’m with-this-this is for you, Ianto.”
[...]
“That-that’s why,” Jack continued, fighting to hold on, “why I need to know-you need to trust me-do what I say-because I can’t do anything-anything to stop you.”
Ianto gets the message, but he also has a message for Jack. That he trusts him even when he disobeys him. They seem to come out of this encounter with a deeper understanding of each other. It isn’t neatly resolved, and you get the sense that if given the chance, Ianto wouldn’t change anything about what he did, but clearly they both get something positive out of their relationship. This story is sexy and complicated, and a great snapshot of Jack and Ianto.
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It's Not Easy Being Green by lostwolfchats
Categories: Threesomes, Humor
Fandom: New Who
Characters: Nine, Rose, Jack
Rating: Teen
Details: Humourous standalone, written for a writerinatardis prompt.
Why It Rocks:
The TARDIS is damaged, the trip to Raxacoricofallapatorius is going to take thirty hours, and baby Margaret needs incubating. The solution? The Doctor, Rose and Jack are temporarily turned into Raxacoricofallapatorians, complete with a handy incubation pouch to take turns babysitting.
It's a fairly hilarious premise on its face, and Lostwolfchats makes a meal of it. What I love about It's Not Easy Being Green is the logical progression the characters go through on this strange journey. There is the initial shock and dismay, natural clumsiness as they adjust to their increased girth, and, of course, a wee bit of sexual curiosity. You may remember from the numerous deskinnings in Aliens of London and World War Three, the Slitheen didn't have any naughty bits. Jack is egregiously disappointed.
Those first stages of acclimatization out of the way, if you were suddenly turned into a great green alien, a great green naked alien, what would you do?
You play in it of course. Find out exactly what this new body is capable of. Rose and Jack, like a couple of kids, indulge in a rousing game of tag. Here, Lostwolfchats does a wonderful job capturing the liberating experience of suddenly acquiring strength and speed, all with a sense of childlike fun and discovery.
‘You’re it!’ shrieked Rose, thumping Jack on the back before haring off down the corridor. With a whoop, Jack took off after her, delighting in the effortless speed his temporary body was capable of. He vaulted round a ninety-degree bend with impressive grace, gaining on Rose’s retreating backside.
What comes next? Well, after the shiny honeymoon period has worn off, abject boredom. Being trapped in alien form is only entertaining for so long before it becomes tedious. After a hint of "Are we there yet?" Rose paints her nails. Lostwolfchats indulges in a bit of dialogue tag free conversation. This is always an effective detail when an author has the character's voices just right, and this story delivers.
‘That’s not the point, Rose! You could have blown up! You’re a calcium-based life form right now! You can’t just go about… decorating yourself… without asking me first!’
‘Fine.’
‘We clear?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Good, then.’
‘So, is there anything in nail varnish that could make me explode?’
'No.’
‘Thought not.’
I don't need to be told who is speaking, or how they are delivering the lines, I can hear it perfectly.
Finally, the last stage, desperation to be normal again. There's an emergency landing, some sneaking around, and a daring escape. All in the name of bringing the ridiculous situation to a merciful end before the prideful Doctor loses his temper. Hilarious and fantastically in character.
In short, vote for It's Not Easy Being Green. Lostwolfchats presents a cracky situation, but keeps it on the right side of absurd. The antics work not just for the characters we know, but are exactly in tune with what I suspect any of us might be tempted to do if we were ever suddenly huge, green and naked.
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Tread Softly by laurab1
Category: Fluff
Fandom: New Who
Characters: Jack Harkness, Ninth Doctor, the TARDIS
Rating: PG
Details: Vignette, 250 words, complete
Why It Rocks:
When a story opens with this line from the Ninth Doctor:
“Humans. Always primpin’ an’ preenin’, you lot,”
hands up who’d guess that he’s not talking to a woman?
Yup. Everyone who instantly thought of Captain Jack Harkness, go to the top of the class. For, yes, it is Jack, and he’s making himself beautiful for the Doctor and Rose, and for the TARDIS, Also, for himself:
he just grinned at his self-admittedly hot reflection.
But this isn’t a story about Jack making himself look even more gorgeous than usual. Maybe it’s about the beginnings of Jack tumbling headlong into love. We already know that he’s deep in lust, and was long before he first stepped through the doors of the TARDIS. Now, it’s sounding as if he’s having a deeper reaction: to Rose, as we already know, to the TARDIS, as he whispers words of promise to her, caressing her walls gently as he does so; and also to the Doctor:
“Sir,” Jack whispered, saluting the space where the Doctor had just been.
But maybe this story is also about something a bit deeper than the sweet fluff we see on the surface. After all, it’s called Tread Softly. And anyone who knows their Yeats will be familiar with He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven:
Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
And it makes so much sense to see Jack as the narrator here. He was lost and aimless, wasting his life, when he ran into the Doctor and Rose. They rescued him, and as a result he turned his life around and became a better person. He gave them his complete loyalty... his dreams. And, in this story, it’s looking like he’s found his home.
Only we know different, and that’s why the title of this story makes me want to hug Jack, naïve, beautiful Jack as he admires himself in the mirror, prettying himself for the people he loves.
Tread Softly is a lovely piece of fluff which can be read without any kind of ominous undertones, however. Read it to enjoy a snarky Nine, a sarcastic TARDIS and a narcissistic, flirty Jack you can’t help grinning at - and I’m sure you’ll agree that it definitely deserves its nomination in the Fluff category.
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Did I Mention? by lostwolfchats
Category: Genfic
Fandom: New Who
Characters: Ninth Doctor, Rose Tyler
Rating: All ages
Why it Rocks:
“Did I Mention?” is one of those stories that happens in the space of those few seconds between when the Ninth Doctor leaves Rose Tyler at the end of the episode “Rose” and when the TARDIS returns so that he can ask her a second time to come with him. I love these fics whether they are long and elaborate stories or one shots with glimpses into what could have been or what will not be. In this particular case it’s the story of what will be if the Doctor doesn’t get Rose to come along…and for the human race, what won’t be.
The story begins with the Doctor sulking a bit as he takes the TARDIS away because Rose has chosen not to come with him. He’s all injured dignity and wounded pride, convincing himself that he doesn’t need her, that she isn’t worth the offer he had made her, but underneath it all it’s clear that he’s lonesome and sad and he had such high hopes of bringing this bright, little human along with him. She had given him a reason to keep going:
Rose Tyler - all smart questions and vivacity, bright as any sun, shining from her. He’d felt it - when he took her hand - timelines springing into being, bursting into light inside his head, where there had been only accusing eyes and twisted bodies of the dead. Life, that was what she had given him, with her impertinent probing and irritating persistence. She’d represented it and her warm little hand in his, her frantic pulse throbbing against his chill skin, had forced it into his cloistered world. He could pretend that it had all ended, that it was futile, his continued breathing, but her life, fragile and fleeting and inside his grasp, had compelled him to accept otherwise.
As he is suddenly hurled out of space time by the TARDIS he feels something is very, very wrong with the timelines as potential futures dissolve away and leave a very disturbing future settling into being. He is adamant that this cannot all be caused by the refusal of one human girl to come with him on his travels, but the TARDIS is being balky and he figures it can’t hurt to go and take a peak, see what it is about this human that just might be so important to the human race and his own future.
He jumps six months into Rose’s future and finds her living a perfectly normal life, still with Mickey, working a boring job in a canteen and going to school to get her A-levels. Yet, the fractured time lines still seem to be centered around her. He jumps forward again another six months and this time finds disaster. The prime minister of London is dead and half of London is on fire. Rose is injured in the destruction and loses a baby, Mickey’s baby that she should never have been pregnant with, according to the timelines.
Forward he goes jumping through time and following her life:
One year after the hospital - Rose, pale and dead-eyed, was back working as a shop assistant. UNIT put down a Krillitane invasion.
Five years - Rose had two children. Neither of them looked like Mickey Smith. America had technology it had no right to. The world order was wrong. World War Four was coming - far sooner than it was due. Ten years - Rose Tyler was dead, one of the many victims of a half-cocked experiment that had blown a hole in the South East of England. The Judoon were on Earth.
He stopped looking.
It wasn’t Rose Tyler, but it was.
Although the Doctor has trouble believing that this insignificant girl can really be so important to him, to her world, the evidence of his own eyes has shown him that she is. And so he swallows his pride and pushes himself to be vulnerable and go back.
He depressed the switch beneath his finger and strode to the door. And there she was - Rose Tyler - brash and young and full of life and hovering on the cusp of so many possibilities. He grinned.
‘By the way, did I mention - it also travels in time?’
I love this particular story so much because the Doctor is completely in character, fighting the inevitable as he always does when it comes to Rose Tyler. I love that it shows the importance of one character in history that is pivotal, not just because of what happens when she goes with the Doctor, but because of what happens when she doesn’t. So many things would not have happened if Rose had not changed her mind and gone along and I enjoyed seeing how these things might have played out differently with her absence from his life. It was a horrifying future for everyone.
This intriguing what if? fic is well-crafted and delivers an utterly believable explanation for why the Doctor, who seldom gives second chances even in this incarnation, would go back for a girl who had told him no when he’d offered her the universe. And if you’ve skipped over this particular piece, it’s worth your going back and giving it another chance as well and much deserving of your vote for it in the genfic category.
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The Stars are Projectors by nightanddaze
Category: Threesomes
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack/Ianto/Gwen
Rating: NC-17
Details: Jack/Ianto/Gwen smut, one-shot, 4045 words
Why it rocks:
I think it's time for me to just come right out and admit that I like reading about threesomes. Well, I like reading about threesomes if the author writes about three autonomous characters who all have developing relationships with one another. As someone in the comments for The Stars are Projectors pointed out, this isn't just Jack/Gwen+Ianto or Jack/Ianto+Gwen or any other combination of slashes-and-pluses. The three characters all have slightly different relationships with one another, in all directions.
From Gwen's POV, we see the relationship between Jack and Ianto in an interesting light, as she tries to figure out just what exactly their dynamic is all about (and she concludes, intriguingly, that she'd perhaps been wrong to assume that Jack was the one holding the reigns in that relationship). And we catch glimpses in to the evolving relationship between Gwen and Ianto (as someone who doesn't read a whole lot of Torchwood fic, it's not something I'd thought too terribly much about before-but no more, because, well, that's hot).
The Stars are Projectors is pretty much PWP, which I have no problem with whatsoever. Ianto and Jack together proposition Gwen, noting she's been "a little tense" since the events of Flat Holm, and I love the initial tension as Gwen begins to guess what Ianto and Jack have in mind:
There’s a pause then, tight and breathless. Gwen finds herself staring at Jack’s braces, dark red and snappy, without the pun. Jack finally clears his throat, and Gwen looks up at him. He looks uneasy too, but he’s trying to smile through it. Ianto is leaning back on the desk, looking upwards, smiling like they’re both too stupid to hold his attention.
There's a lot of time for Gwen to think in between when she agrees and when they all arrive at Ianto's flat for the main event, and nightanddaze really captures well the tentativeness that comes along with taking a plunge like this. There's clearing of throats and not knowing where to put one's coat, and not really knowing what to say, along with a lot of inquiries as to whether or not everyone is all right. It rings a lot truer than just, "And now we all happily shag with no awkwardness at all!"
And the shagging is quite lovely, with a lot of characterisation touches included. As the author notes:
Everything Ianto is, Jack is not. She should have guessed that from his kiss, but guesses and proper thoughts are a thing of the past.
The two men are quite distinct as lovers, both with Gwen and with each other. And everyone gets theirs, which is sometimes difficult to accomplish in threesome smut.
The writing in the sex scene is descriptive enough to be hot but not clinical or dwelling on the unimportant not-really-so-hot details. There is a true depth of feeling between all three characters, and the act is one of love and friendship for all involved. In fandoms full of angsty shagging, it's nice for everyone to just have a nice screw because they like one another and want to feel closer, provide comfort and pleasure for one another.
The Stars are Projectors was a very well-written, tenderly characterised adult fic that has actually left me with a lot to think about with regards to Ianto, Gwen and Jack (beyond just "they are all very pretty together," though this is a thought that has crossed my mind on more than one occasion already).
*
The Man With No Name by Frostfyre Link goes to Teaspoon
Categories: Crossover, Novel, Tenth Doctor
Fandom: New Who
Characters: Ten, cast of Firefly
Rating: Teen
Details: 30 chapters with prologue and epilogue; crossover with Joss Whedon's Firefly. For Firefly, set after the movie. For DW, set almost immediately after The Runaway Bride.
Why It Rocks:
Crossovers pose a challenge to both the reader and the writer. You have two entirely different fandoms which are not meant to overlap - and in many cases, are actually contradictory. You have two sets of characters, both of which not only have their own voices, personalities, and patterns of speech, but often wildly different outlooks on their worlds and the way they perceive others. Yes, this can be said for any two characters within a single fandom - but these differences are more pronounced, often, when you're discussing crossovers. The entire style of a show or a character is largely dependent on who writes it. When you cross two works written by different authors together, you have to marry those voices, those ideas, those different patterns of storytelling, together in a seamless whole.
And you have to do it in such a way that it doesn't feel forced or tired. This is probably the largest challenge of all, and probably why Doctor Who doesn't have that many crossovers. (Note: I don't count DW/TW fic as crossover.) Doctor Who, frankly, doesn't marry up with other fandoms terribly well, particularly the sci-fi fandoms. They're just too contradictory, when you compare timelines and alien presence and technologies achieved or not achieved.
But then, sci-fi has always been less about the science, and more about the characters. And there are few fandoms out there which have as much emphasis on character interaction as Firefly, particularly considering its run was so short. Part of this, I think, is because the characters were familiar: the crotchety captain who has seen battle in days gone by (Mal), and his faithful and ever-present side-kick (Zoe). The idealistic doctor with a secret of his own (Simon), the clever mechanic (Kaylee), the wise old man (Shephard), and the mysterious young girl who binds them all together (River).
Those are the characters on their surface - what Joss Whedon did with them in the course of Firefly's single season and one movie, was to expand on those characters and create actual people. What Frostfyre has continued is to take those people and in the setting of an action/adventure romp across the galaxy, to compare and contrast them to another sci-fi character we all know very well: the Doctor (specifically, Ten).
There are three things I love best about this story. The first would be that Frostfyre has nailed the character voices and speech patterns of the Firefly folk with absolute accuracy. I didn't just read the story - I watched it, in my head, as Mal and River and Kaylee moved and spoke as Frostfyre directed.
The Doctor figured that if he could just bottle and distribute the aggressive cheerfulness that was Kaylee Frye, he might just have a shot at solving all the universe’s problems. Or, at the very least, making an ginormous fortune on the intergalactic drug market. Great stars, but she was a happy person. Rose would have absolutely loved her. The Doctor was rapidly developing an affection for her himself.
Which is exactly the right way of describing Kaylee, really - aggressive cheerfulness. Which goes into the second thing I love about the story - Frostfyre's descriptions are beautiful. A picture might be worth a thousand words, but somehow Frostfyre is able to describe beauty in far less - and not just beauty, but the awareness of it. One of my favorite passages is from when the Serenity crew boards the TARDIS for the first time, and we see the Doctor's world through Zoe's eyes:
This ship, though, lacked the full of life feeling that the transport had. Instead, it felt...too big. Even standing here in a more-or-less ordinary looking hallway, she had the impression of vast, echoing, and above all lonely space. Like a place that had once been full of life and people, but was no longer.
The third thing I loved about the story, however, was the way the Doctor and his new companions viewed each other. It was odd, reading the story - at first glance, you'd think that the Doctor has the most in common with River Tam. They're both vaguely psychic, they're both perceived as a little bit off-kilter, they're both mysterious and enormously clever.
And they both speak the same language:
“You miss her. You miss all of them, but you miss her the most, right now, because she saved you. Bad Wolf.”
His gaze flew back to hers, eyes startled-wide. In his shirt-sleeves and vest, without the armor of suit coat and overcoat, he looked very young and exposed. “You see a lot, don’t you?”
“Too much.”
“What do you see when you look at me?”
River squinted at him, making his face blur. Seeing him, young, old, tall, short, thin, stocky. White hair, blonde hair, black hair, brown hair, curly and straight, long and short. Grey eyes and blue, brown and green and everything in between. Laughter, judgment, fury, love, arrogance, compassion, loneliness. “You’ve been broken so many times,” she said finally. “So many different faces, different voices. Different selves. But the same soul. Why aren’t you crazy like me, changing so much?”
“Who says I’m not?” He sat down again, propping his back against the wall.
Really, every conversation between River and the Doctor gets better and better. But so too does every conversation between Mal and the Doctor - and in truth, that's where the real comparison lies. The two men are more alike than not, even if they're not willing to think about it too hard. We're clued into that idea from the very beginning:
“People will wander off,” the Doctor said sympathetically.
The other man nodded. “Don’t seem to matter how often I tell ‘em to stay put, there’s always some reason or other they gotta go somewhere else.”
“Human nature. I’m pretty certain it’s hardwired into the DNA.”
Think about it: both the Doctor and Mal love someone aboard their ship, but don't feel as though they can admit it. (For the Doctor, it's Rose, newly disappeared into Pete's World; for Mal, it's Inara, newly freed from being a Companion.) Both are homeless; both live the life of a vagrant; both have been cast off (willingly or unwillingly) from their homeworlds. But most importantly, both have been through extremely traumatic war-time experiences. Both served on the front lines (Mal at Serenity Valley; the Doctor at Arcadia). And for both men, those specific battles are pulled to the forefront within the adventure they're experiencing.
The Doctor says to the villain: “The War’s over, more or less. Time to move on."
Is it, though? Moving on is essentially what Mal has already tried to do - as has the Doctor. They've picked up their pieces, found their ships, and try to get on with living. It's not exactly working for either of them. Here, a description:
The quiet one, the one who stayed alive in the face of impossible odds. The one who watched, and listened, and made the hard decisions.
Mal, or the Doctor? It's kind of hard to tell, isn't it?
Mal was, usually, a fairly volatile man. He blew hot and cold, losing his temper and patience one moment only to be laughing and joking the next. But very, very rarely he would go still, and cold, and quiet. It was then that death sat in his hands, and God help the man or woman who brought him to that point.
Mal, yes -- but the Doctor as well. The description fits either man, and that's what takes my breath away. Frostfyre has an uncanny ability to pick out the exact words that describe her characters so perfectly that we don't need pictures to see them: they arrive, fully formed, in our mind's eye.
River on the Doctor: “He’s the Trickster God,” she said. “He opens minds, makes them see what they are. Shows the choices, makes them choose....I thought I was special because everyone else was ordinary. But Simon - there is no ordinary. Not through his eyes. No such thing as an ordinary human, ordinary anything. What must it be like, to see like that all the time? To never lose that wonder?”
The Doctor might very well be the Trickster - but Frostfyre has her own tricks up her sleeve. (And I have half a screen of quotes I can't manage to fit into this review.)
In short, vote for The Man With No Name. It's a satisfying and entertaining story that makes no apologies for the crossover it is. It's got some hysterically funny conversations between the Doctor and his new companions, as well as a bit of healing all around. If you enjoyed Firefly, you're going to love the way their characters are written, and for doing such a fantastic job of bringing that world to vivid life again, it entirely deserves your vote.
*
Today's Reviews were written by:
unfolded73: Power Play
gowdie: It's Not Easy Being Green
wendymr: Tread Softly
amberfocus: Did I Mention?
papilio_luna: The Stars are Projectors
azriona: The Man With No Name
Today's Featured Stories Include:
*
Power Play by lefaym
Category: PWP
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Rating: Adult
Details: After “Adrift,” Jack needs to teach Ianto a lesson. Light bondage. Approximately 2100 words.
Why it Rocks:
Sex and power. They’re inextricably linked, and in any pairing there are power dynamics at play, whether there’s overt Dom/sub business going on or not. The idea of power, of who tops and who bottoms, has been explored at length in the Jack/Ianto relationship. The circumstances of their liaison - the fact that Jack is Ianto’s boss, the fact that in the past Ianto calculatingly maneuvered himself into Jack’s life so that he could keep Lisa alive, and yet can be very subservient - all of it makes the power dynamics in their relationship fascinating.
In my opinion, the best sort of smut comes with a side order of thinky-thoughts, and “Power Play” delivers. It deals with the fact that in the episode “Adrift,” Ianto goes against Jack’s wishes and gives Gwen the information she’s looking for. When Jack returns to the Hub, he orders Ianto to his office, and Ianto (and the reader) expect a reprimand, or for Jack to reassert his dominance in some way. And at first it seems simply that.
“Jack, I-”
“Shh.” Jack adjusted his hand so that his index finger covered Ianto’s mouth. “No excuses. Not right now.” Jack brushed his thumb across Ianto’s lips. “Right now, I just need to know that you’re willing to do what I say,” Jack continued. “I need to know that you’re capable of following orders before you break them. Can you do that for me, Ianto?”
But it’s more complicated than that, because what Jack does is order Ianto to tie him up. He’s topping from the bottom, as they say, but the important thing is that he’s showing Ianto that in spite of his disobedience, he trusts him. And he needs Ianto to trust him, and his orders, in return.
“Did you know,” said Jack breathlessly, as Ianto moved inside him, “that right now, you’re the only person I let-the only one-allowed to see me like this?” He looked up at Ianto, at his flushed face, at his slightly parted lips. “No matter how many others there are-no matter who I’m with-this-this is for you, Ianto.”
[...]
“That-that’s why,” Jack continued, fighting to hold on, “why I need to know-you need to trust me-do what I say-because I can’t do anything-anything to stop you.”
Ianto gets the message, but he also has a message for Jack. That he trusts him even when he disobeys him. They seem to come out of this encounter with a deeper understanding of each other. It isn’t neatly resolved, and you get the sense that if given the chance, Ianto wouldn’t change anything about what he did, but clearly they both get something positive out of their relationship. This story is sexy and complicated, and a great snapshot of Jack and Ianto.
*
It's Not Easy Being Green by lostwolfchats
Categories: Threesomes, Humor
Fandom: New Who
Characters: Nine, Rose, Jack
Rating: Teen
Details: Humourous standalone, written for a writerinatardis prompt.
Why It Rocks:
The TARDIS is damaged, the trip to Raxacoricofallapatorius is going to take thirty hours, and baby Margaret needs incubating. The solution? The Doctor, Rose and Jack are temporarily turned into Raxacoricofallapatorians, complete with a handy incubation pouch to take turns babysitting.
It's a fairly hilarious premise on its face, and Lostwolfchats makes a meal of it. What I love about It's Not Easy Being Green is the logical progression the characters go through on this strange journey. There is the initial shock and dismay, natural clumsiness as they adjust to their increased girth, and, of course, a wee bit of sexual curiosity. You may remember from the numerous deskinnings in Aliens of London and World War Three, the Slitheen didn't have any naughty bits. Jack is egregiously disappointed.
Those first stages of acclimatization out of the way, if you were suddenly turned into a great green alien, a great green naked alien, what would you do?
You play in it of course. Find out exactly what this new body is capable of. Rose and Jack, like a couple of kids, indulge in a rousing game of tag. Here, Lostwolfchats does a wonderful job capturing the liberating experience of suddenly acquiring strength and speed, all with a sense of childlike fun and discovery.
‘You’re it!’ shrieked Rose, thumping Jack on the back before haring off down the corridor. With a whoop, Jack took off after her, delighting in the effortless speed his temporary body was capable of. He vaulted round a ninety-degree bend with impressive grace, gaining on Rose’s retreating backside.
What comes next? Well, after the shiny honeymoon period has worn off, abject boredom. Being trapped in alien form is only entertaining for so long before it becomes tedious. After a hint of "Are we there yet?" Rose paints her nails. Lostwolfchats indulges in a bit of dialogue tag free conversation. This is always an effective detail when an author has the character's voices just right, and this story delivers.
‘That’s not the point, Rose! You could have blown up! You’re a calcium-based life form right now! You can’t just go about… decorating yourself… without asking me first!’
‘Fine.’
‘We clear?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Good, then.’
‘So, is there anything in nail varnish that could make me explode?’
'No.’
‘Thought not.’
I don't need to be told who is speaking, or how they are delivering the lines, I can hear it perfectly.
Finally, the last stage, desperation to be normal again. There's an emergency landing, some sneaking around, and a daring escape. All in the name of bringing the ridiculous situation to a merciful end before the prideful Doctor loses his temper. Hilarious and fantastically in character.
In short, vote for It's Not Easy Being Green. Lostwolfchats presents a cracky situation, but keeps it on the right side of absurd. The antics work not just for the characters we know, but are exactly in tune with what I suspect any of us might be tempted to do if we were ever suddenly huge, green and naked.
*
Tread Softly by laurab1
Category: Fluff
Fandom: New Who
Characters: Jack Harkness, Ninth Doctor, the TARDIS
Rating: PG
Details: Vignette, 250 words, complete
Why It Rocks:
When a story opens with this line from the Ninth Doctor:
“Humans. Always primpin’ an’ preenin’, you lot,”
hands up who’d guess that he’s not talking to a woman?
Yup. Everyone who instantly thought of Captain Jack Harkness, go to the top of the class. For, yes, it is Jack, and he’s making himself beautiful for the Doctor and Rose, and for the TARDIS, Also, for himself:
he just grinned at his self-admittedly hot reflection.
But this isn’t a story about Jack making himself look even more gorgeous than usual. Maybe it’s about the beginnings of Jack tumbling headlong into love. We already know that he’s deep in lust, and was long before he first stepped through the doors of the TARDIS. Now, it’s sounding as if he’s having a deeper reaction: to Rose, as we already know, to the TARDIS, as he whispers words of promise to her, caressing her walls gently as he does so; and also to the Doctor:
“Sir,” Jack whispered, saluting the space where the Doctor had just been.
But maybe this story is also about something a bit deeper than the sweet fluff we see on the surface. After all, it’s called Tread Softly. And anyone who knows their Yeats will be familiar with He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven:
Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
And it makes so much sense to see Jack as the narrator here. He was lost and aimless, wasting his life, when he ran into the Doctor and Rose. They rescued him, and as a result he turned his life around and became a better person. He gave them his complete loyalty... his dreams. And, in this story, it’s looking like he’s found his home.
Only we know different, and that’s why the title of this story makes me want to hug Jack, naïve, beautiful Jack as he admires himself in the mirror, prettying himself for the people he loves.
Tread Softly is a lovely piece of fluff which can be read without any kind of ominous undertones, however. Read it to enjoy a snarky Nine, a sarcastic TARDIS and a narcissistic, flirty Jack you can’t help grinning at - and I’m sure you’ll agree that it definitely deserves its nomination in the Fluff category.
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Did I Mention? by lostwolfchats
Category: Genfic
Fandom: New Who
Characters: Ninth Doctor, Rose Tyler
Rating: All ages
Why it Rocks:
“Did I Mention?” is one of those stories that happens in the space of those few seconds between when the Ninth Doctor leaves Rose Tyler at the end of the episode “Rose” and when the TARDIS returns so that he can ask her a second time to come with him. I love these fics whether they are long and elaborate stories or one shots with glimpses into what could have been or what will not be. In this particular case it’s the story of what will be if the Doctor doesn’t get Rose to come along…and for the human race, what won’t be.
The story begins with the Doctor sulking a bit as he takes the TARDIS away because Rose has chosen not to come with him. He’s all injured dignity and wounded pride, convincing himself that he doesn’t need her, that she isn’t worth the offer he had made her, but underneath it all it’s clear that he’s lonesome and sad and he had such high hopes of bringing this bright, little human along with him. She had given him a reason to keep going:
Rose Tyler - all smart questions and vivacity, bright as any sun, shining from her. He’d felt it - when he took her hand - timelines springing into being, bursting into light inside his head, where there had been only accusing eyes and twisted bodies of the dead. Life, that was what she had given him, with her impertinent probing and irritating persistence. She’d represented it and her warm little hand in his, her frantic pulse throbbing against his chill skin, had forced it into his cloistered world. He could pretend that it had all ended, that it was futile, his continued breathing, but her life, fragile and fleeting and inside his grasp, had compelled him to accept otherwise.
As he is suddenly hurled out of space time by the TARDIS he feels something is very, very wrong with the timelines as potential futures dissolve away and leave a very disturbing future settling into being. He is adamant that this cannot all be caused by the refusal of one human girl to come with him on his travels, but the TARDIS is being balky and he figures it can’t hurt to go and take a peak, see what it is about this human that just might be so important to the human race and his own future.
He jumps six months into Rose’s future and finds her living a perfectly normal life, still with Mickey, working a boring job in a canteen and going to school to get her A-levels. Yet, the fractured time lines still seem to be centered around her. He jumps forward again another six months and this time finds disaster. The prime minister of London is dead and half of London is on fire. Rose is injured in the destruction and loses a baby, Mickey’s baby that she should never have been pregnant with, according to the timelines.
Forward he goes jumping through time and following her life:
One year after the hospital - Rose, pale and dead-eyed, was back working as a shop assistant. UNIT put down a Krillitane invasion.
Five years - Rose had two children. Neither of them looked like Mickey Smith. America had technology it had no right to. The world order was wrong. World War Four was coming - far sooner than it was due. Ten years - Rose Tyler was dead, one of the many victims of a half-cocked experiment that had blown a hole in the South East of England. The Judoon were on Earth.
He stopped looking.
It wasn’t Rose Tyler, but it was.
Although the Doctor has trouble believing that this insignificant girl can really be so important to him, to her world, the evidence of his own eyes has shown him that she is. And so he swallows his pride and pushes himself to be vulnerable and go back.
He depressed the switch beneath his finger and strode to the door. And there she was - Rose Tyler - brash and young and full of life and hovering on the cusp of so many possibilities. He grinned.
‘By the way, did I mention - it also travels in time?’
I love this particular story so much because the Doctor is completely in character, fighting the inevitable as he always does when it comes to Rose Tyler. I love that it shows the importance of one character in history that is pivotal, not just because of what happens when she goes with the Doctor, but because of what happens when she doesn’t. So many things would not have happened if Rose had not changed her mind and gone along and I enjoyed seeing how these things might have played out differently with her absence from his life. It was a horrifying future for everyone.
This intriguing what if? fic is well-crafted and delivers an utterly believable explanation for why the Doctor, who seldom gives second chances even in this incarnation, would go back for a girl who had told him no when he’d offered her the universe. And if you’ve skipped over this particular piece, it’s worth your going back and giving it another chance as well and much deserving of your vote for it in the genfic category.
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The Stars are Projectors by nightanddaze
Category: Threesomes
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack/Ianto/Gwen
Rating: NC-17
Details: Jack/Ianto/Gwen smut, one-shot, 4045 words
Why it rocks:
I think it's time for me to just come right out and admit that I like reading about threesomes. Well, I like reading about threesomes if the author writes about three autonomous characters who all have developing relationships with one another. As someone in the comments for The Stars are Projectors pointed out, this isn't just Jack/Gwen+Ianto or Jack/Ianto+Gwen or any other combination of slashes-and-pluses. The three characters all have slightly different relationships with one another, in all directions.
From Gwen's POV, we see the relationship between Jack and Ianto in an interesting light, as she tries to figure out just what exactly their dynamic is all about (and she concludes, intriguingly, that she'd perhaps been wrong to assume that Jack was the one holding the reigns in that relationship). And we catch glimpses in to the evolving relationship between Gwen and Ianto (as someone who doesn't read a whole lot of Torchwood fic, it's not something I'd thought too terribly much about before-but no more, because, well, that's hot).
The Stars are Projectors is pretty much PWP, which I have no problem with whatsoever. Ianto and Jack together proposition Gwen, noting she's been "a little tense" since the events of Flat Holm, and I love the initial tension as Gwen begins to guess what Ianto and Jack have in mind:
There’s a pause then, tight and breathless. Gwen finds herself staring at Jack’s braces, dark red and snappy, without the pun. Jack finally clears his throat, and Gwen looks up at him. He looks uneasy too, but he’s trying to smile through it. Ianto is leaning back on the desk, looking upwards, smiling like they’re both too stupid to hold his attention.
There's a lot of time for Gwen to think in between when she agrees and when they all arrive at Ianto's flat for the main event, and nightanddaze really captures well the tentativeness that comes along with taking a plunge like this. There's clearing of throats and not knowing where to put one's coat, and not really knowing what to say, along with a lot of inquiries as to whether or not everyone is all right. It rings a lot truer than just, "And now we all happily shag with no awkwardness at all!"
And the shagging is quite lovely, with a lot of characterisation touches included. As the author notes:
Everything Ianto is, Jack is not. She should have guessed that from his kiss, but guesses and proper thoughts are a thing of the past.
The two men are quite distinct as lovers, both with Gwen and with each other. And everyone gets theirs, which is sometimes difficult to accomplish in threesome smut.
The writing in the sex scene is descriptive enough to be hot but not clinical or dwelling on the unimportant not-really-so-hot details. There is a true depth of feeling between all three characters, and the act is one of love and friendship for all involved. In fandoms full of angsty shagging, it's nice for everyone to just have a nice screw because they like one another and want to feel closer, provide comfort and pleasure for one another.
The Stars are Projectors was a very well-written, tenderly characterised adult fic that has actually left me with a lot to think about with regards to Ianto, Gwen and Jack (beyond just "they are all very pretty together," though this is a thought that has crossed my mind on more than one occasion already).
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The Man With No Name by Frostfyre Link goes to Teaspoon
Categories: Crossover, Novel, Tenth Doctor
Fandom: New Who
Characters: Ten, cast of Firefly
Rating: Teen
Details: 30 chapters with prologue and epilogue; crossover with Joss Whedon's Firefly. For Firefly, set after the movie. For DW, set almost immediately after The Runaway Bride.
Why It Rocks:
Crossovers pose a challenge to both the reader and the writer. You have two entirely different fandoms which are not meant to overlap - and in many cases, are actually contradictory. You have two sets of characters, both of which not only have their own voices, personalities, and patterns of speech, but often wildly different outlooks on their worlds and the way they perceive others. Yes, this can be said for any two characters within a single fandom - but these differences are more pronounced, often, when you're discussing crossovers. The entire style of a show or a character is largely dependent on who writes it. When you cross two works written by different authors together, you have to marry those voices, those ideas, those different patterns of storytelling, together in a seamless whole.
And you have to do it in such a way that it doesn't feel forced or tired. This is probably the largest challenge of all, and probably why Doctor Who doesn't have that many crossovers. (Note: I don't count DW/TW fic as crossover.) Doctor Who, frankly, doesn't marry up with other fandoms terribly well, particularly the sci-fi fandoms. They're just too contradictory, when you compare timelines and alien presence and technologies achieved or not achieved.
But then, sci-fi has always been less about the science, and more about the characters. And there are few fandoms out there which have as much emphasis on character interaction as Firefly, particularly considering its run was so short. Part of this, I think, is because the characters were familiar: the crotchety captain who has seen battle in days gone by (Mal), and his faithful and ever-present side-kick (Zoe). The idealistic doctor with a secret of his own (Simon), the clever mechanic (Kaylee), the wise old man (Shephard), and the mysterious young girl who binds them all together (River).
Those are the characters on their surface - what Joss Whedon did with them in the course of Firefly's single season and one movie, was to expand on those characters and create actual people. What Frostfyre has continued is to take those people and in the setting of an action/adventure romp across the galaxy, to compare and contrast them to another sci-fi character we all know very well: the Doctor (specifically, Ten).
There are three things I love best about this story. The first would be that Frostfyre has nailed the character voices and speech patterns of the Firefly folk with absolute accuracy. I didn't just read the story - I watched it, in my head, as Mal and River and Kaylee moved and spoke as Frostfyre directed.
The Doctor figured that if he could just bottle and distribute the aggressive cheerfulness that was Kaylee Frye, he might just have a shot at solving all the universe’s problems. Or, at the very least, making an ginormous fortune on the intergalactic drug market. Great stars, but she was a happy person. Rose would have absolutely loved her. The Doctor was rapidly developing an affection for her himself.
Which is exactly the right way of describing Kaylee, really - aggressive cheerfulness. Which goes into the second thing I love about the story - Frostfyre's descriptions are beautiful. A picture might be worth a thousand words, but somehow Frostfyre is able to describe beauty in far less - and not just beauty, but the awareness of it. One of my favorite passages is from when the Serenity crew boards the TARDIS for the first time, and we see the Doctor's world through Zoe's eyes:
This ship, though, lacked the full of life feeling that the transport had. Instead, it felt...too big. Even standing here in a more-or-less ordinary looking hallway, she had the impression of vast, echoing, and above all lonely space. Like a place that had once been full of life and people, but was no longer.
The third thing I loved about the story, however, was the way the Doctor and his new companions viewed each other. It was odd, reading the story - at first glance, you'd think that the Doctor has the most in common with River Tam. They're both vaguely psychic, they're both perceived as a little bit off-kilter, they're both mysterious and enormously clever.
And they both speak the same language:
“You miss her. You miss all of them, but you miss her the most, right now, because she saved you. Bad Wolf.”
His gaze flew back to hers, eyes startled-wide. In his shirt-sleeves and vest, without the armor of suit coat and overcoat, he looked very young and exposed. “You see a lot, don’t you?”
“Too much.”
“What do you see when you look at me?”
River squinted at him, making his face blur. Seeing him, young, old, tall, short, thin, stocky. White hair, blonde hair, black hair, brown hair, curly and straight, long and short. Grey eyes and blue, brown and green and everything in between. Laughter, judgment, fury, love, arrogance, compassion, loneliness. “You’ve been broken so many times,” she said finally. “So many different faces, different voices. Different selves. But the same soul. Why aren’t you crazy like me, changing so much?”
“Who says I’m not?” He sat down again, propping his back against the wall.
Really, every conversation between River and the Doctor gets better and better. But so too does every conversation between Mal and the Doctor - and in truth, that's where the real comparison lies. The two men are more alike than not, even if they're not willing to think about it too hard. We're clued into that idea from the very beginning:
“People will wander off,” the Doctor said sympathetically.
The other man nodded. “Don’t seem to matter how often I tell ‘em to stay put, there’s always some reason or other they gotta go somewhere else.”
“Human nature. I’m pretty certain it’s hardwired into the DNA.”
Think about it: both the Doctor and Mal love someone aboard their ship, but don't feel as though they can admit it. (For the Doctor, it's Rose, newly disappeared into Pete's World; for Mal, it's Inara, newly freed from being a Companion.) Both are homeless; both live the life of a vagrant; both have been cast off (willingly or unwillingly) from their homeworlds. But most importantly, both have been through extremely traumatic war-time experiences. Both served on the front lines (Mal at Serenity Valley; the Doctor at Arcadia). And for both men, those specific battles are pulled to the forefront within the adventure they're experiencing.
The Doctor says to the villain: “The War’s over, more or less. Time to move on."
Is it, though? Moving on is essentially what Mal has already tried to do - as has the Doctor. They've picked up their pieces, found their ships, and try to get on with living. It's not exactly working for either of them. Here, a description:
The quiet one, the one who stayed alive in the face of impossible odds. The one who watched, and listened, and made the hard decisions.
Mal, or the Doctor? It's kind of hard to tell, isn't it?
Mal was, usually, a fairly volatile man. He blew hot and cold, losing his temper and patience one moment only to be laughing and joking the next. But very, very rarely he would go still, and cold, and quiet. It was then that death sat in his hands, and God help the man or woman who brought him to that point.
Mal, yes -- but the Doctor as well. The description fits either man, and that's what takes my breath away. Frostfyre has an uncanny ability to pick out the exact words that describe her characters so perfectly that we don't need pictures to see them: they arrive, fully formed, in our mind's eye.
River on the Doctor: “He’s the Trickster God,” she said. “He opens minds, makes them see what they are. Shows the choices, makes them choose....I thought I was special because everyone else was ordinary. But Simon - there is no ordinary. Not through his eyes. No such thing as an ordinary human, ordinary anything. What must it be like, to see like that all the time? To never lose that wonder?”
The Doctor might very well be the Trickster - but Frostfyre has her own tricks up her sleeve. (And I have half a screen of quotes I can't manage to fit into this review.)
In short, vote for The Man With No Name. It's a satisfying and entertaining story that makes no apologies for the crossover it is. It's got some hysterically funny conversations between the Doctor and his new companions, as well as a bit of healing all around. If you enjoyed Firefly, you're going to love the way their characters are written, and for doing such a fantastic job of bringing that world to vivid life again, it entirely deserves your vote.
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Today's Reviews were written by:
unfolded73: Power Play
gowdie: It's Not Easy Being Green
wendymr: Tread Softly
amberfocus: Did I Mention?
papilio_luna: The Stars are Projectors
azriona: The Man With No Name