Meme: Ten Favourite Fanfics

[thisbluespirit]

What with two reccing sites, three stints on calufrax (and a fourth to come next week), I've always been a bit wary of more reccing, except on the odd excited occasion. I mean, most people whose fic I like are on my f-list, so it gets long.

But recs are ♥ - who doesn't perk up a bit on finding someone singing their praises? So, a meme: In no particular order, list your favourite (not necessarily the best) fanfics (by other people, not yourself) and share the love.


1. The Benefits of Being Monochromatic by primsong
It's hard to pick just one fic by Primsong. She's said before that she went from writing poetry to fic, and it tells in every line of her gorgeous description, and she's got a real knack for transcribing the feel of an era and making you feel you've somehow come across a missing episode. I know her heart belongs to Three, but my very favourites of hers are her One and Two fics - somehow she's got every creak and crackle of the b&w era down in loving detail. I should, given this is favourite fics, list something I've read several times, but... I love this, and someone beat me to reccing it on Calufrax. It's b&w in colour, with one of the most interesting alien races I've come across. However, I'm torn because her Two, Jamie, Ben and Polly epic for tardis_gen Reciprocal Quandaries is another one of my very favourite fics. And she's a brilliant drabble-writer, too.

2. Last Train From Iskenderun by jjpor.
If it's hard to limit myself to one fic by Primsong, it's even harder to manage it with JJPOR. I keep finding myself incoherently babbling at whatever new thing he's written, but this one left my more incoherent than most. It's the story of Bea and Edgar, from SJA, and it's just gorgeous.

3. The Frosting of Angst by Magnus Greel. I had to include a cake!fic somewhere, but when I thought about it, this is the one I most often sneak back to have a snigger at. It has a random forty foot lobster in it. Just when we all thought naked-Ten-chained-to-Three-covered-in-cake-and-cape-thanks-to-the-Master couldn't get any better. (If you're staring at me strangely, the series is here - as the various members of one forum took on this literary challenge. And I don't think a one of got above a PG rating, either.)

4. Daytripping by LilacFree. I came to Teaspoon in a post-flu depression, looking for Five/Tegan fic to cheer me up (I watched the Guardian trilogy while I was ill and got ridiculously upset by it... I had Proper Flu, okay.) I probably shouldn't admit this to anyone, but it is true. Otherwise I'd have stayed on adwc forever. This fic was exactly what I was after. I can't write Doctor-shippiness to save my life (I can barely write shippiness for ships I ship...), and I rarely want to read it, but Lilac Free can do Tegan and Five in character and shippy, which isn't the easiest thing to pull off. So, if I'm looking at fics I've read a lot, never recced elsewhere, well... *blushes* Yes, I'm a hypocrite, after all. It is, however, a classy shippy fic.

5. Deal With the Devil by Forge. One of the perks of my searching for crossovers has been discoveries like this one. Forge writes the Master in all his incarnations so well. And in this, a crossover with Angel the two evil so-and-sos who meet in this are so well-portrayed, I'md tempted to squee, and I don't do that much, if ever. But I need to prod people gently in the direction of every other Master fic (there's also the Master and Drusilla... *faints off*)

6. Box of Tricks by AstroGirl. AstroGirl writes fabulous crossovers, another thing I've learnt in my reccing quest. I was going to avoid anything I've personally recced on Calufrax, but this didn't get much reaction, and the thing is, I love it to bits, because it's a Vila fic, it's a B7/DW crossover (and there ought to be a million more of those), but fundamentally, because you could also read it as a lovely bit of TARDIS-fic - also a rare thing. So I present it again here.

7. Companions at the Chalet School by hhertzof. (I was tempted between this and paranoidangel42's CS/DW crossover, but she will keep doing sad Harry/Sarah. Still, if you like this, make sure you read that one, too!) This is very much a personal thing. I love the Chalet School series. They're addictive, old-fashioned and one of my staples of comfort-reading. This not only brings in Ace, Sarah Jane and Jo Grant as pupils in a rather wonderful way, but features Seven as the main Doctor in question, and then relentlessly and lovingly includes every single cliche of the series. So I don't expect anyone else to rush to it, but it is rather something and I enjoyed it. (I can't see Miss Annersley having anything to do with Jack, though - not really! And if Harry is going to be paired off with a Trip, it should clearly be Con and not Margot). *cough* I've not been sane for a long while.

8. As Ordinary Things Often Do by Doyle. I'm not sure this author's ever written a bad thing, and I also very much like the one where Nine and Mickey get locked up in an alien jail, but I've forgotten its name. (And I have mentioned the awesome Blackadder one before, and recced it on Calufrax), but this is a mad AU Rose/Benton, Martha/Harry fic that I oughtn't to give the time of day to, but I've read it serval times. It's rather wonderful, and oddly right.

9. To the Rescue! by dbskyler I laughed pretty much the whole way through this. It's hilarious, and I nearly killed the person who recced it on Calufrax the week before it was my turn. Of course, it was a tough choice between this and the probably even more wonderful Fallacy Somewhere. (When fanfic takes random throwaway lines and spins something fun out of them, I'm hugely grateful for the internet).

Noooo!!! I've used up all my spaces already, except for this one, which had to be:-

10. Macbeth by john_elliott. Aha, you might say, didn't one William Shakespeare write this? Yes, but his version didn't take place in This Time Round, nor did it star Tegan and Turlough in the title roles, feature unexepcted and random detectives, a murderous Nyssa, and Brian Blessed. Storytime! is wonderful nonsense (in which Who characters enact famous tales for the benefit of their toddler selves - look, trust me, there's a reason, and it's fun, okay? Just go with it.) and this is the King of Storytimes, which makes it a possible contender for my favourite bit of fanfic as a result. And, what's more, it's all Jamie's fault... (I'm not sure this wasn't where 'Jamie's Angels' began as well.)

*sulks* Need another ten now, as I haven't included persiflage_1's Eight and Liz story (Memory), All These Things That We've Done by netgirl_y2k, or anything by pitry (I'm particularly fond of Superheroes Anonymous), or belantana's Differences of the Body, nor anything by atraphoenix, infiniteviking, settiai, aralias, eponymous_rose, or eve11, who all write so well. Plus, if this were for best fanfic, I would be tempted to put ClocketPatch's Syntax of THings at no 1. As it's faves, I stick to cosier fics, like the coward I am!! Or so, so many others. And 10 seemed like lots! *sigh* Oh, well, calufrax here I come...

And I limited this to DW fandom, too.

Comments

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

"serval"? Interesting typo of "several" there! :D

And thanks for mentioning Memory!

[thisbluespirit]

Well, that's most of the right letters... *cough* Yes, I was posting this, thinking I had time, and then suddenly it was five to nine, I had to print off UNIT fic for correcting, and finish it off all so I could watch Who Do You THink You Are? (Being a family history nut - and someone had told me it had got good again, and, by golly, it had. Or maybe that was just the v v amusing bit where Rupert Everett met a very elderly long-lost great-aunt, who was entirely oblivious of who he was and had a cockney accent you could cut with a knife. And finished, on his black sheep ancestor, with: "I like the naughty boys!" / "So do I," said Rupert. "That's something we've got in common."? "Oh," she returns. "Oh. You don't bat for the other side, do you?" / "I might do..."/ "Ooh, I like you," she finishes, elbowing him. Hah. It was the best thing since Ian Hislop met an equally elderly lady who kept calling him a silly man. *cough* I do watch this for the history, obviously, but there are lovely bits where fame is proved to be an illusion. Yes, sorry, that was entirely beside the point, but I'm still amused about it. The black sheep story was v interesting, so I hope they keep this up, because the last two series were a bit tepid.)

Which is why my extra recs were written in without the links - you adding it was VERY helpful! I would do it now, but if I don't, I might just be able to get the next little bit of End Game up tonight... 8-o And I like that one, also 30 Days, and the Wallace and Gromit crossover, among others. 10 favourites is too few. I discounted all but one I'd already recced, and everything... :-)

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

*giggles* Sounds like WDYTYA was fun...

Which is why my extra recs were written in without the links - you adding it was VERY helpful!

Heh, you're welcome...

I would do it now, but if I don't, I might just be able to get the next little bit of End Game up tonight... 8-o And I like that one, also 30 Days, and the Wallace and Gromit crossover, among others. 10 favourites is too few. I discounted all but one I'd already recced, and everything... :-)

LOL Well, you could always do another 10 fave fics post, couldn't you?

[thisbluespirit]

Yes, it was quite interesting, but that bit amused me, as you can tell. :-)

Ooh, 10 more? Yes, I'll have to at some point, won't I? ;-)

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Indeed I can!!

Yes, I think you will have to... The Wallace & Gromit x-over fic is very popular for some reason - I've never worked out why 'cos it's such a slight thing.

[thisbluespirit]

IT IS A WALLACE AND GROMIT CROSSOVER.

This is all that needs to be said. Slightness is not necessarily a bad thing either, especially on the net. There are crossovers you think would be awesome but nobody would ever write.... wait... somebody did! This is one of them. I ran around in excitement at finding there was one, before a) reading it and b) realising it was written by you and it shouldn't have taken me that long to find it. ;-)

Plain as day. :-p

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

LOL

Okay, okay...

[paranoidangel]

but she will keep doing sad Harry/Sarah

I can't help it, their love is so doomed!

[thisbluespirit]

Heh. :-) 'Tis true, but it was a CS AU crossover, so I wanted me some happy-ever-after fluff. :lol: Aw, it was great, too, though. Tough to choose between the two. I only edged towards Companions in the end, because it had Seven. And a very impressive tally of cliches. (CS and Seven! I nearly died.) Yours was the more realistic one (if that's the word to use).

Poor Harry! (He always seems to get the worst of it...)

[paranoidangel]

it was a CS AU crossover, so I wanted me some happy-ever-after fluff.

Ah, but I like to disappoint :) I can't see the Sarah and Harry in that universe living happily ever after - I think he'd been much more fixated on the idea of her being a good little wife and she just wouldn't. And the war would only make things worse.

I only edged towards Companions in the end, because it had Seven

That's a very good point :)

I really ought to finish off a fic I started ages ago that has some Sarah/Harry that's more from her side than his. And I've taken the non-happiness comment as a challenge and I have an idea for writing something Sarah/Harry that's only happy with no angst in it at all. Now to find the time to write...

[thisbluespirit]

Heh, yes, you're right - like one of those old-fashioned films, a bit. (Only Elinor would have married them off, you know! :lol:) I was only teasing - and I loved your 'their love is so doomed' line. It keeps making me laugh for some reason. (Probably because if ever two characters would make unsatisfactory Doomed Lovers, it's them: "Oh, I say, old girl, I don't think this is going to work out." "Well, never mind, Harry - let's save the Home Counties first and worry about that later!")

Ooohhhh.... Happy Harry/Sarah? Well, I can live with that sort of fluff, definitely. :-D

[paranoidangel]

"Oh, I say, old girl, I don't think this is going to work out." "Well, never mind, Harry - let's save the Home Counties first and worry about that later!"

Hee.

It's definitely not a pairing that lends itself to happy ever after and tripping through the fields.

[thisbluespirit]

It's definitely not a pairing that lends itself to happy ever after and tripping through the fields.

YES IT DOES YES IT DOES YES IT DOES

*cough*

:lol:

Anyway, I think you did write happy Harry/Sarah - wasn't there that really nice fic where they got married, for a ficathon?

[paranoidangel]

It's definitely not a pairing that lends itself to happy ever after and tripping through the fields.

YES IT DOES YES IT DOES YES IT DOES

Well I'm not writing it :)

wasn't there that really nice fic where they got married, for a ficathon?

There was that. I think that is the only happy shippy thing I've written and then that had some angsty bits in the middle where he went missing.

[thisbluespirit]

:lol:

Angst in the middle is fine, as long as it's okay at the end. Heh. Poor old Harry. You're certainly right insofar as he's scuppered by canon. However, happy AUs... it could happen, right? *plucks daisies and skips about*

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

*blushes* Aw, thanks! :D

[thisbluespirit]

Well, all right, really, I just babble incoherently all the time, but I need to blame it on something... ;-D

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

XD

[clocketpatch]

...well there goes the rest of my night.

And aw, shucks *ducks head to hide the blushing*

[thisbluespirit]

Seriously. I won't make you blush any more, because I think I made my opinions known during the beta-ing, but, yes. It's either that or The Spartans, or Protect and Survive, and I think you might just have edged into top place over those, if I'm reviewing critically. (But don't tell JJ, okay? ;-D)

[pitry.livejournal.com]

More recs is always good. And I completely approve of the stories in this list I read. And I need to read the rest!

And awww :) I'm fond of SA too, even though it is extremely silly.

[thisbluespirit]

Ah, but Superheroes Anonymous is not only great crack!fic, but the Doctor learns an important moral lesson. :-) I like lots of your others, too, but, being frivolous, I find myself re-reading that one every so often...

[curuchamion.livejournal.com]

Wow.

All Primsong!fic is by definition awesome. So is all cake!fic. And I loved Companions At the Chalet School and Fallacy Somewhere.

But Macbeth! I had not read it before (I have a terrible time navigating This Time Round), and it is incredible! I just did Macbeth in school last fall, so every bit of casting and paraphrasis was more awesome than the last... and I fear Nine!MacDuff will have me grinning forever! *loves*

[john_amend_all]

*Blush* Thank you. Like Turlough-in-the-story, I did Macbeth in the fifth form (a lot longer ago than last year!)

(There's a commentary post here, including interviews with some of the cast).

[thisbluespirit]

Heh, cool - you have great taste in fic! :-)

And, if I managed to get one more person to read Macbeth, I'm happy. Every time I start trying to explain how amazing it is, I get caught around the point I start backtracking over THis Time Round, Nameless, why there are toddlers, and how Storytime works, and people start running away.

I always find Story Order the best way in, although Story Type does list the Storytime! fics separately from the general Look Who's Talking fics. I'm also very fond of John's Sherlock Holmes storytimes, and some of daibhid_c's Kate Crackernuts (in which there is much eating of chips).

Do you read Chalet School books, or did you just like the fic?

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Aww, recs are ♥ indeed! Thank you! And ooh, some of these I haven't read yet -- I shall have to correct that!

[thisbluespirit]

As my faves, one or two are entirely personal, but I think they're a pretty fab list, as you can tell! :-) I hope you enjoy them.

Recs are always ♥

[eve11]

Oooh, I beat you to recc-ing Syntax of Things, didn't I? ;) I had a great week of recs that week because I also recced Variation on a Theme by Singe :D which has quickly climbed to my top 10 list :)

[thisbluespirit]

Heh, I didn't remember it was you, but whatever I said, I was pleased, because I'd have had to plead vested interest as the beta (I know - can you imagine? Such a chore!!! :lol:), so it was good for Clocket to get someone else tell her how amazing it was, 'cos it was, and is.

I don't think I've read that one... I'll have to check it out - thanks!

[belantana.livejournal.com]

......I don't know if I dare read that cake fic.

Thanks for the rec! I'm still so excited anyone liked that silly fic. :D

[thisbluespirit]

Oh, go on - it's only short, and it has a forty foot pink lobster in it, and Ten angsting about Gallifrey and cake. You know you want to!!!

Aw, I loved that fic. I mean, I'm not exactly doing my part in promoting the Ruth/Doctor OTP Forever thing, but one of these days we'll have Ruth/Every Doctor... In the meantime, I think that short fic was lovely. It makes me smile when I remember it exists. :-)

[john_amend_all]

Thanks for that. And yes, Macbeth was the beginning of Jamie's Angels.

[thisbluespirit]

Heh, well, it's no shock to learn that I like that Macbeth fic... :-)

And, yes, I had to reread it again after mentioning it, so saw immediately the coining of the phrase at the very start. And... when did you get your very own Mini-Who Jamie's Angels icon?!

[john_amend_all]

redscharlach had a mini-icon request weekend a while back, so I requested :-)

[primsong.livejournal.com]

Thank you! That completely made my day, as you said, who doesn't perk up a bit at a recc? I completely one-hundred-percently agree with you on all the ones I know here and definitely want to add MacBeth to my reading now. ^_^

[thisbluespirit]

:-) Awww.

And Macbeth is completely awesome. I'm not big on rereading things, but I kind have to look at that one every time I remember it exists, because, obviously, it can't really have have been written. It is mad, though, because it's TTR, which is always a little bit crazy.