Calufrax

Here's my second long-story rec.

Story: Reflections
Author: van
Rating: Adult
Word Count: 90,812
Author's Summary: Charged with saving the universe, can the Doctor overcome his own darkness to defeat the Daleks?
Characters/Pairings: Second Doctor/Jamie, Victoria
Warnings: Dark AU

Recced because: I should probably start by explaining what this story is really about. Perhaps best summarized by one of it's reviewers, it's a story about a ""Dalek-blighted universe created by a Doctor corrupted by his own heart." This piece is an AU based off of the serial The Evil of the Daleks, which I think is one of the best stories in all of classic Who. Sadly, most of the episodes were burned in the BBC purge of misery and woe, but the storyline is worth suffering through reconstructions for. However, if you absolutely refuse to watch this serial, or simply can't for whatever reason, this recap provides all the information you would need to make sense of Reflections. And Van's story is definitely worth the effort.

Although it's pretty darn long by Who-fic standards, I think this one is absolutely worth the time commitment. Not only is it a brilliant Two/Jamie story, but the plot is completely engaging and seriously intense. Van has an excellent grasp of the characters, particularly the Second Doctor (he also does a great Victoria), and the result is that you really understand the motivations of his AU-self. You can believe that this dark version is someone the Second Doctor could have become. (And did I mention the sex is hot as hell?) But most of all, I love this story because it's just so damn angsty. The first time I read it I was hooked from chapter one through the very last line and yes, I cried.

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Story: Hall of Mirrors
Author: WMR
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 75,567
Author's summary: Eventually, she will have to accept that this time he really does mean it. That sometimes impossible really is impossible.
Characters/Pairings: Rose Tyler, The Doctor (9th), Jack Harkness (Nine/Rose)
Warnings: none

Recced because: I'll admit it. I have a certain fondness for alt!Nine fics. This is yet another 'verse wherein Rose encounters an alternate version of her Doctor with a very clever twist. We get to see flawed, human characters (yes, even the Doctor) in situations that, while not exactly 'realistic' in the way that you or I encounter Autons every day, you can see happening. Like all of Wendy's writing, this story is more about the characters than the plot. But this story has just about everything wrapped in an angsty hurt-comfort-y wrapper. Its got pieces of Series 1 as it could've been. No punches are pulled with this story and, combined with its gorgeous prose, it's definitely one of my favourites of Wendy's work.

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Story: Ten things to do at Torchwood when you're dead
Author: Netgirl_y2k
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 972 words
Author's summary: "Do you ever get the feeling that we're the best two?"
Characters/Pairings: Tosh, Ianto, Owen, Jack, Gwen
Warnings: none

Recced because: In typically incompetent Torchwood fashion, Owen accidentally vaporizes Ianto and Tosh. (Well, kind of.) And a story with a premise like that has to go somewhere great. Sure enough: Tosh and Ianto find themselves lurking around the hub, able to communicate with each other yet unseen and unheard by their colleagues. It's good to have the focus on these two underused characters, and I can't argue too much with the last line.

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