World Enough and Time

One thing Lev Grossman's article did was get people talking about fanfic, at least within fandom. Which is a good thing; I think we should do it more often.

Fans seem to be much less defensive about fanfic these days, and that's good in many ways. In the distant past, we didn't need to be defensive because we were so hidden: if you knew about us, you were one of us. And woe betide anyone who betrayed the secrets of the sanctum to the outside world.

Then it became an open secret, an island of both pride and paranoia surrounded by either indifference or hostility. And now... well. It's an open secret with less shame and less paranoia necessary.

Pim sent me a link to a discussion of the Grossman article on Metafilter. I found myself wanting to comment on their comments, ( so here I am. )

This is one of those appalling "where can I find a certain fic?" questions. Bo-ring, I know. But I'm not sure where to ask, except my clever f-list.

The story is Shakespearean blank verse, based on Hamlet, only instead of it being the ghost of Hamlet's father who's freaking out Horatio and Bernardo, it's the Doctor and the TARDIS.

Ring any bells?

Later note: found for me by neadods. It's The Comedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by reina_isabella.

I don't often recommend fanfic but I read a Jack/Ianto Torchwood fic yesterday that I thought was extraordinarily good. By someone I never heard of - rallalon, where have you been hiding? I liked the story on so many levels: for its sense of character and romance, and for its sense of plot and structure. And it hit a lot of my buttons. And it surprised me; not one of your cliche plots, but something delightfully different in a way that fits nicely with series canon.

The story is Tryst by rallalon.

I've had a pile of fic that I've been wanting to mention; the list is growing exponentially. So: here you are... fanfic I have particularly enjoyed over the last while.

Most of these are Captain Jack stories, or Torchwood, ( one way or another... )

Title: Marksman
Author: fajrdrako
Characters: Captain Jack Harkness
Challenge: Anything goes on tw100
Rating: G
Words: 100
Notes: No spoilers.

( Marksman )

Title: Tantalus
Author: fajrdrako
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Suzie/Owen
For tw100 Challenge #5: Suzie Costello
Words: 100
Rating: PG
Spoilers: for Everything Changes and They Keep Killing... Cross-posted to the tw100 site.

( Tantalus )

Blame this on kikibug13, who wrote two haiku today that I read when just in the right stage of boredom at work.

1
Pterodactyl flies
Caught in dimensions of time,
Just like Jack Harkness.

2
TARDIS survivor,
Gotta be ready for change.
Tomorrow, today.

As you might guess if you know me, I've been reading a lot of Torchwood and Doctor Who fanfic lately. I figure it's time to make a few recommendations. As usual, there are many stories who read as if they were written by teenagers without much life experience, or people who don't know how to use an apostrophe, and stories that just don't have the punch they might have. I find that Doctor Who fandom is rather too full of gen stories, and with Torchwood we need a few more episodes under our belts before we can really get to the substantial, meaty characterization.

This being said, here are stories I think are worthy of recommendation:

Torchwood
Employee Benefits (or, Personnel for Dummies) by mimarie. [R] Jack/Owen. A story that helped me to understand Owen Harper, whom I normally just don't get.

Hub Games by cyberamanda. [R] Jack/Ianto. [NC-17] Just... charming.

Five Ways Ianto Jones Said Sorry by sage_theory. [PG] With the caveat that I'm somewhat tired of "five ways" stories, this had good characterisation.

Salvaging Surrender by boji. [PG] boji's best work so far is Blogging On, but this is a nice character study.

Doctor/Jack
The Beautiful Simplicity of Motion by nostalga_lj. [R] A story greater than the sum of its parts, with the advantage of being my favourite pairing.

Doctor/Rose
Perversions by regala_electra. [NC-17] Not perverted really, sorry. Actually kind of tame. But this is one of the few stories I have seen that in my judgement gets the Doctor's sexuality right - he isn't inhibited or shy, and he certainly isn't asexual; he approaches sex with the same enthusiastic curiosity as he does everything else. What this story lacks in structure, it makes up for in spirit.

Five Things the TARDIS Understood about Rose Tyler (and One She Didn't About the Doctor by misscam. [PG] A nice alien look at Rose.

What, is that all? I'll have to look harder.

Title: Danger Zone (1/1)
Author: fajrdrako
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: PG
Pairing: Nine/Rose
Disclaimer: They belong to BBC1 and Russell T. Davies, not to me.
Note: Thanks to msilverstar, widget_alley, and rosiespark for the beta-reading. I couldn't have done it without them.
Summary: The first few minutes of the episode "Rose".

( Danger Zone )