Words beneath a dappled sky

Title:  A Mysterious Customer
Wordcount: approx. 41,000
Characters: Three, Jo, the Brig, Sergeant Benton, Yates, the Master, UNIT
Summary:  Dragons are mysteriously appearing in the countryside and UNIT must investigate. Does Bessie hold the key?

This is the fourth and presumably final tale for the 'Custom Vehicle' series in which the little yellow roadster 'Bessie' always has a part in saving the day.  It was very nearly two stories, but they were so intertwined I ended up with just having one that is twice the length of the others.  A very long time ago I read a prompt from someone (who I no longer recall) that said "Three, Degado!Master, Dragon"  and this was the result.  The recurring OC for this series, a government aide by the name of John Babcock, does make a reappearance.

It being rather lengthy, I won't post it here at Dwth, but you are welcome and encouraged to enjoy it over here:

A Mysterious Customer at Teaspoon

A Mysterious Customer at Fanfic.net

A Mysterious Customer at AO3

He was very, very sorry

Title: Grant Me Just a Little Speech
Characters: The Master, Jo Grant with Third Doctor cameo
Wordcount: 4,250
Summary: The Master kidnaps Jo intending to hold her for ransom, but gets an earful instead.
A/N: A little tale written for JJPOR and Clocketpatch, who wondered what it would be like for the Master to have to spend time around Jo. This is one idea.

( ...he began to have misgivings )

“You mean,” he said, waving a couple fingers in vaguely orbiting patterns, “Other things out there are using our honey?”

Title: Sweetest
Rating: G
Wordcount: 12,376
Characters: Three and Jo with brief appearance by Benton
Summary: When bee-boxes turn up mysteriously empty of their honey, the Doctor and Jo are sent out to find out why. A gentle spring adventure with a scoop of fluff.

A/N: This 6-chapter tale started off as a little vignette for Valentine’s day, hence the double scoops of fluff in the resulting story. It is a relatively gentle tale for spring, with a touch of foreshadowing for Jo’s upcoming changes in her next trip out toward Wales.
Sweetest at Fanfiction.net
Sweetest at Teaspoon
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3
Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6


( Chapter 1 right under here )
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Wolfe's announcement that he would no longer be writing horror novels hadn't slowed down all of his fans....the most die-hard among them still broke their collective piggy-banks for occasional pilgrimages to their chosen mecca of horror to validate their own bubble of denial.

Title: Boo, Rats!
Characters: Boo and other residents of Skary
Wordcount: 16,371 in 12 chapters
Summary: Based on Rene Gutteridge's humorous "Boo" series, set in the small town of Skary, Indiana between the events of her Boo and Boo Who novels. Former horror writer Wolfe "Boo" Boone, eccentric inhabitants and visitors engage in a comedy of errors.

A/N: According to everloyal, no knowledge is needed of the books this is based on in order to enjoy it - she told me to add this disclaimer. ;-)

This is not only a turn at a classic comedy of errors but also a fun poke at obsessed fans who follow the famous horror writer they admire in that weird quasi-stalker way only fans understand. A hat tip is needed, I think, to Northanger Abbey as well, where the imagination makes events seem other than they are.
( Somewhat lengthy explanation for this obscure but amusing tale )
--

Read Boo Rats! at Fanfiction.net

--

"Ah, did we catch him at last?" the Rani purred, patting her TARDIS' console proudly.

Title: Cake and the Rani
Characters: Three, Ten, Delgado!Master and the Rani with a sprinkle of UNIT
Wordcount: 11,365 in 8 chapters
Summary: In which the Master takes up baking, Three disapproves of his culinary planning and Ten loses his britches with the help of the Rani. No TARDISes were harmed in the making of this fic.

A/N: This is a story that grew out of an exceedingly unlikely beginning, in which my dear and slightly deranged fellow fans at a forum called 'Death by Asprin' engendered a request for a story featuring Ten, naked and covered in cake, chained to Three with both of them captive by the Master and Ten hiding under Three's cape at some point. Now some of you may have had the vast enjoyment of reading jjpor's resulting crackfic, "Let them Eat Cake" - and if you haven't I highly recommend it - but this one isn't as cracky... still, if you have any curiosity of how in the world such an ungainly scene could show up in a quasi-serious tale, and if you wanted there to be an explanation for how Ten could have ended up that way, you are invited to read on. This is very, very low on the smut-o-meter, just so you know lest any readers have their expectation disappointed. ;-)

I've never written for Ten before, so I thank my beta, everloyal both for her numerous plot suggestions and for her checking over the dialogue for me.

Cake and the Rani at Teaspoon

Cake and the Rani at Fanfiction.net

It's what you might call 'cosmopolitan' but only in a limited way, since most of the cosmos isn't really represented, but for Earth it's quite nice, yes, quite nice.

Title: Reciprocal Quandaries
Characters: Two, Jamie, Polly, Ben
Wordcount: 33,161 in 13 chapters
Summary: Two, Ben, Polly and Jamie pause for a bit of restful holiday at the 1900 Paris Exposition - or so they wished.

A/N: Originally written for the tardis_gen ficathon here on LJ to fulfill a prompt by wishfulaces, this might be termed a 'straight-up historical' - for in spite of it being in Two's 'monster-ful' era this tale features a bit of intrigue at the 1900 Paris Exposition in which monsters might be noted only by their absence. Of course, who needs things like that when you have good old-fashioned human nature to deal with?

The one caveat here is the reader must be prepared to swallow a large coincidence - but probably not much larger than others we've seen (ala Black Orchid, Enemy of the World, etc.).

This took quite a lot of historical research though only a fraction of it is shown in the story, but I enjoy that sort of thing. As to the featured inventors: Rudolf Diesel is pretty much as he was, Hubert Booth has been aged about thirty years, allowed a better exhibition slot and given a granddaughter.

Reciprocal Quandaries at Teaspoon

Reciprocal Quandaries at Fanfiction.net

The Master lifted his chin, looking down his nose with injured nobility. "By your own professional opinion, Miss Grant, seeing as this is *your* planet, what do you recommend?"

Title: Snowbound
Characters: Three, Jo, Delgado!Master with brief appearance of Benton and Yates.
Wordcount: 6,925 in two chapters
Summary: Even the most improbable alliances can occur with the application of enough snow.

A/N: This was written December 2008 for stunt_muppet's request: a short story in which Three, Jo and Delgado's Master end up in a domestic setting, but the only way I could think of this particular threesome being caught in any kind of domestic situation would be by involuntary entrapment. Or a blizzard. Enjoy.

(I am a hopeless fluff-level Three/Jo shipper, I admit, so this is a favorite)

Snowbound at Teaspoon

Snowbound at Ff.net

In which Bessie saves the day

Titles: A Custom Vehicle, A Custom Order, A Custom Design and A Mysterious Customer
Characters: Third Doctor, Jo, the Brigadier, Benton, Yates, the Master and UNIT
Wordcount:
A Custom Vehicle - 11,104
A Custom Order - 17,387
A Custom Design - 17,987
A Mysterious Customer - approx. 35,000
Summary: Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart faces an unwelcome government audit, surely a good excuse to chase after aliens in the English countryside.

A/N: I have serious vehicle-love for Bessie, surely one of the best heroic cars ever. The first story started out as a singular tale in homage to Bessie's awesomeness, then grew into a three-episode-arc. I'm not entirely sure there won't eventually be a fourth one either! They are 'classic episode' style, about 6 fat chapters apiece. These are loosely set in the time where his TARDIS being inoperational, the Doctor began pouring his restless tinkering into a little yellow car instead. References are made to the First Doctor serial War Machines. There is one recurring OC, a government aide by the name of John Babcock. Only the last one includes the Master, as it seemed obligatory to let him make a showing, it being Three's era.

Links to each story in the series at Teaspoon: (they may also be found at Fanfiction.net and AO3)

Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart faces an unwelcome government audit, surely a good excuse to chase after aliens in the English countryside.
A Custom Vehicle

Aliens, strange machines, a quarry and forgotten military tunnels in England! It must be Three and Jo again. And yes, this Cold War era underground city really does exist in Corsham - truth is stranger than fiction.
A Custom Order

Bessie is missing! Why, and what will become of her? Is the fate of Britain involved? Of course.
A Custom Design

Dragons are mysteriously appearing in the countryside and UNIT must investigate. Does Bessie hold the key?
A Mysterious Customer


-

Something a little longer -

Title: The Shining Furrow
Characters: Three, Jo, the Brigadier, Benton, UNIT
Wordcount: 34,520 (in a prologue and 13 chapters)
Summary: An out-of-season meteorite in Trelissick, Cornwall, a missing man and missing ferns; the Doctor and Jo have a puzzling, dangerous riddle to solve.

A/N: This tale, quite strangely, arose from reading one of my favorite classic poems by Tennyson. I expect the storyline is not even remotely like anything Tennyson had in mind when he penned it, but nonetheless I have used it for my guide. You will find its lines at the opening for each of the chapters. Apologies to any non-whovian Tennyson-lovers.

Photos of Trelissick tower and the Fal may be found at Folly Towers: http://www.follytowers.com/trelissick.html

This is a personal favorite and also one that meant plenty of (mostly enjoyable) research on the nature of fractals, meteors and Trelissick gardens, Cornwall. Nothing like writing to expand the horizons on unexpected topics. For the most part it is 'adventure' and mystery in approach with a few undertones of somewhat serious Three-Jo fluff tucked in for which I'll give it the 'romance' tag though it barely qualifies. This has been called a "missing episode" by some, and for that I am greatly complimented. Enjoy the read.

The Shining Furrow at Teaspoon

The Shining Furrow at AO3

Or at Fanfiction.net

A challenge was given to describe something complex in words of only one syllable and no more - and still make sense and preferably rhyme! This poem on the battle of Helm's Deep was the result.

We Won
( We had no hope, the foe was strong )