The Ninth Doctor ficathon (personal bits 'n' bobs)

My first time ever running a ficathon, and it's pretty much all over. I'm still waiting on nine fics, which is better than the seventeen fics I was waiting on two days ago. I've been told to expect one more fic today and another one tomorrow - admittedly, that may be because I went into the library this morning and presented quackaquacka with a piece of paper saying "FICATHON FIC?" There were exams going on, otherwise I might have been much more obstreperous - and hopefully, I'll get the others today as well. I've got my own exams to start worrying about now, so I figure I can't go on chasing after people now, it's not fair. The masterlist is updated every time I receive another story, so you all know who to abuse about the non-appearance of your stories.

So, yes, what have I learnt from this experience? Quite a few things, most of which can be summarised by "assume nothing." Don't assume anyone's ever taken part in a ficathon before. Don't assume people know what "beta" and "pinch-hit" and "gen" mean. Don't assume people will know to post on a masterlist if you don't tell them about it, and don't assume people know not to post early! I was especially guilty of those last two, happily skipping across from Buffy fandom where everyone's been in six ficathons before breakfast.

I did explain everything thoroughly if asked, and everyone who emailed me questions did get swift and hopefully clear replies. I think I decided in the beginning to make this a better ficathon than the last one I took part in, which was probably the worst one I've ever been in - a month after posting, my fic still hasn't been added to the masterlist, and I never got a story written for me - and I'm hoping that my masterlist will eventually be complete. I started running the whole thing just to make the fandom explode a bit - evolving, live-canon fandom, lots of newbies, not much fic, and suddenly there's lots of it, so mission accomplished.

So! Overall, there were forty-five participants, three dropouts (amusingly, the first two people to sign up were the first two people to drop out) and there are currently thirty-six fics. I wrote one story and betaed five more, which were all fab, but I hadn't got around to actually reccing my favourites, so here goes:

A Phantom of Clouds, by doyle_sb4.
The latest addition, and the story that was written for me. I wanted banter and Doctor angst and someone calling the Doctor Theta because I'm the only person in the UNIVERSE who likes it, and Doyle delivers in a way I couldn't have ever thought of. It's a gorgeous, gorgeous story, funny and sort of sexy (there's a show-stopping kiss between the Doctor and Jack) and then at the end the Doctor-angst starts up and I was reduced to a heap of sad little girl trying not to cry. So good.

The War To End All Wars by snowballjane.
This is not a M*A*S*H crossover. Really, it's not. But there are hints and suggestions all the way through - I particularly like the passing reference to a man "in a red dressing gown" - and it's just the tone of it, the black humour and the angst, that reminds me so much of the good M*A*S*H fic out there. One for non-Doctor Who fans as well, methinks.

Not A Busman's Holiday by taraljc
And, interestingly enough, this fic has the Doctor carping at Rose for not knowing what M*A*S*H was about. And nothing more exciting than that happens all the way through, but it's a nice, atmospheric and lovely character study. And there's ice-cream.

Courting Gloriana by hathy_col.
One of the five I betaed, and easily one of my favourites. It's so funny, awash with historical detail and good characterisation, there's a City of Death reference that makes me want to giggle far too much, and in case I hadn't mentioned it before, it features Jack trying not to marry Elizabeth I. Sheer brilliance.

Past Imperfect by ancalemon.
Another one I betaed. It's short, with a very simple, predictable plot, which makes it hard to summarise: it's the original structure and richly lush style and lexis that lift it upwards and make it much more than the sum of its parts. Extremely memorable.

Rehabilitation by flurblewig.
It's strange to think now that The Long Game hadn't aired when the ficathon assignments were sent out, but if I may now remind you all of Adam, this is a story that leaves you thinking of him in a very different light. Possibly the most original of all the fics on the list, and it really works.

The Tenth Muse by lilka.
Yes, I betaed this one too. Shush. And even aside from that, I'm a little biased where this fic is concerned, because she borrowed my litgeek!Doctor for the duration and oh, he's such a geek. And he uses naughty Latin and teases Rose and it's just a lovely fic. And, and and and, for those who know what I'm talking about, Clemens and Metella (yes, them!) are in it. Pity no Caecilius, but as I observed at the time, he's very very dead by this point.

Darkness On The Edge of Town by cscottd.
This is a short pinch-hit fic, and in my humble opinion one of the most underrated so far. It is short, yes, but manages to also be clever, interesting and deliciously creepy. Nice.

What Isn't Said by lm.
Oooh. It's all in the title, this one - it's almost romantic, almost shippy, almost, almost - but it's never said out loud, and we learn so much about the relationship between the Doctor and Rose by reading between the lines and listening beneath the silence. It's a beautifully written story.

The Colour Pink by excentryke.
Hair-dye, silliness and a database channelling the Hitch Hiker's Guide. Read it. Just read it.

And, lastly! 18 Seconds by katemonkey.
It's becoming a fandom rite of passage, writing about what could have happened on the Doctor's side before he came back in Rose (I did it myself in Flowers For The Doctor) but this is probably going to be the yardstick against which they're all measured. It's full of note-perfect, riotously funny details, each of which could probably be a fic in itself, and it brings us round full circle to a perfectly satisfying conclusion.

Huh. It was going to be a list of two or three fics, but everyone's so damn talented. I've thoroughly enjoyed myself, in any case. Entirely because of this ficathon, I've made a friend in Japan, tried writing femmeslash and invented a race of aliens called the Sdkjfshrthuerg.

Maybe I'll do it again for Ten.