best_enemies | Rec: Name Magic by storyseller (Reply)

Tomorrow my time as reccer ends, so here's my last rec. You should try reccing, it's a lot more fun than I thought it would be! Even if you can't think of any new and unknown gems to present to us, it's a great chance to talk about stuff you like and why :)

Pairing: gen, mostly, but at the same time utterly D/M
Length: short
Warnings: this is not a happy fic deathfic, attempted suicide
Author on LJ (or Teaspoon, or Prydonian): storyseller
Why this must be read:

I have a weakness for stories (especially AUs) that demonstrate the mechanics of a particular story, universe or character, the rules that govern them, and how tweaking those rules affects them. This is a particular way of telling a story that maybe jibes with modern ideas of good prose (in which plot should be driven by characters, and characters should probably be more dynamic). In fact, this story is anything but realistic: the universe and people probably don't work like this. But I guess I both love it because it has a certain mythological/fairy-tale quality, and because you can do cool AUs with this technique. But why should you read this story? Well, because it presents an interesting AU, because it has characters like Brax, the Rani and Romana, because it weaves together oldschool, newschool and extended canon and you hardly even notice it, and because it’s tragic and wistful and smart. I only wish that it was longer and more indepth.

Excerpt:
When he is a hundred and three years old, he sees the name ‘Koschei’ in the Matrix archives. His heart falters in terrible and uncomprehending fear, and he doesn’t touch the Matrix again for years.

It is not his name, though it could be. He still refuses to take a name.

Link to the story: Name Magic on Teaspoon