This was really hard to decide

There's a meme that's been going around (I picked it up from isiscaughey, but I know I've seen it elsewhere) where the idea is that you post 10 fanfics that have stayed with you for whatever reason. I thought that sounded like a fun excuse to link y'all to some fics I love, so here goes.

For ease of your reading I'm linking to AO3 when possible (even if the story was originally posted elsewhere), but some of my favorite older Doctor Who stories have never been posted there, so those links are to Teaspoon.  Interestingly, it seems that many of the fics that stick with me the most are either emotionally rough reads (dark or bittersweet or just full of intense feelings) or super lightweight fluff that sticks with me because it's comfort reading I keep going back to.  Stories are arranged by fandom (Doctor Who, Sherlock, Marvel Cinematic Universe), but otherwise there is no implied ranking within this list.

-Do I Twist, Do I Fold by rosa_acicularis.  (Doctor Who.  Ten, Rose, The Master)  This story is so good and so intensely unsettling.  Just thinking about it gives me the shivers.  The prose is vivid.  Rose is such a BAMF even in a terrible situation.  Warnings for disturbing content, sexualized violence, and possibly ruining pineapple pizza forever, but worth the reading if that's something you can cope with.  I could honestly fill much of this meme with rosa_acicularis's stories (Days and Hours, But Broken Lights, and The Anatomist spring to mind).

-Coming Around by honorh.  (Doctor Who, Nine/Rose)  I am a little bit obsessed with what Nine was like pre-"Rose" and what happens to Rose after "Doomsday."  This one-shot connects those two in a bit of timey-wimey bittersweet brilliance.  Really lovely.  I read this very soon after I joined this fandom and it has lingered with me.

-Tales from the Findersverse by dameruth.  (Doctor Who, Ten/Rose/Jack)  This is one of the first fic series (yeah, I'm cheating a bit by having a series rather than just one fic) that convinced me that I shipped Doctor/Rose/Jack, not just Doctor/Rose, and for that it will always have a special place in my heart.  The Finders-verse series is comfort reading post-Doomsday fixit.  There's a bit of hurt/comfort and lots of fluffy romance.   Dameruth has great dialog and grasp of the characters. I don't even know if this is my overall favorite of her several OT3 'verses, let alone the many other great fics for this ship, but I think it's the one I found first so it always makes me go "awwww" when I think of it.

-Ulysses by Rheanna.  (Doctor Who. Martha Jones, John Smith, Joan Redfern)  This is a haunting "what if" story about what it might have looked like years down the line if John Smith hadn't been the one to find the courage to open the fob watch in "The Family of Blood."  It's about stories and choices and the nature of humans and Time Lords, and if you watch Doctor Who you should really read it.

-The Paradox series by wordstrings.  (Sherlock, Sherlock/John) This is one of the most-recced fanworks in Sherlock fandom for very good reason.  It's intense, immersive, gorgeous, difficult, creative, and moving.  This is the story of two very, VERY broken people who find they fit together better than either of them dared to hope, even if that doesn't make everything better always.

-The Shape I Found You In/Lay Me Down by irisbleufic and moony (Sherlock, Sherlock/John)  There are so many things I love here:  epistolary fic!  Humor!  Case solving!  Men who rarely talk about things finally talking about it!  Character parallels with well-written OCs!  Travel!  Longing and the sexy fulfilment of all that longing!  All of it is really beautifully written (irisbleufic is a published poet, and it shows) with impeccable characterizations.

-The Watches 'verse by bendingsignpost.  (Sherlock, Sherlock/John)  The creativity and planning that went into the two stories in this series is just amazing.  I have a huge place in my heart for Sherlock stories where John is even more extraordinary than Sherlock in a very different way, and this story about John with his consciousness jumping between alternate realities every time he goes to sleep certainly fills that craving.  Bendingsignpost is another one of those writers who has written lots of fics I could just rave about for ages.

-Bring Biscuits by wiggleofjudas (Sherlock, Sherlock/John/Mary)  This fic is like a blanketfort of OT3 happiness.  It's exceptionally sily and loving text fic with Sherlock, John, Mary, and a baby, and re-reading it (or its sequel) is the antidote to all bad feelings caused by accidentally encountering anti-Mary tirades.  Also, at one point Sherlock and John fall into a big display of sex toys and Lestrade takes pictures.

-We Were Emergencies by gyzym.  (Avengers, Natasha/Clint)  This is the gorgeous, emotionally-charged, insightful story of two damaged assassins in love.  It's about recovery from mind control (and recovery in general), subtle and intense at the same time.  I came out of The Avengers craving a story like this, and to find one that filled that craving so brilliantly was marvelous.

-Reconstruction Site by EmilianaDarling.  (Avengers/Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Steve/Bucky).  This fic perfectly fits my headcanon for Bucky after the events of the movie, and does so with graceful writing and SO MANY FEELS.