Christmas Reading Room December 15th

[cloudless-9193.livejournal.com]

Title: Laeti Triumphantes
Author: Sineala
Link to story: The Automated Hatstand
Pairing: Bodie/Doyle

I chose the story and roven75 did all the work.
Please note: possible spoilers.

Remember The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen? It is one of my favorite fairy tales. Very fitting, as Sineala’s Laeti Triumphantes is one of my favorite Pros winter stories. So I didn’t exactly complain when cloudless_9193 picked it to be our rec.

Sineala starts her tale with Bodie sleeping over in Doyle’s flat, on the living room couch. He is cold and he is dreaming. He is dreaming of his past, and the dreams are as cold as the snow and wind outside.

The story is constructed upon opposite motifs: cold and warm, white and color, winter and spring. Seeing, not seeing. Existing versus living. The short, clipped sentences in their prosaic style paint pictures that accentuate the framework:
His life is the dead of midwinter. He's forgotten how it looks in spring, how it could ever look different. It seems impossible. Maybe spring will never come. Have there ever been flowers beyond this window? He can't remember.

The author’s style gives the first part of the story an almost dreamlike quality. Bodie is caught in stasis, he is frozen. How to thaw the walls and let light back in? How to warm hands that have done things you don’t want to remember, but cannot forget?
Doyle knows the way but understands the first step has to be Bodie’s. Like the beginning of the story, it is taken in a dreamlike manner. All steps from thereon are taken together and lead the lads to the warm and real core of their relationship, and the reader to the heart of the story.

Outside, the wind changes direction, and some of the snow blows away from the window. A beam of light meanders in.
There’s so much happiness here, so much affection – and perfect understanding between the lads, with spot-on dialog. A truly wonderful and heart-warming story.

Comments

[merentha13.livejournal.com]

Good choice! The emotions in the story were very well written and very moving. Doyle turning away from Bodie on the couch and the fleeting sadness in his eyes, Ray's welcome when Bodie finds the courage to join Ray in bed...and we won't even talk about the sex! Wonderful story - thanks for the rec!

[cloudless-9193.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. Really good to know you like it too. :-)

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, that's a nice one - all the snow melted! *g*

[cloudless-9193.livejournal.com]

It certainly did. ;-)

[cornishcat.livejournal.com]

I was intending to recommend this one over the weekend ... but you beat me to it. I'll have to find another now!

I love the way this ostensibly cold story soon turns into something quite the opposite, filled with banter, sarcasm and compassionate but steamy sex.

Yummy. *g*

[cloudless-9193.livejournal.com]

Sorry! I hope it's not too much inconvenience for you. :-)

[cornishcat.livejournal.com]

There's nothing inconvenient about searching through loads of great fic ... any excuse to read about the lads!! :D

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

I adore Sineala's writing and love this one. Thank you for reminding me about it. For some reason I haven't thought of it when I've thought of Christmas fics but of course it is!! The joy in the writing and the gradual rise from cold (and wondering if he'll ever be warm again) to complete happiness, is wonderful. And yet there's nothing too sweet about it - it's full of humour and clumsiness and you can relate to them as real people making real love.

[cloudless-9193.livejournal.com]

it's full of humour and clumsiness and you can relate to them as real people making real love. That's it! I love her writing too. :-)

[jgraeme2007.livejournal.com]

A story to warm the cockles of your heart! *g* Very nice. Thank you both for putting this together.

By the way, I wanted to add that I had to get up and make a hot drink while I was reading this one. The descriptions of being cold were really quite effective!

[cloudless-9193.livejournal.com]

We hope you've warmed up sufficiently. ;-)
Thanks for reading it!