Fic Report: The Good, the Bad, and the Weird-but-Cute

[tinturtle]

Hello, all. I'm continuing to gobble Pros fic in my noobish way, and I'm here again with reports on a selection of the things I've read. Since my last report, I've changed my mind about only mentioning stories I enjoy, so there are some fics listed below that I didn't like as well as some that I did.

Gone With the Pixies by Verlaine (17100 words, slash and het)
(Warning: This is deathfic, several times over.)
This is a collection of five stories, mostly AUs, related to a common theme. It is outstanding. Each story is impressive on its own, but the juxtaposition of their different atmospheres and styles makes the fic more than the sum of its parts. I was wowed.

Hidden Anger by Jane Carnall (5004 words, Bodie/OMC slash)
This fic is interesting as an intentional protest against laws in the UK at the time it was written. It also offers an unusual take on the undercover-as-gay trope. I found it far too sketchy, though. I wanted everything to be developed more, especially the plot.

Feasting With Panthers by Kitty Fisher (8979 words, slash)
(Warning: This fic contains difficult material.)
I read this because byslantedlight had mentioned some time ago that it was the first Pros story she ever read. (To which I say "whoa.") There is a lot in this story that is extreme and a lot that is unpleasant. Neither of those is something I necessarily object to, and I found the subject of the story interesting. What I did object to, though, was that the story's resolution is left to the reader as an exercise (as the math books say). That I found extremely frustrating.

Parsing the Sentence by Dawnwind (dawnebeth) (46378 words, slash)
The casefic elements of this story worked well, and the plot kept me interested enough to read the whole fic. The alternate world in which the story is set never quite came alive for me, however, though I did enjoy the very brief cameo by Coventry Cathedral.

Not Enough of the Other by Stew (5552 words, slash)
The exchanges between Bodie and Doyle in this fic are excellent and mesh seamlessly with the quoted canon dialog. The rest of the fic is also enjoyable, including the stubbornly unromantic romance that is its central element.

Thy Pilgrim Soul by Airelle (533 words, slash)
(Warning: This is deathfic.)
It's hard to describe my reaction to this fic without spoilers. Basically, I object to stories that use this fic's main plot point in the way that this fic does, but this fic still moved me when I read it with no foreknowledge of its plot. So I liked it, but I didn't like liking it, I suppose.

Swan Song by Airelle (631 words, slash)
This fic is weird but cute. Read it for science!

Lines by PFL (msmoat) (17559 words, slash)
I liked this fic overall. The first half, during which Bodie and Doyle must navigate a complicated situation that arises on a case, was deftly executed and wholly absorbing. I did get restless during the relationship discussions near the end of the fic, though.

Velvet Underground by Sebastian (3564 words, slash)
Well, I hated this. I don't know what I was supposed to understand from it, but I missed whatever it was. Maybe my problem is that the idea of something being forbidden or bad holds no fascination for me. That was certainly a theme laid on very thick in this story.

Three Times is Either Enemy Action or Cowley by redfiona (887 words, gen)
This fic is an example of what I've called LGBT-themed non-slash, which endears it to me. It's a good little fic in its own right, too.

October by Rowan (3535 words, slash?)
(Warning: This is a rape fic.)
I read this fic after ali15son cited it as one of her favorites. It is an intense hurt/comfort fic taking place in the immediate aftermath of the hurt. I thought it was well done overall and that its author made a good choice not to try to resolve too much in too short a time. I would have preferred a more explanation at the beginning of the fic, though, and I do think I spotted one substantial continuity error.

Once in a Good Long While by laceymcbain (12872 words, slash)
This fic is very good. It has a thought-provoking premise, and it is pleasingly workmanlike throughout: good plot, good pacing, good dialog, good use of Kate Ross. Good everything.

Comments

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

We clearly have very different tastes in fic - I loved Feasting with Panthers, and I loved Velvet Underground too! *g* Difficult subjects yes, but I think that's a good thing in a story now and then. I want happy fic sometimes, but sometimes I really appreciate being made to think or feel differently. *g*

Puts mod hat on
There's something else too, which I've really only just clicked to now, and must put my mod hat on for. You're including spoilers in the headings for your reviews (e.g. for death, rape etc.), which is something we try to avoid at ci5hq. There is a code for hiding spoilers so that people have to highlight them to see them (if you know it - I can't seem to find it now), or the official lj spoiler cut via the icons on the posting window - could you possibly use one of those things, please, when you give "warnings" to people? The review itself is different (as long as the detail is under a cut) - people can choose to read that or not, and a review is by definition a spoiler - but words that are given as separate headings/in brackets etc. stand out even if you choose not to read the review, and so you end up spoiled. Would that be okay, please?

[tinturtle]

I have found information on the LJ spoiler tag, and I am converting my warnings to use it. I do wish to point out, though, that I had some care for spoilers in the original version of my post. The warnings which appeared without shielding were for things that were clear within a fics' first few paragraphs or, in the case of works on AO3, that were declared in the fic header. Warnings that I deemed to be spoilers appeared in cipher. I've also been careful to avoid spoilers in my reviews, even though you say they are considered acceptable there.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Thanks for that - and thank you because I could see that you had done some arranging of spoilers, it's just that there's been a whole faff-history at this comm about the use of spoilers (which you wouldn't know about unless you read way back in the post history!) and so I think it's quite important for us to be consistent.

In fact even saying that there's a "warning" is a kind of spoiler, so if even that word could go behind a spoiler cut when you're making your next post, that would be good. *g* (No need to edit this one again unless you've got baaags of time and want to do it!) I know that people will click through to A03 and then be spoiled there in the headings, in some cases, but that's not something we can control here, and is just a shame (if I'm told the end of a story before I've started reading it, then I don't both reading it, for instance). If we can do our best to be spoiler-free here, then that's all we ask! *g*

I've not had a chance to say, in the madness of moving and trying to keep up with making promised lj-posts, but I love that you're posting about the fic you read, and adding to prosficindex too! *g*

[tinturtle]

Right. Everything is compliant now, I hope. Bags of time are the main thing I have in my life at the moment--hence the fic gobbling.

Authors can choose what information to provide on AO3, though I suppose that is of little use to readers who prefer to have no information. I wonder if there is a browser extension that hides selected AO3 metadata.

As for me, one of the reasons I began reading a lot of fan fiction (on AO3) is that there was often so much information available about its content. There were many years during which I was very emotionally fragile, and fearful of unknown inputs from books, TV, and movies. The information available about fics on AO3 made them safe, which was a good thing for me, at least. Otherwise I would have been stuck watching Thomas the Tank Engine all the time. Not a joke. (Another thing that was and still is appealing about fan fiction is its additional layer of unreality. If something bad happens in a fanfic, it doesn't really happen, even to the extent that it would really happen in the primary fictional work.)

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Thank you! *g*

Yeah, it's up to authors on A03 to offer spoiler information etc. I always choose not to, and so that's the statement that is shown on my story headers. If I click on a story and am immediately spoiled for what's going to happen, then I have no interest in reading that story (unless, perhaps, it's a very favourite author).

I do appreciate that some people want spoilers/warnings/read the last pages of stories first etc., and I appreciate the reasons they have for this (like yours), I just think that we all need the choice, rather than for either thing to be forced on us. *g*

[jat-sapphire.livejournal.com]

Huh. I actually like warnings. I mentioned recently how much rape fic there is in this fanfic, along with radical injury and not just death but awful torture, pain and death. I might have bailed clear out of fandom without at least being able to say "oh blood fanfic, not today." I don't mind AUs ( I've written enough of them and am engaged in another now!) Still, it's helpful to be able to switch to the kind of reading I do in SF, keeping track of how this world is being built.

[jat-sapphire.livejournal.com]

(This fanDOM.)

[tinturtle]

Incidentally, I guess that labeling fics as slash or gen is considered vague enough (and/or essential enough to the peace of fandom) that it is not a spoiler.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

We had a poll once, years ago, asking what information people wanted before reading a fic. Most people only wanted fandom and pairing, so we decided to give that information outside any cuts/spoiler cuts etc. (actually lj didn't have spoiler cuts when we had the poll!) and anything else needed to be hidden so that people could find it if they wanted it, but avoid it if they didn't. A story review was a spoiler by definition, and people could choose to read it (although anything spoiler-y should still be under an lj-cut), but headings etc. stand out and so any spoiler information there needed to be hidden.

[tinturtle]

As far as having different taste in fic, that may be so, although my objection to Feasting With Panthers was not the heavy subject matter, but the fact that, in my view, the story stopped in the middle. As for Velvet Underground, I couldn't even figure out what it was driving at, really, besides the idea that BDSM is morally bad, which was implied throughout the fic but never explained.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

in my view, the story stopped in the middle
And I totally meant to write about that in my comment, but got distracted!!

Although I guess what I'm going to say is that we'll have to disagree about this too. *g* To me it was a very complete story - it's just that their life went on afterwards, and it was up to us to imagine what happened next. I suppose it's the definition of a complete story, here... For me the story was about the lads choosing a particular life style and the way that went wrong for them, and the resolution was that Bodie came to recognise that and was able to change that course. What that next course would be is a completely different story. *g* (Not that I wouldn't like to read it, mind! *g*)

Velvet Underground, for me, is an exploration of the dark side of our desires - I don't think it's implying that BDSM is morally bad, just that it's a deviation from what's considered "normal", with all the implications that arise from that, and that have to be dealt with. What happens when we're tempted by and choose something that other people look on askance? Why is it looked on as having that kind of darkness, what might it do to you? How far might it take you, and what would it feel like to drown in it? For me it's offering a glimpse of how that might feel - like the best fic (and fiction) it's giving us a taste of an entirely different life, for us to react to as we will...

[livejournal.livejournal.com]

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[fiorenza-a.livejournal.com]

Interesting group of fic - some I know and some I don't think I've read.

You already know one that inspired me, but I've a very soft spot for Swan Song too. I'm not sure where you stand on LGBT-themed slash or non-slash when it's swans!

I've been noting your posts for future potential reading (alas, the BB cannot go on forever). It's nice to see so many fic posts going up.

And an interesting discussion about spoilers in the comments too.

For what it's worth, I also use the 'choose not to' option on AO3 (I'm presuming you are already familar with how AO3 filters those) - but if I'm worried, I add a kind of 'belt and braces' by putting a link in the summary to the footnotes where I put a warning, so anyone who doesn't want to read it won't see it until they've finished the story, but anyone who does want to see it still has the option to decide for themsleves if they want to risk it.

I find the options on FanFiction.net aren't so accommodating - particularly as you can't always rely on the rating.

[tinturtle]

I'm not sure what it is that I find so appealing about the LGBT-themed non-slash. I certainly like slash, especially when it addresses what it would have been like for the characters to be gay or bi in the period of the show, but not only then. I have even been known to enjoy fics that completely ignore those issues and allow their mid-20th century slash pairs to live like a married couple, accepted by everyone they know. (Although I do worry that that kind of erasure is disrespectful to the people who had to live through the way things really were.) Anyhow, maybe it's that LGBT-themed non-slash highlights the fact that LGBT people are LGBT all the time, not just when we are in a relationship. *shrug*

And I like the swans. Both the realistic details about the lives of homosexual swan pairs and the goofy Pros package appeal to me.

[fiorenza-a.livejournal.com]

Yes that's a thing that bothers me, a world where everybody accepts LGBT - but, on the other hand, fandom is people's happy space - so that's not the only type of story where things are portrayed as they should be, rather than as they are. Also, you don't want every story with gay characters to be fixated on how awful it is, like you say, gay people are gay all the time - when they're waiting for a bus, buying potatoes, digging the garden - so stories that aren't fixated on the difficulties of having a 'protected characteristic' are more 'normal' and respectful of a shared humanity.

I'm fascinated by the concept of WNGWJLEO (https://fanlore.org/wiki/We%27re_Not_Gay,_We_Just_Love_Each_Other), which I find disrespectful. I struggle to get my head round the mindset of the writers who employed it. I've been trying to get a fic off the ground that explores some of my thoughts on the matter.

Have you read the other fic in the (Re)Incarnations (https://archiveofourown.org/series/107159) series? I have a soft spot for that one too.

[tinturtle]

Yes, the WNGWJLEO trope bothers me. It is traditional, though, so I try to be tolerant of it, at least in older works. I'll be interested to read your fic if it reaches the posting stage.

I did read A Surfeit of Bodies. It was pleasant but didn't especially grab me.

[fiorenza-a.livejournal.com]

I do post to FanFic.net, but not this sort of stuff - so if it ever gets there, it'll go up on AO3.

Btw - do you get the Lj AO3 RSS feeds? (I find they can be a bit temperamental, but mine have just all stuttered back into life. It's lovely to have a friends feed full of Pros and MFU stories - I've not found a Star Trek one. I'm mostly into both versions of the original series.)

[tinturtle]

No, I don't subscribe to the RSS feeds through LJ. I have a newsreader extension in my browser and get the feeds directly from AO3, as well as from FF.net. The main drawback of that is that restricted fics are left out of the AO3 feeds. I just learned a better way to catch up on those, though, so it should prove less of a detriment in the future.

[jat-sapphire.livejournal.com]

Oh lord, I wrote a whole rant about WNGWJLEO, years ago. Rants of yore often wear off for me, so it's embarassing to look back af them, but actually I still feel the same about that one! Just. Really.

[fiorenza-a.livejournal.com]

I get that some people put this forward as a manifestation of the extreme end of OTP - but even that doesn't cut it for me.

Personally, I'm not that taken by the further reaches of OTP - but it's a venerable trope - and practically obligatory in popular 19th century romantic fiction - so that's just personal preference. I have no axe to grind there.

But WNGWJLEO just has so many problems with it. Don't suppose you remember where you buried your rant? I reckon it would make interesting reading.

[jat-sapphire.livejournal.com]

It's linked in my Fanlore entry (gosh). It is titled "Hi, My Name Is Ranty McRantypants", and it's on LJ at jat-sapphire.livejournal.com/1890.html. I mention Charlotte Frost in it, not very admiringly, and she appeared in the comments, and we fanwanked a bit.

I never did really understand what is attractive in WNGWJLEO, but I have since given up.

[fiorenza-a.livejournal.com]

I work during the week, and the team is a man down from tomorrow, so I might not get to the links until the weekend - but I shall check them out.

I figure the people who employed WNGWJLEO (without satire) had a reason, but I'm blowed if I get it...

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

I don't think I've even heard of half of these stories, let alone read them, so thanks for the recs!

[jat-sapphire.livejournal.com]

I've read most of these, and agree with most of the reviews. I don't mind the talk in "Lines". "Feasting with Panthers" made me wonder how on earth they can make this relationship suatainable. It seems headed for crashing and burning. "Once in a Good Long While" is a good story, I agree.