Fic Report: Happy Snarfing

[tinturtle]

Well, my pressing need for distraction has eased somewhat (yay!), but I've still been snarfing the Pros fic this week. If I can keep up this pace, I should have read everything by 2030. *g*

Nine Lives by jaicen5 (55477 words, gen and maybe het)
This is an adventure fic with a complex plot. The author did a wonderful job managing the story's multiple threads, as well as maintaining suspense, especially near the end when things could have started to drag. The large cast of supporting characters were distinct and easy to tell apart. The mixture of deliberate action and coincidence that shaped the plot was interesting, also. My only criticism is that the interactions between B and D did not seem quite as on pitch as in the others of Jaicen5's stories that I have read. This was an earlier work than those, I think.

Wonderful Tonight by Sebastian (45433 words, slash)
This fic has two parts. I found the first part, dedicated to tying the Lads in a knot, more compelling than the second part, dedicated to untying them. (I also didn't think that the second part made clear how all the issues from the first part were resolved.) Nevertheless, the core story was good overall. After a certain point, however, I began to feel as if the author was going out of her way to try to shock me, with material not necessary (or sometimes even related) to the plot. I found that annoying.

The Comfort and Joy Series by PR Zed / przed (67106 total words, slash)
(Not to be confused with Comfort and Joy by Meridian, which was among the desert island fics chosen at Bistocon, but which I haven't read yet, or with Comfort and Joy, a silly Christmas-themed drabble by The Hag)
This is a series of seven fics. The first four are closely realated and all fairly short. They are each enjoyable and leave one feeling good. The latter three fics are more somber. Home for the Holidays has emotional complexities that I thought were well presented and interesting. Vigil didn't do a whole lot for me, but is notable as a story told from an outsider perspective. In the Bleak Midwinter, the nearly novel length final story, is in fact rather bleak, but it has an absorbing plot and PR Zed's usual excellent workmanship, plus good characterization of its supporting characters, especially Cowley.

Who's Not Been Tamed by FrankyBurgess (6558 words, slash)
This story is violent, though not quite as much as the notes at the beginning might lead one to expect. It has a long, nicely done hurt/comfort scene. Something that interested me about the fic was the contrast between the emotion of that scene and the almost clinical descriptions of the violence.

Grand to Manhandle by jat_sapphire (1705 words, slash)
Fanfic begets meta begets fanfic. This is a lovely fic inspired by the column Bodie's Bodies by Miriam Heddy. The fic is wonderfully sweet and also erotic.
(Incidentally, is it just me, or has the Fanfic Symposium site at trickster.org closed down within the last week? Yikes on toast, and long live the Internet Archive.)

Lucky Break by AnythingButPink (2878 words, slash)
This is PWP, which in this case stands for "porn with pool." It's nicely done, with a good lead-up to the, er, main event and a good denouement following.

Ask Claire by jat_sapphire (12129 words, slash)
Warning: This is a death fic.
This is what might be called grief fic. It is sad, of necessity, but it has many true-to-life moments and beautiful writing (even by jat_sapphire's established standard, in my opinion). The theme of memory and remembrance woven throughout is effective, also.

I Don't Know What Sort of God We Have Been Talking About by Dinah (3743 words, gen)
(This fic can be found in the archive of the Prosfanfic group under Fan Fiction > Dinah > Little Thoughtful Things.)
This is a thought-provoking fic that imagines a bit of internal monologue for Bodie during the events of DIAG. It seems to me that the fic is open to more than one interpretation, depending on the reader's own views. I do think the ending is not quite as strong as the rest of it, though.

Every Risk You Take by Stew (5766 words, slash)
I liked this fic a lot. The interactions between B and D were believable and the character voices good. The strength of the friendship, even under stress, really shone through. (In fact, I wonder if the story would have been a little stronger as a gen fic rather than a slash fic. That may just be a TinTurtle thing, though.)

The Hanging Moon by Pale Rider / boothros (389 words, slash)
I have mixed feelings about this fic. It was an affecting story, and I can imagine the events it describes happening. Yet I don't think the course of action Bodie chooses is the truly loving one, and it's not clear to me whether the author means to present it that way or not.
[There are also shadings of suicide-as-romantic-gesture in this fic, though that's not all that's going on. That isn't a trope I can willingly like (even if it is perhaps a logical outcome of the way slash pairings are often conceived).]

On the Side of the Angels by AnythingButPink (5645 words, slash)
This AU fic has a great premise, but doesn't really go anywhere with it. Its main feature is a long sex scene. Sex scenes are not necessarily bad, but I was disappointed.

Witchery: A Tale of the Carbon Wars by verlaine (4342 words, het and slash)
This is a really interesting short speculative fiction AU. I haven't got much to say about it, but I recommend it if you like that sort of thing.

Comments

[jat-sapphire.livejournal.com]

It wasn't just you. The last time I wanted to reread it, my own link was dead. Yours looks live--did you find Heddy's essay somewhere else?

[tinturtle]

No, that’s an Internet Archive link to the saved Symposium page.

[jat-sapphire.livejournal.com]

Wl, I'm sad now. Glad you had a chance to read it, though.

Back in Star Trek fandom, a writer named Hafital wrote a story about Kirk between show and movies, when Spock is away trying to eradicate all emotion. Kirk is miserable and gets stinking drunk in a hole in the wall pub. And Cyrano Jones finds him there, takes him home, fucks him and feeds him and cleans him up. The responses were along the lines of "good writing and thanks for not writing the yucky fat-man-sex scene" which got RIGHT UP MY NOSE. By and large, (no pun intended) the fans I have met tend to be well-padded themselves. And I thought wtf is this? I emailed Hafital, she gave permission, and I wrote that damn sex scene. I don't think it's on AO3, and the whole point is that Kirk/Cyrano Jones is nobody's OTP, but Jeesus, fans. Also I love the song "Fat Boys." So I am like THE audience for Heddy's argument. Anyway, that's where the Bonsai stories came from.

[tinturtle]

Of course, many (maybe most) of the well padded fans probably don't consider themselves desirable, either. But I agree that it is particularly sad to see people reproducing a prejudice that devalues them as well.

[cim3745.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your reviews. I'm sorely tempted to read Stew. I love her Bronze Metal Lover https://archiveofourown.org/works/23021038 (https://archiveofourown.org/works/23021038) .
The strength of the friendship, even under stress, really shone through got me

[tinturtle]

I've enjoyed almost everything of Stew's that I've read. There remains a lot for me to read, though. I haven't read The Bronze Metal Lover yet.

[tinturtle]

I read The Bronze Metal Lover last week on your recommendation. I liked it a lot. Thanks. :)

[fiorenza-a.livejournal.com]

If I can keep up this pace, I should have read everything by 2030

Not if Pros BB has anything to do with it!

[chloe25love.livejournal.com]

Quite well

[harshini bartlett (from livejournal.com)]

Thank you for sharing and commenting on your reading adventures
They are much appreciated! I have been picking through them and distracting myself with pros too

[hagsrus.livejournal.com]

not-quite drabble - I discovered that Word's "count" is misleading, alas - the way it handles some punctuation. Too late to make corrections on the Circuit. I've subsequently fixed the word counts on the (accurate) AO3 and Proslib versions. I do love the drabble form!

[tinturtle]

I've gone back and changed the link to point to the version on AO3. I changed my description, too.