New Beginnings Fic...

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

It's definitely autumn here now - really, really autumn, right down to the blustery-ness - and I've been trying to decide on an autumn-type theme for the palelyloitering.com home page...

I was thinking maybe new beginnings, which is a very autumn thing - plus that would let me put up two of my favourite fics, Chameleon's Dish by Kitty Fisher, and The Third Friday Of October.

But that's only two... can anyone recommend any other "new beginnings" Pros fic, where the lads have maybe been separated for some reason, and then re-united for another chance? Cos oh the bittersweet...

Comments

[callistosh65.livejournal.com]

Ah.. what perfect choices.. The Third Friday of October is about as perefectly autumn as a fic can get.

any other "new beginnings" Pros fic, where the lads have maybe been separated for some reason, and then re-united for another chance?

A whole ton of HG fics come to mind. She does so love to get the lads barking up the wrong tree and out of sorts with each other, before all that delicious bittersweet. I'm thinking Jigsaw ( is it 2 years they're apart in that?), their AU alternatives in Rediscovered in a Graveyard, when each mistakenly thinks the other is dead. She also does it twice to them in Rainbow Chasers and briefly but intensely in Strange Days Indeed, though they're not in a sexual relationship before they part there.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh, I so have to read all those HG stories! Thanks for the reminders! *g*

[angel-ci5.livejournal.com]

How about Chances by Angelfish (http://www.thecircuitarchive.com/tca/archive/13/chances.html), I re-read this recently and it completely blew me away all over again.

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

Snap! Well, almost snap. I've just started re-reading All These Years and was reminded (even though I didn't need to be) that she is a very fine writer.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

She really is... although my favourites are her first two - and the story at her website!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I do like this one! Thank you!

[msmoat.livejournal.com]

Oh, there are lots. But one of my favorites is "Bodie's Letter" by Ellis Ward.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

*puts on list* Ellis Ward is one of my favourites in general... Thank you!

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

I'm ashamed because I *think* I used it for the Christmast DIAL challenge (and I can't find that either) but can't remember it......I think it was called soemthing like 'Winds of the old days' and begins with the lads, older, and meeting up at a funeral, probably Cowley's and Bodie is thinking that Doyle's hair is more grey.........

Spoiler

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

......and there's one by Angelfish where they meet up again, having been apart for a while (I think Doyle had a boyfriend who was killed mountaineering).

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I thought it was online but as far as I can tell it's only on the CD and is called 'Winds of the Old Days' and the author is Robin Goodfellow. But they *have* been apart for a while.

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

I think in Meg Lewtan's The End of the Affair and Heir Apparent they've been apart for a while, too.

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

And Rememption.

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

Oh, god! Redemption.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Heee! Yes! Redemption... *sighs happily* I don't think I've read WInds of Change either... Thank you for all of these! *g*

[metabolick.livejournal.com]

That's on my list of faves.

[jagr1968.livejournal.com]

Heat and Brown Study by Lainie Stone. The Tangled Web by Jack Rueben Darcy. Arabian Nights by Pam. Torch Song by Courtney Gray.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I don't know that first one. I adore Tangled Web - excellent call! Had to think about Arabian Nights for a while, but yes, and Torch Song... thank you! *g*

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, I'd forgotten Torch Song, Arabian Nights and the Darcy story - good choices.

[msmoat.livejournal.com]

Oh, I've just got to put in another plug for "Heat"! (Although it'd be more spring-like renewal, I think, than autumn...) It's a *gorgeous* story.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Okay, now I really really have to read it... *g*

[metabolick.livejournal.com]

Heat is also on my list of faves. It's on the cd.

[magenta-blue.livejournal.com]

I cannot think of any, apart from of course The Third Friday of October is a perfect choice! November by Sebastian is a bit too November, isn't it? Ooo - what about Halloween fic? Does that slide in Autumn, or is it a whole other category?!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love Halloween fic... has to be a whole other thing, I think! Sounds like October at palelyloitering, come to think of it! *g*

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

Well, I read Chameleon's Dish. It skirted the very edge of being totally squicked by what happens. I admit, it's not a story I would have read had I known beforehand the circumstances, but since I got that far, I went ahead and read the ending so I could decide whether to forge on. It is a good story and I could almost buy the last part where things are resolved. Almost. I feel better finishing it since the writer did give me a resolution I could buy into, and thus, I've avoided nightmares. *g* I wouldn't read it again, though. I prefer my torment of the lads to be from outside sources.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Wow, I wouldn't have said it was at all offensive - powerful yes, but not enough to "squick" someone. So I'm quite curious about this, because for me the not-knowing anything about a story is the whole point - if stories upset you to that degree, how do you read anything at all? I mean, you can't know the circumstances of every story before you read it, surely, and if reading something you don't like gives you nightmares - well, how do you cope with fiction in general?! I mean, what if a story doesn't have a happy ending (or one that you consider happy, anyway!) - even if you read ahead to find out first, then you've still ended up reading it to some extent, the idea of it is there in your head? D'you know what I mean?

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

Generally I read most stories by recommendation by people with similar tastes to mine. And yes there are a lot of us who are like me. *g* And there are plenty of stories to read that don't have partner abuse or betrayal, castration and other fun things. In fact, I have a list so long I doubt I'll ever get to all of them. So I rarely read cold except for zines, then I generally skim the story and read the end. If there is an on-line place to check out the zine, I read the reviews and/or descriptions of the story. I like knowing the spoilers, but I'm like that with books, movies and tv shows. I prefer to know the road ahead rather than drive blind into a snowdrift.

I don't read stories that don't have a "happy" ending. I prefer to end a story with a smile regardless of the angst or pain in the story. For me a happy ending is that the pairing of my choice ends up together in a resolution of their conflict. Not a cliffhanger, not a "maybe it will work out" in the end, but who knows.

I've read death stories and torture stories and abuse stories, and for me, it's not worth my time because I'm not entertained. I don't read to learn a lesson or be taught values or to be shocked. I read for mindless entertainment. If I'm not mindlessly entertained by the end, then for me, the story didn't work. This is, of course, a whole personal choice. I know plenty of people who will read anything.

I admit that to me, I find partner abuse or rape distasteful. But I'm also willing to admit I'm not as forgiving as others. If my partner raped me or hit me, trust me, he or she would be without body parts and in jail. I would not be declaring undying love with somebody who has shown the propensity for violence and disrespect. But I'm funny like that. Love does not conquer all for me. And it's not really love to me. It's domination and control. And not in the good BDSM kind of way.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh there are definitely lots of people out there who only want happy endings, and happy ways of getting there! Lots of people said this at the poll in ci5hq not long ago, but I didn't have a chance to ask then how they dealt with it. I'm just curious! *g*

I'd say that I was one of your "people who will read anything", but in fact I'm not. I will probably read most of the stuff that you won't ("partner abuse or betrayal, castration and other fun things") but, just as with the happy fluffy stories that I like, they have to be "done well" - the journey has to make sense to me, has to go somewhere!

I don't read stories to be lectured to (and ohmigawd, there are lots of those out there!) or to find deep meaning, or to be taught values either - like most (I suspect) of us, I have my own values gathered up from life itself. I read for entertainment too - we just clearly have different ideas of what's entertaining, which is a good thing, I think!

I guess for me "entertainment" comes from being made to feel in a story - and they don't have to be positive feelings. I also find rape of any kind "distasteful" (to put it mildly!) but that doesn't mean that I can't accept that it exists in the world, and is something else that must be dealt with, and that realistically, the lads might have to deal with, for example. The way writers see them dealing with this, done "well", is interesting to me, and for me "interesting" is entertaining.

There does have to be a reason for whatever feelings/events are in a fic, and some sort of resolution into something that makes sense to me. Whether or not I agree with it, I want to feel that it's plausible that someone, probably the lads, can make sense of it. If the violence/angst etc seems gratuitous then I lose interest pretty quickly - and it is depressing just to be told that bad things happen, without any suggestion that people can overcome and survive and even prosper afterwards (gives us hope, I think, that we can deal with the world if we have to). But it goes the other way too - if the lads seem to get too kissy-kissy, for a reason that seems irreconcilable with their characters, then I end up putting that down as well.

And the "love conquers all" idea would come under this - love can conquer alot, but it's not always an easy journey, and it doesn't always work out, and I want to see recognition of that in a story.

But all that makes it relatively easy for me, with the plethora of Prosfic that's out there - I can just pick something up and get on with it. I just can't imagine the maze of sorting out required to find only happy journeys/endings - I think I'd find that too stressful, personally! *g*

Okay, now I'm thinking about it, I can't actually think of too many stories that I've read that include one of the lads "declaring undying love with somebody who has shown the propensity for violence and disrespect" - can you think of any examples? I do have problems with "Consequences", and with M.Fae's "Snowbound" stories, but that's because I don't see the lads acting in character to deal with the violence they're presented with...

Hmmn - *wanders off thoughtfully* *g*

[jagr1968.livejournal.com]

Two other stories: Comfort And Joy 2 by Meridian and Cards On The Table by Georginna Kirrin.

[jagr1968.livejournal.com]

Two more stories I've always liked which fit the criteria: Return To Skull Mountain by Joan Enright and Without Prejudice by Jenny Parkinson.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh excellent - even more! I like Jenny Parkinson too, and oh! I can't believe I didn't think of Georgina Kirrin's "Cards on the Table", I adore that one... The other two are now on my reading list! I must see if I can figure out how to squeeze these onto the webpage, I've run out of room in my box. Thank you!

[przed.livejournal.com]

A personal fave new beginnings story if Devices and Desires (http://www.thecircuitarchive.com/tca/archive/10/devicesand.pdf) by M. Fae Glasgow. It's a sequel to A Summer's Outing, which is a typical rip your heart out M. Fae special, but she fixes it all very nicely in Devices.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Ooh, not read that for ages - *adds to list*. Cheers!

And also pausing for a moment to swoon yet again at your icon. I mean, you know I'm all about Doyle's arms, but just look at Bodie's stomach there too, he's got that whole long and lean thing going on... *sighs and stares happily*

[przed.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's the lean Bodie that just slays me in that capture. And speaking of Mr. Tall, Dark and Beautiful, that's a very nice grinning at Doyle thing he's got going on in your icon. *stares happily myself*

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh isn't it... *g* And in your icon too though! You know, I think half the time it's all about the way that Bodie looks at Doyle... And it's an extra treat when Doyle looks back at him in the same way - cos he's got that touch of defensive about his look normally, I think, that just makes you wanna write story after story... *g*

[przed.livejournal.com]

Bodie looking at Doyle is indeed a good part of why I love Pros. And why increasingly I'm all about writing from Bodie's POV. It's so much fun writing him looking at Doyle. And yeah, those rare occasions when Doyle returns the look are just...*shiver*