The Snowman With The Dark Coat

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Well, it is pretty grim looking up here right now, but this fic just happened to be next on my Rec50 Table. It's not bright and breezy and full of the joys of summer. But I like it anyway.

Title: The Snowman With A Dark Coat
Author: Castalia
Link to story: at Circuit Archive or at the Hatstand
Zine: Roses and Lavender 4, Allamagoosa Press, 2001
Permission to archive the rec/review at Palely Loitering: Yes
Short review: Review at rec50 and
A sense of foreboding runs through this story – for a long time we know there is something wrong, something terribly wrong between the lads, but we don't know precisely what, all we know is that they are both hurting, badly. The world, their world, continues around them, and the author beautifully catches that strange sense of normality when everything else appears to be falling apart.

Elsewhere I've been wondering about what makes good tension in a fic, and if that's what so many of the "good", "classic" Pros fics seem to have that make them such gripping reads - the kind of stories that you're inside of, aching with the characters. And I started thinking that maybe alot of the tension in fics like this one comes from an imbalance in power between the lads somehow - we know in Snowman that Doyle has done something wrong, but we don't know for ages what it is, and it leads to an inequality between them that is disturbing, I think. Because Bodie and Doyle are equals, or at least that's how I see them, to the extent that it would take something pretty drastic to change that, and having them out of balance is just wrong...

Other fics/writers of such fics that make me think this are M.Fae Glasgow's Snowbound fics, Sebastian's Siren series, Helen Raven's Cook and Warehouseman, oh Tallis. Hmmn. They're probably just the obvious ones...

Or there is the distinct possibility that I am making it up as I go along, and just rambling vaguely to get out of transcribing more of these interviews...

Comments

[callistosh65.livejournal.com]

Man, I loved this. Dark, tense, with a great sense of foreboding that just pulls you in from that first hesitant declaration of Doyle's during that inital stakeout. That and Bodie's reaction to it. Superb way to set it all up. Never read anything by this writer before, but I will definitely seek out more. She has a great eye for nuance and detail - in this you feel, to your bones, all that stillness and cold.

And you're right, she creates a sense of imbalance between them that drives it all - we're desperately curious to know just what Doyle has done wrong, and how it will resolve betweeen them.

Thanks for this rec, just what I was in the mood for.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh I'm so glad you liked - she's one of my favourite authors actually. Very very dark. Tear your heart out with Can't Answer That Question Sir, and finish the job with Never Say Goodbye. *g*

[callistosh65.livejournal.com]

Will do, most definitely. But not tonight, there's only so much buzzkill fic a person's heart can handle in a single sit down.*g*

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Hee - definitely! Careful servings only!

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

Thanks for recommending a story I love - one of my favourite 'grown up' stories. It *is* tense, edgy and gritty and I like the pace of the story: not too drawn out and yet not too hurried, either. And I think you've got an interesting point about the inequality between the two being 'disturbing' because it's usually the equality between two men (who are intimate) which I find attractive and almost settling. Hmmmmmm...... food for thought, all this.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

*g* You're welcome!

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you recced this one, it's one of my favourites. In fact I recced (http://community.livejournal.com/crack_van/1193914.html) it myself while crack_van still had a Pros driver-of-the-month. Interesting to see the different POV's - I think it's not just 2 readers having different thoughts, but something about the depth of the story, of the writing that makes it possible to read so much in it.

M.Fae Glasgow's Snowbound fics
Ummm.. just pulling myself out of a minor obsession with those 2.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I had a feeling I'd end up doubling up with recs at crack_van but I figured oh well! Mind you, if I'd checked first I would have seen that the author turns out to be phantomas which made me very happy... And yeah, I think that a fic like this could be described and discussed by many people, and they'd all see something slightly different and wonderful in it...

[paris7am.livejournal.com]

I've been mulling over the idea of tension from an imbalance of power - I think you've really gotten to the heart of it here. And you're right, when I consider which pieces of writing affect me most, which ones embed themselves in my soul and never leave, many of them *do* have this same flavor of tension. Hyperion to a Satyr is another one of Sebastian's in this vein that immediately popped up.

I think that the use of language in this story is very beautiful and powerful, and when I read it I find myself trying to underline passages I'd like to make note of only to find that I'm underlining whole page after whole page.

Great reccomendation - thank you!

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

I've thought about this a bit more and agree with what you're saying here, Hyperion to a Satyr is a good example, and this analysis goes a long way to explaining why I love Wonderful Tonight so much. For a lot of this story, Doyle just doesn't know where he is or *what* he is to Bodie - he's almost Bodie's puppet on a string. But do you think this imbalance of power exists in another favourite, Et in Italia Ego? I'm not sure that it does, though maybe in this story Doyle is calling the shots a bit more than Bodie? Maybe he's slightly less besotted with Bodie than vice-versa? Well, maybe in the first part of the story. Not sure. But the more I think about it the more I think you've both cottoned on to something very important (I'm now thinking of Down to the Waterline and Limbo, again, stories where I think there is a slight imbalance of power, but this time more in Doyle's favour. And definitely in Heat-Trace. Eureka! I think you and BSL have both hit upon a theory there! But it's strange, you know, that the 'imbalance of power' within a story helps to make that story attractive, whereas I think for a lot of us readers, it's the 'equality' which exists between them which helps to make the whole slash thing so attractive and seductive.....hmmmmmm. Bites her much bitten nails.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I had to re-read Hyperion to a Satyr (http://www.thecircuitarchive.com/tca/archive/8/hyperionto.html) just then to remind myself... it's a hard life... yes, there's the imbalance of power there, though I think the balance shifts when Bodie comes to his realisation, and that's a wonderful thing and one that retains the tension because they're still not equal... Not until the very end of course, where Bodie gives in, and Doyle takes control and then they both give in to it and again we have their equality. I think!

Actually I'd say there's a real imbalance in Et In Italio Ego (http://www.thecircuitarchive.com/tca/archive/10/etin.pdf), that's another good example. I nearly mentioned it originally, but I wanted to think about it more! Maybe this is because we see things from Bodie's point of view throughout, and he's unsure of Doyle to some extent? And Doyle seems alot more sure of himself and to have settled with himself the boundaries of their relationship, whereas Bodie is just open to it, with no clear idea really of what he will do with it once he has it..? I like to think that Doyle's just as besotted, but has perhaps thought more about it, got it clear in his head, whereas Bodie is still off-balance, still in that process...

Now Heat Trace (http://www.kelper.co.uk/helenraven/trace.html) I want to say is a bit different in some ways... and maybe that's why it's so powerful... They're both off-balance because of what they're individually going through? And because neither of them are able to interact closely enough with each other it's not even so much "balance" between them, but... a separation that can't be resolved until they've each settled themselves... Which of course they ultimately do, and then we end with ... well do we end with balance and equality? (Not sure whether I should say, cos of spoilers. Which of course reviews are but..?)

[(Anonymous)]

Yes I think I'd agree with what you say on Et in Italia Ego (I sort of hinted at that when I said at least in the first part of the story, but I wasn't sure and I think you've managed to sway me!)

You raised *really* interesting points on HT in that they're both 'off balance' and are 'separated' rather than unequal. Despite those points though, I think I'd still stick to my basic view though that the balance of power seems to be slightly in Bodie's favour for much of the story because their relationship is conducted more according to Bodie's wishes than Doyle's i.e. for whatever reason Bodie seems to have more power e.g. it's on Bodie's insistence that Doyle maintains the masquerade of having a 'girlfriend'; it always seems to be Doyle sweating and waiting for a 'phone call (though I suppose it would seem that way that as it's written from his point of view); Bodie carries on having one-night stands even though it's really not what Doyle wants and badly threatens the relationship; and it's always Doyle playing the waiting game, for Bodie. You could argue that Bodie's one-night stands were not what Bodie wanted either, but my point is that Doyle has to fall in with Bodie in how their relationship is conducted and so Bodie seems to have more control in that area, at least. Hmmmmm. I think.

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

Sorry! that was me.

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

Blah, blah, takes me away from being message no.13.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think you're right about that - Bodie is calling the shots overall... So maybe that's another thing, all the onion-y layers of the fic making it so good... cos yeah, that's definitely the general background balance of power, and then maybe the separation is on top of that... or under it?! Yeah... nice point that!