24 August 2003
Finally read A Handful of Dust. Avoided it because I'd heard
how devastating it is. Well, it is. Gut-wrenching. But maybe it's
better that I'd waited, 'cos I was better prepared to be gut-wrenched, if a
person can ever be prepared in such a fashion. Though I think it was on
second (or third) reading that the entire horror caught up with me, and the only
clear thought I had was, "Oh, Lex."
In some ways it's more of an intellectual punch, rather than an emotional one (though that was really hefty), though; not that I'm sorry. It's not easy to find (and enjoy) a story that can give a solid cerebral shock these days, even among commercial fiction. The problem, I find, is that writers of commercial fiction tend to give it a sort of self-awareness, and it's not a good self-awareness (which I define as 'tongue-in-cheek ref to contemporary culture or current events'); it's just overly self-referential with an overdose of 'look how smart and cosmopolitan and political correct I am'. Well, that's the beauty of fanfiction; it takes off from fandom and that limits the navel-gazing that a smart-alecky writer can do.
14 August 2003
First Coffee of the Day got off to a good start:
Clark hated the world.
All the superpowers in the world and he still couldn't make the line-up at Starbucks move any faster.
Unfortunately, it devolved into a boring rendition of Clark's trouble, his fascination with Lex. . . blah, blah, blah. . . and their eventual reunion. There was a lot of potential: I've read lots of funny, wistful stories about Clark-as-Superman warring with Lex while wondering where their friendship went wrong, etc. But this particular story never got off the ground.
13 August 2003
Chapter 6 of A Deeper Season (yay!). It's a good chapter--has a
bit of everything: some (okay, lots) Clex making out, Clark and the superfriends
(supportive without being prop-like), and Lois and the Daily Planet.
11 August 2003
For some reason found myself re-reading Snitch! It's really a
good tale, a bit dull at times, but her Harry is strangely compelling despite
his, er, thuggish tendencies now and then.
It's only up to chapter 12, though. Al, the writer, has apparently found other fics to play with, which I think is a bit of a pity because Snitch! is set in an interesting world; the expansion of the wizarding world, for some reason, seems to be almost apocalyptic . . . maybe a gathering for the final judgement or something. Plus the feel of seedy underground activity in the Muggle world is strangely appropriate to the confusion over Voldemort's disappearance, as is the disarray that is Ron, Hermione, and Ginny's lives. Love Draco--what happened to all that malice?
8 August 2003
Read Aelita's A Moment in Time. Just melted. Lovely,
sweet interlude yet never pulling its punches.
Chapter 14 of Underwater Light and it rocks! Especially after the reconciliation. There's a nice glance into the relationship between Draco and his fellow Slytherins, and another section of Harry's relationship with Sirius (yes, and post-OotP, this story is now officially AU)--great scenes, those. The first section, to go with Harry's miserable state of mind, I suspect, is mostly sober (and bitter, and nasty, thanks to Draco), while the second part is just sad (thanks to Harry) and by the end it's sliding back to something like the old state. Though maybe not entirely back to the old state of affairs. D's offer might be a cliffhanger?
A quibble:
"People are afraid to come home." Should probably be "go home", since they are in school, do you think?
I'd have liked a scene of Terry Boot and Harry talking. (What could they talk about, other than D, however?) Right now, Terry Boot is my suspect for the Spy. A little too obvious, as he appears to be (a) goody-goody, (b) a Ravenclaw and therefore more interested in studying, i.e., harmless, and (c) on fairly civil terms with D. Still, Maya might yet confound us.
I love this story, and I really hope it goes well all the way to a good ending. I haven't been disappointed so far; each chapter is crisply laid out and nicely edited--I've read too many fics where the writer's thoughts seem to dribble all over the page like a leaky pipe, and it feels like the I'm drowning in the purple patch.
31 July 2003
Mpreg fics.
Maybe it's a sexist view, but. . . the vast number of slash writers are women. Women like babies, esp. babies that they've borne. They (also) like the idea of motherhood. Therefore mpreg fics abound in various fandoms (particularly the fantasy/sci-fic based fandoms) because a biological child is better than say, an adopted child.
Well, what was I supposed to conclude?
No sooner than a slash pairing has gotten their 'happy together' moment when the writer starts having visions of happy family, complete with biological kid. The pervasiveness of the double-parents-and-kid formula aside, doesn't it seem funny that it's seldom an adopted kid, but a biological kid? That's the other reason I can think of for so many mpreg fics. If it were just family fics, I would understand, those being either wish-fulfillment or imitation of real life. Because reproductive biology being what it is--at present--the easiest way for a slash pairing to be a family is to adopt. But for sci-fic/magical fandoms, where it could happen, we have mpreg fics, over and above adopted children.
Maybe it's the fascination with the gene-link. It's interesting to find that, despite a lot of commentary about the changing form of the family unit, as well as the fact that the double-parents-and kid(s) pattern is a rather recent convention, we still prize family biological links. Biology as destiny?
Or even more damning, could it be that the writers are sentimental? I once had a conversation with a girl friend about a paperback romance we'd both read. She adored the hero; I thought he was a Neanderthal, even if he was portrayed as devilishly handsome, sexually attractive, smart and rich (throw in all the cliches). Well, by the end of the story it turned out that because the heroine had a weak heart (it amazes me, the type of handicap romance writers give their heroines--if they don't have a weak character, they have a weak heart, or are overly emotional, etc.) she could only bear one child, and it was female.
As the little girl turned out to be typically sweet, smart, sassy, all the good qualities of mum and dad, I saw no problem. It was a romance novel, for god's sake, and if there was going to be wish-fulfillment, why not go the whole hog? My girl friend groused about the ending, though. She felt that the happy couple should have had a son. For erm, dynastic purposes. (Keep in mind that the romance was set in the modern world.) I pointed out that the daughter could perform the er, dynastic duties as well as a hypothetical son. She (friend) wailed, "But I want them to have a son just like ______ (hero's name)!"
Ah. I guess the urge to see your partner's characteristics (and genes)--not to mention your own--reflected in one's offspring is universal and can't really be argued away by any amount of social theory. Biological imperative, anyone?
23 July 2003
Have been reading Professionals fanfic, actually. Heh. Used to
have a whole bunch of stories, but they disappeared when computer (or rather
hard drive #2) died. I've discovered Anne Higgins's stories! A
slight AU-ish series where Bodie is Cowley's bastard son, complete with sob
story, and who is the--to use the anime equivalent--uke of the pair, complete
also with the insecurity and somewhat unrequited love. Quite a change from
the Bodie!jerk, which is just as fun. I mean, it's difficult to read
Hyperion to a Satyr without thinking, "serves you right for breaking
Ray's heart!" then being relieved that they made a pair out of it.
But uke!Bodie in Faces from the Past and Chat with Father is quite. . . (what's the word) poignant in that we know he's poor wee scared Bodie, when actually he's a strapping lad, who acts and thinks like a mature crime-fighter, and strong enough to bear with heartbreak if he has to. I'm trying to remember which story was it that had Bodie working as a hooker, wherein Ray goes undercover with him (for the CI5 work!) and they fall in love. It's cheesy, all right, but who can resist?
10 July 2003
Sort of bingeing on SV fics (what else). A Deeper
Season. Have downloaded but have not read it yet. Noticed that
entries have a trend of getting shorter and shorter.
7 July 2003
Was downloading SV fics and realised that I had downloaded them to
"Victorians" folder. Must've have given them a shock.
5 July 2003
July already. Hm. Have to update this page soon.
Have been looking for good Highlander fics. Sudden craving. Gimme some good Duncan and Methos love.