Fandom: Original

[facetofcathy]

This is all the bookmarks tagged Fandom:Original as of today. Mostly S2B2.

• s2b2: Let It Snow by Hashinaka Choko (橋中蝶子)

PWP. Cute and the age difference read real and just matter of fact. I'm really tired of the fun and funky and occasionally lesbian best friend as comic relief, but I'm cranky lately, so...

s2b2 OMC/OMC Fandom:Original

• s2b2: Best Laid by Domashita Romero (地下ロメロ)

Have you ever read any meta about the borderline, and sometimes right on over the line abusive relationships in YA books?

You know, the kind of thing where the boy is a jerk and the girl has no agency and goes along with whatever the boy wants because she loves him and he pays attention to her? And the reader is supposed to think that's romantic and like the male hero? And they're horrible because they indoctrinate the next generation into horrible heteronormative attitudes that gloss over the power imbalance inherent in the relationships they champion?

Well this is the m/m equivalent complete with a forced outing. Urgh. And also ick.

Fandom:Original OMC/OMC Your_Stereotypes_Are_Showing s2b2

• s2b2: Unwound by Frostfire

This is a very good story with a subtle kink theme and a couple of really well done moments that reveal character--one in a sex scene, which is always a plus (I like the sex scenes to be a normalized part of the story), but I failed to connect emotionally with this at all. I think this is a me thing. The relationship dynamics that start with domestic care are subverted and twisted cleverly in the sexual dynamics and I love that sort of thing, but the cookie bit is just such an cliché of slash fic where the characters are meant to be read as feminized men or are accidental self-inserts, and that's not my cup of hot chocolate.

Hey, it's a really good short, sweet, subtle story and I'm still puzzling over it hours later, so I call that a total success.

Fandom:Original OMC/OMC s2b2

• s2b2: This Thing Of Ours, Part 1by shukyou (主教)

Italian-American gangster meets his match in a visiting Yakuza (set post-war). Fun story, as long as you're fine with ignoring what these guys do for fun and profit. Weird mistake in the very first sentence about Greta Garbo sounding like she's speaking Swiss--of which there is no such language, and Ms. Garbo is Swedish--but the rest of it is well-written and stays in period most of the time.

The story deals with race head on by mentioning the internment camps and showing casual racism against the Japanese. The use of the slur, Jap, while plausible for the period and the narrative voice, still made me cringe, and I wonder about its utility here, especially when that same narrative voice starts ruminating on the concept of stereotypes, something that seemed really out of place given the guy's goomba personality and the time-period. I felt like it was a quick sweep under the carpet of the issue to get to the good part--but hey, at least the issue was raised. Qualified rec.

Fandom:Original OMC/OMC s2b2

• s2b2: A Suitable Match by Hinotori (火鳥)

Nice twist on the matchmaking tale. Simple, straight-forward, angst-free romance full of very polite turns of phrase. And how handy that they don't need a chaperone.

Fandom:Original OMC/OMC s2b2

• s2b2: In The Twilight Of The Day, Part 1by Rosei Aki (浪星あき)

Atmospheric tale of a necropolis, its keeper and the young man he meets. I enjoyed this overall, the pacing is good and the characters, even the annoying mother, have some depth. There are a couple of structural issues though where the magic in the story serves the plot, and it verges on Idiot Plot territory in order to get the protags together. Okay read, but needed more solid world building.

Fandom:Original OMC/OMC s2b2

• s2b2: ApocalyptiCon, or It's Not the End of the World by Daifuku Hoyako (惰猪腹 ほや子)

Futuristic SF that manages to blend the present into the future pretty damn well. The convention, which seems to group real apocalyptic events and fictional ones together into one thing to be fanned, makes me think about the way fictional people and real people are becoming blended together into one thing to be fanned today.

The actual impending doom adds a Galaxy Quest-esque longing for a life as meaningful as the ones in the movies, and at the same time the character of the "hero" Martin pops the wind of that balloon very nicely. Er--I didn't actually care about the hook up, and the budding three-way relationship of buddies, comrades, revolutionaries, lovers--whatever, is more interesting than the single pairing within it. Unexpectedly gripping story with some nice layers of meaning.

Fandom:Original OMC/OMC s2b2

• s2b2: To Ride A Wild Stallion by Koizumi Shinme (恋墨新芽)

This was a story with Native American themes involving some kind of supernatural animal forms as well. The author had the story removed when she realized that the way she told the story used tired and harmful stereotypes. She never received any criticism, and both here and on the explanatory post linked she gets, I don't know, reassured that the commenter never noticed (why do people do that?). Anyway, I've read some of her other stories, like them a lot, and I just wanted to point to this post as a sign of hope to myself and to others that talking about this shit over and over really does have an effect on people. I think this is a sign that a good writer got better.

s2b2 has some issues--the imitative and sometimes appropriative Japanese, no written standards for content, no issues-aware community of readers, and the same risks any fic community runs, especially one that contains SF stories, of appropriation, stereotyping and racism. I'm glad they agreed to take this down.

Fandom:Original Fandom_Gives_Me_Hope s2b2

• s2b2: As You Wish by Kougyoku (紅玉)

Upperclass twit and his valet. Not Jeeves and Wooster, more in the melodrama vein. It's very emotionally satisfying as a budding relationship fic and the fumbling they both do to express themselves when they have no context for it is really well done. The author wrote a less privileged ass of a main character than he initially seems, but he really is an ass at first. Me being me, I would have enjoyed the what happens next better, and that's not what s2b2 is, so maybe that's just a testament to how well the author wrote the characters that I want to see a more serious take on them.

Fandom:Original OMC/OMC s2b2

• s2b2: The Ballad Of Barefoot Robin, or The Ridiculous Seduction Of Lieutenant Worthington, Part 1by Roumonte Emi (竜主天 蝦)

This is a standard POTC Sparrington story with the serial numbers barely filed off. It starts out well enough, although the Norrington characterization is not the version I like where he puts his supercilious prudish stuffed shirt on with his coat and then performs it with mockery.

Then it veers into Orientalist tropes that I honestly think the author thinks they are subverting**** with a Chinese pirate who kidnaps faux!Norrington. He speaks perfect English that's sprinkled with malapropisms (so not Charlie Chan, but still a comic bad with English characterization). He has cliché dragon tattoos and his ship is Oriental splendor, and just, you know, there's no purpose to this guy being Chinese other than to have a *koff* colourful villain. People should not be used as set decoration.

That just sapped my willingness to really finish it.

**** Same author as Shadow of the Templar, and yeah they do veer into hipster racism humour in those novels. This might be a YMMV thing.

Fandom:Original OMC/OMC Your_Stereotypes_Are_Showing s2b2

• s2b2: Magic Comes to Alphabet City (And to Certain Parts of Greenpoint), part 1 by Domashita Romero (地下ロメロ)

Hmmm. Good, fun story with really engaging characters. Lovely prose and just an upbeat and fun tone to the tale of a meeting between a lonely aging goth boy hurtling towards 30 who meats a guitarist who is so perfect for him that... Well that's the thing, I'm going to be the buzz kill on all the squee over this story and say that the "magic" while cute, didn't make the story any better, in fact, may have watered down the realism of Elliot and his alcoholism and his doubts and the ease he finds with Marc to the point that it lessened the impact of all that. I like real people who chose their path, not magic destiny though, so this is a taste issue for me.

Still, really good read.

Fandom:Original OMC/OMC s2b2

• s2b2: 25 Lives by tongari

Now I try to rec art. This is an illustrated story--or more properly a prose poem, and I'll be honest, I like the story the most. I like the drawing style of the art--the lightly coloured sketches suit the story. I found some of the scenes very affecting, and I like the way the pictures make the I and you and me in the stories into something unexpected. Er--that's about all I can do. Lot's of comments and other bookmarks to give you more than that.

Fandom:Original Art OMC/OMC s2b2

• s2b2: Ingmar Bergman Is Dead by by Nijiiro Sumi (虹色 墨) and Tougyo (闘魚)

Warning: Whole story is one big suicide thought.

This is spectacularly unusual and effective and delightful and strange. It is about Jared and his new green-eyed friend Mason (yeah, I know, but this does not read like serial numbers filed off J2). Jared is either a manic delusional homeless guy, a walking ghost or a guy who reads minds--or all three.

There's one break of the fourth wall that clanged, but otherwise the narrative is all Jared's stream of fractured consciousness that is weird but never meaningless. The sex scene, equally unusual, is really hot.

But what is it about?

Good question--the meaning of life, death, the necessity of comradeship, the insane are not so different from the rest of us, feeling gets in the way of living? Don't know, but it's a good story.

Fandom:Original OMC/OMC s2b2

• s2b2: Always Somebody Better, Part One by Tsukizubon Saruko

Oh my god, Magnum--it's a poly MMF V s2b2 story, I mean the het is all G rated, and it reads like an enlightened slasher's threesome, but she's real and awesome and has an actual relationship with both of them even before it goes poly.

Football! A mediocre football (American) player meets a really good football player and they snick together like magnets. Takes them a while to figure out why that is. One a little more slowly than the other. Luckily there are no road games in the alternate reality this takes place in, but that's a quibble. It's fun, and I love the snarky relationships.

Fandom:Original OMC/OMC OMC/OFC s2b2

• s2b2: Ahras Huitwalassis by Frostfire

This is the sort of Original Fic that really shows how the genre can shine. A gentle love story set ~1270 BC amongst the Hittites. The real ones not the biblical ones, er, not that I knew the difference before. This is not a slog through someone's research paper, the time period and culture are simply part of the story, and the author uses modern language and vernacular effectively--no weird Olde English or overly formal speech. The author's knowledge base and love for the setting really come through. The author's take on how sexuality could function in such a place was interesting and wasn't the anachronistic use of Greek cultural practices I was half expecting.

The story is about an average young man who is trying to figure out life and death and love--simple things like that--and finds an unlikely co-seeker in the man who murdered his brother-in-law. Really good read.

Fandom:Original OMC/OMC s2b2

• s2b2: Sleeping by Dr. Noh

Interesting story in the Dr. Noh style of Niles Crane meets Danny Zuko. Twisted dynamics are kind of my thing--no, really--and I like this, but something about it makes me feel like I'm supposed to find this odd, not just a way of being normal and also good character-driven narrative, which it is.

I do find a lot of Ofic more wedded to it's rigid dynamics than slash fanfic is, but more open to a wider range of gender performance since it's not limited by source media. Perhaps my response is due to reading across cultures.

Fandom:Original OMC/OMC s2b2

• s2b2: Songs You Know by Heart, part 1by Dr. Noh

This one gets a major dub con warning for the first few scenes. The opening is very much like every rape fantasy fanfic you've ever read (or backbuttoned away from, whichever). But this story goes interesting places, so give it a chance if you're able.

******SPOILERS******

The relationship turns into an unnegotiated BDSM hook up, and I'm reading this and thinking, smugly, that what I hate about stories like this is the fact that one character is eroticizing power and the other is powerizing sex and then the story starts dealing with that very thing. Oh.

So then I'm thinking that the draw of this sort of thing is the magically matching kinks so you can have a really hot story about people who can't talk about their sexuality--lovely fantasy, and kind of annoying at the same time. And then the story starts dealing with that. Oh again.

The ending comes very close to pathologizing the sub's kinks and having him "cured" by love. So a qualified rec for a very meta story.

Fandom:Original OMC/OMC s2b2

• s2b2: Yes, Even Educated Fleas by Frostfire

Office romance leads to a date at Olive Garden. And yet, not my life story. Nice fully realized characters, wonderful build of tension and a very slight dose of angst. Hot finish. Nice read.

Fandom:Original OMC/OMC s2b2

• bean_montag | Bait & Hook, chapters 1 - 2

Summary: Casey Brown is fresh from jail and back on the streets with one rule and one rule only: stay away from cops. Detective Roy Parker has other ideas--a case involving a dirty colleague means Casey's the bait. What Roy doesn't count on is falling for his own trap.

Male prostitutes, shitty cops, fast food, good cops, beer, and hurt/comfort.

Fairly standard relationship dynamics--age difference that is somewhat glossed over. Good cop story plot, real jeopardy and interesting characters. More hook up that might go places than romance. All parts are linked via tags.

Fandom:Original OMC/OMC

• s2b2: Wintering by Koizumi Shinme

Short piece, and a qualified rec on my part.

Atmospheric story about two young men who knew each other as teenagers, but are only figuring themselves out now. I like the voice of the POV character who never says what he wants to say, and I like how the background is revealed slowly, but if it's actually about anything, it's that you have to leave home to be who you are, which yeah, sometimes, but just being gay isn't reason enough, just being churched up isn't reason enough. I'd like to see the other ways their hometown was stifling to them.

Fandom:Original OMC/OMC s2b2

• The Trouble With Elephants - Original Fic, part one by Scoradh

Sweet little story about two teenage boys who snark their way into each other's pants. The betting on video games scene was surprisingly hot. I like the my life is dooooomed to be horrible voice of the POV character, and I like the way the story doesn't shy away from guilt and powerlessness being an equal opportunity evil. Love the ending.

Fandom:Original OMC/OMC

• Shadow of the Templar by M. Chandler

Began before either Leverage or White Collar, an FBI agent, a master thief, team banter and heaps of sexual tension abound in this set of novels.

In Book 1, the team stuff is better than White Collar--you actually get to see the other agents be jealous of Jeremy, and they have real individual relationships with each other and with Simon. It took me a while to sort everyone out, as there's very little physical description. More James Bond caper than realistic procedural, but that just means it's fun! Well paced fun with fabulous dialogue.

Book 2 is good as well, gets deeper, if subtly, into the J/S relationship. Simon is a closeted slightly self-loathing character--so be warned. Also problematic behaviour is depicted, but not obviously disapproved of.

Book 3 foregrounds the wacky team and backgrounds the main pairing. Big mistake, I find it a slog to get through.

Book 4 is very satisfying in that Simon starts to see how much of an ass he is. Much better adventure plot than 3.

Fandom:Original OMC/OMC

• freece: Captive Prince - Chapter Index

N.B. WIP - posted to Chapter 21. Fantasy Ofic where all cultures practice slavery--just not always in the same way. Author understands consent and does not shy away from characters calling rape, rape. This is not a BDSM fic.

I really enjoyed the story so far, Damen manages to miss some kind of obvious clues about Laurent early on, but he is consistently portrayed as someone who is a very direct thinker, so this isn't out of character, and maybe a lot of readers are missing these clues too? The story is somewhat reminiscent of Tanya Huff's Fire's Stone, but that's a compliment in my book. It's well paced, lots of interesting characters surrounding the two MCs and their relationship grows in complexity just as the political quandary they're in is revealed. Not a typical slavefic in that there isn't any sex in their relationship (yet). I'm going on record as saying Laurent knows who Damen is, and always has. Avoids orientalism by making the "Persians" sort of French.

Fandom:Original OMC/OMC