the nature of humanity and badass spaceships (anyone else but you) Fandom: Real Madrid RPF
Pairing: Raúl Albiol/Álvaro Arbeloa (past Raúl Albiol/David Silva)
Length: 11,300 words
Author on LJ:
acchikocchiAuthor Website: archive of our ownWhy this must be read: so far, the stories i've recced have treated football itself only fleetingly. this work, in contrast, is structured around the course of a season (2010-2011). even though it's about two players, it gives a great sense of the emotional roller-coaster of being a fan, both when things are great and when they're not so good.
that isn't to say, however, that people who don't know real madrid should avoid this story. on the contrary, the way the two main characters are written (especially the protagonist) means that they're really accessible to newcomers. alvaro is a dork, so there are a host of pop culture references that go beyond the world of sports, and the central relationship is realistic and strong enough that you don't need to know who these two guys are to care about what happens to them. also, the dialogue makes me laugh every time:
( representative sample: )the nature of humanity and badass spaceships (anyone else but you)