ext_6329 (
thete1.livejournal.com) wrote in
crack_van2004-02-02 07:25 am
Entry tags:
Beyond the Streetlights, by River (PG-13?)
Fandom: X-MEN COMICVERSE
Pairing: Bobby/Jean
Author on LJ:
tieleen
Author Website: 'top of the world, without a ladder'
Why this must be read:
The thing, for me, about this fandom, is that it forced me to really go pretty far afield in terms of reading. I've never been an OTP kind of girl, or even a particularly rabid slasher, but... well, comics fandom just isn't broken up in the ways that I became accustomed to in other fandoms. There are the hugely popular het and slash pairings, sure, but 'shippiness in general is rather downplayed over here.
I kept wandering around looking for the big archive o' porn, and I kept not finding it. *snort*
Along the way, though, I've come across some truly lovely stories that I never would've considered, given my druthers. Like this one.
An AU piece from a very different sort of Jean Grey. And you think you know what I'm talking about, don't you? Well, no, really. When I say different, I *mean* different. Not canon, and not the typical melodramatic fanon that leads even people who *aren't* Jean fans to think seriously about blinding themselves with sporks.
No, this story poses the question: "What if things went really badly wrong... and then life had the temerity to go on?"
It's something I never would've thought of writing, and it's really quite brilliant. It sinks in under the skin and into the soul until I *felt* Jean. I felt *like* her, and I wondered what choices I'd make in her position... and which choices I would utterly fail to make.
"Beyond the Streetlights" is one of those stories I think of as "sleepers." You don't really see them coming, because they seem so *normal and quiet*. And then it's too late, and they've got you.
Whimpering on the floor.
Beyond the Streetlights
Pairing: Bobby/Jean
Author on LJ:
Author Website: 'top of the world, without a ladder'
Why this must be read:
The thing, for me, about this fandom, is that it forced me to really go pretty far afield in terms of reading. I've never been an OTP kind of girl, or even a particularly rabid slasher, but... well, comics fandom just isn't broken up in the ways that I became accustomed to in other fandoms. There are the hugely popular het and slash pairings, sure, but 'shippiness in general is rather downplayed over here.
I kept wandering around looking for the big archive o' porn, and I kept not finding it. *snort*
Along the way, though, I've come across some truly lovely stories that I never would've considered, given my druthers. Like this one.
An AU piece from a very different sort of Jean Grey. And you think you know what I'm talking about, don't you? Well, no, really. When I say different, I *mean* different. Not canon, and not the typical melodramatic fanon that leads even people who *aren't* Jean fans to think seriously about blinding themselves with sporks.
No, this story poses the question: "What if things went really badly wrong... and then life had the temerity to go on?"
It's something I never would've thought of writing, and it's really quite brilliant. It sinks in under the skin and into the soul until I *felt* Jean. I felt *like* her, and I wondered what choices I'd make in her position... and which choices I would utterly fail to make.
"Beyond the Streetlights" is one of those stories I think of as "sleepers." You don't really see them coming, because they seem so *normal and quiet*. And then it's too late, and they've got you.
Whimpering on the floor.
Beyond the Streetlights

Re: Thank You
Okay, completely not.
But still.
Re: Thank You
Re: Thank You
Dear Lord, that's terrifying.
*ruthlessly represses the 'what have I done with my liiiiiife' voice*
It's a question of having a readable alternative as well as the porn and curtain-hanging fic. I'm glad that enough of both exist that the whole fandom can't be turned into a half dozen archives of Logan/Rogue, Scott/Jean, Logan/Jean, Scott/Emma, Remy/Bobby, Remy/Rogue, etc...
Oh, I understand completely. I still wish there was *more* shippiness within the fandom, but I've always found it pleasant to know that I could always count on comics-land for good gen. (to the point where I become filled with puzzlement when you snark about the amount of 'shippiness here. Because, man, relatively... not so much.)
I wind up wondering if I should use my crack_van tenure to actually *focus* on the 'shippier fic to show solidarity for my 'roots,' and then I start dithering over whether I'll give an 'honest' view of the fandom, and then I wonder what I'm doing with my life, and then I remember that you didn't actually ask for any of this witter and go back to writing porn.