The Bull, by Helen Chavez (PG-13)

[the-hobbet.livejournal.com]

Fandom: THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
Pairing: none
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: Black Raptor listing
Why this must be read:

I thoroughly enjoyed my two months driving the van for The Magnificent Seven. I hope that, gentle readers, you tried a few of my recs and found them to your taste. I would be particularly delighted if I helped entice a new fan or two into the fold.

I am going to close with a comedic treat, especially for Buck fans, in which Buck learns that animal magnetism has its downside. Like the man himself, the story is sprawling, big-hearted, boisterous, and kind of goofy, in and out of danger. Enjoy!

A bit of Bull

"Shit, that has got to be the ugliest goddamned thing I ever saw." Chris Larabee’s voice was soft with shock as he peered from the open doorway.

You got that right, ol’ dog …

Buck sighed.

The beast certainly was odd-looking. It strolled nonchalantly behind the cowhand, massive dewlap swaying with every step, happy to be led by the absurd piece of string attached to the wooden peg in its nose.

But every which way you looked at it, the thing was ugly. There was none of the angular, wild grace of the Texas Longhorn with its eight-foot spread of lethal horns. Nor did it have the rich, red curls and sturdy short-legged frame of the Hereford now beginning to make its appearance on the American grasslands. Nope. The poor critter was just plain ugly.

The long, narrow face was topped by lyre-shaped horns that spread backwards – entirely the wrong way around for defensive purposes – and the beast’s ears … well, God help it, they were too big, and drooped and flapped about like a hound dog’s. But what made it worse was the thing had a hump. A great, big hump over its withers, that wobbled fatly when it walked. And as for the colour … Buck winced. The beast was the dead off-white of a fish’s belly.

To top it all, the animal was enormous. Buck reckoned the big sonofabitch weighed at least a ton.

The Bull

Comments

[intheyear2004.livejournal.com]

Thank you for giving us so many great recs! I've not yet had time to follow all of them, but the ones I've had time to read were very good. Looks like you have lured me into a new fandom! ;-) Have to admit though that after TS it's the second fandom were I like the fic much more than the show, because I borrowed the DVD and was nonplussed what the writers saw there that I didn't that inspired them to write so many great fics. Anyway thanks again and I'll continue to work my way through your recommendations.

[the-hobbet.livejournal.com]

Thanks for writing. You made my day!

As for liking the fiction better than the show? I've come to believe that often the best fiction is generated by the not-so-good shows. Shows with interesting setups and appealing characters. Often with better acting than writing and inconsistent execution. Or shows that are entertaining, but not great. Shows like The Sentinel, Highlander, Due South, the Stargates, and many others, bless them all. It's those shows that don't live up to what they could have been that seem to stimulate the writers to do it the way they think it should have been done:-)

It goes all the way back to Star Trek (I saw every episode during its original run). It was original, ground-breaking, thought-provoking, but far from great, though I loved it very much, and still do. It had a handful of great episodes, a bunch that were good to pretty good, and more than a few god-awful.

At least that's my humble opinion.:-)

[delphia2000.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you pointed this one out...it's one of my favorites!