ext_1611: Isis statue (slings and arrows)
Isis (isiscolo) ([identity profile] isiscolo.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] crack_van2007-12-03 10:01 am
Entry tags:

I Would Rather Be Anywhere Else Than Here Today by Spuffyduds (R)

Fandom: SLINGS AND ARROWS
Pairing: Oliver/Geoffrey
Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] spuffyduds
Author Website: Fic collection tag on lj
Why this must be read: Fantastic voice, believable characterization, and brilliant structure.

Pre-season one, a somewhat drunk and maudlin Oliver tells a jaded bartender the story - for the seventh time - of how he discovered (and fell for, and had his heart broken by) Geoffrey. The bartender can practically tell the story himself by now: "The beautiful, the talented, the young and juicy Geoffrey. All sorts of sonnet-y metaphors. Tragedy ensues." And it ensues in a way that makes a plausible backstory for the series, framed in an engaging flashback device. The allusion in the title (from Oliver's Army, by Elvis Costello) makes me grin, but the grin is gone by the sobering end. Oh, Oliver.

“Why are bartenders always wiping glasses?” Oliver says. He is approaching pickled but not, alas, quite there yet. Lightly pickled. Suspended in a vinaigrette, perhaps. “It’s a redundancy. They’re already clean. Why why why with the wipe wipe wipe?”

“Gives us something to do with our hands,” says the barkeep. “Keeps us from strangling customers who won’t shut up.”

Oliver glares at him. He is aware that the glare would be more terrifying if he weren’t swaying on the barstool, but cannot seem to make any corrections to his stage presence at this point in the arc of drunkenness.

“Listening to me run on is part of your raison d’etre,” he says. “You are the, the psychoanalyst of the masses. You are Karl Jung in a very silly little apron. Listening is one of your services, part of your job, what you are paid for. And tipped for, I might add.”

I Would Rather Be Anywhere Else Than Here Today

[identity profile] azdak.livejournal.com 2007-12-03 05:28 pm (UTC)(link)
This is the most wonderful piece of fanfic ever written. I am totally in awe of this person, whoever they may be.

[identity profile] azdak.livejournal.com 2007-12-03 05:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you, thank you!
ext_15621: The Pixel in a paper bag (view_paradise's fraser)

[identity profile] rosiespark.livejournal.com 2007-12-03 08:40 pm (UTC)(link)
This is quite possibly my favourite S&A fic ever - lovely to see it recced! And I'm looking forward to the rest of your recs. :)

[identity profile] zulu.livejournal.com 2007-12-04 01:30 am (UTC)(link)
Great rec, and also a great fandom overview earlier--I'm not so much in the fandom, though I love the show, so it'll be good to see some stories I've never seen before.

[identity profile] zulu.livejournal.com 2007-12-04 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
Heh, yep, and I'm already going through your delicious tags, too! I didn't know there was this much fic for the fandom!

[identity profile] spuffyduds.livejournal.com 2007-12-04 02:22 am (UTC)(link)
Well...wow. Thank you very much.

I only have one other S & A fic, which is a somewhat cracky Buffyverse crossover, here Are Ye Fantastical, or That Indeed Which Outwardly Ye Show? (http://spuffyduds.livejournal.com/93818.html#cutid1). Lots of Buffy stuff, though, in a links list on the right of my journal.

Seriously, I am going to be on a high from this comment for DAYS. Thank you.

[identity profile] spuffyduds.livejournal.com 2007-12-04 03:51 am (UTC)(link)
You are SO NICE. Thank you.

[identity profile] simplystars.livejournal.com 2007-12-04 06:51 am (UTC)(link)
And deservedly so! :)

[identity profile] azdak.livejournal.com 2007-12-04 01:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you for the link! I'm looking forward to reading that.

I am going to be on a high from this comment for DAYS

Heh, I'm very glad to have made you happy - but, seriously, no comment could match how having written this fic should make you feel. It's one of those stories where the reader is torn between wanting to throw themselves over a cliff, because they know they'll never write anything that good, and wanting to dance around the room, because the world contains such a wonderful story. But definitely mostly the latter :-)

[identity profile] zabira.livejournal.com 2007-12-05 07:27 am (UTC)(link)
OH! this is maybe my favorite all-time S&A story! great choice!