ext_134551 ([identity profile] pepper-ckua.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] crack_van2008-01-02 05:56 pm
Entry tags:

The Trouble with Normal by Salieri (R)

I'm Pepper and excited to be your Starsky and Hutch driver for the month. I'm pretty omnivorous so watch for a bunch of different kinds of fiction. I'm kicking off the ride with a great story that's timed out from the excellent zine, "Blood and Destiny."

Fandom: STARSKY/HUTCH
Pairing: gen
Author on LJ:http://troyswann.livejournal.com/
Author Websites:
http://salieri.bonuspoints.net/
http://shslash.kassidyrae.com/
http://starskyhutch.kassidyrae.com/

Why this must be read: When I read Salieri's fiction, I feel like things are just right, even when they far from it. She's got a way with words that goes right to my heart in a brutal, honest, melancholy way. Is it enough to say that there isn't anything she's written that hasn't made me hold my breath?

Here's a taste:
"Usually people's bodies reacted before their minds did. Starsky had seen some weird things over the years. Sometimes you told a parent that their girl or little boy was dead and they'd laugh. They'd laugh right in your face and that was the train wreck, the sound of collision. He'd seen a father fold double like he'd been kicked in the chest. Lots of times people stepped backward, held their hands out like the truth was coming at them teeth and claws out of the fog. Starsky almost expected to see defensive wounds on their forearms. He'd told Hutch that one time, and Hutch'd nodded and said, "Stigmata." Starsky had looked that up and felt the word stabbing through his hands for days after.

More than once, a mother or a father had punched him in the face. The first time he'd deflected the blow by reflex. After, he'd learned to stand still."

The Trouble With Normal

[identity profile] aesposito.livejournal.com 2008-01-03 03:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Oooo, good start.. I'll be looking forward to your recs!

[identity profile] callistosh65.livejournal.com 2008-01-03 06:55 pm (UTC)(link)
I must have missed this when it timed out, and I'm so glad you recc'ed it Pepper. Just the most amazing, jaw-dropping talent as a writer. Lyrical, profound, yet so grounded too and without an ounce of writerly pretention. That final scene between the two of them? Just.. stunning.