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Up the Line by tabula_x_rasa (Adult/MA)
Fandom: BANDOM
Pairing: Gerard/Frank, Brendon/Ryan, Pete/Patrick, background Mikey/Alicia, Jon/Spencer, Gabe/Vicky, implied William/Billy Prior, past Mikey/Pete
Length: 54,630 words
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tabula_x_rasa
Author Website: Tabula Rasa's Dig
Why this must be read:
A story of some soldiers, VADs, doctors, and nurses on the Western Front in August, 1918.
This is how you write historical AUs! Lots of little details that are just "there", never intruding into the story but anchoring it firmly in a specific time and place. WWI was such a horrible, meaningless war but the writer has infused this story with so much friendship and love that manages to balance the sad and angry-making parts. There are terrible and heartbreaking moments - the whole sequence when Gerard goes looking for Frank and the scene with the private with the damaged back are two that I know will stay in my memory for a long time - and it doesn't end happily for everyone, but it isn't BLEAK. A wonderful, wonderful story and one of my favourites from this year's Big Bang.
Excerpt from the story:
Gerard hunted up a bit of metal roof to stand under and carefully unwrapped his cigarettes. He wanted good, warm, strong coffee with sugar and cream, and he wanted a ham sandwich on soft bread with cheese and lettuce and tomato, and somewhere under all that he wanted to drink something alcoholic until he couldn't remember anything but drinking, and none of them had any possibility of happening.
He had a cigarette, though, and Gerard tried to convince himself that what he wanted was some bully beef and some warm water, because there was a possibility of that happening. It would be enough, somehow.
Gerard's wants at this point consisted almost entirely of food, sleep, cigarettes and having Mikey somewhere nearby. He didn't even really want the war to end or to go home, because he wasn't sure the war could end and they were all well past the point of going home. Gerard couldn't imagine what there was to talk about with someone who hadn't seen No Man's Land. It was much too big to talk around. Impossible to talk about.
On the whole Gerard was content to stand around and wait, and he didn't think too much about any one thing. He tried to blow smoke rings, but it was too windy. He wasn't worried about Mikey finding him; Mikey was excellent at finding Gerard.
The evening hate bombardment started up; it wouldn't be too much longer until it was dark, and then Gerard and Mikey could go over the top and start pulling out men who looked likely to survive the transport.
Up the Line
Pairing: Gerard/Frank, Brendon/Ryan, Pete/Patrick, background Mikey/Alicia, Jon/Spencer, Gabe/Vicky, implied William/Billy Prior, past Mikey/Pete
Length: 54,630 words
Author on LJ:
tabula_x_rasaAuthor Website: Tabula Rasa's Dig
Why this must be read:
A story of some soldiers, VADs, doctors, and nurses on the Western Front in August, 1918.
This is how you write historical AUs! Lots of little details that are just "there", never intruding into the story but anchoring it firmly in a specific time and place. WWI was such a horrible, meaningless war but the writer has infused this story with so much friendship and love that manages to balance the sad and angry-making parts. There are terrible and heartbreaking moments - the whole sequence when Gerard goes looking for Frank and the scene with the private with the damaged back are two that I know will stay in my memory for a long time - and it doesn't end happily for everyone, but it isn't BLEAK. A wonderful, wonderful story and one of my favourites from this year's Big Bang.
Excerpt from the story:
Gerard hunted up a bit of metal roof to stand under and carefully unwrapped his cigarettes. He wanted good, warm, strong coffee with sugar and cream, and he wanted a ham sandwich on soft bread with cheese and lettuce and tomato, and somewhere under all that he wanted to drink something alcoholic until he couldn't remember anything but drinking, and none of them had any possibility of happening.
He had a cigarette, though, and Gerard tried to convince himself that what he wanted was some bully beef and some warm water, because there was a possibility of that happening. It would be enough, somehow.
Gerard's wants at this point consisted almost entirely of food, sleep, cigarettes and having Mikey somewhere nearby. He didn't even really want the war to end or to go home, because he wasn't sure the war could end and they were all well past the point of going home. Gerard couldn't imagine what there was to talk about with someone who hadn't seen No Man's Land. It was much too big to talk around. Impossible to talk about.
On the whole Gerard was content to stand around and wait, and he didn't think too much about any one thing. He tried to blow smoke rings, but it was too windy. He wasn't worried about Mikey finding him; Mikey was excellent at finding Gerard.
The evening hate bombardment started up; it wouldn't be too much longer until it was dark, and then Gerard and Mikey could go over the top and start pulling out men who looked likely to survive the transport.
Up the Line