ext_60686 (
rileyc.livejournal.com) wrote in
crack_van2004-10-01 04:09 pm
Cold Comfort by Actizera, rated R
Hi, I'm Riley, and I'll be driving the Oz van this month. I am unapologetically focused on Beecher/Keller fic, but will try and dig up one or two great fics that shed light on some other characters -- starting with this first pick.
Fandom: Oz
Pairing: none
Author on LJ: Sexual Hijinks
Author Website: http://actizera.popullus.net/
Why this must be read:
Simply for writing like this, illuminating a character that could easily be marginalized because he was the messenger bearing bad news, or at least news that many fans didn't want to hear--
Summer is where he'd rather be right now; it's become both a time and a place to him, the best possible time and place, the one he retreats to when he needs to escape the evil that he stalks—that stalks him in turn—throughout each day. Summer is a warm night at home with his wife and son, sitting on lawn chairs in the backyard and listening to the crickets and the gentle rattling of the sprinklers. He remembers the last time he was there for real, laughing and breathing the sweet, heavy evening air. It was just a few weeks ago, the night before they drove Jamie to college and left him there. Alone, on his own, an 18-year-old kid in a tiny dorm room with a stranger for a roommate. Who would look after him now? Who would protect him from...
This fic brings this character fully to life, we see the situation through his eyes and truly understand what drives him. The intensely personal motivation presented here rings true and adds an unexpected poignancy to his quest for justice.
It's honest fic, it doesn't pull any punches or make excuses, and it's one to go back to and savor from time to time.
Cold Comfort
Fandom: Oz
Pairing: none
Author on LJ: Sexual Hijinks
Author Website: http://actizera.popullus.net/
Why this must be read:
Simply for writing like this, illuminating a character that could easily be marginalized because he was the messenger bearing bad news, or at least news that many fans didn't want to hear--
Summer is where he'd rather be right now; it's become both a time and a place to him, the best possible time and place, the one he retreats to when he needs to escape the evil that he stalks—that stalks him in turn—throughout each day. Summer is a warm night at home with his wife and son, sitting on lawn chairs in the backyard and listening to the crickets and the gentle rattling of the sprinklers. He remembers the last time he was there for real, laughing and breathing the sweet, heavy evening air. It was just a few weeks ago, the night before they drove Jamie to college and left him there. Alone, on his own, an 18-year-old kid in a tiny dorm room with a stranger for a roommate. Who would look after him now? Who would protect him from...
This fic brings this character fully to life, we see the situation through his eyes and truly understand what drives him. The intensely personal motivation presented here rings true and adds an unexpected poignancy to his quest for justice.
It's honest fic, it doesn't pull any punches or make excuses, and it's one to go back to and savor from time to time.
Cold Comfort
