Gym Buddies by Eliyah (PG).

[zaneetas.livejournal.com]

Fandom: Lotrips
Pairing: Viggo/Dom
Author on LJ: rosemending
Author Website: The Wood in Bloom
Why this must be read:

Because it's rare to find a story which captures the patterns and flowing cadence of Dom Monaghan's speech so clearly. Because his syntax and fluidity of language are so scarcely represented quite so well as in this simple passage*:

I [Viggo] was excited to discover that the gym did nonetheless have a belly dancing class on when we arrived.

I explained to Dom that graceful sways, sinuous movements and an appreciation of effeminate energy would serve him well in relating to women and his inner ying.

Dom said, and I quote "This is awful, I'm moving my bum like a man whore."

Because it's even more rare to find a story wherein the true soul of a tangled, twisted, complex performer like Viggo Mortensen is so obviously laid bare before us, stripped of all pretenses, allowing us to marvel at it's essential vitality and grace. Because rosemending captures the stark poetry that *is* Viggo, describing his thoughts in a mock diary:

I ingested a substantial quantity of legumes today.

There was a chick pea salad for lunch. And lentil soup for dinner.

I am expecting a substantial improvement in the texture of my excreta tomorrow morning.

Because this is a story that manages to be sweet even while it's satirizing and that manages to be just hysterically funny even while it's pitch perfect and well-written throughout.

Go, enjoy!

--

Hi, I'm zaneetas. In what feels like a previous lifetime (way back in October of 2003), I wrote the overview and recced for popslash in this community. I've spent the intervening year and one month trying to convince myself that I have other, more important things to do than shill stories out on the internet, but that's clearly a lie and so here I am again.

*And I mean that seriously.