SN: How Much You Mean It by sarcasticsra (NC-17 Dan/Casey, Dana/Calvin)
Title: How Much You Mean It
Author: sarcasticsra/
sarcasticsra
Artist: primalmusic
Fandom: Sports Night
Pairing/Characters: Dan/Casey, Dana/Calvin, Natalie/Jeremy, ensemble
Rating: NC-17/slash/het
Warnings: None.
Word Count: 11,200
Summary: Dan and Casey have been dating for the past four months, something they've been keeping a secret from their friends-or so they think. What happens when an invitation to a network party brings to a head all the fears and insecurities that have been plaguing them?
Link to masterpost: http://smallfandombang.livejournal.com/15226.html
On author's journal: http://scripted-sra.dreamwidth.org/89690.html
Download Report: One post on Dreamwidth.
How weird is it that Sports Night now qualifies for smallfandombang ?! I'm glad, though, because otherwise I would have missed this.
This read like an episode of the series. The dialog was spot on and even had some of the nice ring composition I'd always loved from the show. I could hear the characters speaking the lines and imagine them plopped right into their offices and the sets. The author did a great job with re-creating the feel and sound and pace of the show, which is not an easy task. Even the scene cuts felt like TV cuts, breaking off from one conversation to pick up its complimentary conversation taking place elsewhere.
The plot hinges on a joint invitation sent to Dan and Casey for a company cocktail party, hosted by their new owner Calvin Trager. Dan and Casey have been dating for four months, but are (mistakenly) convinced that they've managed to cleverly conceal this fact from everyone else. Naturally, they become utterly obsessed with finding out why they were sent a single invitation, and pull everyone else into their obsession. In this case, "everyone else" includes Dana and Natalie, and Natalie decides that she can use Dana's exasperation over Dan and Casey's dithering about the invitation to enact her own scheme to bring Dana and Calvin together (more about this in the spoiler section). Since her scheme involves using Dan and Casey, it's a nicely twisty plot that comes full circle in the best tradition of Sports Night.
As suggested by the plot outline, the author gives all the characters good roles, handling the whole cast in a way that a lot of Sports Night authors don't even try. As I said, it reads like an episode, and that includes giving everyone in the ensemble a part to play in the story, and also giving them the usual interlocking secrets and conspiracies.
I also loved the relationships. The author showed Dana and Casey's friendship, Dan's warm relationship with Isaac, Natalie and Jeremy's romance, and Dana and Natalie's roles as co-workers and co-conspirators. I would have liked, maybe, to see a touch more of them all actually working, but as it is I can't really complain because what I did get was so good.
This brings me to Calvin. This takes place post-series, and I liked how the author worked Calvin into the cast as Dana's potential love-interest. We never got to see how he would fit in, but this is one way I could imagine it happening. He was mellow and low-key, but still smart and clever and, in this story, firmly entrenched in the plot along with everyone else. He didn't feel intrusive or pasted on to me, despite his relatively short appearance on the show. This story just made me wish all the more that we'd gotten to see more of him.
If the story had a flaw, it was that the end of it dragged on a bit. I understand that certain things needed to be tied up, but there were a couple of scenes where I felt that the previous smooth pace had really bogged down, and it didn't recover until the end. It wasn't enough to spoil the story, but it was a downside in an otherwise terrific piece of writing.
For those of you who wish to know these things: Although the rating is listed as "NC-17/slash/het," the NC-17 rating only applies to interactions between Dan and Casey. There are no het NC-17 scenes. I didn't want anyone to read and feel disappointed at the lack of Dana/Calvin or Natalie/Jeremy sex.
[Further discussion with SPOILERS for How Much You Mean It by sarcasticsara]SPOILERS!!!!!
One thing I particularly liked about the plot was that the Dana/Calvin storyline was given nearly equal weight to the Dan/Casey storyline. The Dan/Casey story was what the rest of the plot hung around, so it got more air time, but the interactions between Dana and Calvin and the machinations to bring them together were every bit as crucial to the resolution of the story.
I especially enjoyed it because it's really rare to see a story that's both a slash romance and a het romance. Readers have their own preferences, but I feel that this story works as both a Dana/Calvin story and a Dan/Casey story, and that readers looking for either pairing would find it satisfying. (Okay, there's no Dana/Calvin sex, but they are just getting together so I suppose that's okay. ;))
Bottom line: This is great, tight story that re-captures the feel of the series. It has great characters, a good plot, and two lovely romances. Definitely give it a chance.
This review was originally posted to reviewsanon
Author: sarcasticsra/
sarcasticsra
Artist: primalmusic
Fandom: Sports Night
Pairing/Characters: Dan/Casey, Dana/Calvin, Natalie/Jeremy, ensemble
Rating: NC-17/slash/het
Warnings: None.
Word Count: 11,200
Summary: Dan and Casey have been dating for the past four months, something they've been keeping a secret from their friends-or so they think. What happens when an invitation to a network party brings to a head all the fears and insecurities that have been plaguing them?
Link to masterpost: http://smallfandombang.livejournal.com/15226.html
On author's journal: http://scripted-sra.dreamwidth.org/89690.html
Download Report: One post on Dreamwidth.
How weird is it that Sports Night now qualifies for smallfandombang ?! I'm glad, though, because otherwise I would have missed this.
This read like an episode of the series. The dialog was spot on and even had some of the nice ring composition I'd always loved from the show. I could hear the characters speaking the lines and imagine them plopped right into their offices and the sets. The author did a great job with re-creating the feel and sound and pace of the show, which is not an easy task. Even the scene cuts felt like TV cuts, breaking off from one conversation to pick up its complimentary conversation taking place elsewhere.
The plot hinges on a joint invitation sent to Dan and Casey for a company cocktail party, hosted by their new owner Calvin Trager. Dan and Casey have been dating for four months, but are (mistakenly) convinced that they've managed to cleverly conceal this fact from everyone else. Naturally, they become utterly obsessed with finding out why they were sent a single invitation, and pull everyone else into their obsession. In this case, "everyone else" includes Dana and Natalie, and Natalie decides that she can use Dana's exasperation over Dan and Casey's dithering about the invitation to enact her own scheme to bring Dana and Calvin together (more about this in the spoiler section). Since her scheme involves using Dan and Casey, it's a nicely twisty plot that comes full circle in the best tradition of Sports Night.
As suggested by the plot outline, the author gives all the characters good roles, handling the whole cast in a way that a lot of Sports Night authors don't even try. As I said, it reads like an episode, and that includes giving everyone in the ensemble a part to play in the story, and also giving them the usual interlocking secrets and conspiracies.
I also loved the relationships. The author showed Dana and Casey's friendship, Dan's warm relationship with Isaac, Natalie and Jeremy's romance, and Dana and Natalie's roles as co-workers and co-conspirators. I would have liked, maybe, to see a touch more of them all actually working, but as it is I can't really complain because what I did get was so good.
This brings me to Calvin. This takes place post-series, and I liked how the author worked Calvin into the cast as Dana's potential love-interest. We never got to see how he would fit in, but this is one way I could imagine it happening. He was mellow and low-key, but still smart and clever and, in this story, firmly entrenched in the plot along with everyone else. He didn't feel intrusive or pasted on to me, despite his relatively short appearance on the show. This story just made me wish all the more that we'd gotten to see more of him.
If the story had a flaw, it was that the end of it dragged on a bit. I understand that certain things needed to be tied up, but there were a couple of scenes where I felt that the previous smooth pace had really bogged down, and it didn't recover until the end. It wasn't enough to spoil the story, but it was a downside in an otherwise terrific piece of writing.
For those of you who wish to know these things: Although the rating is listed as "NC-17/slash/het," the NC-17 rating only applies to interactions between Dan and Casey. There are no het NC-17 scenes. I didn't want anyone to read and feel disappointed at the lack of Dana/Calvin or Natalie/Jeremy sex.
[Further discussion with SPOILERS for How Much You Mean It by sarcasticsara]SPOILERS!!!!!
One thing I particularly liked about the plot was that the Dana/Calvin storyline was given nearly equal weight to the Dan/Casey storyline. The Dan/Casey story was what the rest of the plot hung around, so it got more air time, but the interactions between Dana and Calvin and the machinations to bring them together were every bit as crucial to the resolution of the story.
I especially enjoyed it because it's really rare to see a story that's both a slash romance and a het romance. Readers have their own preferences, but I feel that this story works as both a Dana/Calvin story and a Dan/Casey story, and that readers looking for either pairing would find it satisfying. (Okay, there's no Dana/Calvin sex, but they are just getting together so I suppose that's okay. ;))
Bottom line: This is great, tight story that re-captures the feel of the series. It has great characters, a good plot, and two lovely romances. Definitely give it a chance.
This review was originally posted to reviewsanon