SO I READ THIS FIC. I spaced it out over the course of a few days, because-- being honest-- a lot of your Boosh fic is just too harrowing and awful for me and so I avoid it for the sake of my own mental health. But I wanted to read this one! Because it kept cropping up on various archives, and I've heard so many people reference it with such fondness and admiration. The first, lessay, fourth of the fic WAS VERY DIFFICULT, I can't lie, and bizarrely it wasn't all the rape and all of that that made it so, it was the backstory for Howard and Vince. HARD TO DEAL WITH, but, you know, that is a compliment to your writing, so. In lieu of a proper review, I present to you my flailing conversation with Bluey upon completion:
Cully: I just finished Let the Good Times Roll! You were right, the beginning was the worst bit, I could handle the rest no problem. Even if OH MY GOD THE FEELS *falls over* And talk about psychological realism, bloody fuck. So I am also feeling slightly like Wonder Woman! In an emotional sense
Bluey: I KNOW, the realism...! But I appreciated it so much. It's rare that any writing, much less fanfic, is that honest about the struggle to recover from those kinds of traumas. It wrongs your heart out at many points. But how cute are Sally and Kylie?
Cully: OH MY GOD, yes. And how complicated the reactions to that are, and how they get all mucked up with one's own expectations and fears, and the difficulty of navigating those-- both personally and as a partner, when they're BOTH recovering, in different ways. But SO MUCH LOVE between Howard and Vince, even if it's complicated and they have to work at it, SO MUCH LOVE. And the confusion of wanting things but not being ready for them, or wanting them for unhealthy reasons and having to figure that out... SO GOOD
Bluey: Yessssssss, yes, exactly! And it explores how each of them are prone to putting too much pressure on themselves, judging themselves much too harshly, and the ways that distorts the way they interpret and remember things.
Cully: And yessssss, they're adorable. Sally especially I became terribly fond of
Cully: Yessssss, ahhhhhh. And the dreamwalking!!!!!
Bluey: Me too. Even though, let's face it, I'm a Kylie. :P
Cully: Ahaha, you totally are. But she is also adorable! We just didn't get to see as much of her
Bluey: Yesss, that is true. I adore Sally for taking such good care of Vince and recognizing his vulnerability.
Bluey: Ohhhhhh, the dream walking! The way those reflect their anxieties and hangups and become a way to build intimacy and !!!!!!!
Cully: P sure I fell in love with her at the moment of, SHE IS A RATIONAL SCIENTIFIC WOMAN, but like hell she's going into a voodoo swamp before talking to Marie Laveau first. And the fact that she'd been in a terrible environmentalist lesbian funk band in college
Bluey: Yesssssss. I love both those things! Also, the Certified Muff Diver t-shirt.
Cully: Yessssss, oh my god. And just. The weird moments between unconscious dreaming and suddenly becoming aware and realising that it's the actual other person there, and how that makes things strange and awkward but also lets them explore things. BUT THEN ALSO sometimes adds anxieties, because people always want to interpret things in a rational logical way, but dreams aren't always indicative of rational logical desires. AND HOW THEY'RE BOTH AFRAID both of being the victim (and their brain telling them they deserve it) and being the aggressor, afraid that they're selfish and will hurt the other one, and having nightmares about that
Cully: Bahaha, yes. Also oh my god Kylie and Vince drunkenly making out for the attention, because OF COURSE
AND PART TWO of this giant commenthobbit_feetsAugust 5 2016, 02:24:41 UTC
Bluey: Pffffft, right? Perfect. And YES, yes yes yes to everything about the dreams and their fears of being victim AND aggressor. And both of them carrying so much guilt!
Cully Yes! Because... I don't feel like you see a lot of that explored in fic, that legitimate fear of being the aggressor, but that is... totally a thing when you get into thorny and confusing areas of consent. Much less, you know, the kind of shit this version of Howard was exposed to in his childhood
Bluey: Yessssssss. I agree, it is very rarely explored, much less this thoughtfully or sensitively, but it is SUCH a real issue, and a very important one here, for both of them. Each of them has feared not doing right by the other in a time of vulnerability, afraid that their desires are selfish or exploitative.
Cully: Gahhhhhh, just. *falls over* AND THE FACT that Gregg gets to learn and grow as well! Even if that is (rightly) only a footnote to Howard and Vince's recovery. I love that the fic acknowledged that... as awful as what he did was, he is a super fucked up and damaged individual, and has not ever known anything other than abuse, and if given actual care and the opportunity to... learn how to people, he's able to do so. That apology extended to Howard was... a wonderful thing. At the same time, I loved, during their rescue of Howard, that even though Howard did, weirdly, sympathise with him and sort of trust him on a certain level, he was able to go, no, this is it, I'm not giving you anything else just because you were the *preferable* one between you and the Hitcher.
Bluey: Yes! I was so proud of Howard for that, for bring able to draw that line between pity for Gregg and recognizing that he owes him nothing more than that. Although GOD, the rescue. The fact that Howard at first thinks it's just another dreamwalk, until his brain catches up with the fact that Vince isn't pretty and perfect and then he's so humiliated. And then later, when they're in the boat, and Vince just bursts into tears because it's all been SO MUCH, and Howard sliding right into the comforting role because it's a welcome, familiar thing.
Cully: Yessssss, oh my god. Begging Vince to just be sweet, please, he needs that, that broke me a little. GOD AND NEAR THE END, when Howard thinks Vince is the cruel Vince from his dreams and delusions, and it's not until Vince... does nothing but sit on his lap and play with his hair that he realises he's real and he's awake. And then Vince feeling like it's HIS fault because dark blue hair could so easily look like black. But just-- those moments of confusion, for both of them, between the dreamwalking and the waking, and the idealised (or awful) versions of them that exist in the other one's head.
Bluey: Yessssss. Those vulnerable moments of confusion, ahhhhhhhhh. And ahhhhh god, each of them realizing the other ones fears and insecurities
Cully: And GOD all the crying-- from both of them, throughout the fic, even about good things, because it's just so much, too much, there's no other way to physically deal than by breaking down. SO REAL
Bluey: Yes! Yes, yes. And that is another thing that I feel like fiction rarely explores or acknowledges, but that is so real. Sometimes it's just too much, even if it's good.
Basically: holy shit this fic. And the fact that you managed to make it funny and sexy and heartwarming on top of all that-- bloody remarkable, you are, madam. I may be an emotional wreck for several days, BUT DAMN IF IT WASN'T WORTH IT.
Cully: I just finished Let the Good Times Roll! You were right, the beginning was the worst bit, I could handle the rest no problem. Even if OH MY GOD THE FEELS *falls over* And talk about psychological realism, bloody fuck. So I am also feeling slightly like Wonder Woman! In an emotional sense
Bluey: I KNOW, the realism...! But I appreciated it so much. It's rare that any writing, much less fanfic, is that honest about the struggle to recover from those kinds of traumas. It wrongs your heart out at many points. But how cute are Sally and Kylie?
Cully: OH MY GOD, yes. And how complicated the reactions to that are, and how they get all mucked up with one's own expectations and fears, and the difficulty of navigating those-- both personally and as a partner, when they're BOTH recovering, in different ways. But SO MUCH LOVE between Howard and Vince, even if it's complicated and they have to work at it, SO MUCH LOVE. And the confusion of wanting things but not being ready for them, or wanting them for unhealthy reasons and having to figure that out... SO GOOD
Bluey: Yessssssss, yes, exactly! And it explores how each of them are prone to putting too much pressure on themselves, judging themselves much too harshly, and the ways that distorts the way they interpret and remember things.
Cully: And yessssss, they're adorable. Sally especially I became terribly fond of
Cully: Yessssss, ahhhhhh. And the dreamwalking!!!!!
Bluey: Me too. Even though, let's face it, I'm a Kylie. :P
Cully: Ahaha, you totally are. But she is also adorable! We just didn't get to see as much of her
Bluey: Yesss, that is true. I adore Sally for taking such good care of Vince and recognizing his vulnerability.
Bluey: Ohhhhhh, the dream walking! The way those reflect their anxieties and hangups and become a way to build intimacy and !!!!!!!
Cully: P sure I fell in love with her at the moment of, SHE IS A RATIONAL SCIENTIFIC WOMAN, but like hell she's going into a voodoo swamp before talking to Marie Laveau first. And the fact that she'd been in a terrible environmentalist lesbian funk band in college
Bluey: Yesssssss. I love both those things! Also, the Certified Muff Diver t-shirt.
Cully: Yessssss, oh my god. And just. The weird moments between unconscious dreaming and suddenly becoming aware and realising that it's the actual other person there, and how that makes things strange and awkward but also lets them explore things. BUT THEN ALSO sometimes adds anxieties, because people always want to interpret things in a rational logical way, but dreams aren't always indicative of rational logical desires. AND HOW THEY'RE BOTH AFRAID both of being the victim (and their brain telling them they deserve it) and being the aggressor, afraid that they're selfish and will hurt the other one, and having nightmares about that
Cully: Bahaha, yes. Also oh my god Kylie and Vince drunkenly making out for the attention, because OF COURSE
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Cully Yes! Because... I don't feel like you see a lot of that explored in fic, that legitimate fear of being the aggressor, but that is... totally a thing when you get into thorny and confusing areas of consent. Much less, you know, the kind of shit this version of Howard was exposed to in his childhood
Bluey: Yessssssss. I agree, it is very rarely explored, much less this thoughtfully or sensitively, but it is SUCH a real issue, and a very important one here, for both of them. Each of them has feared not doing right by the other in a time of vulnerability, afraid that their desires are selfish or exploitative.
Cully: Gahhhhhh, just. *falls over* AND THE FACT that Gregg gets to learn and grow as well! Even if that is (rightly) only a footnote to Howard and Vince's recovery. I love that the fic acknowledged that... as awful as what he did was, he is a super fucked up and damaged individual, and has not ever known anything other than abuse, and if given actual care and the opportunity to... learn how to people, he's able to do so. That apology extended to Howard was... a wonderful thing. At the same time, I loved, during their rescue of Howard, that even though Howard did, weirdly, sympathise with him and sort of trust him on a certain level, he was able to go, no, this is it, I'm not giving you anything else just because you were the *preferable* one between you and the Hitcher.
Bluey: Yes! I was so proud of Howard for that, for bring able to draw that line between pity for Gregg and recognizing that he owes him nothing more than that. Although GOD, the rescue. The fact that Howard at first thinks it's just another dreamwalk, until his brain catches up with the fact that Vince isn't pretty and perfect and then he's so humiliated. And then later, when they're in the boat, and Vince just bursts into tears because it's all been SO MUCH, and Howard sliding right into the comforting role because it's a welcome, familiar thing.
Cully: Yessssss, oh my god. Begging Vince to just be sweet, please, he needs that, that broke me a little. GOD AND NEAR THE END, when Howard thinks Vince is the cruel Vince from his dreams and delusions, and it's not until Vince... does nothing but sit on his lap and play with his hair that he realises he's real and he's awake. And then Vince feeling like it's HIS fault because dark blue hair could so easily look like black. But just-- those moments of confusion, for both of them, between the dreamwalking and the waking, and the idealised (or awful) versions of them that exist in the other one's head.
Bluey: Yessssss. Those vulnerable moments of confusion, ahhhhhhhhh. And ahhhhh god, each of them realizing the other ones fears and insecurities
Cully: And GOD all the crying-- from both of them, throughout the fic, even about good things, because it's just so much, too much, there's no other way to physically deal than by breaking down. SO REAL
Bluey: Yes! Yes, yes. And that is another thing that I feel like fiction rarely explores or acknowledges, but that is so real. Sometimes it's just too much, even if it's good.
Basically: holy shit this fic. And the fact that you managed to make it funny and sexy and heartwarming on top of all that-- bloody remarkable, you are, madam. I may be an emotional wreck for several days, BUT DAMN IF IT WASN'T WORTH IT.
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