Night on Fic Mountain Reveal: "The Steel-Wire Tightrope" (The Sting)

Jul 05, 2016 10:00

Authors and artists have been revealed for this year's Night On Fic Mountain exchange (welll, they were revealed a little while back, but then the weekend got away from me and hmm mutter mumble). Here was my contribution:

The Steel-Wire Tightrope (6609 words) by Dorinda
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Sting (1973)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Henry Gondorff/Johnny Hooker
Characters: Henry Gondorff, Johnny Hooker
Additional Tags: Con Artists, 1930s, Rescue, Angst, Misunderstandings, Nonverbal Communication, Drugged Sex, Broccoli Test
Summary:
Henry's in trouble. But when Johnny finds him, that's when their trouble really starts.

Awww yisssss, I got to write The Sting again! \o/ \o/ \o/ I rewatched the movie once during the writing process, and then I rewatched it last week with some friends, just because. I've seen it so many times, and show no signs of burning out or getting tired of it. I love the characters, and the milieu, and how amenable it all is to fannish extrapolation. Robert Redford glows like a sun god and runs like a deer, Paul Newman's eyes gleam a piercing clear sapphire, they both have arms and shoulders to make me weep in the best way, and Johnny and Henry come to care about each other SO MUCH you guys. So much. Not to mention that Henry is an Olympic-class secret worrier. ♥_____♥

Course, in this story, Johnny gets to do most of the worrying for a change. Just for a nice switcheroo. But this is my second story in which I was reminded that AO3 does not have a plain old "Drugged" tag! I mean, wat? "Drugged Sex", sure. But not just "Drugged". Which seems SO WEIRD, given the venerable age of the trope, you know--'oh no my partner got knocked out and doped and now I must rescue him', which was canon all the time at least back in the day, and which lends itself so well to tender h/c, and then perhaps sex that is not itself Drugged Sex, because everyone is now sobered up. So I used the Drugged Sex tag, even though that is not precisely how it goes (it sort of is at first, and then it isn't, and I think the story explains itself best).

Is there a way to propose they set up a canonical Drugged tag? I am ashamed to admit that my knowledge of the inner (or, in fact, outer) workings of the AO3 tag system is not the best.

Anyway, I'm excited to have had a chance to write these guys again! I fell into a weird throughline blockage during the writing process, but mary crawford and klia got me out of there and fixed it up, and I am really happy about it.

writing, ao3, slash, night on fic mountain, the sting, my fic

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