The Dah-Ling Store-It-Yourself by nixajane (PG-13)
Title: The Dah-Ling Store-It-Yourself
Fandom: Psych
Pairing: Carlton Lassiter/Shawn Spencer
Categories/Genres: Mystery, Case File, Drama, Action/Adventure, Kidnapping, Humor
Length: Epic (43049 words)
Warnings: N/A
Author on LJ: nixa-jane
Author Website: nixajane
Summary:
The bad news is that one of Lassiter's highest profile arrests has just escaped from prison. The worse news is that his best hope of tracking him down is a sleep-deprived Shawn Spencer.
Review:
It's not every day that someone writes a thoroughly plotted out case file fic, and even more rarely does the mystery fit with the tone of the canon so well you're left wondering, 'Why isn't this an actual episode?'
The Dah-Ling Store-It-Yourself is an intricately plotted adventure that unfolds perfectly, with just the right amount of information laid out for the reader to follow along, and enough deeply embedded clues that, when certain conclusions are revealed at the very end, it's obvious to the reader that they weren't drawn from thin air. That isn't to say that there aren't certain improbable things, but nothing that falls beyond the realm of Psych's general outlandishness.
The characters introduced for the mystery are generally quirky and layered with complexity, even the ones the reader never meets face to face. Cyril Riner, Shawn's kidnapper-slash-client, is particularly endearing and quickly earns the reader's trust in spite of most of the cast's determined belief that he's guilty of murder.
Fascinatingly, there's a palpable sense of frustration amongst many of the cast directed squarely at Shawn for his recklessness and obstinate refusal to give lip service to even the idea of working cooperatively with the SBPD. This fic shows Shawn at his finest but also does not flinch from showing him at his most selfish. In fact the only major gripe I have with this fic is that Shawn is so stubbornly focused on getting what he wants that it becomes an almost deliberate blindness to any potential negative consequences. And when the opportunity arises for Shawn to see those very real consequences, the nixajane lets it pass on by. In the end, Shawn gets what he wants and everyone else gets to bow to his whims.
I haven't read the other stories in The Dah-Ling Series yet, but I definitely will. Spoiled boy getting his way aside, I wouldn't miss another of nixajane's Psych case file fics for the world.
The Dah-Ling Store-It-Yourself
Fandom: Psych
Pairing: Carlton Lassiter/Shawn Spencer
Categories/Genres: Mystery, Case File, Drama, Action/Adventure, Kidnapping, Humor
Length: Epic (43049 words)
Warnings: N/A
Author on LJ: nixa-jane
Author Website: nixajane
Summary:
The bad news is that one of Lassiter's highest profile arrests has just escaped from prison. The worse news is that his best hope of tracking him down is a sleep-deprived Shawn Spencer.
Review:
It's not every day that someone writes a thoroughly plotted out case file fic, and even more rarely does the mystery fit with the tone of the canon so well you're left wondering, 'Why isn't this an actual episode?'
The Dah-Ling Store-It-Yourself is an intricately plotted adventure that unfolds perfectly, with just the right amount of information laid out for the reader to follow along, and enough deeply embedded clues that, when certain conclusions are revealed at the very end, it's obvious to the reader that they weren't drawn from thin air. That isn't to say that there aren't certain improbable things, but nothing that falls beyond the realm of Psych's general outlandishness.
The characters introduced for the mystery are generally quirky and layered with complexity, even the ones the reader never meets face to face. Cyril Riner, Shawn's kidnapper-slash-client, is particularly endearing and quickly earns the reader's trust in spite of most of the cast's determined belief that he's guilty of murder.
Fascinatingly, there's a palpable sense of frustration amongst many of the cast directed squarely at Shawn for his recklessness and obstinate refusal to give lip service to even the idea of working cooperatively with the SBPD. This fic shows Shawn at his finest but also does not flinch from showing him at his most selfish. In fact the only major gripe I have with this fic is that Shawn is so stubbornly focused on getting what he wants that it becomes an almost deliberate blindness to any potential negative consequences. And when the opportunity arises for Shawn to see those very real consequences, the nixajane lets it pass on by. In the end, Shawn gets what he wants and everyone else gets to bow to his whims.
I haven't read the other stories in The Dah-Ling Series yet, but I definitely will. Spoiled boy getting his way aside, I wouldn't miss another of nixajane's Psych case file fics for the world.
The Dah-Ling Store-It-Yourself