I am having a lot of strong reactions to fiction

[fahye]

I JUST FINISHED MIRA GRANT'S DEADLINE.

CAN SOMEONE ELSE WHO'S READ IT PLEASE COME AND SCREAM IN A SPOILERISH FASHION AT ME IN COMMENTS.

I NEED TO PROCESS MY FEELINGS.

OH MY FUCKING GOD.

Comments

[ashen_key]

OMG, SOMEONE ELSE HAS FINALLY FINISHED IT!

YES!

HI, FRAR. THIS IS ME, SCREAMING, BECAUSE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH GEORGE WHAT THE HEL?!?!?!

[fahye]

AS SOON AS THEY DID THE WAKING-UP SCENE I WAS LIKE, YES. YES. I KNEW THAT CLONING SHIT WAS A SMOKING GUN.

HOW AM I GOING TO WAIT SIX MONTHS FOR A SHAUN/GEORGE REUNION, ASHIE, HOW AM I GOING TO DO THAT?.

Yuletide, Yuletide, here I fucking come.

[ashen_key]

I DIDN'T EXPECT IT. AT ALL. AS SOON AS SHE SAID 'SO, HOW LONG HAVE I BEEN A CLONE', I LITERALLY 'OH. SHIT' AND SHRIEKED A LITTLE. AND THEN NO ONE ELSE HAD READ THEM, SO I WAS FORCED TO JUST GO 'LOOK, THE FIRST BOOK IS AMAZING, AND THEN YOU'LL READ THE SECOND, AND THEN WE'LL SCREAM. NOW HURRY UP AND READ' AT PEOPLE.

I HAVE NO IDEA! I'VE BEEN WAITING LONGER. IT'S HARD. SO HARD. BECAUSE, AUGH, OH, GOD, SHAUN. AND THE BIT WHERE HE WAS ALL 'SO, IF I HADN'T SHOT HER, SHE WAS GOING TO GET BETTER', I CRIED, I ADMIT. SO I JUST CAN'T WAIT FOR THEM TO MEET AGAIN. BECAUSE, OH. MY. GOD.

...yes. You know, I hadn't even thought about fanfiction. Wow, I fail.

[fahye]

OH GOD, SHAUN, EVERY SINGLE TIME HE ACTUALLY SAW HER I THOUGHT MY HEART WOULD BREAK. And I knew that there was something a bit off about the fact that he saw her without the retinal infection, some kind of clue there, but I never for a second thought that we'd be handed something as glorious as FUCKING RESURRECTION VIA CLONING.

Seriously, dear lord, how much backstory fic do I want about their beautiful fucked-up utter codependence. HOW MUCH. I almost made gleeful shouting sounds when I realised that no, I was not imagining that dynamic, and yes, they were going there.

[ashen_key]

I really have to reread the book, just to see if there were red herrings that I missed when I devoured it. Because, I was so blindsided by that. (And I try and tell my brain to shut up, that's not how cloning works, clone just = genetic copy, nothing else, but given all the other world-building, I really, really, really want some cloning explanation for getting the personality and age of the original, so therefore I can just wallow in GLORIOUS)

Oh, fuck, yes. Now you mention it...oh, wow, fandom could do some utterly amazing things. And the shift in perception from her POV to his, and how that adds layers and twists things, and oh, man, when the book went there, I literally went "ohfuck". Just. *flaily hands*

DEAR FANDOM, PLEASE EXIST. I SUDDENLY NEED ALL THE FIC.

[fahye]

(Yeah, given the amount of medical research that's gone into the book I am interested to see how she'll handle the imbuement of a genetic copy with memory, but even if the explanation is handwavey and dreadful I will NOT. GIVE. A FUCK.)

The shift in perception is definitely key, because it's ONLY in Shaun's voice that you'd get even the slightest hint of his relationship with George; even though both narratives are presented as inner voice, they're still the voices of people who grew up controlling their output, whose words are weighed, who spin their own lives as naturally as breathing. So of COURSE we wouldn't hear it from George, who delegates her emotional expression to her brother. Of COURSE an Irwin would throw up a facade, an act, even in a nominal inner narrative; of course Shaun is trying his hardest not to remind himself of what he's lost and embracing his breakdown at the same damn time. He flaunts it. He gives the public whatever is safe; he gives them enough of the story to tug at heartstrings, and not much more

[ashen_key]

(I don't care if it's a crazy explanation, I just want one. But clones are a Thing with me, so I suspect it's bugging me more than it might otherwise)

they're still the voices of people who grew up controlling their output, whose words are weighed, who spin their own lives as naturally as breathing.

YES. THIS. I just fucking adored that aspect to them, how ruthless and calculated their words are, even in their inner selves. And the same with the different sides to Maggie, too - her privated post where she was 'FUCK YOU, YOU IDIOT, I LOVED YOU TO' and the public one where she was all 'sorry my darlings, Auntie Maggie won't be around to play today'. Just the depth and connection they have to that virtual world, and how it affects how they think and present themselves as naturally as they breathe, I loved that first about the first book, and the more I read, the more I loved it. Because I do noticed that I tend to narrate things to myself as if I'm crafting sentences, even if I'm not going to post about whatever I'm thinking

[fahye]

Ooh, yes, Maggie is the easiest character for a lot of fannish people to connect to, I think -- her divisions are protective, but also related to fiction for fiction's sake.