I promised this fic, to those of you who care, weeks ago. It's been finished for about as long. I wrote it before the show's first season came to a close, and I knew -- from what I had read of what was to come -- it wouldn't contradict upcoming canon, as best I could predict, and should fit rather nicely between episodes 1x09 and 1x10. Looking
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Enough about me, though. Let's talk fic.
From the first paragraph, I said, "Oh, she's got it. She has Hank." And you did. All through this fic, you had him perfectly. There were so many instances of beautifully raw prose, stuff like he might have written once, that I can't possibly pick them all out. I'll point out a bunch, though:
01. She's sixteen, for fuck's sake, you're supposed to grow into that kind of shit.
02.In dreams, Karen looks like fading sunshine, strands of yellow-orange light woven through her hair like the threads of a dream catcher's web. Sometimes, in his less drunk and more poetic moods, he thinks she must have his words -- his hopes, his dreams -- still caught up within her, too.
03. She stares at him for a long moment, while he shoves his hands in his pockets and stares up at her Barbie dream house, all sharp angles and impeaching post-modernism, its pretension practically spilling over into the neighboring yards.
And then there was, hoo boy, what Hank said to Karen. It was fantastic, this whole long paragraph here:
"Quit kidding yourself. You don't have to love me back. Or maybe you do, and maybe you don't, I don't fucking know anymore if I ever did to begin with, but stop pretending like everything's all fine and fucking dandy when you don't even know what you really want. All the pretty little houses in the world aren't going to fix your life any more than all the booze and pussy and drugs and pointless shit have saved mine." She looks surprised, but he just keeps right on talking, bolstered by her unexpected silence. "Keep on telling me to grow the fuck up, that's fine, but you might want to practice what you preach." He slips the cigarette from between his lips, exhales a bit of smoke as he drops it, smirking tiredly at her as he stubs it out with the sole of his shoe, gesturing vaguely at the space between them. "Just a thought."
The X-Files reference was brilliant, a fantastic touch, but I'm ashamed to admit -- I totally missed the Third Watch reference.
Every new fandom should be broken in like this. Excellent work.
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From the first paragraph, I said, "Oh, she's got it. She has Hank." And you did. All through this fic, you had him perfectly. There were so many instances of beautifully raw prose, stuff like he might have written once, that I can't possibly pick them all out.
Goddamn it, you! I don't even know what to say to that! I was always worried about wrestling Hank in, getting him to cooperate with me -- he's angsty and fiesty and generally a pain in the ass, lol -- but if you think it worked, then I feel confident enough to say I managed it. I'm so glad you think that I did, because that endorsement is worth loads to me.
I'm also very glad that Hank's little tirade to Karen worked for you! I was worried it could come across as what I refer to as "authorial soapboxing," i.e. the author using fic to channel their own issues with the characters, instead of the characters themselves speaking. I've run into a lot of fans who are pissed at Karen for many reasons, and I didn't want it to read like that's what I was doing. In my mind, that was all Hank (I'm actually quicker to defend Karen than most, ironically enough, lol), so I'm very pleased you mentioned that part as something that worked for you specifically.
The X-Files reference was brilliant, a fantastic touch, but I'm ashamed to admit -- I totally missed the Third Watch reference.
Dude, you have NO idea how relieved I am that people have (so far) responded to the XF reference well, rather than pointing and going "HAHA, CHEESE!" I didn't mean for it to happen, because Mulder and Hank are just... I don't even put them together in my mind! But then he was on the couch, channel surfing, and bam, there it was. ...Oops?
As for the Third Watch reference, don't feel bad about missing it! It's very subtle. It's the bit about being "sorry in the morning anyway." It's a nod to one of my favorite early scenes between Bosco and Faith, when they abandon that gangster in enemy territory. ;)
Every new fandom should be broken in like this. Excellent work.
If I could hug you through the Internet right now, I'd be doing it. Thank you SO much for the wonderful feedback. ♥ ♥ ♥
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NO WAY. How did I miss that? *uses icon from that episode, which is, incidentally, her favorite episode*
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