dear Dead Zone fic, why don't you exist?
since becoming desperately enamoured of The Dead Zone as a show (it is a show about bodies! and experiencing other people's bodies through psychic visions!), Johnny Smith as a character (this is how deep I am in loving this show, that I find myself constantly talking about how amazing Anthony Michael Hall is - but that's because he's amazing), and Johnny/Bruce as a pairing (Bruce doesn't think there's anything WRONG with Johnny, but drives him to Boston for an MRI anyway, because Johnny ASKED him) I have discovered to my chagrin that there are only like three stories for this pairing that I particularly want to read. And friends yes I have looked everywhere.
The stories I like best are:
Sympathy for the Devil, by
dira, which is a truly, truly fabulous, plotty, wrapped-up-in-the-apocalypse Johnny/Bruce story: it's like watching the show, but SLIGHTLY gayer. I loved it THIS MUCH.
A Vision in Scarlet, by
speranza, which omg is Johnny-and-Bruce gen in which they partner up with ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE and SOLVE CRIME. I am allcaps just remembering that story, which was basically 'things twings is really into right now, in a story by speranza.' I flailed, I admit it. The ending draws these great Dead Zone/Holmes parallels and basically makes me all a-squee about reason and intuition and Holmes canon and so forth.
Touch, by
astolat, which is also interestingly the title of an astolat SGA story. This one is really brief, but it does the thing that I want 8000 kinds of dead zone fic to do, which is think about how Johnny's abilities would mediate and complicate and make kinkier any sex that he has. Plus it's really sweet. Johnny/Bruce.
. . . and other than that I find myself really frustrated by my search, to the point of hilarity. Do you guys ever do that, where you want fic so bad that you're reading really terrible stories and trying to encourage the stories, in your head, to do better? Sort of wincingly hoping that it'll improve if you just keep reading it? I was reading this Johnny/Bruce story earlier today that made fleeting reference to the fact that Johnny often experiences having sex with men through women's eyes, and I was like, "yes, that's interesting! and potentially hot!" and then the fic didn't care about that and moved on to a basic two-dudes-have-sex sex scene, and I was like, "sigh." It was as if I was leaving comments on someone's essay. "You briefly mention that Johnny's visions cause him to experience sex in a manner different from most people, and suggest that he has experienced sex in a female body. Can you do more with this? Perhaps this would be an interesting thing to expand on in your next draft."
But anyway, for the most part, it's like, "Johnny and Bruce know each other. Johnny and Bruce have sex. The end." I want all the complicated body-stuff! I want:
1) the fic where Bruce can conjure up specific images in his mind while touching Johnny (say, while giving him a massage, because OH YEAH Bruce is his physical therapist) and can make Johnny experience brief vision-flashes of sensation, of specific acts, and thus do the foreplay almost entirely with his brain
2) the dark fic where Johnny seeks out women and men Stilson's had sex with, telling himself that he might get information that way, but really because he wants to experience being fucked by Stilson again and again
3) the sweet schmoopy fic that's all about how Johnny touches Bruce when there's a press of people around him, in order to be GROUNDED
4) the fic where Johnny sends Bruce out to have sex with other people, so that Johnny can touch him and then experience having sex AS Bruce rather than WITH Bruce
5) the fic where Johnny, having sex with Bruce, experiences it simultaneously as sex-with-Bruce and sex-with-himself
6) the whole genre of "hilarious misunderstandings occur because of unclear visions" fic
7) the whole genre of Johnny/Bruce h/c, and the whole related genre of "I have had disturbing visions, let's now have desperate rough sex against this convenient surface to take my mind off of my despair"
8) a zillion long plotty save-the-world or save-this-person Johnny/Bruce action-adventure stories
9) Johnny and Bruce work together, after 2x12, to learn how they can share visions, or how Johnny can let Bruce see something that he's seen. And this process involves a lot of hand-holding.
10) OTHER STORIES AS WELL.
Basically what I'm saying is that I was completely spoiled by SGA. I used to do small fandoms all the time! I was in Good Omens when it was still small enough for Yuletide, and I considered myself lucky to get a new story every month! Then I abandoned the small fandoms and spent allll that time in SGA, where the fandom was even ready-made when I got there. The fandom was able to answer my every whim and desire. Want to spend a day reading fifty John/Rodney high school AUs? No problem! This is why big fandoms are bad for you.
also, I thought I should mention: after seeing a few more episodes, I hereby withdraw what I said before about the ladies on The Dead Zone getting interesting plots/characters. Sigh, they never pass the Bechdel test - there are two ladies on the show, and they only ever talk about Johnny. Plus Ezri Dax, who plays Johnny's ex-fiance, says every line in this breathless helpless tone that only decreases the amount of agency her character has, which isn't a lot to begin with. Sometimes the show does really powerful episodes that I would consider feminist, but overall/structurally I have trouble with how they use the female characters.
on the other hand, despite being a crime-fighting show, it doesn't do the horror-torture-porn thing, so I don't ever have to look at beautiful mutilated naked dead women while watching this show. I guess that's something?
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The stories I like best are:
Sympathy for the Devil, by
dira, which is a truly, truly fabulous, plotty, wrapped-up-in-the-apocalypse Johnny/Bruce story: it's like watching the show, but SLIGHTLY gayer. I loved it THIS MUCH.
A Vision in Scarlet, by
speranza, which omg is Johnny-and-Bruce gen in which they partner up with ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE and SOLVE CRIME. I am allcaps just remembering that story, which was basically 'things twings is really into right now, in a story by speranza.' I flailed, I admit it. The ending draws these great Dead Zone/Holmes parallels and basically makes me all a-squee about reason and intuition and Holmes canon and so forth.
Touch, by
astolat, which is also interestingly the title of an astolat SGA story. This one is really brief, but it does the thing that I want 8000 kinds of dead zone fic to do, which is think about how Johnny's abilities would mediate and complicate and make kinkier any sex that he has. Plus it's really sweet. Johnny/Bruce.
. . . and other than that I find myself really frustrated by my search, to the point of hilarity. Do you guys ever do that, where you want fic so bad that you're reading really terrible stories and trying to encourage the stories, in your head, to do better? Sort of wincingly hoping that it'll improve if you just keep reading it? I was reading this Johnny/Bruce story earlier today that made fleeting reference to the fact that Johnny often experiences having sex with men through women's eyes, and I was like, "yes, that's interesting! and potentially hot!" and then the fic didn't care about that and moved on to a basic two-dudes-have-sex sex scene, and I was like, "sigh." It was as if I was leaving comments on someone's essay. "You briefly mention that Johnny's visions cause him to experience sex in a manner different from most people, and suggest that he has experienced sex in a female body. Can you do more with this? Perhaps this would be an interesting thing to expand on in your next draft."
But anyway, for the most part, it's like, "Johnny and Bruce know each other. Johnny and Bruce have sex. The end." I want all the complicated body-stuff! I want:
1) the fic where Bruce can conjure up specific images in his mind while touching Johnny (say, while giving him a massage, because OH YEAH Bruce is his physical therapist) and can make Johnny experience brief vision-flashes of sensation, of specific acts, and thus do the foreplay almost entirely with his brain
2) the dark fic where Johnny seeks out women and men Stilson's had sex with, telling himself that he might get information that way, but really because he wants to experience being fucked by Stilson again and again
3) the sweet schmoopy fic that's all about how Johnny touches Bruce when there's a press of people around him, in order to be GROUNDED
4) the fic where Johnny sends Bruce out to have sex with other people, so that Johnny can touch him and then experience having sex AS Bruce rather than WITH Bruce
5) the fic where Johnny, having sex with Bruce, experiences it simultaneously as sex-with-Bruce and sex-with-himself
6) the whole genre of "hilarious misunderstandings occur because of unclear visions" fic
7) the whole genre of Johnny/Bruce h/c, and the whole related genre of "I have had disturbing visions, let's now have desperate rough sex against this convenient surface to take my mind off of my despair"
8) a zillion long plotty save-the-world or save-this-person Johnny/Bruce action-adventure stories
9) Johnny and Bruce work together, after 2x12, to learn how they can share visions, or how Johnny can let Bruce see something that he's seen. And this process involves a lot of hand-holding.
10) OTHER STORIES AS WELL.
Basically what I'm saying is that I was completely spoiled by SGA. I used to do small fandoms all the time! I was in Good Omens when it was still small enough for Yuletide, and I considered myself lucky to get a new story every month! Then I abandoned the small fandoms and spent allll that time in SGA, where the fandom was even ready-made when I got there. The fandom was able to answer my every whim and desire. Want to spend a day reading fifty John/Rodney high school AUs? No problem! This is why big fandoms are bad for you.
also, I thought I should mention: after seeing a few more episodes, I hereby withdraw what I said before about the ladies on The Dead Zone getting interesting plots/characters. Sigh, they never pass the Bechdel test - there are two ladies on the show, and they only ever talk about Johnny. Plus Ezri Dax, who plays Johnny's ex-fiance, says every line in this breathless helpless tone that only decreases the amount of agency her character has, which isn't a lot to begin with. Sometimes the show does really powerful episodes that I would consider feminist, but overall/structurally I have trouble with how they use the female characters.
on the other hand, despite being a crime-fighting show, it doesn't do the horror-torture-porn thing, so I don't ever have to look at beautiful mutilated naked dead women while watching this show. I guess that's something?
(click to comment at dw || there are
comments right now)