I have watched TG and do not, not for the life of me, understand its appeal. But I know what your writing is like, and read this fic, and loved it because it stands on the edge of schmaltz without ever sliding into it: it remains on the side of human frailty, compassion and finding out what one is capable of.
I just thought about this - I think that most of your writing is characterised by compassion.
Top Gear didn't immediately appeal to me either--for one thing, I'm not very interested in cars. But then I watched a couple of the specials (one where they race to the north pole, truck versus dogsled, and another where they drive from the Bolivian rain forest across the Andes to the Pacific) and fell in love with the rough-hewn, bantery affection between the three of them. There's a sort of running theme in TG, sometimes subtextual and sometimes explicit, about acceptable masculine behavior and the ways men can (or can't) show tenderness and caring for other men. So, as bizarre as it sounds when talking about a nonfiction program, I watch it for the characters. I just skip over the bits that are actually about cars.
Anyway, I'm really pleased that you read the fic despite not liking TG, and even more pleased that it worked for you as a story. Thanks!
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I just thought about this - I think that most of your writing is characterised by compassion.
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Anyway, I'm really pleased that you read the fic despite not liking TG, and even more pleased that it worked for you as a story. Thanks!
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