Fic: It's Grim Up North (Sam/Prior)

[strangeumbrella]

Well, if anybody understands the extent to which I am really useless at ever finishing fic, it's probably lo0o0ony_lauren, who has put up with being on the receiving end of an awful lot of half-finished stories, all of which come with my insistence that I'LL WRITE THE END OF THIS ONE DAY HONEST. I therefore hope she appreciates the fact that I FINISHED SOMETHING

Comments

[lozenger8]

I am unfamiliar with the other source for this, so I'm sure I'm missing out on a lot, but this stands up so, so well on its own, I don't think it really matters. This was very Sam, for me - I could see him, in this environment, even though it's as foreign to me as it is to him.

I adored this line: Prior leans back and stretches his arms, fingers intertwining, looking as though he has accomplished something tricky and yet pleasurable, like licking up jam from the inside curve of a jar. It's evocative and familiar and it really works.

Um. I don't want to come across as condescending, since I know exactly how you feel - it's always a struggle for me to finish something over 2000 words, with a plot and stuff happening, which is why I often don't, but, you're a really good writer. Strong, distinctive style, lovely touches of characterisation, fantastic dialogue. Keep at it, because I'm constantly impressed by your work.

[strangeumbrella]

I'm (pleasantly) surprised that this works without knowledge of Regeneration, and thank you so much for reading it regardless. (I don't know how much you managed to extrapolate, but basically Regeneration is set in a psychiatric hospital in Scotland during WW1, and incorporates the stories of real people (mainly Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, and Dr WHR Rivers) with fictional characters (including the unbelievably complex and amazing Billy Prior, who I cannot even begin to convey the brilliance of in this fic).) But anyway, you're not being condescending at all, thank you so much, really. To be praised by you is kind of an achievement, as far as I can see.

Incidentally, I don't know how good my powers of persuasion might be, but if you ever have any chance to read the Regeneration trilogy, it's really really good. It's one of those things where, looking back, I've realised that relatively little happens, but it doesn't matter because the characters and their relationships are just so exquisitely written, and something that you

UNFG

[lo0o0ony_lauren]

OH MY FUCKING GOD. MADDIE. MADDIE I LOVE YOU, OKAY, OH MY GOD.

SAM HAVING THERAPY WITH RIVERS AND DEALING WITH HIS HUGE AMOUNT OF DADDY ISSUES FINALLY AND PRIOR DOESN'T KISS AND THE DOORS DON'T LOCK AND AND

AND Sam almost thinks he looks a little - he doesn't know what, just a little less impassive than usual, for a second, but then Rivers brushes his hand down across his eyes and smiles
AFJGNRNKRGSRGKWER PERFECT

ILU
ILU
I PROBABLY SHOULD GO LIE DOWN FOR A MINUTE ♥♥♥

ALSO

[lo0o0ony_lauren]

JDGSKEDNGJSN LITTLE SIGNS WITH NUMBERS ON AHAHAHA

(ALSO I STILL HAVE A TEXT FROM YOU ON MY PHONE THAT SAYS SOMETHING ABOUT "LOL SAM TAKES HIS SOCKS OFF" FROM OUR LOM S2 GLEEFITS, SO THAT BIT MADE ME THINK OF THAT. LOL SAM, WE LOVE YOU)

AND FINALLY:
"Surprised you haven't tried it on with him," says Sam, not quite sure if he's joking or not.

"Of course I have," says Prior. "What do you take me for?"

JNFGWNRGRKNGKRWNGRNWKGNKLRSNGRSGNRWKGNKSRNGKNSFKNJDNFAKDNFDNKANKDNFKNDNGKD OH GOD

HEY MAN I JUST WANT SOME MUESLI

[strangeumbrella]

I LOVE YOU TOO LOZ ♥ ♥

OMG I AM DELIGHTED BY YOUR REACTION I WAS SO PLEASED WHEN I CAME UP WITH THE IDEA OF EVEN WRITING THIS THING AND CAN BARELY BELIEVE THAT I ACTUALLY DID IT. LOL WHAT. PRIOR AND RIVERS AND SAM AND ALKJDLAKDJ. ALSO LITTLE SIGNS WITH NUMBERS WTF IDK. I WROTE THAT BIT A REALLY LONG TIME AGO AND THEN WHEN I CAME BACK TO THE FIC EARLIER THIS MONTH I WAS LIKE, WHAT THE HELL WAS I ON. I HAVE NO RECOLLECTION OF WRITING IT BUT I LEFT IT IN. :D

ALSO LOL SAM TAKES HIS SOCKS OFF (AND HAS PYJAMAS REMEMBER THAT?). I ONLY HAVE ROOM FOR ABOUT TEN TEXTS ON MY PHONE BECAUSE IT IS OLD AND USELESS BUT I DO HAVE ONE FROM YOU SAYING "100-odd pages into Regeneration, I feel I should say PRIOR DON'T DO SARAH DO RIVERS INSTEAD", AND ALSO ONE ABOUT WRITING "JONTY/AAALL THE FRONT ROW" WHICH MADE ME LOL A LOT.

[duckyone]

I am not familiar with Regeneration but now I want to hunt it down and read it. I know the term is often overused but this was amazing. Even taken out of canon, your Sam was perfect and the story felt natural and unforced. Now you have me desperately wanting more. This could almost be a sequel to lo0o0ony_lauren 's story The Thoughts That Hung the Stars

Thank you so much for this.

[duckyone]

The Trilogy has been ordered. Thank you for bringing these books to my attention.

[strangeumbrella]

Thank you so much for your lovely comment, and I am delighted that you are going to read the Regeneration trilogy: it really is fantastic. I read the first book in a few days, and then had an agonising fortnight-long wait before I was able to get hold of the sequels, so I think that ordering them together is very wise. :D

[duckyone]

I just wanted to let you know that I finally received the Regeneration trilogy
on Saturday and I read the first book straight through in one go. I am now
working my way through the next 2. I can't thank you enough for writing your
crossover fic and making me aware of these books. To me, finding a book and
characters that I love is one of life's greatest pleasures. I would never have
even known about Pat Barker without you. I was wondering if I may add you to my
friends list?

Thank you.

P.S. I just saw your tagline, as someone who lives in Baltimore, I was wondering
what it meant.

[anotherusedpage]

Ohhhhhhhhhh.

Ohh, oh. Oh I actually don't think there's anything I could possibly say which would convey how damn amazing this is. No more words. *smile*

Perfect, perfect voices for all of them.

I love this. I really, really do. I have very rarely read any fic which has made me as happy as this did.

[sytaxia]

Wait... I just noticed your icon... Is that Johnny Lee Miller as Billy Prior? They made a film out of Regeneration? How did I miss that? *will have to hunt this down before going to bed*

[anotherusedpage]

Y'know I think of Johnny Lee Miller more or less exclusively as 'that bloke what played Billy Prior in the Regeneration movie'. Hadn't ever really noticed him in anything else. Weird that people have heard of him but not seen that.

The film isn't half bad. Not as good as the books, obviously, but not half bad.

[strangeumbrella]

Er, before I say anything else, PRIOR/CAPTAIN JACK = SEXUALLY AMBIGUOUS WARTIME OTP Y/Y. (My immediate reaction to the episode of Torchwood where Jack is unexpectedly in the army pre-WW1 was, slightly worryingly, "...I NOW BELIEVE THAT HE DEFINITELY SOMEHOW MET PRIOR IN THE WAR.")

Meanwhile, thank you very much! If I've made someone at all happy, that's more than I could have hoped for. :D

[sytaxia]

This is absolutely brilliant - I love the Pat Barker trilogy, and oddly enough, I took a road trip for a family reunion back in early September and listened the the audio versions read by Peter Firth on my way down, so Regeneration and its sequels were very fresh in my mind while reading this.

You've not only captured Sam incredibly well, but Prior, too, and Rivers, and the isolation and trauma of their experiences - I love the way that Sam's landing in WWI instead of in 1973 were translated as war neuroses, and I love the way that his and Prior's relationship is so cold on the surface, and yet so meaningful, a lot like Sam's relationship with Gene starts and a lot like Prior and Sarah's relationship.

Brilliant in every respect, and it captured the flavor of the books while still carrying over so much of Sam's character from LoM - absolutely wonderful, and a very pleasant surprise at the end of really terrible week, for which I'm very grateful to you.

[strangeumbrella]

If the fic made you half as happy as this comment made me, then... we're all presumably VERY HAPPY. Which can only be good. I liked the idea that, oddly enough, 1917 might have been more accomodating in terms of Sam's "madness" than 1973, in some ways, and I would have tried to explore that more if I could write faster and hadn't left so much of this to the last minute. :D