Gen Fic Rec: There is a Pain so Utter, by Pough

[tejas]

I don't rec much, mostly because I'm lazy. :-) But, even if gen and hurt/comfort are things you avoid like the plague, I can not urge you enough to read this one.

There is a Pain so Utter by the wonderful Pough deals with Daniel discovering he has a major illness. I know what you're thinking. "No! No! I hate sick fics

Comments

[emgeetrek]

I have adored this story for a long time. Pough either did some amazing research or knows the subject matter through personal experience.

BTW, there is a sequel, called "The Language of Touch," that turns "There is a Pain So Utter" into slash through hindsight. I highly recommend "TLOT" also (except for one unfortunate choice of nickname for Daniel, which makes me want to wash my brain out with soap). It can be found here:

http://www.cairdean.com/helio2/archive/hc/languageof.html

[tejas]

UGH! Yes, the nickname is a badness. The only sour note in the whole thing.

[emgeetrek]

Not in a million years could I imagine Jack using such a nickname, nor Daniel accepting its use. What was s/he thinking?

[tejas]

I have no idea. I chalk it up to a brain blip that her beta didn't catch, for some reason.

[theemdash]

Now that's an amazing write up rec for this fic. And I feel the same way about it. When people ask me for fics recs I'm always hesitant to rec this one because it's so powerful, but damn if this isn't a completely amazing fic.

[gategrrl]

I always thought the name was pronounced "Pow".

[tejas]

Yes it is. As emgeetrek just said, it sounds as if Pough did some amazing research or she has experience with this (and oh, how huch I hope it's research, and how much I fear it's experience). Her portrayal of Daniel's sheer terror from the coughing in the briefing room, to the moment in the infirmary when he's frozen between Janet, the wheelchair and the bed, all the way through to putting himself into his friends hands to let *them* ensure that his heart kept beating through the night, is masterful.

[tejas]

I think it's Pooh, but I don't know why I think that. ;-)

[sidlj]

I've read that one a couple of times. Wow, I didn't realize there was a sequel, though! *bookmarks*

[tejas]

The sequel is good, but not nearly as powerful as this one.

[sidlj]

No, I can see where it would've been fairly impossible to equal the intensity of the first story, barring another major trauma/conflict.

Which I'm assuming the sequel doesn't have.

No, don't spoil me! LOL

[tejas]

No spoilers, just "you're right". ;-)

[fiareynne]

Wow, that was an emotional roller-coaster ride. I started reading the sequel but when it asserted that Jack and Daniel had been together prior to the diagnosis, I decided against it -- I felt like the evolution of their relationship throughout Daniel's battle, which Jack made his own battle, was cheapened by the "oh by the way, before Daniel had cancer, they were totally together." But that's just me.

[tejas]

Yeah, the retcon took some mental gymnastics to deal with. I would have definitely preferred if she'd treated it as a true sequel.