Comments | xf_book_club: Story 184: "Other Night" by Punk Maneuverability

wendelah1 in xf_book_club

Story 184: "Other Night" by Punk Maneuverability

Oct 24, 2011 17:21

It's nearly Halloween and amyhit has been hard at work searching for some holiday fic for your enjoyment. "Other Night" by Punk is well-written, light-hearted genfic with a side of UST. Read it fast because amyhit is going to post another Halloween story in few days time, something with a little more substance. Life is short and so is this story; let's enjoy ( Read more... )

g, holiday, short

Comments 21

estella_c October 25 2011, 12:20:47 UTC

Oh, Wendy you posted this for me. I know you did. Say you did. No, never mind, you don't have to say. I know you did in my heart.

My favorite.

wendelah1 October 25 2011, 16:33:09 UTC

I admit it. I posted it for you.

infinitlight October 26 2011, 11:31:21 UTC

I really liked this. What a perfect Halloween story.

The idea of their disguises and the attention to little details--the pencils, the warped drawer. I love the last paragraph with the tie-in of Halloween imagery--keeping goblins away, the feel of cobwebs.

wendelah1 October 26 2011, 16:37:29 UTC

You always notice things that I miss completely. Thank you. Now I'm going to reread and look for these details.

Did you hit the "kudos" button at AO3? If you were feeling ambitious, you even could cut and paste this comment and add it, too. It's so thrilling for a fic writer to wake up and find a comment on a story, especially one you wrote a long time ago. :D

I was so happy when amyhit found and suggested this story. What would we do without her? Did you see her set of Halloween fic recs?

infinitlight October 27 2011, 05:52:27 UTC

I did indeed kudos! I still feel a little intimidated by AO3. I am too resistant to change, I guess. It took me a long time to warm up to livejournal and now everyone's moving on again.

I was so excited to see amyhit's rec list, I love Halloween fic. Well, I love the *idea* of Halloween fic. Like everyone else is saying, I don't always love the fic. I was actually tempted to post a rec on that post but then I realized I should really check the fic over first since it has been years since I read it and...I suspect it is not going to wear well. IIRC the bad guy is a mad scientist. Hey, back in the day I'm pretty sure we thought all those "FBI formal dance" stories were new and innovative.

amyhit October 28 2011, 02:24:03 UTC

Thanks you guys, the list-appreciation is great.

I was actually tempted to post a rec on that post but then I realized I should really check the fic over first since it has been years since I read it and...I suspect it is not going to wear well. IIRC the bad guy is a mad scientist.

Oh man, I bet you're talking about "Haunted Moon". I'd totally forgotten about it. I just checked and it isn't technically a Halloween fic, but close enough. However, I think you might be right about it not wearing well. I haven't read it in years either. From what I can remeber it was pretty campy but still fun.

Thread 5

write_out October 26 2011, 22:53:39 UTC

I'm piling on the love with the rest of you. This is a great little story. Really, not a false note here for me. I love love love Mulder's awkwardness and Scully's cool banter, so in character for the both of them.

I can't pin down my absolute favorite part, but this comes pretty close:

"Would you have dinner with me?" he asked ( ... )

wendelah1 October 27 2011, 00:02:45 UTC

It is really perfect, isn't it? How is it I've never read this story before? Oh wait, maybe it's because I don't read holiday fic unless it's written by Syntax6 or Oracle, okay maybe Rivkat and Mustang Sally. I think Kel wrote a cute Halloween story, too, also a grim Thanksgiving fic, now that I think about it.

I confess I've always seen holiday stories as something to avoid--like babyfic, I guess. But reading this was just like watching the show--if it had been written by someone with a less adolescent approach to romance than 1013.

I feel like bursting into applause or song or something.

You did hit the kudos button, right?

write_out October 27 2011, 00:26:31 UTC

Oh yes, I gave kudos. Had to. I should leave a comment, but I always get so intimated by that for some stupid reason.

This story is just stellar though. I do like holiday fic (can't think of Thanksgiving ones right now, though), but I agree that those are treacherous waters filled with tons of badfic sharks.

amyhit October 28 2011, 01:43:18 UTC

can't think of Thanksgiving ones right now, though

Small Lives Awake!!!! Has there ever been a better holiday fic than SLA? Not in my books, not that I've read. Even October Skies can't touch SLA, not for me.

Thread 10

amyhit October 28 2011, 01:30:15 UTC

Of all the people commenting on this, I seem to be the one with the most reservations. I thought of "Other Night" because it was short and happy, and pleasantly seasonal, but if it weren't holiday fic it would be a bit too sweet and shippy for my taste. As a rule I don't like datefic, and this is technically datefic. Personally I would have preferred if Mulder, effecting casual, had asked, "You want to get some dinner later?" rather than "Would you have dinner with me?" I would have preferred if they hadn't had their "We're on a date/This is weird" discussion, too. But putting aside my dislike of anything approaching courtship where Mulder and Scully are concerned, I must admit that if there's a datefic I like, it's this one.

It's understated, sparing in tropey embellishments, with a comforting warmth of feeling, yet humming with tension.

In short, I like:

One day he was going to fall backwards and crack his head open on the concrete floor, spilling his crazy brains all over the place. -- I like Scully's slightly chagrined ( ... )

wendelah1 October 28 2011, 01:48:00 UTC

Personally I would have preferred if Mulder, effecting casual, had asked, "You want to get some dinner later?" rather than "Would you have dinner with me?" I would have preferred if they hadn't had their "We're on a date/This is weird" discussion, too. But putting aside my dislike of anything approaching courtship where Mulder and Scully are concerned, I must admit that if there's a datefic I like, it's this one.

I'm not fond of date fic, either, as you might imagine. But there's always an exception to every rule re: fanfic. A great writer can make any trope work; well, maybe not every trope. *cough* Tentacle porn. *thinks hard* Okay, I can think of some other things that wouldn't fly with me, but in general, excellent writing wins the day. What makes this work for me is that Scully is Scully and Mulder is Mulder. They are so perfectly them.

But if Scully came to pick up Mulder at his apartment, and then they see her home first, how is he going to get home? Either he's walking, or they left her car at his place.No, she walked him ( ... )

amyhit October 28 2011, 02:13:26 UTC

Ah okay, I missed that. I guess because the transition was from them saying goodnight to Scully home in bed, I automatically thought they'd been at Scully's door.

Hahaha, tentacle porn. It really is the ultimate in squicky tropes.

estella_c October 28 2011, 12:56:42 UTC

This vignette is a gem, a bit of polished semi-precious stone that surprises and pleases every time you pull it out of your mental pocket. Virtually plotless, a datefic(!), it works because of a cobweb consistency of tone. I would describe that as light, playful, gentle with its subjects and their foibles, exquisitely understated, no gaucheries or false steps--in fact, short and simple as it is, it glides and docks with its own internal energy.

Enthusiasm makes me hyperbolize. You don't get many romantic fics that don't contain either coitus or schmaltz.

I love Halloween. ON has just the right touch of AU surrealism to celebrate this specific holiday.