Fic rec.

[amelialourdes]

Thanks for the several responses I've gotten to this so please think about it and come back to the post!

But I titled this entry "fic rec" and you're going to get one. You guys know how picky I am with my fan fiction. I need it well written. I need the characters to resemble the ones originally developed in the show. I need an interesting plot.

That said, hnyc does an absolutely fantastic job with her short vignettes in 18 Things (About Love). I highly, highly recommend that you check it out. I can't wait to see if she has a longer fic ready to go soon!

Comments

[mozartfan1313.livejournal.com]

This is, surprisingly, the longest SFU entry I ever made. It's from October 2006, right after completing the entire series. It was funny reading it again because quite a few of my opinions have changed.

http://mozartfan1313.livejournal.com/71342.html#cutid1

[amelialourdes.livejournal.com]

Ooh, thank you! Now I'm curious which opinions of yours have changed in there.

[mozartfan1313.livejournal.com]

Alright. For starters season one is no longer my favourite season. I actually can't pick one, but I'd say it's around season two and three. Somewhere in there.

Re-watching the pilot made me realize that while it is a beautiful episode (I especially love when we see the flashback of Nathaniel Sr. spraying young Nate and David with the lawn hose), I'm glad they dropped the kitchy "funeral commercials" after just one episode.

I thought, as the series progressed, it did a better job of balancing real character interactions and discussions with "dead people." Pretty much every episode in season one had interactions with dead people or Nathaniel Sr. It got a lot better as the series went on and the writers seemed to focus more on the "dead people" who had something to say that was directly linked to whatever was going on in the episode.

David was my favourite character, on first viewing. Watching the series again, I think I'll have to go with Nate. Why? As much as I love David, I think I relate to Nate more than any other character on the show. He was so incredibly flawed but he wanted nothing more than to be a good person, depsite his mistakes. He wanted to be a good father, he feared death and he loved his family. A lot of the little things he went through I could understand.

[amelialourdes.livejournal.com]

I agree with you about the later seasons balancing real characters and their dead people discussions. I noticed that in the later seasons they just stopped relying on the deaths at the beginning to fuel the episode. The characters could carry it out on their own without bouncing off of the stories of the deceased characters.

The only character who really, really bothered me was Ruth. Throughout the last two seasons especially with her relationship with George it just really irked me.

I'll probably end up posting my thoughts on the series. I'm still digesting it and taking it all in ... and resisting the urge to have another marathon. God, the show is so good!

[mozartfan1313.livejournal.com]

Exactly. It stopped being about how the Dead Person of the Week reflected the theme of that episode. Some episodes never even mentioned the deceased again.

Ruth has always been interesting to me because the first time I watched the series I couldn't stand her either. She was so high-pitched and high-strung and she drove me crazy. Upon a second viewing I remember understanding a little more about her. Remember that season one episode where Nate shows Ruth the old picture Nathaniel Sr. took of her when they were teenagers. Ruth seemed like a kid again when she looked at it. She talked about how she was so young and without regrets at the time. It made me realize that Ruth is such a tragic character. She's a woman who spent her whole life living for those around her (her ailing mother, her hippie sister, her husband, her children) but she never did anything for herself and she now has to live with that misery. I thought that was heartbreaking.

I look forward to your post.

[reeface.livejournal.com]

I take back everything I ever said about no new great fic showing up in our big gay fandom. *high-fives you and your reccing skillz*

[amelialourdes.livejournal.com]

Isn't this like ... one of the rarer moments though? This is the ultimate finding a needle in a giant, giant haystack. :| *high-fives right back atcha!*

[friday82.livejournal.com]

This was good! Thank you very much for the rec! :)

[amelialourdes.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! It so deserved to be recced.