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Amy R.
brightknightie
27 August 2010 @ 02:04 pm
FK Recommendation August 2010  
Before this month's story, two notes.  (1) Following Susan's death, I amended the rules to permit recommending deceased authors; as always, stories by living authors are featured only with the author's permission.  (2) Whenever I recommend an "adult" rated story, I encourage those who wish to avoid such content to contact me for an alternate recommendation. Please always mind the ratings!

What's Good?  For August, I recommend the novella "Physical Therapy" by Ophelia P. (NC-17, 1995).  I hadn't previously featured this landmark Nick/Natalie romance in part because no one needed directions to the door of the most famous story in the fandom.  But time passes; let's take a tour.  With practicality and tenderness, "Physical Therapy" faces up to the canonical obstacles to this sort of human/vampire intimacy; it wins a standard-setting success for the characters.
     Nick pulled back, hand still in her hair, eyes blue, lips fighting to hold an indignant, defiant pout and tending to curl instead -- thank God, his sense of humor had finally kicked in! "Satisfied?"
     Her mouth was still open -- damn, he'd caught her by surprise, the sneak! -- and her toes were just starting to unclench. But she wasn't about to tell him that. "Hardly."
The other part of why I hadn't spotlighted "Physical Therapy" before is that while it is a bit outside my sphere, its sequels are far outside my sphere.  Some words of warning:  (1) "Physical Therapy" contains sexual content and contextualized use of restraints; it rates a mild NC-17.  (2) Its sequels are extremely disturbing, a severe NC-17. Please exercise great caution if approaching them.  (3) Yes, I know the author's other name; please don't reveal it here unless you're acting on her instruction/permission. Thanks!)

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What's New on FKFic-L?  In July, fkfic-l saw one story, my "True to Life" from fkficfest.  There have been two stories in August so far.  The date for the upcoming War game is not yet set; October is under discussion.

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greerwatsongreerwatson on August 28th, 2010 12:11 am (UTC)
On the whole, I'm not into adult fic. (Well, not when that's the main reason for the story.) However, I agree with you that "Physical Therapy" works. I think it's because, quite apart from anything else, it's remarkably funny.
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Amy R.: Schankebrightknightie on August 29th, 2010 06:20 pm (UTC)
>"I think it's because, quite apart from anything else, it's remarkably funny."

I believe that the story has many things to offer to assorted readers, and I'm glad it has something for you, too!

My own particular angle on it is its firm hand with canon up to the time it was written. Many stories positing vampire/mortal physical intimacy in FK, whatever their rating, blithely ignore what is said in episodes including "Baby, Baby." Personally, I much prefer canonicity, even in declaring an AU.

:-) From your reflection on "Physical Therapy" here, and on "Knight in Hell" not long ago, I suspect that you and I have different senses of humor. :-) "Physical Therapy" has many lines that make me smile, but none that make me laugh. I'd never before thought of it as particularly funny, but I'll remember to reconsider that the next time I read it.
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greerwatsongreerwatson on August 31st, 2010 10:38 pm (UTC)
I assure you, in describing it as funny, I didn't mean that it was a purely comic piece. The story does, however, involve a potentially lethal situation; yet the drama is tempered with a strong sense of the ridiculous.
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PJ1228pj1228 on August 28th, 2010 12:40 pm (UTC)
>I hadn't previously featured this landmark Nick/Natalie romance in part because no one needed directions to the door of the most famous story in the fandom.<

It is? Shame on me that I missed it until now. At least I think I haven't read it yet. Will put it on my "to read" list and start reading as soon as I've finished greerwatson's fkficfest novella (currently reached part 7 in that one).

So, thanks for directing me to this story.
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Amy R.: N&Nbrightknightie on August 29th, 2010 06:07 pm (UTC)
I think you'll like it.
Oh, my! If indeed you have not yet read "Physical Therapy," then I have done a good deed and I'm very glad. :-) From what I know of your story tastes, I think you will enjoy it.

Though N&Ner romance is no more your personal favorite story topic than it is mine (from our opposite directions), this is well-written, well-considered, and a model of how to tackle a collision between canon and a scenario so desired by fans. Many stories ignore what Janette and Lacroix both say in "Baby, Baby" about vampire/mortal sex being impossible for the mortal to survive; what I love about "Physical Therapy" is that it works with every bit of canon up to the time it was written.

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I wonder whether I should take a survey to try to identify the most "famous" story in the fandom (which of course is not the same as "best" or "favorite"). I'm sure it used to be "Physical Therapy," and before that "False Heart," but perhaps it's different now...
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PJ1228pj1228 on August 29th, 2010 08:06 pm (UTC)
Re: I think you'll like it.
>I'm sure it used to be "Physical Therapy," and before that "False Heart," but perhaps it's different now...

Hmm, I'm not sure I've read "False Heart" either! Where would I find that?

How would you define "famous"? The story that was most talked about? A survey might be interesting, however, I wouldn't know which story to vote, because I joined the lists later and therefore missed all the chatter that must have occasioned once a particular story was freshly released.
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Amy R.: Readsbrightknightie on August 29th, 2010 11:45 pm (UTC)
The "Dorian the Archivist" Stories
>"I'm not sure I've read "False Heart" either! Where would I find that?"

I'm guessing that you likely read "False Heart" long ago, and have just forgotten:
  • It is the first installment in Susan G.'s wonderful "Dorian the Archivist" series.
  • It's a hiatus-set novel starring Nick and Natalie in which the original character Dorian, who works for the Enforcers as recorder of vampire history, and who can tell when any vampire lies, demands to interview Nick. If Nick is found to have violated the Code and Dorian tells the Enforcers, Nick will be killed.
  • Its sequel is "Kind Soul," set in second season. A third installment was to be "Noble Mind," but Susan never finished it. There is also a short story called "In One's Own Coin" that tells what happened when Dorian interviewed Janette (it is disturbing). At least one person received Susan's permission to use Dorian in other fanfic.
  • Dorian is the only fanon character to have a forkni-l faction!
  • I featured "False Heart" in the recommendations project in June 2003. ;-)

If you've never read "False Heart" before, I recommend moving it to the top of your FK reading list, and then following it happily with "Kind Soul." I've reread them several times each, and will again; I enjoy them very much.

>"How would you define "famous"?"

In this case, I would define the "most famous story" as the story that the most people have heard of and would recognize in positive terms. (There also, necessarily, is a "most infamous story," the story that the most people have heard of and would recognize in negative terms. It's probably best not to pursue that one.)

>"and therefore missed all the chatter that must have occasioned once a particular story was freshly released."

In my experience, there was rarely much chatter on list about new fanfiction (perhaps because no one wanted to hurt feelings with even the most constructive criticism in public?), so those stories that did get chatter tended to be extraordinary in one way or another. However, you could often get people to wax enthusiastic in public about their favorite older stories (perhaps because that sort of thing is entirely positive?). I know that there was at least one attempt to start serious discussion of fanfiction, aside from the Virtual Season -- I seem to recall a call for volunteers to put up their stories for discussion (and potentially their egos for bruising) -- but it never seemed to take off.
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greerwatsongreerwatson on August 31st, 2010 10:46 pm (UTC)
Re: The "Dorian the Archivist" Stories
"I seem to recall a call for volunteers to put up their stories for discussion (and potentially their egos for bruising) -- but it never seemed to take off."

Funny that. :)
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