Old and New Project: 3 by Cassie Ingaben, 3 by JantoJones, 2 by Culumacilinte

[tinturtle]

Fandoms in this post: The Professionals, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Lord of the Rings, Peter Pan

Well hello, everyone. It's been a while since I posted about fic. I've been reading but in a haphazard way, which doesn't lend itself to posts. I'm finally ready with a batch of write-ups from my Old and New Project, though. (For anyone who's forgotten, that's where I reread the fics in my Beloved Collection of favorites, accompanied by new-to-me fics by the same authors.)

For a while, I've been toying with the idea of only writing up the fics I like as part of this project. I think I'm going to do that, possibly making exceptions if a fic I didn't like still provoked interesting thoughts. I did read some fics by today's authors that I didn't care for or felt neutral toward. As I noted in the last Old and New Project post, that can happen even with authors who have also written favorites, which is a useful lesson.

The fics I had collected were:

4 AM by Cassie Ingaben (cassieingaben) (The Professionals; 259 words; slash)

This is a very short fic containing some reflections of Doyle's on his relationship with Bodie. It's sweet, but in a way appropriate to the Lads.

Sweetbounce by Cassie Ingaben (The Professionals x The Prisoner; 663 words; slash)

This one is a crossover between Pros and The Prisoner, but it can be understood with only a rudimentary knowledge of the latter show (such as I have). The author keeps this in her "Pretentious Pros(e)" collection, and parts of it are stylized. Yet I think the style works with the content rather than distracting from it, as is sometimes an issue. It's hard to say much more without giving away things readers might prefer to get from the story.

Comments with spoilers:

The author says in her end notes that Sweetbounce was partly inspired by Helen Raven's The Same River. I've been dancing around reading that one for years, but I keep getting driven off by the author's note. It reads, in part, "If you are in the mood to be harrowed, this could be your lucky day." To that, my response is always, "Uh, maybe later." On the other hand, I like some fairly grim stuff, like Tarot's Endgame, erushi's Decrescendo, and assorted deathfic, so chances are I could cope.

A Break and What Comes This Way by jantojones (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; 100 words each; gen)

These are two related drabbles. The second one contains what the author calls "a slight breaking of the fourth wall," and I find it really funny.

The Stonework Was Admirable by culumacilinte (The Lord of the Rings; 4,239 words; NB/M)

This is an excellent fic featuring genderfluid Eowyn. (Genderfluid Eowyn!) As a queer person who never much liked the ending Eowyn got, this fic makes me happy (without actually being incompatible with canon). It does contain some fairly explicit sex, which feels weird in a fic that mostly imitates Tolkien's style, but people in Middle Earth do have sex, of course.

The new fics I read and enjoyed were:

The All-Conquering God by Cassie Ingaben (The Professionals; 1,343 words; slash)

This fic concerns Bodie and Doyle's interactions while held captive in a dire situation. I enjoyed this a lot and may be putting it into my collection. (Read the label, though, if you do that.)

Defection by JantoJones (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; 4,184 words; gen)

Here, Illya goes undercover in Thrush. I thought this was a diverting short mission fic.

A Dream of Wind by Culumacilinte (Peter Pan; 2,531 words; gen, per the label)

This is definitely going in the collection. It's a brilliant extension of some of the ideas from the novel, told in a convincing imitation of Berrie's style. I love the way it characterizes Mr. Darling and its nod to the way stage adaptations of the story are often presented.

Also reads: 3

(I've got more stories in my collection by Cassie Ingaben and JantoJones, but I've decided not to try to read everything by a particular author at the same time.)