Shrift: Five Things That Never Happened (to Dan Rydell)

Ouch, ouch, *ouch*. I mean, even when it's not ouch, it's still *ow*.
It's just... all too plausible, and the first one isn't even the most
painful.

But mm. So good.

*

Shrift: Flirtational Theory

In which Dan flirts and has issues, and Casey is clueless but
willing to learn.

Really, this punched my SN buttons quite nicely. Just clever
enough dialogue, an acknowledgment and respect for canon,
and... yeah.

Go read.

*

Bone: The Lost Boys

I think I've said it before, but it bears repeating -- the Sports Night fandom has a
nicely low crap to gold ratio in terms of fiction, and this story proves the point. Just
a brief snapshot of the guys, trying to live, trying to deal.

And, because it's Bone, it's fucking *hot*.

*

Caroline Baker: That Way

Another rec from back in the day. God. It has become *abundantly* clear to
me that if I don't write down at least the bare bones of a rec *immediately*
after reading a story, it won't get up on a page. Like for this story.

Caroline has a gift for terminally neurotic people. She gets them. Too well.

So well I want to shake her sometimes, and tell her that not *all* of the
characters are *that* fucked up -- but you know what? She makes it work
for Dan:

Dan pulled his zipper back up, wincing, then glared at Casey. He stood.
"Casey. I'm. Not. Gay!"

Casey made a face. "Well, you don't mind having me suck you off every
few days."

"No, I kind of do!" Dan said. "Don't you think this is a little bizarre?"

"No," Casey said.

"Well, I do," Dan said. "In fact, I think it's kind of pathetic. If you're really gay,
why don't you find some gay guy to be gay *with*?"

"With whom to be gay," Casey said.

"Fine," Dan said. "Why don't you?"

Casey turned on his heel and walked into his bedroom, slamming the door.

Dan stood still, looking at the space Casey had just vacated.

In a moment, the bedroom door opened. "Because I want to be gay with you,"
Casey said, "and I think I'm doing a pretty damned good job!" He slammed
the door again.

Dan walked up to the bedroom and yelled through the door. "Well, you're *not*
doing a good job! You can't even get me to sleep with you! That's a bad job! I
sleep with everyone! I'm easy!"

Casey snorted. "Yeah, you'll sleep with any woman that moves. Because you're
such a fucking macho straight heterosexual man who likes getting sucked off
by a guy."

"I do *not* like it," Dan said. "I tolerate it for the sake of our friendship."

~

*snort*

Casey and Dan have always reminded me of the guys I hung with in my hazy
drunken college days, and yeah, one or two of them would've gone this route
if they ever found themselves being sucked off regularly by their best friend.

One of the best parts for me was the way that Caro never loses sight of the
fact that these guys have been friends for *ten years*, so that even when they
say and do horrible things to each other, they can still *be* friends -- and work
together -- just fine the day after.

The story itself is crisply funny, well-written as all of Caro's stories are,
bittersweet, and a lively read overall.

*

And oh, Sports Night. Bone writes Sports Night! Have you seen?
Lots of people see these guys as straight, and they may even be
right, it's just... you know, I *know* these guys. Went to school
with them. Drank too much beer with them. Hooked up with them
enough times to surprise everyone, including us. Who knew?

They're the ones who make me rethink this whole lesbianism thing,
what with being funny, and smart, and open, and chatty, and...

Well.

They're the kind of guys who let things happen. And let's face
it, in ten years a lot of things can happen.

So I like SN slash.

And, somehow, Bone has made me like SN slash+ with her cheerfully
blistering "Two Player Game."

There are a lot of stories I've skipped once I saw that whole m/f/m
thing, but this story has made me seriously rethink that prejudice.

It's funny, it's hot, it's *smart*.

Well worth a read or two, and I'll never watch volleyball the same
way again.

*

Helen: Call of the Wild

The highway child knows no space or time... Oh, wait, wrong call.
*This* call is Dan and Casey goodness. Everybody's fucked up, the sex is
much too hot, and, well, it's all *cool* and stuff. I figured I should
finally get off my ass and rec it, as I've read it 4 or 5 times...

It's just a gorgeous look at their minds, their fears, where they live...
I don't know, this fandom totally tempts me to that Happily Ever
After thing. I mean, Dan and Casey are just like the guys I used to
hang out with, only they drink less. I love them. I love them *so*
much, and I'm still in touch with several of them.

And yes, they do belong together. Er... Dan and Casey, not my friends.
Though now that I think about it...

*koff*

Essentially, this is an awesome story that needs to be read. You'll
laugh, you'll *CENSORED*, you'll hurt a little inside... and you'll
enjoy the ride.

Sports Night was just one of those bitingly *real* shows filled with
wonderful, complex people you just wanted to protect from the well,
real world. But you couldn't, and bad things happened behind and in
front of that fourth wall, and you get stories like "Where We Have Been"
by Kestrelsan.

Lazy, painful look from behind Casey's eyes at the world, and at
everything he wants but can't quite have. Did I say painful? I'm not
talking about the overblown apocalyptic angst some writers (me) can
slip into. I'm talking about the quiet kind, where love is just another
living thing -- prone to scars and decay, but achingly vital just the
same. Read this.

*

This is a fandom with a remarkably low ratio of crap to goodness.
Case in point, Sinead's "Memory of Hurts."

Another sale story, but a lighter one. This living thing is still bright and
new despite everything else, and there's a simple comfort in it. A mutual
acceptance of things, and God, hope for the future. Big, beautiful hope,
even within the constraints of the world Casey and Dan live in. The
angst is lovely, just lovely. Oh, and this bit just *hooked* me:

"The sun was setting, and his heart stuttered as he looked across
the table at Danny, gilded in the light. Danny's face was
contemplative as he studied his menu; the loose neck of his
casually expensive shirt framed his throat and collarbone. The
need to fill his mouth with something was suddenly so intense
that Casey had to take a gulp of water. He longed for bread, but
there was none on the table. He wanted to bite down hard, to
feel the springy resistance of flesh under his teeth, and the
softness of skin on his tongue."

Mmmm. I think we've all been there, yes?

*

Helen in hell is just her own little independently grammatical force
of nature. She does things with dialogue that are just... all of the
best conversations you've ever had, awkward or otherwise. As if *that*
made any sense. But, because I'm a contrary bitch, I'm reccing the
dialogue free story: "Unspoken."

Very real look at Dan and Casey. 10 years of love and pure connection,
and how sometimes that's just nowhere close to being enough. Just...
the stupid, fragile games people can play with each other that slowly
become strong as steel. Coat a hammock of roots with titanium,
*something*, because that's all that's holding you apart and *everything*
that's holding you apart.

Somebody's gotta be the first to rip it to shreds, though, so...
silence.

*

Sabine: Where Have You Gone, Tom Glavine?

SN Have you ever read something that was just too real? Something so right that
it just wasn't *safe*?

I'm not sure how to say this... it's like... it's like stumbling across a part of the
world that you didn't want to believe in, but it's there anyway, and it
*belongs* there. So much that no matter how badly you wish you could, you
just couldn't ignore it.

What happens to Dan without Casey isn't melodramatic. It doesn't look like
it belongs in some other era, complete with vile humours and wasting most
sadly away.

These are twenty and twenty-first century men, and this is how they leave, and
this is how they love.