From: starfishchick (sfabba@gmail.com)
Date: 07/29/2008 |
Very well done.
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From: Ignaz (ignazwisdom@gmail.com)
Date: 01/22/2008 |
Incredible. You tackled this subject with grace, sensitivity, and realism. (Also with sex. I really liked that part, too.)
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From: sam
Date: 01/18/2008 |
ouch!!! that really hurts, seeing fraser like this. i'm just glad he has ray and thinks that he's worth living for.
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From: Luzula (luzulae@gmail.com)
Date: 01/14/2008 |
Wow. That was intense, and dark, while still leaving me with some hope that Fraser might be able to work through it and come out on the other side. The sex is very hot, but also leaves me with the feeling that Fraser wants to be tied up and made to do things as a way of breaking through that glass wall and feel something. I like Ray's fierce caring and his determination to get Fraser to tell him what's wrong. I also really like the opening, with the smell and Ray's cop instincts.
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From: Dessert First
Date: 01/08/2008 |
Wow, this was a really interesting take on Fraser. The gun thing, what he sees when he sees other people handle guns, what it all means. Him being hard after shooting the gun and getting caught by Ray--and I wasn't even sure how much was the gun and how much was getting (finally) caught was disturbing and hot. And Ray's feedback loop of hardening in response... woo.
I adored Ray's clever handling of the situation, how well he knows his Fraser and how smoothly he uses that knowledge to get him where he wants him, to literally tie him up and make him listen, make him take, make him face the issue and drop the pretense, drop the niggling little hope it will all just go away. That bedroom scene was fantastic.
And the opening, with Ray smelling gunshots *in his home* when he arrives, the cop-mode, the fear and the quick application of logic--it all felt incredibly vivid. Great job.
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From: brigantine1
Date: 12/31/2007 |
Cor, wonderfully balanced; scary and sexy and sad and powerfully loving. Fraser desperate and lonely in ways we can understand, and Ray determined to stick with the puzzle until he's coaxed and figured, and just wanting so hard to be there for Fraser *flails* - all your details here were amazing! Gorgeous work!
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From: pir8fancier (pir8fancier@gmail.com)
Date: 12/30/2007 |
A superb Ray woice with all it's wry edges and quirks, and provides an great counterpoint to the real serious issues you've dealt with in this story. Very well done!
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From: Isis (isiscolo@gmail.com)
Date: 12/29/2007 |
A fascinating look at a psychological dimension not often explored in fic. Also, hot. Um.
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From: keerawa (keerawa@yahoo.com)
Date: 12/28/2007 |
Oof. That was excellent.
The start, with Ray coming into the apartment, smelling gunfire, and immediately dropping into combat-mode, was both completely in character and a great way of building tension.
The scent of desperation in that bedroom, both of them trying so desperately hard. And then the reveal, Fraser so frustrated, running shirtless in the cold so he can feel something, shooting someTHING. Whew. Ray with the scar on his calf.
Very hard-hitting, very real. Thanks for writing it.
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From: Nos4a2no9 (nos4a2no9@gmail.com)
Date: 12/26/2007 |
I have to preface my feedback by saying that this fic was an emotional minefield on a personal level, and probably for other readers who have family members or loved ones who've struggle with depression and suicidal ideation. You did a great job of getting across how desperate life under those circumstances can get, and how fear and anger and sorrow and hope mingle together and create a potent emotional cocktail. I loved the story even though I found it difficult to read, and I really admire the way you honed in on some of Fraser's more troubling qualities and drew some logical (and heartbreaking) conclusions about his state of mind.
You allow both Fraser and Ray deep emotional complexities and inconsistencies, and every second of this story felt completely believable and authentic to the characters. I never questioned for a second that Fraser's depression would take the form and shape it does, or that Ray would have firsthand experience with despair. Those issues were handled with a lot of careful subtlety and grace - the story itself serves as a perfect example of how to touch on these issues without going overboard into melodrama. I really appreciated your restraint and mature instinct for when to back off and when to shade in more of a particular emotion. You give us just enough of a hint about Ray's past difficulties to allow us to draw conclusions without going into detail, making for a really rich reading experience despite the paucity of hard facts and information. Like Ray, who is left with only Fraser's slight physical clues, we're given a scrap of detail (a scar, a half-closed eye, a length of rope) and have to extract information from those elusive clues.
And that's exactly what the partner/relative/loved one goes through when dealing with someone who is experiencing numbing, persistent sadness. It's a great example of form following function (or structure following subject) and all the technical/mechanical components in the story perfectly match the subject matter. I'm sure I'll have more to say to you after the reveal (since I think I can guess your identity) but for now I'll say that yes. Yes, exactly right. And thank you for weaving that delicate sense of hope throughout the ending. And the scorching hot sex doesn't hurt, either.
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From: viciouscats
Date: 12/26/2007 |
Ouch. An interesting look at Fraser here, definitely. Great story.
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From: zabira
Date: 12/25/2007 |
this fic is completely incredible! it's dark, and sad and deeply sexy, and also just hopeful enough that i wasn't left broken in a million pieces on the floor. i loved the tough and thoughtful ray-voice, and find the idea of fraser being closed in a glass box of depression to be sadly and profoundly believable. what an absolutely AMAZING story, thank you.
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From: Stars (simplystars@livejournal.com)
Date: 12/25/2007 |
Oh, wow. *shivers* That was amazing and incredibly hot and. just. *flail*
You've handled fucked-up Fraser so delicately here, with such a fiercely protective Ray, Ray who understands because he's been there. And this story flouts the conventions, because sometimes you can have everything, the happily-ever-after and still it's not enough. You walk the tightrope between angst and bleak so carefully - this is a masterpiece. Again, wow.
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From: akamine_chan (akaminechan@gmail.com)
Date: 12/25/2007 |
And on the second read, I noticed this line:
(And why Fraser thinks we'd be inviting these hypothetisis guests into the bedroom anyway--with maybe one exception-- I do not know. But whatever.)
Makes me really wonder who the one exception would be...
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From: akamine_chan (akaminechan@gmail.com)
Date: 12/25/2007 |
Oh, wow. This is so amazingly awesome. What a cool story, with plenty of angst and sex and Fraser with control issues! Thank you so very much, Seekrit Santa, for such a great gift. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
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