Author Topic: General Discussion and Recs  (Read 375751 times)

Offline louisev

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Re: General Discussion and Recs
« Reply #50 on: October 20, 2007, 10:13:42 pm »
I dont know how much help this is, but I do know that Minch closed her LJ.
“Mr. Coyote always gets me good, boy,”  Ellery said, winking.  “Almost forgot what life was like before I got me my own personal coyote.”


Offline MadLori

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Re: General Discussion and Recs
« Reply #51 on: November 04, 2007, 10:43:09 pm »
Yes, unfortunately Minch deleted her journal and all her stories; they're no longer available.
Jack:  I could kick your ass any day of the week.
Ennis:  Then the weeks where you live must have a No Fuckin' Way Day.

Offline ENEN

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Re: General Discussion and Recs
« Reply #52 on: February 03, 2008, 12:17:56 pm »
I’ve noticed that a lot of stories I read in the fanfiction world of BBM are what I call Jackcentric.  That is all the positive traits of Jack are played up or focused on while it is just the opposite for Ennis. Usually Jack is seen as suffering the most between the two and is almost written like a Christ like figure. In the AU world when he and Ennis live together it is always Jack who is able to coach Ennis to share a life. I wonder, if the fiction is AU and not canon, why no one writes of Ennis finding his own way to Jack. Also in these scenarios of living together Jack is always the one in charge, the one more accepting of his sexuality.  I really do not think Jack Twist would have been the poster child for Gay Pride. Although he was willing to make a life with Ennis I don’t see where he wanted him and Ennis to be out and proud. In a lot of these jackcentric fictions you see Jack telling people about his relationship with Ennis. But in the story and the film Jack Twist lived a closeted life just like Ennis.  Even after Ennis’s wife divorced him Jack never divorced his wife to move closer to Ennis. And when he chose to find some comfort closer to home it was with another closeted man. And his dream of living with Ennis was to move to the isolated little ranch in Lightning Flat where they could live a quiet and unassuming life.
  Also, Jack is written as the most capable financially in these fictions.  But the four years they were apart it was Ennis who married and was supporting a family. Jack could not support himself until he married a rich woman. On another forum someone pointed out that Jack was the type of personality that always had to be coupled to accomplish things. I think this is true and that Jack was very dependant on others.  Ennis on the other hand was very capable and also very stubborn. One who always called the shots on the important issues. And we know that Jack Twist let Ennis calls the shots for 20 years.
I’m reminded of the scene in the film where Ennis drops the girls off at Alma’s job because he has to get to work. And Alma tries to argue with him and Ennis gives her that look and she backs down. I have never seen that Ennis in AU fanfic. And I have no doubt that Jack would back down as Alma did.  We see a lot of “strong Jack” stories but is that really who he was? Would a strong Jack be so drawn to a man as strong willed as Ennis? 
I don’t claim to have the definitive view on Jack Twist. I’m just curious as to why so many see Jack as the strong, capable, self-sacrificing type. Do others feel that most stories are Jackcentric?  Or am I seeing something that is not there?

Offline louisev

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Re: General Discussion and Recs
« Reply #53 on: February 03, 2008, 12:29:13 pm »
I don't know how much credence one can put in the 'fan' characterizations of Jack, but there has certainly been a tendency to frame Jack as the 'injured party' because he urged Ennis to come with him and have a life together and Ennis didn't.

I think that all of the rest of the characterization of Jack as more saintly stems from that single fact - that Ennis refused him a more open relationship.  Whether or not Jack was willing to be more open about it, we would never know since he was not given the choice.  Did his pursuing a traditional life stem from that first refusal, or would he have done so anyway?  We may never know, but it is clear what fan writers want to think, since so many of them rewrote the ending to put them together at Jack's instigation.
“Mr. Coyote always gets me good, boy,”  Ellery said, winking.  “Almost forgot what life was like before I got me my own personal coyote.”


Offline RouxB

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Re: General Discussion and Recs
« Reply #54 on: February 04, 2008, 10:53:22 pm »
ENEN I am pretty much 100% with you on your assessment. I read fan fic-I love fan fic- but sometimes the angel jackdevil ennis just wears we down. In some cases Ennis is portrayed as such a horrible person the whole story becomes ridiculous for me because why the hell would anyone be attracted to him?! And, or course, the auther never does quite an adequate job of developing the attraction.

Heathen

Offline MsMercury

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Re: General Discussion and Recs
« Reply #55 on: March 17, 2008, 08:29:20 pm »
You know, you're right with that assessment. I never thought about it before but it is played out that way. I've written a couple of fanfics but not BBM; but if I ever do, I'll have to remember that.

Offline NavyVet

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Re: General Discussion and Recs
« Reply #56 on: October 07, 2008, 03:22:41 pm »
It's been like forever, but I am back into the BbM fandom and now actively looking for recs of completed fic.

Long story - short version:
I had drifted away from BbM fanfic for a while (quite a while) and moved on to other less volatile fandoms for my fic fix.  I've also been struggling to finish my own novel and deal with RL issues.
Then recently, I was going through all "My Favorites" lists and began cleaning out and updating links.  Turned out, I had a lot of dead links for BbM stuff.  A number of WIP's were abandoned/never finished and others were no longer accessible.  I had really lost track of all the stories I had been following, which was frustrating, but that's the way it goes.  Hated to give up on some of them. 
Looks like fics are still being posted in this universe, so I began searching forums, threads, communities, etc.  I am rebuilding my 'to be read' lists.
So, I might be asking around about this author or that story, and also looking for new recs of stories I haven't tried.
Hopefully, I will catch up and reconnect with writers and fellow fans.  Thought I'd start here, since this is a general tread.

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NV
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Re: General Discussion and Recs
« Reply #57 on: October 09, 2008, 10:34:23 pm »
I should have checked this out sooner. There are some great recommendations here. Several of the stories commented on such as 'Dreaming' and 'Ennis', are among my favorites. It's taken me a long time to come around to the pleasures of fan-fiction so I'm quite behind and am playing catch-up. I'm still a little cold to AU/AU, I feel that they're straying to far from the premise of the original story/film. But that's just me. As someone commented earlier, Jack and Ennis can be regarded as archetypes, but perhaps those archetypes preceded the original story ie 'the dreamer' and 'the realist'. I'd like to read about new characters in a western setting too. Gay characters that is!  ;D

Offline Brown Eyes

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Re: General Discussion and Recs
« Reply #58 on: November 25, 2008, 11:31:33 am »

Heya,
I'd been looking for a new story recently and discovered one that I really like based on a recommendation, so I thought I'd pass it along.

It's called The Outland by wildcolumbine.  Here's a link to chapter 1 http://wildcolumbine.livejournal.com/5364.html

I've only read 4 chapters so far, but I think it's really very strong as far as I've read.  The writing is good and the premise is interesting.  It's one of those stories that begins with the basic idea that Jack survives the accident (and/or attack) in Texas and Ennis has a realization/ decides to help Jack and commit to him as a result.


It's complete in 16 chapters.




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Offline mariez

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Re: General Discussion and Recs
« Reply #59 on: November 25, 2008, 03:37:18 pm »
Heya,
I'd been looking for a new story recently and discovered one that I really like based on a recommendation, so I thought I'd pass it along.

It's called The Outland by wildcolumbine.  Here's a link to chapter 1 http://wildcolumbine.livejournal.com/5364.html

I've only read 4 chapters so far, but I think it's really very strong as far as I've read.  The writing is good and the premise is interesting.  It's one of those stories that begins with the basic idea that Jack survives the accident (and/or attack) in Texas and Ennis has a realization/ decides to help Jack and commit to him as a result.


It's complete in 16 chapters.

Amanda, I also highly recommend this story.  I read it as it was being posted and always looked forward to each chapter.  The writing is high quality, for sure. One of the things that makes the story unique is that it is based more on the short story than the movie and it has a very authentic feel to it.  This Jack and Ennis are both as "rough-mannered, rough-spoken, inured to the stoic life," as AP described and the writer uses the physical descriptions of J&E from the ss throughout the story. The writer has an amazing talent for keeping the story raw and real, but at the same time beautiful and light and full of promise.  Even though the story is complete, I do hope she revisits this pair occasionally.

Marie
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