Hey, Sonja!
I liked Human Interest up to Jack's trip to Mexico. I loved Ennis' reaction to what happened there and thought his musing about how to fight for Jack was still alright. But then the story went somehow in a lot of coming out for Ennis, the end being a sort of wedding party and dancing with Jack (though not openly), and it just did not convince me. I just think that Ennis will never be able to "come out" and - besides - i don't think he has even a
need for that. Neither does Jack in my opinion. The reason why Ennis does not want anybody to know about him and Jack is fear and shame. He can overcome / deal with the latter, but the former will always be an issue and i don't mean he will always be paranoid, but i think he is just being realistic where the times and places are concerned.
I also had a problem with Ennis' dialogue in HI. Although MadLori did explain that her Ennis is more talkative since he has been living with Jack for 7 years now, i feel that a part of his character - and charm! - is lost that way.
Apart from that, HI pictures J&E as being extremely rich and very successful with their ranch. As much as i would wish this for them, i do think this is not realistic. A lot of fanfics are build on the premise that Jack will get a bunch of money from Newsomes, but in my opinion this is wishful thinking, too. A lot of us want that sweet life for J&E, but I think the reality of their living together would not be as rosy as it is often pictured. I would enjoy a story more if there are more struggles there. For example, i thought the story "A various language" by Destina did a better job there, which is being closer to my pictured reality
. I do think they would need to work long hours, maybe multiple jobs, be constantly busted in addition to facing discrimination. It will definitely not be easy for them...
Sorry, this should not be some general discussion about fanfics i've read so far, but i saw there is no thread where i could put this...
I just wanted to say about "Somebody New" that although it is a happy ever after story with that sweet life for them, the process of getting there is thoroughly worked out. HI starts up with J&E being 7 years together already, so the whole process of how they actually come to that is mostly missing (apart from some flashbacks). Therefore, less convincing. In "Somebody New" Ennis had two major ground-breaking experiences (Jack's breaking up and Ennis' subsequent delirium) which provide the groundwork for that sweet life and champagne at the end. And even then Ennis is still not interested to live in the open, and Jack understands it - which is more realistic in my mind.
What i liked about "Somebody New" is that the whole story is very consistent. These are hundreds of pages, written in chunks over several months, but it is mostly devoted to Ennis' growth and this growth is distributed nicely over the whole story. I have no idea how Jenna accomplished that (well, i have no idea of writing stories, that's probably why). But there are little details which show that gradual development. Like Ennis mostly not calling Jack's name (only in his mind at the beginning), but it changes at the end. Same goes for Ennis' thoughts which he mostly keeps to himself at the beginning, but spells them out to Jack more and more. Or those little moments of Jack which Ennis puts away in his memories at the beginning, but is not doing this at the end anymore. Sure, there are also more apparent things like saying "i love you", talk about sex out loud or eventually moving in. But for all of this there are always pages over pages of Ennis' thoughts and feelings which lead the way towards every little milestone in his growth. So, the whole process was quite satisfying and believable for me.
And with regards to that shame issue, "Somebody New" shows how Ennis is actually proud of Jack on several occasions. I think he is never ashamed of Jack in this story. Actually i now start on thinking whether he ever was ashamed of Jack in the original story, too.... But that would be OT now.
