Note and rec

[rivkat]

I haven't disappeared!  I'm still reading (both LJ and books) and maybe I'll be able to post some reviews soon. 

Quick SV rec: Powder and Wax for a great look inside Lex's head these days.  There are some word choice/editing issues, and my own view of Lex is that he has somewhat different feelings for Lana, but the images are fantastic and the small observations are both perfect and perfectly in character for Lex.  (And, given that Lex is the ultimate unreliable narrator, I don't think that his thoughts about Lana in this story are necessarily giving us the full story.)

Also, from the poll a few weeks back, it appears that a majority of you Supernatural fans want to see Dean Winchester suffer before you give in to his pleading.  A fandom of sadists ... maybe I should be working harder to join up.

Comments

[myownghost.livejournal.com]

let me try again, please. i found that story interesting psychologically, and i'm probably all too eager to think lex really hates lana. may i ask how you see lex's feelings for her?

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

I'm willing to see hate, but I think that for Lex, that necessarily also means (a) some love too and (b) a lot of self-loathing as well, to spend so much time with someone so plainly wrong for him. He can tell himself that his relationship with Lana is about manipulating and punishing Clark, but it's also self-punishment for screwing up with Clark. And Lex attenuates the fine line between love and hate to a new fineness. I think of him as having a huge amount of empathy in the sense of being aware of how other people think and feel, and being so deep in Lana's head means that he does care for her, in a way.

[myownghost.livejournal.com]

i think you're right that he probably does care for her, in some way. if he meant what he said recently, about hoping to deserve someone as "good" as she is (which i find an arguable perception!), then it's a sad sad window on his self-concept.

>a lot of self-loathing as well, to spend so much time with someone so plainly wrong for him

yes, exactly. poor lex.

[destina.livejournal.com]

You should definitely be working harder to join up. Do let me know if I can assist in any way. Here, let me use my angsty, suffering Dean icon for you. *g*

[barkley.livejournal.com]

Dean is waiting for you.

[attaccabottoni.livejournal.com]

I do get how Lex can be unreliable narrator, but I'm surprised that you think so as well, since you write him seemingly with ease. Did you mean that from your experience in writing or more of an observation of him as a character (psychotic breaks aside)?

And thanks for the rec! I'm kind of equal parts apprehensive and excited at the prospect of you writing in the Supernatural fandom though, mainly because I haven't seen Season 2 yet. :D

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

I could write about Lex for days ... but I'm hungry, so I'll try sentences instead. Lex is an unreliable narrator because he's so smart and observant but he often leaves key things out, even setting aside the psychotic breaks. And it's because he's so observant that he can get you to ignore the giant elephant in the room he's also ignoring. When I write him, that giant elephant is often the obvious: he loves Clark, always has, always will, even while trying to kill Clark. Lex knows this; he just doesn't consider it relevant, so it doesn't form part of his internal monologue.

Within the narrative, he's unreliable in what he tells other characters, because he likes to manipulate them -- actually, because he can't imagine a relationship that wasn't based on manipulation. His self-presentation is his self. My Lex tells the truth, but tells it slant, so as to produce the reactions he desires. I think he does love Lana, but he also hates her. When he talks about love, he's sincere because he can make himself believe whatever he needs to believe to get the job done. So just because he says he loves(hates) Lana doesn't begin to exhaust the levels of complexity.

With SPN, I have difficulty with the incest thing. Which is odd, because I can really get into Simon/River in Firefly, and I love Anna to the Infinite Power, which has a strong brother/sister vibe. But if I were going to write SPN, it would probably be a really screwed-up story about Dean and an incubus appearing as Sam.

[attaccabottoni.livejournal.com]

Ooh wow, you've totally got a handle of him, and that just makes your very impressive writing of him all the more awesome! I agree with the whole controlling of self-presentation and his perceptions to suit his purposes. Maybe the reason he is so vulnerable when he lacks knowledge is because he relies so much on his judgment than when he loses sight of his goals or given reason to second-guess himself, he can be rendered helpless. That explains certain aspects about his relationship with Clark, and now with Lana (his recent loving gestures in SV kind of threw me off so much it the apparent naivete baffled me for a while).

Thanks for providing words to this; I couldn't have said it better, and it helped me in explaining my fascination of him it more clearly to myself (I get so single-mindedly fangirly over him that I couldn't think straight). The trained psychologist in me would be so thrilled having a field day with Lex as a case study of... well, let's just say that if I had to write fanfiction when I first encountered SV Lex, I would use an overabundance of psych terms (this is the reason The Presence of Fire will always have a special place in my heart ^_^).

And while I myself have difficulty with the idea of Dean/Sam, I don't have problems with reading fic about it, even screwed up ones with incubi (that hasn't gotten old in SPN for some reason :D). I would feel sorry for Dean if I wasn't enjoying reading all those fics so much.

Will still look forward for more SV talk from you though! *tries not to sound like a needy fangirl*

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

SPN fic recs stashed somewhere over here (http://untrue-accounts.livejournal.com/tag/supernatural); this (http://untrue-accounts.livejournal.com/54603.html) was the post where more knowledgeable people gave me recs. (I was joking about the wingfic. But the amnesia recs were very welcome.)

You're looking for gen, right?

In general: ignipes: case files and character vignettes (but checking the warnings because she also does incest). stele3's "In the Company of Demons" is still amazingly powerful, although I take more issue with her characterization than I used to and "Freakboy and Dykegirl" tipped over into Mary Sue territory for me a few chapters back. bigpink has some great gen, Dean-focused casefiles, and so does kroki_refur. trollprincess has done a lot of good shorter stuff (although again check the warnings as she does both gen and slash). hossgal's stuff is sometimes too pared-down for me, but I like "The Sound of Your Voice Speaking My Name" and the one about the Winchesters' pets.

minim_calibre, dotfic, cofax7, and eloise_bright (? I think) have done some really nice, pointed character vignettes.

janissa11 has a gen WIP, "Brothers and Strangers," that is a very engrossing S1 AU.

I'm probably missing something really obvious; this fandom's huge. morgandawn and barkley have extensive recs.

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

big_pink.

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Um, I should at this point perhaps admit that your image of my interests might be ... incomplete. I am prepared for full corruption, though I'm still working through my thoughts on Wincest. I don't know why I should have a harder time with brothers than with River/Simon or Anna/Rowan -- at least these guys are both adults! Anyway, I'm willing to give it a whirl, as long as Dean is pretty and suffering.

Why Dean and not Sam is another difficult question for me. Usually I go for the book-smart ones.

bigpink shows up as deleted, and this makes me sad, because Dean-focused casefiles sounds like Rivka crack.

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

Oh--check out astartexx's vid "What It Feels Like to Be a Ghost" (pure Dean crack) and charmax's "Protege-Moi," which I'm pretty sure from your Dean/Sam-incubus idea you'd like. And Lum and Killa and Barkley and Morgan Dawn have been vidding the show, too.

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the extra information! I appreciate it and will doubtless be more appreciative on my three upcoming trips to California this month.