New fic

[gwyn]

The latest for Ciudad de Estrellas Part 4: On the Ropes is posted now, in which the boys finally make contact with Castelano, they get something unexpected from Tanner, and emoting and smut occur.

I busted my ass to finish and post this so I could beat the flood of Yuletide stories and other challenges coming this week. Not that that will in any way hold back the flood of disinterest, but at least it's up and out.

And as usual the epigrams I've been using at the start of each part are from Bruce Springsteen songs, that great bard of cars, driving, open highways, and the vagaries of love.

Comments

[fatuorum.livejournal.com]

Omg, your icon! Makes one wonder if they are driving a sleigh, hee.

*scuttles off to read fic*

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Well, when I realized I wasn't going to get a santa hat icon from anyone else, I made one myself, even though it's pretty bad. At least it's only around for a week!

[mlyn.livejournal.com]

Shit, I'm so thoughtless. Next year, baby!

[lierdumoa.livejournal.com]

Oh, just gorgeous.

[thisisbone.livejournal.com]

Woo hoo! A new part and I get to devour it right away!

Poor Dom. He just had no clue what he'd taken on, did he? :)

Thanks for this -- it made my day!

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Oh, good! I'm glad to know you're reading it.

[maygra.livejournal.com]

Ahhhhh! I can let out the breath I've been holding. I've only gotten to read through this once, because unlike most of my office, I actually have work to do.

But so far, so good. I really, really (evilly) love seeing Dom so off kilter and to see how and where he goes to regain control not only of himself, but of the situation...like this little rushed encounter might possibly get it out of his system.

Plus it's lovely (also evilly) to watch Brian slide into deep shades of gray about what he's doing and why...just overall, a great approach, a great build and break for tension.

There's just something about Brian, what Dom notices, the blank slatiness of him, like he's not fully formed and Dom not seeing how he's doing some of the shaping...

I'm sure I'll have more when I've really had time to read it slowly, tack it onto my disk copy (Because I keep starting over from the beginning to see where point
"A" intersects point "B" and just...

This is really stellar (no pun intended) and as someone who really is not participating in any of the seasonal challenges, I'm ever so glad you posted this for those of us who aren't going to get swamped and buried with the tons of stuff getting ready to hit the fan community. This one's just for us.

(also, at Escapade, I owe you a drink for the lovely fic and then a whap on the head for the disinterest comment,..cause you know, when I think about you and your fic, I don't think disinterest is one of the words that comest to mind. Nope, not at all. [g])

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you, especially for the detailed comments. (The disinterest is kind of ... I think there's like six of us who are following it at all. I don't know if it's just inherently boring or whatever, but it hasn't been a best seller!) I figured it was my closest shot at a Christmas pressie for the people who are reading.

It's interesting to me that a lot of people don't pick up on that blank slate thing, because I think that's one of the most interesting things about Brian, in many ways. Not only is it cool for fic, but I would think it would add a level of tension for his relationships with others -- especially Dom, who wouldn't know if he could trust what he thinks he sees. He only met Brian through a lie, and then to never really find out what he needs to know about him... that is such a cool conflict there, all laid out for us to explore. Whee.

Plus, the truth is, I just love seeing the guys sad over their feelings for each other, rather than happy. I am sick that way. Anguish makes me way more excited that plain happiness!

[dine.livejournal.com]

oh wow. I'ma have to go back and reread later, when I have more time to savour, but this hit me hard.

I love their persistance in tracking down Mia; the party-crashing scene should be a doozy! but even more, the emotional stuff is amazing. it's pretty clear that Dom at least hasn't processed just what the hell is going on, and while I think Brian might be slightly more aware, overall they're pretty clueless boys.

at the end, when things actually got physical between them, was so hot - they still need to talk about stuff, but at least their bodies are in tune.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I hope the party crashing will be a doozy! I've already written some scenes with Tony in them, in my head, and I like him -- he's very mean but kind of wickedly fun.

Yes, they are truly clueless, and I like them that way -- in someways, the pain of discovering you love someone is way more fun than the joy. So I like keeping them in a state of anguish.

[mackiemesser.livejournal.com]

I was going to say flattering stuff about plot and characterization, but I sorta lost it all when I hit the last bit...

And now I'm supposed to go back to working after that??
Yeah, right.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

The sex was the last bit, or the after sex? Just curious because I wasn't sure if the sex was actually ... uh, anticlimactic. So to speak. ;-)

Yes, right back to work with you, missy!

[mackiemesser.livejournal.com]

It wasn't so much the sex itself as that I wasn't expecting it. I thought it was going to take a bit longer for things to go that far, and I was caught up in how stressed out they both were, and how off balance, and suddenly--whoa!

Went and blindsided me, you did.

Yes, right back to work with you, missy!
Don't wanna! And, since my supervisor isn't coming in 'til later in the day: not gonna!

[kadymae.livejournal.com]

Your LJ says to 'draw a thought bubble'

I can't think right now. I'm shaking too hard for that.

PreditorDom! FirecrackerBrian!

Tsunami of tension resolution.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Tsunami! That's good. The funny thing is that we always talk about UST, but I want to have ST now -- where just because they had sex, doesn't mean the tension is gone, and in fact maybe it's even worse in some ways now that it's been resolved. Cuz I think that's a big old barrel of fun!

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah!! Gotta tell you I've been following and totally enjoying this most excellant and fascinating fic of yours. I agree with you, anguish does seem to be more fun. Thanks for working so hard and posting this. Waiting eagerly to crash dude's party.

Catty

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Catty! So glad you're enjoying it. I worry a lot that it's not all peak-peak-peak and that there's a lot of time on the interior monologues, the setup, all of that, so I'm glad it's working okay for you.

Disinterest my ass!

[ixchel55.livejournal.com]

Oh, I was so glad to see this last night. After a really long and truly crappy day this was just the perfect thing. Oddly enough, Brian and Dom's tension lessened mine...whodda thunk?

I loved ballsy, brassy Brian (Ooo! Alliteration!) This was my favorite quote from him:

"Remind me why I'm here. So I can use my access as a cop to get information and clearances you could never get? Or because you don't have anyone left to worship you like the little god that you are, and clean up after you and put up with your temper tantrums?"

That set Dom back on his ass!

And off-balance Dom is so entertaining. He's always in such control (well, except when he was pounding on Tran...well, yeah, there was that Linder thing, too.)It's fun to watch him unravel just a bit. He seems to be picking at his own frayed edges just a bit while Brian is busy smacking his hands and trying to tuck them back in. Dom may be making sounds about being in charge, but he really wants Brian to get in the driver's set for awhile.

And maygra's comment about Brian being a blank slate is just perfect. I had been thinking alone the lines of Brian being just a little 'unformed', like raw clay that's just been roughly shaped. All the ingredients, what's inside, is already there, he's been waiting for someone to come along and help with some of the final sculpting. I think Tanner did a lot of that. Ah, but then there's the final glaze to be put on! Most people go through this type of thing when they're in their teens. It's like Brian has been holding himself in limbo. He almost seems to be an outsider in his own life.

And then there's the sex! Woot! Angry/tender, somewhat resentful, but oh-so-inevitable sex. ((shiver)) Just yummy.

I'm just so incredibly grateful that you and maygra and khal and mlyn and all the others have taken time during a busy holiday to provide us with a little escapism.

Thank You!

You're welcome!

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

And I'm so glad that you are enjoying it -- I know the "club" is small but it's a good club. ;-)

I'm fascinated by Brian's lack of indentifying characteristics and his lack of background. Even though he's the hero of the piece and he's completely the main POV character, we still never get much of a picture of him beyond the meagerest of details, so I'm really attracted to that and how easily influenced by Dom he has become. (Also something that I want to explore with Tanner in the next part, because I like how he might notice that and wonder about it.) But what's especially interesting is that while we can see some of his character being shaped by Dom in the movie, I keep thinking -- how much would Dom be shaped by Brian once they are in a different world? Way too fun.

Some people have big guy-little guy kinks, some people have BDSM kinks, some people have dark and light kinks... me, I guess I go for the ice and fire.

[labgirl2076.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah. This rocks. I have to agree with Dawn about the best quote from Brian: "Remind me why I'm here. So I can use my access as a cop to get information and clearances you could never get? Or because you don't have anyone left to worship you like the little god that you are, and clean up after you and put up with your temper tantrums?"

"The little god that you are?" Awesome. Hell, he's even a god to me. I cannot wait for more of this fic!

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Well, Dom's definitely a god I'd want to worship, and I do think Brian does, but I also think that Brian is willing to put up with only so much shit. No matter how much you love someone, if they act like Dom frequently acts (slapping beer bottles from his friends' hands, for instance!), you'd lose some patience eventually. And Brian? No dummy.

[labgirl2076.livejournal.com]

No matter how much you love someone, if they act like Dom frequently acts, you'd lose some patience eventually.


You know, this is so true. I'm actually going through something similar with a friend of mine who is behaving inappropriately. Not only do I lose patience but sometimes sleep. It's a hard lesson to learn that people you love sometimes do things we most definitely do not love, maybe even hate. But something that is harder to learn is sometimes accepting that we can't change someone else's behavior, even if you know it is morally and legally wrong. Man, that's a tough one.

[delibby.livejournal.com]

I'm interested.

I have fic issues. I admit it, I have fic issues. Pretty much, I don't read WIP's, so I'm one of those people impatiently waiting for Ciudad de Estrellas to be finished. I keep hearing how good it is and can't wait to read it.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Probably a good idea to shun -- I'm not feeling exactly percolated about it right now so who knows when it'll be finished.

[delibby.livejournal.com]

I'll keep watching. And waiting. With interest. Just wanted you to know that there's interest you're not hearing about. :)