29th October 2015 - Spooky Pros Story 29

[byslantedlight]

Time Enough
by BSJ.
Another odd story from Other Times and Places III... At first I thought it was a B/C story, and I was all ready to wave it in the air for franciskerst, but then it was turned on its head at the end and out of nowhere became absolutely a B/D slash story... I'd say there was an element of horror right there - a writer who perhaps wanted to write one story, but feeling that she had to make it a slash story so that people would read it/it would get into the zine. I could be a thousand-fold wrong, but that's how it read. Don't do it, people! If you don't see the slash without trying, then write the stories you want to write - that way we can believe in them! You can pretty much always tell if an author's not convinced about their own story...

Anyway, this one is another of those excellent-premise ones - Death has come for Cowley. From his time in Africa, Bodie is able to see Death manifested, and he's horrified that Cowley's time has come. So he... well. *g* Just in case you can get hold of this story, I won't spoiler it - but it's another one that I can't find anywhere except in the zine. (If you're interested, clap your hands/drop me a line... *g*)

Comments

[jessebee.livejournal.com]

Shall I clap? *bg*

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Already spotted you in the audience... *g*

[franciskerst.livejournal.com]

I would be interested in the B/C premises (if there are any) but fear I'd be disappointed, not by the B/D ending in itself (I read it when it's not pure romance) but by the inconsistencies, something I dislike in any kind of work. What you wrote about authors not believing in their own writings reminds me of a rather good B/D story, and a plot story at that, where Bodie and Doyle are at odds till the very outcome (and not without reasons) though being physically attracted to each other; which strongly called for an open-ending, allowing the reader only to hope that, in a not so near future, maybe...when suddenly the author introduces a last scene of the utmost, raving, romanticism, with loads of hearts and flowers, and oaths of forever love, in a rather "clichéed" setting (candle lights, music, and so on...). Moreover, up to that point, the whole story had been an action-adventure drama, told in a rather male voice (dry and understated, as I like) while the last chapter was pure purple prose. i wondered if it had been written by the same author (and I saved the story minus its last chapter).