Fic Rec: Guardian (Sanctuary, by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
shadadukal)
May. 28th, 2011 04:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grav_ityI talk a good game, saying that I don't like sappy romance. And it is mostly the truth, for what it's worth. I'm not one for moony expressions and moping across the room, and don't even get me started on teenagers. But a good romance? One done with such exquisite attention to detail that you think you might cry? I'm all over it.
Within that category, there is a special subgenre that I shall, for lack of originality, call the "Love Comes Softly" trope. In the novel, which I've not read, there's a marriage of convenience which, after time, becomes something more. I first encountered this trope insache8's Éomer/Lothiriel fic of the same name, and it turns out that I am an absolute sucker for it. I guess I just have no defense against people being nice to one another.
shadadukal has not stuck to that trope exclusively. There's at least two straight up romances, and then a father-daughter storyline that just destroyed me. But the heart of the fic is friendship and love, and what that can become when people are decent and understanding of one another.
The way the story is written, in terms of style and flow, is also truly masterful. Particularly the ending, actually, which blindsided me so thoroughly on my lunch break yesterday that I cried right there in my office. There are a bunch of lines that I found to be quite wonderful, but rather than quote them all at you here, I'll let you go and pick your own.
There are two other really neat things about this fic. Since it's AU, we are presented with a Nikola Tesla who is much, much less egomaniacal than he is in the series. You'd think that would make him less interesting, but somehow a Nikola that is more emotionally intact is even more compelling than the one who spent the better part of the 20th century trying to take over the world. A side effect of this is that it creates a fascinating sideline into John (because "The Five" never happened), that you should read the story to really find out about.
The second cool thing is that we are shown a version of Nikola Tesla who is not in love with Helen Magnus. And yeah, it was a bit weird at first, but again whatshadadukal used to replace Nikola's banter and flirting with Helen was just as awesome as what we see in the show.
I'm making it sound like Nikola is an entirely different person, and in a way he kind of is. This is the Nikola Telsa who found a home. And it's kind of awesome.
Guardian, byshadadukal (meta at the top): Nikola Tesla, Nigel Griffin, Susan Griffin, Anna Griffin, Clara Griffin, with others.
Within that category, there is a special subgenre that I shall, for lack of originality, call the "Love Comes Softly" trope. In the novel, which I've not read, there's a marriage of convenience which, after time, becomes something more. I first encountered this trope in
sache8's Éomer/Lothiriel fic of the same name, and it turns out that I am an absolute sucker for it. I guess I just have no defense against people being nice to one another.shadadukal has not stuck to that trope exclusively. There's at least two straight up romances, and then a father-daughter storyline that just destroyed me. But the heart of the fic is friendship and love, and what that can become when people are decent and understanding of one another.The way the story is written, in terms of style and flow, is also truly masterful. Particularly the ending, actually, which blindsided me so thoroughly on my lunch break yesterday that I cried right there in my office. There are a bunch of lines that I found to be quite wonderful, but rather than quote them all at you here, I'll let you go and pick your own.
There are two other really neat things about this fic. Since it's AU, we are presented with a Nikola Tesla who is much, much less egomaniacal than he is in the series. You'd think that would make him less interesting, but somehow a Nikola that is more emotionally intact is even more compelling than the one who spent the better part of the 20th century trying to take over the world. A side effect of this is that it creates a fascinating sideline into John (because "The Five" never happened), that you should read the story to really find out about.
The second cool thing is that we are shown a version of Nikola Tesla who is not in love with Helen Magnus. And yeah, it was a bit weird at first, but again what
shadadukal used to replace Nikola's banter and flirting with Helen was just as awesome as what we see in the show.I'm making it sound like Nikola is an entirely different person, and in a way he kind of is. This is the Nikola Telsa who found a home. And it's kind of awesome.
Guardian, by
shadadukal (meta at the top): Nikola Tesla, Nigel Griffin, Susan Griffin, Anna Griffin, Clara Griffin, with others.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-29 10:15 am (UTC)I need to do a meta post about this fic and how I view AUs in general. To be honest, I think I'm going to lose a lot of readers over a) Nikola not being hell bent on world domination by vampires, and b) the focus on the Griffin family.
I'm more interested in the man beneath those desperate dreams, the man who is looking for a home, which I get the impression isn't the case for most people, though I may be wrong about that. And I'm interested in making that side of Nikola come out to play and "Guardian" was a way to do this. Which takes away nothing from antelope shenanigans being fun to read and write about. ;)