hmpf

here's In Which We Burn, by halotolerant, which does everything right (for me):

- It doesn't focus on sex. At all. :D
- It features ISSUES. (Issues are my porn.)
- It puts the relationship in its context.
- It shows the relationship happening in a suitably repressed and hidden way - which is the only way I can see it happening at all, in 1973, between two police officers.

I'm actually really interested in that whole social context thing. That's why I love Mikey's Undercover series. (Loz, I'm sure I'll love yours, too. :D)

More recs here soon. Not much slash, though. Hey, this is me reccing. You're mostly gonna get gen from me.

I have a, hm, soft spot (if that isn't a contradiction in terms here) for really nasty ideas in LoM fic, which probably can be traced back to the inherent nastiness of the show's canon itself that is usually glossed over and ignored in fic (and that's okay, too, because yeah, I want to believe in the nicer, pre-2.08 LoM, too, when I'm reading fic. I just like the *occasional* reminder of the undercurrent of horribleness.)

Well, some people share that predilection of mine, and produce some beautifully nasty fic. m31andy is one of them, and she successfully creeped me out today with this:

http://fiandyfic.livejournal.com/33582.html

before I disappear for the weekend. Also, to make up for the excessive amount of enviro talk of the last few days.

(I'm sorry, Mikey, I meant to do this in a more organised and more... detailed way, but there just isn't a lot of time, and I'd rather get it out now than wait another week or Ceiling Cat knows how long before I have more time again.)

Hmpf Recommends, Unlikely Edition: LoM Slash I Like!

Yes, folks, read it and marvel: there actually exists such a thing. Usually, I am the most reluctant of slash readers in Life on Mars fandom. There are just so many factors, psychological and societal, that make the main pairing so massively unlikely, that it becomes very difficult indeed for me to suspend disbelief enough to really enjoy a story. Can I believe the attraction? Sure. But, in most cases, I can't believe that it would ever turn into anything worth being called a relationship. Certainly not one of the type that slash likes to describes.

So. If you want to make me believe in Sam/Gene, what do you do? mikes_grrl knows. Take all those issues, and confront them head on.

The "Undercover" universe's version of Sam/Gene is... difficult, because Sam/Gene could not be anything *but* difficult. And some of the difficulty is in the characters; and some's due to society not being ready to accept a homosexual relationship as normal yet, with all that entails for the characters in question.

The "Undercover" universe version of Gene is gay - consciously gay, and always has been, and he's deep, deep, deep in the closet. Now, that setup removes one of my main problems with LoM slash right away: I can't easily believe raging homophobe Gene Hunt as casually gay/bisexual. A thoroughly gay, thoroughly closeted Gene, however, makes eminent sense to me.

mikes_grrl also steers clear of another pitfall of LoM slash: her Sam is not submissive. The relationship between Gene and Sam that we see on screen is shaped largely by the ingrained desire of both men to be the 'alpha male' (although they both secretly enjoy the more or less equal partnership they factually have), and mikes_grrl carries that dynamic over into her fic marvellously.

And lastly, mikes_grrl is very conscious of the social background of the era, the pervasive prejudice against homosexuality as well as the beginning moves towards political activism in the gay scene. "Appearances", the story she is currently posting in installments, gets Sam involved in that a bit, and I'm on the edge of my seat. It's deeply fascinating.

There's more to say about the series - for example, I should mention that it frequently makes me laugh out loud, despite the high degree of angstiness (and that's just perfect, because the way to my heart leads along the unlikely border path between the territories of Humour and Angst) - but I really have to run now. People are waiting for me.

Go and enjoy the "Undercover" series here:

Undercover
Exposed
Smirk (a PWP)
Appearances (ongoing)
ETA: Appearances, now complete, here

amonitrate writes a brilliant Cooper. She says her Albert isn't quite as good, but I don't remember Albert well enough to judge that. Anyway, go read her TP snippet here.

*wants TP box set*

http://www.livejournal.com/community/time_and_chips/1303715.html?#cutid1

Go read! It's short, it's pretty, it's original, it's TARDIS fic! With Nine. And Rose.