Gestaltfic: Alexander. PG.

[roadstergal.livejournal.com]

Title: Alexander.
Authors: kahvi and roadstergal
Rating: PG.
Disclaimer: We do not now and will never in the future own them or make any money from this.
Spoilers: Legion and Marooned.
Note: This came out of a discussion about being a Chief Eunuch. Set in VI.

It should feel normal. It should feel nice and calm and boring, but it didn't.

Comments

[tawg.livejournal.com]

Oooh, lovely. I really liked the way the two of you handle the characters, no matter what type of fic you're writing, there's always a lot of awesome Lister-Rimmer interaction that just sucks me right in. And, to be honest, the subject matter was beautifully handled - the moral issues of truthful fantasy-crushing.

That said, reading this at uni probably wasn't the best idea, though I'm sure my startled gasps and small giggles were of much amusement to those around me.

[smaych.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this fantastic story! Here are some of my thoughts from reading it, in no particular order. Sorry if it's a little verbose, or if I'm getting things hopelessly wrong :)

-Overall I really liked this story. I love the Rimmer/Lister interactions, I love that they are trying to work each other out and failing. I think this is a really good example of how a lot of their arguments come from frustration because of this, like here:

"That cold, unchanging expression, belied by eyes that seemed to scream something in a language Lister did not understand."

This line really stuck with me. I think a lot of people gloss over the concept that the boys, like anyone, would try to analyse and understand each other, and a lot of the beauty of this story comes from seeing the characters through each other's eyes.

-"he started leafing through the magazine he'd picked it up on his way out of his quarters"

I didn't get the grammar here, should it be “he started leafing through the magazine he'd picked up” or “he started leafing through the magazine – he'd picked it up” or am I just reading it wrong?

-The Kryten bits are so perfect, I don't know how you do it.

-The sherbet made me laugh out loud.

-I think Rimmer shares his past life story a little easily with Kryten, he seems more hesitant in Marooned, he says he's never told anyone before. Then again, he doesn't really see Kryten as a person, so maybe that makes sense.

-Also, I don't know why Lister “couldn't not tell Rimmer the truth” about what he's read. It seems a little cruel. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like a lot of Lister's cruelty to Rimmer comes either out of humour/boredom or as a retort to something that Rimmer's said/done. If the reason is either of these, I think it could be pointed out a bit more for the idiots like me who didn't spot it :) Then again, I can see Lister not understanding that he's being cruel until it is too late, and then not wanting to back down to Rimmer.

I actually see this as being very like Lister's reaction to Kryten's belief in silicon heaven, but there he had more of a moral point I think, as Kryten had been lied to and didn't have a choice, whereas Rimmer's is a personal belief. I'd have thought Lister would be more open-minded, but I'm not sure what I'm basing that on now I think about it.

-The paragraph which begins:

"Why was he here? Why couldn't he just let it go"

I'm not sure whose perspective this paragraph is supposed to be from.

-I think the argument they have is really successful as you create sympathy for both sides.

-The ending is just gorgeous, as always with your stories, and fits so perfectly with the story and the season. For me, this is what makes it an excellent piece of writing as opposed to an excellent piece of fanfiction.

Thank you so much for writing this!

[musicisavictim.livejournal.com]

What exactly is that german thing where you feel happy about someone's misery?
whether or not they should open up that strange glowing book they found covered in blood at the bottom of a coffin in an abandoned basement of a haunted house..... half a block down the street from Gary's baitshop.

[(Anonymous)]

I have to say, you hit on the funniest idea about Alexander's favorite eunuch; having Rimmer find out what that particular eunuch really did (I hesitate to imagine what would happen if he ever found out the potential connotations to the word "rimmer".) I loved the whole harem fantasy. It's nicely evocative of Terrorform, and has a slightly pathetic Rimmerish quality (fantasies about being a eunuch in a harem?)

I also completely adored Kryten's reaction to the human religious thing. Too perfect! The argument at the end was very well done. I can see the weird Lister-logic of thinking that if he can just explain how it's all fake, he can fix Rimmer, the way he's always trying to fix Kryten, and he wanted to fix the cat people's fake religion. And Rimmer was spot on. Plus, the last line was amazing.