fic rating question

[kennahijja]

Just a teensy question for those who have read The Dark Side of Reason *points a bit further down*. R or NC-17? Because I'm not sure whether to try and submit it to FA if it's too high-rated - the poor guys are swamped with fic like nobody's business, and I'd hate to foist a rating decision on them at the moment...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE AMAZING GINA/gmth!
(does June look like a veritable f-list birthday month or what?)

Comments

[lazy-neutrino.livejournal.com]

The phrase 'dribble of white' might kill it for FA? The rest seems fine. It's bleak, but then so was 'Stop All the Clocks'.

Thanks for giving me an excuse to read it again. :) :) :)

[kennahijja.livejournal.com]

*smile*
I'll see if I can part with that bit ;).

[lazy-neutrino.livejournal.com]

I think what I like about it is that it is so devoid of hope. I really like stories like that.

I posted a drabble recently which people found - fair enough! - somewhat obscure. I like the idea enough that I may try to amplify it. Remus, of course. This is it:

Understanding

They say your whole life flashes before you when you drown.

In the last moments of identity, he watches the door scrape open. There should be a stag standing there, or a dog, or a rat. Instead there’s a sallow head, fringed by greasy black hair.

In a heartbeat, Remus sees the whole escapade laid bare before him. No point being angry. They’ll kill him for this in the morning. Why waste time on anger?

And, as terror dawns on the pockmarked face, Remus finally understands what it means to be less than human.

Oh, Sirius, he thinks. And leaps.

--

It is a bit brief, but I was trying to reach that feeling of resignation - where understanding meets forgiveness and nothing matters any more, and you just give up. Like the moment where a drowning person opens their mouth and begins to breathe water. No hope at all. I think your story has some of that, and I think it's still very rare in fanfic. I love it.

[kennahijja.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes! The emotion comes out so extremely vividly in it - sadness, whistfulness even, and absolutely no hope at all. Like a self-condemnation... a kind of death more cutting than the real thing. *sighs*
I admire the way you can capture such a wealth of meaning in one short drabble!

[chthonya]

The phrase 'dribble of white' might kill it for FA?

My thoughts exactly. The 'obscene wet sound' could also possibly be seen as TMI. Otherwise I think R is a fair rating. At least, I certainly hope it is!)