Amy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
brightknightie) wrote2021-10-04 09:57 pm
brightknightie) wrote2021-10-04 09:57 pm
the Retrotvexchange story written for my sign-up
The 2021 ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
retrotvexchange released on Saturday, with 24 total stories in 24 fandoms (including some crossovers). Peruse the collection. Stories remain anonymous until October 9.
The story written for my sign-up is "Time Out," a Dungeons & Dragons (the '80s cartoon) story from Diana's perspective -- yay, Diana's perspective! -- focusing on Diana and Sheila's friendship, and Diana's goals as an Olympic-caliber gymnast back in the real world.
I interpret the story as layered atop a lament for connections not quite made. It seems to me to parallel its set-up, in which Eric is focused only on himself and not Diana (to whom he's ostensibly speaking), with its main body, in which Diana tries to connect with Sheila, but is so narrowly focused on her own goal that she doesn't grasp Sheila's concerns. It's set almost immediately after the kids' time with Ramoud, when they run into Billy Whitaker in the City on the Edge of Midnight, and explores that jolt of home as a motivation in their choice to move on from Ramoud and Ayesha, to keep searching for a way home, perhaps more urgently than ever. There's a sadness, mostly Sheila's, of reaching out and not finding the person to whom you're reaching, reaching back.
-----
Some other stories from the exchange that I've enjoyed so far: "Diplomacy" (ST:TOS, ~4K words), "Yarn Over, Pull Through" (Starman, ~3K words), "and pretend like there's no world outside" (As Time Goes By, ~1K words).
retrotvexchange released on Saturday, with 24 total stories in 24 fandoms (including some crossovers). Peruse the collection. Stories remain anonymous until October 9.The story written for my sign-up is "Time Out," a Dungeons & Dragons (the '80s cartoon) story from Diana's perspective -- yay, Diana's perspective! -- focusing on Diana and Sheila's friendship, and Diana's goals as an Olympic-caliber gymnast back in the real world.
I interpret the story as layered atop a lament for connections not quite made. It seems to me to parallel its set-up, in which Eric is focused only on himself and not Diana (to whom he's ostensibly speaking), with its main body, in which Diana tries to connect with Sheila, but is so narrowly focused on her own goal that she doesn't grasp Sheila's concerns. It's set almost immediately after the kids' time with Ramoud, when they run into Billy Whitaker in the City on the Edge of Midnight, and explores that jolt of home as a motivation in their choice to move on from Ramoud and Ayesha, to keep searching for a way home, perhaps more urgently than ever. There's a sadness, mostly Sheila's, of reaching out and not finding the person to whom you're reaching, reaching back.
-----
Some other stories from the exchange that I've enjoyed so far: "Diplomacy" (ST:TOS, ~4K words), "Yarn Over, Pull Through" (Starman, ~3K words), "and pretend like there's no world outside" (As Time Goes By, ~1K words).
no subject
no subject
Other elements took more absorbing.
After a bit, I remembered that I always say that I opt in for sad and sober tales, including tragedy, and I do. I didn't expect this particular kind in D&DC. But it definitely counts as a tragedy, and a crafted one. This author gives Diana a character flaw that causes her to hurt Eric a little, and Sheila more, and to set her eyes on a prize in a way that may leave behind friendship... very much a classic tragedy, arising from a flaw within a character.
It's something for me to think about, when I opt in for certain kinds of stories, how truly wide-ranging those types can be.
Thanks for listening and sharing!