Thirty Day Photo Meme - Day 11

Day 11 - A Photo Representing Country Living


Friends’ House, Summit, New York
June, 1998
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The newly built home of friends from college. The place is so rural that when their insurance agent came to do the appraisal, he stood on the roof of his truck, looked around and when he spotted another roofline in the distance, he said “Yup, you can qualify for suburban discount.”

White Collar Fic - Return and Rebuild the Desolate Places - Chapter Eight

Title: Return and Rebuild the Desolate Places – Chapter Eight
Author: elrhiarhodan
Fandom: White Collar
Rating: R
Characters/Pairings: Peter Burke, Neal Caffrey, Elizabeth Burke, Mozzie, Reese Hughes, Clinton Jones, Diana Berrigan, Olivia Benson (L&O: SVU), Section Chief Bruce (McKinsey) Original Characters
Spoilers: White Collar, all of Season 5; no specific spoilers for L&O: SVU, but set in Season 15
Warnings/Enticements/Triggers: Kidnapping, torture (off-camera), rape (off-camera),
Word Count: This chapter – ~2600
Beta Credit: coffeethyme4me, miri_thompson, sinfulslasher, theatregirl7299
Story Summary: Six months after Neal disappears, Peter still has no answers and his decision not to go to Washington has had significant repercussions for both his career and his marriage.
Chapter Summary: Neal wakes up and finds he has allies, some familiar, some unexpected. Peter begins to loosen the hold he has kept on his anger and his grief.

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Previous Chapters: Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five | Chapter Six | Chapter Seven |

A/N: Title from Alan Hovhaness’ wind concerto, which takes it from the Old Testament. New chapters will be posted to my LJ every Thursday and to the relevant communities on Fridays.

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(  Sometime in Late January – Saturday Afternoon )

NYT Reviews The Normal Heart

The New York Times review of The Normal Heart is up (finally). It's not as glowing as some (okay, most), but that is - in a way - better. The review never takes its eye off history, not only of the AIDS crisis, but the history of the play, of Larry Kramer, of the history of gay life in New York in the late '70s and early '80s.

And as such, it doesn't quite forgive The Normal Heart for being a polemic instead of a drama. But that's okay. Because it has this to say about Matt Bomer's performance:

The film also underscores the manipulative parts of the piece, especially when characters we barely know die. Characters die all the time on television, of course, but these days, it’s generally to jolting effect, because we have come to know them over multiple episodes. This “Normal Heart” can feel a bit dehumanizing, as if it’s introducing characters only to kill them in hopes of wringing some tears out of us. Television viewers today are not likely to cry on command like this; they’re used to fuller portrayals.

There is one amazing exception: the character of Felix, Ned’s lover, a reporter at The New York Times. We do come to know Felix, and Matt Bomer, who portrays him, makes sure we understand just what AIDS meant to this character and, by extension, to thousands of gay men who suffered and died in this period. Shooting on the film reportedly stopped for some time while Mr. Bomer lost 40 pounds to portray Felix after he has come down with the disease. It’s a frightening thing to see, and an example of how Mr. Kramer and Mr. Murphy take one of the play’s strong points and, through the flexibility afforded by film, make it even more powerful.

The Normal Heart, New York Times, May 22, 2014

White Collar Fic - If the Soul Doesn't Sing (Just One Life) Part V (White Collar Reverse Big Bang)

Title: If the Soul Doesn’t Sing (Just One Life) – Part V
Artist: kanarek13, Artwork Post
Author: elrhiarhodan
Fandom: White Collar
Rating: R
Characters: Neal Caffrey, Peter Burke, June Ellington, Garrett Fowler, Reese Hughes, Matthew Keller, Mozzie, Clinton Jones, Diana Berrigan, mention of Kate Moreau, mention of Elizabeth Burke, mention of Satchmo, mention of Terrance Pratt, mention of James Bennett, original characters
Pairings: Pre-story Peter/Elizabeth, pre-story Peter/Hughes; Neal/Keller, Peter/Neal
Spoilers: Mention of canon events at the end of In the Wind (S4.16)
Warnings : Non-canon deaths of canon characters (all off-camera and pre-story): Elizabeth Burke, Satchmo, Kate Moreau, OMC
Word Count: Total ~50,000 / Part V – 7,600
Beta Credit: coffeethyme4me, sinfulslasher
Summary: Neal is an Archon, a ‘guardian angel’, who has been watching over the soul of Peter Burke for millennia. He’s learned that Peter’s soul will not be reborn into a new life, and cannot bear the thought that he will continue for eternity without Peter. So he decides to take the forbidden path: become mortal and spend the rest of his days watching over Peter and caring for him.

But he will need to make a sacrifice, and he will need to learn how to Fall.

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( Neal wanted to weep. )