this week's story: "Knowing Me, Knowing You" by china_shop

[china_shop]

I dithered about which story to choose. I wanted to pick one that I'm not entirely happy with but can't figure out why, so I can get the benefit of your collective wisdom. But that still gave me many to choose from, alas. ;-)

Anyway, mental coin toss and I pick Knowing Me, Knowing You.

Feel free to point out right off that the title was a terrible idea. Heh.

Although I did work on this story during the beta process, I think it suffers from basically being a collection of notes or too-brief segments. I feel like I never rounded it out properly. Maybe some of the transitions don't quite work. Maybe it doesn't linger enough on the moments to let the tension build. Maybe I didn't flesh out the world enough. Or maybe those aspects are fine, and something else doesn't work. I don't know. What do you think?

You can find it here: Knowing Me, Knowing You, Ray/Ray, rated PG

This week's moderator is gurrier. She can be reached at gurrier [at] comcast [dot] net.

Comments

[zebra363.livejournal.com]

::singing ABBA song as I read::

Ray had liked Stevie, liked her a lot, which meant he’d never gotten to know her.

This is interesting. I assume it only meant that there were things about Stevie that Ray wouldn't have liked if he'd known them, but I wondered for a while whether it was meant to imply that it isn't possible to like anyone you know well!

I liked the "Kowalski was a queer" paragraph.

What didn't work for me was that I didn't believe RayV was attracted to RayK. He wanted someone to talk to, yes, but it didn't seem to follow that he would want to kiss him or hold his hand. This isn't really my pairing, so I don't have the underlying belief that they would want each other, and I need Ray/Ray stories to really convince me. That didn't quite happen here.

I quite liked the short segments, but felt the transition from the And so what if the guy was a queer, that didn’t mean a damned thing. They’d been friends this long and nothing funky had happened paragraph to the kissing paragraph was too abrupt. I needed a "broadening of sexual orientation" or a "maybe just with this one guy" explanation.

I've just ducked off to reread "Nice Pile of Rocks" to check the difference between that story and this one. That one's perfect, for my taste!

(You're not going to take away my balloon, are you?)

[china_shop]

This is interesting. I assume it only meant that there were things about Stevie that Ray wouldn't have liked if he'd known them, but I wondered for a while whether it was meant to imply that it isn't possible to like anyone you know well!

Okay, that line just doesn't work at all, then, because neither of those interpretations are what I meant it to convey. *looks rueful* It was supposed to be about how Vecchio wasn't in a position to trust anyone in Vegas, and because he instinctively liked Stevie, it was dangerous to be around her in case he forgot himself and started to open up to her. Hmmm.

felt the transition from the And so what if the guy was a queer, that didn’t mean a damned thing. They’d been friends this long and nothing funky had happened paragraph to the kissing paragraph was too abrupt

I absolutely see what you mean about this, yes. This is one of my perennial weaknesses with slash: I rely too heavily on the readers' investment in the pairings and hence I tend to skate too lightly over the surface of things, or jump in suddenly. "Of course, they're in love. We all know it. I don't have to show you!"

*smacks own wrist and resolves to try harder* :)

Thanks so much for your comments! Very thoughtful and helpful. Yay! (And of course you can keep the balloon. In fact, here, have another! **balloon**

[zebra363.livejournal.com]

how Vecchio wasn't in a position to trust anyone in Vegas, and because he instinctively liked Stevie, it was dangerous to be around her in case he forgot himself and started to open up to her.

I can see that meaning too, but I thought the line Ninety percent of the nice guys—and girls—in Vegas were cons implied that he was pretty sure there'd be something wrong with her if he looked hard enough. The "dangerous to trust her" part does definitely come though in He didn’t get to make friends, because he would’ve told, and that would’ve been the end of it.

These virtual balloons are great! My other one is still going strong.

[china_shop]

Thanks so much for this, and sorry about my slow reply: I've been thinking about it off and on. Perhaps this:

Ray trusted her the minute he saw her, but he wasn’t stupid, so he kept his distance. Ninety percent of the nice guys—and girls—in Vegas were cons. Ninety percent of everyone else were sharks, scum and losers.

would've worked better without ", so he kept his distance". That would more clearly tie the "he trusted her... but he wasn't stupid" to the "everyone in Vegas is potentially a con" angle. Maybe? It's more that the dangers were present and the stakes were high, than he was *sure* she was a con. If that makes sense. :)

[kijikun.livejournal.com]

I loved that you didn't mention Stevie's gender at first, I would have loved to see it drawn out a bit longer.

Many of the post CotW Ray/Ray fics ignore Ray having to see a mandated shrink, and I'm glad you put it in there. The reasons why Ray couldn't talk to him were a great insight into his brain. More details about the sessions would have rocked but then I love details.

I can really here Ray speak in this. I really dug the ending too.

[china_shop]

Thanks so much for this. I think you're right: I really missed some opportunities to delve, eg, with the shrink. Hmmm... :)