'...“But when he doesn’t show up for pancakes it's good practice to make sure he hasn’t fallen down a manhole or something,”
Klaus resists the urge to hiss.'
You know I love novel (or novella) length fanfiction.
The beautiful dedication that it takes to write a piece like this always makes me smile.
This week's fic rec is a novel/novella-ish-length The Umbrella Academy (TUA) fic, with Klaus as the central character because I am utter trash and do not care to hide it.
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| Via Giphy |
This picks up after season 2, and takes up the typical what-comes-next speculation that will fuel fics until we actually find out what happens in season 3.
...Because yes, we need said speculation to tide us over, because OH MY GOD HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO US?
*Ahem*
Anywho, I love the various directions this fic takes things in.
Especially the whole Monster of the Week (or, in this case, ghost of the chapter,) but-with-a-twist kind of vibe we got going on at the beginning.
Sometimes, when fic authors try to expand into OCs or original plot points, things get get muddled and awkward.
But here, the fic writer manages to keep this contained and controlled in a way that suggests they don't automatically need to cling to the structure and skeleton of the series in order to stay cohesive and keep the narrative moving.
(Which is all my fancy, overly-wordy, way of saying that the author seems like they'd be equally at home writing an episode of TUA, or their own piece of original fiction.)
(Fandom notes:
OCs = Original Characters - characters that the author has made up which were not present in the source material.
The author then weaves the OCs into the world of the fandom, with extreme variability.)
I also adore the focus on grief and healing in this fic.
Fics are awesome-sauce for self-care, and this does not disappoint in the respect of dealing with all the mushy emotional coping-ness.
(...I'm going to hope that sentence makes sense, because I am very tired and I tend to babble when I'm tired.
Side-note: I seem to think that playing a podcast at a faster speed will somehow make me write this post faster. It's working surprisingly well, but that may also be down to the coffee.
Seriously, I'm full of coffee listening to a podcast on double-speed, it's like the world is somehow faster now! 😅)
There's also enough powers and action-y shenanigans to keep all the die-hard superhero fans happy!
And it's awesome when the fic author's clearly enjoying playing with the sci-fi spec-fic comic-book aspects!
As this is The Umbrella Academy we're talking about, there's a butt-tonne of Content Warnings for this, so here ya go:
- death, grief, and bereavement
- blood and gore (GRAPHIC)
- murder (GRAPHIC)
- serious injury
- abduction
- torture
- drugging
- drug and alcohol abuse and addiction
- PTSD and flashbacks (GRAPHIC)
- references to child abuse and neglect
- references to child soldiers/violence committed by children
- family issues b/c Umbrella Academy
As always, please be careful in case I missed something. #ReadSafe
This fic also has SPOILERS for series 1 & 2 of Umbrella Academy, ok? SPOILERS!!!! All the SPOILERS!
This week's fic, then, is:
A Happy Medium by buildhogwartsthenwewilltalk
Do you think it can be difficult for fic authors to get OC's right?
Any novel-length fic recs?
Talk to me! 😀💬
Related Reading:
Sharing and commenting is as refreshing as caffeine and podcasts! 😅
I had serious thoughts last night about starting The Umbrella Academy. I will eventually, I promise!
ReplyDeleteHa, well I hope you enjoy it! :)
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