darththalia (darththalia) wrote in tpm_flashback, @ 2004-10-03 17:47:00 |
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Original poster: gloriana
Oops, did a Sunday go by in there? Not two, surely?? Well, I'm catching up on one today, but I'm going to save the other for a special occasion :)
Title: Noise
Author: Ladonna King
Rating: NC17
Pairing: Q/O
Warnings:
None mentioned by author, although there is a scene with dubious consent.
Author's LJ id: ciceqi. Ladonna is also generally known as 'Sleeps with Coyotes'; her current email addy and website urls are not the ones in the earlier recs for her stories, but these:
email: ciceqi@ciceqi.slashcity.com
website: http://ciceqi.slashcity.com/
Link to story: http://ciceqi.slashcity.com/Noise.htm
Reasons for recommending: I think the fact that Ladonna has garnered two recs already, even though half her TPM stories aren't even up on the M-A archive, speaks volumes for how popular a writer she is. Basically, she can hack the angst, and if that doesn't get you a readership, writing hot sex will. As for the plot, her notes say it all: [Written] In response to Dixiebell's turning-the-tables challenge where Qui-Gon is the one hurting over Obi-Wan for a change... Ladonna is a very specific taste, but it just happens to be one that appeals to a lot of people. As you might be able to tell, I'm a bit ambivalent about her writing, but this is one of two of her stories that I regularly return to (oddly, neither have yet been recced). For the chair sex alone, this story is worth the retread, even though the ending doesn't quite have the punch of the journey towards it.
Quote from story:
Shivering constantly, Obi-Wan nearly slumped back to his knees as Qui-Gon allowed him to come at last, his breathless cries sweeter than another's words of love. Qui-Gon lifted his eyes, watching the beloved face tighten with bliss, skin flushed, lashes fluttering nearly-closed as Obi-Wan tipped his head back helplessly. Slowly releasing Obi-Wan from his mouth, he smiled faintly as Obi-Wan's hands clenched on his shoulders, one last shudder racing through the younger man before Obi-Wan's eyes opened slowly.
"Master," Obi-Wan purred and pushed him suddenly back into the cushions of his chair, unfastening his breeches just enough to free him. Docile in his Padawan's hands, Qui-Gon let Obi-Wan pull his hips forward without protest, but when Obi-Wan climbed into his chair with him, straddling his hips, he grabbed Obi-Wan's waist, alarm speeding his heart. "Hush," Obi-Wan grinned before he could speak, leaning in to steal an incendiary kiss as one hand reached down for Qui-Gon's cock, placing it at the entrance of a body already prepared, stretched and oiled and--
"Obi-Wan," he groaned.
Extra comments:
I have two problems with this story and Ladonna's writing in general, and neither are her competence, which is undeniable. Indeed, that's part of the problem: somehow I feel almost manipulated by her, even when she's making me laugh or cry (which she often does). I've been dragged to the trough and my nose held in it, in the most delightful way. All of which implies that my suspension of disbelief is rather more conscious than it ought to be, and the author's hand a little too clear, perhaps.
The other problem is that, rather more than most good writers, her characters divide into the 'one loved' and the writer's avatar. Who is which between Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan varies from story to story, but in Noise Obi-Wan is the 'one loved' and Qui-Gon the writer's avatar. Which is emotionally gorgeously angsty no matter which of the two characters you prefer - except I don't quite buy the characterisation that we land up with for Qui-Gon: he's rather too passive, rather too liable to self-sacrifice and self-doubt. (I'll accept the former, but I have problems with the latter.) In many senses Who Will Not See, which shares a similar division of roles and focus, is a finer story with truer characterisation for both Qui and Obi.
But this one's hotter, and the angst is angstier :)
If you like Ladonna, by the way, you might also want to check out the TPM section of her site, which not only has Q/O stories not on the M-A archive, but also has her collection of Qui/Maul stories, from a period when she and Diana Williams were virtually the only two writing in this rare pairing: http://ciceqi.slashcity.com/SW.htm