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[jbmcdragon.livejournal.com]

All right, I wasn't going to post this here because it didn't seem the thing, but, hey, it's Naruto-centric, and at one point I was known for good stories and a good archive. So I am. *grins*


So, I just read this fic called Ordinary Miracles by Sna. It's a one-shot (single post) that takes place in the Fallen Leaves world, about an ANBU medic, Hyuuga Haruichi, (several days) after rescuing one of the poor beleaguered ANBU from a nasty rotting-to-death-while-alive fate. I have no idea what writer would be so evil as to do that to their character. Shuddup.

I'm recc'ing it to EVERYONE not as part of the RP/Fallen Leaves series*, but as a brilliant work of fanfic. Because, wow. Brilliant. And it does stand-alone; you don't need to read anything else to understand what's going on. Sna's brilliant like that. ;-D

It starts off with him heading home after a rotten (ha ha) day at medicy-work, and seeing his wife dancing in their apartment. Sna does an amazing job of building from "this has been a shitty day and I'm so exhausted I can't even be properly crabby and I just want to go HOME" (a feeling I think everyone recognizes), and in a few paragraphs slides into a breath-held nighttime beauty, the sort of wonder you feel when seeing that someone who's been through too much is still able to enjoy the world. There's this ghostly quality to her writing, like the whole world is waiting, suspended, that I don't often see people achieve.

Trying not to spoil things, the story moves on to deal with trauma the medics get from the things they see, and does so in a heartbreaking fashion that doesn't go overboard--Haruichi isn't an angsty person, and while it's horrific it's nicely understated. I find myself wincing for him and being glad he has someone there who understands him well enough not to hug and cuddle him right off the bat. ;) And that's awesome too--there isn't a cathartic moment of, "now everything will be all right!" but rather a slow solution to heartbreaking problems, which is more beautiful because it's real.

I seriously love this story. You should all go read it.

J

*Fallen Leaves is a collaborative writing venture sort of RP-style, in that we each have a character, but written more like fanfic. It takes place 6 years before the start of Naruto, and focuses on the then-ANBU. Current active writers include myself (as Inuzuka Tsume and an OC, Kaito), nezumiko (as Genma and an OC, Ginta), kilerki (as an OC, Ryouma), darksideofstorm (as Kakashi and Raidou), Sna (whose LJ name I don't know, as an OC Hyuuga Haruichi), Suz (whose LJ I don't know, as Hayate), Fade (again with the LJ, as an OC Ryuichi) and drelfina (as Kotetsu).

We have quite a few readers who follow along, reading it like fanfic, and we do take applications, though we're VERY picky about who gets in. To read the stories you can check out the Story index, or hit the info page.

So if you're wondering what some of us dino writers are up to these days... that's it. *laughs*

Except me. I'm also up to getting published. >.> Treasure Hunting is available for sale online now, and in print in January. By Degrees and Second Hope are due out early next year. Hit www.jbmcdonald.com or my LJ for updates. *grins*

JB