rec - aground upon the sea by minglingcrab

Aground Upon the Sea by minglingcrab - AIRPS, Adam/Kris, others.

I have been trying to figure out how to rec this and keep coming up short because I have to start with this: this is a hooker merpeople AU, and I can actually see people twitching, and seriously, stop and just go read it anyway. I don't know what this is, because crack will never be the right word to describe it. It's rich and bleak and takes such breathtaking leaps and went places I didn't know were there and dragged me straight through to the end, an entire world created and explored and examined. It's nothing like I expected, and it's nothing like I could possibly have expected anywhere.

This isn't a story anyone should miss. This is why fanfic exists--to take something known and make it something new and startling and unexpected, twist expectations into tight knots and leave you breathless and confused and awed by what was done here. And the last two lines kill me every time I read them.

And that's all I'm giving on this one for spoilers; it has to be read to understand why I'm still looking at it and thinking I seriously, seriously love fanfic when it can do something like this.

Comments

weird how sometimes it feels like it takes guts to rec

[sherrold]

Damn good seeing you in Seattle, too!

Re: weird how sometimes it feels like it takes guts to rec

[seperis]

*hugs* You too! I am still not caught up on sleep. OR like, anything. But on teh upside, my feet dont' hurt!

[dine]

it's a good story - I read it yesterday despite a bit of questioning (from the summary) and really enjoyed it

[seperis]

I wasn't sure either, but I figured I'd skim just for the novelty--and was completely floored by what she was actually doing in that story.

[dragojustine]

There are not enough words in the WORLD to thank you for this rec. My god.

[seperis]

I read it on my phone in the car. Nausea and carsickness? Totally worth it. I'm still kind of shaky from reading it.

[risha]

*winces* Can you say whether or not it has something resembling a happy ending? I've been waffling on reading this for the last day, since it sounds bizarre and fascinating, but say the word "dystopian" and I start to worry. I'm not at all in a mental place to handle a sad ending right now. If the answer is too much of a spoiler, you could delete your reply immediately after?

[seperis.livejournal.com]

It's not deathfic and no one is imprisoned or captured or anything like that. I'm trying to think of a way to say this--it's not happy, but it's not hopeless or miserable or cut your wrists for an ending.

[risha]

Hm. I will have to sleep on this. But I can handle shit better in the morning, so I'll probably end up giving it a shot. I mean, hooker mermen? The author deserves lots of hits just for thinking it up and going there for 13,000 words.

Thanks!!!

[daemonicangel.livejournal.com]

yessss. i loved crab's fic so much, it's the only one i read today (rather, yesterday) even though i have a too long of a laundry list of fics i need to catch up on. i couldn't believe she had been so unhappy with it, it's more than fantastic.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

God yes, this. So much.

[aivilo-18.livejournal.com]

Holy fuck, the world-building in this is so fucking bizarre and dystopian and...it's just so fucking *cool*. This isn't just why I read fanfiction. It's why I read anything anywhere at *all*. It's why I'm literate.

I just want to go back to when everyone was debating over whether or not fanfiction is creative and legitimate and an art-form in it's own right and just point a lot and yell "THIS! THIS, BITCHES!!!"

[seperis.livejournal.com]

HELL AND YES. It was totally and completely not what you expect when you read it.

[droolfangrrl.livejournal.com]

It's crack! As long as the writing doesn't stink on ice, we're good.

[ellixis.livejournal.com]

So many layers of commentary, so smoothly layered into a well-built story in a well-built world - that's some well-done writing.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Exactly. And the POV of Adam was--I don't want to say objective, but different both personal and impersonal as he was both raised human and still Othered by them was just amazing.

And I love how understated his singing is and what it's coming to mean throughout the story.

[cellia.livejournal.com]

I was really impressed by it. And so au one doesn't have to know the source material at all unless you want to imagine faces.

[fuckyeahkradam.livejournal.com]

I wanted to read this... but I cannot bear reading bad ends and I haven't figured out if it's a happy end or bad end yet...

Would you mind to tell me? Do the boys end up being together or not? From what little I dared to read I really cannot tell.

Thanks <333

[seperis.livejournal.com]

That I can tell you--definitely together. And alive. And not captured.

[fuckyeahkradam.livejournal.com]

THANK YOU SO MUCH ! I'm definitely reading it as soon as I get home, thank you thank you thank you <3333333333