Review for Fifteen Ways to Grow Old Together

Fifteen Ways to Grow Old Together

(#) Jaebi_Lit 2005-05-15

I know very little about most of your fandoms, but I still enjoy reading all of your fics because they're well-written enough that I can approach reading them in the same way that I approach reading new books: so I know nothing about this "Harry Potter" novel, but hey, I'll take it as it comes and approach it on its own merits. I find that in fandom, usually I don't read things if it's not in a fandom that I know, which is odd because in RL I pick up new books all the time. However, with your fics I know that whether or not I know anything about HxH won't affect my experience with the story and I can just take it as it comes and enjoy it without knowing the canon.

Anyway, I thought 15 Ways was excellent. It's very sad and poignant, the characterisation is consistent and the characters evolve over the period of the drabbles. It's very sparse, but the details that you choose (in #2, Leorio's quiet acceptance of Kurapika's wandering) tell a great deal about the characters' personalities and interactions with each other (in #2, for me the ironing and the help with the packing indicates resignation and a willingness to be the home that Kurapika returns to). Leorio and Kurapika try so hard, each in his own way, to make it work despite their different personalities, and it's sad to watch that (Leorio waiting, keeping up precise routines to assure Kurapika that he's constant and will always be there, his ability to know when Kurapika needs to leave; on Kurapika's part, his reluctance to leave, his attempt to stay and make it work, his quiet understanding of Leorio's unspoken words and his strain). It's also happy, in a wistful sort of way, because they manage to make it work, albeit in a painful style, and their love is strong enough that they would rather have this than something easier with someone else.

I really like how your fics carry so much emotion without rambling descriptions or verbosity.