This was an interesting one. There's some stuff I really didn't like that, as other nonnies said, felt straight out of 2012 - certain aspects of Sid's characterizations, the handshake line after every game, Sidney Crosby's uniquely shitty dad, etc. - but there were also a lot of enjoyable elements here that I don't usually see in hockey RPF fics.
Maybe it's just because I'm one of those nonnies who want more dealing with homophobia in fic, but it felt like this one went into it in a lot of ways that a lot of fics skip. There were the bits about the perception of a gay teammate as predatory, and whether it was "really" gay if you're the penetrating partner, and how even the accepting teammates can be kind of shitty and lukewarm about it without meaning to. The bit about the card with "spare me the details" in it is what I'm thinking of - that felt very frustrating and true to my own experiences.
Obviously it's not a 100% realistic fic, or even a 40% realistic fic - the heart of it is misunderstandings stacked on top of soulbonds and fuck-or-die. It's tropey through and through. But I like tropey stuff too, so that was fun, even though I was rolling my eyes at some of the melodramatic stuff about how much of a ~martyr Sid is, and I feel like the more realistic bits fit without being jarring.
Obviously this stuff is all subjective, but I felt like this was a solid fic for the specific fandom genre it falls into. A solid 8/10 fanon SidGeno fic; an enjoyable read that could use a little tightening up at the more ridiculous parts.
Re: Fic discussion
Maybe it's just because I'm one of those nonnies who want more dealing with homophobia in fic, but it felt like this one went into it in a lot of ways that a lot of fics skip. There were the bits about the perception of a gay teammate as predatory, and whether it was "really" gay if you're the penetrating partner, and how even the accepting teammates can be kind of shitty and lukewarm about it without meaning to. The bit about the card with "spare me the details" in it is what I'm thinking of - that felt very frustrating and true to my own experiences.
Obviously it's not a 100% realistic fic, or even a 40% realistic fic - the heart of it is misunderstandings stacked on top of soulbonds and fuck-or-die. It's tropey through and through. But I like tropey stuff too, so that was fun, even though I was rolling my eyes at some of the melodramatic stuff about how much of a ~martyr Sid is, and I feel like the more realistic bits fit without being jarring.
Obviously this stuff is all subjective, but I felt like this was a solid fic for the specific fandom genre it falls into. A solid 8/10 fanon SidGeno fic; an enjoyable read that could use a little tightening up at the more ridiculous parts.