[fic] this is how the story goes (america/vietnam)

[miaoujones.livejournal.com]

TITLE: This is How the Story Goes
AUTHOR: Miaou Jones
CHARACTERS: Vietnam, America
RATING: K
NOTES: Written for sirvalkyrie, for The Second Rare Ship Swap.

A girl and a boy are watching fireworks on the Han River. That is how the story starts.

That is not how the story starts, not really. And he is not exactly a boy, and she is not exactly a girl. (Like all good stories, this one is true, and it is also not true.)

[Thanks for reading, if you do!]

Comments

[crayonfishy.livejournal.com]

Wow! Your writing style is so smooth and flowing and poetic. The beginning and the ending phrases were really perfect-- they "book-ended" the story quite nicely, I must say. Overall, it was just beautiful :"D.

[miaoujones.livejournal.com]

Ah, I'm really happy you enjoyed it! Especially the opening/ending phrase: it came to me as I was jotting down notes, and that's when I knew I had the story. Thanks so much for reading and taking the time to comment. :)

[crayonfishy.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! :)

[peachdays.livejournal.com]

That was a beautiful story, thank you for sharing! I really love your style. :)
Also agreed on your last note: My family comes from Vietnam, and while sometimes we discuss the war, it's not a topic that's often mentioned. Ofc that's just my observation as well.

[miaoujones.livejournal.com]

Thanks for reading and for sharing that observation; it's always good to have another opinion. I'm very happy you enjoyed the fic. :)

[peachdays.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! Of course, I can't speak for other Vietnamese people, especially those who lived through the war firsthand (asides from my own family), but it's nice to see different observations. It was a nicely researched fic. ^^

[peridottears.livejournal.com]

I don't have an AO3 account, so just commenting here, plz~

I really, really like it. The pyrotechnic bouquet, the fireworks, at the Han river. Just...the sheer imagery of it is diverse and colorful, ranging from war-torn Vietnam to the modern-day landscape. America and Vietnam both sifting, searching.

ohhaiavengersreferenceshehe

Overall, a broad, well-written, vivid piece. And its grounding in current events and history just makes it all the better~

[miaoujones.livejournal.com]

I'm so happy you liked it! When I finished the first draft, I felt like something was wrong and I couldn't figure it out at first--and then I realized that, although I said they were watching fireworks, there weren't any fireworks in the story. D'oh! So I went back and started interspersing pyrotechnics, and somehow that brought it to life for me. So I'm really pleased you mentioned that in particular. (And I almost took out the Avengers reference as being too cutesy, but when they could only speak about it in the abstract it had less of an impact on Alfred... so I'm also happy you slipped that into your comments as well. ;p)

Thanks so much for reading and taking the time to comment!

[miaoujones.livejournal.com]

it's nice to see different observations

Agreed! And I'm glad you like what I did here. Thanks again!