Meanwhile, here's something to rave about:

[selenak]

I'm a bit wary of WIPs, not least because such a lot of them never get finished and are endlessly dragged out or lose quality. But every now and then, I come across one that's just so captivating I risk following it, and then, when it's satisfyingly completed, I'm one ecstatic reader. This is the case with this story:


An Early Thaw (129841 words) by ironychan
Chapters: 26/26
Fandom: Captain America (Movies), Agent Carter (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Characters: Steve Rogers, Howard Stark, Peggy Carter, Tony Stark
Summary:

An alternate universe: the year is 1986. Ronald Reagan is president. Peggy Carter is director of SHIELD. Howard Stark is CEO of Stark Industries and father of a fifteen-year-old son. And a survey team in the arctic has just found Captain America

It has that rarity, a real plot, while at the same time being a great character piece (for several characters). It's a well executed AU that tackles an intriguing "what if?" without giving easy answers. (Peggy and Howard in the 80s aren't Peggy and Howard in the 40s, because decades of experience and compromises, and the way they relate to Steve and vice versa can't be what it was.) It avoids the clichés I've complained about in other posts. It has a strong sense of setting - the 1980s aren't chosen randomly, the fact this is Reagan era America, the last years of the Cold War, and that the space program is still a thing, all this is key to the plot. Teenage Tony is very convincing (again: avoidance of clichés complained about, see above). In conclusion, I love it, and you should read it immediately.

Comments

[dorothy1901]

I started reading it on your recommendation. I got halfway through the first chapter when I got to this:

Steve looked around again. They were still surrounded by the SWAT team, and police who were waving away the people who wanted to stop and stare.

A man from the 1940s would not know the term, "SWAT". Now I'm leery about what other anachronisms might be lurking in the text.

[kore]

Yeah, it just doesn't seem to have been edited at all, which is a shame, that setting's a neat idea.

(Nice Rita Hayworth icon! My dad saw You Were Never Lovelier in the theatre thirteen times.)

[d_generate_girl]

Now I'm leery about what other anachronisms might be lurking in the text.

The answer, 16 chapters in? A LOT. The story is wonderful, but it really needed a whack with a beta stick, because there are also misspellings and odd grammatical constructions.

[kore]

He turned back to Peggy. “I missed our date,” he said softly.

“You couldn't all your ride,” she replied, and her tears spilled over.

//wince

This looks like something I'd enjoy if it had maybe been beta-read? But for 130K words, I need something that looks a little more edited than this. (And then there was "The Dodgers take the lead! the radio announcer gushed, delighted. Steve remembered jumping to his feet to cheer, only to be downed a moment later by an asthma attack" -- ehhh.)