Quick Bright Things

A forum for discussing fan fiction related to Let The Right One In
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HonzaP
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Re: Quick Bright Things

Post by HonzaP » Tue Jan 05, 2010 6:01 pm

Great story, different, well written, greatly written, but how can you say that the ending was great, yes it was great but when I finished reading I was stunned, eyes wet, mind depressed, I mean really depressed, I hope none of the future fan fictions won't be that sad because I maybe wouldn't bare it, the last line really put a great weight on my heart, I must think about something happy, help me guys... :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :( :( :( :(
Phillip J. Fry: "I hate my life, I hate my life, I hate my life."

"It is the nature of men to create monsters, and it is the nature of monsters to destroy their makers."

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Mr.Sample
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Re: Quick Bright Things

Post by Mr.Sample » Wed Jan 06, 2010 12:05 am

Wow, that was neat. Meant for effect, that's undeniable, yet really well written. I found it way too dark and depressing, but I guess it was intended to affect us in a gloomy way. Maybe the characters weren't totally committed to the originals (man, they were rigid :D ) and the atmosphere wasn't too JAL-ish, still it was an experience to read.

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drakkar
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Location: Trondheim, Norway

Re: Quick Bright Things

Post by drakkar » Wed Jan 06, 2010 8:18 am

One of the hallmarks of JAL's writing is the presence of hope - only in a couple of his shortest stories it's lacking.
And I am sorry to say that here I also find just too little of it. However a well written story.
For the heart life is simple. It beats as long as it can.
- Karl Ove Knausgård

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pristidae
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Re: Quick Bright Things

Post by pristidae » Wed Jan 06, 2010 3:01 pm

I've avoided reading LTROI fanfic until now due to time constraints, and because, given the quality of discussion on this board, I know I'd be forced to read it all...

Kirk -- your writing is brilliant. The descriptions are at once spare and evocative, without force-feeding the reader the details he/she is supposed to know. Your characters are real and engaging -- I loved the idea to delve into how Oskar and Eli's lives would be if Oskar had aged almost three decades. Your view of how the relationship would have matured seemed real to me. I can't say I was "happy" with the ending, but it was beautifully developed and (chokingly) poignant.

Thank you for sharing.

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"Hade du tyckt om mig ändå?"

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kirkesque
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Re: Quick Bright Things

Post by kirkesque » Tue Jul 27, 2010 6:44 pm

Since I just checked into the forum for the first time in ages... I dropped by the Fan Fiction list and saw that it had been a few days more than a year since I published this story on the boards. I re-read it and thought, Good Enough. Which, for publishing writers, is probably the mark to reach rather than re-writing a piece because we want it to be perfect.

I thank everyone who commented for taking the time to read it, and I am grateful for all praise and critique.

This was written out of catharsis involving a number of aspects in my life at the time I discovered LTROI: death of a loved one, divorce, re-location to a place I had no ties to. It seems some of that came through in the words of the story. I could cite a few things that were said on this thread that I agree with as well as a few I disagree with, but publishing a story (even posting it on a discussion board) makes that story no longer exclusively the author's. Like favorite songs (or songs we hate), that work potentially becomes other people's as well. What someone else reads into it is as valid as they want it to be. I read something in this story I don't remember intending to put there. But that's how it goes with creative efforts. The Muse sometimes sees more than our conscious minds intend.

This is the only fan fiction I've written since I was a kid and wrote a few Dr. Who/Hitchhiker's Guide crossover tales. I don't foresee writing any more of this sort, but then, if I step in a pile of ideas while out walking and can't scrap it off my shoe, then I'll bring it home and write it.

My work is currently focussed on a novel that will serve as a thesis as well (for a critical theory project at university). I spent the summer tramping around the Balkans digging around for information, culture, history, and experience. The deeper you dig in the Balkans, the bloodier the ground gets. And the richer the stories become.

"Quick Bright Things" is a crucial piece for me simply because of when and how it was written. Thought I'd part the curtain a little and give a brief peek inside the place it came from.

"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." ~L. Cohen

Thanks for the forum, Woof.
Thanks to every else here for the words all over the forum.

~k
"Se til helvete å komme dere vekk. Det er ikke en bikkje! Det er en slags TING!
Det imiterer en bikkje. Det er ikke virkelig! Kom dere vekk, IDIOTER!"

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Jameron
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Re: Quick Bright Things

Post by Jameron » Mon Dec 05, 2011 6:17 pm

Just read this story, and I love it.

I don't really want Oskar to die, but if he does, then he should be missed. And Eli will miss him ... "Eli drifted on the edge of sleep and, alone in the shadows, he remembered how to cry."

Beautiful :cry:

.

I know kirkesque probably wont see this post, but I just had to give praise where it is due.

.
"For a few seconds Oskar saw through Eli’s eyes. And what he saw was … himself. Only much better, more handsome, stronger than what he thought of himself. Seen with love."

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Wolfchild
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Re: Quick Bright Things

Post by Wolfchild » Sun Dec 18, 2011 6:56 am

Jameron wrote:Just read this story, and I love it.

I don't really want Oskar to die, but if he does, then he should be missed. And Eli will miss him ... "Eli drifted on the edge of sleep and, alone in the shadows, he remembered how to cry."

Beautiful :cry:

I know kirkesque probably wont see this post, but I just had to give praise where it is due.
This the first fan fic ever posted here. In fact, Quick Bright Things was what prompted me to put together the whole Fan Content area (or to be perfectly honest, to find someone to put it together for me). Quick Bright Things is still my favorite fan fic.

I should ping him and see what he is up to; see if I get him to put in an appearance.
...the story derives a lot of its appeal from its sense of despair and a darkness in which the love of Eli and Oskar seems to shine with a strange and disturbing light.
-Lacenaire

Visit My LTROI fan page.

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kirkesque
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Re: Quick Bright Things

Post by kirkesque » Wed Feb 06, 2013 2:57 am

I'm always flattered when I drop in here and read these responses.

This was an awesome story to write. It helped me through some personal crap, and speaks to something far more than that. I like having been the faucet for it.


~k
"Se til helvete å komme dere vekk. Det er ikke en bikkje! Det er en slags TING!
Det imiterer en bikkje. Det er ikke virkelig! Kom dere vekk, IDIOTER!"

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PeteMork
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Location: Menlo Park, California

Re: Quick Bright Things

Post by PeteMork » Sun Dec 10, 2017 4:16 pm

Since this was discussed in our Skype call last night, I thought I'd give it a bump. It's been described as a 'solution' to the problems Oskar and Eli could face if Oskar is either turned or becomes "Oskar at 40".
We never stop reading, although every book comes to an end, just as we never stop living, although death is certain. (Roberto Bolaño)

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metoo
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Re: Quick Bright Things

Post by metoo » Sun Dec 10, 2017 9:27 pm

Yes, it has, and I don’t believe it would realistically work. Now, you might object that being a vampire is already unrealistic, which of course is true. However, stories by JAL are generally very realistic, with just a small amount of supernatural horror added. You might say that there usually is a realistic realm and a supernatural one, where the realistic realm is completely plausible. This method to obtain blood resides firmly in the realistic realm, where I think it fails. I have to stretch my belief too far to accept it. A blood loss of one litre is considered dangerous, see Wikipedia, and would plausibly be detected by hospital staff. Oskar wouldn’t be able to continue doing this for long.

Another trouble with this particular story is that Oskar is able to get a job at a hospital using a fake identity. That is not very realistic, since in Sweden you need to hand over your so-called personnummer, “personal identity number”, when being employed. The personnummer is a code that is used everywhere to identify an individual. An employer such as a hospital uses the personnummer for its own administrative purposes, and it is needed for taxation. Swedish employers pay the income taxes of their employees directly to the authorities, and then they need the personnummer to indicate for whom the tax is paid. To fake an identity is therefore not that simple, since a fake personnummer would be discovered rather quickly.

And, of course, Oskar would want to get paid for his work at the hospital. For which he would need a bank account. For which he would need a personnummer, again.
But from the beginning Eli was just Eli. Nothing. Anything. And he is still a mystery to me. John Ajvide Lindqvist

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