Recced by anowlinsunshine 

Title: like explosions in the sky by flimsy (R)
Fandom: Bandom
Pairing: Jon/Spencer, primary; secondary Ryan/Brendon, Frank/Gerard, and Pete/Patrick
Categories: angst, au, sad stories
Length: Medium (~7,200 words)
Warnings: implied character death, heavy angst

Author on LJ: flimsy 
Website: n/a

Review:
Shortly after the day that officially recognizes that he has only five more years to live, Spencer Smith meets Jon Walker and falls in love. Their relationship is dampened, however, by the knowledge that Jon has only four months left. Determined not to lose him, Spencer takes Jon and leaves in search of a way to keep Jon alive and with him, no matter the cost.

I first read this story about two years ago, and despite it blatantly defying almost every rule I have for personally enjoying a fic, it is one of the few that I still reread regularly. As the author describes it, this fic is an AU combining dystopian and magical realist elements. It is certainly not a happy or feel-good fic, and with good reason. The central premise of the story and the world in which it plays out is a chilling one: what if everyone lived for a maximum of twenty-five years and age was measured not by how long you lived, but by how many years you had left? From the start, this constructs a bleak, almost oppressive atmosphere, which flimsy captures and maintains to perfect effect.

For me, what is most interesting about this story is how it explores defiance of the rule of absolute mortality that defines its setting, tone, and characters' personalities and worldviews. In the three couples Spencer encounters throughout the fic, flimsy shows us three possible ways to beat the system at the story's core, none of them truly positive and all of them uniquely, distinctly heartbreaking. And while I am not sure if the characterization of everyone involved is entirely spot-on, the result of these meetings and the knowledge they bring is a quiet, aching, beautiful look at not only the nature of human defiance, but also the power of love to inspire it and the bitersweet consequences we face from any act of passion, romantic or otherwise.

like explosions in the sky