In the Gallowgate End in the Rain - Newcastle Utd fic, Ben Arfa/Cabaye

[awkward_sorta]

In The Gallowgate End In The Rain
PG
~1900

For kfunk22 who gave me a lovely prompt about these two and then wanted Alan Pardew as well - the cheek of some people! ♥ I'm laughing as I even type that pairing out but despite the fact I never thought I'd be writing Newcastle fic, I really enjoyed this. Thanks for the ideal prompt, Karo. Here's to the Premier

Comments

[kfunk22]

FYI: i legit SHRIEKED when i saw this. which probably would have been fine, had i not been on a work call at the time!

so yeah. placeholder comment for later, when i've actually read this and can properly revel in all of your glory.

[awkward_sorta]

<3 <3 taking the time to leave placeholder comments is the loveliest. i hope your colleagues weren't too bemused!

[kfunk22]

let the flailing commence!

first, thank you so much for filling this prompt. i absolutely adore this. it's honest to goodness PERFECT, ella. i love their characterizations - cabaye's gentleness, hatem's volatility. i love the ebb and flow of their relationship - how sometimes it's easy and other times not - and how that comes to be a reflection of newcastle's form.

other things i loved: their struggles to fit in - on the squad and in their new city; their interactions with their teammates, debuchy especially; your explorations of the transience of fame and football, and how that might affect a person.

also: ALAN PARDEW. flawless fic is flawless.

what i like best, i think, is the moodiness of this piece. it's so quiet and steady until the melancholy rises to the surface and pulls you in.

i cannot thank you enough for writing this! and you managed to include every single bit of the prompt - i'm astounded!

brava, woman, brava!

[awkward_sorta]

you are so lovely <3 first of all i really mean it when i say that this was all due to your prompt - it was so easy to include everything you asked for because it was all interwoven, i couldn't have explored one without the other, and it was all exactly the kind of thing i love to write about.

thank you for your comments, i'm really flattered and pleased that you found so much in what is really just a short piece. i'm really glad the moodiness worked too, i rarely write something that isn't just sort of cutesy and about platonic boyfriends, as you well know, so it's a relief to know that this isn't just super pretentious.

thanks karo <3 bring your prompts to me any time!

[justkisa]

this is so lovely. I really enjoyed it. The contrasts between the two of them, all the little details, the wonderful sense of place - the strangeness of Newcastle at first and then the way it and they evolve - just all of it's really lovely. Very nice.

[awkward_sorta]

Ah thank you <3 thanks for reading and for taking the time to let me know your thoughts, I'm really pleased it worked for you.