This was an excellent recommendation! I posted my review of “Moments” by DescendingFrost on fanfiction (dot) net. I figured I’d post it here as well:

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There are a lot of really phenomenal things done here! Like how the mace was made a symbol of Hawkgirl’s home and her people. And how GL raises the stakes for her in a way that makes her feel “claustrophobic”. And that for all of her posturing, she is in the middle of an identity crisis. Her thoughts and behaviors really help paint a picture of a whirlwind of conflicting emotions and hard choices in a way that shows rather than tells. Bravo for that!

I absolutely love how defensive she is. I mean, the piece opens with her rationalizing! When GL finds her alone just before sunrise, she tries to rationalize how she knew he was there because the fresh air cleared her mind. Her response to GL’s observation that her mace is important to her is a classic ‘you-don’t-know-me-as-well-as-you-think’ maneuver. Of course, he does know her well, and, in the most subtle of ways, no point hit home more clearly than GL’s remark, “You’re strong enough without it. Your mace, that is—“ which were just the words she needed to hear at a time she was doubting her strength of character. In addition to rationalization, there is plenty of denial and roundabout behavior. Like her assumption that Batman sent GL to find her, as well as her awkward apology/icebreaker “We don’t really get along, I know. But…”.

The ‘dance’ Hawkgirl and GL do with each other is really well done. She has feelings for him but doesn’t want to feel vulnerable by letting him know. He has his suspicions but respects her enough as a person and as a comrade to move at her pace. That part where he’s talking to her and she’s pretending not to listen but then hears what she suspects is his sigh and begins backpedaling as fast as she can, revealing that she really ‘was’ listening, and very intently at that – that part made me smile. Especially when she immediately begins to worry that she may have been ‘too’ friendly with the compliments.

The characterization is pitch perfect! I could actually hear the voices of Maria Canals, Phil LaMarr and Kevin Conroy as I was reading. Hawkgirl had that “I’m brave but I’m chickenshit” (Alanis Morissette reference) thing going on. GL had that “Officer and a Gentleman” thing going on. Batman was classic Batman with his smart-alecky comments and ‘preoccupation-with-performance-rather-than-people’ façade.

DescendingFrost…

This. Was. Great. I mean, wow! This is really, really impressive and you should be proud. You captured the tone of the characters and their relationships as presented in the JL/JLU animated series perfectly. Actually, I think you did an even better job and that’s saying a lot! I’m very proud of you and I hope that more people get to read your work. I also hope that when Shayera is put back into the main DC continuity she receives the kind of solid characterization that you have given her here. I thought Bruce Timm, Dwayne McDuffie & company made a wise decision to have two female league members instead of the standard one, and between Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl was easily my favorite. Many people have wanted to see more of John Stewart and more of Hawkgirl since the series ended back in 2006. After being sidelined for several years since then, John is finally starting to get attention again. I hope Hawkgirl does as well.

I see that you have four chapters here. Unfortunately, between reading and writing, I only have time for one at the moment. I just had to let you know that I am very impressed and extremely proud of you.

Best wishes,
anonsaga

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