Stray (fanfic): Difference between revisions

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[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2711502/1/Stray Stray] is a [[Metal Gear Solid]] [[Slash Fic]] by Dahne that centers around a romantic relationship between [[Metal Gear/Characters|Otacon and Major Ocelot (also called Adamska within the story)]]. Yes, that's the twenty year old Ocelot from ''Metal Gear Solid 3''. Not surprisingly, the story involves [[Time Travel]].

Apart from its unusual pairing and premise, the story is notable for its length (71 chapters plus prologue and epilogue), its multiple plot arcs, its blend of serious character-driven drama and quirky humor, and writing [[Purple Prose|a bit towards the lower-wavelength end of the visible spectrum.]] And Otacon's adorable in it.

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* [[Actor Allusion]]: "the cold, thousand-yard glare [[David Hayter|Snake]] would give anybody who spoke ill of the first two X-Men movies."

* [[Adaptation Expansion]]: ''Stray'' was originally a one-shot story, which covered major events from Hal and Adamska's first meeting through the beginning of the Shadow Moses arc in a series of vignettes. Then the author decided to do an expansion/rewrite, which included several new story arcs and more time for relationship development.

* [[Adorkable]]: Otacon. Even Raikov thinks he's cute! ([[It Makes Sense in Context]].)

* [[Afraid of Needles]]: variation - Adamska's not afraid of ''needles'', he's afraid of what might be in the shot, on principle.

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** The phrase is also a [[Shout-Out]] to ''[[Planescape: Torment]]''.

** Also, "Find what your enemy wants, and do the opposite."

* [[Author Appeal]]: the writer seems to be a big fan of Scandinavian mythology.

* [[Badass Longcoat]]: Big Boss wears one. Lampshaded when another character remarks that he must do so for the dramatic effect.

* [[Batman Gambit]]: the story has ''[[Magnificent Bastard|Ocelot]]'' (admittedly a younger and better-natured version) and an entire international conspiracy of [[The Chessmaster|Chessmasters]]. It's not exactly surprising that someone tries to pull one of these.

* [[Better Than It Sounds]]: a romance between a shy, kindhearted [[Otaku]] from the 2000s and a [[Troubled but Cute]] [[Tyke Bomb]] [[Double Agent]] from the 1960s (who grows up to be one of the Otaku's best friend's recurring enemies), who [[Meet Cute]] in an accident involving a homemade [[Time Machine]].

* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]

* [[Bi the Way]]: Otacon.

* [[Broken Ace]]: Adamska. He's smart, he's talented, he's good looking {{spoiler|and he manages to change history}} - but he's not exactly a paragon of personal stability.

* [[Bunny Ears Lawyer]]: Otacon. He's a massive [[Otaku]], and Adamska is convinced in the early chapters that he's thoroughly - although harmlessly - insane, but the man managed to build a functioning time machine in his garage.

* [[Cats Are Mean]]: a running gag with Tanya, a scrawny little stray with violent [[Tsundere]] tendencies.

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* [[I Cannot Self-Terminate]]: {{spoiler|Adamska mercy kills older-Ocelot (who had been partially converted into his continuity's version of the Cyborg Ninja) at Shadow Moses at his older self's request, Hal does the same for a gut-shot Esau.}}

* [[I See Dead People]]: Ocelot can see ghosts. The Sorrow also makes an appearance, and has the same abilities he does in canon.

* [[IKEA Erotica]]: strongly averted. It is possible to tell what's going on in the sex scenes, but they're much heavier on internal monologue than anatomy.

* [[Jossed]]: on a few issues. This was probably inevitable, since the story was started well before ''Guns of the Patriots'' came out and gave the official explanation for the series' [[Gambit Pileup]].

* [[Journey to the Center of the Mind]]

* [[Kansas City Shuffle]]: {{spoiler|It wasn't Adamska the Patriots wanted.}}

* [[Last Kiss]]: {{spoiler|Big Boss and his timeline's Ocelot, whose spirit was being channeled by Adamska.}}

* [[May-December Romance|May/September Romance]]: Adamska's twenty, Otacon's in his thirties.

** If you consider birth date and not years spent living, it's a May/December romance the other way, since Adamska was born decades before Hal.

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* [[Shout-Out|ShoutOuts]]: lots of them, most notably to [[Neon Genesis Evangelion]], [[Planescape: Torment]], and [[Norse Mythology]].

** Philip K. Dick gets a few references, too, in phrases like "I hope cyborgs dream of electric sheep, I really do" and "I saw him through glass, darkly."

** "I saw him through glass, darkly," as well as Dick's "A Scanner Darkly," is a [[The Bible|Biblical reference]] (from Corinthians: "For now we see through a glass, darkly.").

* [[Shrouded in Myth]]: Big Boss, who is a [[Memetic Badass]] to his own troops.

* [[Sleep Cute]]

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* [[Techno Wizard]]: Otacon. He built a time machine [[Homemade Inventions|in his garage, out of parts scavenged from household appliances.]]

* [[Techno Babble]]: a lot of this in the scenes with Otacon and Ocelot working on the time machine. To be fair, it's not like there's an accepted scientific vocabulary for this sort of thing. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] when Otacon admits that he made a lot of it up himself.

* [[Theme Naming]]: the Philosophers/Patriots do love their Biblical references.

** Otacon's anime-inspired names for the dogs would also count.

* [[The Theorem of Narrow Interests]]: an aversion.

* [[Troubled but Cute]]: Adamska, although he's slightly older than the stereotypical example and not a James Dean homage. He is, however, [[Good Looking Privates|attractive]], [[Anti-Hero|morally ambiguous and potentially dangerous]] but with [[The Woobie|a touch of hidden vulnerability]] and [[Freudian Excuse|massive issues.]]

* [[Troubled but Cute]]: Adamska, although he's slightly older than the stereotypical example and not a James Dean homage. He is, however, [[Good-Looking Privates|attractive]], [[Anti-Hero|morally ambiguous and potentially dangerous]] but with [[The Woobie|a touch of hidden vulnerability]] and [[Freudian Excuse|massive issues.]]

** Esau would be a villainous version.

* [[Tyke Bomb]]: Ocelot was brought up as one of these by the [[Ancient Conspiracy|Philosophers]], and the story goes into the psychological impact quite a bit.

** {{spoiler|Esau was, as well, by the Patriots.}}

* [[Unholy Matrimony]]: Volgin and Raikov, in flashbacks. "The two of them complimented each other, he supposed. Like oil and fire. Or potassium and cyanide."