by Taylor Quest (link)
Genre slash, romance, drama, thriller
Pairings Isaac/OFC, Taylor/OMC
Length 15 chapters
Status Completed (first in The Story In Your Eyes Series)
Ah, the good old days of Nifty.org. One might expect, having been posted to that site, that The Day The Earth moved would be little more than a smutfest. To my surprise, it isn’t at all, making it easier to see why this became one of the first classic slash fics to find popularity amongst female fans.
The title isn’t as cheesy as it sounds; the story begins, literally, with the earth moving. A massive earthquake hits Los Angeles just after Taylor Quest (who naturally shares his name with the author) arrives in town to see Hanson. He is immediately thrown into Taylor Hanson’s path, and the title becomes more metaphorical as well, as the two of them fall in love while trying to save each others’ lives over and over again in the wake of the disaster.
From there, the story shifts to focus on Taylor’s career and the effect that coming out of the closet may have on it. He’s fearless, though, and in true fantasy style, he and Will (as he becomes known to avoid confusion) quickly become a popular couple in and out of the fandom. With only a few sex scenes, the real fantasy here is in how easily and quickly their relationship is accepted. When you consider that this story was originally written in the late nineties (although this revised version features some more contemporary references), it’s bittersweet to see how far we’ve come toward acceptance and how far we still have to go.
And in true late nineties, Nifty.org style, this is one crazy roller coaster ride of a fantasy. Some of the wilder aspects turn out to be little more than a concussion induced dream, but there are still plenty of eyeroll worthy moments. The realization that the gaggle of gay icons who make cameos are part of that fever dream only makes it a little bit cleverer. The edits Taylor Quest made still leave a lot to be desired in terms of grammar and punctuation, but he introduces such interesting characters in The Day The Earth Moved that I can see why people overlooked its flaws and fell in love with the story.
Review by Bethany (website)