Title: Reminiscence
Author: Kenya Starflight
Rating: K
Genre: Drama/Angst
DLP Category: General
Pairing: Calvin/Susie
Status: Complete
Summary: Calvin is all grown up... how has the passage of time affected him and those around him?
Link: FFN

Losing one's childhood and finding it again... a oneshot that explores what comes after Calvin has to grow up, how people change, and the wonders of the adolescent mind.

Honestly, I didn't even know Calvin and Hobbes had a fandom. But there I was, scrolling through the favorites of some author or another, and stumbled across this, written before I even started reading fanfiction.

I was skeptical upon reading the summary; I'm of the opinion that departure from Calvin's childhood defeats the entire point of Watterson's magical world. But I finished, satisfied with the conclusion that this brought forth, more realistic and bittersweet than Watterson's true ending, but more satisfying and less soul-crushing than the fake last panel that destroyed my childhood when I first saw it.

A quick search reveals the story has been posted, but only in a single post of the Other Fandoms Almost Recommendable thread. I figured I'd step up and actually post it in For Review, since I feel like it deserves to be recommended in its own right.

I myself will avoid rating out of the fear that my judgement is clouded by the nostalgiagoggles strapped firmly to my head, but I do still feel it's worth a read by any fan of Calvin and Hobbes who was curious about what kind of adult Calvin turned out to be.

 

That made me tear up. :/

The story was good throughout the beginning, but towards the end it tried to tie everything up into a little bundle, neatly concluding each character's life. It felt forced, and towards the latter portion I skimmed large chunks. It's above average, I'd say.

That comic, though, it was classic. :awesome

Also, I rate it 3.5/5, rounded down to 3/5. Above average, but it doesn't quite cut it, IMO.

 

So basically, it's Calvin and Hobbes' True End, Watterson's intended one is the Good End, and that 'last panel' was Bad End.

 

Eh - I dunno how to really rate this. Calvin& Hobbes fanfiction is a foreign concept to me, because it exemplifies someone providing an answer to a question that no one asked. C&H is perfect as it is - literally never inspired any sort of "What if it went like this...?" scenarios.

But it's a damned fine effort. 3/5

 

I remember reading this quite a while back and really liking it, although the criticism of things being tied up neatly are somewhat valid. And yes, Blaise is correct that there was really no need to elaborate on Calvin's later life, since for all intents and purposes, Calvin will forever remain the six year old he was in the last comic strip - the six year old we all wish we still were. Or am I projecting, there?

If I'm not mistaken, there is a decent (read: readable) C&H - HP xover out there where (I think) Calvin attends Hogwarts. The Best Seven Years, maybe? I dunno.

This one gets a 4/5 from me, if only for Calvin's loss and eventual reunion.

 

This fic didn't really do anything for me. I don't think I have the same Calvin & Hobbes nostalgia as a lot of other folks do. It used to be my favourite comic in the weekend newspaper growing up, but I never felt any great sentimental attachment to the characters.

The tragedy that happens to Calvin in later life didn't affect me at all, and it should have. Calvin reuniting with his old tormentor, meh. In fact the whole thing was emotionally flat for me. The end was decent, but that's about it.

I suspect the worth of this fic depends on what the reader brings to it. It gets a 2.5/5 from me, and I still feel that I might be rating it too high.

 

Maybe it's the fact that I can look back on my childhood in a similar fashion that Calvin does in this, but damn.... just well worth it if you have had the innocence stripped from your childhood and can identify with where this was coming from. I will fully admit it's largely nostalgia, but the mix of Real Life Events into what 'Calvin' describes, and finally being able to reconnect to your childhood was really well done.

 

Ya'll is some jaded ass, sorry ass hoes, you know that? :|

No need for Calvin and Hobbes fanfiction is true enough, but regardless, this is single handed one of the better written pieces of any fandom, and you faggots wanna rate it 2.5? 3? I know I can't do better, so lets see yours, Yak. Blaise. Ayasha.

Granted, some of it was unneeded. But it was an awesome piece one way or another. So, suck it. Four of Five at least, since it serves all purposes of a story and does it well.

Personally, I'd rate it five our of "Fuck you, haters. Ya'll just got styled on by a fuckin cartoon tiger. And Tigger fucks yo momma in the mouth."

 

It wasn't bad, a little dry at the start, but decent after it got going.

Spoiler

The emotional investment in Susie wasn't high enough given the apparent closeness of their relationship and how much the self-doubt he feels now was related to the unfortunate circumstances of their parting. The changes wouldn't even have to have been overt so much as symbolic--just giving his daughter his wife's Binky Betsy doll, e.g., instead of the no-name zebra (and regretting not honoring his wife's tea parties as a child) would have sufficed.

I'd have rather seen more on his and Susie's time together. The narrator spent as much time on Moe, giving the piece a feel of "put a tick mark next to everyone Calvin spent substantial time with as a child."

I don't give half point ratings, so it's probably a 3/5 from me--good reading, but not quite up to DLP library standards for a one-shot, which really must be exceptional, tight storytelling. Were the story trimmed a bit, distilled down to what really needs to be there, it'd merit the 4/5.

For what it's worth, the other Calvin and Hobbes fanfiction of note, Blu Taiger's unevenly edited and occasionally slapsticky HP crossover The Best Seven Years, is one of my son's favorite stories.