The Story In Your Eyes
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Story In Your Eyes |
| Author(s): | Taylor Quest and Melody Blake |
| Date(s): | 1999-2010 |
| Length: | 6 stories, ~423k words |
| Genre: | slash romance |
| Fandom: | Hanson |
| External Links: | geocities.com/WestHollywood/Chelsea/2086/taylor, taylorquest.tripod.com, tangibledreams.net/tribute, http://hanfic.blogspot.com and http://www.tarheelwriter.com/quest/quest.php |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Story In Your Eyes is an unfinished Hanson fanfic series by Taylor Quest. It was written (and edited) mostly from 1999 to 2007, although the author resurfaced and reposted parts of the first story in 2010.
This series was one of the first slash stories to become widely popular amongst female fans, and remained popular for many years. Each story, except the last, follows a similar formula, wherein most of the action takes place in a dream or other story-within-a-story. Many gay icons and other fictional characters make appearances within the series.
The Day The Earth Moved
In the first story, narrator Taylor William Quest manages to meet his idol in a hotel, just before a massive earthquake hits. It's love at first sight, and the two Taylors (one later to be known as Will) set off to try to escape the disaster, some of which is revealed to only be a dream Will experienced while passed out.
Disaster In Paradise
The second story picks up immediately afterward, with Taylor and Will off on a romantic vacation in Hawaii. Said vacation is derailed by Taylor's stalker ex-girlfriend and another natural disaster... at least one of which turns out to be a figment of someone's imagination.
Eternal Night
Taylor and Will attempt another vacation. This time, their romantic trip to Paris is rerouted to Romania due to a storm, and the story takes a turn for the supernatural. Or does it?
Memories... Of A Forgotten Past
The first story in the series to be written with co-author Melody Blake. In something of a crossover with X-Files, Taylor's memory is erased and he can no longer recall ever meeting, let alone dating Will. While the two of them fight to remember each other, a girl band love interest for Zac is introduced.
A Love Incognito
After Taylor and Will reunite, Taylor's parents suddenly express their disapproval and forced Taylor to get back together with his ex-girlfriend.
Journey Into Oblivion
The second story in the series to be written with melody Blake. While Taylor is forced into fatherhood, Will becomes a celebrity in his own right and Zac gets caught up in a tangled web of girl band drama.
Reactions and Reviews
From reviews by Bethany on PlaceToHide.net:[1][2][3][4][5][6]
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.
How does one follow up a story such as The Day The Earth Moved that makes such an earnest attempt to reach epic proportions? If you’re Taylor Quest, the answer is by picking up immediately after the end of said story and copying its plot structure far too closely.
Once again, we see Taylor and Will attempting to embark on a vacation, this time to Paris. This allows for the most explicit sex scene to date, and I have to say I agree with the stewardess who found it hot. In spite of everything else that frustrates me about Taylor Quest’s writing, Taylor and Will are an easy to ship couple. Likewise, I find the scenes with Zac and the rest of the family interesting, although the subplot with Isaac and Shiye is telegraphed rather obviously.
I have spent the majority of my time reading The Story In Your Eyes hoping that Taylor Quest would deviate from the pattern he has established of having a fake out ending wherein it is revealed that the majority of the story wasn’t real. I got my wish this time, in a way. Memories… of a Forgotten Past actually negates nearly the entire series up to this point.
While I normally love stories that deal with this period of Taylor’s life, there’s something about the way Taylor Quest handles it, combined with his continued nastiness toward Hanson fans, that leaves me feeling sick to my stomach. I’m afraid there’s no way the unfinished sixth story in the series can redeem it after everything that went wrong in A Love Incognito.
I will, however, give Taylor and Melody some credit. This is the smuttiest installment in the series by far. Unfortunately, little to none of the smut is between the only two characters I particularly like, and the rest involves a variety of celebrities I have no interest in. There is also some lesbian action, mostly just hinted at off screen, but the characters are written so terribly that this isn’t a plus by any means.
Awards
It was nominated for awards in the Hanspirational Fan Fiction Awards, TP Hanfic Awards and Waiting To Be Read Awards. It is featured in the PlaceToHide.net hall of fame.