Day 2 + a fic meme

[thelinesoflearning]

""Where are you most comfortable?" -- asked by bookblather

To be honest I'm not sure whether this is a question about physical comfort or mental? But the answer to pretty much either is, when visiting sharpeningthebones, for various reasons:

1. Privacy! It doesn't exist in my house.
2. Company! It's nice to have it, particularly when it's Mal. (The other house I go to has the aforementioned privacy problem. I only know two people in my area.)
3. Set-up! It's a damn comfortable bed okay. I love that bed.

(In general, physical comfort is a bitch for me? My body really hates sitting straight upright in a chair so I like couches, beds, even chairs I can throw my legs over or sit sideways and cross-legged on (I did this even in classes at my desk. I do not sit straight forward if I can help it, I hate it). Texture issues are a big thing, so it depends on the material of the chair/what you put on the thing, too. I hate most couch coverings I've encountered. They make me want to cry.

There are a couple of kinds of blankets that are basically perfect even on my WORST texture days, though, and they are one of the kinds my grandmother buys, and the kind Mal has. So, yeah, that bed is my favorite place.)

... I got nothing else. I'm trying to think of things to add but I think I'm done.

Tomorrow: Stories! Day after: Nothing! That is to say, I still have 18 open slots so please come ask me questions.


And now a writing meme. Because I love it.

Give me the title of a story I've never written and feedback telling me what you liked best about it, and I will tell you any of: the first sentence, the last sentence, the thing that made me want to write it, the biggest problem I had while writing it, why it almost never got posted, the scene that hit the cutting room floor but that I wish I'd been able to salvage, or something else that I want readers to know.

Anything you know I'm familiar with goes for this, whether I write it or not. If you know nothing about my fandoms, you can get an idea off of my Ao3 or poking around my tumblr. Original stories/stories in original verses go too.

Comments

[silveradept]

Well, the Firefly/Doctor Who crossover you called "Time Bandits" (which was a giant wink in of itself) never quite clicked because Mal seemed too willing to resort to violence, and I thought that was Jayne's thing.

But I loved the scene where Amy, Inara, and Zoe compare their men, while Kaylee hung around in the background and took notes.

[thelinesoflearning]

The first sentence: "Where the hell did this come from?"

The last sentence: "Bet we'll never see them again," Mal leans in to mutter, his eyes on the disappearing box. He still doesn't look like he trusts it after all this, and Zoe suppresses a laugh, even as she nods her agreement.

River's voice is clearer than it ought to be, across the bay and under the whine of the blue box. "Yes, we will."

The thing that made me want to write it: First it was Amy and Zoe with guns, taking on the bad guys. Then somebody mentioned Kaylee on the TARDIS and I was sold.

The biggest problem I had while writing it: You pointed out Mal's characterization already. I had justifications for the violence thing -- there's a lot of problems going on under the 'we're fine no really' surface, and Zoe's sections touch on them, but I wanted to keep to female points of view exclusively once I realized how I'd started, and none of that got in.

Why it almost never got posted: As much as I love Rory, Amy and Inara figuring out the thing they're stealing is a fake -- as much for the way it cements their strange friendship as the fact that they're badass -- coming up with things for them to notice about it to figure it out was really hard. The plot ended up stalled for two weeks trying to think of a way to make it sound realistic.

The scene that hit the cutting room floor but that I wish I'd been able to salvage: The flashback to Book being the Doctor's companion. The fic worked best with him not there and I couldn't get the flashback in in a way that didn't slow the plot to a crawl. I tried to at least work in a clear confirmation, but in the end it worked best with vague hints and no resolution.

Something else that I want readers to know: A couple of people have asked about this -- I don't actually ship River Tam and Eleven, I just really like writing River interacting with Time Lords. I tried to at least make it plot-relevant?

[silveradept]

I think they got hung up on the allusion that River Tam waa a later regeneration of Romana, and there's a strong shipping contingent of Doctor / Romana.

[thelinesoflearning]

This is true -- and I can definitely see it once we get to the sequel I never got around to writing, where River finds her fobwatch. Of course, River's a lot older in that fic, too.

Looking back, I wish I'd been a little gentler with that one, because either that hung people up, or people expected all my little hints to be so obvious -- hardly anyone got the Book reference, and even less people realized I was implying that Saffron and the Master had worked together.

[bookblather]

It was open to interpretation! And I'm really glad you have a place that IS that comfortable, in both ways.

Also, hmm. I really liked the way you paralleled the characters in that Burn Notice/Firefly fusion. Brothers in Arms, right?

[thelinesoflearning]

The first sentence: "You're a lucky woman," is the first thing Inara hears when she comes to, groaning at the pain in her ribs. She cracks her eyes open to see Jayne scowling at her from the chair, that particular kind of scowl that means he's been worried.

The last sentence: "Inara, we're looking so forward to meeting you."

Inara takes a deep breath, closes her eyes for half-a-second and hopes that Zoe, that Jayne, that Kaylee forgive her for this. Wonders, just for a second, if this is really worth it.

And then she hits the gas and rides into the trailer.

The thing that made me want to write it: Being an awful person. No, really. Someone prompted me to write Burn Notice/Firefly fusion and I know they meant the BN kids in the Firefly world, but they didn't specify. Also, I already had that in my head and I couldn't wrap my brain around doing it a different way, but mostly it was being an awful person and realizing how open the prompt was.

The biggest problem I had while writing it: Trying to decide where to fit people! Originally I actually had Mal as Michael and Jayne as Nate, but the line 'That's why you were a soldier and I was a spy' kept rattling around my head. Mal as Michael just never quite fit to me, no matter how much I tried to make it work.

So in the end I went from Zoe or Mal as Sam and worked from there. I knew Jayne and Fi would slot together ridiculously well, so I stuck him there half as a placeholder, and well... Jayne/Inara is one of my guilty pleasure ships, okay? (I ship Inara/Simon more but I SO could not see Simon as Fi.) Kaylee as the screw-up little sister came pretty late in the game, but I like how it worked out.

Why it almost never got posted: I originally wanted to do more than season one. I still want to do more than season one, but trying to write the whole thing in one go was impossible. It would be novel-length and I would never have finished and posted it.

The scene that hit the cutting room floor but that I wish I'd been able to salvage: There was a lot more of Atherton Wing as Bly in my outline. Bly is one of my favorite antagonists, but it just didn't work out.

Something else that I want readers to know: First, I know I changed Barry an awful lot but come on, Wash as the money launderer was too fun to ignore and I couldn't not put him with Zoe. Second, if I ever get around to writing more: Simon is Jesse; Saffron is Dead Larry; River is Sonya and I don't know how I'm working that out with Simon, if they're not related or what, but she just is.