5 Things Meme—of the Ficlet Variety

[scribblemyname]

This entry is part 44 of 51 in the series 365 Challenge

Gacked from penknife:

You post a topic, list, category, whatever, in comments. (examples: "Five SG-1 Mission Reports That Were Less Than Entirely Truthful", or "Five Times Bruce Banner Lost His Toothbrush," or "Five Ways Nikola Tesla Failed to Take Over the World"). I'll answer with a list of five things.

Ideally fandoms that I know something about, unless you want me to guess, which could be entertaining but probably not the way you want. Or (and preferably) original fiction. All storyworlds on the table, i.e. Seven Days, Kingdoms and Thorn, the Alliance, Vardin, etc.

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Completed Ficlets & Scenes

Kingdoms and Thorn:

• Rachelle + Justus – Without a Reason
• Shift + Justus + Red Wolf – It's Own Absolution
• Rachelle + Justus – It Came Up
• Rachelle/Justus – Simply Because
• Rachelle + Justus – Defining Love
• Rachelle + Shift + Meld – Playing with Knives
• Killinger + Special Unit ensemble – Technicalities
• Killinger + Special Unit ensemble – Call Me If You Need Me
• Killinger + Special Unit ensemble – Element of Uncertainty
• Marc + Cate – A Simple Question
• Marc + Cate – The Nameless Below
• Killinger + Special Unit ensemble – Tracing Trouble

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Originally published at Liana Mir. You can comment here or there.

Comments

Re: Kingdoms and Thorns Ficlet: A Simple Question

[thecatisacritic.livejournal.com]

So... I guess I was expecting more of a reaction.

It's like when Shift handled that moment when Justus met Red Wolf. It's not bad, I liked the story. It's an interesting perspective and dynamic, but I still didn't see the thoughts of the person I was expecting. I get Cate's thoughts, not Marc's. I still know nothing about him. And for some reason, I came off not liking Cate very much after this.

Re: Kingdoms and Thorns Ficlet: A Simple Question

[scribblemyname]

Well, don't know what to do with Cate for you. She really, really likes the fact that she can't read Marc without trying. This wasn't a strong enough moment to indicate that to her, as a telepath, this is blessed relief. Cate's one of those extremely complicated layers kind of people. She doesn't even always evaluate her own self, just adjusts to please.

Hadn't really thought about you wanting into his head. Hm... Well, let's try 'er again.

Re: Kingdoms and Thorns Ficlet: A Simple Question

[thecatisacritic.livejournal.com]

I wasn't expecting you to do this one for a bit, and it probably would have been better if I'd gotten their long fics first. I didn't get that sense about her, that she was enjoying not reading him. It was hinted at, but I didn't really understand the hint. So her teasing didn't seem... appropriate.

I admit, I'm not sure I want in his head, but I would think the reaction needs to come from him.

Re: Kingdoms and Thorns Ficlet: A Simple Question

[scribblemyname]

"So her teasing didn't seem... appropriate."

I will say this about it (because this sort of thing crops up in my work often): if he's asking specifically about more than one ability and he's SEEN her use more than one, then I do think her teasing was appropriate, especially when she's pointing out that he should have noticed.

Though that was more obvious in his version, it was certainly present in this one.

Re: Kingdoms and Thorns Ficlet: A Simple Question

[thecatisacritic.livejournal.com]

I think sometimes with me, it's like walking a minefield, never knowing what might set me off.

This one I read it the second time after getting off a bad day at work and my overwhelming reaction to it was a very frustrated, "why am I getting Cate's thoughts on this when I asked what Marc felt? This was supposed to be how he felt about that world changer, and I didn't see that at all."

Exaggeration, of course, because if I look in there, it's there, but I had to go back and look for it.

Add in my lack of familiarity with these two, not understanding them or their dynamic, I had thought learning something like that would be a much greater betrayal than it seemed to be. Her teasing him in that case would have been inappropriate, and I also felt like the part when she was watching his eyes was rather school girlish and out of place, too.

We discussed how I tend to feel about people who use smiles/laughter as coping mechanisms, and I think it is a very thin line for me between when they are using that and when they come off as jerks and liars. It's a personal bias, going back to me always thinking it was a lie if I said I was okay when I was depressed.

*sigh*

Because of all that, her teasing in the first one seemed smug, maybe even... bitchy. She read to me like she didn't care what she'd done in disrupting his world. The way she was just like "you already knew" rubbed me the wrong way.

With the second one, he wasn't subtle about explaining her reactions. I understood her teasing him in the second one. I saw him react, and he expected that from her. It still wasn't what I expected as a sense of betrayal, but that wasn't what it was to him, just what I expected it to be.

Re: Kingdoms and Thorns Ficlet: A Simple Question

[scribblemyname]

With the second one, he wasn't subtle about explaining her reactions.

And there is the big kicker. :smacks forehead: I tend toward subtlety and you tend to like characters who are striving toward understanding. Duh. Should have caught that sooner. And that's a real blind spot I sometimes have on picking POV, especially en media res of a longstanding relationship. Going to keep this in mind.

Re: Kingdoms and Thorns Ficlet: A Simple Question

[thecatisacritic.livejournal.com]

Well, you can't go altering your style just for me. I wish I was better at the subtle... I don't understand why I need things to hit me like a brick. It makes me feel stupid, and I'm not, and I'd blame it on my reading being too fast, but I have good retention of what I read. I just seem to struggle with getting it.

Re: Kingdoms and Thorns Ficlet: A Simple Question

[scribblemyname]

You don't need it like a brick; you just need it clear. There's a difference and it's why I run everything original but commentfic through a beta. I sometimes err on the side of hinting and that's not entirely stylistic. :shakes head at self:

Re: Kingdoms and Thorns Ficlet: A Simple Question

[thecatisacritic.livejournal.com]

It has felt kind of like I need a brick lately.

How many times do I ask for clarification on a given piece or part of the story world?

Re: Kingdoms and Thorns Ficlet: A Simple Question

[scribblemyname]

If it wouldn't wholly embarrass me, I'd show you my beta's notes where she asks the same number of questions for clarification. It's not you; it's me. :grins: But I'm okay with that. It's just my process of writing first drafts. :shrugs:

Re: Kingdoms and Thorns Ficlet: A Simple Question

[thecatisacritic.livejournal.com]

Yeah... I don't think I could share any of the beta notes I've ever gotten. I'd be too ashamed because usually I get notes when I do stuff that's really dumb.