|
Post by synapticmisfire on Aug 10, 2008 8:07:38 GMT -5
Cool, I've posted anonymously over on LJ, so hit me with one whenever you're ready. I'm already feeling inspired by some of the scenes and fics I've read on the thread so far, so I'm excited about this!
|
|
eldanesh
Junior Member
insane in the membrane.
Posts: 251
|
Post by eldanesh on Aug 10, 2008 11:14:24 GMT -5
okay, here's mine (since i really can't figure out how to post on LJ)
As Christian draped his arms around Olli and rested his head against his, he let his mind wander back, at how Olli was always there for him, how he did the right thing and always, always, knew what to do. How he felt for Olli was beyond expression, almost beyond comprehension. He wanted to be able to somehow tell Olli all this, but all he could come up with was “You just make me feel so happy.” He felt Olli squeeze him tighter, and Christian wanted to never let go, to keep hugging until they both died of old age. He loved Olli with all his heart but he wished he had the words to express it. He felt a hard bump rise in his throat from such intense emotions. Oh look at me now, he thought, I’m getting all choked up. As he felt his eyes begin to fill with tears he quickly cast his eyes around to stop it, only to stop at the sight of his boxing promoter. Christian’s heart skipped a beat in fright. He felt a range of emotions, from fear of being caught with the man he loved, to protectiveness of Olli against whatever Wolle might do. He desperately tried to think up something, anything to do to get out of this situation. Then it came to him. It might hurt Olli, but it was the only way. Hopefully Olli would understand. He had to understand. “Don’t touch me.” Thinking he was joking about something, Olli smiled. “Don’t you touch me!” “Olli,” He hissed, “Watch out!” Olli was getting a bit confused. “What’s wrong with you?” He still doesn’t understand, Christian thought, dammit! “Can’t you just leave me alone?” It was tearing up Christian on the inside to say these things, but it had to be done. All of this was confusing Olli greatly, and was beginning to annoy him. “What is this shit? Have you lost it?” By this time Wolle had walked up to them, and pushed Olli. “Do you need some help, eh?” he said to Christian, “you?” Christian quickly grabbed Wolle before he could hurt Olli. “Do I look like I do?” “Queer bashing is one of my favourite pastimes!” Wolle spat, pushing Olli again. “Hey, stop it!” Christian commanded, keeping himself between Wolle and Olli, “I think he got that.” “I hope so,” Wolle growled, pushing Olli again, “leave my boys alone, you fucking queer, or I’ll kick your ass.” Christian began pushing Wolle away, before he followed through with what he said. “Did you know that he’s a f*g?” Wolle directed at Christian, walking away with him. Christian hesitated for a moment, then said, “How was I supposed to know? Otherwise I would’ve kept a safe distance.” Christian at this point felt like he was being thrown into a grave of guilt, shame and despair. He looked back at Olli, whose face was filled with hurt and confusion. I’m sorry. He mouthed. Olli simply turned and walked away.
|
|
sozment
Junior Member
Forget regret or life is yours to miss
Posts: 648
|
Post by sozment on Aug 10, 2008 14:22:36 GMT -5
Good Job! I love that scene. I could really feel for Christian having to lie and hurt Olli all at the same time. It must have been killing him. And Olli... my poor Olli, all he could do was stand there and listen to it. Good job with the fic.
|
|
lizg12
Junior Member
Posts: 522
|
Post by lizg12 on Aug 10, 2008 17:33:50 GMT -5
I saw a comment someplace about fanfic from Olli's view. so I tried one -
By the time he got upstairs, Christian was locked in his room. Olli decided to let him cool off and they'd talk in the morning. He spent a sleepless night thinking of what to say. How do you convince someone of love?
He ate breakfast alone - Judith had left already and Christian was still hiding from him. Enough already. They had to talk.
He could barely see Christian through the frosted glass of the door. "Christian... I know you're awake. It'd be hard to miss it" He wasn't surprised to hear nothing but silence from the other side of the door. He reached for the handle.
Locked?!? Olli was stunned silent for a minute. What could he say? He took a deep breath.
"Are you now afraid of me?" How could he be afraid? Of Olli?
"Leave me alone...." Uncertainty tinged Christian's voice. Olli's heart contracted at the sound. He just wanted to reach through the door, the uncertainty, and gather Christian in his arms. Everything will be ok. It has to be.
Olli leaned against the glass, trying to see Christian as he went on "I've fallen head over heels in love with you and..." he paused, remembering the shocked look on Christian's face the first time he admitted he had a crush on him.
Olli took a deep breath, "Last night, man, you're feeling the same thing I am. Do you think I didn't realize that?" Don't you realize that? he thought before saying aloud "How much longer will you lie to yourself?"
"Man, beat it" was Christian's only answer.
Olli couldn't, wouldn't leave.
"Forget it. I'm not leaving. At some point you have to come out" he winced slightly at the unintended double meaning. The last thing he wanted to do was frighten Christian even more.
He could see Christian's green shirt moving toward the window. Was that a good sign? Would he open the door or stay locked away? Olli still had no idea what exactly he'd say once he was face to face with Christian, but until the door opened, there wasn't anything he could say.
"Man, let's finally have a talk. We can't go on like this..... Christian....."
He held his breath as the green shirt came slowly toward the door. "Please, open the door," ran through Olli's mind. He heard the click of the lock.
The door swung open and words died on Olli's lips. Christian looked so... scared, so vulnerable, it stopped Olli. He saw Christian glance at him, take a deep breath...
"I've tried fighting it, but... I've fallen in love with you"
Olli felt the tightness in his chest fade away. He had no words to reassure Christian that all was now perfect with the world. He moved slowly, wanting nothing more than to press that beautiful body against him, to feel those lips against his, but frightened that the wrong touch, the wrong word, would take Christian away.
Christian wouldn't look at him. Olli reached out, his fingertips tingling, anxious for that first touch. He felt Christian's body relax under his touch, saw Christian's deep breath of relief as he turned to face Olli.
Olli reached up, gently, tenderly, to cradle his face. Olli closed his eyes and let his fingers learn the curves and plains of his love's face. They kissed, gentle, exploring.
He remembered how Christian had jumped, pulled away, when Olli reached to undress him before. He held back, not risking it again. He sighed as he felt Christian's hand slide down his cheek, his neck...
He felt a button come open. He opened his eyes and glanced down as Christian's fingers slowly undid more buttons. He looked at Christian, and saw no hesitation, no uncertainty. He mimicked Christian's movements and unbuttoned the green shirt. He shivered as he felt Christian's hands on his bare waist. Christian pushed the shirt off Olli's shoulders and pulled off his own.
That chest, oh god.... Olli stared, mesmerized by the sight of Christian's strong muscular chest. He ran his hands over the tight skin, planted a kiss along his collarbone. He pulled Christian close, felt his full lips caressing his shoulder, he raised Christian's head and captured those lips with his own.
|
|
|
Post by synapticmisfire on Aug 10, 2008 18:58:49 GMT -5
OK, here's my effort - a little introspective for Christian, perhaps, but I figure brain damage is as good a reason as any for that community.livejournal.com/seifen_slash/41263.html?thread=331311#t331311Man, that was a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon! Lola, thank you so much for this challenge, it was a brilliant idea and really got my mind working in a fic way again. Whee! Although I won't be posting it here if that's OK, since it's just a little long (over 2,000 words; had to separate it into 3 posts over on LJ) and I want to avoid eating an entire page of the thread. Meh, some of those advice pages are good, but others are kinda poor, and half of them contradict each other. As in, some will say "'Said' is boring - make it snappier!" and others will get annoyed by the glut of synonyms that replace it; some tell you to avoid too much emotional exploration, others caution against overly action-filled tales. I find if you write something in a style that you'd enjoy reading yourself, it normally comes out OK, or at least in a readable fashion. I'd just like to point out that I resisted making a "That's what she said!" joke right here. See, I am capable of a little maturity. And lizg12? For what it's worth, that was hotT, with the second "t" definitely capitalised. Can't believe that's your first piece - nicely done! And virtual hat tips to eldanesh and sozment and all who've posted over on LJ; gotta say, so far I'm very much loving this challenge!
|
|
sozment
Junior Member
Forget regret or life is yours to miss
Posts: 648
|
Post by sozment on Aug 10, 2008 19:21:26 GMT -5
I just raved and raved over on the LJ.. That was bombastic as Oliver would say!!!! Perfect and wonderful. I absolutely LOVED it!!! It felt like everything I believed Christian would have felt as he laid on that floor. Bravo!!!!!! *claps hands*
|
|
eldanesh
Junior Member
insane in the membrane.
Posts: 251
|
Post by eldanesh on Aug 10, 2008 19:37:31 GMT -5
i agree with sozmet! that was a wonderful story! It sounds exactly like what christian would think. *cheers and claps hands*
|
|
|
Post by lolaruns on Aug 11, 2008 1:10:48 GMT -5
Synaptic, amazing fic You should definitely continue writing! I only noticed a tiny spelling mistake, I think: "I don’t want to pressure, the expectations " I think you might have intended "the pressure" here. But really, just amazing over all fic. You sure you don't want a second scene? BTW, let me include a short pimp for livejournal in general. Sure, their main advertistment should be "Not as ugly as myspace", but: 1) It's free and 2) I advice anybody interested to download this freeware: semagic.sourceforge.net/ It's a little program, you just write in your livejournal login and you can post to it with a WYSIWG editor with all kinds of practical features (even a spellcheck if you want). Now I'm gonna sit down and finally compile my collection post of all the stories posted so far. eldanesh: maybe you could just post your story in a reply on livejournal? Please, post all your stories or story notifications to that topic if you haven't already. Otherwise I might overlook it when I do the compilation post. I also want to note that I haven't found a way to precisely link to a post here on the message board. Though there is a "link to post" thing, whenever I use it, it just takes me to the page the post is on, not the post itself. So, it would really be a huge help if even the ones who don't have livejournal could post it on livjournal via an anonymous reply.
|
|
|
Post by synapticmisfire on Aug 11, 2008 9:24:21 GMT -5
Wow - thanks for all the kind words guys, it really means a lot to me. Yay, you've all totally brightened my afternoon of work! Curses! This is what I get for self-betaing after midnight. Actually yeah, I'd definitely be up for that; I'll post over on LJ to keep it all together. Hee! To be fair, lots of websites could claim that. I dunno - I think I signed up to LJ a few years back to read a private fic group and just couldn't get my head around it for whatever reason. But I've poured enough effort into mastering Facebook, Bebo and MySpace, as well as plenty of random message boards, without adding LJ to the list, so I'll be sticking with anonymous for now. Cool, I'm gonna go sign up for round two. Thanks again!
|
|
|
Post by Torrid German Love on Aug 11, 2008 10:02:19 GMT -5
lizg12, many thanks for posting your wonderful stories here in the fan fic thread. Your stories are beautifully written, and capture the Chrolli interaction exceedingly well. eldanesh, excellent story. You've written about one of my favourite scenes. Will you continue the story? Please say you will. ;D synapticmisfire, would you mind terribly posting your story in this fan fic thread? Please. Don't worry about it taking space here. This thread is specifically for fan fic, and you can share your story with everyone. A request, please. If you spot an error, please send a message to the author. There is no need to comment about it directly in any thread, and I'm sure the authors would greatly appreciate it too. Furthermore, please bear in mind that the people who write here are not professionals. If you're expecting a reincarnation of Ms. Austen, then you'd better go elsewhere, or provide such a piece of writing yourself. Finally, if you're not sure about something, ask the author, and don't jump to conclusions. Oh, and another thing. Fan fiction is just that- fiction. It does not mean that the stories must accurately depict the characters. Thus, in my story, Christian has a six-pack and dark hair, and Olli has hairy legs!
|
|
|
Post by lolaruns on Aug 11, 2008 10:13:36 GMT -5
I disagree. If staying true to the characters doesn't matter, you could just write original fiction. Generally people seek out fanfiction because they want to read about the characters and not some original characters who only have a passing resemblence to the characters we love.
Otherwise where does the FAN part of fanfiction come from if the first thing you do is to change the characters into something else?
And based on my experience, precisely because people aren't paid for fanfiction, they usually like talking about their story. Not to mention there is a benefit to asking and getting things answered publicly. That way everybody can see the question and the answer and the author doesn't get 5 emails asking the same question. Not to mention the educational value for passer-by authors who can also profit from the discussion which they couldn't if it was done in private. (for the record, that is one of the advantages of livejournal, where the author can control which replies he/she lets stand and which one he/she deletes at not being worth keeping)
Everybody makes typos. There is no indignity in having them mentioned.
My appreciation for livejournal went up a lot when I discovered semagic (at least as far as making a main post is concerned. Which I always found rather unwieldy with the livejournal technical structure). But to each their own. I know tons of people who loathe it and with reason.
|
|
|
Post by Torrid German Love on Aug 11, 2008 10:41:17 GMT -5
Oxford Dictionary of English:
fan fiction (also informal fanfic) fiction written by a fan of, and featuring characters from, a particular TV series, film, etc.
fiction 1. literature in the form of prose, especially novels, that describes imaginary events and people. 2. something that is invented or untrue
Then just PM the author, as opposed to commenting publicly.
|
|
|
Post by lolaruns on Aug 11, 2008 10:50:38 GMT -5
Sorry, to me somebody who just callously rewrites the characters (as opposed to getting things wrong by accident because they are a poor writer) can't be much of a fan.
If somebody wrote a fic where Olli without explanation has blond hair wouldn't you write them to point out that Olli actually isn't a blond and that they got their facts wrong? (or must be a poor fan if they don't even know that Olli has actually dark hair) Or if they had Christian working at Schneiders and Olli at No Limits? Or had Christian's brother be called Georg and their room mate named Julia?
Yes fiction is free and without rules and there you can do what you want. But Fan fiction is something different. Fan fiction cages fiction in to some extent. You don't move all freely, you move within a universe established by somebody else. That's why people have terms and codes for fanfiction that steps out of the universe (such as AU and AR).
You can still write anything in fanfiction, but the difference to original fiction is that usually you have to give an explanation as to why Olli's cousin is suddenly called Alexandra and why Olli is suddenly refered to as "the blond ice skater". (suggestion: slap AU on it)
There is no fanfiction police watching over this, but if I see something like that somewhere, I might comment on it and/or at the very least it might affect my judgement of the qualities of the writer.
Fan fiction usually tries to create the illusion that you are really writing about these characters. If somebody randomly strays from what these characters are, either physically or emotionally then it takes me out of the story and the story has not fullfilled its job in my book and I'm not gonna be entertained by the story.
But, I don't want to scare future authors off with long boring theorethical discourses on fanfiction. So, hurray fanfic thread!
|
|
|
Post by Torrid German Love on Aug 11, 2008 11:13:45 GMT -5
Finally!
|
|
eldanesh
Junior Member
insane in the membrane.
Posts: 251
|
Post by eldanesh on Aug 11, 2008 12:14:56 GMT -5
eldanesh: maybe you could just post your story in a reply on livejournal? whoops, forgot about doing that! thanks, lolarunsalso, thanks for all of the kind words! I'm not making any more fanfic, though. I'm not a natural writer, and writing just that burned all of my inspiration out of me. (it's pitiful, really)
|
|
|
Post by synapticmisfire on Aug 11, 2008 15:26:45 GMT -5
I dunno...I wept for hours over that "to/the pressure" blip. My co-workers were starting to worry. ;D All joking aside, I can see why TGL feels that criticism, of spelling or more general, should stay in PMs, but I think that if it's something non-judgemental and constructive (i.e., "Why did you feel character X should do/say that?" as opposed to "Character X shouldn't have done/said that!!! You suck!") there is a benefit to chatting about it in public, as it both encourages others to make contributions and suggestions and allows discussions of certain plot points to gain a wider input.
That said, I can see why some people would feel uncomfortable with their work being picked apart in public, so why doesn't everyone just tag their work with a "Feedback" message along with the usual disclaimer/title/synopsis blurb? That way they can say if they'd rather get feedback by PM or in public, or even not at all (some people just write 'cause it feels good and don't much care if you like it or not). For the record, I'm an "in public" kinda person, but that's just me.
Word. Some excellent stories are AU (slash by its very nature is often of the "What if...?" variety), but that's not an excuse for randomly abandoning who the characters are or what their basic setting is without explanation. While we all do it, and part of the fun of writing these things is the chance to explore a different side of a character's personality, it should at least be vaguely related to the character as presented to us.
OK, but don't say I didn't warn you. B'chick or other mods, feel free to snip if this is ridiculously long for a post.
Title: Why We Fight Synopsis: Set during the 01.08.08 episode, Christian’s big fight. Disclaimer/Warnings: I don't own them, I appreciate DE, etc, etc. As long as they don't take down the YouTube videos, they're alright in my book. Moderate language. Unbeta-ed, so if you see anything wrong, just let me know! Feedback: If I may quote Kelis (and I may), "Let's get it on in public". In other words, just post.
For a moment there’s nothing. Darkness, and pain, and a rushing in my ears as every ounce of breath seems to leave my lungs. My head is spinning and my legs won’t move. My brain is on fire, filled with barbed wire and sirens and for a moment I forget where I am, who I am, what I am, as if I ever knew that in the first place. Then it begins…
…1…
One moment of weakness is all it takes. One slip, one careless swing and a fist coming from nowhere to land you flat on your ass. They have no idea how hard it is; too many balls to keep in the air at once, dodging and diving and looking for an opening, lying and hiding and trying to be what everyone needs you to be. The good son, the loving boyfriend, the macho boxer, the caring confidante, the model brother. It’s so easy to let one of them go – too many different faces that people need to see, too much fear of what they’ll say if they catch sight of the real you. I try to get up, try to keep going, like you’re supposed to do.
But my head is still spinning and my legs won’t move.
…2…
Gregor’s voice breaks in.
“Get up! Come on! Get up!”
But why? For Gregor? He’ll be so disappointed; he wanted this as much as I did, poured himself into it. Because he needs a project, something to drive him and keep his mind off Sarah and his child and everything that he lost. But he also did it for me – to show me that nothing had changed, that he still loves me. He’s not my manager because he thinks he can do the job better than anyone else, and he doesn’t need me to win to prove anything about himself. He wants me to win for me, but more than that, he needs me to win to show him that nothing’s changed. That I’m still the same little brother, that spending my nights with Olli doesn’t mean I can’t spend my days beating the shit out of thugs like Axel. It’s the Manns against the world, it always has been, and he needs for that to go on as much as I do.
But my head is still spinning and my legs won’t move.
…3…
The yelling is louder now, not just Gregor but the whole room. It’s probably the head trauma, my brain hearing what it wants and expects to hear, but I’d swear I can pick out Wolle’s voice –
“Stay down, f*g**t!”
- and Judith’s –
“Come on, Christian, you can do it!”
- and Charlie’s and Rebecca’s and even Olivia’s. Which almost makes me sure that this isn’t just my mind playing tricks on me, because why would I imagine her cheering me on? And I try for all of them. For Judith, who risked Fabian to try and get me to this fight, because she knows the value of friends and knows how to do what’s right. She needs me to win to make that worthwhile, to show her that her sacrifice was worth it, that at least one man in her life is worth the time and the trouble. For Rebecca, who insisted on coming (“You saved my career – the least I can do is cheer you on in yours!”) and even dragged Sebastian with her because every voice counts, because she knows how much it means to Gregor and because she, the spoiled rich girl in her castle, knows more than I would have thought about what it truly means to repay a debt. She needs me to win for Gregor’s sake, because she’s starting to realise what it’s like to care for someone else more than yourself. For Olivia, because she knows the value of nothing, knows nothing about what she has, or about love, or family, or friendship. Because she’s hollow and broken, and I need to show myself that she’s wrong, that love is real, that people are real, and that there’s love and friendship strong enough in this world that it will last through anything, even though as I roll over and try to pull myself together, I know that I’m not sure of that. She needs me to win more than she even knows herself. I try to stand up, for all of them.
But my head is still spinning and my legs won’t move.
…4…
Maybe Olivia’s right. Maybe we are all just here to screw each other over and to mess each other around. Because one mistake, one slip, one careless swing and I’m lying on my ass, and he’s not here. He should be here. He should know that I don’t mean it when I say angry things, that I’m stressed, that I’m tired, that leading so many different lives can make you go a little bit crazy sometimes. He should know that I love him, no matter what – that I’d give all this up in a heartbeat if he asked me to. If it came down to Olli or boxing, there’s no question in my mind. All he’d have to do is say the word and I’d be finished with all of this.
But he never would.
Because he loves me.
Because he’s been willing to do anything, to say anything, to hide from the world so I could hide too, to stay in the shadows so that I could stay in the spotlight, to read in the papers about my wonderful girlfriend and smile and pat my back and tell me how handsome I looked in the photographs. He’s given up anything a normal boyfriend could expect – even holding hands in public in case someone sees us – and for what? For this? For me to treat him like crap, to expect more than anyone should expect, to yell at him for trying to help?
I know why I can’t get up. I know why he’s not here. And worst of all, I know it’s all my own fault. Why do I want this? What’s the point of being here, of fighting this fight, if I have to do it alone? What’s the point in getting up if he’s not there to see it? Why fight when doing it means giving up everything that seemed worth fighting for in the first place?
One slip, one loss of concentration, one moment’s weakness and for a split-second I want to give up. I want to just lie back down and let the blackness take me, feel myself wake up in my bed with the man I love and pretend it was all just a bad dream. I don’t want to have to fight. I don’t want to have to stand up to people like Axel and Wolle. I don’t want the pressure, the expectations – I don’t want people to look at me and hate me. I just want Olli. And now I’ve lost him. I try to shake it off, to power through the fog and the defeat that’s dancing in my brain.
But my head is still spinning and my legs won’t move.
…5…
But then I see it. Through blurry eyes, there’s a flash of red running through the smoke, and even though my eyes hurt and my vision is nothing more than a blur, I know it’s him. The way he moves, his frame, his head; I can’t even see his face, but I know exactly how it must look, the worry in his eyes, his mouth opening…
“Christian!”
One voice cutting through it all, breaking apart the haze. I cling to it – to the voice, to the red, to the hope and the love and the strength that suddenly rushes through me. I concentrate on him, forcing my eyes to focus, telling my body to get itself in gear.
My head stops spinning. I can feel my legs move.
…6…
“Christian! Get up! Come on!”
This is love. As sure as I’ve ever known anything, this is what it feels like to be completely and utterly loved by someone, and to feel the same way about them. Love isn’t the kisses or the sex. It isn’t holding hands or the little smiles we have for each other. It isn’t days in No Limits or nights in a club, or a campfire in the woods or an internet chatroom or even those three words whispered on a dark street at night. It’s this. It’s knowing that no matter how badly I fuck up, how stupid I can be, how much I let myself get caught up inside my own head and mess everything up for myself, he’ll still be there, cheering me on, wanting me to win.
But he doesn’t need me to win. More than anyone else, he just wants me to be happy. I could lose right now and if I came down smiling he’d smile right back at me. If I quit boxing tomorrow he’d never mention it again. And if I stay boxing for the rest of my life, he’ll always be there to help me on my way, giving up whatever needs to be given up, doing what I need him to do. And in a strange way, the fact that he doesn’t need me to win this makes me want it more than I ever thought I could. This isn’t about what he needs from me; this is about me and me alone, and what I want. And I want to win.
I can see his face now, so scared, so full of remorse, and I hate that I’ve made him feel that way. But I can make it up to him, and he’ll let me, because that’s what love really means. One slip, one careless swing and you’re flat on your ass. That’s when you need someone there to pick you back up again. That’s when you need a reason to fight, something to stand up for.
My head is clear. My legs are strong. I start to rise.
…7…
I know why I fight. More than that, I know what gives me the strength to go on through it all. Because life is going to knock you down; idiots like Axel are everywhere. And it wouldn’t matter if I had never met Olli, if it was Coco standing down there cheering, or Nico, or anyone else. There would always be another fist, waiting to strike as soon as my guard dropped, and I would still need to be able to stand. And maybe it makes me weak to admit it, but to do that, I need something to cling to, something to keep me going. And I have that now.
I have him.
More than he knows, more than I’m physically capable of telling him, he’s my strength. He’s the one who shows me how to be strong, who makes me brave, who shows me why it’s worth getting back up and ploughing on. With him by my side, I can do anything. But not just because I’m doing it for him; because he makes me see that I can do it for me. That it’s OK to be selfish because he’ll love me anyway, that it’s OK to fail because he’ll pick me up again. And knowing that lets me be free, lets me do all of this, and I know right now as surely as I’ve ever known anything – I’m going to win.
My hands are against the floor. My legs are steady. I stand up.
…8…
I hear the voices rise all around me as the referee looks into my eyes and waves me on. I can feel them all as if they were standing next to me in this ring. Gregor, the brother who will always be there for me. Rebecca, young and fragile, but learning her way. Charlie, older and wiser and still upright through it all. Judith, more incredible than she’ll ever know, just waiting for someone to see it for her. Olivia, who’s maybe not so far gone that she can’t be saved. I’m standing for all of them. I’m standing for Olli, my anchor and my sails, who somehow keeps me grounded while making me fly. But most of all I’m standing for me.
This fight is mine.
And I know why.
|
|
|
Post by lolaruns on Aug 11, 2008 15:43:47 GMT -5
I have had some of the most fun discussions with authors and fellow readers about issues like that. Though most of the time they are thinly veiled attempts by myself to trick the author into writing more ;D
Like: "I didn't really understand why X reacted that way" *hint*Writeaficthatcoversthistimeperiod*hint*
Some authors like that, others don't. I think that's one of the things I like about livejournal, that it's easy to sort of spin off the discussion in subthread rather than a mainthread and you can see the author's replies to the authors and can take guesses whether they are the kind who likes discussing their fic or more the kind who don't even reply to feedback.
On that note, one think that really struck me about your fic were Christian's feelings towards Olivia. My first thought was "Okay, somebody here (Christian) really, really doesn't like Olivia". Traditionally I personally always pictured Christian more as the type who dislikes her so much that he wouldn't waste a thought on her. So this take on the relationship was some interesting food for thought. And once I thought about it, it made a lot of sense, particularly since Christian got to see how Olli beat himself up over whether or not to turn her in.
Also randomly, I'm really fond of the 1 2 3 ... structuring element. I always have a huge soft spot for things like that ;D
Here's to hopefully more fic in the future ;D
|
|
|
Post by synapticmisfire on Aug 11, 2008 16:13:05 GMT -5
On that note, one think that really struck me about your fic were Christian's feelings towards Olivia. My first thought was "Okay, somebody here (Christian) really, really doesn't like Olivia". Traditionally I personally always pictured Christian more as the type who dislikes her so much that he wouldn't waste a thought on her. So this take on the relationship was some interesting food for thought. And once I thought about it, it made a lot of sense, particularly since Christian got to see how Olli beat himself up over whether or not to turn her in. Whether intentional or not, the writers have done a lot to set Olivia up as the antithesis of Christian - he's honourable to the point of stupidity, she's self-serving to the same degree. Even when they occasionally agree, it's for wildly different reasons (Olivia thinks steroids are OK because it's possible to not get caught, Christian because he can nearly convince himself it's not wrong). And while I can't see Christian sitting around brooding about how much he dislikes her, I think that any thoughts he does have about her are likely to be about as harsh as you can get (personally, I'd have a much softer view towards her, but then, I'm much closer to her than him in personality) Either way, though, glad you found something interesting to pick apart there! (and I mean "pick apart" in the most positive sense ;D) Also randomly, I'm really fond of the 1 2 3 ... structuring element. I always have a huge soft spot for things like that ;D Oh, I'll admit to shamelessly stealing that from one of my favourite fics ever - it's slash from Empire Records (deadly movie, incidentally), here, where the 12 days of Christmas are used to hilarious effect to tell a story. And from a writing POV, a crutch like that to keep the story ordered is massively useful - and c'mon, when there's a character in a scene slowly counting to ten I'd be remiss not to use it! Here's to hopefully more fic in the future ;D So much for subtlety. Don't worry, there will be more - I've got my next scene for your challenge and I have a vague seed of an idea already for something after that.
|
|
|
Post by aussie54 on Aug 11, 2008 16:21:22 GMT -5
Synapticmisfire said
*nods* Very well said. There are many discussions on LJ about reviews and feedback and what you've written here sums up my feelings exactly.
No whapping today. ;D
|
|
|
Post by Torrid German Love on Aug 11, 2008 16:22:39 GMT -5
synapticmisfire, thank you so much for adding your story here. The boxer's perspective is a new, and very good, one. Feel free to write as much as you want. This is the fan fic thread, so keep writing! ;D I tried reading it on that LiveJournal (?) place, but it was in a horrible format. Also, here you can share your story with all the other Chrolli fans.
It's not as if one is writing "Palace Intrigue on the Terran Colony" with Christian as the protagonist. That would stretch credibility a bit; however, there is no reason why one shouldn't embellish a little.
I started with "real Chrolli" and had to abandon it after a page or so. It just wasn't interesting. There are others who can write a Chrolli story beautifully. Tihkon's written an excellent one. It's in this thread at the very start, I believe. I could never write like that, and shan't even bother emulating his style. I want my Chrolli to be more aggressive, more sexual, but without the sleaze factor. And I don't want Olli to be a waiter. And this is another reason why I like reading other stories: they offer completely different perspectives. This may sound awful to some, but I'd actually like to see Chrolli marry one day and have children. Little Chrolli replicas running about, throwing away the pasta that Christian has cooked, and Olli trying to feed a rather recalcitrant boy who's more interested in playing "Who can throw papa's pasta furthest?"
|
|
|
Post by lolaruns on Aug 11, 2008 16:49:23 GMT -5
OT One of my favorite fics ever is a Veronica Mars fic which has the entire story of the first season told years later through a fake Rolling Stones type article. The author just caught the tone of those articles perfectly. Stephen King is also a writer where I love it when he sort of embellishes the story by adding bits of imaginary newspaper articles to convey info like in Carrie. Incidentally a lot of real life books I enjoy also use things like that such as Frank Herbert's Dune. I guess I'm just easily impressed with those kind of things /OT May I ask, what other fandoms you have written before? Oh, very intriguing thought. And I particularly loved this take on the two of them. "I need to show myself that she’s wrong, that love is real, that people are real, and that there’s love and friendship". It's interesting. I just reread the story to find the part that struck me so much when I first read it and it's actually not there. Or rather, what Christian says about her is actually a lot less drastic than the first impression I got. "For Olivia, because she knows the value of nothing, knows nothing about what she has, or about love, or family, or friendship. Because she’s hollow and broken," For some reason my mind apparently added something along the lines of "she knows nothing, she is nothing". But even the adjective broken is interesting since it suggests that she was different at one point/Christian thinks she must have been different at one point.
|
|
|
Post by synapticmisfire on Aug 11, 2008 17:16:10 GMT -5
*nods* Very well said. There are many discussions on LJ about reviews and feedback and what you've written here sums up my feelings exactly. No whapping today. ;D Oh, thank god. I'm in bits in RL (paintballing over the weekend, turns out I'm not Rambo, whatever it may feel like when I have a gun in my hand, and even walking hurts like the bejesus), I don't think I could take even a virtual whapping right now. [And I don't want Olli to be a waiter. And this is another reason why I like reading other stories: they offer completely different perspectives. This may sound awful to some, but I'd actually like to see Chrolli marry one day and have children. Little Chrolli replicas running about, throwing away the pasta that Christian has cooked, and Olli trying to feed a rather recalcitrant boy who's more interested in playing "Who can throw papa's pasta furthest?" See, I have no problem with that as such - in fact, there's the slight little piece of a heart inside the icy shell in my chest that would kinda love to see an "Ollian with kids" storyline. (Mostly because I've read so few good "Future slash with marraige and children" stories - hell, if you wanna write one now, I'd love to read it). My sole gripe is, if Olli isn't a waiter in your world, why not? Sometimes the story can be in what makes the characters different from how we normally see them. Sometimes it might be a throwaway line from Olli about trying a new career. But personally, I feel that one of the challenges of writing fanfic is trying to work your story into the characters and show as presented. Again, that's just my opinion, and if you prefer writing differently and that works for you, then go for that. As you said yourself, none of us are professionals, this is all about fun, and if that's what makes things the most fun for you then so be it. OT One of my favorite fics ever is a Veronica Mars fic which has the entire story of the first season told years later through a fake Rolling Stones type article. The author just caught the tone of those articles perfectly. Ooh, linky? I <3 Veronica Mars. And I loved that aspect of Carrie too! The way you slowly piece things together as you're going through; it was such a cool way of telling the story.[/OT] May I ask, what other fandoms you have written before? I have a feeling we've had this conversation before :-) A few pieces in the Jossverse, some Boy Meets World, I've got a big Empire Records fic in progress, and in the past I've written Dawson's Creek, a little RPS and probably more random fandoms that mercifully never saw the light of day and have now been excised from my memory. I've got a fanfiction.net page that I've been neglecting for quite some time now, but I've got a month off in September so I'll likely be updating quite a bit then; I'll PM you the link then if you'd like? (though to be fair, there's only Jossverse and BMW there, which may not take your fancy) But even the adjective broken is interesting since it suggests that she was different at one point/Christian thinks she must have been different at one point. My logic? White Knight Christian believes that people are more or less good; you can't be the type of honourable do-gooder that he strives to be without that. Plus, people tend to look at others as being like themselves (i.e., if you're generally a good person, you kinda assume others are too) So looking at someone like Olivia, when he must know through Olli that their background is hardly ideal, I don't think he sees evil; he sees someone who has had a difficult past (and he does know just a little bit himself about that) and is bad, but not gone (hence that line in the final paragraph)
|
|
|
Post by lolaruns on Aug 11, 2008 17:35:51 GMT -5
I tend to like things that fit well into the show as well. Besides, I like Ollian. If I didn't like who they were, why would I watch their show. Of course the idea appeals to me to take them places the show can't go, from graphic sex scenes, to a complete focus on just them or fancy locations or action scenes.
Then again, I also like stories that seem like they just fit seamlessly into canon. To me there's a real beauty in that, particularly is somebody manages to fit just the right tone, of the characters, of the source material itself. After all, I like Ollian. I like the character dynamic they have. (and I genuinely like the show most of the time.) I want to see more of that dynamic that made them addictive to me.
There is kinda a reputation that slashfans will go for any guy on guy thing, but to me that's not it. I like al the other gay soap couples just fine, but to me the way Ollian was written and the way the character dynamic was drawn is just fascinating to me. That is what makes them IT to me over all the other couples. So naturally I want to see some of that. Something that manages to hit that exact IT that drew me to them in the first place.
AUs, I like them most if they are "Change one thing, but keep everything else the same". Respectively make one change and extrapolate the changes from that rather than changing several things. Stuff like "What if Christian was born a Lahnstein", how would that change his personality, how would that make the dynamic different. What would change and what things stay the same. However, these things usually would be a rather large project so not a whole lot of people would bother to invest time and work in something like that. Besides, there is also the question how far a soap opera lends itself to that. Now I'm wondering whether a WWII AU would be inappropriate for German characters
Anyway, generally I only feel the need for AUs if I feel that the characters are sort of told out and that everything interesting about them has already been written. I don't really feel that way with Ollian. I think that there are still plenty of interesting things to tell and say about them.
That said, I always have some pretty odd tastes when it comes to fanfic, so I don't really expect a lot of people to share this attitude (about AUs vs. normal fic).
|
|
lizg12
Junior Member
Posts: 522
|
Post by lizg12 on Aug 11, 2008 21:00:43 GMT -5
lizg12, many thanks for posting your wonderful stories here in the fan fic thread. Your stories are beautifully written, and capture the Chrolli interaction exceedingly well. And lizg12? For what it's worth, that was hotT, with the second "T"definitely capitalised. Can't believe that's your first piece - nicely done! Thank you very much! I do a lot of boring technical writing at work, this is a fun change of pace. I've got a couple of other fanfic ideas for the fanfic challenge scene I had. One's a "remember when.." conversation by Olli & Christian sometime in the future. Could be interesting...
|
|
lizg12
Junior Member
Posts: 522
|
Post by lizg12 on Aug 13, 2008 17:04:20 GMT -5
yeah, I'm replying to my own post, but I added to my fanfic fest story. Here's the whole story (the scene where Olli tells Christian he has a crush on him, after the kiss at the gym) Olli Confesses His Crush, part 1 (of ?)It was late at night, the only light in the room coming from outside. "... Because I've fallen in love with you Christian" Christian stared at Olli in shock "you what? " Olli started talking, fast, words tumbling over each other, not letting Christian stop him. "I've got a huge crush on you. I don't know how, but that night at the campfire, you were different. Yeah, I mean, I didn't like you much before, but I don't know, that night, everything changed..." "OLLI!" That stopped him. Christian's insides tightened at the expression on Olli's face. Fear? Attraction? Uncertainty? What? Christian went on "Olli, I, um, that kiss, caught me by surprise. A lot. I'm with Coco, I don't want to hurt her. You and me? I don't know..." They had been pacing while they talked, somehow ending up facing each other, just an arm's length apart. Looking at each other, each lost in thought. They leaned toward each other, Olli's hand reaching to caress Christian's cheek. Coco's voice cut through the darkness "Christian? What's going on? Are you two fighting again?" Olli jerked his hand back. He hoped the dim light hid his face from her. He focused on Christan's face just as he turned away. Olli was surprised by what he saw - desire, fear, and more than a little annoyance. Interesting, thought Olli. Really interesting. "No, we're not fighting, everything's ok" Christian's deep voice rippled through the dimly lit room. Olli saw him hesitate, then bend his head to give Coco a quick peck on the cheek and push past her toward the bedroom they shared. Olli was dying of curiosity... what had been going through Christian's mind? Christian lay awake in the dark bedroom, staring into nothingness, listening to Coco's slow deep breaths. She had fallen asleep on his shoulder, her long soft hair tangled around his hand. He found himself wondering how Olli's short dark hair would feel against his fingers... He's been in enough relationships to know this thing with Coco was winding down. He wasn't sure if she realized it yet. It was always the same - an undefineable something was missing and as long as Christian could pretend to himself that it didn't matter, all was well. But when the pretending stopped working.... Christian remembered that small jolt of - something- he felt when he first met Olli. 'Attraction' is how Christian usually thought of that feeling. For women. He'd never felt it for a man before. Attraction?? He rarely thought about those years in prison, the threats, the attempts, from the bigger men. He fought some of them to keep them away. After enough fights, they all left him alone. Thank God. He heard... he saw...what happened between men in prison. The feeling of ... "attraction" .... made him think of deep kisses, Olli's graceful fingers on his skin, losing himself in those eyes... Memories made him think of something harsher, uglier... painful. What if he jumped at the bright promise of attraction and fell into the dark ugliness of memory? The idea terrified him. He didn't want to hurt Olli. And he didn't want Olli to hurt him. But.... maybe the other way around? Could the dark ugliness of memory be replaced by the bright promise of attraction? The chance of getting 'no' for an answer, scared him almost as much. He forced a deep breath past the lump in his throat, trying to stop his trembling. He didn't want to wake Coco. Olli's laugh, the threats, deep green eyes , the fights, Olli's lips pressed against his, the pain he saw... All this and more swirled around his head. Christian lay awake in the dark bedroom, staring into nothingness.
|
|