Fic meme

[zimena]

Time for a meme, swiped from catness.

Pick any of my fics, and ask me a question (or several questions) from the list.

1. What inspired you to write the fic this way?
2: What scene did you first put down?
3: What’s your favorite line of narration?
4: What’s your favorite line of dialogue?
5: What part was hardest to write?
6: What makes this fic special or different from all your other fics?
7: Where did the title come from?
8: Did any real people or events inspire any part of it?
9: Were there any alternate versions of this fic?
10: Why did you choose this pairing for this particular story?
11: What do you like best about this fic?
12: What do you like least about this fic?
13: What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn’t listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading?
14: Is there anything you wanted readers to learn from reading this fic?
15: What did you learn from writing this fic?

Comments

[catness]

Wow, you're so productive! I scrolled around a bit, and Giving caught my attention due to the warning (knife, blood and a ritual? can't resist ;) It turned out so sweet and tender, btw. I'd like to ask #5, #11 and #15.

[zimena]

Wow, so nice of you to pick something :)

And this is an interesting choice, because it was sitting half-written on my computer for so long. Usually, I tend to get bored/impatient with fics if I don't finish them within a reasonable amount of time (one of various reason why I don't think I could write novel-length stuff). By the time I finished this, I think the original idea had already escaped me, so it felt so strange to go back to it and try to finish it. I guess the end result isn't bad, though - just different from what it would have been if it had been finished around the same time it was started, probably.

As for your questions... let's see: The hardest thing to write was of course the whole thing with the ritual, because I wanted to show how much it means, and sort of "treat the topic respectfully". At the same time, I didn't want to bypass necessary detail on how it could be done, or ignore the importance of keeping a clean weapon. I remember thinking of every line for a while, writing just a tiny bit of text in a large amount of time just because I wanted things to flow smoothly and sound real enough.

What I like best... maybe the fact that Alejandro surprised me here. In my mind, he's a hard and tough kind of guy - someone it's worth being scared of, and someone capable of hurting you even if you're on his "good" side. But here, he showed his more thoughtful and caring side, accepting the ritual because he can see what it means to the other person.

Oh, and about what I learned... easy: That it's actually possible to finish a fic one and a half year after it was started. I had never imagined that I would be able to do such a thing. I suppose I also learned some background about the ritual while researching it for this fic, but I don't really remember much of that information now.

[gobtastic]

I've always been curious about this fic, because I know the whole Cold War thing was a huge trigger for both of us, but I kinda petered out with writing about it :( Did you ever fancy writing more, perhaps in another way or with other characters?

I love the fic. It's always stood out for me because of the amazing way you wrote how different Europe was (is, in the fic) during the Cold War, and how that affected people on all levels, right down to the personal and even language/concepts. And also because I didn't think I'd ever find someone who loved the whole Cold War thing as much as I did, heh.

D'oh, I forgot to put the numbers of questions, too (do wake up, Gobbeh). So, #6, #11, #13 :)

[zimena]

Oh, what a great choice! I love this verse, and I also love your take on it so much! There are just so many unexplored possibilities with this idea... but I must admit I didn't think of that verse for a long time. Seeing this fic again makes me smile, though. I remember talking to you about more possible background info for this verse at the time, but I don't think I ever had any more specific bunnies for it, unfortunately :(.

As for your questions... I think this fic is special for a few reasons. First of all, because the setting has practically unlimited possibilities for dreaming about the "old" Europe in a "newer" setting/world, which is fascinating. Usually when I write fic, I don't have that amount of "unused background info" in my head, but while working on this fic or talking about it afterwards, the whole world in it just kept expanding beyond control, because it's just such a fascinating topic. Also, another thing that makes it different from most of my other fics is the fact that it's a longer fic featuring Norwegians. It's so strange for me to write people from my own country, because I can hear their choice of words and way of speaking in my mind in a totally different way compared to when I write about people from other countries - and somehow it messes with my mind a bit, and makes me more conscious that I'm making up stuff with real people, and more insecure about whether it's even okay to do that. Yes, yes, I know that I can have whatever thoughts I want about whomever I want.... but the feeling was still there, somehow.

(Maybe I might have less of those issues by now, though... but there is still a difference, for sure!)

As for what I liked best here... maybe that scene where Thomas was watching Pavel from some distance outside the hotel. I love that moment, because I could see it so clearly in my mind, and there is so much underlying emotion in it. In one way, Thomas has all of these western style preconceptions about eastern Europe, and from the beginning he's just seeing what he wants/expects. Even Pavel fits the image to some extent, because he's good-looking in this sort of old-fashioned way, and let's not forget he's using the cigarette to look smart, too. Still, the connection between them happens to some extent already here, so it's an important moment for how the rest of the story progresses.

Music? I honestly don't remember. Most of the time I don't like to listen to music while writing, because I prefer to lose myself in the story instead. I definitely think it's a good idea to listen to some old Czechoslovak music in connection with this story, though. At least it gives the authentic "Czechoslovakia" feeling. I don't know... maybe Kreyson? Or perhaps, Turbo, because Pavel once said that he's a fan of them...