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

[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...