Yet more memeage

[vr_trakowski]

Snabbled from cincoflex: 

Give me a link to one of my fics, and I'll give you a detail that didn't make it into the fic - it could be background canon, deleted material (if I still have it), the music that helped me set the mood or a look into the future - or it could be a question about inspiration, the writing process, research.

...if I remember! 

Comments

[trialia]

Human Voices Wake Us? :)

[vr-trakowski.livejournal.com]

He expected nightmares.

They didn't come, at first. He barely made it through his shower before collapsing onto his bed, ears ringing and body shaking with low blood sugar and absolute exhaustion-physical, mental, emotional. Sleep swallowed him up in oblivion for six hours, then spat him back out to rehydrate himself. He gulped down three glasses of water and staggered back to bed, barely conscious enough to remember Catherine's threats of dire harm should he show up any time before the shift after next.

And the dreams came. Boiling up out of the underside of his mind, they invaded his sleep with gleeful enthusiasm, exacting the payment he'd put off for too long. They weren't all horrifying; some were merely the normal, illogical jumble of images and actions, while others were laden with anxiety and urgency, and he never seemed to be able to accomplish what he needed to do. But the horror came in its turn, soaking his hands with blood, filling his arms with brokenness, leaving him standing over something that had once been beautiful and vibrant. The glassed-in butterflies on his walls came alive again and flitted through his sleep, sending him signals of danger and terror. They landed on her, and became colorful patterns on her skin and hair. Sara was crying, and he couldn't help her. Sara was dying, and his hand on hers could not keep her. Sara was dead, and his fingers gripped the blade.

When he finally made it back to consciousness, poetry was running through his head.

Yep, I actually wrote this for HVWU before dumping it and then using it for To Open, Break Here.

My first "long" CSI fic; you went way back! :P It does not fit well with even older canon, but at the time I'd only seen less than half the episodes, and was still dubious about the 'ship being canon. It took Butterflied to make me believe that it was true for both of them.

[bunchofgrapes]

Semper Fidelis

[vr-trakowski.livejournal.com]

I don't think I have any extra bits for this one, I kind of wrote it in one go, though balancing the dream-states and the voices was a bit difficult.

I wanted Brass to be hallucinating the best possible things, not memories but sort of what his fantasies might be, though they aren't specifically that. At this stage I can't remember who was speaking in most of the asides.

Nobody got the Trek joke, alas...

[boubabe14.livejournal.com]

Jim. Your name is Jim.

Well, I got it, but I was pretty much just lurking then. I should have said something :-)

[vr-trakowski.livejournal.com]

It's good to know someone spotted it! :D

[spockside]

Green Laurel !!!

[vr-trakowski.livejournal.com]

“CIB just arrived.”

“Who what?” Tony made his way over to the cluster near the door. Rhodey was standing with five people, all in the sort of plainclothes outfits that screamed “undercover”. Tony took them in at a glance.

The leader was a diminutive brunette with a disarmingly innocent face, while the two guys that flanked her--one tall and wide, one short and sinewy--were clearly minions. A fairly hot redhead--her hair much darker than Pepper’s strawberry--looked a little overwhelmed. The odd man out was a blond with a vague smile who was examining the painting hung nearby.

“California Bureau of Investigation,” the brunette said, holding out one hand. “I know this is a difficult time, Mr. Stark, but we’re here to help.”

“Yeah, I got that.” Tony shook her hand once and let it drop. “California has junior-league g-men?”

The taller of the minions frowned, but the leader didn’t so much as twitch. “I’m Agent Gibson. These are Agents Cho, Rigsby, and van Pelt.”

“Who would want to hurt you, Mr. Stark?” The blond smiled wider, a confiding expression, as if he were asking what Scotch Tony preferred rather than speaking out of the blue.

.....

“We might surprise you,” the blond said cheerfully. “This is a genuine El Greco.”

Gibson rolled her eyes exasperatedly. “This is Patrick Jane. He’s a consultant for the Bureau. And I’m sure it’s genuine, Jane, Mr. Stark is hardly the type to own copies.”

Jane shook his head, still smiling gently. “Teresa, it’s an unknown El Greco. One not listed in any catalogue of his work.”

Tony squinted at the man. “It’s been in the family a while.” He knew the painting was unlisted, but he couldn’t remember anyone else ever noticing. On the other hand, his guests had rarely tended towards the art appreciation type.

He waved a hand. “Do whatever you need to. Just...find Pepper.”

Gibson nodded, and quickly directed the bigger minion to go liaise with the police before turning back to Tony.

My original idea was to use the team from The Mentalist, because watching Jane frustrate Tony would be hilarious. But it was too early in the show's run for me to get the characters right (and clearly I even got a character name wrong!) so I switched to the UC:Undercover team. I know them much better.

Also, as IM2 revealed, Pepper (Virginia!) was an expert on Tony's art collection and no painting of his would have gone unknown for long. But I started this months before the movie came out.

[cincoflex.livejournal.com]

I've always wanted a little more from Halfway to the Moon . . . :)

[vr-trakowski.livejournal.com]

What can I post that you haven't already seen? :D You midwifed it all those long months, guiding me carefully though that rambunctious act of creation--one that never would have made it without you.

Let me see...I don't know if you remember that I did start a sequel with them off on their honeymoon to Japan. It was going to be a gift for someone, IIRC, but it bogged down not from lack of plot but lack of life. It just didn't sing. Partly, perhaps, because I was having to wing Japan at a level of detail I'm not really comfortable faking, but it's hard to say for sure.

I was going to throw in Fandom Bunny, too!

Perhaps the muse finds the happy ending of HttM sufficient, despite the addition of Outrunning Gravity. A happy ending was what I was striving for, all the long way and years through the GSR. Sometimes I think it would be fun to revisit the universe with a focus on Ed and Gracie--Ed being very dear to my heart--but the muse has not yet spoken...

[rabidpotato.livejournal.com]

Palmer's Kiss! :D

[vr-trakowski.livejournal.com]

Ah, the one that was supposed to be short! This one was originally titled "Time in a Box", but cincoflex was posting Eden in a Box right around then, and while she would have let me use the title, I thought it was too close. Also, I think the subsequent title fits the story better as it is.

I adore the banners Cinco made for me for PK. Well, I always adore them, but for some reason these hit me straight on.

I don't think anyone (besides Cinco) got my "Nigerian banker" joke either, alas.

Pepper's wedding dress came from a site I discovered while researching dresses for a CSI/GSR fic, Halfway to the Moon. I was looking for something nontraditional but unmistakeably bridal as well, and the site has 'em.