Musings on The Relationship Part 2
Ok so where was I? Oh yes, Wesker.
I did do a good job of keeping him in character this time. While I still find it amusing him being a Don Giovanni-esque seducer, I can't help but love the chapter Seduction By Happenstance. He never intended to sleep with Annika, it just sorta happened, which is how stuff like that occurs sometimes. I know the day I lost my V- card, I didn't wake up that day thinking that was going to happen. It just was how the day turned out. But anyway, I do love that chapter. It is one of, if not, the longest chapter in the story. But I think my favorite part of that chapter is the end, when Annika tells Wesker she loves him. His response... Oh that was pure Wesker right there!
The Warlords gang members: Dragan kinda took over some of the early parts that Misha would have been in had this been Wesker's Conquest. Pretty much Dragan Volkov was Misha. He was emotionally unstable, violent, extremely mistrustful of Americans, especially Wesker, who he considered to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing (ironically he was right). I never had a backstory for Dragan in mind, but I can't help but wonder what brought him to a place he hated so much? Then there was Dragan's boss Bronislav Ateljevic. Yeah, a hardcore Serbian name if there ever was one. But I really like Bronislav. He was pretty much just like Wesker. Calm, calculated, and scheming. Even Wesker was impressed by his ability to be calm and not show his emotions. I'm sure under different circumstances, Bronislav and Wesker would have worked together, but alas, Wesker puts quite a few bullets into him... Oh well, so much for that idea.
The tie in to previous stories: As mentioned previously, with the exception of three or four stories, all my Resident Evil fanfictions have something that ties them together. The Whistleblower ties to The Last Recruit and The Last Recruit ties to The Uncomfortable Conversation (it's actually where The Last Recruit come from). This story actually ties into Crime and Punishment. The drugs that Dragan sells to the biker gang members are Aaron McMasters and Robert Thatcher from the Euston Street Runners! When you think about, that it would make sense that once S.T.A.R.S. is established and Wesker actually has legal jurisdiction, would swing back to apprehend those responsible for the Umbrella Pharmaceutical robbery four years earlier. In Crime and Punishment, the Euston Street drug bust is S.T.A.R.S. very first case. See what I did there! Oh and I guess you can say it also ties into Changing of the Guard, with Wesker the wondering what was going on with Spencer and the mystery regarding the Arklay facility, but really the tie in story is Crime and Punishment.
My favorite lines: I have a lot of favorite lines in this story. There is the line Wesker says to Annika after the first time they are together and she confesses her love for him, "Poor Annika, giving your heart to me, that is a fool's errand." I could hear Wesker telling Annika that very clearly. But this line by far is my favorite, "Even beyond that, there was something unreachable about him as a whole. Like a missing piece of a beautiful puzzle that would be complete if it wasn't for that lost part." I think that sums up Wesker perfectly! Then there is the brief glimpse into how warped and twisted Wesker's mind really is and that comes when he is thinking about killing Bronislav and Metija, "He reveled in spilling their blood, he delighted in piercing their flesh and organs with hot lead. Moreover, the sounds that their bodies made as the fell lifelessly to the ground in a tarn of their own warm gushing fluids... That sound, that beautiful melodic sound was like a symphony to his ears." I love Wesker, but I also know that Wesker is a deeply flawed and a really twisted individual; I think that last line really illustrates how messed up Wesker really is.
Ending: I changed the ending from Wesker's Conquest. In Wesker's Conquest, the story ends when Annika first holds Jake, but in The Relationship, the epilogue ends after Jake is baptized and given a full name. I love the ending where Annika is dressing Jake while Father Ponomarenko is admiring how close they are. It's a sweet ending.
Oh yes, speaking of Father Ponomarenko, I added him at the last minute. I knew I was going to have an epilogue and it would be Jake's baptism, but Father Ponomarenko was a last minute addition and was a sort of substitute for Uncle Alexei. He was kind to Annika when she needed it the most. Fun fact, Ponomarenko is Ukrainian for Clergyman.
Location, Language, and history of The Republic of Edonia: I could never decide where Edonia would be on a modern map. I think originally I had a small section of Serbia carved out for where Edonia would be, but it needed to be in a semi-mountainous area, so I thought maybe a part of the Ukraine, but ultimately I could never decide. I did like the little bit of history that I gave to Edonia, especially for the name I gave Annika's home town, Menlick-Silavo, that it was named for the two mountains it was beside. Oh the Capital City, Glavni Grad, is literally translated from Serbian as The Capital (Je Glavni Grad). I think in my research it said that Edonia was a former Eastern Bloc country. I figured it would have probably been a part of the former country of Yugoslavia, so I shoehorned that into the story. I also shoehorned in that the Edonian Parliament had just ratified their constitution the day Annika went into labor. I figured that would add some urgency to the situation. As for the language of Edonia, I figured it would be a mix of Serbian, Ukrainian, with a hint of Russian. A lot of the names of characters in the story are either Serbian (in the early half of the story) or Ukrainian (In the latter half). The woman from the government has a Russian name, I don't know why I gave her a Russian name though.
Speaking of Zoya Kuznetsov, the interaction between her and Annika was a bit different. Instead of Zoya Kuznetsov being combative and Annika getting annoyed with her, I had Annika deescalate the entire situation by being really nice to her. Zoya and Ksenija were about to come to blows though, but again Annika managed to keep everyone calm. She even got a drop of compassion from Miss Kuznetsov this time. Cool.
I think that's it. As I said last night, I am both happy and sad to see this story end. I can't remember when I started it... I think I started it in early 2017 or late 2016, but I didn't post it to Fanfiction.net until October of last year. I'm not sure what will be next on the fanfiction horizon. I have my whole New York City music thing I'll be doing in June, so I won't have a lot of brain capacity to write anything, but you never know.
I did do a good job of keeping him in character this time. While I still find it amusing him being a Don Giovanni-esque seducer, I can't help but love the chapter Seduction By Happenstance. He never intended to sleep with Annika, it just sorta happened, which is how stuff like that occurs sometimes. I know the day I lost my V- card, I didn't wake up that day thinking that was going to happen. It just was how the day turned out. But anyway, I do love that chapter. It is one of, if not, the longest chapter in the story. But I think my favorite part of that chapter is the end, when Annika tells Wesker she loves him. His response... Oh that was pure Wesker right there!
The Warlords gang members: Dragan kinda took over some of the early parts that Misha would have been in had this been Wesker's Conquest. Pretty much Dragan Volkov was Misha. He was emotionally unstable, violent, extremely mistrustful of Americans, especially Wesker, who he considered to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing (ironically he was right). I never had a backstory for Dragan in mind, but I can't help but wonder what brought him to a place he hated so much? Then there was Dragan's boss Bronislav Ateljevic. Yeah, a hardcore Serbian name if there ever was one. But I really like Bronislav. He was pretty much just like Wesker. Calm, calculated, and scheming. Even Wesker was impressed by his ability to be calm and not show his emotions. I'm sure under different circumstances, Bronislav and Wesker would have worked together, but alas, Wesker puts quite a few bullets into him... Oh well, so much for that idea.
The tie in to previous stories: As mentioned previously, with the exception of three or four stories, all my Resident Evil fanfictions have something that ties them together. The Whistleblower ties to The Last Recruit and The Last Recruit ties to The Uncomfortable Conversation (it's actually where The Last Recruit come from). This story actually ties into Crime and Punishment. The drugs that Dragan sells to the biker gang members are Aaron McMasters and Robert Thatcher from the Euston Street Runners! When you think about, that it would make sense that once S.T.A.R.S. is established and Wesker actually has legal jurisdiction, would swing back to apprehend those responsible for the Umbrella Pharmaceutical robbery four years earlier. In Crime and Punishment, the Euston Street drug bust is S.T.A.R.S. very first case. See what I did there! Oh and I guess you can say it also ties into Changing of the Guard, with Wesker the wondering what was going on with Spencer and the mystery regarding the Arklay facility, but really the tie in story is Crime and Punishment.
My favorite lines: I have a lot of favorite lines in this story. There is the line Wesker says to Annika after the first time they are together and she confesses her love for him, "Poor Annika, giving your heart to me, that is a fool's errand." I could hear Wesker telling Annika that very clearly. But this line by far is my favorite, "Even beyond that, there was something unreachable about him as a whole. Like a missing piece of a beautiful puzzle that would be complete if it wasn't for that lost part." I think that sums up Wesker perfectly! Then there is the brief glimpse into how warped and twisted Wesker's mind really is and that comes when he is thinking about killing Bronislav and Metija, "He reveled in spilling their blood, he delighted in piercing their flesh and organs with hot lead. Moreover, the sounds that their bodies made as the fell lifelessly to the ground in a tarn of their own warm gushing fluids... That sound, that beautiful melodic sound was like a symphony to his ears." I love Wesker, but I also know that Wesker is a deeply flawed and a really twisted individual; I think that last line really illustrates how messed up Wesker really is.
Ending: I changed the ending from Wesker's Conquest. In Wesker's Conquest, the story ends when Annika first holds Jake, but in The Relationship, the epilogue ends after Jake is baptized and given a full name. I love the ending where Annika is dressing Jake while Father Ponomarenko is admiring how close they are. It's a sweet ending.
Oh yes, speaking of Father Ponomarenko, I added him at the last minute. I knew I was going to have an epilogue and it would be Jake's baptism, but Father Ponomarenko was a last minute addition and was a sort of substitute for Uncle Alexei. He was kind to Annika when she needed it the most. Fun fact, Ponomarenko is Ukrainian for Clergyman.
Location, Language, and history of The Republic of Edonia: I could never decide where Edonia would be on a modern map. I think originally I had a small section of Serbia carved out for where Edonia would be, but it needed to be in a semi-mountainous area, so I thought maybe a part of the Ukraine, but ultimately I could never decide. I did like the little bit of history that I gave to Edonia, especially for the name I gave Annika's home town, Menlick-Silavo, that it was named for the two mountains it was beside. Oh the Capital City, Glavni Grad, is literally translated from Serbian as The Capital (Je Glavni Grad). I think in my research it said that Edonia was a former Eastern Bloc country. I figured it would have probably been a part of the former country of Yugoslavia, so I shoehorned that into the story. I also shoehorned in that the Edonian Parliament had just ratified their constitution the day Annika went into labor. I figured that would add some urgency to the situation. As for the language of Edonia, I figured it would be a mix of Serbian, Ukrainian, with a hint of Russian. A lot of the names of characters in the story are either Serbian (in the early half of the story) or Ukrainian (In the latter half). The woman from the government has a Russian name, I don't know why I gave her a Russian name though.
Speaking of Zoya Kuznetsov, the interaction between her and Annika was a bit different. Instead of Zoya Kuznetsov being combative and Annika getting annoyed with her, I had Annika deescalate the entire situation by being really nice to her. Zoya and Ksenija were about to come to blows though, but again Annika managed to keep everyone calm. She even got a drop of compassion from Miss Kuznetsov this time. Cool.
I think that's it. As I said last night, I am both happy and sad to see this story end. I can't remember when I started it... I think I started it in early 2017 or late 2016, but I didn't post it to Fanfiction.net until October of last year. I'm not sure what will be next on the fanfiction horizon. I have my whole New York City music thing I'll be doing in June, so I won't have a lot of brain capacity to write anything, but you never know.