Notes on my spn_summergen fic, "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Lib"--and a link!
So, spn_summergen is over, a grand time was had by all, the reveals are up, and it was very satisfying!
Now that I can, I'll talk a little about my fic, "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Lib," and what went into it.
For starters, my recipient specified that she loved Sam-and-Dean banter (to the point that she'd be perfectly happy with 1,000 words of just that ;-) ). I love Sam-and-Dean banter, too--just love writing dialogue, really, but also specifically between those boys--but in order to keep some sense of balance in my fics, I try to restrain myself and not overindulge in all that. But, my recipient said that was what she wanted, so I regarded it as an opportunity to really let it rip and go to town with as much banter as I wanted.
Oh, but here's something I very much wanted to say about that fic!: I had recently rewatched "Plucky Pennywhistle," and as with a few of that pair's scripts, I was left with mixed feelings. On one hand, I think it's brilliant and hilarious (one clown winds up a punch for Sam, then head-butts him instead, and Sam has a smear of white clown makeup on his forehead thereafter--bwaha!), and it delves into some true dynamics between brothers, to wit: that Dean must have frequently been a really shitty brother to Sam. (I talk a little about that in the author's notes on THIS STORY, which was also partly inspired by Plucky Pennywhistle.) But then there's that seemingly toss-off crap at the end where Dean torments an already traumatized Sam with a clown doll--right after Sam gave Dean a very nice present in the form of the giant slinky Dean always wanted--which was mean and unnecessary and to me basically undid whatever brotherly understanding had just come out of Dean admitting he'd been a crappy brother to Sam, which was vital to their healing some of the (many) past wounds in their relationship. Thus, I started "Mad Lib" (and placed it right after Plucky Pennywhistle) with an idea to folding in some personal fix-its for that episode as I engaged in all that brotherly interaction.
Well ... I guess it kind of worked, at least for me, because try as I might, I COULD NOT get Dean to realistically do anything but snigger about Sam's beatdown by clowns, EVEN knowing how Sam feels about clowns, that they almost killed him, etc. The best I could do was have Dean feel bad for a second (and do something nice for him that's unrelated--but that he should probably always do for Sam; i.e., bring him something he truly wants for dinner), then start grinning about it yet again. So what I learned is, I GUESS THAT'S JUST DEAN. (Maybe the writers tried to get Dean to do something else and also couldn't.)
The other main thing I'd like to say about that fic was that, as originally envisioned, it would never get sad. My recipient DID say she likes really heavy angst (as do I), so when it came to that, I just went for it, but that was not my first intention. The prompt was "A spirit is haunting a high school, every prom night. Dean and Sam have to go undercover as supervisors to hunt the ghost. One of the high school kids takes a shine to either Sam or Dean and she's very, very insistent." So I thought, ha ha, wouldn't it be hilarious if she's SO insistent she even stalks him after death?? Which seemed like a great idea, until there was Nellie, and she ended up being such a wonderful, maddening, adorable character, and I have to kill her! (I still have a hard time reading that part of that fic. :-]) I tried to make it light, but realism in my fics pretty much comes first and foremost for me, and Sam and Dean couldn't get to know someone like that and feel nothing when she died (especially when they worked so hard to save her and all the other kids). I considered not killing her at all, but everything in the fic related to the case, really, leads up to it and foreshadows it. So my humor fic suddenly takes a turn for the dark and angsty, and, well ... I really like that, like the way it turned out, but I recognize it's a sudden shift in tone that was unexpected and kind of threw some people, so just so you know, it was a surprise to me, too.
And ah, Mad Libs. Certain kinds of verbal mistakes are unendingly hilarious to me (like headlines that end up saying two things, one of which is inappropriate or suggestive), which makes Mad Libs the kind of thing that can, if it comes out really good, put me in hysterics. I don't even remember what made me put Mad Libs in my story, except that I happened to see some in the check-out lane at Old Navy (or, as I like to call it, Cold Gravy) right as I was conceiving the fic, and I was surprised but delighted to see they still exist. The Wikipedia page for Mad Libs gives some very interesting history, if you feel like reading more on it. Then it seemed like a nice memory for Dean, and a nice mortar for the story, and a good source of humor (also something I seem to recall my recipient saying she likes, and something I really enjoy writing). Most of the Mad Libs in the story I wrote as-is, but the final one I could only do by actually composing a Mad Lib and then plugging in the words Nellie would use to describe Sam: "super-hot," "tall," "hunky," etc. That one (and the "short, brown" one) still make me giggle. :-D
You can read the fic here. I hope you liked/like it!!
Now that I can, I'll talk a little about my fic, "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Lib," and what went into it.
For starters, my recipient specified that she loved Sam-and-Dean banter (to the point that she'd be perfectly happy with 1,000 words of just that ;-) ). I love Sam-and-Dean banter, too--just love writing dialogue, really, but also specifically between those boys--but in order to keep some sense of balance in my fics, I try to restrain myself and not overindulge in all that. But, my recipient said that was what she wanted, so I regarded it as an opportunity to really let it rip and go to town with as much banter as I wanted.
Oh, but here's something I very much wanted to say about that fic!: I had recently rewatched "Plucky Pennywhistle," and as with a few of that pair's scripts, I was left with mixed feelings. On one hand, I think it's brilliant and hilarious (one clown winds up a punch for Sam, then head-butts him instead, and Sam has a smear of white clown makeup on his forehead thereafter--bwaha!), and it delves into some true dynamics between brothers, to wit: that Dean must have frequently been a really shitty brother to Sam. (I talk a little about that in the author's notes on THIS STORY, which was also partly inspired by Plucky Pennywhistle.) But then there's that seemingly toss-off crap at the end where Dean torments an already traumatized Sam with a clown doll--right after Sam gave Dean a very nice present in the form of the giant slinky Dean always wanted--which was mean and unnecessary and to me basically undid whatever brotherly understanding had just come out of Dean admitting he'd been a crappy brother to Sam, which was vital to their healing some of the (many) past wounds in their relationship. Thus, I started "Mad Lib" (and placed it right after Plucky Pennywhistle) with an idea to folding in some personal fix-its for that episode as I engaged in all that brotherly interaction.
Well ... I guess it kind of worked, at least for me, because try as I might, I COULD NOT get Dean to realistically do anything but snigger about Sam's beatdown by clowns, EVEN knowing how Sam feels about clowns, that they almost killed him, etc. The best I could do was have Dean feel bad for a second (and do something nice for him that's unrelated--but that he should probably always do for Sam; i.e., bring him something he truly wants for dinner), then start grinning about it yet again. So what I learned is, I GUESS THAT'S JUST DEAN. (Maybe the writers tried to get Dean to do something else and also couldn't.)
The other main thing I'd like to say about that fic was that, as originally envisioned, it would never get sad. My recipient DID say she likes really heavy angst (as do I), so when it came to that, I just went for it, but that was not my first intention. The prompt was "A spirit is haunting a high school, every prom night. Dean and Sam have to go undercover as supervisors to hunt the ghost. One of the high school kids takes a shine to either Sam or Dean and she's very, very insistent." So I thought, ha ha, wouldn't it be hilarious if she's SO insistent she even stalks him after death?? Which seemed like a great idea, until there was Nellie, and she ended up being such a wonderful, maddening, adorable character, and I have to kill her! (I still have a hard time reading that part of that fic. :-]) I tried to make it light, but realism in my fics pretty much comes first and foremost for me, and Sam and Dean couldn't get to know someone like that and feel nothing when she died (especially when they worked so hard to save her and all the other kids). I considered not killing her at all, but everything in the fic related to the case, really, leads up to it and foreshadows it. So my humor fic suddenly takes a turn for the dark and angsty, and, well ... I really like that, like the way it turned out, but I recognize it's a sudden shift in tone that was unexpected and kind of threw some people, so just so you know, it was a surprise to me, too.
And ah, Mad Libs. Certain kinds of verbal mistakes are unendingly hilarious to me (like headlines that end up saying two things, one of which is inappropriate or suggestive), which makes Mad Libs the kind of thing that can, if it comes out really good, put me in hysterics. I don't even remember what made me put Mad Libs in my story, except that I happened to see some in the check-out lane at Old Navy (or, as I like to call it, Cold Gravy) right as I was conceiving the fic, and I was surprised but delighted to see they still exist. The Wikipedia page for Mad Libs gives some very interesting history, if you feel like reading more on it. Then it seemed like a nice memory for Dean, and a nice mortar for the story, and a good source of humor (also something I seem to recall my recipient saying she likes, and something I really enjoy writing). Most of the Mad Libs in the story I wrote as-is, but the final one I could only do by actually composing a Mad Lib and then plugging in the words Nellie would use to describe Sam: "super-hot," "tall," "hunky," etc. That one (and the "short, brown" one) still make me giggle. :-D
You can read the fic here. I hope you liked/like it!!