writing meme: ask me questions!

[curvasud]

All my fic are here. I'm not sure my collection is long, wide, or deep enough to merit any interest/questions, really, but I thought I'd put this out here in case anyone does have a question. Just ask. :)

I think it would be fun to talk about stories, but the usual memes are like, "What happens next?" "Tell me about Character A?" Which isn't so

Comments

[lamechante]

I have a lot of questions to ask you but I'm afraid my English isn't good enough.
So, first of all, I just wanted to thank you for your writings because (it might me weird to you) they really helped me in one way or another: they made my day, they gave me hope when I needed it but, moreover, they gave me beauty. You (and pendules) are so gifted and you have to know this.

By the way, one of the things that attracted me most was the pairing Jon Alonso/Luca Leite. As you know, I'll always love K/S probably more than my own life (oh, well, kind of :D) and I always thought of writing Jordan/Luca because in my mind I wanted an happy ending for them (the happy ending their fathers didn't have). But when I read Luca/Jon I immediately fell in love with them because their relationship was more credible but at the same time it wasn't predictable. Your Catorce and pendules i've always been a dreamer made me smile and at the same time the second one had that melancholy that only K/S and X/S have.
I even tried to write Luca/Jon, but it wasn't simple because there was that gloominess that pervaded me and I didn't want that for them.
So, my question (finally) is: how do you picture Jon and Luca relationship? I mean, I have an idea from your fic and pendules one, but if you have to, how would you describe them, together?
(I hope I didn't make too many mistakes)
<3

[pendules]

Can I second this? I mean, I think the way you wrote them is absolutely perfect - and obviously I drew a lot from that when I was writing them. But I was wondering what made you write them like that in the first place.

Oh, and I'd definitely love to know "what-happens-next", re. Catorce.

[curvasud]

What happens next for Jon and Luca or what happens next in the 2024 universe? :P I'll probably answer a bit of both anyway, although I'm a little pooped out from the rambling below too (which answers your first question, I think).

For Jon and Luca:

I think it takes a few weeks, but eventually Jon listens to Kaka's advice and approaches Xabi to talk. I think Xabi reacts a little rashly at first, too, because I imagine he was more like Jon when he was younger than he'd let on, and Jon is pissed that his father didn't understand the way Luca's pai did, the way Luca's pai said he would. And Xabi is probably going to give Gerrard a call and be cryptic and heartbreaking, and then he goes up to Jon's room to have another talk with him, or to listen, mostly, while Jon talks. And they're okay.

For 2024-verse:

I think I told you before, but I really want to return to Jordan. He'll go back to Ukraine to his father's house, where Sheva has been upset and frustrated, looking for his missing Bible. Jordan will toss his father the ball that Kaka signed for him in Brasil and confess that he took the Bible, learned its history, and returned it to its owner. Sheva will probably be angry and a little humiliated, and he'll say that he is the owner of that little pocket tract and that Jordan had no right to take it. And I think Jordan will tell his father to go claim it back if he wants it.

[pendules]

Ooh, excited to read your rambling, actually. XD

I like that a lot, because in my head, Jon and his dad do have a more complicated relationship or something - so I can see that happening. I like this a lot too: I imagine he was more like Jon when he was younger than he'd let on, even though I like to think that Jon is somehow more Stevie-esque than Xabi-esque which both scares and pleases his father.

And I think Jordan will tell his father to go claim it back if he wants it.

Oh. Yes. Definitely.

[curvasud]

I have a lot of questions to ask you but I'm afraid my English isn't good enough.

Wow! I didn't even imagine I'd get one question, so that's really a pleasant surprise. I think your English is great (much better than my Italian!), but if you want to ask anything in Italian, if it's easier for you, I'll try my best to reply. :)

So, first of all, I just wanted to thank you for your writings because (it might me weird to you) they really helped me in one way or another: they made my day, they gave me hope when I needed it but, moreover, they gave me beauty. You (and pendules) are so gifted and you have to know this.

You're much too kind. ♥ Also, I want you to know, too, that your comments always make my day. They're sincere, kind, and thoughtful, and they make me want to write more, to be deserving of them.

one of the things that attracted me most was the pairing Jon Alonso/Luca Leite [...] and I always thought of writing Jordan/Luca because in my mind I wanted an happy ending for them [...] But when I read Luca/Jon I immediately fell in love with them because their relationship was more credible but at the same time it wasn't predictable.

Jon/Luca...is one of my crack brainchildren that just exploded, came out of nowhere and then completely consumed me. I was sitting there one night, trying to imagine a birthday flclet for pendules. I thought I should really continue Confessionals because it had been three years since I wrote that first part for her, and the "OT6," or the cross-pairing of what I thought to be the three main ships in football fandom at the time, was something that fascinated me. Then I remembered another fic that I'd written three years ago, 2024, which, although written in Kaka's point of view, was really about Jordan and about how I imagined an older Jordan reacting to Kaka/Sheva. It wasn't the first time someone had written about footballers' children (in fact, I don't know if you're interested in Becksillas, but en passant, featuring Iker and a grown-up Brooklyn, was one of my inspirations for 2024 - it's fantastic), and that's always kind of a touchy subject, but… honestly, I don't find it that much different from writing about the footballers themselves, as long as it's clearly identified as fictional and handled with as much respect as possible.

So back in 2007, the Shevchenko boys and the Beckham boys were relatively popular - probably because they existed at all. Jon Alonso and Luca Leite would not be born for another year. But then in 2010… and with Kaka and Xabi both having left their clubs for Real Madrid… things just began weaving together in the back of my mind: the OT6 aspect from Confessionals, the Jordan idea from 2024.

Like you - probably like several K/S fans, actually -I too have contemplated Jordan/Luca (and I know for a fact that there are S/X fans out there who encourage Jon/Lexie). I think I could have pushed for Jordan/Luca if I wanted to, could have imagined a future for them (for myself), but I didn't want to, and I'm not sure I could have felt for them what I feel for either K/S or for Jon/Luca. I think Jordan/Luca, aside from that "predictability" you mentioned, that sort of cliched well-their-fathers-couldn't-so-of-course thing, they would have had to bear that exact burden. They would have been K/S 2.0 (or 3.0, whatever), they would have been K/S: The Next Generation. Their relationship wouldn't have been theirs; it would not have been for themselves but for their fathers, or for us, the fans of their fathers.

I think - I hoped - Jon/Luca, in part, saves us from that. It still indulges us the side dishes of K/S and S/X, but the main course is the two young men, who, maybe, possibly, grew up together in Madrid, and who, maybe, possibly, love each other because they love each other, and not because their fathers love(d) each other.

HAHAH…sorry for the essay, WHICH YOU DIDN'T EVEN ASK FOR. I'll get to answering your question now. XD

[curvasud]

how do you picture Jon and Luca relationship? […] if you have to, how would you describe them, together?

I think, first, I must have imagined them individually, because I wanted them to be individuals, not mirror-images of how fandom has painted their fathers. I'd never read either of them in fiction before, separately or together - I thought I might have been the first to try writing them - so to me, they were basically original characters, and I was free to construct them however I wanted, within certain parameters.

Jon… You know how Xabi is usually portrayed as calm, classy, rational, sophisticated, wise, and so on? I didn't want Jon to be like that at all. I don't know if I wanted him to be rebellious, or to be naturally different from that, but my Jon is rash, passionate, intelligent, infuriating, bratty, proud, loud, bold, brave, annoying, endearing, love-him-or-hate-him. He lives and laughs and loves with his entire body, and he doesn't give a shit if you have a problem with that.

Luca… I don't know, Luca is more difficult. I don't think he's a mirror-image but I think he'd be a lot more like Kaka: so well-liked and so easy to adore. He's mild-mannered and polite, always polite. He's pious, obedient, and I think he goes through some of the same struggles reconciling his faith with his empirical life that his father so often experiences in fandom. I think he tries to be good, in part because he loves God (like Kaka) and in part because he fears Him (unlike Kaka, I think), and I think he tries to see the good in people too.

Jon/Luca… Some of my thoughts are probably influenced by pendules' piece, but it's not fresh on my memory and I think we also have different views about certain things. So, in any case, this is my Jon/Luca: I think they grew up, maybe not exactly together, but certainly around each other, like they're always aware of each other's presence in their own lives. Kaka's, what, 28 now? let's say he has another six years of professional football left in him, and let's say he spends most of that time in Madrid. So Luca grows up in Madrid, and Jon grows up in Madrid, and they go to the same fancy schmancy primary school because they can afford to. They're friendly enough, but not exactly friends during this time of their lives, because so what if their dads are famous and plays/played together for Real-fucking-Madrid? That doesn't mean they have to be friends; they see enough of each other at school and at social functions and things, thank you, now leave them alone. So what if Jon maybe saves Luca from bullying, once, when some kids made fun of his too-large, funny-looking ears and made him cry? That doesn't mean Jon likes Luca, or thinks the ears aren't funny-looking, cos they totally are; he just won't stand for those idiots yanking on them.

[curvasud]

And then maybe they go to different secondary schools, because even though the Kakas have decided to stay in Spain for some reason I can't be arsed to make up, there are a lot more options now, and Jon and Luca just end up at neighbouring, rival schools. Except somehow that's made them only noticed each other more, not less, because they're at that early-teens stage now. Luca's a bit awkward in his own body; his uniform never fits quite right and he's a little clumsy and flustered (never inherited his father's hand-eye coordination or athletic grace). But he's popular enough, because he's nice and charming; the girls rather fancy him and the boys half-pity, half-holds-him-in-awe because of it. Jon's an awkward little shit, too, but he is athletic and he's good, so he's kind of admired for that. But he doesn't have many friends because people generally don't get him, and those who do… well, he doesn't want to get to know them. He wants to know Luca, because he sees Luca sometimes and Luca's different from all of them. So Jon transfers to Luca's school.

Jon's sudden, constant presence in Luca's life is distracting and unhealthy, but Jon is stubborn enough and Luca is nice enough that they actually do become friends anyway. Best friends, maybe, and then they get to that point where they can't imagine their lives before each other. Like, "where have you been all my life?" one would say, and the other would answer, "right here, you monkey," and that would be the most hilarious thing ever because it's true.

They grow into their bodies near the end of secondary education, and now they can't help but notice how often they touch each other, how those touches start to linger more and more. Jon's not afraid; he's come to terms with the fact that he likes Luca more than anybody in the entire world, and he's pretty sure Luca feels the same way about him. But Luca has that whole God problem, and family problem, so Jon cares about him enough to let it be, let Luca make the first move if there is ever going to be anything more between them.

And, well, this is probably much, much longer that you'd anticipated, and I apologise for that, so I'm just going to leave it here. But, you know, eventually Luca did. :)

P.S. I would LOVE to read Jon/Luca from you. ♥

[curvasud]

...and then I realised that I spent ~1500 words on all that and DIDN'T EVEN REALLY ANSWER YOUR QUESTION. D: omg, sorry.

Okay, how do I imagine them together? Let's try to make this short. I think they're pretty complementary, in ways that K/S doesn't seem to be. K and S seem to be drawn to forces that pull them away from each other, while, I think, my Jon and Luca fit together quite nicely. They yield to each other without really giving up any bit of themselves, and that better be the way it is, because they're so enamoured with all of each other that each would hate it if the other changes for him.

[lamechante]

. K and S seem to be drawn to forces that pull them away from each other, while, I think, my Jon and Luca fit together quite nicely
Luckily!!!

[pendules]

the Kakas have decided to stay in Spain for some reason I can't be arsed to make up

LOL IKR.

But he doesn't have many friends because people generally don't get him

Yep. I like them both being awkward shits. :P Canon to me, whatever.

[lamechante]

I'm reading and loving every line you wrote about them and, really, I can't wait to read some other J(on!)/Luca from you.

And, well, this is probably much, much longer that you'd anticipated, and I apologise for that, so I'm just going to leave it here. But, you know, eventually Luca did. :)
It was really a pleasure to read this. I'm sorry I couldn't reply yesterday but it was late in the night :(

P.S. I would LOVE to read Jon/Luca from you. ♥
I don't know, is it a problem if I link you my Jon/Luca in Italian? I'm not capable of writing it in English, but I'm sure your Italian, at this point, is kinda perfect!

[lamechante]

Well, then, I spam it to you anyway:
http://community.livejournal.com/phantasielos/6579.html

♥

[_belbis]

This is like, another fic for itself. I loooooooove it. Hahahah I'm a bit away from slash in all kinds lately, but k/s always brings me back, and your fics will always be amazing. I can re-read them a hundred times and never get tired. I'm in a rush now but will finish reading and maybe even ask something later - just wanted to leave this here, 'cuz I never comment much (shame on me). :)

[pendules]

I think he goes through some of the same struggles reconciling his faith with his empirical life

You know, I meant to explore this a bit in my fic, but it didn't fit. Which is a shame. Sequel, y/n?

I adore your characterisations. They're perfect. And Jon, Jon is just my favourite. Like, ever. (Even though I like getting inside Luca's head more. Which is probably why I love Jon so much, really.)

[curvasud]

YES, SEQUEL.

Even though I like getting inside Luca's head more. Which is probably why I love Jon so much, really.

I getcha. I haven't had too much experience with that from a writer's perspective, but I know that, in Merlin fandom, for example, I prefer to read from Arthur's point of view because Merlin is my favourite. It just means that I get to share Arthur's ridiculous feelings. XD

[pendules]

I still have to finish J/L Christmas fic that Rachie asked for. ...which is basically turning into future!RM fic. >.> Reading this definitely makes me want to write more proper J/L though. :)