Dollhouse Fic: "Written In Ink, Carved In Stone" (Dominic/DeWitt, ensemble, PG-13)

[demonqueen666]

Okay, so from here on out, we're calling this the Waking 'verse. Sigh.
Also, this part started out very character and emotion-driven, and then toward the end it suddenly got all narrative and plot-y. Wtf?

Title: Written In Ink, Carved In Stone
Characters/Pairings: Dominic/DeWitt, Ballard, Topher, Claire, Victor, Boyd, Ivy
Rating: PG-13 for sex,

Comments

[dollsome]

COHERENTISH NOW! (Or, well, we shall see.)

Oh, God, I love this, I love this, I love this! Mere words cannot convey. What with the show's future being tragically iffy and all that, I can now imagine a world in which this series of fanfictions goes on forever, and my heart is even a little okay, because this is exactly, exactly how I would want the show to go. (The fact that Echo did not even make an appearance is maybe telling. Oh, Eliza, you are good, but not as good as absolutely everybody else.) The way that you portray all the relationships progressing just makes me want to FREAK OUT WITH LOVE, because we all know the real magic of Whedon is in the characters, and the way you portray them connecting here, it's all so spot-on and natural and perfect and gets me all weirdly emotional.

DOMINIC AND TOPHER, DOMINIC AND TOPHER! Seeing their enmity develop into this weird, reluctant understanding is so wonderful beyond words. Them accidentally bonding over Ballard Hate (one of my favourite things, even though, okay, he was pretty decent in the finale) and Boyd being all secretly amused about it brought me SUCH JOY. And then you followed it up with DRUNK DOMINIC (“Monogamy. The thing that sounds like wood, but isn’t.”) and Topher visiting his apartment and, okay, okay--

“It’s Snoopy.” Dominic gives him a scowl that blatantly accuses him of being a moron. “Haven’t you ever seen Snoopy before?”

“Well, yes - yes, I have. But what are you doing with it?”

“I happen to like Snoopy.” The scowl becomes a very deadly glare. “Something wrong with liking Snoopy?”

“Oh - no, of course not,” Topher backpedals: “He’s certainly the most manly of all the animated dogs…”

Oh, man, actual out loud-type lolz! That is like the greatest thing I have ever read. Dominic scowlily defending Snoopy! Oh, sincerest ecstasy.

AND, LORD, ADELLE AND DOMINIC. I am so, so fond of how warm you made their relationship; I think that in the light of "A Spy In The House Of Love," a lot of the focus in fanfiction is inevitably going to be on how messed up this relationship is -- because, ya know, it is a lot -- but pre-1x09, there was that wonderful unstated cameraderie between them, and I just love seeing that get to flourish. Getting to see them happy without seeming all sappy or out of character is just the best, and something my heart so dearly needs.

The scenes between Dominic and Saunders and Dominic and Ballard were also just fascinating. Honestly, the way you write the interaction between all of these characters, I feel like I'm watching an episode of the show, but it's the BEST EPISODE EVER.

I also love the way that you expand the Dollhouse mythology, with all of the handler gossip about the different House heads and their creepy doll usage. It rang so incredibly true with the tone of the show, and you are just so good at expanding on what we've been given and totally, totally making me believe it.

AND THE END. Oh, I love it, such an excellent twist! I really, really just love, overall, how whole you've made Dominic as a character -- you've got him absolutely perfectly in-character in terms of what we've seen on the show, and you've expanded that so wonderfully that I could just fangirl about it all the live long day. I am pretty sure that I've enjoyed this fic series as much as I have the show itself, so THUMBS UP, YOU! ♥ ♥ ♥

[demonqueen666]

The fact that Echo did not even make an appearance is maybe telling.

Hey, FWW, I actually do like Echo, it's just that she's almost not so much a character as she is a prop, and while I do love the recurrent Actives dearly, they're not so easy to write for me because...I like characters. And as cute as they all are, their base is pretty empty.
There actually was a whole other scene I was going to do in this particular story with Dominic and Echo, that basically wound up on the cutting room floor because when I went to start writing it I realized it didn't fit. However, I'm probably going to end up writing it anyway as it's own seperate thing, because it's kind of necessary for their interactions later on. SO.

DOMINIC AND TOPHER, DOMINIC AND TOPHER! Seeing their enmity develop into this weird, reluctant understanding is so wonderful beyond words.

See, I don't want to be accused of thinking I know what Joss Whedon is planning, but I feel like if they continued from where we first saw it, that'd almost be the way it'd have to go. It's that thing you see all the time on TV, where character X and Y start out as bitter enemies, but hardship and being on the same team makes them have to begrudgingly like each other, and even though they still grouse all the time, when it comes down to it they do like each other, kinda. Plus, the more I think about it, the more the way Dominic was set up reminds me of early Cordelia on BtVS - this not-evil but still antagonistic Other there to annoy the characters we like, and as time went on she just got closer to the group, and her character got better through an equal amount of growth but also it being revealed there was more to her all along. (I think the point I'm trying to make here is, "I'm glad you like where I went with this." Phew.)

accidentally bonding over Ballard Hate (one of my favourite things, even though, okay, he was pretty decent in the finale)

Oh god, Ballard. I'm not even 100% just where I stand on him. He has a good heart, so I can't really hate him, but man can he be a dick. I guess I don't want him to die in a fire, but I can't help letting the other characters take pot-shots at him. Hell, Topher already has in canon...Boyd too, a little, before they were suddenly starring in a buddy cop flick at the very end (okay, I'll admit that amused me more than it should).
I'd love to see a season two because I'm getting this image of Ballard wandering around the Dollhouse all spacey-eyed, while Topher hangs in the background making annoyed faces and Boyd just sighs, and Ballard's all "OMG THIS PLACE IS CRAZY" and they're just like "Bitch, welcome to Dollhouse". I'm sure if Ballard and Dominic were ever around at the same time, they would not like each other at all. And it gave me Author Glee to set up Ballard as the Outsider that the vaguely-allied staff suddenly rallies up against. (He's a good butt-monkey, I guess.)

Dominic scowlily defending Snoopy! Oh, sincerest ecstasy.

I already commented on this elsewhere, but: I am so, so glad that people are liking that sequence. I had the idea, and then I was so uncertain whether it was really as funny as I seemed to think it was. I basically kept telling myself, "It's very Whedon, so it works" - like, IDK, it just seems like the kind of random character tidbit that would show up on one of his shows (like Spike watching soap operas, or Angel being a dorky dancer) and...yeah. I came thisclose to cutting it out after I wrote it, half-convinced it was just too cracky to really work. But in the end I decided to leave it because, dammit, it was my story and it made me laugh, if nothing else. So it's amazingly gratifying and overwhelming that it gives other people the lolz too, and that I am not actually as crazy as I would've believed. Sort of.

[demonqueen666]

(Two comments, because I had WAY too much to say - and this is the edited version. Yikes.)

a lot of the focus in fanfiction is inevitably going to be on how messed up this relationship is -- because, ya know, it is a lot -- but pre-1x09, there was that wonderful unstated cameraderie between them, and I just love seeing that get to flourish.

I love the angst. I want to marry angst and have little half-angst, half-human babies...the fact that THIS pairing magically leapt from "not even on my radar" to "Dollhouse OTP" in the course of an episode where he betrayed her, she had him tortured, he shot her and she gave him a fate worse than death...really speaks for itself. But clearly, I could never be an actual Whedon writer, because I love to make my characters cry and THEN give them fuzzy magic kittens and rainbow cake to make up for it. So, my take on D/D is pretty much always going to be this weird fro-yo blend of delicious angst and your aforementioned sweet camradarie...because try as I might, I can never make myself too cruel.
But, yeah. I'm glad that you think it still works for them, and with the canon, without hopefully coming off like I'm just ignoring their issues, because I'm really trying not to.

...I think I need to add another icon of this pairing.

I really, really just love, overall, how whole you've made Dominic as a character -- you've got him absolutely perfectly in-character in terms of what we've seen on the show, and you've expanded that

In a weird way, that's why I like limited canons: sooo much room to manipulate and finagle. I'm very glad to hear your approval of where I've taken Dominic, since what you've described is more or less exactly what I was trying to do: keep him as him, but fill in the story between the lines ("No, this is not all there is to Laurence Dominic!")...without stepping on any toes, of course. Thanks for letting me know I stayed on the right track.

In any case, I hope to have an opportinity to play around with this set of toys soon. Now that we've met the other Dominics (plural) I have a feeling this 'verse is not going to let itself be laid to rest long. (As just a note of authorial curiosity: if you go back and re-read the "quitting the NSA" section with the knowledge that that is his sister, does it make your lower lip wibble just a bit more? Because that's kinda where I was going.)

Thank you once again and so much for all of your excellant feedback, and for putting up with my ramblings. Ta!