Fic: A Question of Gravity

[leven_kemal]

Characters: Malcolm Reynolds & Hoban Washburne
Rating: G
Warnings: None. Well, maybe a tiny dash of violence.
Words: ~3800

Summary: Set pre-series. Mal has a difficult time taking his new pilot seriously. Eye-popping shirts and toy dinosaurs? And yet, the man remains hired. Huh.

Disclaimer: You know and I know these people belong to Joss.

A.N.:

Comments

[jedibuttercup]

> I may have gone overboard with the language, no question, but there's a style of speaking I heard frequently when I lived in Virginia, even from folks with very little education, with a wonderful range of vocabulary and flexibility of syntax. Real raconteurs. And that's what I hear when I start working on what Mal's thinking. It just kinda rolls out. :) And this could just be a very idiosyncratic interpretation on my part.

It's a valid interpretation, though; when Mal really gets going on the show he does get plenty poetical. I tend to write him a little less so on an ongoing basis, especially in longfic like watching_river, but still with plenty of flavor; more like the East Texas/West Louisiana backcountry accents I grew up with. The key thing, though, is being able to hear it as you write it, whatever slant on the accent you're writing; I've found you can really tell in Firefly fandom who's had down-South experience, and who hasn't. And you have. =)

Really, an excellent fic overall. I ♥ Mal very much indeed, and this was an excellent and highly plausible look at how he and Wash might have got to know one another at the beginning.

[leven_kemal]

Thank you! I'm pleased that, as a Mal appreciator, that you found this plausible. Mal is a fascinating character, but I usually work with Wash, and I'm much more practiced with his voice and motives. Thanks for letting me know this piece worked for you.