Fic, Body and Soul, Blue Cortina, by DorsetGirl

[dorsetgirl]

Title:    Body and Soul

Author: DorsetGirl

Fandom: Life on Mars

Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters or their universe. BBC/Kudos do. I’m not making any money out of this.

Rating: Blue Cortina for injury and angst

Pairings: Sam/Gene implied

Word Count: 378

Summary: Sam can’t keep body and soul together any longer.

A/N: A few days ago I posted a story

Comments

[clonesgirl]

This was harrowing. Poor Sam. And poor Gene. What must he have thought when he found Sam in this state? I figure Sam must have been near death by the time Gene found him. No wonder he's taking so long to heal. Thanks for the prequel, love. I think "Fighting to Survive" needed it.

[dorsetgirl]

I seem to have been working my way backwards through this story. Before I wrote this, I did the bit which happens after this, where Gene sees Sam in the hospital. Again it's different in mood from the other two; just experimenting really, for the sake of getting something - anything - written.

I might post the middle bit tomorrow, but I have my Remix fic to finish off as well.

Thanks for commenting, love, you're very kind.

[nepthys_uk]

I really felt for Sam here - what a horrific experience for him. This helps to explain his anger and frustration in the sequel. Also, I love the first section in particular, where you have juxstaposed Sam's specific injuries with rather more basic human needs, to great effect.

[dorsetgirl]

Also, I love the first section in particular

That bit just wrote itself, then I spent ages fiddling about with the order and the punctuation before putting it back exactly as I first wrote it!

Being totally a happy-ever-after girl, I don't think I could ever set out to write something like this deliberately. When I started to write Fighting to Survive I had no idea where it was going, and when I'd finished I had no answers to the obvious questions. I sort of worked my way back to this, which rather knackers what could have been a cliffhanger!

Thanks for commenting, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I do have a middle bit which I may post soon.

[elamae]

That was intense. Can't wait to read more.

[dorsetgirl]

I was rather aiming for desperate and intense, so thank you for that!

I don't know how much more there's going to be; I have one piece which fits in between this and Fighting to Survive, but I'm not much cop at long fics, and I'd never normally post something that wasn't complete, so we'll have to see. I might post the middle bit tomorrow if it looks any good.

Welcome again, and thanks for commenting.

[bistokids]

Good grief, poor poor Sam! You have a gorgeous writing style, powerful and atmospheric, that lends itself perfectly to this kind of fic. I love how each section has a slightly different texture to it.

And the last line? Broke me.

[dorsetgirl]

Terrific choice of icon - Sam waiting to die.

You have a gorgeous writing style, powerful and atmospheric

Oh wow, that is a serious compliment - thank you. I just can't tell whether things are any good or not, so I'm very pleased indeed that you think it's OK.

each section has a slightly different texture to it

Hmm, if I were clever I would say it was written like that to represent the different ways in which Sam is reacting, mentally and physically, to internal and external stresses at different stages of his ordeal.

Sadly, as I'm not, that would simply be a self-aggrandising post-rationalisation, because I don't think I've even come across the term "texture" before in a writing context. So all I can say is that it just came out like that, and it worried me quite a lot that it was so bitty and choppy-changy. That's why I put in the asterisks, to make it look intentional.The last line would be horrific, would it not, if I'd had the intelligence to think of this part before the end of the story. But then I would never have written

[mikes_grrl]

You have a gorgeous writing style, powerful and atmospheric

I'm seconding BK on that description of your writing. I know know are a "Gene Girl" to the nines, but boy howdy, when you take Sam on, you bust out the layer cake of emotions and, yes, texture. Reading this just makes me ache. If it weren't for the fact that this is a prequel to an already written piece, I really would believe Sam is dead at the end. *sniff*

But dayyyamn this is an intense and brilliant little ficcie. Whoa. Just...wonderful!

[dorsetgirl]

Wow, thank you for your lovely comment! You're very kind.

It's interesting that you think this would work as a death!fic, because that leads me to question myself and my total abhorrence for the idea of writing either Sam or Gene dying (apart from in 2017 or whenever it was). Because I just did, sort of. Almost. And you're telling me if I'd labelled it death!fic (and, you know, not already posted the sequel), then people would find it believeable.

But it didn't hurt to write this, because I know that this entirely fictional rip-off of someone else's fictional character doesn't really die at the end of my little work of, yeah, fiction. So it really shouldn't matter in the slightest either way. But, you know, it does.

[scotschik]

Oh. This is beautifully devastating (if that makes any sense...) I'm really pleased to see more of this, I was desperate to know what had happened after Fighting to Survive.

I do hope there is more of this little series to come.

And the last line... Oof. *wipes eyes discreetly*

[dorsetgirl]

Well, strictly speaking this is before Fighting to Survive, but I'm pleased that you liked that enough to care about what happened.

I have written a third part - Gene watching over Sam in hospital - but I'm not happy with the ending yet. Now I've finally got the room to myself I might settle down in the armchair with pen and pad to see what happens. This kind of deep-in-the-head stuff doesn't come for me with screen and keyboard, it has to be hand-written. Don't know why.

The last line was one of the first images I had for this section, and all the rest was written to build up to that, explaining how he was there and why he didn't call out. Thank you for commenting; I'm pleased you liked it.