This is fantastic. I was so thrilled to see that you posted, and the wry humor and clever internal commentary that I love so much about your fics was definitely present here.
You paint some amazing images here. I especially loved
Tok-tok-tok-tok. A sewing machine staccato
and
Jocelyn is nodding like a rag doll.
The ending is really clever, too: Nigel gets a little of his balance back now that he's messed something up for Miranda. I love it because so often people in this fandom (self-included) assume that Andy is somehow good for Miranda--or rather, that she will make Miranda good. With Andy, Miranda will learn how to be faithful and kind and, generally, a safe sort of person to be around. Here, Nigel can't trust Miranda, and he decides not to entertain the possibility that loving someone good will make Miranda good. It's creative and different, and makes for a realistic and amusing story.
And I LOVE that Miranda wants to go on treating Nigel the same as she always has--her conspiratorial attitude toward him is wonderful, as is the fact that it surprises him so much in the days post-Paris.
Hey, thank you! And very much so! Yes, Andy making Miranda a good person... It's a bit of a "leopard changing his spots" case, isn't it? But I think you are the one who handles that particular problem exceptionally well :)
You know, a thing I noticed in some of the people I work with/for (the more unscrupulous ones)is that they never really notice or acknowledge the harm they did. Or, perhaps, they tend to think of it as a game: if you've lost, you should be a good looser.
Eh, for some reason, in real life it's not as sexy as when Miranda does it...
That's a great point about the workplace being a game. Even if it's not a conscious distinction on Miranda's part, I think she her behavior does vary based on whether or not she's "playing." (And the stakes for "playing" can be very, very high.) For her, work is a game and parenting is not a game. I think she stops seeing her relationship with Andy as a game very near the end of the film: that shift surprises her, and makes it all the more jarring when Andy runs away. (Miranda probably assumes Andy treats her own professional life as a game, too.)
You're very right that a calculating Miranda is far more sexy than calculating co-workers.
Yes, Andy making Miranda a good person... It's a bit of a "leopard changing his spots" case, isn't it? But I think you are the one who handles that particular problem exceptionally well :)
Thank you very much. My personal take on Miranda isn't that she's a bad person who occasionally does good things. Rather, I think she's a good person who does a whole lot of bad things. That's oversimplifying it, but for me the "game" (ha!) of writing Andy/Miranda fanfic is getting Miranda to the point where she's relaxed enough that she can be good to Andy without measuring out all the pros and cons first. It takes a long time, but I like to see her calm down a little. Just a little. Not too much.
Actually, that sort of thing was one of my favorite parts of your exchange fic last year. That moment when Andy realizes there is love in Miranda's eyes...wow. Their relationship, even in that moment, is all about power play and secrecy and control, and it's so wonderful that all that's going on WHILE the other thing going on is Miranda loving Andy. Those things are definitely not mutually exclusive.
You paint some amazing images here. I especially loved
Tok-tok-tok-tok. A sewing machine staccato
and
Jocelyn is nodding like a rag doll.
The ending is really clever, too: Nigel gets a little of his balance back now that he's messed something up for Miranda. I love it because so often people in this fandom (self-included) assume that Andy is somehow good for Miranda--or rather, that she will make Miranda good. With Andy, Miranda will learn how to be faithful and kind and, generally, a safe sort of person to be around. Here, Nigel can't trust Miranda, and he decides not to entertain the possibility that loving someone good will make Miranda good. It's creative and different, and makes for a realistic and amusing story.
And I LOVE that Miranda wants to go on treating Nigel the same as she always has--her conspiratorial attitude toward him is wonderful, as is the fact that it surprises him so much in the days post-Paris.
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Yes, Andy making Miranda a good person... It's a bit of a "leopard changing his spots" case, isn't it? But I think you are the one who handles that particular problem exceptionally well :)
You know, a thing I noticed in some of the people I work with/for (the more unscrupulous ones)is that they never really notice or acknowledge the harm they did. Or, perhaps, they tend to think of it as a game: if you've lost, you should be a good looser.
Eh, for some reason, in real life it's not as sexy as when Miranda does it...
Reply
You're very right that a calculating Miranda is far more sexy than calculating co-workers.
Yes, Andy making Miranda a good person... It's a bit of a "leopard changing his spots" case, isn't it? But I think you are the one who handles that particular problem exceptionally well :)
Thank you very much. My personal take on Miranda isn't that she's a bad person who occasionally does good things. Rather, I think she's a good person who does a whole lot of bad things. That's oversimplifying it, but for me the "game" (ha!) of writing Andy/Miranda fanfic is getting Miranda to the point where she's relaxed enough that she can be good to Andy without measuring out all the pros and cons first. It takes a long time, but I like to see her calm down a little. Just a little. Not too much.
Actually, that sort of thing was one of my favorite parts of your exchange fic last year. That moment when Andy realizes there is love in Miranda's eyes...wow. Their relationship, even in that moment, is all about power play and secrecy and control, and it's so wonderful that all that's going on WHILE the other thing going on is Miranda loving Andy. Those things are definitely not mutually exclusive.
Reply
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