Commentary!
I've never done a fic commentary, but I've always wanted to.
I'm still working my way up to it, but I had a really interesting conversation with my beta about the first scenes in Static, and I thought you guys might like to see that. Because I put a ridiculous amount of thought into this stuff, and, well... I like talking about myself.
SO.
The relevant lines:
(And yes. If he’s being very honest with himself, he must admit that there’s a certain appeal to seeing her like this: relaxed and drowsy and… pliant… hanging onto his every word.)
...
“It’s the future, Rose. What kind of alien planet would it be if it didn’t have flying cars? And hush, you’re disrupting the ambiance. Close your eyes and no more talking.”
“Kay…” she murmurs obediently, and he has to clear his throat before he can continue.
She soon drifts off to the familiar cadence of his voice and the memory of being held in his arms, the whir of her laptop a poor substitute for feeling his voice rumble through his chest. Hips rock absentmindedly and hands drift downwards, her body longing for the rhythm of his.
I'm annoying as hell to my beta, and so I brought this upon myself when I was like "BE SUPER PICKY. WORD CHOICE. SENTENCE STRUCTURE. LAY THE SMACKDOWN!"
And she responded with, "I don't like the word pliant."
So I got... er. Defensive. And my defense, basically, is as follows:
I understand how, aesthetically speaking, it's a bit of a turn-off. It's kind of a creepy word. But as the Doctor and Rose are in a consensual relationship, it's not skeevy. Rose is exactly where-- or rather what-- she wants to be. I chose that word, the Doctor thinking it and Rose succumbing to it, for very specific reasons.
Rose took his virginity. Up until now, she's been the sexually dominant one in their relationship. Static, remember, takes place halfway through Pins and Needles. This is before he comes home for her prom. So clearly, at some point, he gets the upper hand. She'll say "come upstairs" and he'll say "IN A MINUTE, I'M MAKING NIBBLES." Also, Jack is his roommate. So whether he wants to or not, he's being exposed to ideas he'd never have had before. And, being a teenage boy, he'll be eager to explore them.
Rose-- any Rose, in any canon or universe-- she takes him by surprise. Always. He can never quite anticipate her; Rule #1 is Don't Wander Off. So to be in a situation where he has her completely spellbound? That's going to be a major turn-on. When he says "Close your eyes and no more talking" and she says "kay," that's a huge thrill for him. Because, like. "WHO IS THIS PERSON? I CAN MAKE ROSE DO THAT? I AM A SEX GOD."
Pliant is the culmination of all of that. The reason he thinks it-- and the reason he thinks it in ellipses-- is because it takes him by surprise in the same way it took Marlena by surprise. It seems kinda skeevy and inappropriate, but OH YEAH SHE'S HIS GIRLFRIEND. That's allowed.
... to which Marlena simply replied, "I didn't really need the explanation. I *know.* I have no problem with the ideas. It's just the word 'pliant' that bugs me. Can you find a synonym?" which is why she's the best beta ever.
And of course, as you'll notice, I didn't find a synonym. Because I chose the word on purpose, as it has both physical and mental connotations. Its synonyms do not. I DID LOOK, THOUGH. In my defense.
All of this is a very long way of saying that when you're in high school English and they make you do close readings about symbolism and shit and you're like "NO WAY DID THE AUTHOR ACTUALLY INTEND THIS?" Well. Sometimes we do.
I'm still working my way up to it, but I had a really interesting conversation with my beta about the first scenes in Static, and I thought you guys might like to see that. Because I put a ridiculous amount of thought into this stuff, and, well... I like talking about myself.
SO.
The relevant lines:
(And yes. If he’s being very honest with himself, he must admit that there’s a certain appeal to seeing her like this: relaxed and drowsy and… pliant… hanging onto his every word.)
...
“It’s the future, Rose. What kind of alien planet would it be if it didn’t have flying cars? And hush, you’re disrupting the ambiance. Close your eyes and no more talking.”
“Kay…” she murmurs obediently, and he has to clear his throat before he can continue.
She soon drifts off to the familiar cadence of his voice and the memory of being held in his arms, the whir of her laptop a poor substitute for feeling his voice rumble through his chest. Hips rock absentmindedly and hands drift downwards, her body longing for the rhythm of his.
I'm annoying as hell to my beta, and so I brought this upon myself when I was like "BE SUPER PICKY. WORD CHOICE. SENTENCE STRUCTURE. LAY THE SMACKDOWN!"
And she responded with, "I don't like the word pliant."
So I got... er. Defensive. And my defense, basically, is as follows:
I understand how, aesthetically speaking, it's a bit of a turn-off. It's kind of a creepy word. But as the Doctor and Rose are in a consensual relationship, it's not skeevy. Rose is exactly where-- or rather what-- she wants to be. I chose that word, the Doctor thinking it and Rose succumbing to it, for very specific reasons.
Rose took his virginity. Up until now, she's been the sexually dominant one in their relationship. Static, remember, takes place halfway through Pins and Needles. This is before he comes home for her prom. So clearly, at some point, he gets the upper hand. She'll say "come upstairs" and he'll say "IN A MINUTE, I'M MAKING NIBBLES." Also, Jack is his roommate. So whether he wants to or not, he's being exposed to ideas he'd never have had before. And, being a teenage boy, he'll be eager to explore them.
Rose-- any Rose, in any canon or universe-- she takes him by surprise. Always. He can never quite anticipate her; Rule #1 is Don't Wander Off. So to be in a situation where he has her completely spellbound? That's going to be a major turn-on. When he says "Close your eyes and no more talking" and she says "kay," that's a huge thrill for him. Because, like. "WHO IS THIS PERSON? I CAN MAKE ROSE DO THAT? I AM A SEX GOD."
Pliant is the culmination of all of that. The reason he thinks it-- and the reason he thinks it in ellipses-- is because it takes him by surprise in the same way it took Marlena by surprise. It seems kinda skeevy and inappropriate, but OH YEAH SHE'S HIS GIRLFRIEND. That's allowed.
... to which Marlena simply replied, "I didn't really need the explanation. I *know.* I have no problem with the ideas. It's just the word 'pliant' that bugs me. Can you find a synonym?" which is why she's the best beta ever.
And of course, as you'll notice, I didn't find a synonym. Because I chose the word on purpose, as it has both physical and mental connotations. Its synonyms do not. I DID LOOK, THOUGH. In my defense.
All of this is a very long way of saying that when you're in high school English and they make you do close readings about symbolism and shit and you're like "NO WAY DID THE AUTHOR ACTUALLY INTEND THIS?" Well. Sometimes we do.