Back Against The Wall - DVD Commentary
For this meme, zinke asked for commentary for Back Against The Wall, the first part of my first and (so far) only series Things Not Meant To Be. She couldn't have chosen a better fic. This was a pretty significant piece for me and so I have a lot to say about it, to the point I nearly did commentary for the whole fic. But if I did that, then I would want to do it for the whole series, and I'm only going to do that if there's a lot of interest. So, rather bite off more than I can chew, I stuck to commenting on the snippet itself and not go into the more spoilery things about the rest of the fic and the rest of the series.
Back Against The Wall snippet - DVD Commentary
April 2009
His back was up against the wall. Both figuratively and literally. He was sitting on the floor watching his wife pack for a trip that now had no scheduled end date. And there was nothing he could do about it. [This is the opening, not just for the fic, but for the entire series. I had to set up the fact that this wasn't going to be a rosy Santos Administration fic and I, being me, had to do it with as few words as possible. Something's rotten in the state of Denmark, but you didn't know whether it was personal, professional or both. And yes, you were suppose to think that Donna was leaving Josh.]
"This wasn't the way it was supposed to be," Josh said wearily, [In each part of the series, someone says a variation of this line.] as he let his head fall back against the wall behind him, the tension that had left him earlier slowly returning. [That is very veiled reference something he and Donna did earlier.]
"Yet, here we are," Donna sighed, trying to make order out of her suitcase and the mess they had recklessly made when they had first gotten home. [As is that.]
"It's all turned to shit." [Gee, Josh, tell us how you really feel.]
"What did you expect, Josh?"
"I don't know," he shot back, matching her intense tone-not quite yelling... but close. "Something sure as hell different from this! What did you expect?"
"I expected fidelity," she said with quiet dignity and knelt beside him so she could better see his face. [Yes, I'm evil. I admit it.]
"Well, that was your first fucking mistake... or mine, depending on how you look at it," he sneered. [Ohmigod! Quaggy said the f-word! I use curse words in my fics all the time, but rarely the f-bomb since, as in my own life, I like to save it for when it really counts. However, Josh here is pretty pissed off at life in general and really angry at himself. None of this is actually his fault, but his guilt issues won't let him believe that. He was the one that went to Texas, after all.]
He let his head roll towards her and their eyes met. They stared at each other for a beat. Two. And then they were in each other’s arms holding on for dear life, each simultaneously reaching for the other. Donna swung an arm and leg over him as Josh practically dragged her across his body, both of them trying to get as close as they possibly could. The day... week... year had been long. Far too long. [And now we discover that these problems have been going on for some time.] And it seemed like they had been at odds for most of it. Right now, it seemed that the best way to survive this was by simply clinging to each other. [This was the true reveal. You don't go seeking comfort from the one that is causing you pain. They are really just victims of someone else's mess, trying to (literally) hold on to the one solid thing they can still trust in.]
"If you ever cheated on me, I think I’d kill you," Donna mumbled into somewhere between Josh's neck and collarbone. [And in case you didn't get it before, this hits you over the head. I like writing fics that misdirect the audience. I love it when I can fool people and I love it when I can get fooled. It's gotten to the point that I had to stop myself, because people were going to start expecting a twist. Fortunately for me, I've been branching out into other fandoms which means whole new set of unsuspecting audiences! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!!!!!]
Back Against The Wall snippet - DVD Commentary
April 2009
His back was up against the wall. Both figuratively and literally. He was sitting on the floor watching his wife pack for a trip that now had no scheduled end date. And there was nothing he could do about it. [This is the opening, not just for the fic, but for the entire series. I had to set up the fact that this wasn't going to be a rosy Santos Administration fic and I, being me, had to do it with as few words as possible. Something's rotten in the state of Denmark, but you didn't know whether it was personal, professional or both. And yes, you were suppose to think that Donna was leaving Josh.]
"This wasn't the way it was supposed to be," Josh said wearily, [In each part of the series, someone says a variation of this line.] as he let his head fall back against the wall behind him, the tension that had left him earlier slowly returning. [That is very veiled reference something he and Donna did earlier.]
"Yet, here we are," Donna sighed, trying to make order out of her suitcase and the mess they had recklessly made when they had first gotten home. [As is that.]
"It's all turned to shit." [Gee, Josh, tell us how you really feel.]
"What did you expect, Josh?"
"I don't know," he shot back, matching her intense tone-not quite yelling... but close. "Something sure as hell different from this! What did you expect?"
"I expected fidelity," she said with quiet dignity and knelt beside him so she could better see his face. [Yes, I'm evil. I admit it.]
"Well, that was your first fucking mistake... or mine, depending on how you look at it," he sneered. [Ohmigod! Quaggy said the f-word! I use curse words in my fics all the time, but rarely the f-bomb since, as in my own life, I like to save it for when it really counts. However, Josh here is pretty pissed off at life in general and really angry at himself. None of this is actually his fault, but his guilt issues won't let him believe that. He was the one that went to Texas, after all.]
He let his head roll towards her and their eyes met. They stared at each other for a beat. Two. And then they were in each other’s arms holding on for dear life, each simultaneously reaching for the other. Donna swung an arm and leg over him as Josh practically dragged her across his body, both of them trying to get as close as they possibly could. The day... week... year had been long. Far too long. [And now we discover that these problems have been going on for some time.] And it seemed like they had been at odds for most of it. Right now, it seemed that the best way to survive this was by simply clinging to each other. [This was the true reveal. You don't go seeking comfort from the one that is causing you pain. They are really just victims of someone else's mess, trying to (literally) hold on to the one solid thing they can still trust in.]
"If you ever cheated on me, I think I’d kill you," Donna mumbled into somewhere between Josh's neck and collarbone. [And in case you didn't get it before, this hits you over the head. I like writing fics that misdirect the audience. I love it when I can fool people and I love it when I can get fooled. It's gotten to the point that I had to stop myself, because people were going to start expecting a twist. Fortunately for me, I've been branching out into other fandoms which means whole new set of unsuspecting audiences! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!!!!!]