in a voice like a John Ford film

[alibi_factory]

"Drawing Dead"
Gallifrey
Gen (with implied Brax/Romana and Narvin/Leela)
~3.3k
Western AU. Brax and Romana are thieves on the run, Narvin is the Pinkerton sent to capture them. Leela's just along for the ride. For

Comments

[aralias]

i really really like this :D

[alibi_factory]

Thank you! And yeah, dangling plot threeeaaads. Honestly, idk what Arkadian is up to either. You'd think with all the conman/crime caper movies I watch, I'd be amazing at writing clever schemes, but nope.

[aralias]

maybe you are are do not know it yet - even brax was not always as good at twisty clever schemes as he now is... (ok, this is not that good, but they are entertaining. and that is something).

it is still a fic full of fun and awesome.

[janeturenne]

Your writing always has such a gorgeously palpable sense of atmosphere; reading it feels like having a story sink in through the skin, absorption in a narrative in a very real sense. I love everything about this AU, everybody's personalities, all the dialogue, just all of it. I was tempted to say that my favorite is Brax at the card table at the very beginning, his dialogue and his thought patterns there ("Vice is what separates us from the animals. Sin, luxury, indulgence. The self-destructive act is proof of our autonomy and awareness."--how perfectly Brax), but honestly, I love all of it. The 'Narvinovitch' line, and every single thing about this Romana, and just. Just this is brilliant and you are brilliant and I admire your writing style no end.

[alibi_factory]

Thank you! Your comments always make me blush because, uh, I may have stalked your writing a little bit before properly joining fandom, so there's a slight feeling of QUEEN JANE IS SMILING BENEVOLENTLY UPON YOU

also! I am happy you enjoyed the ~~Narvinovitch~ because that made me giggle out loud on a crowded train when I first thought of it.

[janeturenne]

Oh bless. Honey, you are marvelously sweet, and are making me blush right back, but I am a terrible candidate for queen of anything except insofar as I am admittedly not so very straight. So I am going to pretend that is what you meant, and in that case you hit the nail bang on the head.

'Narvinovitch' was spot-on. Like, his aggressive patriotism works disturbingly perfectly from the perspective of a first-generation immigrant who is so very American don't you dare think he's less American than you he will wave that flag like you couldn't fucking believe he will be THE MOST GALLIFREYAN I MEAN AMERICAN OF THEM ALL. And. Just. Getting his name butchered, because that is just Narvin's life, always, and. I just really, really love that detail.

[eloralouistra]

I wasn't sure how much I'd like this because I'm not usually into Western, but it's love all the way through.

Romana is especially brilliant, I want to know more about "suspected murderess" though and the way she treats Brax is hilarious, if cruel. Particularly as she's more pleasant to Narvin and Leela, who were planning to kill her.

And I would love to see Leela take on the entire US Government. She could win.

[alibi_factory]

Hey thank you! Esp. Since you don't like Westerns; I am coming from a place of deep love for horse adventures, I tried to not let that overwhelm the narrative.

In a parellel version of history, Leela staged a coup of the White House, true story.

[neveralarch]

Oh man, this is so GOOD, thank you so much! Do not worry AT ALL about it being too serious - it is the perfect amount of serious, definitely.

I really really like how different each of the sections feel - how you can tell who the viewpoint character is by the style of the narration. It's very well done. And I love the backgrounds you've come up with for each of the characters, and how it places them very solidly within the time and place. Narvin, and Homestead, and losing part of his name while immigrating - it's just excellent, even if I'm saying that as someone who already has a lot of opinions on the Homestead Strike and Americanization of immigrant names. And I loved your characterization of Brax and Romana, and how they grate on each others' nerves with how they decide to play their roles. And Leela is wonderful and competent, which is the best kind of Leela.

Also, the writing is gorgeous. I particularly liked this line:
"Do stop talking, Braxiatel." She remarkably does not slap him in the face. Medals have been awarded for

[alibi_factory]

BB THE PLEASURE IS ALL MINE. It was basically the greatest prompt I have ever been given. I nearly wrote it as a 60's Cold War spy piece, hmm. I'm sorry for the abrupt ending but the deadline loomed and I realized anything not involving horrible bloodshed would mean pages and pages and pages. If I can work up a plot, I'll sequel that ish.

As much as I love westerns in all their nostalgic glory, I also have many feels about the horrible shit that went down - I am not qualified to write cutting social critique but I couldn't let myself get away with not at least nodding a proverbial head in that direction. So! I am glad those parts worked for you.

[neveralarch]

No pressure, but I would love a sequel at least as much as I already love this, which is to say A LOT.

(And I have a lot of thoughts about Westerns normally, but atm one of my housemates is writing a thesis on media depictions of Natives and other problematic tropes in Westerns, so this whole fic fit really well into my life right now - I'm not sure how you did that, but it's awesome.)

[hoshinekoyasha]

This is awesome! I love Gallifrey AUs.

[alibi_factory]

Thank you! I could write Gallifrey AUs all day long, ngl.