The many worlds hypothesis.
Reading: "In Which Latin Is Abused" by amusewithaview. "In at least one universe, Rupert Giles became a fighter pilot. ...ahem. Sort of." Fusion with the Temeraire books, which is a horribly disappointing series about sentient dragons in the Napoleonic Wars. Read the first book (which is good), stop there, be happy, then enjoy this most intriguing Giles ficlet with its awesome final line.
The problem with stories like this-- and the original Patrick O'Brian slash AU conceit that kicked off the Temeraire books-- is that they are tantalizing beginnings, all zoomy with potential. I end up wanting to read the rest of the story. I am greedy.
Also, am in the grips of this exact problem with my current fic project. I wrote a few thousand words of self-contained story that was a really great setup. And then I wanted to know what happened afterwards, because awesome as that setup is, I wanted even more to watch what happens with Giles & Buffy afterward, when they have to cope with the consequences. Slog slog. Plot plot. Write write. See you in a couple of months, when I will emerge with a 40K-ish medium-sized fic that will keep about a hundred people on AO3 entertained for a couple of hours.
I really hope the exploration of What Happens Next will be worth the work. Sometimes potential and possibility are more fun than the collapse of the multiple universes into a single reality-state.
The problem with stories like this-- and the original Patrick O'Brian slash AU conceit that kicked off the Temeraire books-- is that they are tantalizing beginnings, all zoomy with potential. I end up wanting to read the rest of the story. I am greedy.
Also, am in the grips of this exact problem with my current fic project. I wrote a few thousand words of self-contained story that was a really great setup. And then I wanted to know what happened afterwards, because awesome as that setup is, I wanted even more to watch what happens with Giles & Buffy afterward, when they have to cope with the consequences. Slog slog. Plot plot. Write write. See you in a couple of months, when I will emerge with a 40K-ish medium-sized fic that will keep about a hundred people on AO3 entertained for a couple of hours.
I really hope the exploration of What Happens Next will be worth the work. Sometimes potential and possibility are more fun than the collapse of the multiple universes into a single reality-state.