Comments | clueless_02: TR Fic "Infidel"

clueless_02

TR Fic "Infidel"

Apr 21, 2010 20:19

The first months outside of Section were easier than she had calculated.

While she had spent her whole life planning for her death, faked or otherwise, the latter had always been projected to be easier than the former since she was all too familiar with what hell felt like. But in the end, when the moment came, the epinephrine stayed with her long ( Read more... )

lfn, lfn fic

Comments 15

madamedarque April 22 2010, 02:30:26 UTC

This is a really interesting story. It feels like a companion piece to your other fic; it gives us the context for why they were playing chess. I really like it--the Madeline/Paul interactions are spot on, and you write Madeline's voice really well. I think this fic goes to a pretty dark place; what would Madeline do if she lost faith in Section? It's a thought-provoking concept, and one that is explored very well here. Great job!

clueless_02 April 22 2010, 04:32:36 UTC

As always, thank you for your far too kind words.

In the reviews that I have read about S5, most mention that Paul's destructive end is the only thing that S5 did right. And I agree with that, but it always made me wonder how Madeline would fare on the outside, so this fic was an attempt to see how she would deal with being rejected by Section.

And while I absolutely love post S5 fics where TR comes back and retakes Section, I always wondered 'why would TR go back to an institution, where they were essentially discarded?'

Okay, don't tell anyone, but I kind of secretly wish I could write a post S5 fic where TR is all happy and fluffy. I feel so much better getting that off of my chest.

Anyways, thank you so much for the great comment!

jaybee65 April 22 2010, 04:03:40 UTC

Ooooooh boy. The progression is as relentless as it is inevitable. I love so many things here, but I think this bit is my favorite:

“Am I dead?” Paul’s question startles her.

Were we ever alive?

Niiiiiiice.

This is excellent -- I agree that it is a great companion piece to your first story, but I think I like this one even better. You get into Madeline's head so well here, it's amazing!

clueless_02 April 22 2010, 04:44:40 UTC

Aw, thank you for such a wonderful comment!

I will have to admit that you singled out my favorite line from the fic. TR is such an unhappy ship that I can't stop being happy about.

I think I like this one even better.

This is so great to hear because I struggled with this fic for at least a couple of days, and I worried that this fic was not as quite as good as the one that I had done earlier.

To me, Paul is the difficult one to write in TR fic. I still feel like that I have done an inadequate job of capturing his voice; and truly, he should be the easiest of TR to capture, but it so difficult for me to get inside his head.

Again, thank you so very much for the great feedback and all the pimping you did for my last story. I have few errors that I need to clean up before I post it to the LFN community on LJ, but I will get to it before the weekend.

daybreak777 April 22 2010, 11:29:42 UTC

Ooh, ooh, ooh! More fic!

She longed for Paul, as much as she could long for anything.
I love this line. This sums up her feelings for him in a nutshell.

Interesting ending! Your endings are always interesting. Madeline doesn't really want to go back. Or doesn't feel she can. Also interesting is the concept of freedom. Was she freer in Section or is she freer letting it go? Will that feeling of freedom last? Interesting questions!

I really like post-series Madeline/Paul fic. Very thinky stuff. :-)

clueless_02 April 22 2010, 15:43:55 UTC

Thank you so much for the great comment. I'm always very grateful to get feedback.

Like I said before, I really liked the approach that you took with your Madeline post S5 fic, and I feel that perhaps your version is more in line with canon. I mean with the exception of "Hell Hath No Fury," Madeline is a pretty stable character and I felt like I was treading on hollow ground, when I chose to portray her as unbalanced.

With the ending, I wanted to convey a sense of letting go and the hope that Madeline can figure out how to go on with her life after 'God has died.' To me, this Madeline was just stuck in place after she learned that Section was destined for Nikita.

Anyways, thank you again for the wonderful comment!

daybreak777 April 22 2010, 16:49:24 UTC

With the ending, I wanted to convey a sense of letting go and the hope that Madeline can figure out how to go on with her life after 'God has died.'
It's an interesting take. Madeline is a strong woman and I think should could take on many different versions of her future. And somehow always win. (Whatever winning is for her.) :-)

clueless_02 April 22 2010, 17:26:04 UTC

Whatever winning is for her

Wouldn't things be so much easier if we knew what that was? Probably, things would be a little more dull, though.

Thread 5

nell65 April 22 2010, 23:55:18 UTC

I've often wondered about how they would handle the process of letting go, if they'd even try.

What a pleasure to see another version of how it might go for them. I'm glad you wrote it, and shared it!

Nell

clueless_02 April 23 2010, 01:42:43 UTC

When I was watching S5 and seeing Paul self-destruct, I always thought that Madeline would take the news that Section was destined for Nikita much worse than Paul would. Paul's motivations are wrapped up in power, where as Madeline's seem to be based on something deeper ( ... )

nell65 April 23 2010, 01:48:03 UTC

I watched most of the first three seasons of Babylon 5, and seen bits and pieces of the last two seasons. I've always meant to seriously watch it all, but kids, time, etc...!

As for Madeline, I've never been all that sure *what* she was devoted to, if anything at all.

I know Jaybee makes an excellent case for Madeline being devoted to Section, and that her animosity toward Niktia (and vis versa) in the later seasons is about that.... but I've wondered as well if, a bit like Michael, Madeline liked being good at her job, and Section gave her a hell of job to be good at -- but that this didn't really work out to being quite the same thing as being devoted to Section itself.... but my thoughts are half formed.

clueless_02 April 23 2010, 03:04:42 UTC

The quality of B5 drops right around the middle of S4. It is still a good show, but because they got canceled and then got renewed later on, the pace of show gets all wonky. Having said the series finale of the show, "Sleeping in the Light," has to be one of my favorite hours of Television ever.

Madeline liked being good at her jobI can see this argument and have seen others make this argument; but even Michael had an obsessive outlet outside of his job. First, Michael is all for Section even at the expense of using Nikita, and then he is obsessive about his son, then Nikita, then back to his son ( ... )

jackiejlh December 11 2010, 03:27:09 UTC

I just realized that I never reviewed this fic... and I really should have, because I come back and read it once every couple months or so.

I love this portrayal of Madeline being so... well, so lost. As we've talked about recently, Madeline without Section, without anything to believe in or devote herself to, is hard to imagine--but I've always thought you managed it perfectly here. Your Madeline voice is amazingly right, and just... yeah. I love this story. <3

clueless_02 December 14 2010, 19:03:00 UTC

Sorry, it took me forever to get back to you; but anways, thank you so much. Since I consider you to be one of the best at capturing Madeline's voice, I feel very honored that you liked her in this fic.

Madeline is the type of character where you just want to throw things at her and see what makes her tick. I mean, usually, she throws it right back at you and finds out what makes you tick; but occasionally, it is fun to write her out of sorts and sort of despondant.

I guess, I have always seen her as a rather tragic character despite the fact that she is so in control of the world.

Anyways, thank you so much!!!