Fic: A Question of Gravity

[leven_kemal]

Characters: Malcolm Reynolds & Hoban Washburne
Rating: G
Warnings: None. Well, maybe a tiny dash of violence.
Words: ~3800

Summary: Set pre-series. Mal has a difficult time taking his new pilot seriously. Eye-popping shirts and toy dinosaurs? And yet, the man remains hired. Huh.

Disclaimer: You know and I know these people belong to Joss.

A.N.:

Comments

[missnyah]

I liked this quite a lot! You wrote Mal's real introduction to Wash with great finesse. I think if "Out of Gas" had been longer we might have seen this scene. I liked the look at just how untrustworthy and off-kilter Wash might seem.

Mal's thoughts have quite the vocabulary don't they? I couldn't decide if they seemed just right or like your Mal had a touch too much schooling.

One other thing
"you could get a little nauseous"
I think you want 'nauseated' here.

Great work, excited for more.

[leven_kemal]

Thank you! I'm very pleased you enjoyed it.

Mal's thoughts have quite the vocabulary don't they? I couldn't decide if they seemed just right or like your Mal had a touch too much schooling.

Well, he *has* read a poem. :) (And, probably the Bible, which has a quite a few very poetical passages.) I doubt he had a lot of formal schooling, but language does seem to mean something to him. I mean, one of the things he found seductive about Saffron was that she was all articulate. :) I may have gone overboard with the language, no question, but there's a style of speaking I heard frequently when I lived in Virginia, even from folks with very little education, with a wonderful range of vocabulary and flexibility of syntax. Real raconteurs. And that's what I hear when I start working on what Mal's thinking. It just kinda rolls out. :) And this could just be a very idiosyncratic interpretation on my part.

I think you want 'nauseated' here.

Thank you! Fixed.

[jedibuttercup]

> I may have gone overboard with the language, no question, but there's a style of speaking I heard frequently when I lived in Virginia, even from folks with very little education, with a wonderful range of vocabulary and flexibility of syntax. Real raconteurs. And that's what I hear when I start working on what Mal's thinking. It just kinda rolls out. :) And this could just be a very idiosyncratic interpretation on my part.

It's a valid interpretation, though; when Mal really gets going on the show he does get plenty poetical. I tend to write him a little less so on an ongoing basis, especially in longfic like watching_river, but still with plenty of flavor; more like the East Texas/West Louisiana backcountry accents I grew up with. The key thing, though, is being able to hear it as you write it, whatever slant on the accent you're writing; I've found you can really tell in Firefly fandom who's had down-South experience, and who hasn't. And you have

[leven_kemal]

Thank you! I'm pleased that, as a Mal appreciator, that you found this plausible. Mal is a fascinating character, but I usually work with Wash, and I'm much more practiced with his voice and motives. Thanks for letting me know this piece worked for you.

[sarahetc]

On a personal note, I have a bad, silly habit of singing the syllable "La!" just for something to do. Lately, though, and I don't know where I got this, I sorta sing it for happiness, like just to announce that, all things being equal, I am happy. So far I only do this in the privacy of my own home, with very few people around to witness it. But this story kinda makes me, "Laaaaaaa!" Something above an A-440 (C, maybe? My ear training is shot to hell), loud, and with lots of vibrato. So, yeah. Enjoyable all over the place. Like so:

At times he worried she might be plotting a Tracy-type raid against it.

Haaaa! Sneak up on it when it's eating beans?

How-some-ever. 'Verse was a big place, and such garments could be the native garb of Wash's people.

The first period there confused me. Took me a minute to realize we were in a "per-may-haps" situation.

Plastic toy critters scattered hither and yon upon his ship's helm irked him. Seemed lacking in a proper sense of decorum. What a stuffed shirt Mal is. I roll my eyes on Wash's behalf

[leven_kemal]

La! (That was a rather farcical falsetto B above middle C.) Your reviews make *me* happy.

Thanks for letting me know which bits you liked 'specially. And please, if inclined, lovingly plagiarize. :)

There is some "back-shadowing" in this piece, in regards my notions of how Wash spent the war. In at least 3 places. This 2by2 thingie calls for at least 10 pieces, whether in stand-alone stories, or chapters or a longer piece, or a combination. Or whatever. :) So, at the moment, I'm thinking of an arc of 6 more or less stand-alone stories, of which this is the first, with, yes, a digging into pasts. And then, for something completely different, a four chapter AU story.

But that could all change at a moment's notice. I'm whimsical. :D

[sarahetc]

Woo! More back shadowing and story. I admit I was hoping there was going to be at least a thread of that going through, since I knew you had to do five or six stories or something.

[elzed]

How lovely and engagingly written, too. The grudging respect from Mal (he's such a curmudgeon, bless him); Wash's laid-back piloty skills; the headspinning action... I really enjoyed it, and I love the way you write Mal's thoughts.

[leven_kemal]

Thank you! Mal can get a little cranky, can't he? And he's one of those guys whose respect you need to earn, and, well, Wash just doesn't do things the way Mal would. :) I'm very pleased the piloting action and Mal's thinking work for you. Those were the funnest part of the piece to write.

[idyllictorture]

I really enjoyed this. It feels like a few deleted scenes from Firefly itself.

[leven_kemal]

Wow, thanks! I love reading stories that feel like an episode myself, so if this felt like that to you, yay!

[tassosss]

I love this! This was a great look at Wash and Mal just trying to figure him out.

[leven_kemal]

I think both these guys kinda puzzle one another. They have such different approaches to life. Which is why it's fun to stick them in a malfunctioning shuttle together.

(Cool icon!)