Comments | namasteyoga: New Fic: Belongings

namasteyoga

New Fic: Belongings

Aug 16, 2006 20:45

Title: Belongings
Author: Namaste
Rating: Gen
Summary: The things we keep say a lot about us. So do the things we leave behind.
Beta: Auditrix
Excerpt:
The wooden box became the neutral ground on everything he owned until he left home. He could buy whatever he wanted, Dad told him, as long as it fit in the box come moving time. The secondhand ( Read more... )

Comments 60

perspi August 17 2006, 02:09:11 UTC

This was absolutely wonderful. From the emotional attachment to his box to how he finally, inexplicably, felt at home enough in Princeton to begin to accumulate belongings. I love how you get at a fundamental piece of House's friendship with Wilson -- that Wilson is one person who doesn't leave -- in a very House-like way. Beautiful!

namasteyoga August 17 2006, 02:18:39 UTC

Thank you. But with House's misery, I still had to have him thinking that Wilson isn't leaving ... yet.

perspi August 17 2006, 02:25:39 UTC

Oh, absolutely. And you got that across, somewhere in there, that House isn't really expecting stability long-term. You get the sense that he's probably never going to feel like he can stay put somewhere. Which is one of the things I really like about this.

purridot August 17 2006, 02:20:22 UTC

I love your writing style. It flows so naturally, almost calmly, but delivers such a punch; I feel like I know House's character so much better after reading one of your stories, and yet there's nothing emo to be seen. Amazing.

namasteyoga August 17 2006, 02:28:53 UTC

Good, because I hate emo. And I'm glad you think the style worked for this. Like I mentioned above, the words were fighting me quite a bit on this for the past couple of weeks -- until I came up with House investigating Wilson's boxes on Monday night after a e-conversation with Auditrix. That's when everything finally started to link together.

juniper200 August 17 2006, 02:27:00 UTC

Good story. One thing, though: House did his pre-med at Michigan and went to Hopkins for med school. You've got it backwards.

namasteyoga August 17 2006, 02:32:05 UTC

Nope. Cuddy was pre-med at Michigan when House was "already a legend" and since he's older than Cuddy ...

Of course we don't know for certain, but my take on it is that when House was kicked out of Hopkins for cheating from Von Leiberman, he ended up completing med school at Michigan (which would have been part of the legend aspect). He may have had to repeat a year or something, which would have helped to place him there at UM when Cuddy was there.

juniper200 August 17 2006, 02:38:00 UTC

I looked up the transcripts and, you're right. I had blanked on where Cuddy says she was still an undergrad. Your interpretation makes a lot of sense, but it's not one I've seen elsewhere in fic, so that's what threw me. My bad.

namasteyoga August 17 2006, 02:40:54 UTC

No sweat. House does have its own illogical timeline. I've tried to work up one that I can use consistently in my fics to try and keep my brain on track, since it's very confusing.

sassydew August 17 2006, 02:30:06 UTC

Once again I am utterly blown away by your writing, Namasteyoga! This is lovely and so well-written! I'm adding it to memories... :)

namasteyoga August 17 2006, 02:34:26 UTC

Thanks very much.

pwcorgigirl August 17 2006, 02:38:53 UTC

They were wrong. He was more than what he held in his hand. Sometimes what we keep, he told himself, is merely what we were left with when everything else went away.

An entire life is summed up in that last sentence. As always, this is extraordinary, beautiful writing that speaks to both the head and the heart of the reader.

namasteyoga August 17 2006, 02:43:17 UTC

Thanks. When I saw "Measure of a Man" the other day -- when I was still slogging my way through what exactly this story was about -- I thought: "Dang. pwcorgigirl beat me to it!"

pwcorgigirl August 17 2006, 02:51:07 UTC

Oh, I just did the clothes. You've done the whole man here. It is a beautiful explanation of the fascinating stuff House has collected.

(My husband's dad was a career Navy pilot, and they moved 32 times in 17 years. Their older son was talking just this weekend about how he needs to have his collections of stuff around him because for half of his life, most of their belongings were in storage.)

namasteyoga August 17 2006, 03:00:14 UTC

You may have just done the clothes, but you did them so well. (Notice there's barely a mention of clothing in this.)

I cannot tell you the number of times I read your stuff and think: I wish I could write like corgigirl.

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