A More Compelling Arguement -- DVD Commentary
Last week I posted a DVD Commentary Meme. Impalalove requested that I do commentary for The Chance Winchesterverse. When I made her narrow that down a bit, she decided on A More Compelling Arguement.
Hi, this is Pen37, and this is the first time I've done an author commentary. I'm pretty much following the format that Tobywolf13 set out on her meme.
First a word about the Chance Winchesterverse. This is a series that I play with when I want to write short, happy, crackish, zannily ever after fic. And after I write things like Catch me If I Fall, I need happy things to put me back in a good frame of mind.
Some of the stories, I just make up. Others come from family and friends, who are a wealth of cute kid stories.
It's not that bad stuff doesn't happen in this verse. It's just all off screen. Like The Princess Bride, you only get to see the good parts version.
A More Compelling Argument - author Commentary Meme
For Impalalove.
"It may not mean much now, but I still would like to point out that I was right, and you were wrong."
The first line of this sentence was a prompt for the firstline_fic community. I contribute there fairly regularly.
Chloe frowned at Dean from the hospital bed as he sat there cradling their newborn son. “You're never letting me live this down, are you?”
“The fact that you waited until now to want to get married? After I asked you every day for the past eight months?”
“He was more convincing,” Chloe said as she nodded at their baby.
“Or the fact that you made Clark fly off and get a priest so that we could be done with it before the kid got here?”
I had the basic idea for what came before this: That Chloe refused to get married. And Dean was asking her every single day. But somewhere deep down, she thought he might just be asking because she was pregnant.
But then baby Chance was on his way, and while she was going in labor, she got that moment of clarity (clue bat upside the head, whatever you want to call it) that she and Dean were about to raise a child together. And the baby was going to come into the world without his parents being married.
It may seem sitcommish (and yes, I made that word up), but I'm easily entertained.
But all that was not even the point of the story. The point was what comes after.
“The kid wasn't going to wait.”
Dean looked down into the sleeping infant's face. “Chip off the old block, then.”
Yes Dean is impatient. One of his cute/annoying traits.
“Yeah, yeah yeah. Bring that beautiful baby over here, Dad.”
Dean handed her the sleeping bundle.
I just love the idea of Dean holding a baby.
“I still can't believe you want to name him Chance. You want to tempt fate like that?”
“You said that if we had a boy, I could pick the name. I won at rock-paper-scissors fair and square.”
Dean can hustle anything. Even a game of rock-paper-scissors. One day, Chance is going to be cheating kids out of their lunch money this way.
“I only did that because Sam said you always threw scissors.”
“More like Sam always throws rock,” Dean grinned as he lay his head on her pillow and touched his forehead to hers.
And my take on 'always with the scissors.'
As if sensing that this kind of back-and-forth conversation was to be a regular part of his life, the baby put his two cents in with a soft whimper.
“Oh shhh-shhh-shhh,” Chloe rocked Chance a little.
“You should totally try breast feeding.”
Horndog!Dean. Even in the cuddly moments.
“You're already trying to teach him bad habits Mr. Winchester.”
But that's okay, because Chloe loves him and thinks he's cute anyway.
“Guess you'll just have to keep me in line, Mrs. Winchester.”
The thing about Dean and Chloe in this series. If you're not aware of what's going on, she can come across as a real harpy. But there's so much subtext in this relationship.
Dean constantly picks on her as a sign of affection. And she responds with the verbal 'give as good as you get.' It's a very elementary school/kid on the playground thing to do. But Dean's got a very child-like approach to the world in general, so it makes perfect sense.
Chloe grinned in response. “Maybe we should try a lullaby?”
“You know any good ones?”
“Maybe,” Chloe trailed off as she thought. Then she hummed a bit, and started singing quietly.
“Over in Killarney
Many years ago,
My mother sang a song to me
In tones so sweet and low. Just a simple little ditty,
In her good ould Irish way,
And l'd give the world if she could sing
That song to me this day.”
This has to be, hands down, the best known lullaby out there. Very recognizably a lullaby, very recognizably Irish. I don't particularly like it. But I wanted something that once again called up Chloe's heritage.
"Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li,”
Dean grinned at her as she started on the chorus. Then, unable to resist, he leaned in and added his own touch to Chloe's lullaby.
“She's got a smile that it seems to me
Reminds me of childhood memories”
And Dean puts his two cents in. I once heard an acoustic/lullaby version of this song, and it was very pretty. I could see Dean singing this as a lullaby.
Chloe narrowed her eyes at him. Dean wiggled his eyebrows like Groucho Marx. In response, she rolled her eyes and continued her own song.
And Chloe's just too stubborn to admit defeat.
“Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, hush now, don't you cry.”
“Where everything
Was as fresh as the bright blue sky”
“Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li,”
“She's got eyes of the bluest skies
As if they thought of rain”
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, that's an Irish lullaby.".
“I hate to look into those eyes
And see an ounce of pain”
This was actually one of the strongest images in my mind of the whole thing. Dean and Chloe, huddled together with the baby between them, singing point - counterpoint on this strange lullaby. It's pretty much sets the tone for the way the Chanceverse Winchullivan family works. It's chaotic and loving and very strange, but it seems to work.
In the doorway to the room, Sam Winchester looked on, and shook his head.
“This is going to be one confused kid.”
And there's Sam, playing the part of the Greek Chorus. I find it funny that Chance doesn't actually grow up confused. As far as hunters and super heroes go, he's got to be the most well-adjusted kid around.
It's not like he's sitting around in a cave brooding like Batman, or trying to behead hapless psychics like Gordon. It could have been worse.
Just sayin'
Hi, this is Pen37, and this is the first time I've done an author commentary. I'm pretty much following the format that Tobywolf13 set out on her meme.
First a word about the Chance Winchesterverse. This is a series that I play with when I want to write short, happy, crackish, zannily ever after fic. And after I write things like Catch me If I Fall, I need happy things to put me back in a good frame of mind.
Some of the stories, I just make up. Others come from family and friends, who are a wealth of cute kid stories.
It's not that bad stuff doesn't happen in this verse. It's just all off screen. Like The Princess Bride, you only get to see the good parts version.
A More Compelling Argument - author Commentary Meme
For Impalalove.
"It may not mean much now, but I still would like to point out that I was right, and you were wrong."
The first line of this sentence was a prompt for the firstline_fic community. I contribute there fairly regularly.
Chloe frowned at Dean from the hospital bed as he sat there cradling their newborn son. “You're never letting me live this down, are you?”
“The fact that you waited until now to want to get married? After I asked you every day for the past eight months?”
“He was more convincing,” Chloe said as she nodded at their baby.
“Or the fact that you made Clark fly off and get a priest so that we could be done with it before the kid got here?”
I had the basic idea for what came before this: That Chloe refused to get married. And Dean was asking her every single day. But somewhere deep down, she thought he might just be asking because she was pregnant.
But then baby Chance was on his way, and while she was going in labor, she got that moment of clarity (clue bat upside the head, whatever you want to call it) that she and Dean were about to raise a child together. And the baby was going to come into the world without his parents being married.
It may seem sitcommish (and yes, I made that word up), but I'm easily entertained.
But all that was not even the point of the story. The point was what comes after.
“The kid wasn't going to wait.”
Dean looked down into the sleeping infant's face. “Chip off the old block, then.”
Yes Dean is impatient. One of his cute/annoying traits.
“Yeah, yeah yeah. Bring that beautiful baby over here, Dad.”
Dean handed her the sleeping bundle.
I just love the idea of Dean holding a baby.
“I still can't believe you want to name him Chance. You want to tempt fate like that?”
“You said that if we had a boy, I could pick the name. I won at rock-paper-scissors fair and square.”
Dean can hustle anything. Even a game of rock-paper-scissors. One day, Chance is going to be cheating kids out of their lunch money this way.
“I only did that because Sam said you always threw scissors.”
“More like Sam always throws rock,” Dean grinned as he lay his head on her pillow and touched his forehead to hers.
And my take on 'always with the scissors.'
As if sensing that this kind of back-and-forth conversation was to be a regular part of his life, the baby put his two cents in with a soft whimper.
“Oh shhh-shhh-shhh,” Chloe rocked Chance a little.
“You should totally try breast feeding.”
Horndog!Dean. Even in the cuddly moments.
“You're already trying to teach him bad habits Mr. Winchester.”
But that's okay, because Chloe loves him and thinks he's cute anyway.
“Guess you'll just have to keep me in line, Mrs. Winchester.”
The thing about Dean and Chloe in this series. If you're not aware of what's going on, she can come across as a real harpy. But there's so much subtext in this relationship.
Dean constantly picks on her as a sign of affection. And she responds with the verbal 'give as good as you get.' It's a very elementary school/kid on the playground thing to do. But Dean's got a very child-like approach to the world in general, so it makes perfect sense.
Chloe grinned in response. “Maybe we should try a lullaby?”
“You know any good ones?”
“Maybe,” Chloe trailed off as she thought. Then she hummed a bit, and started singing quietly.
“Over in Killarney
Many years ago,
My mother sang a song to me
In tones so sweet and low. Just a simple little ditty,
In her good ould Irish way,
And l'd give the world if she could sing
That song to me this day.”
This has to be, hands down, the best known lullaby out there. Very recognizably a lullaby, very recognizably Irish. I don't particularly like it. But I wanted something that once again called up Chloe's heritage.
"Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li,”
Dean grinned at her as she started on the chorus. Then, unable to resist, he leaned in and added his own touch to Chloe's lullaby.
“She's got a smile that it seems to me
Reminds me of childhood memories”
And Dean puts his two cents in. I once heard an acoustic/lullaby version of this song, and it was very pretty. I could see Dean singing this as a lullaby.
Chloe narrowed her eyes at him. Dean wiggled his eyebrows like Groucho Marx. In response, she rolled her eyes and continued her own song.
And Chloe's just too stubborn to admit defeat.
“Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, hush now, don't you cry.”
“Where everything
Was as fresh as the bright blue sky”
“Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li,”
“She's got eyes of the bluest skies
As if they thought of rain”
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, that's an Irish lullaby.".
“I hate to look into those eyes
And see an ounce of pain”
This was actually one of the strongest images in my mind of the whole thing. Dean and Chloe, huddled together with the baby between them, singing point - counterpoint on this strange lullaby. It's pretty much sets the tone for the way the Chanceverse Winchullivan family works. It's chaotic and loving and very strange, but it seems to work.
In the doorway to the room, Sam Winchester looked on, and shook his head.
“This is going to be one confused kid.”
And there's Sam, playing the part of the Greek Chorus. I find it funny that Chance doesn't actually grow up confused. As far as hunters and super heroes go, he's got to be the most well-adjusted kid around.
It's not like he's sitting around in a cave brooding like Batman, or trying to behead hapless psychics like Gordon. It could have been worse.
Just sayin'