DVD commentary Q&A

[sholio]

I've noticed in the past that I basically suck at doing DVD commentaries on my own fic, for a rather specific reason: when I'm writing, I tend to approach it from a "narrate what's happening" standpoint (I kind of "see" or "feel" the story happening, I guess), and afterwards, that's what I remember -- the things that happened in the story, not my

Comments

[aqwt101]

Feels like I should ask someting serious and thoughtful, but I'm drawing a blank, so, since I reread it recently, how about some Neal's POV on "All These Roads Lead Home"? For example, for the scene when Peter approaches him and Neal totally misinpretates his intentions...

He really doesn't know, Peter thought in wonder. Neal was off his game for sure. And, now, apparently, convinced that it was something to do with him. Which was true. But the thought hadn't crossed Peter's mind -- although, from the stiffness in Neal's shoulders, it had certainly crossed Neal's -- that it might look like they were planning to send him back to prison.

...and then realizes what it's really about?

Or, if you prefer, something about another old favorite, "Spontaneous", when guys sitting at night at the old cemetery drinking wine. :)

[sholio]

how about some Neal's POV on "All These Roads Lead Home"? For example, for the scene when Peter approaches him and Neal totally misinterprets his intentions...

Hmmm ... :D

The thing about that part of "All These Roads Lead Home" is that Neal is in a really bad headspace. Kate's death threw him into an emotional tailspin, and at this point, he's barely hanging on; he's managing to put on a semblance of functionality, but he's a pit of anger and depression underneath. As far as the timeline goes, this is shortly after 2x01, possibly even before Peter commenting in 2x02 (or was it 2x03?) that Neal is starting to smile again. Neal is playing "normal", but he's actually a complete mess, and Peter can see that

[aqwt101]

Thank you for the insights!

And ow, poor Neal *hugs him*. Now that you’re telling this, the fic seems more angsty than I saw it at first! :D Neal’s grief was kind of at the background, with him not being the viewpoint character, and kind of more subtle than in your other post-2x01 tag, “Seasons Turning”. Though the timelines of these should be pretty close, so Neal’s mental state pretty much the same.

I remember I thought that the first moments after Neal realized what it was really about could be most open we’ve ever seen him, with all his masks down. It didn’t occurred to me that he could have a private meltdown afterwards, but it makes a lot of sense.

But the whole thing still feels very hopeful and heartwarming to me, with everyone rallying around Neal.:) And I adore the hell out of Peter in here:)

I miss fics taking place in early seasons:)

[sholio]

Yeah, while the fic IS very hopeful and Neal is in a pretty good frame of mind at the end (for Neal at this point in his life) it's pretty much impossible to write anything set in this part of canon without having Neal's life be an absolute pit of misery that he's slowly climbing out of. Which is actually why I chose to set this fic during that time period, because Neal really needed something happy and distracting to remind him that he is liked and welcome at the White Collar office despite everything that's been going on. (And also because setting it during that time period was just about the only way that I could justify having Neal be oblivious to the fact that there was something suspicious going on around him; at any other time, he'd definitely have figured it out!)