a little more fic for the holidays

[themonkeytwin]

There are a couple of ideas swimming around in my head, not to mention unfinished projects, and there is never as much free time as a break ought to have. Regardless, this piece demanded being finished off before I turned my attention to anything else. Unfortunately for basically everyone not me, it's the continuing adventures (or conversations, at

Comments

[lmx_v3point3]

I've probably said it before (I hope I've said it before) but I absolutely adore this series, and your characterisation of these two people and (even better) the characterisation of their interactions. Absolutely spot on every time, and beautifully constructed. It's lovely to have stories in this fandom which are just about people *being*, not stealing or hacking or fighting or scheming every moment of every day. Fantastic, I love it.

[themonkeytwin]

I'm so glad! Thank you. If you've said it before, I'm fine with you saying it again :)

I feel like so far I'm just skimming the surface of what's going on, suggesting rather than delving right down into it. I'm driven by that question of who ARE you people?, but it's a still-hunt, you know? And that seems to be where each next interaction in the series comes from, me waiting until I can get at their guts. They're both so freaking guarded!

... Sometimes I think the way I talk about writing characters makes me sound like a crazy person. :/

Anyway. I'm thinking that this latest development will start shaking some fun things loose. :)

[scout_lover]

I love this series! Maggie is one of my favorite characters, just so warm and smart and Maggie - it's so easy to see why Nate loved her and how she kept him sane, straight and honest for all those years. And her interactions with the team are a joy.

And Sterling, well, he's a right bastard, but he's a fabulous right bastard! And I can see him being drawn to Maggie even as he doesn't want to be. (But really, who can resist the power of Maggie? *g*)

And how much do I love this show, whose supposedly "minor" characters are so much better fleshed out and so much more real than major characters on so many other shows?

[themonkeytwin]

Thank you! Yeah, I love seeing how Maggie's generosity and warmth work on Sterling in spite of himself. There's something about her that, to borrow Nate's line, makes a guy want to be a better man. I have no doubt that a lot of Nate's success in avoiding becoming his father for so long was due to her influence.

What I'm really interested to discover is how Sterling is going to affect her.

I think major credit goes to this show in the way they make all their characters, minor or not, internally consistent and real. They're not just there to service the plot and the main characters; they have histories, motives, fears, lives. It's also a credit to them that they've created their main characters strong and interesting enough that they don't need the minor characters to be deliberately constructed to show the main ones off. They can show up and just BE THAT AWESOME.

[deepbluemermaid]

I finally got around to reading this, and I'm glad I did. Your Sterling is so well-realised - not just some ruthless bastard who serves as a foil to Nate, but a complex guy with fears and desires and depth. I like that Maggie can see past their messy past, and offer him a chance.

[themonkeytwin]

Thanks! I'm glad you did too. :)

Mark Sheppard very subtly gives him enough nuance that it's clear there are other sides to him, even though he'd never show them to Nate or the team. I don't want to lose touch with the ruthless side of him, thoug, and I definitely can't see him getting any softer than this right here! It's just that I don't see him treating the vulnerable the way he treats the strong; he doesn't hold back with the team, but for good reason. Maggie, on the other hand - especially a grieving Maggie - that's a different thing altogether.

[themonkeytwin]

Thank you so much :)

Sterling is certainly not a friends kind of guy! I'm curious about whether his statement about them once being friends was what he really believed, or whether he was just saying it because he knew it would annoy Nate. Put another way, were they friendly, or friends? Personally, I like to believe they really were friends, because that's a much more interesting interpretation. But even if they were friends, their ambition and trust issues would have meant it was always conditional. I think. Beyond about the third layer of their relationship, things become a bit indistinct!

I'm definitely going to keep developing these two's relationship (within the bounds of canon, anyway). We'll see what that turns up. ;)

[themonkeytwin]

Hey, don't apologise for the tldr, these are my favourite kinds of comments. :)

I agree, there's a serious connection between them, especially how well Sterling seems to know him with the picture and everything, but I really don't know how Sterling views Nate. To me, it reads like he thinks Nate's stint with the team is just a phase he's going through, following the death of Sam and his divorce. I don't think it ever occurred to him that Nate was actually changing into a different person, that he wouldn't just snap out of it sometime - which is why, I think, Sterling expected the deal to work and why when Nate announces he's a thief, Sterling admits he really doesn't know who this guy is. The Nate Sterling knew would never, ever embrace criminality. Nor fight for thieves

Oh Sterling.

[im_ridiculous]

...Sterling. Sterling, Sterling, Sterling.

Sterling.

Lost cause, Sterling. You're a completely lost cause.

I love his squirming here, his self-second-guessing. I love how easy it is to retcon in his fatherhood, I love Maggie's unease, but willingness to give into an instinctive and irrational thought that maybe this is what she should be doing on this day, and with whom. This is a really lovely installment, because for two such canon-tropey, ill-defined, only-know-em-through-their-relationships-with-other-characters characters, they're both so three-dimensionally, flawed-and-believable, nuanced real people here. The easy flirty undercurrent gives way to something more fundamental, something more solid. And that's more real too, and feels like a completely natural progression, and yet still with a realistic and awkward tentativeness.

I love it. I love it so much. And I love them, and I love you for being my Leverage dealer. I love all the things. ALL OF THEM. :)

Re: Oh Sterling.

[themonkeytwin]

I have just sent you a STUPID LONG email, so I won't say much more here except YES and COMPLETELY and &HEARTS FOREVER. (Except my Rolo Lampkin icon REFUSES to give any credence to such a load of codswallop. Sterling doesn't know the MEANING of "lost cause"!)

<3<3<3<3<3 and you're so, so welcome. :D

Re: Oh Sterling.

[im_ridiculous]

Snort and <3 <3 and y'think so Lampkin/Sterling, do you? Really? ... *flicks hair* *flounces off muttering* you tell yourself that if it makes you feel better sweetheart.... heh. ;)