Swimslash, All Along the Watchtower

[thorne_scratch]

Fic. Written for asouthernthing in the drabble meme. Depressingly serious character moment. You can be damn sure we won't let that happen again.

Comments

[leici]

That whole paragraph up there about Michael interviewing is BRILLIANT. I love the entire thing to pieces. Especially the Journey part. Heh.

And oh man, the last three sentences are fantastic. They bring the whole thing together and the visual is almost as impactful and the realization is describes. Very, very nicely written. I really enjoyed reading this.

[thorne_scratch]

You know, it was tough picking a band, but in the end, you gotta go with Journey.

Thanks very much! Poor Ian. Michael ran away with the story, so it was kind of necessary to bring it back to Ian.

[twigcollins]

Don't Stop Believin might as well be the national anthem, really.

<3

[twigcollins]

Also, this exchange happened in my head:

Michael Phelps: Hi I'm Michael Phelps.
Me: Hi. I only know about you because my friend writes gay porn of you and puts it on the internet.

At this point, I think he clubs me with the fire extinguisher and runs. But in a really friendly kind of way.

[navy_brat_1972]

This was a good story. Very descriptive and I love it. I LOVED this line:

Ian thinks of Michael and he thinks of shallow water, moving fast
but hiding nothing. Clear as can be.

Very good. I like it.

[thorne_scratch]

Thank you very much, I'm glad you liked it!

[zdarovyeh]

I really enjoyed this piece. I think you did a really good job of capturing both Ian's introspection and probably at least a shard of truth about the 'real' Michael Phelps that I've thought about him and just about every other professional athlete I've ever seen interviewed on TV, especially the "boring" ones.

And I loved the sudden break from thought to action in the last two paragraphs. It was unexpected, given the lead-up, but I think that suddenness is part of what gives it greater impact and weight.

Love it.

[thorne_scratch]

Thank you! This was actually interesting to try and write, because it had to stay short, but it kept wanting to expand. I'm fond of reading Ian's blogs and such, and he's always seemed very much an introspective kind of person. Whereas Michael changes every damn time I look at him, so. Yeah.

[m_steelgrave]

Delicious. I loved this:

being categorized as The Quiet One (with a sub-heading of Who Also Cooks, and a further specific sub-sub-heading of Who Plays The Guitar, and the final designation of Who Loves Bob Dylan and Antique Cars) instead of The Goofy One, or The Laidback One, or The Breaks World Records Like A Loan Shark Breaks Knees One.

[thorne_scratch]

I'm kind of grateful you read it. I have this feeling all my friends only indulge my RPF fixations out of exasperated kindness.

Man, I sub-categorize everyone I know, particularly the doctors, because otherwise I can't keep track of them. So, a typical description tag probably goes, Tall, German, Square Glasses, Radiologist, Drinks Mojitos, Picks Fights With People From MassGen. And once I run that through my head, I can remember, "Ah, that's Dr. So-and-so!"

[m_steelgrave]

Hell, I read pretty much anything people post, as long as it's well-written. Of course, if I haven't actually seen the show/movie/played the game that might fuck with my perception of canon...but what the hell.

I know I should probably be anti-label, but they're just so much fun.

[thorne_scratch]

Yeah. I've had some times where I've read something, not knowing the canon, been extremely impressed, and then gotten into the show/movie/game/whatever solely on that basis. (Of course, sometimes that's backfired on me, and I've found that what people are writing is WAY better than the canon. I'm looking at YOU, Smallville, SGA, Supernatural, and Weiss Kreuz.)

Fun and useful! Otherwise, I have to refer to everyone as "Dr. *coughmumblemutter*" and eventually people catch on.

[sakuranochi]

One day you will use your awesome powers to write something that is not about hot man on man love, and then I'll finally be able to tell everyone how wonderful you are without feeling a bit suspect.

Continuing the last post, personally I assume that Simon is just skeptical of Obama's pick. Nothing against Obama, and I do hope he wins, but he doesn't seem The Wire type, and his pick just smacks a little too much of "street cred".

[thorne_scratch]

Dude, this was PG-13 at best. I write lots of things that are not about hot man on man love! Sometimes, I write about women. Pshaw on you.

Hell, I'm nothing like the street cred type, and Omar's my favorite. As I recall, Obama said, "Omar is a great guy. That’s not an endorsement. He’s not my favorite person, but he’s a fascinating character. He's this black, gay gangster who only robs drug dealers, and then gives back... He's the toughest, baddest guy on this show, but he's gay, you know. And it's really interesting."

So, I always had the impression it was for his appreciation of the depth of the character. Which is why I like him too! (Omar, that is.)

[sakuranochi]

I was being facetious and you know what I meant!

I don't know, I read that and it sounds like a line. Maybe Simon and I are just too skeptical of politicans, but I don't think anyone can blame us for that. I'd much rather have Obama than McCain, but in the grand scheme of things, like pretty much every other president before him I doubt he'll really change a thing. Not for the sort of people Simon writes about anyway.

There's also the possibility the lack of political acumen Simon refers to is that in Obama saying he likes a show like The Wire and a character like Omar, he is further alienating voters who care little for the poor, black people, and/or gays.

I like Jimmy best anyway, which says all sorts of things about me I don't even want to think about.

[thorne_scratch]

Of course, love.

You know what, I think the opposite. I think he was asked who his favorite television character was, and he gave a reply. He could said Spongebob Squarepants, and people would have found a way to criticize that. Sometimes an answer is loaded! Sometimes it isn't! I'm just glad he's not watching The Hills, the way McCain said.

And frankly, most of us are armchair generals, just trying to figuring how to vote the best we can. I certainly hope Obama lives up to all the expectations; however, that'd be very difficult considering how much needs to be fixed. But I'm trying to keep my optimism up.

I must confess, my love, that both you AND Simon kind of come off like you're emitting a rather strong aura of Kevin Smithian "It's not FOR you!" And I call bullshit on that. Basically, I think it's making a mountain out of a molehill.

Fuck, I need to upload my evil Lincoln icon for when I try to talk politics. As it is, we'll stick with Transmetropolitan.