#I can't resist a little ship fodder

[acornered]

I don't usually post art here but this Barbie Movie poster was making the rounds and my first thought was how into it Vala would be and the thought would not leave my head until I made this

[sullustangin]

F & S for the fanfic ask game?

thanks for asking!

S: Any fandom tropes you can't resist?

I’ve stated previously that I do really enjoy trope inversions. Give me a trope to write, and I’ll spin it on its head.   Or try to in an amusing way (disclaimer: at least, amusing to me)

I also like “Everyone is the hero in their own story” -- every character perceives themselves as the main in their lives.  Not everyone knows the same secrets or has the same agendas....this is why I need a chart at times to keep track of who’s doing what where.  

I also love competence in my characters; they’ve survived this long in the story as part of a team, so as inept as they may be perceived, they clearly got something going on.  I don’t like dumb characters or fodder characters.  I do love writing heists/capers where we have multiple moving parts and everyone has to be good at their job.  Sometimes, the least experienced person is the best at their job.  For example, Talos Drellik ends up being the MVP in a heist fic to acquire the holocron of Darth Nihilius; he’s not a criminal or a spy at ALL, but his competence in archaeology plus his connections in the field ultimately cause the op to be successful. 

F: Share a snippet from one of your favourite dialogue scenes you've written and explain why you're proud of it.

In terms of my SWTOR stuff, there’s an exchange that occurs between Theron and Eva at least three times.  The first is during “Love in the Time of Technoplague,” then again in future fics dealing with the long term relationship they enter into, eventually.  In each appearance, they banter back and forth with each other, trading lines. 

It’s still a gamble. 

The opportunity.

The risk.

The test of skill.

The thrill of a little victory. 

The rush of more as the games go on.

The danger of losing what little you have.

And then the big win.

It fits the dynamic of Eva as a gambler and as the Voidhound, but also Theron as a spy and agent of the Republic.  There are some risks that one has to take to win... and then there’s another layer on top when it comes to love for both of these people.  They are risky for each other.  She is a criminal, and Theron has some law enforcement authority, based on the comics; he can detain or arrest someone.  In turn, Theron has a professional reputation he’s risking due to her activities, not to mention what he turns a blind eye to. Then we have all the personal issues that make relationships difficult for them (which are essays I’ve written elsewhere, haha).

As challenging as it can be to write, I try to create dialogue where the two opponents are equally matched.  Everyone sees themselves as the hero in their own story, and that other guy is wrong and their logic sucks and they’re stupid.  It’s easy to write a one-sided argument where the hero is 100% correct.  I’m also a fan fic writer from a time when anything remotely approaching a self-insert/Mary Sue/Gary Stu was anathema, so I try not to make my OC characters ‘too powerful’ or ‘too correct’ all the time.  They lose arguments.   And my arguments tend to be long and loud, so ‘snippet’ probably isn’t the best word to describe the except below.  It’s from  “A Breach of Professional Boundaries” where Eva and Theron disagree about what Theron and his implants are allowed to do on her ship. 

Placed below a cut due to length.  By this point, Eva has already thrown Theron off his game by flirting with him, and she’s leveraged their agreement to remind him that it’s supposed to go both ways -- now Theron wins a tilt:

“Right, business first.  Implants off.”

Theron studied her carefully.  “I won’t be as useful.”

“That’s part of the point.  I don’t want you to be too useful to the Republic right now.  Just me.”  Eva leaned against the ladder, an arm looped through it.  “I know you will turn the implants back on once we get to Port Nowhere to access the sound file you have.  Is there any way for you to avoid ‘going online?’  I don’t want some satellite to trace you there.”  She pursed her lips and waited for his response.

Something wasn’t sitting right here.  “The Republic already knows that Port Nowhere is mobile again.  That’s old news – people on the dark net couldn’t stop chatting about it. I’d look as if I was on a random slow-moving freighter in space, if they decided to check up on me.”

Eva was already shaking her head. “It’s other things that your implants would record that I don’t want getting back to Pub space.  People exist that shouldn’t.  My business operates in ways that I don’t think Pubs or Imps have considered.  My crew – I don’t want them at risk in the future.”

Theron mirrored her positioning, leaning on the ladder, one arm looped through it.  “Listen, we have made a partnership.  I admit, I didn’t initially think I’d be as useful to you as you were to me, but here we are.  This won’t get back to SIS.”

“You may be your own man, but your implants are SIS-issued.” She almost immediately changed her posture once she realized he was mirroring.  Interesting.   Now she leaned back against the wall, hands behind her.

Theron allowed himself a small bit of humor.  “Despite the stories, SIS agents don’t have self-destruct mechanisms that go off for disloyal or impure thoughts.  Especially the second one; I know one guy who would have dropped dead at graduation for eyeballing the Director’s ex-wife.”  He managed to get a ‘heh’ out of her.  “Seriously though, SIS can’t access my implants unless I let them.  I don’t plan on being conspicuous, so nobody will see Theron Shan there – they won’t have a reason to ask me.”

Eva remained stubborn.  “I’d still prefer it if you turned them off, as agreed.”

Theron remained equally as stubborn.  “How would you know if I even turned them off anyway?”   She frowned, and Theron found some dark pride in finally playing the role of the fox rather than the hound.  “Whether I turn them off or not, whether I spill my guts after I get back, whether I’m actually in this with Darok – it’s all a matter of trust.”

Eva’s anger simmered as she drew away from the wall to come closer to Theron.  “Port Nowhere is under my rule.  What happens to you there is completely in my hands.”

“Hell of a trump card.  But you’d only get to use it once.  Better make it count.”  Theron pulled his arm free from the ladder and straightened up to his full height.  “I trust you’ll make the right decision for you and your crew.  I assume my stuff is this way?”  He pointed down the narrow hallway, the only way one could go.