#cannot overstate how much the overwhelming feedback changed this fic

[antilocaprine]

hope its ok to use multiple of the questions for this ask game (if not just pick whichever!), but for Speechless: 1, 6, 13, and 15?

(Ask Game) (Speechless)

Anon, I love answering questions, so I'm absolutely delighted when I get to answer multiple questions in one ask.

1 What is your favorite thing about this fic? I think that's a tie between the characterization and the reception. I've worked at keeping the characterization as close as I can to canon in this fic far more than some of my other fics, since it takes place within the main timeline of the actual story. This means a lot of rewatching scenes, but it also means that everyone's voices are so close to the surface that sometimes I'll write out a whole conversation between the science team and it'll flow effortlessly. I guess research really is the best resource... And then the reception. This fic was supposed to be a quick little exercise, and due to the amount of comments and feedback I got on it, I decided to stretch it out and push it a bit. We were originally going to be doing vignettes, with a couple chapters before the amputation and a couple chapters after. Obviously, we're well past that. It just blows my mind that every time I post a chapter, over 200 emails go out alerting subscribers. That's crazy. Y'all are crazy and I love you so much.

6. Favorite line of narration Out of 40,000 words? Good gosh, I can't remember that many words... I do like playing with Gordon's internal voice and turning it into narration since he can't talk, so maybe something like this: "Gordon skidded to a halt and backpedaled as the startled squad opened fire. They landed a few hits, but nothing that penetrated the HEV suit. Still, the bullets scratched the paint, and for some reason, that made Gordon furious. What, the aliens weren’t enough? Now there were humans trying to kill him, too? He was a human. How dare they?"

13. Any post-cannon headcanons for this universe? We haven't gotten to the end yet, so I don't want to get spoilery. But I expect Tommy will keep naming his "pets" after weird drinks, long after Margarita and Tequila are forgotten.

15. Do you have a favorite comment on this fic? The first thing I think of is after the chapter that ended in the amputation scene, where a bunch of commenters collectively remembered that when you're just learning sign language, suddenly losing a hand is...bad. The comments were just a chorus of "Oh shit I forgot about that - how is he going to talk?!" (I was thrilled to discover that a lot of important signs like "help" and "hurt" were all two-handed signs, so taking away one of Gordon's hands meant that his ability to communicate had been hobbled, again. This poor dude just can't catch a break...)