FIC: Any Given Tuesday (AB/BtVS) completed

[mhalachai]

After more than a year's hiatus, Any Given Tuesday is completed.
Chapter 12 and 13 are now up, and that story is closed.

Thoughts on why I chose not to go back and rewrite the story:

Over this last year, I have been writing a lot of stuff in the AB universe. Inevitable, Mind the Gap, Switchback... my writing style has changed, as has the direction I take my characters. As I have moved on as a writer, my characters no longer explain everything all the time to everyone, and my use of colloquial language moved more to the dialogue side than as narrative, as some examples. Basically, I grew over the last year, away from what I was as a writer when I wrote the first 11 chapters of AGT.

So why not rewrite? What would I change? I'm not going to mention that, as it's not really relevant any longer. I could have spent weeks redoing AGT to fit where I am now as a writer, but that's all time reviewing the past. As a writer, I've got other projects on the go, and will spend the time on those. That is why I ended AGT as I did, with the ending envisioned when I began the story. Moving forward.

Another thing I noticed, that trying to juxtapose my current writing style with the Zerbrowski voice in AGT with my current Anita voice in Inevitable made my brain explode. I need to go read Inevitable all over again.

In other news, and if it's any consolation, I've got the first line of the next Inevitable chapter ready, and it's a doozy :P

Please feel free to comment, review, criticize, anything you'd like with the story. I do enjoy talking about fic, as you will all no doubt have noticed.

Comments

[cissasghost.livejournal.com]

You know, I think I need to go back and re-read, because I got lost in a couple places, but overall I like it. There's a certain randomness, a feeling of stupid things having big consequences, to it being Noah and relating to Chimera (though what exactly he was talking about, I'm not sure - am I supposed to get that?), that fit with the overall feel of the story and made for a nice ending.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Yeah, silly random things blowing up, Zerbrowski's crazy life, etc.

Well, it's as happy an ending as anyone in the Buffy or AB world ever has.

[catherinecookmn.livejournal.com]

Finishing always feels good. The 'transitional' fics are interesting, and precisely because of the things that make them awkward -- the evolution of a style, the way a writer's attitude can change in mid-stream (sometimes in mid-sentence). I've got a couple of fics like that -- I'd try to edit them, but editing them kind of misses the point. Why not just preserve the evidence of the writer's metamorphosis? More fun that way.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

I was wondering, about half-way through yesterday -- what was better, finishing it, in what might be deemed an awkeward fashion, or never finishing it at all? Answer, of course, is finishing.

This is why I'm not taking any breaks from IN. Must finish crazy epic! It's at over 205,000 words now. Oh, I didn't walk into this with the idea for writing such a long story, I swear.

[catherinecookmn.livejournal.com]

I think with Inevitable, it's the fact that the melding of the two universes, especially in the way you've done it, creates so many organic plot twists that one can't help but chase all of them down.

[catherinecookmn.livejournal.com]

To name just one plot point: I can just see Jason and the Weasley twins discussing the profit potentials of fake rubber vomit. (And the shriek emitted by Molly Weasley when the chair she's about to sit on looks like the cat just threw up on it.)

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

No kidding. As time passes, I find more and more little details that I want to address in the story. It's never going to end (and that's okay with me :)

[shallanelprin.livejournal.com]

Hey, I found your fic through TTH and I'm very glad to see this fic wrapped up. I was a bit surprised about Noah, but it makes since. I'd been trying to figure out what Chimara had to do with the whole thing and those last two chapters wrap it up in a nice little bow.

Looking forward to more of Switchback, Inevitable and hopefully updates on the assorted Mind the Gap-verse fics.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

those last two chapters wrap it up in a nice little bow.

Good, it's nice to know I can hold on to a mental plot for over a year and not lose too much :)

[(Anonymous)]

Loved it. It always feels good to wrap up a fic. As far as other fics you have going in the Anita Blake universe, do you see yourself finishing Candlelight or have you kinda moved on from that. Just wondering. It's very good as well. :)

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

No, not moved on from Candelight. Just stuck. The plot development device fell apart under scrutiny, sadly. I will one day tell the story of Buffy and Rafael's relationship!

[eavling.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed reading these last two chapters. In fact, I enjoyed re-reading the whole story, because I'd forgotten what it was about.

I love the foreshadowing at the end of chapter 11...who was Micah protecting, indeed...albeit unknowingly.

I enjoyed reading Zerbrowski showing off his smarts 'in mixed company.'

Despite how your style has changed, I didn't notice that much of a difference in how you wrote the last chapters from what was written before. The dialogue seemed smoother and more informative, yes. But overall, it was still marvelously Mhalachai. I'm wondering if you made any effort to keep the style the same with the last chapters.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Glad you enjoyed my first foray (well, following up from Hubris) into AB fic. I tried to keep the style the same, but didn't go too overboard on that. I reread AGT to get a feel for Zerbrowski again, but now I'm all uncertain fr my Anita voice in IN. Poor me, right?

[eavling.livejournal.com]

I'm also left wondering how the lycanthrope community is going to deal with the repercussions of Noah's trial. How are they going to keep all manner of bones from coming out from under their beds?

I don't think it will be too hard for you to get into the swing of writing Anita again. In some respects, Zerbroski (what is his first name again?), as how you wrote him, and Inevitable's Anita are extremely similar. They're just trying to get along and live right day to day, and maybe save someone in the process.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

I'm also left wondering how the lycanthrope community is going to deal with the repercussions of Noah's trial.

Yeah, we're, uh, not going to deal with that.

We have never been told Zerbrowski's first name. I made up Tom for the story, because the man's wife isn't going to call him by his last name at home.

Hrm, I think IN needs more Zerbrowski.

[deepfishy.livejournal.com]

Yay, fic finished! I don't think there's any need for a rewrite - you'd just end up in constant revision of past writing to fit your ever-developing style. Just keep walkin', and you'll produce all manner of pretties :)

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

you'd just end up in constant revision of past writing to fit your ever-developing style.

Tell me about it. Yeah, the pretties are all ahead. Keep on moving or some such drivel :D

[madannekidd.livejournal.com]

I love, love, love you. AGT was one of my favourite fics, I think it and Hubris was what got me into your work in the first place. There are no words for my joy that that story is completed and I know what happens. I'm glad Buff's not being an a-hole and is talking to Dawn. Noah being the one that turned her? Didn't expect that, or the Chimera thing with Corey. Poor Dawn. Poor the rest of the pard. In a way, I feel sorry for Noah. But it was a great conclusion to a fantastic story.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

:D I'm glad you liked it! The threads for the Chimera thing, well the set up at least, were in the story originally, before ID came out. That's why I was sort of surprised (in a good way) how Noah had acted under Chimera. Backs up my plot, so I'm not complaining.

Hubris and AGT were really my first AB fics. It's interesting, to look at them now and see how I've both changed, and what is the same in my writing.