Happy New Year!
Jan. 1st, 2011 11:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crossover_chickIt's been a quiet one for me, though I do have some updates for you:
A Turret family update over in![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ink_sec_sims (though it's not anything too epic)
The turrets' birthday party -- please go, if only to see Butterfly Boy's present
And, that Telltale Drabbles88 I was working on!
70. Bum
“Now all we gotta to do is fuel up the old rocket-powered drill, then you and I--”
“And I can take it and go,” Marty interrupted. He was getting antsy, sitting here. Every second that he spent here was another second that Doc was stuck in jail, inching closer to a horrible painful death. He just wanted to take the drill and go rescue him already.
Do-Emmett, Marty reminded himself, this guy ain’t your best friend yet, gave him a funny look. “But don’t you want to test it first?”
That was actually a good point, but Marty really didn’t want to wait around any more. “No time,” he said, getting up. “The, uh, the last train for D.C. leaves in just a few minutes.”
Emmett brightened immediately. “Oh, right! You’ve got to get this baby to the US Patent Office!”
“Uh, exactly,” Marty agreed, fidgeting. Come on, let me go, let me go. . . .
Emmett wasn’t ready to do that just yet, however. “So tell me, Michael,” he said eagerly, “when can I expect to hear back from the patent office?”
Damn. What the hell do I tell him? How long does it usually take to issue a patent? Three days? A week? No, go for a month to six weeks, that’ll give you the most wiggle room. “Oh,” he started, turning around, “in about – I’d say. . . .”
He trailed off as he saw Emmett’s face. The young man was smiling brightly, looking happier than Marty had seen him all day. Marty recognized that smile. That was the smile Doc had worn in 1985 when he’d sent Einstein a minute through time. The smile he’d worn in 1955 when he’d seen proof his flux capacitor idea worked. The smile he’d worn in 1885 when he was head over heels for Clara. Emmett was absolutely filled with joy about becoming a real inventor.
And Marty had lied straight to his face.
Suddenly, it didn’t matter that they were back in 1931, that Emmett didn’t know him from Moses. This was his best friend, and he’d lied to him. Marty found himself confessing everything – that he wasn’t from the patent office, that he needed Emmett’s work to help a friend, that – that he’d used Emmett. His stomach twisted up as he saw Emmett go from hopeful genius to heartbroken shell. He tried to make things better with some encouraging words, but they sounded empty and hollow (despite being true). Emmett still letting him have the drill after all that just made it worse. He’d destroyed the guy’s hopes and dreams, and he was rewarded for it?
Come on, McFly, he told himself as he wheeled the drill away. It’s more important to get Doc out of jail, right? Emmett will get over it. He wasn’t going to get the patent anyway. You haven’t screwed up the time stream, so everything will be fine!
Then he thought about the look on Emmett’s face again. That betrayed, kicked puppy look. He sighed and slouched onward. Yeah. I’m going to Hell.
-M: That about sums it up, yeah.-
I know, right? This came about because of one of the major kicks in the teeth you get near the end of the game. After a crazy sequence where you have to follow hidden instructions on how to make the rocket fuel, Emmett asks a departing Marty when he can hear back from the patent office. You get a choice of three things to say -- three days, one week, a month to six weeks -- but no matter what you choose, Marty starts talking, sees Emmett's hopeful face -- and can't bring himself to lie to him. It's a really powerful moment, mostly because you can see just how horrible both characters feel. Emmett naturally looks like he's had his heart ripped out and stomped on, while Marty looks like he feels lower than low. That's the reason behind the prompt I choose -- "Bum" refers to how Marty's feeling about himself at the moment. (I'm really hoping he gets to make it up to Emmett in Episode IV (Episode II seems to be about saving Artie, while Episode III is the "Doc Horrible" episode).)
Other notes: All of the spoken dialogue is taken straight from the game. As you might have guessed, Marty's wonderings about what time period to say is also taken from the game -- the dialogue choice, specifically. I was initially going to have Marty say the entire speech he gives in the game, but I quickly realized that was going to very quickly push me over 500, so I went for the sum-up instead. Initially the line about Emmett letting him have the rocket mentioned it eased the ache, but I found the bit worked better if it made Marty feel worse. It always ended with Marty thinking "I'm going to Hell" though -- that's basically what I built the entire fic around.
-HD: Hmph. Angst to start off the new year. . . .-
If it makes you feel better, any Ride-verse fic I might do really should be a happy fic.
And that's about it for the nonce! I hope everyone had a good first of the year. :D
-VD2: No resolutions?-
Only one - finish "When Worlds Collide." And since I'm actually pretty close to the ending I want, I think I can actually keep it. (I'd add "The Tale" to that as well, except that I think I'm only around the midpoint on that. We'll see.)
A Turret family update over in
ink_sec_sims (though it's not anything too epic)The turrets' birthday party -- please go, if only to see Butterfly Boy's present
And, that Telltale Drabbles88 I was working on!
70. Bum
“Now all we gotta to do is fuel up the old rocket-powered drill, then you and I--”
“And I can take it and go,” Marty interrupted. He was getting antsy, sitting here. Every second that he spent here was another second that Doc was stuck in jail, inching closer to a horrible painful death. He just wanted to take the drill and go rescue him already.
Do-Emmett, Marty reminded himself, this guy ain’t your best friend yet, gave him a funny look. “But don’t you want to test it first?”
That was actually a good point, but Marty really didn’t want to wait around any more. “No time,” he said, getting up. “The, uh, the last train for D.C. leaves in just a few minutes.”
Emmett brightened immediately. “Oh, right! You’ve got to get this baby to the US Patent Office!”
“Uh, exactly,” Marty agreed, fidgeting. Come on, let me go, let me go. . . .
Emmett wasn’t ready to do that just yet, however. “So tell me, Michael,” he said eagerly, “when can I expect to hear back from the patent office?”
Damn. What the hell do I tell him? How long does it usually take to issue a patent? Three days? A week? No, go for a month to six weeks, that’ll give you the most wiggle room. “Oh,” he started, turning around, “in about – I’d say. . . .”
He trailed off as he saw Emmett’s face. The young man was smiling brightly, looking happier than Marty had seen him all day. Marty recognized that smile. That was the smile Doc had worn in 1985 when he’d sent Einstein a minute through time. The smile he’d worn in 1955 when he’d seen proof his flux capacitor idea worked. The smile he’d worn in 1885 when he was head over heels for Clara. Emmett was absolutely filled with joy about becoming a real inventor.
And Marty had lied straight to his face.
Suddenly, it didn’t matter that they were back in 1931, that Emmett didn’t know him from Moses. This was his best friend, and he’d lied to him. Marty found himself confessing everything – that he wasn’t from the patent office, that he needed Emmett’s work to help a friend, that – that he’d used Emmett. His stomach twisted up as he saw Emmett go from hopeful genius to heartbroken shell. He tried to make things better with some encouraging words, but they sounded empty and hollow (despite being true). Emmett still letting him have the drill after all that just made it worse. He’d destroyed the guy’s hopes and dreams, and he was rewarded for it?
Come on, McFly, he told himself as he wheeled the drill away. It’s more important to get Doc out of jail, right? Emmett will get over it. He wasn’t going to get the patent anyway. You haven’t screwed up the time stream, so everything will be fine!
Then he thought about the look on Emmett’s face again. That betrayed, kicked puppy look. He sighed and slouched onward. Yeah. I’m going to Hell.
-M: That about sums it up, yeah.-
I know, right? This came about because of one of the major kicks in the teeth you get near the end of the game. After a crazy sequence where you have to follow hidden instructions on how to make the rocket fuel, Emmett asks a departing Marty when he can hear back from the patent office. You get a choice of three things to say -- three days, one week, a month to six weeks -- but no matter what you choose, Marty starts talking, sees Emmett's hopeful face -- and can't bring himself to lie to him. It's a really powerful moment, mostly because you can see just how horrible both characters feel. Emmett naturally looks like he's had his heart ripped out and stomped on, while Marty looks like he feels lower than low. That's the reason behind the prompt I choose -- "Bum" refers to how Marty's feeling about himself at the moment. (I'm really hoping he gets to make it up to Emmett in Episode IV (Episode II seems to be about saving Artie, while Episode III is the "Doc Horrible" episode).)
Other notes: All of the spoken dialogue is taken straight from the game. As you might have guessed, Marty's wonderings about what time period to say is also taken from the game -- the dialogue choice, specifically. I was initially going to have Marty say the entire speech he gives in the game, but I quickly realized that was going to very quickly push me over 500, so I went for the sum-up instead. Initially the line about Emmett letting him have the rocket mentioned it eased the ache, but I found the bit worked better if it made Marty feel worse. It always ended with Marty thinking "I'm going to Hell" though -- that's basically what I built the entire fic around.
-HD: Hmph. Angst to start off the new year. . . .-
If it makes you feel better, any Ride-verse fic I might do really should be a happy fic.
And that's about it for the nonce! I hope everyone had a good first of the year. :D
-VD2: No resolutions?-
Only one - finish "When Worlds Collide." And since I'm actually pretty close to the ending I want, I think I can actually keep it. (I'd add "The Tale" to that as well, except that I think I'm only around the midpoint on that. We'll see.)
