[SPN/BoB Big Bang] Free Until They Cut Me Down - Notes, videos and thanks
Currahee!
First and foremost, good things come in threes. The world's most amazing trio of beta readers are the only reason this story is even vaguely readable. (No, you really don't want to know about the first draft.) They held my hand when I knew I had to completely scrap and rewrite the sucker in the space of an insanely busy month, and they all provided incisive, insightful feedback on a tight turnaround.
♠ varadia made sure I remembered my basics: characterization, emotional impact, simple story logic. She always tells me when I'm going astray, and better yet, she always points me in the right direction to fix it. She is a superstar, full stop.
♠ lilacsigil had my back on mythology. She insisted -- and rightly so -- on cohesion with real Celtic and Norse stories, and it's because of her that the mythic stuff makes any sense. Go read her X-Files crossover Big Bang and see how amazing she is for yourself!
♠ winding_path took on the onerous task of doing battle with every one of my colons, semi-colons, eyebrow movements and overwrought speech tags. Somebody give this dame a medal -- her incredible close reads demanded more from this story, which improved it immensely.
♠ miss_seashelle made art that made me flail when I got it. You should all tell her how great her Pvt. Winchester manips are! Dean is a man who looks good in uniform.
♠ From the beginning, fryadvocate has been a sounding board and mutual cheerleading squad. She's awesome, and she should always know that.
♠ indy_go showed me Band of Brothers first and is a dirty rat fink. This is really all her fault.
♠ My friendslist put up with endless agonizing, flailing and me generally getting my neurotics all over my journal these past few weeks. Thank you.
♠ chosenfire28 has organized a fantastic challenge that the fandom sorely needed. Thank you for putting together the sncross_bigbang, and for being so understanding about scheduling!
Regimental scrapbook
I could write two more Big Bangs with the stuff I threw out. This story is barely recognizable from my original concept -- which I assure you is a good thing.
The title comes from an Iron & Wine song of the same name. I've been wanting to use it since Season 3, and I'm glad I saved it until now.
Giddy Orland is not real.
Richard Speight Jr. played both Skip Muck and the Trickster. That was a discarded plotline; do with that as you will.
Since YouTube is glorious when it's not being pissy, below are scenes from Band of Brothers that appear in or informed the story. Obviously I'd recommend watching the entire ten-part miniseries, as it's some of the greatest television ever made, but if you don't have the time, these will do in a pinch.
Ep. 5, "Crossroads":
This is the aftermath of the opening and final scenes.
Ep. 3, "Carentan":
This is the first time in the series we see the replacements, including Babe Heffron. This is also set in the time frame of the story.
Ep. 2, "Day of Days":
June 6, 1944: The jump into Normandy
Ep. 4, "Replacements":
This is edited so it focuses on James McAvoy (a minor character), but it's the general idea of how the company acts around replacements and in a pub setting. (It's also a great Bill and Babe scene!)
Ep. 9, "Why We Fight":
"Blood on the Risers," the song Giddy hears on the World Tree
First and foremost, good things come in threes. The world's most amazing trio of beta readers are the only reason this story is even vaguely readable. (No, you really don't want to know about the first draft.) They held my hand when I knew I had to completely scrap and rewrite the sucker in the space of an insanely busy month, and they all provided incisive, insightful feedback on a tight turnaround.
♠ varadia made sure I remembered my basics: characterization, emotional impact, simple story logic. She always tells me when I'm going astray, and better yet, she always points me in the right direction to fix it. She is a superstar, full stop.
♠ lilacsigil had my back on mythology. She insisted -- and rightly so -- on cohesion with real Celtic and Norse stories, and it's because of her that the mythic stuff makes any sense. Go read her X-Files crossover Big Bang and see how amazing she is for yourself!
♠ winding_path took on the onerous task of doing battle with every one of my colons, semi-colons, eyebrow movements and overwrought speech tags. Somebody give this dame a medal -- her incredible close reads demanded more from this story, which improved it immensely.
♠ miss_seashelle made art that made me flail when I got it. You should all tell her how great her Pvt. Winchester manips are! Dean is a man who looks good in uniform.
♠ From the beginning, fryadvocate has been a sounding board and mutual cheerleading squad. She's awesome, and she should always know that.
♠ indy_go showed me Band of Brothers first and is a dirty rat fink. This is really all her fault.
♠ My friendslist put up with endless agonizing, flailing and me generally getting my neurotics all over my journal these past few weeks. Thank you.
♠ chosenfire28 has organized a fantastic challenge that the fandom sorely needed. Thank you for putting together the sncross_bigbang, and for being so understanding about scheduling!
Regimental scrapbook
I could write two more Big Bangs with the stuff I threw out. This story is barely recognizable from my original concept -- which I assure you is a good thing.
The title comes from an Iron & Wine song of the same name. I've been wanting to use it since Season 3, and I'm glad I saved it until now.
Giddy Orland is not real.
Richard Speight Jr. played both Skip Muck and the Trickster. That was a discarded plotline; do with that as you will.
Since YouTube is glorious when it's not being pissy, below are scenes from Band of Brothers that appear in or informed the story. Obviously I'd recommend watching the entire ten-part miniseries, as it's some of the greatest television ever made, but if you don't have the time, these will do in a pinch.
Ep. 5, "Crossroads":
Click to viewThis is the aftermath of the opening and final scenes.
Ep. 3, "Carentan":
This is the first time in the series we see the replacements, including Babe Heffron. This is also set in the time frame of the story.
Ep. 2, "Day of Days":
June 6, 1944: The jump into Normandy
Ep. 4, "Replacements":
This is edited so it focuses on James McAvoy (a minor character), but it's the general idea of how the company acts around replacements and in a pub setting. (It's also a great Bill and Babe scene!)
Ep. 9, "Why We Fight":
"Blood on the Risers," the song Giddy hears on the World Tree