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behindtheclookit me, all fangirling red's lyrics. ♥
so, this kinda doubles as the start of my outline, more for my benefit than anything else; it's slightly spoilery and hella rambly, so don't read if you don't want, but if you're following the development of this fic, you may find it interesting.
things we now know about "19th century scottish peasant AU":
- it is now irish. :P
-![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
j_plash is now my official partner on this. i'm going to be doing the primary writing (though i may beg bits of scenes/lines from her), since i may want to adapt this into an actualfax novel someday. but it looks like she's going to do most of the plotting and organization because our brains appear to be about 95% on the same wavelength for this and my ideas are all over the place, whereas she seems to have clear images, like she can put into words everything i want to do. she's done *research* on slave fics, knows everything about them and how to keep them from being cliche and cringeworthy. how do i get so lucky to work with people like this?!
- brendon is... some kind of instrument repair dude, who plays (guitarish things?) on the street for cash. (or possibly some kind of piano-maker's apprentice?) not sure if he's technically homeless, but he's street-smart and plucky. jack dawson-esque. he later gets rich by developing his own piano-making business (this is apparently actually lucrative), and maybe starting a music studio of sorts. shane his business partner. jon is the 19th century equivalent of a tech at the cabaret where ryan is eventually taken (jon has no idea the performers are slaves; it's just a job for him -- ETA: or maybe he does know and he's secretly helping the slaves, like, bringing them things like food and books and goodies all the time, and working underground with one tom conrad on a plan to seize this joint and set everyone free at some point? just idealist enough to be jon :/), and eventually helps ryan and brendon escape. SHANE, ngh, gets to have a sexy spanish accent. fucking HELL yes. :D
- ryan plays the harp, or dulcimer (undecided). it's locked in the attic, it was his mother's, i think she died in childbirth (hence ryan's dad's resentment toward him). can you teach yourself the harp?
- has been concluded that they have one kiss before ryan is ~taken. ryan is taken b/c his father is going to be whisked away to debtor's prison if he doesn't pay up, so... i guess he sells ryan? or they take him? idk how it works, either way ryan's dad kills himself within days after ryan's taken.
- his dad is a blacksmith, and ryan tries to make all the armor and weapons pretty with his ~artsy designs and stuff, which pisses his dad off, obv. will expand more on this, lol.
- very clear images of when brendon buys ryan for a night. "he's pricey." brendon replies tightly, "i can manage." "of course, sir. but i must warn you, he's also a bit... feisty." b smiles smugly, all his hatred toward ryan's master wrapped up in one smirk. "i can manage that too." UNF, i love rich-powerful-no-BS-but-still-really-decent-person!businessman!bden.
- ryan possibly needs a new name. a stage/courtesan name. or a slave name he went by all these years, given him by his first master. something that brendon would still recognize though. it'd be his favorite flower, "lily." his mother's name. so when brendon asks what That Boy's name is, not 100% sure it's ryan, he'll still get it. or. something. idk. this brings us back to the tattoo question i posted on my twitter. i think it's feasible he could have one (an image of a lily, something for brendon to recognize him later when he sees him for the first time in 8 yrs and can't be sure). the lily will be a running motif throughout, though, in various forms.
- i have this other line, for after brendon finds him and ryan just can't believe brendon actually found him, and brendon whispers, "even in death, i would find you" -- SEE NEW ICON. :D icon illustrates the scene when brendon buys ryan for a night, but there are a couple hours between purchase time and the time he actually gets to see ryan, so he's sitting in his hotel room, as seen here, angsting and just trying to breathe, and reminiscing about the ryan he knew when he was 15-16. i half stole it from an episode of xena, i think she said, "even in death, i'll never leave you." whatever, i'm using it as my tagline. though it implies one of them might die in the end, and i can't do that in fic, not to you guys. i might do it if i adapt it into a novel, though.
- there are four ~stages to ryan's journey: year 1, he spends in a slave house where new captures are taught to be... this sort of slave. it's grueling and traumatizing and everything you'd think it'd be. year 2, ryan is bought by spencer's dad and he and spence start up a heartbreaking but deep friendship that actually gives ryan some hope. year 3, something Happens and spencer's dad sells him /o\ to the first guy who'll pay a decent price, who happens to be the cruelest master ryan will ever encounter. this is the year that breaks him. year 4, he's bought by the guy who runs the uber-high-class cabaret/brothel, it's a very underground sort of thing, but very well known in the right circles. he's going to be a fascinating character to create and write, because he's going to be hard to just hate outright. he's very fucked in the head, has an intense personal attachment to ryan, treats him very "well" (assuming ryan behaves), but has this delusion that he's doing these boys a favor, giving them this high-class life and protecting them from the world. it's really sick, but devastating too. i can't wait to explore his character. anyway, so for four years, he schools ryan in performance and high class hookerdom. this is the big turning point: ryan slowly shuts down and turns into this cold, jaded, haughty figure, almost viciously cold-hearted unless you're paying (and you're paying a LOT) -- a shell, almost no memory of his past, no hope, no belief in anything good left in the world. he's become brilliantly talented at what he does and well aware of it, making a 180 from broken, listless surrender to instead using his skills to his advantage, making himself valued and needed and craved and adored, even if he hates it. he uses it as a sort of power. it's heartbreaking, but kind of amazing. by the time brendon returns, ryan doesn't even believe brendon's come to save him.
- more details are in this and all the other threads she and i have in that entry. seriously, they are endless.
so. yes. \o/
if anyone has photoshop skills and cares to do something with these pics, go for it. i'm not looking for anything specific, just something i could use as a banner maybe, or just for fun. that's how i see the two of them in this fic (in both their peasant and courtesan/businessman stages, respectively). i'm also looking for a title as we speak (can't start a fic without the title; i work the entire fic around it). i generally use lyrics, or lines from poetry, so if anything inspires you, throw it my way. i'm really not as lazy as i seem; i just like my fics to be interactive, and it seems like you guys like it too. speaking of,maddylonglegs has already completed some artwork for the fic, and it's gorgeous. all artwork welcome, from anyone who feels inspired. there is going to be a lot of visuality in this fic, a lot of striking imagery. i can describe any scene you feel like drawing in intense detail. i have a lot of clear visuals for this. there's lots of fancy costumes, too. god, i wish i could draw/paint/anything.
i probably won't start actually writing for months, though. it'll take a lot of research and very intense planning. it's going to be very complex and intricate and rich and epic, way more so than anything i've ever tackled. i'm probably going to have to read -- shudder -- actual books from/about this era, so i can get a feel for what i'm doing. still, i'm excited.
all thoughts/questions/comments welcome. i kind of love talking about this fic.
for now, i'm going to take advantage of all my free time and go do some yoga. *yawns and stretches* i leave you all with recs.
http://miss-begonia.livejournal.com/221200.html
really, really beautiful words; she has an amazing way with language. love the style too. still, to me this is one of those AUs that feels more like original fiction than fic; i don't really see a lot of the RL boys in this, really, but nonetheless it's a gorgeous piece of writing.
http://reni-days.livejournal.com/26251.html
reni never disappoints. ever. her stuff is so fucking enjoyable and readable and fun, always such a treat. i ~sekritly want to prompt her every day and have her write me things forever. *hides under confessionrock*
http://moku-youbi.livejournal.com/24917.html
pirates. PIRATES. also the only fic i've ever read where i was totally OTPing joncer. usually they don't intrigue me at all because they just seem so easy, no room for angst/complexity, but this totally sucked me in (lol). she has a tendency to do that. "saturation" was the one gsf (well, threesome, whatever) fic that totally changed my views on polyamory forever; no going back.
speaking of moku, i've been pimping this out lately in hopes that the powers that be (i.e. you all) will bring more spyro into the world. *bden puppy eyes?* i've been craving it like mad lately. any spyro at all, any era, any genre, even non-porn, anything so long as they ain't chicks.j_plash is helping with the spyro revolution, one commentfic at a time. she's spoiling me so hard i'm never going to actually get around to writing any of this fic. i'll just let her randomly improvise all the most exciting parts. XD
so, this kinda doubles as the start of my outline, more for my benefit than anything else; it's slightly spoilery and hella rambly, so don't read if you don't want, but if you're following the development of this fic, you may find it interesting.
things we now know about "19th century scottish peasant AU":
- it is now irish. :P
-
j_plash is now my official partner on this. i'm going to be doing the primary writing (though i may beg bits of scenes/lines from her), since i may want to adapt this into an actualfax novel someday. but it looks like she's going to do most of the plotting and organization because our brains appear to be about 95% on the same wavelength for this and my ideas are all over the place, whereas she seems to have clear images, like she can put into words everything i want to do. she's done *research* on slave fics, knows everything about them and how to keep them from being cliche and cringeworthy. how do i get so lucky to work with people like this?!- brendon is... some kind of instrument repair dude, who plays (guitarish things?) on the street for cash. (or possibly some kind of piano-maker's apprentice?) not sure if he's technically homeless, but he's street-smart and plucky. jack dawson-esque. he later gets rich by developing his own piano-making business (this is apparently actually lucrative), and maybe starting a music studio of sorts. shane his business partner. jon is the 19th century equivalent of a tech at the cabaret where ryan is eventually taken (jon has no idea the performers are slaves; it's just a job for him -- ETA: or maybe he does know and he's secretly helping the slaves, like, bringing them things like food and books and goodies all the time, and working underground with one tom conrad on a plan to seize this joint and set everyone free at some point? just idealist enough to be jon :/), and eventually helps ryan and brendon escape. SHANE, ngh, gets to have a sexy spanish accent. fucking HELL yes. :D
- ryan plays the harp, or dulcimer (undecided). it's locked in the attic, it was his mother's, i think she died in childbirth (hence ryan's dad's resentment toward him). can you teach yourself the harp?
- has been concluded that they have one kiss before ryan is ~taken. ryan is taken b/c his father is going to be whisked away to debtor's prison if he doesn't pay up, so... i guess he sells ryan? or they take him? idk how it works, either way ryan's dad kills himself within days after ryan's taken.
- his dad is a blacksmith, and ryan tries to make all the armor and weapons pretty with his ~artsy designs and stuff, which pisses his dad off, obv. will expand more on this, lol.
- very clear images of when brendon buys ryan for a night. "he's pricey." brendon replies tightly, "i can manage." "of course, sir. but i must warn you, he's also a bit... feisty." b smiles smugly, all his hatred toward ryan's master wrapped up in one smirk. "i can manage that too." UNF, i love rich-powerful-no-BS-but-still-really-decent-person!businessman!bden.
- ryan possibly needs a new name. a stage/courtesan name. or a slave name he went by all these years, given him by his first master. something that brendon would still recognize though. it'd be his favorite flower, "lily." his mother's name. so when brendon asks what That Boy's name is, not 100% sure it's ryan, he'll still get it. or. something. idk. this brings us back to the tattoo question i posted on my twitter. i think it's feasible he could have one (an image of a lily, something for brendon to recognize him later when he sees him for the first time in 8 yrs and can't be sure). the lily will be a running motif throughout, though, in various forms.
- i have this other line, for after brendon finds him and ryan just can't believe brendon actually found him, and brendon whispers, "even in death, i would find you" -- SEE NEW ICON. :D icon illustrates the scene when brendon buys ryan for a night, but there are a couple hours between purchase time and the time he actually gets to see ryan, so he's sitting in his hotel room, as seen here, angsting and just trying to breathe, and reminiscing about the ryan he knew when he was 15-16. i half stole it from an episode of xena, i think she said, "even in death, i'll never leave you." whatever, i'm using it as my tagline. though it implies one of them might die in the end, and i can't do that in fic, not to you guys. i might do it if i adapt it into a novel, though.
- there are four ~stages to ryan's journey: year 1, he spends in a slave house where new captures are taught to be... this sort of slave. it's grueling and traumatizing and everything you'd think it'd be. year 2, ryan is bought by spencer's dad and he and spence start up a heartbreaking but deep friendship that actually gives ryan some hope. year 3, something Happens and spencer's dad sells him /o\ to the first guy who'll pay a decent price, who happens to be the cruelest master ryan will ever encounter. this is the year that breaks him. year 4, he's bought by the guy who runs the uber-high-class cabaret/brothel, it's a very underground sort of thing, but very well known in the right circles. he's going to be a fascinating character to create and write, because he's going to be hard to just hate outright. he's very fucked in the head, has an intense personal attachment to ryan, treats him very "well" (assuming ryan behaves), but has this delusion that he's doing these boys a favor, giving them this high-class life and protecting them from the world. it's really sick, but devastating too. i can't wait to explore his character. anyway, so for four years, he schools ryan in performance and high class hookerdom. this is the big turning point: ryan slowly shuts down and turns into this cold, jaded, haughty figure, almost viciously cold-hearted unless you're paying (and you're paying a LOT) -- a shell, almost no memory of his past, no hope, no belief in anything good left in the world. he's become brilliantly talented at what he does and well aware of it, making a 180 from broken, listless surrender to instead using his skills to his advantage, making himself valued and needed and craved and adored, even if he hates it. he uses it as a sort of power. it's heartbreaking, but kind of amazing. by the time brendon returns, ryan doesn't even believe brendon's come to save him.
- more details are in this and all the other threads she and i have in that entry. seriously, they are endless.
so. yes. \o/
if anyone has photoshop skills and cares to do something with these pics, go for it. i'm not looking for anything specific, just something i could use as a banner maybe, or just for fun. that's how i see the two of them in this fic (in both their peasant and courtesan/businessman stages, respectively). i'm also looking for a title as we speak (can't start a fic without the title; i work the entire fic around it). i generally use lyrics, or lines from poetry, so if anything inspires you, throw it my way. i'm really not as lazy as i seem; i just like my fics to be interactive, and it seems like you guys like it too. speaking of,
maddylonglegs has already completed some artwork for the fic, and it's gorgeous. all artwork welcome, from anyone who feels inspired. there is going to be a lot of visuality in this fic, a lot of striking imagery. i can describe any scene you feel like drawing in intense detail. i have a lot of clear visuals for this. there's lots of fancy costumes, too. god, i wish i could draw/paint/anything.i probably won't start actually writing for months, though. it'll take a lot of research and very intense planning. it's going to be very complex and intricate and rich and epic, way more so than anything i've ever tackled. i'm probably going to have to read -- shudder -- actual books from/about this era, so i can get a feel for what i'm doing. still, i'm excited.
all thoughts/questions/comments welcome. i kind of love talking about this fic.
for now, i'm going to take advantage of all my free time and go do some yoga. *yawns and stretches* i leave you all with recs.
http://miss-begonia.livejournal.com/221200.html
really, really beautiful words; she has an amazing way with language. love the style too. still, to me this is one of those AUs that feels more like original fiction than fic; i don't really see a lot of the RL boys in this, really, but nonetheless it's a gorgeous piece of writing.
http://reni-days.livejournal.com/26251.html
reni never disappoints. ever. her stuff is so fucking enjoyable and readable and fun, always such a treat. i ~sekritly want to prompt her every day and have her write me things forever. *hides under confessionrock*
http://moku-youbi.livejournal.com/24917.html
pirates. PIRATES. also the only fic i've ever read where i was totally OTPing joncer. usually they don't intrigue me at all because they just seem so easy, no room for angst/complexity, but this totally sucked me in (lol). she has a tendency to do that. "saturation" was the one gsf (well, threesome, whatever) fic that totally changed my views on polyamory forever; no going back.
speaking of moku, i've been pimping this out lately in hopes that the powers that be (i.e. you all) will bring more spyro into the world. *bden puppy eyes?* i've been craving it like mad lately. any spyro at all, any era, any genre, even non-porn, anything so long as they ain't chicks.
j_plash is helping with the spyro revolution, one commentfic at a time. she's spoiling me so hard i'm never going to actually get around to writing any of this fic. i'll just let her randomly improvise all the most exciting parts. XD![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-04 12:52 am (UTC)oh dude that'd be awesome. my visual is something like, um. have you seen that bruce willis movie that talks about human trafficking in eastern europe? well, anyway, there's this one scene where all these rich disgusting men are in this circular room with...cubicles sort of, with a tainted window: so they can see, but without being seen, right? and on the other side of the glass, women are being displayed and sold to the highest bidder. and, idk, i can totally see ryan in a room like that, whether its for sale or just putting up a show. idk! the images!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-04 12:57 am (UTC)but, dude, that could totally...like, kill him. public humiliation is so scarring. and, idk. i feel so bad for ryan, but it could be huge. and maybe he like, glaces out of the corner of his eye at another slave and they look back with no emotion and just look away again and ryan feels alone and empty and completely, just...lost. idek.
fuuuuuuuck, dude. <333
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-04 01:01 am (UTC)this would probably kill ryan, yes. but it's such an intense visual, omg.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-04 01:07 am (UTC)he could look over at his master, who's kind of there to watch the whole thing take place, and his master is just smiling. like a fucking asshat. and ryan just...he's so dead inside. idek god this is killing me.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-04 01:12 am (UTC)man. this could be an awesome introspect in writing. for real.
his master, who honestly believes he's teaching something to the world, to ryan, smiling maniacally and then watching ryan like as though he's the prodigal son or something. idek.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-04 01:15 am (UTC)will reply to other comments tomorrow. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-04 01:17 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-04 01:30 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-04 01:29 am (UTC)i see his master just being fucking proud. the friggin sonofabitch. >:/ lol angry!ally is angry.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-04 01:33 am (UTC)angry!ally is angry and inspired!mar is inspired.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-04 01:42 am (UTC)glad to inspire lol :) i seriously thought this idea was so indulgent. *hides face*
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-04 01:43 am (UTC)(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-04 01:11 am (UTC)*Though*, actually, god, it could be third year, right after he's sold from Spencer. That could work equally well. Yeah, maybe that'd work better actually. Oh god, okay, so Ryan's trying to cling to what he built with Spence, he's trying so hard to believe he's still here, he's still human, he's still more than this, he can still do this, he can still be strong, but...yeah, fuck, need to commentfic. The onselling right after he's sold, 'cause he's just been sold to a dealer by Spencer's dad, and so we can have the onselling happening, and then I think some of what these guys are talking about could run into year 3, the hell that breaks him. It's slavefic cliches, but I think we can make them really urban, colour them in grey and small rooms rather than dust and dirt, revolutionise them that way. And play much much more with the psychology rather than with the sort of semi-pornographic male-gaze touching that usually goes on in onselling scenes. I like this idea of all the slaves being in a room, it'd be behind bars rather than glass, we're period and illegal, but I really like that idea of doing it through gaze and the effect of being watched and keeping the element of touch out of it altogether to avoid that horrendous cliche.
Have to run to rehearsal but commentflailing y/y? ;D
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-04 01:20 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-04 01:25 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-04 01:34 am (UTC)It's so awesome to have everyone involved :D :D :D I haven't done this with *intelligent* people in way too long, lol :P
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-04 01:36 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-04 01:39 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-04 01:44 am (UTC)(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-04 10:41 am (UTC)*loves on flist*
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-04 01:39 am (UTC)i am very interested in the commentfic-ing. would like to see this written out by someone who is not me lol. and who could actually pull it off. :D
i love being involved! any way i can help. intelligent may be stretching it, though lol *blush*
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-04 01:45 am (UTC)A lot of what I've been comment spamming is pretty indulgent. It's sort of where the fic comes from, lol :P Comes a bit with the genre. I like that you were talking about slave selling in a different context to the standard slaves in a line in chains in the desert with buyers on horses (??? lol) thing and all the cliches that come with it :P (not that that can't be *awesome*, 'cause it has been, but. We're looking at shifting away from the standard) This is definitely going to be much more urban for the most part. The eastern European slave trade is definitely where my head is more than anything else, just transposed back a century. Well, that and a touch of Moulin Rouge :P I think my brain is in a similar place to yours though :D :D :D
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-04 01:54 am (UTC)(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-04 02:03 am (UTC)yeah the whole room thing came from mar. that was so brilliant. i like that you are trying to stay away from the whole common idea of slavefics. getting more into the mental and emotional scarring that comes from slavery. the whole put on display in a separate room thing was mar's idea, which is brilliant. and puts that barrier from focusing on the pigs who want to buy ryan, and shifting the focus to ryan. which is really important, i think.
MOULIN ROUGE!! *DIES* YESSSSS <3333333
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-04 10:41 am (UTC)\o/!!!!!!
but, also, /o\