Anybody Want to Share an Opinion?

[dime_liora]

So here I am, rewriting this story, and suddenly everything kind of flies up in my face. I've been working on it off and on for a while, and it's been gaining length. The whole idea is that it'll be a long chapter fic, and I kind of like it. The thing is, it's a rewrite of a long story I had twenty-four chapters of before. Let me tell you a tale of a grad student, and her first week at grad school. 

A long , long time ago (see August) I was the proud owner of a desktop. It was four years old, ran fine, and held every paper I've ever written and a novella's worth of fanfiction. The keyboard had the "d" and "s" keys rubbed smooth, gaming not typing certain names, and the desktop had a variety of wonderful wallpapers to choose from. We got along, talked to each other, and we loved one another dearly. Then we moved above the Mason-Dixon line, and the computer was temporarily set up on a cedar chest since its desk was still in the South and the room we designated as a computer room had a drying coat of veneer on the floor. But the computer was a trooper, and he didn't care about the change in elevation or climate. Or so it seemed. Then the desk came up on the second move, and it got set up, and the computer was one day away from being moved. I booted it up to work on said chapter fic, my first three grad classes under my belt, and it went to Windows and then blue-screened. I spent hours on the phone with the school's tech guys, prayed to the gods of computers, cursed, and then went with an exorcism. Nothing worked. Now the computer sits upstairs on its desk, a lump of useless blue-screening every time it starts up. Chapter fic? Lost in the battle. 

Which is why I started re-writing it. I changed the OC a lot, tweaked Sam's back-story, decided to make the boys unrelated. Put Gabriel in the story and gave him a big part as wish-fulfillment for a friend. A lot of stuff changed. Then I started complaining to the hubby about how I was missing all these scenes I remembered being really great. Just fabulous. Since they were lost I would simply have to re-find the headspace. Then my hubby spends thirty minutes wrestling with the computer and manages to get all my stories and papers off the dead computer and onto a flashdrive. "Now you have the originals!" He declared with a smile. Which was great. Except now I have the original and I can't figure out how to work those good parts in without re-writing. 

So if anyone wants to be really helpful, which is more enticing? Unrelated or separated without knowing each other? Gabriel front and center or not much at all? And is an OFC/Gabriel side story a good thing, or is my friend sadly alone in her interests? Because my head is about to explode trying to make a decision.

Comments

[sammichgirl]

Separated without knowing each other is more enticing to me, only because the incest part really pushes a button I did not know I had prior to watching this show (and it's only with the Winchester men, oddly enough).

I do heart me some Gabriel. Anytime I see him in fic I smile. I don't know that I have an opinion of OFC/Gabriel...I kind of like him on his own. Or in a threesome with Balthazar or Lucifer. Oh, huh. Guess I do have an opinion. :p

(Hurray to hubby for saving your stuff!)

[dimeliora.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm with you on the Winchesters being the only incestuous pairing that doesn't give me the heebie-jeebies. As for Gabriel, I'm going to struggle with that probably until I get ready to put it up. Then I'll figure out whether I'm going to disappoint her or not. Thanks for the input! :)

[roxymissrose.livejournal.com]

First, your hubby is a trooper and a heck of a guy. Second, I *love* separated. I don't mind unrelated either but something about separated really gets me. I can not help you on the Gabriel thing, as I'd rather shove a toothpick in my eye than have Gabriel in a story in any capacity. I liked him in small bits on the show, and only really like him in one fic I'm reading, a human AU that revolves around Cas/Dean(another pairing I'm not hot for but will read if the writing's good).

congrats again on getting your stuff back--I know that feels good! :)

[dimeliora.livejournal.com]

Yowch! Toothpick is hardcore. I'm a fan of Gabriel because at my heart I'm a Deconstruction/Cultural Studies girl and I see him as an agent of chaos. Go chaos! At the same time, I've read a fair number of stories where he gets over-bearing or unbearable. I'm going to poke it a lot until I can figure it out, but I definitely think I'm going separated. Thank you for the input!

And yeah, he's a great guy. This is the second time he's helped my writing. The first being a very awkward interrogation regarding the male orgasm. He was helpful, and didn't once put his hand up and make me stop asking even though he's not a slash fan at all.

[l-niania.livejournal.com]

Argh computers! This is like a worst case scenario to me... So hooray for your husband being awesome. Especially for giving detailed explanations about male orgasms for fandom purposes! :D

My vote goes for separated as well. Not related just takes some of their awesome closeness away. Even though this doesn't make sense in real life. There are siblings not getting along at all and unrelated people behaving like twins. Still being brothers just adds something to their bond.

Also GABRIEL! I'm a huge Gabriel fan. His mixture of being goofy and secretly very hurt, of being powerful but difficult to convince taking a side, of being pagan and archangel, of loving his family but very disappointed by them... See I love him. >_< No idea about the Gabriel/OFC pairing. My Gabriel pairings are Dean/Gabriel, Dean/Sam/Castiel/Gabriel, Castiel/Gabriel and Sam/Gabriel (In this order, I think.) but I'm always open to new stuff. And I just started to consider het as something interesting so...

[dimeliora.livejournal.com]

As a woman having sex with a man it is downright strange how very hard it is to write het. I've been trying with that story, and I keep staring at it and going, "Really? That's how that works?" Very odd....

I can see the point about their bond. It's always odd. They're just going to have to work with me.

[locknkey.livejournal.com]

Separated without knowing each other is more enticing to me, only because the incest part really pushes a button I did not know I had prior to watching this show. For me non-brothers just doesn't feel like Sam and Dean - IDK.

no hard feelings on Gabe - I do love him more as the Trickster than as an archangel and I don't really read much where the story is his rather than the Winchesters. :)

So glad stuff was saved and I look forward to whatever you write.

[dimeliora.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm definitely going with separate but related. I just have to get it to work for me. There's this line I would have lost, and I don't often fall in love with my own lines, but this one...this one just kills me a little bit.

I'm so glad you do! Thank you for the add and the reading!