Story Meme

[bradygirl_12]

Ask me a question about any of my stories (Examples: What inspired me to write it, why did I choose the characters/pairings, what do I like best about it, etc.).

Comments

[bradygirl_12]

Ha, nosy is good! :)

1. What inspired the Rainbow's Freedom series? And did you work out the necessary alternate history ahead of time, or has it been more situational as a subject comes up?

My inspiration came from this thought: how would it feel to have the most powerful man in the world under your (Bruce’s) control in the bedroom? That naturally led me to thinking about Clark’s natural sub role and how it would play out, and I wanted to explore it in more detail than BDSM play so chose actual Master/slave dynamics.

I worked out some of the history beforehand. I toyed with the idea of keeping it in the present but decided wanted more commentary on slavery and expanded it to the twenty-third century as SF allows you to comment on current situations via other cultures and times. The first visions I had of the story were the first two chapters with Bruce in the slave market and at the auction. I wanted to convey how it was just background to him as it would illustrate his evolution into a truly Abolitionist believer. I was always struck by antebellum sources in American history that showed that slavery was a backdrop to many people of the time and the Abolition Movement and the War started the majority on a path to thinking about the issue. It’s easy for us to say slavery is wrong and people should have been up-in-arms right away, but that isn’t how life works.

Some of the situations are as they come up, but the basics were there: Bruce evolving, Clark gradually regaining his memory and powers, and Diana enslaved but she and the Amazons throwing off their shackles with Steve and Hal’s help.

2. Is it ever a struggle to write Public Enemies fic knowing the reality of how things went, or does that give you extra inspiration to create an alternate history?

Actually, it’s the latter. Since the canon is understandably angsty, I like the idea of exploring other avenues with the ‘verse. The scene in the Tucson jail between Johnny and Mel inspired me into slashfic with them because of the actors’ chemistry, but they were entwined in real life and death because of circumstances. I just upped the ante with romance! ;)

It’s RL canon that Dillinger had a homosexual liaison in prison (not surprising since he was there for nine years and was handsome and young) and I figured he could be charmed by Mel’s charms. ;) Also, Mel had a relationship with Hoover that appeared homoerotic at times (read their letters to each other) and Hoover was definitely smitten with him. So it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that Mel might have fallen under Johnny’s spell. The ‘verse is rich in ‘What-Ifs?' which I and other writers love to explore. :)

3. What makes you happy about the Wonder Woman/Steve Trevor pairing?

Their utter joy in each other. They fell in love with each other literally at first sight in pre-COIE and though I haven’t seen their first meeting in the Reboot, it might be the same deal.

Wondy’s creator, William Moulton Marston, specifically created Steve to be awed and delighted by Diana’s superior strength and powers. While there were male-female dynamics at work, he seemed pretty content to be at Diana’s side without being the main hero. Sometimes that wasn’t so in the Silver Age (they were written like a bad romance comic quite often in those days) but their devotion to each other remained strong even then. It continued and became more ‘modern’ in the Bronze Age before they ultimately married and then COIE wiped out their existence.

On Earth-2 Diana and Steve had been married for years and had a daughter, Lyta.

They have conflicts at time like any couple but seem for the most part to respect each other’s differences and the balancing act they have to perform between Diana as an Amazon and superhero and Steve’s fighter/test pilot occupation, which is incredibly macho. It’s interesting and fun and many stories showed them taking sheer delight in each other, so that makes me happy.

If you’d like to read my full analysis of the couple as well as their complete history, I wrote an essay for superhero_muses here.