How geeky is that?
Dec. 14th, 2002 11:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vaznettiOK, I've just spent a couple hours drawing up an X-Files/Harry Potter timeline for that crossover, figuring out when Marita was born, when she was at Hogwarts, etc. Because research is my friend.
To reward myself I'm posting another floating snippet from this universe. Parsifal Parkinson is up to his old tricks again, I fear. Cast your minds back to 1979 and the wedding of the season:
This is freefloating, rough and somewhat plotless. But once I start thinking about how Marita will fit into a story, she tends to waltz in and take the whole thing over.
Title: The Marriage of Lucius and Narcissa
Author: Vanzetti (vanzetti @ populli.net)
Rating: G
Disclaimer: The X-Files and Harry Potter are not my intellectual properties, and I make no profit from crossing the streams.
The wedding was a disaster. Oh, not in any obvious way. It didn't rain, the band wasn't horrible, the guests didn't appear to be developing food poisoning. No fights had broken out, no family feuds erupted, no one was going to be killed the next day in a wizarding duel over some drunken slight. The bride was beautiful, the bridegroom attentive, the parents and friends all doting.
But still, a disaster. From the folds of Narcissa's white chiffon dress to the white roses she had carried down the aisle to the tasteful quartet playing a pavanne, the whole affair oozed good taste and Malfoy money. And that, Marita thought, was the problem.
The night before she had made one final attempt to explain her fears to her older sister, and once more Narcissa had shrugged them off. No doubt trying to use the Freudian psychology she'd picked up in Muggle Studies last year had been a mistake. "Daddy is dead, Marita," Narcissa had hissed at her. "I know that! And Lucius is nothing like him."
"What I mean," Marita had said, "is that you're trying to use Lucius to replace Daddy. Lucius is always telling you what to do, and you like that."
"Don't be stupid. And anyway, someone needs to take care of this family. You don't think that mother is going to do it, do you?"
Their mother was becoming more ghostlike every year since their father's disappearance, and for a while Marita had gotten up early every morning to check and make sure that she hadn't faded away entirely. "Why can't we take care of each other, the way we used to?"
"Oh Marita, you're such a child. When you're a woman you'll understand."
"I'm 14," Marita had objected. "I know about sex."
"But not about love, darling," Narcissa had said.
Love indeed, Marita thought now, watching her sister dance with her new husband. Narcissa could not possibly be in love with that creepy Lucius Malfoy, no matter what she said. It was Malfoy's money and standing that she wanted, that was all.
The pavanne finally ended, and the quartet struck up a waltz. Arturo Goyle was making his way purposefully toward her; she looked around for an escape and when she looked back found an older man standing in front of her. That Mr. Parkinson again, she thought. Not for the first time, she noticed that there was something snakelike about him, something in the shape of his head or the set of his eyes. She wouldn't have been surprised if he's turned out to be a Parseltongue. But he was an old friend of Lucius' family and had walked Narcissa down the aisle, in the absence of their own father.
He held out his hand. "May I?" he asked and she was so surprised that she let him lead her out onto the dance floor. "I don't believe that I've told you how lovely you look, my dear."
She resisted the urge to correct him. Narcissa was the pretty one, and today more than ever. Marita was the smart one, top of her year in Charms and Transfiguration and in the top three of everything else. "Thank you," she managed.
He looked down at her. "I suppose that this marriage will cause a number of changes for you."
Marita had an answer ready for that. "Mother and I are moving into a house on the Malfoy estate. Lucius has been very kind."
"Lucius thinks very highly of you, you know. I suspect he finds you rather daunting."
"Why?" she asked and bit her lip. She could always hope that he would think the question bold, rather than stupid.
Parkinson continued as if he hadn't heard her. "And as you know, he loves you sister very much."
Marita suspected that it would be tactless to tell Mr. Parkinson that she didn't believe Lucius capable of love, and had her doubts about Narcissa. "Yes," seemed the most innocuous comment.
When the music ended he escorted her off the dance floor. "Lucius tells me that you've decided to pursue Muggle Studies."
"I find it interesting."
"It's an unusual choice for a Slytherin."
She had an answer ready for that question, too. "Muggle Studies is an important subject. We need to understand them. They outnumber us, and what happens to them affects us."
"Indeed." He surveyed the room. "Pity more of us didn't agree with you."
She blushed at the praise.
"You may not know, Marita, that my business takes me to New York on a regular basis. Would you like to come with me someday?"
This time Marita kept her questions to herself. Maybe this was just Lucius' way of getting rid of her, or maybe there was something else Mr. Parkinson wanted. She was certain that the entire conversation had been engineered to permit this question.
"Think about it," Mr. Parkinson told her. "I believe that you'd find New York interesting." He bowed slightly and turned to go.
"Mr. Parkinson?" she asked. He turned back. "My sister thinks that Lucius Malfoy isn't a gambler." She could feel how pink her cheeks were. They probably matched her dress.
"Well, not in the sense that your father was. Or is," he corrected himself. "Lucius is unlikely to disappear mysteriously after a wizarding baccarat game in Buenos Aires, for example."
She could feel herself turning even redder, and reminded herself that she had chosen to ask the question; she could hardly object if he mentioned her father.
"But in every other way, my dear," Mr. Parkinson continued, "Lucius Malfoy is the grandest gambler I know, and it is very clever of you to see it. Just look at this crowd." He nodded to her and wandered away.
To reward myself I'm posting another floating snippet from this universe. Parsifal Parkinson is up to his old tricks again, I fear. Cast your minds back to 1979 and the wedding of the season:
This is freefloating, rough and somewhat plotless. But once I start thinking about how Marita will fit into a story, she tends to waltz in and take the whole thing over.
Title: The Marriage of Lucius and Narcissa
Author: Vanzetti (vanzetti @ populli.net)
Rating: G
Disclaimer: The X-Files and Harry Potter are not my intellectual properties, and I make no profit from crossing the streams.
The wedding was a disaster. Oh, not in any obvious way. It didn't rain, the band wasn't horrible, the guests didn't appear to be developing food poisoning. No fights had broken out, no family feuds erupted, no one was going to be killed the next day in a wizarding duel over some drunken slight. The bride was beautiful, the bridegroom attentive, the parents and friends all doting.
But still, a disaster. From the folds of Narcissa's white chiffon dress to the white roses she had carried down the aisle to the tasteful quartet playing a pavanne, the whole affair oozed good taste and Malfoy money. And that, Marita thought, was the problem.
The night before she had made one final attempt to explain her fears to her older sister, and once more Narcissa had shrugged them off. No doubt trying to use the Freudian psychology she'd picked up in Muggle Studies last year had been a mistake. "Daddy is dead, Marita," Narcissa had hissed at her. "I know that! And Lucius is nothing like him."
"What I mean," Marita had said, "is that you're trying to use Lucius to replace Daddy. Lucius is always telling you what to do, and you like that."
"Don't be stupid. And anyway, someone needs to take care of this family. You don't think that mother is going to do it, do you?"
Their mother was becoming more ghostlike every year since their father's disappearance, and for a while Marita had gotten up early every morning to check and make sure that she hadn't faded away entirely. "Why can't we take care of each other, the way we used to?"
"Oh Marita, you're such a child. When you're a woman you'll understand."
"I'm 14," Marita had objected. "I know about sex."
"But not about love, darling," Narcissa had said.
Love indeed, Marita thought now, watching her sister dance with her new husband. Narcissa could not possibly be in love with that creepy Lucius Malfoy, no matter what she said. It was Malfoy's money and standing that she wanted, that was all.
The pavanne finally ended, and the quartet struck up a waltz. Arturo Goyle was making his way purposefully toward her; she looked around for an escape and when she looked back found an older man standing in front of her. That Mr. Parkinson again, she thought. Not for the first time, she noticed that there was something snakelike about him, something in the shape of his head or the set of his eyes. She wouldn't have been surprised if he's turned out to be a Parseltongue. But he was an old friend of Lucius' family and had walked Narcissa down the aisle, in the absence of their own father.
He held out his hand. "May I?" he asked and she was so surprised that she let him lead her out onto the dance floor. "I don't believe that I've told you how lovely you look, my dear."
She resisted the urge to correct him. Narcissa was the pretty one, and today more than ever. Marita was the smart one, top of her year in Charms and Transfiguration and in the top three of everything else. "Thank you," she managed.
He looked down at her. "I suppose that this marriage will cause a number of changes for you."
Marita had an answer ready for that. "Mother and I are moving into a house on the Malfoy estate. Lucius has been very kind."
"Lucius thinks very highly of you, you know. I suspect he finds you rather daunting."
"Why?" she asked and bit her lip. She could always hope that he would think the question bold, rather than stupid.
Parkinson continued as if he hadn't heard her. "And as you know, he loves you sister very much."
Marita suspected that it would be tactless to tell Mr. Parkinson that she didn't believe Lucius capable of love, and had her doubts about Narcissa. "Yes," seemed the most innocuous comment.
When the music ended he escorted her off the dance floor. "Lucius tells me that you've decided to pursue Muggle Studies."
"I find it interesting."
"It's an unusual choice for a Slytherin."
She had an answer ready for that question, too. "Muggle Studies is an important subject. We need to understand them. They outnumber us, and what happens to them affects us."
"Indeed." He surveyed the room. "Pity more of us didn't agree with you."
She blushed at the praise.
"You may not know, Marita, that my business takes me to New York on a regular basis. Would you like to come with me someday?"
This time Marita kept her questions to herself. Maybe this was just Lucius' way of getting rid of her, or maybe there was something else Mr. Parkinson wanted. She was certain that the entire conversation had been engineered to permit this question.
"Think about it," Mr. Parkinson told her. "I believe that you'd find New York interesting." He bowed slightly and turned to go.
"Mr. Parkinson?" she asked. He turned back. "My sister thinks that Lucius Malfoy isn't a gambler." She could feel how pink her cheeks were. They probably matched her dress.
"Well, not in the sense that your father was. Or is," he corrected himself. "Lucius is unlikely to disappear mysteriously after a wizarding baccarat game in Buenos Aires, for example."
She could feel herself turning even redder, and reminded herself that she had chosen to ask the question; she could hardly object if he mentioned her father.
"But in every other way, my dear," Mr. Parkinson continued, "Lucius Malfoy is the grandest gambler I know, and it is very clever of you to see it. Just look at this crowd." He nodded to her and wandered away.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2002-12-15 03:44 am (UTC)(I noted your comment in an earlier entry that you were contemplating Krycek's first meeting with Hermione. I can't wait to see that!)
no subject
Date: 2002-12-15 07:06 am (UTC)So you would read a story with the summary: "When Viktor Krum is kidnapped by gangsters, Hermione Granger must team up with Alex Krycek to get him back."
no subject
Date: 2002-12-15 08:07 am (UTC)Yes, correct. Even though I haven't got the faintest clue who Viktor Krum is (or maybe because of it?). Bottom line, the idea of Hermione and Krycek together intrigues me - I must admit I can't quite imagine how they'll operate together, but I want to see it.
Come to think of it, Krycek interacting with kids is probably one of my legion of guilty pleasures.
no subject
Date: 2002-12-15 11:39 am (UTC)Come to think of it, Krycek interacting with kids is probably one of my legion of guilty pleasures.
Oh, yes. I don't like these stories if they're too sweet, but Krycek with Gibson stuff is always worth a look. Anyway, where would we be without our guilty pleasures?
no subject
Date: 2002-12-15 01:27 pm (UTC)I also think it's rather funny to see him exasperated or perturbed by a kid. *g*
Come to think of it, I'm probably not even that guilty about it!
Would I read it?
Date: 2002-12-15 01:49 pm (UTC)Re: Would I read it?
Date: 2002-12-15 02:16 pm (UTC)Re: Would I read it?
Date: 2002-12-15 07:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-12-15 04:20 pm (UTC)Yes, definitely. This is where you get Alex across to Eastern Europe, isn't it? :-)
In the meantime, Marita's POV on Narcissa and Lucius's wedding was interesting, as was that fateful first real meeting with WMM. I've always wondered how she got sucked into the group's affairs, so it's nice to see the first carrot being dangled, even in a universe as alternative as this.
Applying the Potterverse rules to the X-Files characters does work amazingly well. But then, so many of them keep secrets as a matter of course that you can easily imagine them keeping quiet about the existence of a wizarding world as just one more.
no subject
Date: 2002-12-15 04:41 pm (UTC)Mm. But since it's set in the summer of 1995 I've backdated Krycek's involvement with WMM and Marita (which in a way helps explain how freaked out WMM gets when no one can find him in Apocrypha...) and given Krycek something to do in the year before he starts working on the X-Files too.
I'm glad you liked the wedding. There's a bit more of the scene written but it isn't really going anywhere, so I feel it's best to let the snippet end where it does, with WMM's first overture to Marita.
Do you mind my babbling on in LJ about this story? I find it an interesting sideline to the writing process itself, being able to bounce ideas off of people and such.
no subject
Date: 2002-12-15 05:25 pm (UTC)Not at all. :-) I think you've just summed up exactly what finally suckered me into the Livejournal experience, after a year of going "Nah... it's just one more discussion forum. I'm already running a board and on too many lists, I don't have time. And if I do get around to doing a journal, I'll play script geek and do my own thing."
It's very seductive, this seeing-the-writing-process as it progresses. And mostly lists tend to avoid it like the plague, because of all the difficulties with making a universal rule when some people on a list may be fascinated by the whole process of deconstructing fiction - both their own and other people's - and others are of the "be gentle with the feedback" persuasion.
The difference with Livejournal is that when it happens it's in the author's own personal space, and they can control whether they want to do it or not. And I'm glad that you - and others - do. It's one of the things that I've missed in online fandom. I used to bounce ideas off other people, and throw thoughts into the ring for them to use (or not) all the time, when the people I was writing or plotting fic with were real life friends. And the reasons why an author decides to do one thing with a story and not another interest me.
Guess that English degree rubbed off, somewhere along the line...
no subject
Date: 2002-12-15 08:08 pm (UTC)And it's very helpful for me as I write to talk out the issues with a group of people. It's something I used to do in backchat with beta readers but as I don't feel "settled" with a beta at the moment, and certainly not for this story, it's nice to have the lj context. I don't think it's the kind of thing which is appropriate for lists--too much navel gazing--but as you say, the livejournal is the author's personal space and is therefore a perfect spot for this kind of thing.
I also find that the ability to post story fragments like this in the lj takes away a lot of the pressure that I feel, as an author. I think that I don't really see posting stuff here as "publishing" so I don't worry about having the entire story, and making every line perfect.
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