Let's Take a Trip Together

Hi folks, here's some chapter notes for AAE! We're up to chapter two here (that's chapter two of Act I, or the fourth chapter I posted on FF.net if you're following at home. Or um... at FF.net, rather).

References:
- "The Simpsons" for Eeeeyelloooo? Not that they made it up, exactly, that's just what I was thinking of.
- "Who is this?" is a direct reference to "Seinfeld". If you've seen any of the episodes that use that (there are several) you'll know exactly how Gosalyn says it.
- "Comic Book Capers", for the engine knocking.
-Professor Pinfeather's School for Gifted Youngsters is a reference to "The Uncanny X-Men" - Professor Xavier's School for... etc.

Ah, the start of the school year... and covering your books. I hated that and usually managed to put it off for about a month, or until I got a note sent home.

I love how obnoxious Gosalyn is on the phone here. It's like the precise counterpoint to how annoyingly neurotic Beth is being - Gos is perfectly winding her up. My favourite way to write Gosalyn is by having her not take anything seriously.

I can't remember if there are any episodes that have LP working on the ThunderQuack when he's depressed (I'm rusty on a lot of the middle-to-late eps these days), but I know I've used it a lot among my fics for this reason. So hey. Inner continuity, anyway.

The idea that Beth could be easily swayed by being asked to do homework kind of comes, I think, from "The Simpsons"... I know someone used it first, manipulating someone into doing something by calling it homework. "The Simpsons" seems most likely. Any time I know I was inspired by something indirectly but I can't remember what it was, I usually assume it was "The Simpsons". :P

This scene here with Beth trying to think of her regrets is like a big teaser of the rest of the fic. I left out a few things, such as Ariana (I did know at the time that I would be bringing her in), which was intentional because I wanted her to be a surprise. The first release left out some things I didn't know I would include, but I've added them in now that the fic is complete.

So we start the flashbacks. The hardest thing in writing the flashbacks, for me, was setting them up. Trying to figure out what should be in the flashback and what should be monologued by Beth was tricky; I also always wanted to make it clear that Beth was not *telling* Dr. Mortimer everything that we see in the flashbacks, which was hard since I didn't want to tell every story twice (her words, and her experience). So there had to be enough crossover to show the difference, but not too much, and I had to guess at what would sound better coming from her and what would be better shown through narrative. Sometimes I think Beth just goes on too long. Then again, looking at these notes, I guess we know whose fault that is. :P

I probably don't have to explain this but Beth doing everyone else's work for them is a continued theme into her adult life, at least up to when she quits Bindler's Hardware. She'd still be doing it happily for Drake, if his line of work related to her expertise in any way, too.

Beth and being nice to people in hopes they'll be nice back - this is the very first sign of how jaded she is underneath, and how much she's been hiding that from her friends, family, and self. Actually it took *me* by surprise a little.

Part of why this fic is long (not the only reason... just *part*) is because Dr. Mortimer asks questions that aren't strictly related to the plot. There's a lot of filler conversation in here. I have a bad habit in my fics of letting the characters take over the dialogue - sometimes I really have to PUSH them to get them to go where I want, and Mortimer was like that a lot. Then again, I didn't want him to seem TOO insightful and always ask just the right questions - that's a little too convenient.