TWC4: Update and Deleted Scenes

So, earlier I wrote a post sayingg that I was nearly finished with chapter 2 of TWC4 and I would have deleted scenes to post later on, but for some reason this computer will not let me publish posts to this blog. So that post never got added to the blog. Instead I'm just gonna go ahead and make THIS message, and then hopefully be able to post it from upstairs on my OLD computer. And if I can't I have no idea what happens :P

Anyway! First of all: I finished and uploaded chapter 2 of TWC4, "Shake, Rattle, and Mole". The link is to the first chapter. It's also here on AO3.

So, as I wrote this chapter it just got longer and longer. And I'd edit it down, then write more. Finally I said screw it and wrote what I wanted, with ideas of what I could trim out later; the final edit turned out to be about 5,500 words. I got it down to just under 4,300 on FF.net by cutting rather ruthlessly and summarizing some of the dialogue I'd taken out. The stuff I cut was all just conversation, and does not keep the plot moving or anything like that - it's all really just chitchat. The thing is, though, I do feel like it's important b/c it gives a bit more of a reason as to why LP and Beth get along and why he'd start feeling the way he does for her. I feel like the version I posted at FF.net, while it is more concise, glosses over both his growing attraction to her and also the fundamentals of their friendship. So, although that's the "official" version up there and the extra stuff is probably really *better* for cutting, I still want to make it available since... well, it just might make the relationship make more *sense*, I guess. I dunno, I'm too in the characters' heads, and this probably isn't necessary - it probably overstates things way too much. But I felt I needed more transition from LP's resistance to his attraction to Beth, into his total acceptance of it at the end of the chapter.

I actually trimmed even more than I am putting up here... maybe I'll keep those parts or maybe they are genuinely expendable. But here are two snippets I thought were worth keeping, even unofficially.

****

"Traffic... OH." She put her hand to her mouth and looked thunderstruck. Then she put her hand over her eyes. "OH, of *course*. THAT'S why he's mad. Oh, I am so stupid."

"What? He's not mad. Why do you think he's mad?" Launchpad felt a need to protect her, but it came out as a sort of frantic cover-up.

"Nothing - I just... oh, sheesh, I didn't think. No, it's nothing."

"You're not stupid," he said earnestly. He looked around the room. "Is it the pictures that fell down? 'Cause that's not your fault."

"No, I know." She looked at him and smiled.

He smiled back, and realized she probably couldn't see his expression at all. He looked at the table. "So, what happened to your glasses?"

"Oh. They fell off, I stepped on them. Standard klutz stuff." She leaned forward and felt around for them, then put them on. The left lense was full of cracks, and the bridge was so broken that the glasses wouldn't sit straight on her bill, so the right lense twisted upwards. She tried twice to right them, then gave up and put them back onto the table. "Ugh."

"Can you see at all without 'em?" He looked at her carefully, without her glasses on - the first time he'd seen her without them; it made her face look younger and different, uncovered. *Naked*. He blushed a little and looked at his hands instead.

"Kind of. I mean, I can see you - just no details." She reached out and poked him in the chest, and he chuckled and rubbed the spot she'd poked. "But I have degenerative myopia, so I'm super nearsighted."

"Whoa, really? That sounds bad."

She shrugged. "It's not that bad. It's slow-acting, I mean. It mostly happened kind of quickly when I was about twelve, and all of a sudden I needed glasses, then stronger ones. But now it's slowed down and I just need to adjust my prescription every so often."

He looked at her face again, almost shyly. All this time he'd assumed that her eyes only looked big because of the thickness of her glasses, but it turned out they were just that *big*. She looked at most nineteen, and adorable. He realized he was staring and looked away, then realized she couldn't tell, so he looked at her again. "So, does it hurt your head to have everythin' blurry like this?"

"No, not if I don't try to see anything. If I have to squint it hurts eventually. But even if I squint I can only make things out if they're close enough, so I just don't bother most of the time."

"How close do you have to be?"

She leaned towards him, and beckoned him closer too. As he got nearer, she narrowed her eyes, and then stopped him. "THERE we go. Hi!"

He waved. "Hi!" She laughed, all squinty-eyed, and blushed a little. "If I get closer do you NOT have to squint?"

"Um, yeah, there's usually a point where I can see things, just before they get TOO close and I can't see them anymore." She beckoned him closer again, and he leaned in. "Okay... keep coming... keeeeep coming..."

Someone cleared their throat behind them, and Beth jumped back like she'd been stung. "OH my gosh!"

Launchpad sat back, away from her, down at the other end of the couch, and he hadn't been about to kiss her at all. "Oh. Hey!" he said as Drake came down the stairs, glowering at them both. "Heh. Gos okay?"

"She's *fine*," Drake said stiffly, and glared a direct accusation in Launchpad's direction. Launchpad suspected he was blushing.

Etc...

***

[[After this, there is one thing i took out - after reluctantly thanking Beth for staying to be sure Gos was okay, Drake gives her an extra $20 as "overtime" which she tries to give back but he won't take it. Eh, it was a nice touch but really not needed. Then the walk to Beth's, I had conversation written out that I ended up removing and summarizing:]]

"Sounds good," she said cheerfully. He had her repeat the first step, and he did his best to listen even though he was fighting a maddening urge to stroke the back of her hand with his thumb the entire time.

They walked in silence for more than a minute. Launchpad felt every second of it. It seemed as if he *needed* to say something, or else he'd just keep *thinking*, and thinking wasn't helping him in the slightest; but he had no idea what to say. Beth, meanwhile, was uncharacteristically silent; he'd never known her not to keep *some* line of conversation going. Taking a guess at what she might be thinking, he asked, "Still worried about Drake bein' mad?"

She nodded. "I feel like I'm on thin ice with him. Like there's a sword hanging over my head, and every time I do the wrong thing, the rope keeping it up gets weaker and weaker, and there's no way to strengthen it again."

"Don't worry about it," he said reassuringly, and tightened his grip on her hand without thinking of what he was doing. "He just gets, I dunno... funny about stuff. But you were right to stay with Gos, and he knows it."

Beth shook her head. "I should've thought, though... With me still being there when he came home..."

"Huh? What do you mean?" That was weird - it almost sounded like she knew about Darkwing.

"Oh - no, nothing. Sorry." She smiled sheepishly and shrugged.

"Oh, uh, okay." Launchpad scratched his cheek in puzzlement, and reached for a topic - something kind of boring and safe - and came up with, "So, uh, how's the job hunt going?"

Beth sighed dramatically, her shoulders slumping. "Still unemployed," she answered. "I don't know, Launchpad, I've applied to, like, twenty different companies this week alone and I haven't heard ANYthing. And they're all kinds of jobs, I mean, I even applied to a Hamburger Hippo and NOBODY has called me back! I was saying to Gosalyn earlier, I don't even know what I was thinking, just quitting. What a dumb thing to do. That was the ONLY real job I've ever had, and do you know how long it took me to get THAT? And then Henny just hired me on the spot when I came in to inquire... And now, I can't even use that job as a reference because of everything I said when I quit. Henny would *never* say anything good about me now so I have four years' worth of employment at ONE job, and NO references..." She shook her head and sighed again. "But you know, that's the thing about Henny, I don't think I could have gotten a good reference out of her even if I *hadn't* said anything."

Wow. Launchpad was almost sorry he'd asked, if only because she was obviously really upset. "Uh, I'm sorry. I guess it's kinda my fault you quit..."

"What? No! Oh, no it's not, really." She turned to reassure him hastily, waving her free hand all around as she did. "You just said I should look for another job, I'M the one who quit! Nobody is to blame for this but me." She looked at him, or towards him anyway, with an anguished expression. "Launchpad... What do I do? What if I never get another job?"

With that look on her face, he found that the only thing that seemed important was to help her, to find a way to make all of her problems disappear. What could he possibly say to make her feel good about herself? "Of course you'll get another job! You're a great worker an' - an' you, uh, you have attention to details!"

Beth smiled, evidently in spite of herself, at that. "Do I?"

He shrugged. "I'm not real good at this. But you're smart, you'll do fine. REALLY, trust me."

"I don't know. I said to Gos earlier - people, they just don't notice me. There's nothing on my resume that looks interesting, and it's the same thing when they meet me - just being smart isn't going to do it, it's like I'm invisibe. Nobody will ever call me because nobody will ever NOTICE me."

Etc.

***

[[And, last thing, which I won't paste here; after he asks her to have "movie night", she says that she was afraid he was avoiding her which he denies a bit too much. Again, cute but expendable. And there you go, now you know the rest of the story!

This still may not fully convey the transition I tried to write - well, to be honest, I'm afraid I failed with that even in the full version - but I mean, I just cut bits and piece throughout to take out as much as I could. I'm kinda impressed I got 1300 out of it. I wish I could've taken it down to under 4,000 since this chapter is such fluff that I feel bad having it be so long... but oh well. :P]]

MUPPETS

I've totally been searching for this track for, oh, like probably a good 2-3 years now. Pretty sure since before my office space was moved which was a year and a half ago...

Ridiculously pretty instrumental version of an incredibly silly moment in "The Muppet Movie". I love the fact that this song, when sung by Miss Piggy, gives me uncontrollable giggles - but the tune itself floors me with how lovely it is.

This is not a post

Fic update! I posted the first chapter of TWC4 at FF.net and AO3. Since it's a replacement of the chapter that is already there on FF.net, they won't register it as an update until I actually add a new chapter, so this is the "unofficial prerelease". :P I am, however, hoping to have chapter 2 done before the end of the month. :)

I'm so relieved to get this done. I had actually planned on working on this during October, but stress at the beginning of the month basically gave me artistic block on all fronts. I've only JUST started writing again. Hoping this is the start of something good! :)

If I can get to chapter 2 quickly enough (I don't know if that will work or not though) I'm going to work on "Those Daring McQuacks". I have the structure outlined and I tried starting act 2 a couple of months ago but i stalled on the scene. I was able to write it, it just wasn't paced particularly well and I was having trouble with what I wanted to say. I hope I can pick it up again and fix it.

Anyway, I don't think anyone checks this blog if I dont' put up links or reminders, but just in case people do, fic update message and general ramblings. ^_^ Hi!