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Daria | Oneshot: A Hope of Doubt
Title: A Hope of Doubt
Fandom: Daria
Universe: Post-canon
Genre: Friendship/Romance
Rating: T
Warnings: Language, innuendo
Word Count: 4,739
Summary: On the eve of the biggest performance of his life, Trent shares a special moment with Daria.
Links: DW | FF.net | AO3
Written for![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
cottoncandy_bingo prompt "key to heart."
Ficlet series vs infodump: the eternal conundrum.
This fic has languished on my harddrive for most of the year (how is it already June?!) because of this battle. So much background story, so little time to tell it and still get to the point. And yet, the background information isn't useless (as it sets up the scenario of the "biggest performance of Trent's life," and explains why the heart tattoo is so symbolic), so its not easily disposed of - and because I haven't written a lot of Daria fic, I couldn't tie it into a previously established fic universe.
Choices, choices.
Ultimately, setting it aside for a couple of months and getting away from it helped. I went back and read one of the drafts and decided that it wasn't so bad. I could find a fairly easy way to transition from background story to present day, even if it isn't the smoothest segue I've ever made :P Having any sort of motivation/desire/drive to finish this has been lacking, so when it hit me, I ran with it.
First, the background. I basically put Mystik Spiral on a career arc very similar to both Linkin Park (in terms of evolution of sound/style) and Macklemore. It was Macklemore's very interesting indie-breakout-success that actually gave me the idea for this story. Everyone thinks dude just came out of nowhere to find mainstream success when in reality it's been a long, hard slog for him (and Ryan Lewis). And he is a contradiction in terms: a lot of the stuff he's been getting blowback about, he actually addresses on The Heist, making it obvious who is judging him for his singles and who has listened to the entire album. His interesting choice of always going for the cheap laugh is a weird one, one that doesn't help him a lot of the time, but hey, who am I to judge? I like his work beyond the novelty of "Thrift Shop."
ANYWAY. Inspired by Macklemore's story of success, I had to figure out what I thought Mystik Spiral would grow up to be, so to speak - and I stumbled back into my love for Linkin Park. It was watching this performance that gave me the setting for the story, as well as an unlikely Trent Lane muse:
What even, brain, LOL :P
Watching this concert made me more cognizant of the way LP's sound and musical interests have evolved, from the ragey-emo "Hybrid Theory" to the electronically ethereal "A Thousand Suns," and I discovered my career arc for the band. I really do think that Jane's leaving Lawndale would be just the kick in the ass that Trent needs to realize that he's wasting away, and that it's time to put up or shut up. Sometimes you don't know what you want until you can't have it.
It was fun to think up future!casts for the band members =) Jesse and Max are more or less extensions of their canon personas (Jesse with his bath candles, and Max with his craven bravado), whereas poor Nick got the stereotypical rocker's drug habit. (Hey, somebody had to get it, LOL.) The origins of the band and the beginning of their backstory (as well as their fan club) are from The Daria Diaries, which is considered canon-adjacent, I suppose.
I also relied heavily on some of the ship-riffic episodes for inspiration/shoutouts/meta - "The Road Worrier" from Season 1, "Pierce Me" from Season 2, and "Lane Miserables" from Season 3. The mentions of Trent's tribal tattoos (and the mirrored conversation they have about them) are from S1. I like the idea of him deciding to do cover-ups and go for sleeves - I think it suits his personality. The heart is basically from the prompt word; its location was inspired by several of my favorite actors, who have tattoos there that aren't readily visible/are easily hidden with stage makeup, which is sort of fun - they know they're there, but its not necessarily obvious to the whole world - and its a place that would be visible if playing guitar right-handed.
I tried to build on the romantic relationship I started in Left Unsaid - a lot of Daria's sensitive reaction came from "Pierce Me" (when she's contemplating how strange it feels to think your crush-like feelings have inexplicably been returned), while Trent has that whole "I'm a musician, I can sense changes in mood" thing going :P I made several editing passes through this before posting it, and I felt like the relationship held up well, but *shrug* Who knows if anybody else would think that? :P
And (finally!) there were two songs mentioned explicitly in the text, either by name:
or by embedding lyrics:
Next time I buy something from Amazon, I have to throw in Zedd's Clarity album - it has been a total gold mine in terms of inspiration! ♥
I have one more prompt to fulfill forcottoncandy_bingo, and I actually know what it will be! (Hint.) I hope like hell I can finish it before the deadline of July 1, because that would mean I'd complete a challenge on time for the first time in about two years :P - with bonus Fleeting inspiration! Win-win, LOL :D
Fandom: Daria
Universe: Post-canon
Genre: Friendship/Romance
Rating: T
Warnings: Language, innuendo
Word Count: 4,739
Summary: On the eve of the biggest performance of his life, Trent shares a special moment with Daria.
Links: DW | FF.net | AO3
Written for
cottoncandy_bingo prompt "key to heart."Ficlet series vs infodump: the eternal conundrum.
This fic has languished on my harddrive for most of the year (how is it already June?!) because of this battle. So much background story, so little time to tell it and still get to the point. And yet, the background information isn't useless (as it sets up the scenario of the "biggest performance of Trent's life," and explains why the heart tattoo is so symbolic), so its not easily disposed of - and because I haven't written a lot of Daria fic, I couldn't tie it into a previously established fic universe.
Choices, choices.
Ultimately, setting it aside for a couple of months and getting away from it helped. I went back and read one of the drafts and decided that it wasn't so bad. I could find a fairly easy way to transition from background story to present day, even if it isn't the smoothest segue I've ever made :P Having any sort of motivation/desire/drive to finish this has been lacking, so when it hit me, I ran with it.
First, the background. I basically put Mystik Spiral on a career arc very similar to both Linkin Park (in terms of evolution of sound/style) and Macklemore. It was Macklemore's very interesting indie-breakout-success that actually gave me the idea for this story. Everyone thinks dude just came out of nowhere to find mainstream success when in reality it's been a long, hard slog for him (and Ryan Lewis). And he is a contradiction in terms: a lot of the stuff he's been getting blowback about, he actually addresses on The Heist, making it obvious who is judging him for his singles and who has listened to the entire album. His interesting choice of always going for the cheap laugh is a weird one, one that doesn't help him a lot of the time, but hey, who am I to judge? I like his work beyond the novelty of "Thrift Shop."
ANYWAY. Inspired by Macklemore's story of success, I had to figure out what I thought Mystik Spiral would grow up to be, so to speak - and I stumbled back into my love for Linkin Park. It was watching this performance that gave me the setting for the story, as well as an unlikely Trent Lane muse:
What even, brain, LOL :P
Watching this concert made me more cognizant of the way LP's sound and musical interests have evolved, from the ragey-emo "Hybrid Theory" to the electronically ethereal "A Thousand Suns," and I discovered my career arc for the band. I really do think that Jane's leaving Lawndale would be just the kick in the ass that Trent needs to realize that he's wasting away, and that it's time to put up or shut up. Sometimes you don't know what you want until you can't have it.
It was fun to think up future!casts for the band members =) Jesse and Max are more or less extensions of their canon personas (Jesse with his bath candles, and Max with his craven bravado), whereas poor Nick got the stereotypical rocker's drug habit. (Hey, somebody had to get it, LOL.) The origins of the band and the beginning of their backstory (as well as their fan club) are from The Daria Diaries, which is considered canon-adjacent, I suppose.
I also relied heavily on some of the ship-riffic episodes for inspiration/shoutouts/meta - "The Road Worrier" from Season 1, "Pierce Me" from Season 2, and "Lane Miserables" from Season 3. The mentions of Trent's tribal tattoos (and the mirrored conversation they have about them) are from S1. I like the idea of him deciding to do cover-ups and go for sleeves - I think it suits his personality. The heart is basically from the prompt word; its location was inspired by several of my favorite actors, who have tattoos there that aren't readily visible/are easily hidden with stage makeup, which is sort of fun - they know they're there, but its not necessarily obvious to the whole world - and its a place that would be visible if playing guitar right-handed.
I tried to build on the romantic relationship I started in Left Unsaid - a lot of Daria's sensitive reaction came from "Pierce Me" (when she's contemplating how strange it feels to think your crush-like feelings have inexplicably been returned), while Trent has that whole "I'm a musician, I can sense changes in mood" thing going :P I made several editing passes through this before posting it, and I felt like the relationship held up well, but *shrug* Who knows if anybody else would think that? :P
And (finally!) there were two songs mentioned explicitly in the text, either by name:
or by embedding lyrics:
Next time I buy something from Amazon, I have to throw in Zedd's Clarity album - it has been a total gold mine in terms of inspiration! ♥
I have one more prompt to fulfill for
cottoncandy_bingo, and I actually know what it will be! (Hint.) I hope like hell I can finish it before the deadline of July 1, because that would mean I'd complete a challenge on time for the first time in about two years :P - with bonus Fleeting inspiration! Win-win, LOL :D