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Lost in Translation | 1: Lost and Insecure
Collection Title: Lost in Translation
Fandom: General Hospital
Universe: Canon
Genre: Drama/Friendship/Romance
Rating: T (for now)
Summary: A collection of oneshots and drabbles exploring the ever-evolving relationship between Maxie Jones and Dr. Matt Hunter: the happy moments, the sad moments, the sarcastic moments.
Chapter Title: Lost and Insecure
Genre: Introspection
Rating: T
Word Count: 1768
Summary: During Robin’s intervention for post-partum depression, Matt learns of an intriguing piece of Maxie’s past – one that brings them closer together, even as it drives them further apart.
Links: FF.net | DW | Together Again
Soooo yes ~ I gave into temptation and started yet another fic collection. This one focuses on the Matt/Maxie pairing, which has, for the most part, not played out on camera. Until this year, in fact, these two only had scenes together once in a blue moon. And we all know what that means, yes? There's plenty of room for fannish exploration :D
I quite liked the result of my tense experiment with Reinvent Me, so I think I'm going to try to write most of these shorter pieces in the same style. Using dialogue from the show certainly helps, as they don't really speak in past tense (a trick of serial soap opera writing?). I also think it lends a more "immediate" feeling to the situation, kinda dropping the reader right in the middle of things. We'll see if anyone notices/cares/likes this besides me, haha.
I've basically been mainlining the backstory for Matt and Maxie over the last few weeks. GH fans are made of awesome and win, because there are several of them out there dedicated to clipping each day's episode by pairing, and posting it somewhere on the net. Quite a few of these have made it to YouTube, including the Matt/Maxie scenes. Slowly but surely, I've been chipping away at it (making a playlist so I don't have to go through this agony again, LOL), and every once in awhile, I see a scene or a sequence that just immediately inspires my muse.
This was one of those such times.
Now, I'm not a big fan of this overall storyline. One of the things I hate about soaps is how sometimes the writers let the characters go totally OOC to fulfill a plot arc that's unsuited to them. (This is happening right now with the Patrick/Robin/Lisa storyline, and it irritates the ever-loving shit out of me, grr.) The show wanted to tackle post-partum depression, which is certainly laudable, but in true Guza fashion, they did it in the clunkiest way possible: by deciding it would be Robin who suffered from it, and pretty much a rare, psychotic form of it *eyeroll* Just a little context/background for why this is eyeroll-inducing (because I'm by no means a Robin expert):
Robin is already something of an amazing character. Her first love, Stone, was diagnosed with HIV on the show - and GH was the first soap to tackle the trickiness of HIV and AIDS back in the 90s. It made a huge stir - and an even bigger one when she slept with him and became infected herself. Stone later died from the disease, but Robin became the poster-child for the movement: she struggled not only to deal with her boyfriend's death, but also with the fact that she'd have this illness for the rest of her life. I'm sure it became annoyingly preachy at times, simply because soaps are wont to do that, but anyway. So she's much-beloved and considered quite strong, blah blah blah.
She's eventually paired off with Patrick Drake, who comes to town as an arrogant neurosurgeon with an ego the size of Kansas. The two fight and spar and piss each other off - you know, typical love at first sight, opposites attract kinda thing :P Their courtship is long and involved and Robin becomes pregnant, which is a whole other storyline. But anyway: the two have their baby (who is born HIV-negative, another big storyline), get married, and FINALLY settle down. Only...Robin becomes a whole other person, and its blamed on post-partum depression.
Sigh.
So they have this big intervention for her, and she screams at everyone and cries and eventually agrees to inpatient treatment. Oh, by the way, did I mention she's a doctor on the show? *facepalm* So yeah, stretch your disbelief, because the Robin I'm watching in these scenes, and the Robin I'm seeing today, are two totally different people.
ANYWAY. This happened in April of '09, almost a year after Matt surfaces on the show as Patrick's long-lost brother. (Patrick's father, Noah, was originated by Rick Springfield - yes, indeed, the very same one who had a hit with "Jessie's Girl".) He's kinda thrown into this situation with Patrick, and they bond bit by bit as their storylines progress. Robin's intervention happens after a fire that burned General Hospital to the ground (a storyline I thought was actually done well, believe it or not), a fire/mess inadvertently started by Matt, and one that almost killed Maxie's boyfriend, Spinelli. His near-death was the catalyst for their relationship moving beyond friendship, in fact, so there's also that vibe in play here.
I absolutely love the dynamic between Matt and Maxie. Right from the start, they are snippy and short with each other, but the actors are so happy to be working together that kinda bleeds through. There are some absolutely hilarious scenes between these two, as they begin a cold war of one-up-manship, things that just have had me rolling on the floor. This was kinda the first 'serious' scene Matt was involved in, and it just struck me, how out of place he probably would've felt, if this was a normal story in a normal universe, and not soap opera land. That, plus the fact that this object of his desire was also in the room, would've let to some interesting introspection, which is what I've explored in this first piece.
So far as I can tell, this is also Matt's first exposure to Maxie's less than stellar background. Its been hinted at before, not the least of all by Maxie herself, but learning exactly what she did to Lucky had to have been a surprise, to say the least. And Robin took the moment of her intervention for depression to lash out at Maxie, throwing it back in her face and telling her to get out, because she had no right to criticize others because of the things she'd done in the past.
You can view the clip here:
It's a very powerful scene, with wonderful acting by everyone involved, IMO.
To me, it was the perfect moment for interaction between these two, so I decided to write it in. One of the things that fascinates me about Maxie is the way she just blithely talks about what a horrible person she is, and the horrible things she's done. She makes no bones about not being "the good girl" (as her sister was), and she just sorta...accepts it in a way that's very appealing. She's the bitch you love, because she's got your back and she isn't afraid to tussle with whoever comes her way. But all the same - and it's really evident during her relationship with Spinelli - its obvious that she thinks of herself as unworthy of true love or happiness because of all the things she's done in the past. Spinelli is her redemption, and she leans very heavily on him for that. But its not so explicitly said, so much as in the way she comports herself, the way she reacts, the way she interacts with others, and who she draws close to as an inner circle. She's going to be a lot of fun to play with, I think, especially paired with Matt, who is more or less a younger version of Patrick, but with a heart he only thinks is made of stone. I don't really have as good a grasp on him yet, because he's had far less airtime than Maxie, but I think it'll come, with time.
I actually really didn't like this whole 'intervention' episode, because I'm more or less opposed to interventions, in general (and shows that exploit them, like Intervention on A&E). Considering I work with patients with serious mental illness (of which depression would be one), intervention-style confrontation does more harm than good a lot of times, and it irritates me how much it's thrown around, like a cure-all or one-size-fits-all bandage for any and all of life's woes.
As such, I found this scene to be ultimately empty, as I do most intervention scenes, because the 'patient' gives in too quickly, and for all the wrong reasons. Of course, Robin goes off for treatment and is peachy keen again, returning to her normal self and her happy, healthy home life, but that so rarely happens that it's almost disappointing its the way this story ended.
Ah, well - I'll climb off my soapbox, and just say that the intervention isn't the point, so much as the context. Can you imagine going to such a gathering for one reason, and having your mind blown for another? The possibilities were too delicious to contemplate :)
There was, of course, musical inspiration for this piece (as always). I even stole a line from this song as my title:
I think it captures the atmosphere of the piece quite well :)
I'm not sure how often this collection will be updated; there's another idea that I'm playing around with, but it will require more research, in the form of clip-watching :D so I can get a firmer grip on the characters. I am rather pleased that I've managed to write a short work instead of a long, sprawling, epic length fic, and look forward to meeting the challenge again, hopefully soon, LOL.
Enjoy! =)
Fandom: General Hospital
Universe: Canon
Genre: Drama/Friendship/Romance
Rating: T (for now)
Summary: A collection of oneshots and drabbles exploring the ever-evolving relationship between Maxie Jones and Dr. Matt Hunter: the happy moments, the sad moments, the sarcastic moments.
Chapter Title: Lost and Insecure
Genre: Introspection
Rating: T
Word Count: 1768
Summary: During Robin’s intervention for post-partum depression, Matt learns of an intriguing piece of Maxie’s past – one that brings them closer together, even as it drives them further apart.
Links: FF.net | DW | Together Again
Soooo yes ~ I gave into temptation and started yet another fic collection. This one focuses on the Matt/Maxie pairing, which has, for the most part, not played out on camera. Until this year, in fact, these two only had scenes together once in a blue moon. And we all know what that means, yes? There's plenty of room for fannish exploration :D
I quite liked the result of my tense experiment with Reinvent Me, so I think I'm going to try to write most of these shorter pieces in the same style. Using dialogue from the show certainly helps, as they don't really speak in past tense (a trick of serial soap opera writing?). I also think it lends a more "immediate" feeling to the situation, kinda dropping the reader right in the middle of things. We'll see if anyone notices/cares/likes this besides me, haha.
I've basically been mainlining the backstory for Matt and Maxie over the last few weeks. GH fans are made of awesome and win, because there are several of them out there dedicated to clipping each day's episode by pairing, and posting it somewhere on the net. Quite a few of these have made it to YouTube, including the Matt/Maxie scenes. Slowly but surely, I've been chipping away at it (making a playlist so I don't have to go through this agony again, LOL), and every once in awhile, I see a scene or a sequence that just immediately inspires my muse.
This was one of those such times.
Now, I'm not a big fan of this overall storyline. One of the things I hate about soaps is how sometimes the writers let the characters go totally OOC to fulfill a plot arc that's unsuited to them. (This is happening right now with the Patrick/Robin/Lisa storyline, and it irritates the ever-loving shit out of me, grr.) The show wanted to tackle post-partum depression, which is certainly laudable, but in true Guza fashion, they did it in the clunkiest way possible: by deciding it would be Robin who suffered from it, and pretty much a rare, psychotic form of it *eyeroll* Just a little context/background for why this is eyeroll-inducing (because I'm by no means a Robin expert):
Robin is already something of an amazing character. Her first love, Stone, was diagnosed with HIV on the show - and GH was the first soap to tackle the trickiness of HIV and AIDS back in the 90s. It made a huge stir - and an even bigger one when she slept with him and became infected herself. Stone later died from the disease, but Robin became the poster-child for the movement: she struggled not only to deal with her boyfriend's death, but also with the fact that she'd have this illness for the rest of her life. I'm sure it became annoyingly preachy at times, simply because soaps are wont to do that, but anyway. So she's much-beloved and considered quite strong, blah blah blah.
She's eventually paired off with Patrick Drake, who comes to town as an arrogant neurosurgeon with an ego the size of Kansas. The two fight and spar and piss each other off - you know, typical love at first sight, opposites attract kinda thing :P Their courtship is long and involved and Robin becomes pregnant, which is a whole other storyline. But anyway: the two have their baby (who is born HIV-negative, another big storyline), get married, and FINALLY settle down. Only...Robin becomes a whole other person, and its blamed on post-partum depression.
Sigh.
So they have this big intervention for her, and she screams at everyone and cries and eventually agrees to inpatient treatment. Oh, by the way, did I mention she's a doctor on the show? *facepalm* So yeah, stretch your disbelief, because the Robin I'm watching in these scenes, and the Robin I'm seeing today, are two totally different people.
ANYWAY. This happened in April of '09, almost a year after Matt surfaces on the show as Patrick's long-lost brother. (Patrick's father, Noah, was originated by Rick Springfield - yes, indeed, the very same one who had a hit with "Jessie's Girl".) He's kinda thrown into this situation with Patrick, and they bond bit by bit as their storylines progress. Robin's intervention happens after a fire that burned General Hospital to the ground (a storyline I thought was actually done well, believe it or not), a fire/mess inadvertently started by Matt, and one that almost killed Maxie's boyfriend, Spinelli. His near-death was the catalyst for their relationship moving beyond friendship, in fact, so there's also that vibe in play here.
I absolutely love the dynamic between Matt and Maxie. Right from the start, they are snippy and short with each other, but the actors are so happy to be working together that kinda bleeds through. There are some absolutely hilarious scenes between these two, as they begin a cold war of one-up-manship, things that just have had me rolling on the floor. This was kinda the first 'serious' scene Matt was involved in, and it just struck me, how out of place he probably would've felt, if this was a normal story in a normal universe, and not soap opera land. That, plus the fact that this object of his desire was also in the room, would've let to some interesting introspection, which is what I've explored in this first piece.
So far as I can tell, this is also Matt's first exposure to Maxie's less than stellar background. Its been hinted at before, not the least of all by Maxie herself, but learning exactly what she did to Lucky had to have been a surprise, to say the least. And Robin took the moment of her intervention for depression to lash out at Maxie, throwing it back in her face and telling her to get out, because she had no right to criticize others because of the things she'd done in the past.
You can view the clip here:
It's a very powerful scene, with wonderful acting by everyone involved, IMO.
To me, it was the perfect moment for interaction between these two, so I decided to write it in. One of the things that fascinates me about Maxie is the way she just blithely talks about what a horrible person she is, and the horrible things she's done. She makes no bones about not being "the good girl" (as her sister was), and she just sorta...accepts it in a way that's very appealing. She's the bitch you love, because she's got your back and she isn't afraid to tussle with whoever comes her way. But all the same - and it's really evident during her relationship with Spinelli - its obvious that she thinks of herself as unworthy of true love or happiness because of all the things she's done in the past. Spinelli is her redemption, and she leans very heavily on him for that. But its not so explicitly said, so much as in the way she comports herself, the way she reacts, the way she interacts with others, and who she draws close to as an inner circle. She's going to be a lot of fun to play with, I think, especially paired with Matt, who is more or less a younger version of Patrick, but with a heart he only thinks is made of stone. I don't really have as good a grasp on him yet, because he's had far less airtime than Maxie, but I think it'll come, with time.
I actually really didn't like this whole 'intervention' episode, because I'm more or less opposed to interventions, in general (and shows that exploit them, like Intervention on A&E). Considering I work with patients with serious mental illness (of which depression would be one), intervention-style confrontation does more harm than good a lot of times, and it irritates me how much it's thrown around, like a cure-all or one-size-fits-all bandage for any and all of life's woes.
As such, I found this scene to be ultimately empty, as I do most intervention scenes, because the 'patient' gives in too quickly, and for all the wrong reasons. Of course, Robin goes off for treatment and is peachy keen again, returning to her normal self and her happy, healthy home life, but that so rarely happens that it's almost disappointing its the way this story ended.
Ah, well - I'll climb off my soapbox, and just say that the intervention isn't the point, so much as the context. Can you imagine going to such a gathering for one reason, and having your mind blown for another? The possibilities were too delicious to contemplate :)
There was, of course, musical inspiration for this piece (as always). I even stole a line from this song as my title:
I think it captures the atmosphere of the piece quite well :)
I'm not sure how often this collection will be updated; there's another idea that I'm playing around with, but it will require more research, in the form of clip-watching :D so I can get a firmer grip on the characters. I am rather pleased that I've managed to write a short work instead of a long, sprawling, epic length fic, and look forward to meeting the challenge again, hopefully soon, LOL.
Enjoy! =)
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I think they're adorable together, myself, and I have fairly high hopes for this pairing, if Guza can get over his love of the mob stories long enough to actually *tell* it.