luxken27: (BSC - 1992)
LuxKen27 ([personal profile] luxken27) wrote2020-01-12 04:32 pm

The Best Friends You'll Ever Have | 28: A Carriage Conversation


Chapter Title: 28 | A Carriage Conversation
Prompt: #004 – Stacey McGill
Universe: Post-canon
Genre: Family/Drama
Rating: T
Word Count: 2,129
Summary: On Christmas Eve, Stacey and Sam compare notes about their broken (and re-formed) families.

Links: DW | AO3 | FF.net

Written for the 2019 BSC Fandom Fest hosted at [community profile] stoneybrook.

Guess who finally wrote something again! After nearly a year and a half!

The struggle was real, and the rust is evident, but I've finally produced a piece of fiction for the first time in a long time. I was at the point where I'd just basically accepted that I had another writing block, and mourned the loss of my creativity, but when this challenge came along, I just had to give it a try. BSC is such a calm, loving fandom, that I felt quite comfortable trying to write something again.

This was a holiday fest, and of course Christmas 2K19 was ridiculously busy IRL, but I was determined to post something, even if it couldn't be something 100% tailored to someone else's prompt. Reading over the lists of those who posted to participate gave me the idea that Sam/Stacey fic would be appreciated, so that's where I decided to go - sliding back in with some good ol' OTP pairing fic ♥

I had this idea of the two of them taking a carriage ride through Central Park at Christmas time, but I wasn't really feeling a romantic vibe with it. My muse was instead feeling some best friend/companionship feels instead, and I decided to delve into my own personal anxieties about visiting my family as an adult, and I came up with this: the idea of Stacey being reluctant to see her father's family as an adult, now that he's remarried and has other kids. (It's been a bit since I read any BSC FF canon, but I *think* part of Stacey's storyline is her father getting remarried and having a baby? If not, then its a natural progression of said storyline because I know Samantha is a canon character at some point in the series.)

And who better for Stacey to trade notes with about different families than Sam Thomas, who's seen both the bad and the good when it comes to father figures changing as a result of marriage? One of the things I've always liked about Sam is that he is the peacekeeper sibling. He's very sensitive about what's going on wrt Patrick and he tries to soothe everyone else's feelings as a way of dealing with his own. He as a lot of insight into the idea of dealing with a father who's changed as the result of remarriage. Not only is there the negative example of Patrick, but the positive example of Watson. Stacey envies the idea of being welcomed with open arms into a big, extended family, which is the atmosphere that Watson has created, and wishes she could feel it for herself in her own extended family.

I think I hit the notes that I wanted to hit with this piece - frustration, holiday depression, camaraderie, a friendship that runs deep and has the potential to run deeper. I think that even if Sam and Stacey aren't romantically involved with each other, they'd still be good friends, especially as adults when they're free to carry on their own relationships without the social strata in place (middle school v high school, etc). And I love the idea of male/female platonic friendships. So many people say that such a thing is impossible, but almost all of my best friends, at least growing up, were guys.

I decided to contrast the sober heaviness of the emotions running around with a lighthearted look at Christmas in New York, going for all the big cliche events. I don't know if that worked as well, but I tried.

I'm trying to look at the bright side of this: I've already written more fic in the first 12 days of 2020 than I did in all of 2019. Long may it continue! =)
ozqueen: (Default)

[personal profile] ozqueen 2020-01-15 08:06 am (UTC)(link)
This fic is adorable ♥

Also seconding the hopes for more fic writing in 2020!