Original Work Spotlight: "Lives on Mars"
Jan. 29th, 2024 12:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mad_tea_partyI haven't talked much publicly about this work of sci-fi and fantasy. There's a reason for it. It is because, like Cassandra Clare before me, this story was inspired by a fanfic idea I had centered around Biker Mice from Mars. The more I developed the story for that fandom, the more I realized I wanted more freedom to take the characters out of character. And I do have rules about that in a fandom that I love.
There is a difference, to me, between going Alternate Universe, and out of character. When Lives on Mars' original concept started it was about Rimfire (Modo's nephew) having to execute humans to preserve the Martian mouse colony and prevent Earth scientists from trying to turn them into experiments. It was partially inspired, I admit, by the works of Robert C. O'Brien and his daughter, Jane Leslie Conly, both of whom inspired me with their tales of the Rats of NIMH. I even had their characters as imaginary friends back in the day, and I loved talking to Arthur, and Justin (God I love you, Peter Strauss. You did such an amazing job as Justin The Secret of NIMH.
The next thing I had to do was translate the fandom characters to original characters, and that's been a bit of a challenge. Even my own fandom OC, Chunk, has been hard to translate. I wanted to do something different with Nathaniel "Nate" Jacobson (Rimfire's counterpart) and Bailey Combs (Chunk's counterpart). Instead of them being a couple in this iteration, I've retained Chunk's original role in Rimfire's story, as his childhood best friend. But I think Bailey is also in a unique position, being his Commanding Officer's best friend off the field. That has it's own challenges for sure.
Rimfire and Chunk weren't the only translations. There was also Carbine, and Stoker. In my own fics for Biker Mice, I really amped up Carbine's rough exterior and even "Canonly" broke her and Throttle up because it felt a bit more realistic. For this, there is no love interest (as of yet), but I wanted to drive home that Salina Montenegro was a stickler. What we come to find out is that she is a third generation General for this colony, and she has no other way of living except what she was brought up in. Like Nathaniel, she was born on Mars, and it is all she knows. Unlike Nathaniel, though, she believes in the colony's rules and won't stray.
Stoker's counterpart is a little more laid back and tries his best to be voice of reason in conflict. Dean Powell also grew up in the colony, but unlike Salina, he finds reasons to make exceptions when they're logical.
all of these characters are fun for me to interact with within the context of the writing, but Salina can give me a real headache when she gets a bit too extreme. I find myself turning to Nate or Bailey a lot when I need clarity on how things should really go, and who should be taking care of Mira. I've got some ideas in place between the three of us.
As far as Mira goes... Mira's an interesting little girl to write for so far. She is brave, but terrified too. She knows she's in unfamiliar territory and has no recourse but to follow orders. SHe's also incredibly grateful to Nate for sparing her, even if she won't express that right now, with the weight of her parents' murders on her shoulders.
All in all, I'll say this is the most engaged I've been with an original piece of work in years. I can't wait to see what happens next in it. You're probably thinking I know exactly how this is all going to go and how it will end. Guess what? I don't. LOL.
There is a difference, to me, between going Alternate Universe, and out of character. When Lives on Mars' original concept started it was about Rimfire (Modo's nephew) having to execute humans to preserve the Martian mouse colony and prevent Earth scientists from trying to turn them into experiments. It was partially inspired, I admit, by the works of Robert C. O'Brien and his daughter, Jane Leslie Conly, both of whom inspired me with their tales of the Rats of NIMH. I even had their characters as imaginary friends back in the day, and I loved talking to Arthur, and Justin (God I love you, Peter Strauss. You did such an amazing job as Justin The Secret of NIMH.
The next thing I had to do was translate the fandom characters to original characters, and that's been a bit of a challenge. Even my own fandom OC, Chunk, has been hard to translate. I wanted to do something different with Nathaniel "Nate" Jacobson (Rimfire's counterpart) and Bailey Combs (Chunk's counterpart). Instead of them being a couple in this iteration, I've retained Chunk's original role in Rimfire's story, as his childhood best friend. But I think Bailey is also in a unique position, being his Commanding Officer's best friend off the field. That has it's own challenges for sure.
Rimfire and Chunk weren't the only translations. There was also Carbine, and Stoker. In my own fics for Biker Mice, I really amped up Carbine's rough exterior and even "Canonly" broke her and Throttle up because it felt a bit more realistic. For this, there is no love interest (as of yet), but I wanted to drive home that Salina Montenegro was a stickler. What we come to find out is that she is a third generation General for this colony, and she has no other way of living except what she was brought up in. Like Nathaniel, she was born on Mars, and it is all she knows. Unlike Nathaniel, though, she believes in the colony's rules and won't stray.
Stoker's counterpart is a little more laid back and tries his best to be voice of reason in conflict. Dean Powell also grew up in the colony, but unlike Salina, he finds reasons to make exceptions when they're logical.
all of these characters are fun for me to interact with within the context of the writing, but Salina can give me a real headache when she gets a bit too extreme. I find myself turning to Nate or Bailey a lot when I need clarity on how things should really go, and who should be taking care of Mira. I've got some ideas in place between the three of us.
As far as Mira goes... Mira's an interesting little girl to write for so far. She is brave, but terrified too. She knows she's in unfamiliar territory and has no recourse but to follow orders. SHe's also incredibly grateful to Nate for sparing her, even if she won't express that right now, with the weight of her parents' murders on her shoulders.
All in all, I'll say this is the most engaged I've been with an original piece of work in years. I can't wait to see what happens next in it. You're probably thinking I know exactly how this is all going to go and how it will end. Guess what? I don't. LOL.
