#theuncertainhour

Thank you!

2. Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?

I think I’ve written all the tropes I like - sometimes more than once ;)

23. If you were to revise one of your older fics from start to finish, which would it be and why? 

It would be A slice of eternity. It was the first fic I wrote (or began, at least) in the Berena fandom. I hadn’t written for ages and while the overall story I’d probably leave as is (basically plotless fluff), the actual writing of it would be very different now. Its the only one of my fics that I cringe at when i look back.

38. Talk about a review that made your day.

I’ve just spent a happy half hour reading through my inbox to try and answer this. I think most reviews make my day. I love one word in caps, a load of emojis or a gif, and the ones that basically liveblog my fic are pure joy. For that reason, it’s really hard to pick out a specific review.

The one that I’ll go for is for Untitled adventures of Gertie the Goose, a cabin pressure fic that I wrote for a fic exchange for untitled goose game. I had no idea what the person I got given would like; it wasn’t somebody I knew in any way. So this really was a huge relief and a compliment:

Thank you so much, lovely author, for gifting me a Cabin Pressure work! I've been delighted since I saw it on my gifts page! My first reaction upon reveals was to scream GERTIE THE GOOSE, because that's just brilliant, to borrow Arthur's phrase. Your character voices are superb, I can actually hear them say the dialogue in my head.

I love that the goose stole Douglas' keys. Very goosey.

“The great Douglas Richardson, outwitted by a goose.”

“You just have to give her something more annoying to do,” Martin said smugly, from his position out of the range of the water, “It’s quite easy really.”

I love that the goose is rubbing off on Martin. Good on him! Again, thank you so, so much for this fic. It's delightful and I love it a lot! :D

Prompt: While driving or in/and around a car.

Edit: now posted to AO3 if you’d prefer to read it there: As Right as Rain

“I cannot believe that you told her we were getting married!” Laura exclaimed as they drove away.

“It was the first thing I could think of that wasn’t, oh, we’re poking around in the back here because we think you’re the murderer and you’ve hidden the evidence in your bridal shop!” Rosemary shot back. “Besides, at least I didn’t imply that you were a—a home-wrecker,” she spluttered.

“I did no such thing!”

“You told her that we were keeping it quiet because your divorce hadn’t gone through.”

“Because she asked me if we were getting married why I looked so shocked! I was trying to salvage your cover story, which you hadn’t bothered to give me warning of, by the way.”

“Well I didn’t really have time to run it by you first, did I? Next time you can explain to the murderer why we’re sneaking about.”

“I will.”

“Great.”

“Besides,” Laura added with a snort, “if any of them are going to involved kissing again we’d better have a practice because that was terrible.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry that that exact situation wasn’t one of the ways that I’d ever imagined kissing you,” Rosemary retorted.

Laura gaped at her, and in the ensuing silence the clanking of vehicle seemed louder than ever.

“Errm, forget I said anything,” Rosemary said, her eyes firmly fixed on the road.

theuncertainhour replied to your post: Whenever I have something trailing across the...

because sabrina is CHAOS and also the queen of bad decisions

I don't know what you mean, w13 only had 4 seasons (☠️☠️☠️)

little-brisk replied to your post “A-D”

hmmm i guess now is as good as any to realize i’m still not over w13’s betrayal

*grins* ta, dahling.  You too?

It’s true, it’s always a thrilling moment!

*happyblushes* D’aww, you utter sweetheart <3  Thank you!

5: What part was hardest to write?

Chapter 6 was certainly what took me the longest, but only because I kept telling myself I had to actually Know Things About War to write a battle scene.  My Amazon purchase history from that period of my life is highly uncharacteristic and full of things like The Cambridge History of Warfare.  I let the desire for Accuracy suck the fun out of things for as long as I dared.  Then I said fuckit, this is a) a shipfic and b) Doctor Who, and as long as it’s exciting and moderately believable it’s fine.  So, in the finest of old fannish traditions, I gleefuly stole from the Battle of Thermopylae and Return of the Jedi and called it a day, and after that, Chapter 6 became one of the most fun parts to write, because Narvin was loving his chance to play soldier and because I fell in love with Garrick so hard.  Oh Garrick <3<3<3

9: Were there any alternate versions of this fic?

Not of the whole thing.  I’m bad at drafts–I do most of my editing as I go.  But there’s an early draft of the breakup scene in Chapter 3, because breakups are so naturally angsty that even real life ones sound like walking talking cliches.  I made the second version much more angry, and am pleased with the result.

11: What do you like best about this fic?        

Immodestly, more than a few things.  Time and Again and Like Clockwork are I think the only things I’ve ever written that I’ve never hated afterwards even a little.  Time and Again was just such a heady joy to write, and I still hope I’ll put more of it on paper (metaphorically) someday.  But I will limit myself to three things:

1) Unlike Another Time and A Time for Every Purpose, For Gallifrey and the Lady President had room in it for sections from Leela’s and Brax’s point of view, which made me very happy.  Forgetting that this is an ensemble show for long enough to write a brief bit of shipfic is fine; forgetting it in a longfic is a cardinal sin.

2) Both A Time For Every Purpose and For Gallifrey and the Lady President started as Moments that I loved so much I had to write whole fics around them.  In A Time For Every Purpose, that was the scene in the High Council Chamber where Romana and Narvin are trying so hard not to giggle.  In For Gallifrey and the Lady President, it’s The Scene In The TARDIS Bay.  And in the next book of the series, it’s the scene where [CENSORED], which I have already bloody written because it would not leave me alone.