WIP Challenge Check-in, Day 18 -- Saturday

[linaewen]

Hello on Saturday!  What kind of a writing day has it been so far today -- or if today hasn't gotten going yet, how did you fare yesterday?

       - I thought about my fic once or twice
       - I wrote
       - I did some planning and/or outlining
       - I did research and/or canon review
       - I edited
       - I've sent my fic off to my beta
       - I posted today!
       - I'm taking a break
       - I did something else that I'll talk about in a comment

Saturday Discussion - Today is a good day for talking about general writing topics or posting snippets of what you are currently working on, if you are so inclined.  Feel free to share what you are working on, or whatever is on your mind with your writing today!

Comments

[linaewen]

I haven't started my writing marathon yet, so that's hopefully the plan for the day!

[frogfarm]

I was sure I wasn't going to finish another chapter yesterday. But while I did miss the midnight deadline, I had it finished and posted well before the sun came up. Now that I'm almost halfway through, I need to look at the remaining outline to see what still needs to be added and shuffled around.

I'll share an excerpt from my current Dexter/Buffy that doesn't give too much away. Dialogue re-used from Dexter 5x01, "My Bad":

"I wasn't even human." Dexter sits in the dock, shackled to within an inch of his life. His characteristic stubble is more unkempt than ever, his empty eyes staring at nothing. "When we first met."

It's like he's alone in the courtroom. Rita's been watching for hours, reeling from the litany of bloody lies. Every nighttime boat outing; every work-related trip. Whatever stories of Dexter's that turned out to be real had been little more than a convenient cover for his crimes. Murder while multitasking.

She couldn't attend the trial in person. Couldn't find the courage to face him, bound and gagged in a roomful of cops. But mostly she couldn't face the others. All his friends at the station, the families of victims whose evidence he'd tampered with, were simply too much to bear. And so she watched the DVD's; occasionally pausing, sometimes puking.

This was the conclusion to Dexter's testimony. It had lasted four days, and the papers were in even more of an uproar before it was through. LaGuerta had tried to ride out the storm, but the fallout was too great. In the wake of so many cases being reopened, Angel Batista was the one who was considered cleanest and most qualified to be promoted in her place. And apart from Deb, he'd been the only cop on the force who hadn't pitied Rita or outright rejected her after the arrest.

"I never expected that to change." Dexter's voice is soft, full of hope and wonder. And at the same time grieving. As if he's been hit with disaster so devastating he can't even begin to describe it. "She reached out and found something... I didn't even know was there."

She'd thought she was all cried out. But as tears blur Rita's vision, she knows she'll never be done.

"She never hurt anybody." Dexter seems to be in awe over this basic truth. "She was..."

Rita stares at the screen. Her slim forearms are tense and trembling as she bends the remote control with all her strength; hearing the plastic begin to crack and splinter.

"Innocent."