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Librarian
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FDK - The Long Game
Jun 12th, 2012 at 7:39pm
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Ah, it's done.  Wink
  

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Neesierie
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Re: FDK - The Long Game
Reply #1 - Jun 12th, 2012 at 9:25pm
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Question.  If The Long Game is part 3, where is part 2?  Smiley
  

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Re: FDK - The Long Game
Reply #2 - Jun 12th, 2012 at 10:04pm
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In Nfic - Priorities. I thought it was a little over the top for a mere PG rating - but I could be wrong.  Wink
  

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Re: FDK - The Long Game
Reply #3 - Jun 13th, 2012 at 3:09pm
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Oh, that's right.  I remember now.  Thanks!
  

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Re: FDK - The Long Game
Reply #4 - Jun 23rd, 2012 at 4:59pm
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Writer's Notes:
I'm combining all three sets of notes into one.

  • The Visitor - As I indicated in the FDK thread for The Visitor, there are a few people who insist that Straker was only 26 or so (and a yet full bird) at the time of the Rolls 'crash'. To make this happen it's claimed that he was so utterly brilliant and so perfectly fitted for the job of running an organization that didn't exist at the time that POTUS (President of the United States) was willing to wave a magic wand and promote an under-trained and otherwise in-experienced Straker to the rank he'd need to be chosen to run an organization that didn't yet exist and he hadn't yet been chosen to head!

    So - under what circumstances could POTUS be convinced, coerced, to do such a thing? My take is simply that it would take a powerful outside agency to force such a thing to happen. An outside agency with a vested interest in making SHADO happen.

    Just as an aside: from the outside looking in - Henderson would have had a lot of choices for his second in whatever group he was in, as in almost any senior level USAF officer. In fact, he likely would have had his choice of ANY senior level officer of ANY service. So he (Henderson) certainly wouldn't have been limited to choosing someone who was too young to be respected by his subordinates. Chris Bentley gets around this by postulating that it was Straker who first got the proof of an alien incursion and convinced Henderson to take action. But even in that case, Henderson was still not obligated to choose Straker as his second unless Straker was fully qualified for the job including time in grade and education.

    So again, we're back to POTUS being convinced to wave his magic wand.
     
     
  • Priorities (nfic) - Mary Straker is one of those characters we love to hate for various reasons, chief among them being: knowing the Straker was in Military Intelligence and knowing he wasn't allowed to talk about his job she still tried to pressure him to tell her things he wasn't supposed to. But later (even though she should have probably assumed that he was still in MI unless he specifically told her otherwise) she believed her mother's contention that Straker was cheating on her. (Okay, yes, the evidence looked pretty good on the outside and Straker's field craft AND SHADO security really sucked since nobody noticed this guy with a camera watching the flat all night?) And then there's the screaming at Straker to do something when her husband is standing right there after Johnny gets knocked down by the car.

    There are those who claim that Straker's single slap to a screaming Mary (who subsequently over-reaches and falls down the stairs) as evidence that Straker was physically and psychologically abusive to Mary, who they claim was the quintessential convent-raised British girl with little or no worldly knowledge and delicate as a rose.

    Okay - Let's play with that. I've raised roses. Aside from the blooms and a susceptability to powderly mildew, roses are not delicate. Even Round-Up has a hard time killing them - you need Brush-Killer. British girl with little or no worldly knowledge: According to the scripts and the original writer, Rutland was supposed to be in the background at Straker's wedding reception, Straker and Mary had been divorced for three years at the time of Johnny's death and she and Straker still (apparently) had feelings for one another. But she's married to Rutland and he doesn't appear to be invested as Johnny's step-father and she defers to Rutland in a rather subservient manner. We aren't given how long it took for Mary to get together with Rutland after her divorce from Straker but why would she marry a man who she seems less than enthusiastic about? A roof over her head, warm body in bed? That doesn't say very nice things about Mary.
     
    Priorities is written from Alec's POV so we don't actually see Mary or Rutland except through his eyes and Straker's comments. This Straker reflects the manipulative and psychologically abusive man that some people claim he was. But making Straker a manipulative SOB also means that Alec (and all of SHADO) has to change to reflect and accept that version of Straker.
     
     
  • The Long Game - Ford is the observer who knows more than he's telling. He's not a key player, but I needed someone who wasn't a key player to tell the back-story of Alec's demise without giving too much away. This section also wraps up why an outside agency wanted Straker in place in SHADO and reveals the fact that this outside agency is not working un-opposed.
  

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Re: FDK - The Long Game
Reply #5 - Jun 27th, 2012 at 7:57am
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Deborah you forgot that roses have wicked thorns that can cut the heck out of a person. She pretty much did that to Straker. And notice she didn't have another kid while she was hitched to Rutland? Maybe she's the one who is asexual.  Roll Eyes

Rutland didn't seem to care for Johnny but he certainly had no love for Ed either. He allows Mary to do the 'I never want to see you again' bit to Straker. oh gimme a break. Straker should have said 'Let's see, you nearly get me to break security and face court martial, the charm you said my job had suddenly lost its fascination for you, and you whine and complain at the drop of a hat. You don't ever want to see me again? THANK GOD!  Grin

And no 'english rose' would welcome her husband when he was late by showing him the silent treatment, and she deliberately did it to punish him. If my  husband Ed didn't show up I'd be worried as hell that he'd been in an accident. I'd be mad that he was working late, but for his health, for heaven's sake.  That english rose needs fumigating.

As for  strange theories: Thank you David, for being the voice for many of us on EBF on Roger Harding, Bishop's close friend when nobody else had the guts to put people in their place. Yeah I know about it.  Cool
  
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Re: FDK - The Long Game
Reply #6 - Jun 27th, 2012 at 2:15pm
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Quote:
roses have wicked thorns that can cut the heck out of a person

My DH swears we have some Rose-Triffid hybrids in the front garden - they try to grab him when he mows the lawn. And then there's the old English rose I tore out because it was in a bad place - it invaded the neighbor's yard and he's had to use Brush-Killer on it. (Seriously, the stuff with all the Federal safety warnings that you need to kill brambles.)  Shocked

And did you know you can't plant a new rose in the place you tore out an old one? There's something about the old roots that will kill the new rose unless you replace ALL the affected soil.

And re: other subject - commenting on something over a year old? On forums that's usually a sign of someone who can't read time-stamps or a hubot/troll trying to increase their post count. Of course, the post count thing doesn't apply to that particular venue, but still... waiting a year to whine? Sheesh.  Huh
  

If you only have one solution to a problem - you're not trying.
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Matt
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Re: FDK - The Long Game
Reply #7 - Jun 28th, 2012 at 11:47pm
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Really great series of stories, Deb. I enjoyed your thoughts on the series. I guess you were playing "Devil's Advocate" in more ways than one. Wink
  

What do you mean, we're out of coffee!
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Re: FDK - The Long Game
Reply #8 - Jun 29th, 2012 at 1:28am
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Some ideas are so patently ridiculous that you have to do something about it.  :Smiley

Of course, in my book even canon is a matter to be played with... Evil Ford anyone?
  

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Neesierie
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Straker, somehow it's
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Re: FDK - The Long Game
Reply #9 - Jul 8th, 2012 at 1:14pm
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts on writing this series!  It's sooo fun to go behind the scenes (or in this case, inside the writer's skull!)  Wink
Your Straker in this universe is just the sort of frightening creature that Dragon almost created with her vampire Straker.  NOT a pleasant fellow!  Shocked  Matt's mirror version of Straker is much more entertaining (and consequently less frightening), but he's still sarcastic as hell, which is why I like him.  Smiley
I really like the supernatural aspects of this story with its ties to a much larger war than simply between aliens and humans.  Great job, Deb!  Smiley Smiley Smiley
  

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Matt
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Re: FDK - The Long Game
Reply #10 - Jul 23rd, 2012 at 1:18pm
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Librarian wrote on Jun 29th, 2012 at 1:28am:
Evil Ford anyone?


I think that's been done.  Roll Eyes
  

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Librarian
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Re: FDK - The Long Game
Reply #11 - Jul 23rd, 2012 at 2:26pm
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Matt wrote on Jul 23rd, 2012 at 1:18pm:
Librarian wrote on Jun 29th, 2012 at 1:28am:
Evil Ford anyone?


I think that's been done.  :Smiley


Great ideas need to revisited from time to time.  Wink
  

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Matt
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Re: FDK - The Long Game
Reply #12 - Jul 23rd, 2012 at 7:01pm
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Librarian wrote on Jul 23rd, 2012 at 2:26pm:
Matt wrote on Jul 23rd, 2012 at 1:18pm:
Librarian wrote on Jun 29th, 2012 at 1:28am:
Evil Ford anyone?


I think that's been done.  Roll Eyes


Great ideas need to revisited from time to time.  Wink


Good point! As I remember (it was more than five minutes ago) the author only hinted to the Evil Ford at the end of the story.  Wink
  

What do you mean, we're out of coffee!
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