Thanks! ...the easy sparring with Bancroft was actually not something I'd anticipated, when I sat down to write this; they surprised me. But it was a lot of fun to work with, these two very intelligent men, both testing each other and aware they're being tested, aware that they're each deploying only certain truths and keeping other things in reserve, but still civil and with a certain sort of genuineness, for that.
And the last section is actually my personal favorite. Among other things, I really like poking around at Neal's thought processes when he knows he's in trouble. (And I like playing around with alternate character interpretations to the "Neal and Peter are stoic and disinclined to admit it when they're hurt" trope I see now and again; in my mind, Peter is much more of a "trust the experts" sort, and tends to cooperate with medical personnel unless there's a pressing reason not to, and Neal's decision-making framework in most situations comes down to "What's going to maximize my chances for survival, freedom, and success in this situation?", usually in that order. Which may sometimes mean "stoic it out" or "don't get in the ambulance," but which in most situations is going to mean "Yes, I'm hurt, please do something". Unflinching pragmatism is just fun to play with.)
(...which reminds me that I need to write up a rec post for a really great resource I found, a while ago – a series on Making Light called Trauma and You, which contains such excellent advice as Great! You’ve got help on the way. Next (and some authorities place this ahead of calling for help, but I don’t agree with those authorities), make sure the scene is safe. There is something over there that munches people. You are a people. Don’t get munched yourself. If you do get munched what you’ve accomplished is this: you’ve incremented the patient count by one and simultaneously you’ve decreased the responder count by one. On a scale from good to bad this is bad. ...which is also the direct inspiration for Neal's reaction before Peter orders everyone to get gloves on. I only regret that I couldn't work in a line about getting munched, somewhere.)
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Date: 2013-06-01 07:30 pm (UTC)And the last section is actually my personal favorite. Among other things, I really like poking around at Neal's thought processes when he knows he's in trouble. (And I like playing around with alternate character interpretations to the "Neal and Peter are stoic and disinclined to admit it when they're hurt" trope I see now and again; in my mind, Peter is much more of a "trust the experts" sort, and tends to cooperate with medical personnel unless there's a pressing reason not to, and Neal's decision-making framework in most situations comes down to "What's going to maximize my chances for survival, freedom, and success in this situation?", usually in that order. Which may sometimes mean "stoic it out" or "don't get in the ambulance," but which in most situations is going to mean "Yes, I'm hurt, please do something". Unflinching pragmatism is just fun to play with.)
(...which reminds me that I need to write up a rec post for a really great resource I found, a while ago – a series on Making Light called Trauma and You, which contains such excellent advice as ...which is also the direct inspiration for Neal's reaction before Peter orders everyone to get gloves on. I only regret that I couldn't work in a line about getting munched, somewhere.)