Mavericks

I've mused sometimes on the Maverick family. I'm amused that I'm not a big fan of Bart, while my WWW RP partner is not a big fan of Bret. We both like Beau.

I'm not sure what she doesn't like about Bret. I think the reasons I don't always like Bart, though, are #1, Because he often seems more bland in personality than the other two, and #2, Because when one brother is being obnoxious to the other, it usually seems like it's Bart being obnoxious to Bret.

The popular episode Two Beggars on Horseback, which I remember talking about before, has both brothers trying to get to where one of them can get his check cashed. There's only enough money for one, so they're trying to outsmart each other to get there first. But unless something was cut from the version I saw (which is possible; I haven't watched the uncut yet), the worst thing Bret did was to try to sneak out of the hotel ahead of Bart. Meanwhile, Bart pulled pranks to further slow Bret down. I'm not a fan of practical jokes, so that would naturally annoy me. And it kind of irritated me that when he's talking to Patricia Barry's character (at least, I think it was her), he paints a picture of Bret as being the prankster. If Bret did anything in that episode, it was only after Bart provoked him. But as mentioned, I don't recall him doing anything.

(I also remember another episode where Bart tried to get one up on Bret, and succeeded, and was very obnoxious about it. Although maybe someone else wouldn't think he was obnoxious. And maybe that scene is actually one reason why my RP partner likes Bart so much, since he disguised himself and she likes Artemus Gordon and his disguises.)

Bart eventually gets himself into life-threatening trouble and Bret immediately abandons the nonsense of their competition to come help him. He also expresses the opinion that Bart is being silly and they should compromise, which they do when Bret frees him. They decide they'll share one check. (In the end, they both get all their money by tricking a crooked businessman who left Bart to die.)

Of course, I'm sure that if Bret had been the one to get into trouble, Bart would have abandoned the competition too. Bart has had some very good episodes; I'm particularly fond of his first one, where he does indeed have to save Bret, and The Goose-Drownder from season 3, which is basically a huge H.M. Wynant hurt/comfort fest. But I still like the other two guys better.

I was actually surprised to learn that my WWW RP partner likes Beau, though. The main thing that puzzles me about Beau is that it isn't always easy to tell that he and Bart care about each other, while it's always very clear with Bret and Bart. James Garner and Jack Kelly just had amazing chemistry together. Jack Kelly and Roger Moore ... not so much. I think Roger Moore had better chemistry with James Garner, albeit he didn't play Beau in the one episode where they're onscreen together.

In the first Beau episode, he's abducted by a madman and tries to get a message across to Bart for help. Bart comes, of course, but when he receives the initial communications, he really doesn't react like he's upset or worried. If it had been Bret in trouble, he would have reacted. (This could, however, be the product of bad writing, since the writing honestly wasn't as good by the fourth season and that was the main reason why Roger didn't stick around for long.)

Then in another episode, Bart is playing some tricks on current enemies and needs a thousand dollars from Beau. Later, Bart gets in trouble and Beau shows up to help him. When the crooks are caught, Bart exclaims, "You knew I was in trouble and you came for me, didn't you?" Beau says No; he came to get his thousand dollars back. However, it's not as cut-and-dry as that, because Beau really didn't know Bart was in trouble. As far as he knew, Bart was still pulling pranks and hadn't become a victim of the bad guys himself. Beau was probably rather exasperated when he arrived and found that Bart had gotten in over his head.

I do think they care about each other; Bart acts like he's happy to see Beau when he greets him coming back from England in the first episode. And they travel together sometimes and seem to manage alright with that (until a conflict of interest comes along). There's the general shenanigans of trying to beat each other to money or girls or both, but there's that with Bret and Bart, too. It just comes of how the whole family was raised.

But that doesn't change the fact that I just don't feel any chemistry between Bart and Beau. Beau does better solo. Ah, how I wish there had been even one episode with him and Bret together.

I wrote a Maverick story during the summer where Beau is shot trying to protect Bart and Bart can't deal with it. I definitely think he would be distraught if that happened, but on the other hand, it's kind of sad if Beau has to get himself shot for there to be a better indication of caring between them.

Victim or comforter

An interesting thing I've observed about hurt/comfort for a long time: while it's fun to put your favorite in the position of victim and have others react to it, if you're planning to revolve a story around hurt/comfort, the victim likely won't be able to be a very active participant for most of the story. It's the comforter who really gets to be awesome, and who really gets the lion's share of the focus, especially if the victim is in and out of consciousness (or just plain out). So if your story involves a character you like and one you don't like as much, you may want to think twice about who ends up the victim and who is the comforter. (If you like both characters, you may want to trade off doing stories both ways.)

After I finished that last LJ entry, I got a plunnie. I craved more Bart and Beau hurt/comfort. I briefly entertained the thought of Beau as the victim again, but then I decided that I should turn the tables and explore things from the other side this time. So now I've got a very badly injured Bart and a very protective Beau.

When I did the first Maverick story in the summer, I don't think my original outline called for Beau to show up as a ghost after dying. But I quickly realized he wasn't going to get much chance to be actively in the story if I didn't do something like that, so I adjusted the outline and Beau's participation from the other side of the veil became one of the key elements.

For this story, Beau will most likely be conscious through the whole thing, unless I decide to have him get knocked out at some point. Bart will drift in and out of consciousness and I'll focus the story largely on writing for Beau (who comes a lot easier for me, maybe partially because of his more formal speech pattern).

Then again, it all depends on the character. I think I write for Snakes pretty well too, despite his more drawling speech pattern. Snakes still sounds a little more educated than Pinto, who generally deviates to a more rustic vernacular. Snakes is a high-class riverboat gambler and suspected crime boss. And Beau has just run into him.

I know my original headcanon called for Snakes to have only met Bret Maverick, but I decided I had to retcon that. Luckily, it's only been mentioned in my RPs, and in a Tumblr-only ficlet. When I decided I wanted to do another Bart and Beau exploration fic, I also decided I wanted Beau to interact with Snakes. I briefly worried that would mess with my timeline for Snakes, but then I realized it would fit right in. Beau was exiled to England presumably right after the war and spent five years there, so he was back in 1870 and my timeline calls for Snakes to die in 1871. (And then be restored to life in 1874.)

I originally considered this story being either a short oneshot or a long oneshot, but as I wrote, I decided it would work best as a multi-chapter. I'm not entirely sure yet how it will develop, but as with all Snakes stories, even the ones in the 19th century, he will display a more human side. At the moment he's taken pity on Bart and Beau and has agreed to help them. He tested Beau to see if Beau would agree to pay him and surrender to Beau's enemies if Snakes agreed to look after Bart (contrary to most of the people Snakes deals with, who would sell anyone out). When Beau conceded, fearing it was the only way Bart would get help in their situation, Snakes was stunned and decided to help them. But he'll probably want to talk to Beau when they get to safety and he'll be his generally cynical self.

I'm debating whether the story should end up unfolding with Beau and Snakes locked in a competition and Beau eventually outwitting Snakes and getting the Maverick money back, and breaking Snakes' control over the town, or if it should be a quieter fic with conversation, trying to help Bart, and an attack by the enemies, followed by Snakes and Beau deciding on a mutual departure and Snakes keeping the town for the time being. The first way would be more in keeping with the Maverick series, but the second way might fit the fic better. I'll have to see. Maybe I'll even combine the ways.

One thing I will say: I'm pretty useless on poker playing, and on coming up with complex, Maverick-level schemes. That old story I was writing about Tony Ferano from The Monkees fizzled because I needed to have a lot about poker playing and my eyes crossed every time I tried to read the rules or figure out poker tricks. So on the surface it would seem like I would not be a good choice for a Maverick writer. I can't even write that story with Snakes encountering Frank Harper because it would involve poker a lot. And I stalled on my Bret meets Snakes fic because of a poker game.

But then again, I only rarely stick to any series' formula when I write for it. The stuff I write for YGO barely ever features duels. Perry Mason doesn't revolve around innocent people arrested. Still, I keep formulaic elements intact: YGO has supernatural stuff going on, Perry Mason has more realistic crimes to solve (usually). And of course, both series and anything else I write for will be very character-driven.

So hopefully I can figure something out for this current fic that will be true to the show and the characters as well as to what I feel able to write.