namaste | Big Bang Fic: Time Marches On

Big Bang Fic: Time Marches On

Title: Time Marches On
Author: Namaste
Rating: Gen, PG
Length: About 23,500 words
Spoilers: Through "Don't Ever Change," fourth season.
Author's Note: Thanks to

pwcorgigirl,

silja_b and

topaz_eyes for beta and feedback duties.
Summary: House once called change one of the greatest tragedies in life. His teams -- the old one and the newbies -- are learning this even as House himself continues to deal with things he can change, and things he cannot. Casefic with multiple POVs -- each chapter is a different POV -- written for the Big Bang Challenge.
Excerpt: House turned to look back at her, his head slightly cocked to one side. Cameron tried to hold back her smile. She'd missed this moment--that split second when she'd see that she'd gotten his attention, when she could sense his mind coming alive to every possibility, see the light in his eyes change from some faint reflection dimmed by drugs and pain to become something brighter, something that flickered and became stronger with each new clue, something that she'd only sense for a half of a breath before he'd turn away and hide it again.

Find it here at the Big Bang archive site. I'll also archive the fic here, at some point.

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My impulse is to tell you what my favorite parts are, but really I have a hard time separating those things out because the entire thing fit together so well. If hard-pressed to pick a favorite point of view, I'd have to say Chase, but again, it's a hard decision.

Everything read true to the show and true to the characters and the office sub-plot was particularly enjoyable, especially when House tosses out that he wants it back the way it was.

Thanks for sharing this!

Thanks. It was interesting playing with the different POVs, trying to move the story forward (and House's office game) while also hopefully giving some character studies. I'm glad you liked it.

He still missed what he'd had, mourned the life that was dead--the life he'd killed. Some mornings when the alarm went off, he'd lay there in bed, knowing he had to get up, start the long commute to Princeton.
I don’t feel like I know the new fellows all that well so I wasn’t sure if I would like a fic from each of their POVs. I had the strongest reaction to Taub because you managed to weave what we know about his back-story in a fascinating way. It impacted to how sees others and his approach to medicine. I have no medicine expertise but you seem to have a great understanding and made it very believable. I am trying to like Thirteen but she does nothing for me. You seemed to understand her character well; she just bores me.
I kind of had to grit my teeth through the Foreman POV because he’s in such an angry stage at this time in his life that anything and everything is negative. I loved the idea that he could have gotten a job somewhere else if he was willing to not be in charge of a team.
This fic really felt like I was watching an episode. You had the main POV with an interesting and puzzling medical dilemma, an odd secondary story with House playing interior decorator, little glimpses into the lives of the new fellows, and wonderful moments with House and Wilson. Wilson being the only one who is allowed to see him hurt. Wonderful job!

Thank you. I did want it to be episode style, so I'm glad that worked. For the medicine, I lucked out because there's a web site for an adult onset Still's Disease support group that includes a number of case studies from people who have it. I stole info from there, tweaked it as needed while trying to keep it within the realm of medical reality (with medical beta assistance from silja).

But poor Foreman. Not only does he have to put up with crap from House on the series, here I needed him to serve to plot transitioning us from the beginning stages of the story and the case to get us into surgery for Chase and take us further into House's office games. He has to carry a heavy load sometimes.

I really enjoyed this. The plotting and character voices in each section felt absolutely right. But that's to be expected - pretty much every story you write is perfectly crafted.

In a way, it felt almost meta, which I'm sure you intended.

Thanks. It was fun to play with all the characters for one fic -- or almost all of them. Cuddy just barely made it in. I couldn't figure out a way to use her POV.

*gives a standing ovation*

I love a good casefic, and this one is absolute excellence from beginning to end. I particularly like Taub's meditation on what he's lost and how he's trying to catch up, how Kutner's able to use his past skills to read House's damage, and the moment between Thirteen and Ozzie when he asks her what she calls herself. The answer suits her perfectly, with her way of revealing some but not too much about herself.

The best moment, I think, the one that makes the hair stand up on the back of the reader's neck, is when House mentions the hurricane and Wilson intuits that's what the pain is like on days like the one you use for the setting. Woven through all of this is House, who's as restless and unsettled as the weather, and it's a magnificent portrait of how he thinks, works and deals with people.

Thanks -- and thanks again for the feedback when I was wondering if the thing made sense at all, and for listening to me whine when I lost 15 pages of the thing.

This was...wow. Just wow. I loved the overall theme of change, and I love how the fic on a whole read as an episode. I could clearly see each person's involvement and how they reacted - you've got them all down pat.

Wonderful job, congratulations on finishing, and thank you for sharing. :-)

Thanks. After losing the last 15 pages of this due to a computer glitch just after finishing the first draft, I was just glad to have finished it at all.

Hi,

I'm really looking forward to reading this fic, but before I start it, could you possibly reassure me whether it has a happy ending or not (for House and Chase, at least, if not anyone else)? The summary at the archive was a bit worrisome, and although your post here and glancing at the comments (trying not to do more than glance, in case of spoilers *g*) have reassured me somewhat, I'd still appreciate knowing for sure. If it is indeed a tragedy... or at least moderately angstful, well, it won't stop me from reading it. But at least I'll know to save it for a time when I can afford to be tear-jerking all day. :-)

Nope. No tragedies. The quote from House I used was from "The Honeymoon," when House was talking to Stacy about how tragic it is that things keep changing, so it's "tragedy" in the human sense, not in the angst sense.

Thanks!

If they would just do this as a way to incorporate everyone, I would be very happy.

I felt like you got everyone's voice so perfectly. You even found a way for Cameron's and Chase's new jobs to make sense. I wouldn't have thought it was possible.

As hard as it is to get House's voice right, it's even harder to get the way his mind works. You did both perfectly. And the House/Wilson friendship felt like it was lifted from an episode.

But I think my favorites was the Foreman POV because I think he really is as clueless as you depicted. Everything is someone else's fault. He's the only one who understands the way House should be treated and everyone else needs to learn the correct way to react to House. To make my least favorite character (if he fell off the 4th floor balcony, it would be fine with me) the most intriguing is quite an accomplishment.

Thanks. I find Foreman hardest to write simply because I keep arguing with him. It's his POV, so it should include his rationalizations, but at the same time I think that he's reading the situations wrong. So in this, I'm not trying to "fix" him, but rather get inside his head and have him act according to character, even if it's a flawed character. (Just like every other flawed character.)

I couldn't help putting Chase in Foreman's POV to needle him, though, and point out Foreman's faults.

Excellent as always.
Everything fit together so well. It flowed smoothly from one character's POV to the next.
I think my favorite POV was Kutner. You really know how to get deep inside each person's psyche.
Oh, and of course, kudos for having a case they needed to solve. I don't know where you even start with picking a condition or disease. Yikes! Do you pick the disease and work backwards and find other diseases with similar symptoms? Just curious.

I've really enjoyed reading all of the stories in the Big Bang archive. I hope this will be done again.

Thank you. I'd actually had the concept for the fic for some time -- nearly a year, I'd guess -- but needed to find a case to wrap it around. I finally just did a bunch of googling around, looked at the wrongdiagnosis.com web site, hit and followed a bunch of leads that went nowhere, etc., until I finally found the Adult Onset Still's Disease, and its support group web site with more details and case histories. Sometimes I've also used "diagnosis" stories from the NYTimes, from items in health columns, whatever I can find and steal.

The style in which you wrote this, going from POV to POV, was such a wonderful choice. We got to see how each fellow, old and new, is noticing and dealing with particular changes, but still hanging on to old habits. One e.g. that stayed with me was Taub's first glimpse of their patient and his wife, how he noticed physical flaws a plastic surgeon would undoubtedly notice. I also love how we get these different versions of House through all of their eyes, still him, but filtered. It's also interesting that these are all people who look for change to occur in their patients in order to diagnose them, but are so reluctant when it comes to experiencing change themselves.

"Should I be creating some mental scenario of you getting it on with every woman in the hospital? If so, I should warn you that the lock on the janitor's closet doesn't work." That was priceless.

I love the scene where the more familiar faces seem to be convening in the conference room. It seemed oddly warm and comforting.

I also love Kutner's quiet insight and curiosity. He's my favorite new fellow, I think. It's tough to choose between him and Taub.

The reveal of the disease was great. The trigger was very appropriate. I'll admit I followed very little of the medicine, but I appreciate your work on it. I really liked the character portraits, though. Nice job.

Thank you. It was hard to come up with a summary for this fic: It's a bunch of character profiles, and a casefic, and some House and Wilson friendship, and then there is a touch of metaphor about the weather, and then ...

And I like Kutner too. He comes across as a doof because he says stupid stuff, but at the same time, I like the fact that he's not afraid to say things, he's not afraid to look like an idiot and it's so refreshing to have someone who actually enjoys being there.

I could almost taste the melancholy-but maybe it's just the way I experienced this story, which is, btw, great^^

Thanks, and yeah, I think you're right. There is some definite melancholy, but then change does remind you of everything you're leaving behind.

An absolutely brilliant story, as always! I'm in awe of your ability to get into the heads of all the characters. Each one existed completely as an individual, strengths and foibles alike. And I loved how you were able to weave in the procedural aspect of the show without sacrificing character interest, which isn't an easy balance to strike.

The framing metaphor of the storm was brilliant, and it was so apt that Wilson inadvertently provided the epiphany moment, and came to understand a little more of House's pain. Though poor Wilson and his doomed relationships. At least if House knows he can just wait for the inevitable to happen, Wilson might get a little more time to enjoy being with Amber!

Thanks for sharing this wonderful story!

Thanks. Back when I first started envisioning this -- probably ten months ago -- all I had was a weather metaphor with each fellow using some kind of a storm to define House: flash floods, blizzards, etc. By the time I finally took the rough concept and started to write it, it made more sense for House to be the one to use the metaphor directly on himself, and of course the only one he'd provide that metaphor to is Wilson.

The use of POV was very effective, and each one seemed completely in character. Too bad we haven't gotten as much character development on the show this season.

And of course, if House isn't totally believable, nothing else will work. His rearranging of the furniture was brilliant. Thanks for another lovely piece of writing.

Thanks. I'd thought of doing something with multiple POVs for a while, and decided this was the opportunity to go for it with something a little bit longer. The House Feng Shui was just a bonus.

I enjoyed this very much, it was like an extra long and involving episode. Your style is perfect, the writing doesn't draw any attention to itself and away from the story.

You write all the characters really well but I especially liked the sections on the new fellows, it's great to read more about them.

Thank you!

Thanks. I wish other writers would do more with the new fellows. They're kind of fun to explore -- not that there's anything wrong with the old ones, but I enjoy having new toys in my sandbox to play with.

I enjoyed that a lot - I love the way you write, and it fitted really well with the episodic format here. I really liked the section with the new fellows - there's not enough fic involving them yet, I think. One of the best bits was House deciding to rearrange the furniture (or rather, have it rearranged) and the ensuing reactions from everyone else.

*mems*

I really liked how subtle the story was, esp. the part where House obviously fell in the snow, but it's an event that's off-stage.
So all we see is: Cameron's reaction to House wearing boots instead of sneakers; Taub's reaction to watching Wilson watch House; Kutner's reaction to the fact that House's jeans are wet.

I think the best part of me was when Taub watches Wilson watch House, but Taub isn't fast enough to turn his eyes away, so when House glances back at the group, he only sees Taub staring back at him, and not Wilson.

Don't know why that moved me so much, but it seemed very true to life.

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Big Bang Fic: Time Marches On

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Wonderful

Re: Wonderful

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Best part