Knots: Like a Diamond in the Sky (12/12)

[extrabitter]

Part One (By Pitza)
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
Part Seven
Part Eight
Part Nine
Part Ten
Part Eleven

Author's note: This is the end, told from House's point of view. I'll include a few acknowledgments, but there will be a longer piece on the process of writing this series on housefic_meta soon. So, thanks to namasteyoga for a very quick sort of beta

Comments

[geshonesix]

Glad you finished this fic. I reviewed an earlier chapter and I feel the strength and potential of this fic and its premise have not been be realised in either the subsequent chapters or the conclusion. The AU angle and the ‘out of character’ angle (because I do believe Wilson raping House falls within those parameters) attracted me to this fic. Initially it felt like an exploration of these characters through a much different lens to those usually seen in fanfic and capable of breaking beyond accepted scenarios into something more challenging. However the later chapters betrayed this early promise and I feel as though the brutal reality painted in the early scenes lost the courage to push this situation to a harsh and realistic conclusion. The therapist session evolved into an exposition tool to gloss over, rather than offer insight into, Wilson’s, motivation and related guilt. As this piece developed, it seemed more apologetic for its premise. The character’s action and thoughts morphed to suit this end and retracted from a sexual assault to an issue of perception and debated consent. I don’t know how much research was carried out into male on male rape, but the resolution felt far from authentic for such a radical preposition. The subject matter and character expression are worthy of far more realism than a rather weak and convenient ‘maybe it wasn’t rape after all’ resolution. If it was necessary to avoid a more realistic and depressing accuracy in favour of something which would enable this fic to meet ‘canon’, then it wasn’t a price worth paying. The closing chapters felt tired jaded and suffered from a lack of the imagination which powered the initial concept. Almost as though, after the initial ‘Wow! Rape!’ buzz had worn off, it was more than happy to settle into the familiar territory of an overtly self-aware dissection of the main protagonists.

From around the fourth chapter it felt as though House and Wilson were dealing with the aftermath of a bad fight or argument rather than rape; an act with inherently profound consequences for any victim or situation, which could only be magnified in intensity by the proximity of friendship between House and Wilson. In that sense, if isolated from the piece in its entirety, the writing reads well enough, but it is not close to indicative of the depth or courage needed to depict a radical concept with the skill such a task requires and deserves.

[extrabitter]

Yes, the story ends with both characters in denial, getting back to a place where they can function out of necessity. I agree with you that the piece backs away from the premise, and from the original style. I'm not sure why that happened, and I'm glad somebody else noticed.

Honestly, I'm not sure that I would have been able to publish anything that met your expectations. (Written it? Possibly, but not while carrying on my day-to-day life.) I'm not completely satisfied with the way this turned out. On the other hand, having written this may enable me to get closer to what I want to produce. I started spinning my wheels a little more than half way through and wanted to be done with it.

Thanks for noticing; I mean that.

Well Said

[geshonesix]

Wow. Thought the end vaguely unsatisfying but couldn't say why. You were able to put my thoughts into words....excatly! Thanks.