Failure

[jenniferjf]

SERIES: Sanctuary
WORDS: 566
DESCRIPTION: Will point of view at end of Revelations.
SPOILER: All Season One vaguely.
WARNINGS: None

My beta, btw, has decided this proves my muses are on steroids.  She may be right... *sigh*  This is probably all TracyJ's fault as she said there was a lack of Will fic which wasn't a pairing and they seemed to take that

Comments

[tamlover]

Nice fic. I do appreciate gen-fic, and fic that references specific, on-screen events. And this is in-character. Will did try, and he did let it go, even though he knew better, knew Ashley was "off" and needed more than time.

I really do think the line "Not even Helen Magnus’s daughter." works on so many levels. It defines her by her mother, not by her own self. I'm not precisely sure whether that's good or bad (probably mostly bad), but it's accurate, it's true-to-form. Especially since her mother has such a powerful presence. And it's a testament to how strong Helen, how powerful her emotional coping methods are, that the association is made in that fashion.

Very nice insights from him. Still, is there no thought the he might have tried to get Ashely to talk to Helen? Or talk to Ashley himself? Helen doesn't *have* to be the to take charge, no matter that that's her normal role. In fact, I think it might have served Ashley better if she were the one to do it.

[jenniferjf]

Hmmm.. Ashley talking to Helen at Will's prompting. Interesting suggestion. Part of the problem with the entire situation is that Ashley could tell, I think, from Helen's reaction from the end of The Five on, that Helen didn't want to talk about it. Though really, she could probably figure it out from the fact Helen hadn't told her herself. So given it was Helen who had effectively put up the barrier between them in the first place, and that she was the parent and thus, really, in a 'dominant' role, I'm not sure Ashley should have or could have forced the issue. I do think, though, Ashley did give Helen several chances to lower the barrier herself, such as right after Helen tells her she can go attack the Cabal and there's rather an awkward pause between them. Only Helen never did so, and I do tend to think Will ought to have realized this barrier existed, Helen was ultimately responsible for it, and it needed to come down.

[tamlover]

Well, Helen wanted Ashley to talk in "Edward" - right? Or have I gotten mixed up? Helen wanted to make the connection, then I think, with Ashley the one holding back. Truthfully, I think that might a reversal from the way things usually were, with Helen the more emotionally reticent one. Well, not a reversal, exactly. Helen actually seems a lot more comfortable talking about her feelings and such than Ashley to me. I mean, she told Will about John to start, then she talked about her frustration at not being able to relate to Ashley. It might be more accurate to say Helen shares of herself, but in a measured way, and Ashley keeps everything substantial bottled up

[jenniferjf]

I totally agree about Ashley bottling up all her feelings and that she needs to move beyond the child-role Helen's unwillingness/inability to share the truth with Ashley has caused her to remain in. Given that, I can see how Will might have suggested Ash be the one to talk to Helen. The problem is, though, the confrontation with Ashley finally 'standing up' to Helen almost has to be Ashley-intitiated if it's to do any good. Otherwise it might just be one-more-person telling Ashley what she should do. Though I tend to think, assuming his sanity is more than short-term, it's really through her relationship with her father that Ashley's likely to get to that point. Because John really does treat Ashley like a capable adult rather than a child-needing emotional protection (as he should) and I actually think that's one of the things that 'drew' Ashley to him

[tamlover]

Well, I'll agree on her trusting Ashley's judgment, but not John's. I mean, he was insane just a few weeks/months ago. A few months to make sure he really is better before trusting his judgment seems highly reasonable to me. I also don't find Ashley to have been drawn to John, myself. Have no familiarity with the webisodes, though, if you're coming from there

[jenniferjf]

Oh, don't get me wrong. Helen's not wrong to not trust John... But I do think John held a mirror up to Ashley and illuminated parts of who she is (or could become if she weren't careful - which is I think where 'killer' comes in) more clearly than anyone has ever understood her before and it's that understanding - of being known and accepted so thoroughly - that I think does almost immediately connect Ashley to John emotionally. And if you recall in Rev1, while Helen is demanding to know why John is there, Ashley's anger is because he's not acting more like a father and coming more often... which strongly, IMHO, implies she wants him to do both