LABYRINTH 2015: NINE ½ WEEKS IN L.A. (American Idol S7 RPF), [Cook/Archuleta] - CUT SCENE

[labyrinth2015]

[Back to Part Two]

[CUT SCENE: ADDITIONAL WARNING. This scene mirrors a scene that was cut from the original Nine ½ Weeks movie and may similarly be regarded as a separate cut scene from this story, which stands alone without it. Please pass over this scene if you think it might be distressing or triggering in any way. Warnings: substance abuse,

Comments

[sophie_448]

Oh, Jay, of all the things I might have wanted more of from this verse (everything. anything. all of it.) this scene might be the one I have wanted most. You've hinted at it more than once, and I always wondered just how it went down. Just how deep and dark and lost they got. This is achingly gorgeous and everything I could have wanted from this moment. You capture the fear and uncertainty and just how bad things have gotten that Arch is willing to play this game. The fact that he really isn't sure at this point whether Cook would do this for real. It hurts, but it's perfect, and just. Thank you.

(on another note, Part 3 seems to be locked.)

[jehane_writes]

Okay, when I finally got to this pill scene? It wrote itself easily, and it kind of creeped me out that I'd been carrying this deep, abusive game inside me since AIRN. I was afraid I'd made DC an irredeemable monster with it, and I'm glad that, for you, I stayed on the right side of that line.

(It is! And I'm a moron! But it's unlocked now :))

[sophie_448]

It is a dark place for sure, and I think under other circumstances it might be too dark, but within the story that you've told, it works. Because I see Cook driving Archie away and attempting suicide to be very much a moment of rebirth. This is the very darkest moment of a long downward spiral, but it's something he comes out the other side of. And to some extent I think he might have never found the strength to stay clean and really get better if he hadn't seen what he was capable of in this moment.

Um ... thoughts! I have them! ♥ ♥ ♥

[jehane_writes]

...your thoughts and insight make me all ♥_♥, bb. Absolutely, this is what I intended from this scene. Up to this point, Cook, like many addicts, thinks he is on top of everything - he's been making excuses for getting back on the stuff, and he's so convincing he's managed to suck Arch into his world, too, such that Arch thinks it's a good thing to pull a stunt like swap his pills, rather than just leave his ass.

That Cook got crazy enough to play this game - it's what kickstarted his conscience during the premiere (although by then he's crazy enough to imagine his conscience in a manifestation of his old self, and think that ODing is the only way to keep Arch safe from him). If he hadn't hit bottom like this, he wouldn't have had the insight and strength to drive Arch away in Part Three, as you say.

And, yes, I did intend the OD and subsequent rehabilitation as a rebirth of sorts for the man. (To a sicker, more fragile self - but then my other thing is that our choices all have consequences.)

AND I HAVE TOO MANY THOUGHTS, OBV <333

[honeybeemmw]

Holy shit. So much abuse all around I felt my body tense while reading this scene. The lack of trust between the two of them, the attempts to have power over or control each other, the co-dependency. They're both so messed up it hurts. :( Powerful scene bb.

[labyrinth2015]

I'm glad this worked for you as a co-dependent scene, bb. I was unhappy with earlier versions which were less balanced and more abusive - I wanted to make Arch's slide believable, and show that he is not a powerless victim (or that he totally lacked responsibility) in this. He's messed up, largely thanks to Cook but also his own choices - and he makes the right one in the end, for both of them.

[princessleia04]

OH MY GOD this is amazing. Its heartbreaking and really really powerful writing.

And yes, part 3 is giving me an access denied message?

I can get to the epilogue but I dont want to skip ahead.

[jehane_writes]

And I didn't think there would be this many early readers! Again with the moron ;) Unlocked now!

[kanikapila]

I'm so glad you included this cut scene. I had wondered about their game with the pills when reading the original story! So sad when Cook is conflicted about whether he could/would go to rehab abd how painful it was for Arch to hear such a confession. But even after that, Arch would still stay with him. Wow, I just love these characters that you've develope!

[labyrinth2015]

I'm glad this scene worked for you, bb. I was nervous about it, and skated thinly over it in the main AIRN. I think it works because Cook is genuinely conflicted, and doesn't know if he's in fact lying? Thank you so much, tho!

[cadt]

I've been away so I'm just now catching up. I have to tell you that this is one of the most powerful pieces I have ever read here. The intensity just pounded against me. I think it is perfection. This one little line "and my boy will grow up and I won't be there --" put me over the edge. I'm going on to Part 3 now but had to let you know how amazing this scene is.

[jehane_writes]

bb, thank you so much. I was trying to keep this tight, without veering into melodrama or into making it too OOC, and I wasn't sure I'd succeeded. And yeah, I'm a parent, and I'd think of my kid in that situation, if I thought I might die, yk? so, just, thank you.