Because You Left, Chapter Thirteen

[lookninjas]

Title: Because You Left, Chapter Thirteen: Special
Pairing/Character(s): Burt, Kurt, Ben, Blaine, and Walt Lloyd
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Chapter takes place in a hospital setting and there's some mention of injuries and treatment, but it's all very vague. Some potentially disturbing imagery right before Walt arrives.
Word Count: About 8000

Comments

[specialj67]

NGL, commenting before I even read the thing but I had to tell you that as soon as I saw Walt listed as appearing this chapter I had the sort of Pavlovian "WAAAAAAALT!" response. And then a good laugh. Oh LOST, what have you done to me!?

Back later with substantive feedback...

ETA for more comments:

Because he's Burt Hummel, bitch! And he knows how to get shit done!

Also, Ben Linus--you write the best damn Ben Linus ever. Srsly.

The convo between WAAAALT and Blaine, that happened for realzies? Or was it a dream-in-a-dream? Or am I making that needlessly complicated??? I am known to do that...

And are we going to get more about Walt in this...? Because yeah, much like LOST, you create more questions than you answer, which is totally cool and all, just, you know, sayin'...

The Room 23 callback just served to remind how supremely WEIRD and FUCKED UP stuff gets on the Island. I remember when they showed that in season 3 and being all O_o. And imagining Blaine experiencing that--yeesh.

Also, you should have included a warning that this chapter would induce Ugly Crying because the thing with Kurt giving Ben the doll and asking about his mother + the Ben/Blaine scene + the Kurt/Blaine scene = me with gritty eyes and a splotchy read face.

[lookninjas]

"They took my son!

Walt! WAAALT!

They took my son!"

/disco beats

The scene with Walt is, for me, basically equivalent to the Taller Ghost Walt/Backwards Talking Walt scenes on LOST; it's part of what makes him special, that he can sort of reach out like that. And because Blaine is very receptive, it makes things interesting. I'm actually not totally sure whose memory Room 23 actually was -- it may have been something Blaine was picking up from Walt; it may have come from somewhere else entirely.

I watched the Room 23 video as often as I could while writing that scene, which was not actually a whole lot. I swear, every time I watched it, it made my brain feel funny. Even in, like, a little YouTube window on a little netbook screen, that thing is freaking overwhelming.

I apologize for the Ugly Crying, but in my defense, no one wants to be that author who's like: "THIS SCENE WILL MAKE YOU CRY SO HARD !!1!one!" and then you just sit there and read it stone-faced, so.

[specialj67]

Oh god, that remix is awesome!

Re: Walt in this chapter: cool, I had that thought for a minute when reading this just because of the feel of the scene and how he was there and then not there. But the conversation they had felt like it definitely happened and wasn't just the result of Blaine's doped up imagination. Plus, I hadn't even thought of the memories of Room 23 not being Blaine's--you blew my mind! Magical Walt is magical. Receptive Blaine is Receptive.

I've watched that episode where they take Karl out of Room 23 a few times, and the one thing that always takes me out of it a bit is the guy guarding the building the room is in. I immediately recognized him from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and was like "what the hell is Mac doing on Craphole Island??" And since we barely get any kind of characterization for that guy, he will forever be Mac to me. And it's still sort of jarring.

[lookninjas]

There's actually (now that I think about it), a thirty-second explanation of what I think Walt's powers are in the next chapter, so that should make things clear. But yeah, I feel like all of the special people on LOST were special in slightly different ways, so I wanted to maintain that with this story. Some people sort of project themselves out, and then some people are more receptive.

I may know who was in Room 23 now. Maybe. I don't know. I'm going to knuckle down with some coffee and some Radiohead and see if I can't chip my way into that scene today before I have to go to work.

Also, I've never really had that problem with going "What the Hell is Character X doing on LOST?" But I have had the reverse problem a few times. Like, isn't Jacob playing the devil on Supernatural now? Or something like that? And the girl who played Charlotte was actually on that really awful "HA HA BROS IN DRAG" sitcom that was mercifully cancelled about two weeks after it premiered, which just made me want to cry. Charlotte! You can do better! Daniel's so sad right now!

[specialj67]

Mac from It's Always Sunny is the only case where that is true for me, otherwise I'm like you with other actors who were on LOST. Mark Pellegrino, Jacob, will always and forever be Jacob to me so seeing his pop as the Devil on SPN, and then later as the head evil vampire on the U.S. adaptation of Being Human, was jarring. Also, his hair on Being Human is Terrible. Also, when Jeremey Davies popped up on Justified, it took me a few episodes to stop seeing him as Daniel dressed in flannel and a trucker hat.