Tell Me the Mystery of the Universe (Chimerical, Kismet)

[syrinx_fic]

Tell Me the Mystery of the Universe
Chimerical
by Syrinx
Rating: PG
Kismet: Fate, destiny.
Summary: The virus never found Edgardale, but Ashleigh's fate was always with Townsend Acres. 
A/N: I'm cherry picking from canon with this one (which somehow achieved epic short story status...how did that happen?!).  I don't believe Edgardale is in Lexington, as

Comments

[lambourngb]

Your AUs are amazing. I'm not sure which one I like better, "Altered" or this. I love the slow sweet build, the pining (oh god am I sucker for a good unrequited love), the teasing, the respect for one another, the everything!!!! I suppose what I love the most is you took a very immature literary character and had her become an adult! (Something no pro writer has done).

Usually I can force myself to enjoy a female character but not here, I loved Ashleigh. She was so well rounded, aware of the absurdity of crushing on her boss, and embracing the humor of it to be his friend. I loved the atmosphere of a sinking sun, a glass of wine, a field full of babies (geez take a page out of my dream life).

And Brad. Oh my did I love Brad. His scheming, his big dreams, the fact he obsesses over a "project horse" (and basically embodied the role of Ashleigh in the books). His sense of humor, his charm, and his big gestures. I did wonder about Lavinia- was that his attempt at constructing his perfect life with the trophy? Did she balk at becoming second-runner to his horses and his friendship with Ashleigh? She clearly knew there were undercurrents going on- I really liked that plot twist that she turned Brad down, it's a move of a strong woman holding out for someone who loves her, and only her.

Back to Ashleigh (and her strong character). You took one pivotal moment in Ashleigh's development- the loss of her home & horse, and wrote a beautiful characterization of who she becomes when that doesn't happen. She's not afraid of losing, I was even call her equitable toward attachment (instead of co-dependent quivering mess she was in the books). It's amazing how loss at 15 stunts someone's emotional development.

My only quibble is I wish this were longer.

[syriinx]

!!!

Thank you!

While I was writing this, I kept thinking that it was very much a condensed novel. I didn't intend for it to be as long as it wound up being, actually. I kind of fell in love with this version of Ashleigh who doesn't really care much about all the high-stakes competition as a way to realize her potential, and can be content and even extremely confident as a broodmare manager. (I wanted that scene with the babies in the field just as much!) So the story ballooned. I had to end it somewhere!

I was really interested in the Lavinia/Brad & Ashleigh issue. Sometimes I keep things in the dark and don't even know my reasons, but one of my personal thoughts on Brad & Lavinia is they're the socially accepted norm. One thing I'm always pondering with Brad/Lavinia in canon is that their marriage literally saved Townsend Acres, because without her funds that farm was almost sunk (I played with that a little in The Price You Pay). A little part of me thinks that canon!Brad traded a lot of his life for the farm's security by marrying Lavinia, but that's neither here nor there. Maybe I'll write a companion piece one day about Lavinia turning Brad down and saying, "Look, it isn't me, okay?" And he'll be all dense and confused about it. And then he shows Ashleigh the ring and finally the cogs all click into the right places when she reacts all weird.

It is kind of amazing who these people become when you take away Ashleigh's trauma and Brad's angst-filled competition with a teen girl and subsequent routine failure. They're stable! Ashleigh crushes on Brad first! Wonders never cease. ;)