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Comment fics so far from the challenge at 1_million_words:
Ascent (Lucifer, Dan)
It’s finally happened. After what had been years to him but Lucifer and Amenadiel have since explained was only a few months on Earth trapped in Hell playing ping pong either alone or with whichever demon Lucifer had roped into playing him, then those few days on Earth unable to be seen by anyone other than Lucifer, Mazikeen, Amenadiel or Rory, Dan finally gets his ascent to Heaven, his reunion with Charlotte. Yet he also thinks back to a song he and Chloe had danced to at their wedding, Heaven Is A Place On Earth, and he now feels that song has a whole new meaning to it.
He hadn’t been convinced of the existence of Heaven at one time, and had dismissed it as a meaningless platitude when Amenadiel had claimed Charlotte was in heaven, not knowing his friend’s true identity at the time and that that was something Amenadiel could genuinely know. But after he’d taken that last chance to talk to Chloe, knowing it would only be a matter of time before she lost the ability to see him, and talking to Trixie while in Vincent Le Mec’s body, knowing Trixie didn’t know it was him, Dan had come to the conclusion that Earth was his Heaven.
As he spent time on Earth, he thought about how much he had missed all this, sharing beers with Amenadiel as he listens to his Charlie stories, riding alongside him in the cop car for real rather than trying to communicate with him from the back and just ending up confusing Harris, getting to help Trixie with her school projects and listening to her talk about things that happened at school, sharing jokes with Ella and debriefing with Chloe about cases that had him stumped, even bouncing off theories with Lucifer who would help them all to see things in a different way. (Funny, he couldn’t remember exactly when they’d become friends, when Lucifer had started calling him Daniel instead of Detective Douche, and Dan had got past his initial loathing to see Lucifer for the good guy he was.) If there had been any way of going back to his old life on Earth, at that point Dan would have taken it.
If Dan had been given the chance to stay on Earth, his priority would have been being the best father to Trixie that he could be; however, he understands now that she already believes that was what he was, so he can ascend to Heaven with a clear conscience, to look forward to a future with Charlotte, able to still see Amenadiel, knowing Trixie will eventually join him there one day. Earth had been his Heaven, at least in comparison to Hell, yet now he’s ascending to the real thing, he finally accepts that he deserves to be there, and in a way that he would never have believed when he first met the guy, he actually has Lucifer Morningstar to thank.
(evil) twins, Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, Kelly Beasley
Kelly didn’t tell Faran this in the moment when Faran accused her of really being Karen, claimed that the twins had switched identities and Kelly was the one to die while Karen assumed the Kelly role, but there had been times when she had wondered what would have happened if she had tried something along those lines, if she had in fact assumed the Karen identity, claiming Kelly was the one to fall.
She might have even gotten away with it for a while. The twins did switch identities all the time, had done since they were in elementary school. And the number of times her mother had called her Karen since Karen died, Kelly even wondered how long she could have pulled that off with her mother. Her father, she wasn’t so sure about. With Karen having always been his favourite while Kelly felt barely tolerated, a part of Kelly wondered what it would be like to finally get some affection from him for a change. But if it had come down to it, she didn’t think it would have taken him long to pick up on it.
As for Greg, no one knew that Kelly was actually the one that had liked him first. She’d made the mistake of confiding to Karen how she felt, and by the end of the day, Karen had arranged her first date with him. Kelly had been forced to plaster on a fake smile, pretending to be happy for her twin, while wondering why she had ever expected anything else. Karen always had to be Number 1, already came first with their parents, and had to be the star at ballet. Kelly was actually a much better dancer than anyone had known while Karen was alive; it was true what she had told Faran that she could never let that show because Karen always had to be the star. Why had Kelly expected anything else? Why had she thought that for once in their lives, she could be the one with the boyfriend?
She wasn’t quite sure now what she had hoped to achieve at that party back in spring when she’d gone to Karen with the story about Greg kissing Imogen, channeling her sister in that moment of hoping to convince Karen that there had been more to that than there was, maybe thinking maybe there would be a chance for her if Greg and Karen did break up. But as it was, Karen had come to the conclusion that Imogen had initiated the whole thing, chosen to remain with Greg and Kelly’s chance was gone before it even got started.
Kelly had taken steps towards becoming more Karen, coming out of her shell, dancing as she always knew she could, asking Greg to call her Karen when they were together; but she’d come to the conclusion now that she was happier being Kelly. She had friends now who liked her for herself, Greg had come through to help Kelly when she needed him, and if she’d taken on the persona of Karen, the so called evil twin, she wouldn’t have had that chance, and she’s better off being herself.
Truth (Control Z, Natalia)
As much as Natalia had been determined at the time to conceal the fact that she had stolen the money intended for the NONA event and spent it on herself, and as much as she hated the way Raul had gone about things (where did he get off, anyway, making that big thing about how there should be no more secrets when he was keeping the biggest secret of them all?) and regrets her own part in outing Isabela, she’s starting to think she might be able to see where he’s coming from.
They’re both keeping secrets right now, Javier and herself; Javier by not coming out and telling Natalia he still loves Sofia, and Natalia by pretending she doesn’t know that she is his second choice. Sofia and Raul seem happy together, from what Natalia understands (she keeps in touch, although with Raul more than Sofia), but Natalia knows that if something did happen and Sofia was single again, Javier would want to be with her again. She’s not sure if Javier would actually act on it, or whether he would stick with Natalia because he felt he had to; either way, she knows she doesn’t want to be in a relationship with someone who doesn’t really want to be with her. But at the same time, Natalia doesn’t want to be the one to bring the subject up, force the issue, because another part of her is scared of hearing him admit the truth that Sofia is the one he really wants. In a way it’s easier for her to go on pretending she hasn’t noticed anything, to say nothing, to keep him by her side. Sofia and Raul are happy; Sofia actually seems to like the fact that Raul had done so much crazy shit to get her. Although Natalia wouldn’t want a boyfriend to do quite that for her, she envies Sofia in a way because Sofia can be secure in Raul’s love for her in a way that Natalia can’t.
If Maria were still here, Natalia could have talked it through with her. When Natalia thinks of her sister, again she thinks that Raul and Sofia were right all along about secrets. If she hadn’t had so many secrets to keep, would Maria have been alive today? Natalia thinks of Maria, unable to talk to anyone about her role in the cover up of Principal Susana’s death; the whole thing had started with the secret affair she and Pablo were keeping from Isabela, leading to her abortion, and Natalia had put her through so much with the sugar daddy thing and the drug dealers, and saving Natalia had been the only reason Maria was there at all when Susana died. Leaving Mexico City for Acapulco had not been enough to save Maria; the only thing that could have would have been to turn back the clock, to speak the truth; as Sofia had led them all in coming clean about the events surrounding Susana’s death, Natalia had been unable to stop herself from thinking how if they had told the truth sooner, Maria would still have been with her.
A part of Natalia feels like she should be the one to speak the truth now, to set them both free from the lie they’re living; it had felt liberating to confess what happened with Susana, and in one way it would end the uncertainty that Natalia’s been living under. Yet another part of her isn’t sure that she’s ready to make that leap, to cut the tie still binding her to Javier, let go of that safety net and move on to a future all her own.
Birthdays, (Lost, Richard Alpert)
Although he had no intention of discussing it with Benjamin Linus when he asked the question, Richard did remember birthdays. He just chose not to acknowledge the date; he still remembered it, of course, although most people on the island were unaware of when it was. Jacob may well have known, and Alex had asked him the date when he had attended the party Ben had thrown for her eighth birthday, but otherwise he had never spoken of it. As it happened, Richard’s birthday was not that long after Alex’s, and when the date had come around, he’d opened his front door to find a bunch of flowers on his doorstep, and known immediately who they were from.
The last birthday that had counted for anything at all had been the last one he had spent with Isabella back in El Socorro, planning for the future they intended to start in the New World. Although Isabella had tried to hide it at the time, determined to give Richard a good birthday, Richard now knew that his wife was already sick then, but continuing to talk about their new life as though she truly believed it would happen. Richard had tried to hold on to the memory of that birthday over the years, but had found that he would forget things like what they’d had for dinner that day; he’d wanted to punch Ben when he’d made that comment about “You do remember birthdays, don’t you, Richard?”, but knew that it wasn’t really Ben he was upset with, but himself, for forgetting even a moment of that last birthday he’d shared with Isabella.
The next year, technically his birthday and yet he was not a year older, Richard had sat by the ocean, reflecting on what had changed over the year. The purpose of birthdays had been to celebrate becoming a year older, which Richard would no longer do; the date had no meaning to him now, and he would no longer acknowledge it.
The first year after he’d left the island, Richard was surprised when Sawyer, Miles and Frank turned up with some beers to celebrate with him; he’d wondered how they’d even known the date, but then remembered that Sawyer had helped him with fake paperwork for starting over on the mainland, and he’d given his correct birthday. Although he hadn’t intended to celebrate, he now understood that it was fitting that he did; the passage of time counted for him once more in his new life, and what better way to mark the occasion than by celebrating it with those who had helped him escape what he now realised was his curse?
Hoping to continue while this challenge continues, although not sure what I will do yet. Still working on that Fringe alternate universe series as well and hoping to be able to put up another chapter to it soon.
Ascent (Lucifer, Dan)
It’s finally happened. After what had been years to him but Lucifer and Amenadiel have since explained was only a few months on Earth trapped in Hell playing ping pong either alone or with whichever demon Lucifer had roped into playing him, then those few days on Earth unable to be seen by anyone other than Lucifer, Mazikeen, Amenadiel or Rory, Dan finally gets his ascent to Heaven, his reunion with Charlotte. Yet he also thinks back to a song he and Chloe had danced to at their wedding, Heaven Is A Place On Earth, and he now feels that song has a whole new meaning to it.
He hadn’t been convinced of the existence of Heaven at one time, and had dismissed it as a meaningless platitude when Amenadiel had claimed Charlotte was in heaven, not knowing his friend’s true identity at the time and that that was something Amenadiel could genuinely know. But after he’d taken that last chance to talk to Chloe, knowing it would only be a matter of time before she lost the ability to see him, and talking to Trixie while in Vincent Le Mec’s body, knowing Trixie didn’t know it was him, Dan had come to the conclusion that Earth was his Heaven.
As he spent time on Earth, he thought about how much he had missed all this, sharing beers with Amenadiel as he listens to his Charlie stories, riding alongside him in the cop car for real rather than trying to communicate with him from the back and just ending up confusing Harris, getting to help Trixie with her school projects and listening to her talk about things that happened at school, sharing jokes with Ella and debriefing with Chloe about cases that had him stumped, even bouncing off theories with Lucifer who would help them all to see things in a different way. (Funny, he couldn’t remember exactly when they’d become friends, when Lucifer had started calling him Daniel instead of Detective Douche, and Dan had got past his initial loathing to see Lucifer for the good guy he was.) If there had been any way of going back to his old life on Earth, at that point Dan would have taken it.
If Dan had been given the chance to stay on Earth, his priority would have been being the best father to Trixie that he could be; however, he understands now that she already believes that was what he was, so he can ascend to Heaven with a clear conscience, to look forward to a future with Charlotte, able to still see Amenadiel, knowing Trixie will eventually join him there one day. Earth had been his Heaven, at least in comparison to Hell, yet now he’s ascending to the real thing, he finally accepts that he deserves to be there, and in a way that he would never have believed when he first met the guy, he actually has Lucifer Morningstar to thank.
(evil) twins, Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, Kelly Beasley
Kelly didn’t tell Faran this in the moment when Faran accused her of really being Karen, claimed that the twins had switched identities and Kelly was the one to die while Karen assumed the Kelly role, but there had been times when she had wondered what would have happened if she had tried something along those lines, if she had in fact assumed the Karen identity, claiming Kelly was the one to fall.
She might have even gotten away with it for a while. The twins did switch identities all the time, had done since they were in elementary school. And the number of times her mother had called her Karen since Karen died, Kelly even wondered how long she could have pulled that off with her mother. Her father, she wasn’t so sure about. With Karen having always been his favourite while Kelly felt barely tolerated, a part of Kelly wondered what it would be like to finally get some affection from him for a change. But if it had come down to it, she didn’t think it would have taken him long to pick up on it.
As for Greg, no one knew that Kelly was actually the one that had liked him first. She’d made the mistake of confiding to Karen how she felt, and by the end of the day, Karen had arranged her first date with him. Kelly had been forced to plaster on a fake smile, pretending to be happy for her twin, while wondering why she had ever expected anything else. Karen always had to be Number 1, already came first with their parents, and had to be the star at ballet. Kelly was actually a much better dancer than anyone had known while Karen was alive; it was true what she had told Faran that she could never let that show because Karen always had to be the star. Why had Kelly expected anything else? Why had she thought that for once in their lives, she could be the one with the boyfriend?
She wasn’t quite sure now what she had hoped to achieve at that party back in spring when she’d gone to Karen with the story about Greg kissing Imogen, channeling her sister in that moment of hoping to convince Karen that there had been more to that than there was, maybe thinking maybe there would be a chance for her if Greg and Karen did break up. But as it was, Karen had come to the conclusion that Imogen had initiated the whole thing, chosen to remain with Greg and Kelly’s chance was gone before it even got started.
Kelly had taken steps towards becoming more Karen, coming out of her shell, dancing as she always knew she could, asking Greg to call her Karen when they were together; but she’d come to the conclusion now that she was happier being Kelly. She had friends now who liked her for herself, Greg had come through to help Kelly when she needed him, and if she’d taken on the persona of Karen, the so called evil twin, she wouldn’t have had that chance, and she’s better off being herself.
Truth (Control Z, Natalia)
As much as Natalia had been determined at the time to conceal the fact that she had stolen the money intended for the NONA event and spent it on herself, and as much as she hated the way Raul had gone about things (where did he get off, anyway, making that big thing about how there should be no more secrets when he was keeping the biggest secret of them all?) and regrets her own part in outing Isabela, she’s starting to think she might be able to see where he’s coming from.
They’re both keeping secrets right now, Javier and herself; Javier by not coming out and telling Natalia he still loves Sofia, and Natalia by pretending she doesn’t know that she is his second choice. Sofia and Raul seem happy together, from what Natalia understands (she keeps in touch, although with Raul more than Sofia), but Natalia knows that if something did happen and Sofia was single again, Javier would want to be with her again. She’s not sure if Javier would actually act on it, or whether he would stick with Natalia because he felt he had to; either way, she knows she doesn’t want to be in a relationship with someone who doesn’t really want to be with her. But at the same time, Natalia doesn’t want to be the one to bring the subject up, force the issue, because another part of her is scared of hearing him admit the truth that Sofia is the one he really wants. In a way it’s easier for her to go on pretending she hasn’t noticed anything, to say nothing, to keep him by her side. Sofia and Raul are happy; Sofia actually seems to like the fact that Raul had done so much crazy shit to get her. Although Natalia wouldn’t want a boyfriend to do quite that for her, she envies Sofia in a way because Sofia can be secure in Raul’s love for her in a way that Natalia can’t.
If Maria were still here, Natalia could have talked it through with her. When Natalia thinks of her sister, again she thinks that Raul and Sofia were right all along about secrets. If she hadn’t had so many secrets to keep, would Maria have been alive today? Natalia thinks of Maria, unable to talk to anyone about her role in the cover up of Principal Susana’s death; the whole thing had started with the secret affair she and Pablo were keeping from Isabela, leading to her abortion, and Natalia had put her through so much with the sugar daddy thing and the drug dealers, and saving Natalia had been the only reason Maria was there at all when Susana died. Leaving Mexico City for Acapulco had not been enough to save Maria; the only thing that could have would have been to turn back the clock, to speak the truth; as Sofia had led them all in coming clean about the events surrounding Susana’s death, Natalia had been unable to stop herself from thinking how if they had told the truth sooner, Maria would still have been with her.
A part of Natalia feels like she should be the one to speak the truth now, to set them both free from the lie they’re living; it had felt liberating to confess what happened with Susana, and in one way it would end the uncertainty that Natalia’s been living under. Yet another part of her isn’t sure that she’s ready to make that leap, to cut the tie still binding her to Javier, let go of that safety net and move on to a future all her own.
Birthdays, (Lost, Richard Alpert)
Although he had no intention of discussing it with Benjamin Linus when he asked the question, Richard did remember birthdays. He just chose not to acknowledge the date; he still remembered it, of course, although most people on the island were unaware of when it was. Jacob may well have known, and Alex had asked him the date when he had attended the party Ben had thrown for her eighth birthday, but otherwise he had never spoken of it. As it happened, Richard’s birthday was not that long after Alex’s, and when the date had come around, he’d opened his front door to find a bunch of flowers on his doorstep, and known immediately who they were from.
The last birthday that had counted for anything at all had been the last one he had spent with Isabella back in El Socorro, planning for the future they intended to start in the New World. Although Isabella had tried to hide it at the time, determined to give Richard a good birthday, Richard now knew that his wife was already sick then, but continuing to talk about their new life as though she truly believed it would happen. Richard had tried to hold on to the memory of that birthday over the years, but had found that he would forget things like what they’d had for dinner that day; he’d wanted to punch Ben when he’d made that comment about “You do remember birthdays, don’t you, Richard?”, but knew that it wasn’t really Ben he was upset with, but himself, for forgetting even a moment of that last birthday he’d shared with Isabella.
The next year, technically his birthday and yet he was not a year older, Richard had sat by the ocean, reflecting on what had changed over the year. The purpose of birthdays had been to celebrate becoming a year older, which Richard would no longer do; the date had no meaning to him now, and he would no longer acknowledge it.
The first year after he’d left the island, Richard was surprised when Sawyer, Miles and Frank turned up with some beers to celebrate with him; he’d wondered how they’d even known the date, but then remembered that Sawyer had helped him with fake paperwork for starting over on the mainland, and he’d given his correct birthday. Although he hadn’t intended to celebrate, he now understood that it was fitting that he did; the passage of time counted for him once more in his new life, and what better way to mark the occasion than by celebrating it with those who had helped him escape what he now realised was his curse?
Hoping to continue while this challenge continues, although not sure what I will do yet. Still working on that Fringe alternate universe series as well and hoping to be able to put up another chapter to it soon.