Thud! Oh, no. This is the last chapter. (I have so looked forward to every new posting of this and sad there won’t be another for a while.) You realize you shouldn’t stop here. Although, I must congratulate your good judgment and taste at choosing this as a logical breaking-off point before deciding where to go next. I surely hope that your engagement with the character of Vaysh will force you to write more.
This is a difficult and interesting chapter to write and read. You stick very close to canon but explode the reader’s understanding of Vaysh (and Pellaz as well) by writing it from the different POV. The thing I think I love the most about what you have done with this story is that Vaysh is written as a survivor and not just a nutcase, which would be a trap that would be so easy to fall into. His grief and broken heart are so well developed without turning the story into an unmitigated (and, therefore, not very sympathetic) angst fest. The description of his first encounter with Ashmael is heartbreaking (the physical description of how he sees Ashmael in particular). Yet you make me believe that Vaysh has a backbone. Would love to see his impressions and commentary on continuing parts of the story. The account of his taking aruna with Pellaz is lovely, because you write it as not just a drunken accident or semi-non-consensual. Once again you avoid the usual fanfic pitfalls when faced with this type of a plotline and give us a character we can care about and not just a sorry mess.
P.S. Forgive me again for continuing to correct typos.
Well, there will be an epilogue; I just need to get away from the computer and go write it! :) But I didn't want to venture too far further into canon; I've really enjoyed (?? mostly enjoyed, but at times it has been so hard being in Vaysh's head and heart) writing this and shedding light on Vaysh at least as how I perceive him. I'm glad that you felt I kept him in character while showing these well-known scenes from his POV. He does have a spine, and he's a very complicated character, which was why I had to struggle before I even started, to know his motivations and how to reconcile everything he's forced to endure. The aruna I framed in that context due to canon, since Pellaz says he sees challenge in Vaysh's eyes, and to me that means Vaysh was daring him not to go. I think fanon would dictate that it was somewhat noncon, but they talk and practically spoon together and I really enjoyed the thought of Vaysh being proactive in that.
Thank you so much for your effusive comments. I'll look forward to writing more Wraeththu fic, but perhaps with a bit more optimism in it!! :)
This is a difficult and interesting chapter to write and read. You stick very close to canon but explode the reader’s understanding of Vaysh (and Pellaz as well) by writing it from the different POV. The thing I think I love the most about what you have done with this story is that Vaysh is written as a survivor and not just a nutcase, which would be a trap that would be so easy to fall into. His grief and broken heart are so well developed without turning the story into an unmitigated (and, therefore, not very sympathetic) angst fest. The description of his first encounter with Ashmael is heartbreaking (the physical description of how he sees Ashmael in particular). Yet you make me believe that Vaysh has a backbone. Would love to see his impressions and commentary on continuing parts of the story. The account of his taking aruna with Pellaz is lovely, because you write it as not just a drunken accident or semi-non-consensual. Once again you avoid the usual fanfic pitfalls when faced with this type of a plotline and give us a character we can care about and not just a sorry mess.
P.S. Forgive me again for continuing to correct typos.
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Thank you so much for your effusive comments. I'll look forward to writing more Wraeththu fic, but perhaps with a bit more optimism in it!! :)
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