Comments | halfshellvenus: Prison Break Gen Fiction: To Find That Lost Horizon (2/2)

halfshellvenus

Prison Break Gen Fiction: To Find That Lost Horizon (2/2)

Dec 06, 2007 23:54

Title: To Find That Lost Horizon (2/2)
Author: HalfshellVenus
Characters: Michael and Lincoln (Gen, AngstRating: PG-13 (subject matter, language ( Read more... )

philosophy_20, lincoln, mini_nanowrimo, my_fic, ml_gen, michael, pb_gen

Comments 29

thelana December 7 2007, 09:53:44 UTC

Veronica came to see Michael today, for the first time ever. He thinks she did it for herself and not for him, hoping to draw strength from someone else's heartbreak over losing the man they both loved when everything sensible said they shouldn't.

They'd both tried at different times to walk away, Veronica more successfully than Michael. She'd had a life of her own finally-a fiancé-and Michel wound up throwing his future, his past, his everything away to wind up here. All he had in the end was Lincoln and the driving force of hope. Now both of them are gone.

I'm confused. Veronica visited Michael in the pilot "evidence if cooked/most dysfunctional definition of love" convo (unless you mean the first time after Lincoln's death). And at that point Veronica's fiance had already been killed by the company guy in the well.

The irony of a prison service for a man it had killed was too much for him, Sigh you know me, I'm always fascinated by the strange and disturbing realities of capital punishment. *shakes head ( ... )

halfshellvenus December 7 2007, 20:27:49 UTC

Veronica visited Michael in the pilot "evidence if cooked/most dysfunctional definition of love" convo (unless you mean the first time after Lincoln's death).
In the pilot she came as his lawyer, though-- not really so much a visit as a business discussion.

Sigh you know me, I'm always fascinated by the strange and disturbing realities of capital punishment. *shakes head*
That's part of why this is in here. Pope is used to these executions, which doesn't mean he likes them or approves of them. And here, him wanting to do the kind thing for Michael and being blind to the irony of it rings very true. Being Pope, he has to ask in case Michael does want a service.

I think so many "Lincoln actually dies" fics just assume that he would give the plan up and so I like that in this case he didn't.
Well, my other one of these assumed that Michael would kill himself afterward. Because after all, dying is easy-- surviving is hard, especially when you've made returning back to your own life so impossible ( ... )

thelana December 7 2007, 20:44:47 UTC

Yeah, surviving is certain the hard part. Which is precisely because I wanted more of that. Because I'm mean and greedy that way. :)

Also wanted to pinch in that even though we know that V's fiance is dead, it's probably realisitic that Michael doesn't know at this point. So it was probably a wrong complaint on my side :)

Seriously, where was Michael's critical thinking at that point? That seems like a late idea thrown into the plotting, to show some reason why the "Brother's Keeper" Michael who has given up on Lincoln would be motivated to care all over again. Thin plausibility, though.

Don't get me started. It still pisses me off how the writers were jising all over that episode like it was the best thing ever when there's just so much that is flat out WRONG with it.

I'm not doubting that it had some good and some flat out interesting moments, but ARGH the flaws!!!

halfshellvenus December 7 2007, 20:48:58 UTC

Also wanted to pinch in that even though we know that V's fiance is dead, it's probably realisitic that Michael doesn't know at this point.
I felt it was likely that he didn't know, and wouldn't be sensitive enough to pick up on it at a time like this anyway if she didn't tell him.

It still pisses me off how the writers were jising all over that episode like it was the best thing ever when there's just so much that is flat out WRONG with it.
That's actually one of my LEAST favorite episodes of S1. It's "Josstastic" more than anything, and a lot of it rings false given where some of the characters were shown to be in the present.

Really kind of a throwaway to me, more a way to turn the characters on their ears than anything. :(

happywriter06 December 7 2007, 18:50:51 UTC

I was really expecting this fic to end sadly. I really thought Michael in the cell with those guys was the end.

I love that Westmoreland is there to help Michael on that road to healing. Although it would have been realistic for Michael to just give up, it's also realistic that he wouldn't because he does 'owe' that to Linc.

There are so many great lines in this fic.

halfshellvenus December 7 2007, 20:34:24 UTC

I was really expecting this fic to end sadly. I really thought Michael in the cell with those guys was the end.
Though the idea of having Michael survive Lincoln is horribly sad, I didn't want that to be the final direction (hence the title-- the feeling that Michael can find something like he once had again, can find some sort of hope).

Although it would have been realistic for Michael to just give up, it's also realistic that he wouldn't because he does 'owe' that to Linc.
Yes-- "Final Hours," which is my other story along these lines (but totally different feeling) goes with that other possibility. For this one, I took the harder tactic of him struggling through the aftermath and then deciding that the worst thing he could have done was to let Lincoln's tragedy destroy him too. Lincoln would never have forgiven him for that, and deep down Michael has to know it. Guilt forces him to do what Lincoln would want and not what he would want. And boy, is he ever a sucker for guilt!

There are so many great lines in this fic.Thank you ( ... )

happywriter06 December 8 2007, 18:21:45 UTC

I don't recall reading Final Hours. I have to put that on my "Must Read" list.

wrldpossibility December 8 2007, 23:53:25 UTC

He tries to remember all the times it wasn't perfect-lots of times, practically all of the time.

It doesn't matter.

He wouldn't be here if it did.

This may be one of the most true statements I've read in fanfic about Michael and Lincoln's relationship. Very well done!

And I love that you ended this on a positive note, if not a happy ending. I was completely prepared for a horribly sad ending, but this gives us a glimmer of hope.

halfshellvenus December 9 2007, 08:22:27 UTC

This may be one of the most true statements I've read in fanfic about Michael and Lincoln's relationship.
When the show started, I really expected some epic bond and loyalty between the two given what Michael was doing. And though it wasn't shown to be quite that, what was clear is that Michael still chooses Lincoln even knowing that Lincoln's imperfect and unlikely to change. Despite how logical Michael is, his heart chooses differently.

I was completely prepared for a horribly sad ending, but this gives us a glimmer of hope.This is partly because I've already written a similar story that does not have a happy ending-- "Final Hours." So in approaching this idea again, I wanted something different (and not to have all the readers hate me). And for a different ending, I think finding a little bit of family in Westmoreland works really well. Michael loses his brother, but in essence he finds the father he never had (one who already cares more about him than his father ever did). And that idea, of family where you find it and the power ( ... )

wrldpossibility December 10 2007, 18:54:03 UTC

I hope you liked how this all evolved

Absolutely. I was just so happy to see the prompt used. It's a theme I haven't been able to wrap my mind around tackling myself, and I'm glad to see it in such good hands! *smiles*

pamalax December 9 2007, 01:22:36 UTC

Awwwwwwwww what a beautiful ending!

You know I'm a nut for losing one of the two boys in the end. Happily ever after just doesn't suit me BUT hopeful ever after with a little bit of Westmoreland nurturing as a side dish is a perfect fit.

VERY NICELY DONE!!

Thank you so much for playing this game with us.

You played wonderfully fic after fic.
Thanks for doing so much to help make it the success it has been.

Great fic!
Thank you!

halfshellvenus December 9 2007, 08:25:40 UTC

BUT hopeful ever after with a little bit of Westmoreland nurturing as a side dish is a perfect fit.
It really is an important distinction, isn't it? If one of the brothers is lost, there IS no happily ever after. Really, if they destroy what's between them then that holds true also (I really hope that's not where S3 is going). But there can still be hope-- especially for Michael, who has not had enough of the love OR family that he needs, but if he can find those in spite of everything he will eventually heal.

Thanks for doing so much to help make it the success it has been.
Right back at you! The challenges have been tough, inspiring, and the results very rewarding. It's been a blast and well worth it, and I'm so glad you put this idea in motion. ♥

tyrical December 9 2007, 17:47:34 UTC

It took me a minute to get to it. But get to it I did and I do like this ending. I could see Michael slowly just sinking further and further into himself.

Westmorland is like a beacon. Something to hold on too, the knot in a life line that Michael didn't realize he had.

Absolutely heartbreaking but also beautiful in the sorrow you're portraying. I really like this part. It's a perfect blend of darkness and light. Of hopelessness and loss.

Exceptional.

halfshellvenus December 9 2007, 19:02:35 UTC

I could see Michael slowly just sinking further and further into himself.
His sorrow seemed really fitting to me, given what he invested in saving Lincoln and what that reflects of his feelings for Lincoln. With Lincoln gone, he's been orphaned from his entire past-- both literally and figuratively (because his short-term criminal choices slammed the door on his prior life). I wanted the reader to feel that Michael wasn't really getting better, that even if he was making efforts at physical survival he wasn't mentally engaged enough to really make it.

Westmorland is like a beacon.
He is-- that's the perfect description of his function here. He slowly draws Michael back far enough to see what he's doing to himself. And his manner with Michael in that key scene in the cell is so UNdemanding and unhurried... it echoes the things Michael missed about Lincoln's way of comforting him. Being, not doing.

It's a perfect blend of darkness and light. Of hopelessness and loss.I was hoping it would make the story worthwhile. There's so much ( ... )