Failure

[jenniferjf]

SERIES: Sanctuary
WORDS: 566
DESCRIPTION: Will point of view at end of Revelations.
SPOILER: All Season One vaguely.
WARNINGS: None

My beta, btw, has decided this proves my muses are on steroids.  She may be right... *sigh*  This is probably all TracyJ's fault as she said there was a lack of Will fic which wasn't a pairing and they seemed to take that

Comments

[liz_love]

So beautifully angsty. Great job!

[jenniferjf]

Thanks! I'm really glad you liked it, and thanks for letting me know, especially as I considered not bothering to post it.

[liz_love]

I don't understand how I'm the only one who commented because it's really great! You shouldn't hesitate to post such good Sanctuary fanfiction, there's too little out there =)

[jenniferjf]

Aw, thanks again. I suspect part of the problem is I've only been writing Sanctuary stuff for a relatively short amount of time and so lack a built in base, as it were. Plus, really, Will fic that's not shipping him with Helen seems to be fairly rare for some reason (as I can't see that ship at all myself) which makes me wonder if most folks interested in Will see him primarily as a potential love interest for Helen or are worried any Will fic they read might end up shippy and so avoid them.

And that's really why I started writing it. The characters are just so brilliantly complex and textured, especially for a show so 'young', and it just seems a shame there's so little fic, and of that much is simply PWP.

[janejosiane]

Can't believe you wondered about not posting this, it's great! I haven't read much Sanctuary fic yet, but I thought this was really well done.
*hugs*

[jenniferjf]

Thanks! I just feel I've put out such a terribly large amount of tiny Sanctuary ficlets in such a short amount of time it's becoming absurd. Though it's possibly because I'm working on this long emotionally complex fic which is consuming most of my thoughts and these short bits are mostly just mental relaxation away from the complexity. So I'm never sure anyone else is interested. If you see what I mean? I'm glad to know I was wrong and others enjoy them.

(and nice to see you here, btw, if I hadn't said so before)

[janejosiane]

Nice to be here with you too :) I'd been thinking about signing up for a while, and then when you said you'd started the comm it just gave me the kick up the backside I needed to actually get on with it!

And any fic of yours is always worth reading, so don't doubt yourself! Looking forward to reading more of your Sanctuary ones, and the complex one when it's ready!

[tamlover]

Nice fic. I do appreciate gen-fic, and fic that references specific, on-screen events. And this is in-character. Will did try, and he did let it go, even though he knew better, knew Ashley was "off" and needed more than time.

I really do think the line "Not even Helen Magnus’s daughter." works on so many levels. It defines her by her mother, not by her own self. I'm not precisely sure whether that's good or bad (probably mostly bad), but it's accurate, it's true-to-form. Especially since her mother has such a powerful presence. And it's a testament to how strong Helen, how powerful her emotional coping methods are, that the association is made in that fashion.

Very nice insights from him. Still, is there no thought the he might have tried to get Ashely to talk to Helen? Or talk to Ashley himself? Helen doesn't *have* to be the to take charge, no matter that that's her normal role. In fact, I think it might have served Ashley better if she were the one to do it.

[jenniferjf]

Hmmm.. Ashley talking to Helen at Will's prompting. Interesting suggestion. Part of the problem with the entire situation is that Ashley could tell, I think, from Helen's reaction from the end of The Five on, that Helen didn't want to talk about it. Though really, she could probably figure it out from the fact Helen hadn't told her herself. So given it was Helen who had effectively put up the barrier between them in the first place, and that she was the parent and thus, really, in a 'dominant' role, I'm not sure Ashley should have or could have forced the issue. I do think, though, Ashley did give Helen several chances to lower the barrier herself, such as right after Helen tells her she can go attack the Cabal and there's rather an awkward pause between them. Only Helen never did so, and I do tend to think Will ought to have realized this barrier existed, Helen was ultimately responsible for it, and it needed to come down.

[tamlover]

Well, Helen wanted Ashley to talk in "Edward" - right? Or have I gotten mixed up? Helen wanted to make the connection, then I think, with Ashley the one holding back. Truthfully, I think that might a reversal from the way things usually were, with Helen the more emotionally reticent one. Well, not a reversal, exactly. Helen actually seems a lot more comfortable talking about her feelings and such than Ashley to me. I mean, she told Will about John to start, then she talked about her frustration at not being able to relate to Ashley. It might be more accurate to say Helen shares of herself, but in a measured way, and Ashley keeps everything substantial bottled up

[jenniferjf]

I totally agree about Ashley bottling up all her feelings and that she needs to move beyond the child-role Helen's unwillingness/inability to share the truth with Ashley has caused her to remain in. Given that, I can see how Will might have suggested Ash be the one to talk to Helen. The problem is, though, the confrontation with Ashley finally 'standing up' to Helen almost has to be Ashley-intitiated if it's to do any good. Otherwise it might just be one-more-person telling Ashley what she should do. Though I tend to think, assuming his sanity is more than short-term, it's really through her relationship with her father that Ashley's likely to get to that point. Because John really does treat Ashley like a capable adult rather than a child-needing emotional protection (as he should) and I actually think that's one of the things that 'drew' Ashley to him