Fic: Penance (Maya, Mohinder, gen)

[squills]

Title: Penance
Rating: PG
Words: 1600
Characters: Maya, Mohinder, an unnamed OC
Warnings: Character death (not graphic).  Angst.
Spoilers: Vaguely, for all of season 2
Disclaimer: Not my characters, not writing this for profit.

A/N: This is written for the

Comments

[sinemoras09]

LOL, you know, for someone who doesn't like Maya or Peter, you really write them well!! \o/

I thought this was beautiful. It's just so haunting and lyrical. I really felt Maya's grief in this. Also I loved the special who helps Maya atone. The premise of a special bringing people back to life for the price of a soul is completely brilliant. It's like something out of a fairy tale :)

[squills]

The premise of a special bringing people back to life for the price of a soul is completely brilliant. It's like something out of a fairy tale :)I often feel like powers shouldn't be easy. I liked that Bennet once said that the act of absorbing powers is part of what's making Sylar insane. And in S1, Matt's mind-reading, which seems like a cool power at first glance, brought him a lot of pain because of the secrets he discovered. (And there was Ted accidentally giving his wife cancer, and...) So I liked the thought that this guy's power could be used, but only at a massive price. And I liked the thought that his power wasn't really bringing people back from the dead, it was exchanging a soul for a soul

[sinemoras09]

I do like that idea, that abilities aren't easy. Which is why sometimes I get annoyed with Peter's empath!powers. Claude hinted in S1 that Peter was "one of those," as if there's something darker to Peter's power, and I was really annoyed that TPTB didn't explore that further in S2. Sigh.

omg, dude, I keep editing even after I've posted fic. And even if no one reads it after I've finished editing it, I'm like, "well...at least the *proper* version is online!" LOL :)

Like, just recently I wrote this serial drabble song!fic, and OMG dude, I edited that bitch for TWO DAYS after I posted it. No one's read the finished version but I'm happy with it, and that's all that matters :). Then again I'm OCD so yeah, LOL :)

[squills]

Claude hinted in S1 that Peter was "one of those," as if there's something darker to Peter's power, and I was really annoyed that TPTB didn't explore that further in S2.

I always thought that was an interesting remark, too! Especially since when I first heard it, I thought it implied that there are other people with Peter's ability, which would contradict Bennet's statement to Sylar that everyone else they've "met" has only had one power.

Oh, man. I told myself that I would post this and then put in some more time on work stuff to make up for the time I hadn't spent working. And yet here I am, commenting. *shakes head at self*

[angary]

Wonderful. I still don't really like Maya either, but I think that you handled her well, and the introduction of a hero who can bring the dead back to life is a very interesting idea. I like the drawback to the power; it makes sense in a "cautionary tale" kind of way, that really fits in with one of the themes of the show.

It's nice to see that people can write about characters that they dislike or hate without resorting to bashing them and, instead, taking a look at their characters in an objective way. This fic is a really good example of that, and I have to admit, I actually felt sorry for Maya while reading this. Great job!

[squills]

It's nice to see that people can write about characters that they dislike or hate without resorting to bashing them and, instead, taking a look at their characters in an objective way.

Thank you! I really do not know where this fic came from. I was just reading through the list of prompts in the table, and looked at this one, and...boom, there the fic was in my head. I was actually slightly nervous that I would get teeth-gnashing comments of "OMG WHY ARE YOU BEING NICE TO MAYA?!?!!1!!!" But she was so devoted to Alejandro that I would feel like it was OOC if she just moved on in S2 S3 (apparently I cannot type!), especially since she ought to be feeling a massive amount of guilt for doting on his killer. So it made sense to me that she'd jump at a chance to redeem herself in her own eyes

[angary]

I think that you made a good choice in going with the general series for the challenge, because as much as I love to read your Mylar fic, I'm also looking forward to reading your takes on other characters, even the ones whom you (and I) aren't fond of. You do all of the characters justice, so I knew that this wasn't going to be OOC, nor that it would mean that you started liking Maya all of a sudden

[razycrandomgirl]

It's nice to see that people can write about characters that they dislike or hate without resorting to bashing them and, instead, taking a look at their characters in an objective way.

you are awesome for saying so.

[razycrandomgirl]

this was calm and bittersweet.

It settled well. translation: I liked it

[squills]

Thank you!!!! I'm glad you liked it! :0)

[razycrandomgirl]

:X Sorry about crowding up your journal.:X

[squills]

Oh, that's OK! If I'd logged in and found, like, 50 comments in a conversation, I'd have been a little annoyed. But I'm not one of the TWoP mods, and I feel like if people are having a conversation about something they like, they ought to have fun talking about it instead of worrying about staying 110% on topic. :0)

[kalikahuntress]

You are an immensely talented writer who get's the heart and soul of the characters you write. I'm even more amazed you did this with Maya, a character with little or no concrete characterization or development to work with.
If the show even treats her with an ounce of the respect and dignity that you have given her here, I'll be thrilled.
Thanks for writing this!!!

[squills]

Oh, wow. Thank you. I really appreciate it.

I have very definite opinions about Maya and how she should be handled, but my biggest fear is that if she is back in S3, she'll be written as some kind of avenging angel. And I just don't think that would be in character. I think based on what we saw, she ought to be majorly traumatized, looking for someone to help her emotionally, and filled with guilt - I know that's a Catholic stereotype, but every single one of my Catholic friends has talked about it, and Maya seemed pretty pious. And that's how I saw her here: she'd like to have revenge, but it's more important that she do penance for what happened to Alejandro, and even more important, that Alejandro understands she feels guilty and is going to make it up to him.

I was nervous about this one, so I'm glad you liked it.

[kalikahuntress]

I'm in agreement with you, the avenging angel storyline would be so trite and predictable. I want heroes to go back to when I couldn't predict what a character would do. I really can't see her going for revenge as a interesting storyline, nor do I want to see her so broken that she needs someone, once again to take care of her.
I hope this happens in season three as well, then again I'm not sure how many eps she will have, seeing as none of the new people are regs anymore.

[squills]

I'm in agreement with you, the avenging angel storyline would be so trite and predictable. I want heroes to go back to when I couldn't predict what a character would do

OMG I AGREE WITH THIS STATEMENT SO MUCH. And I can't remember if I said this to you or not, but...to be quite honest, Monica was the only one of the new characters I liked, and even so, I don't think I'd miss her if I never saw her again. I really think that if they're going to start chopping the season up into small stories, they need to focus on smaller groups of characters at a time, anyway. If you can't come up with an epic storyline, don't try to cram an epic-size cast into the stories you do have.

[desanimada]

This brought tears to my eyes. I could really feel Maya's pain.

[squills]

I was worried about whether it sounded in-character, so I'm glad to hear that it worked so well!!!! Thank you!