Aberration - PG

[Luxe de Luxe]

this is sensational, P-gal. One of the best you've written, I think. it was absolutely gripping, and you know, I really felt for Coraline in this piece - the pain of witnessing Mick's happiness with someone else easily enough I think to drive someone mad or make them plot and plan. Your Josef is one of the things I like most about this, reminding me of one of your other pieces (the name escapes me darn it). This is entirely within his capabilities. Mick is too important to him to leave things happen by chance.

this is quintessential Josef,

I wouldn’t want kick in your spokes on your mission to regain your lost love.

and this, one of the best lines I've read in a while....

Morgan shook off the shiver that skittered down her spine on spidery legs

[jen]

PNWgal

This is intriguing! You have given Morgan more depth than we saw in the episodes. I like it! It neatly explains how she can have a family and a history. She just fond someone who resembled her and took over their life.

And Josef! Now that part is just chilling. This is the Josef of layer upon layer, and it makes sense that he is still not happy about Mick and the reporter. I have no doubt that Josef had Beth carefully watched in those early days, but this is proactive Josef.

Quite wonderful! I look forward to more!

Thanks,

Jenna

[Fleur de Lisa]

Yeah, so some of us just shower in the shower. Maybe we think of the errands we need to run, or the chores we need to accomplish. You, on the other hand, craft stories. Fully developed, intriguing stories.

Show-off.

Seriously---this is really good. Yes, everyone knows my dislike of Cora and how I rarely read anything in which she is center stage, however, if it's written by you, I would read a multi-chapter Cora-centric piece. Well, I would give it my best shot, at least.

I didn't feel sorry for Cora, but I did love the fact that this was presented as her not being the one ultimately in control. I also didn't see Josef as evil so much as just being business-minded, vamp-community concerned Josef. He would burn his own mother if it meant protecting the community, so, I get that. I always think that there is an undercurrent of selfishness on Josef's part, as well. He may very well just be trying to protect his own interests, but there's an awful lot of gray area with him as far as liking to keep Mick a bit under his thumb, as well as the envy he certainly must feel regarding Mick's relationship with Beth. Bob knows that Josef's dalliance with a human ended horribly, and I really believe that experience formed him as the vamp he is today. Seeing Mick happy with a human with the chance at Beth being his forever has got to bring up memories Josef would rather forget. Perhaps I am delving too deeply, but that is what good writing will do to you, make you think.

Cora deserves whatever's coming to her, but I have to admit, if I were her, I'd be trying what I could to get Mick back. I mean, c'mon, it's Mick!

Now, I am off to shower where I will lather, rinse and not repeat.
I won't be crafting fiction, but I will be thinking of this story.

[wpgrace]

Interesting twist...

I totally identify with Cora's sense of desperation... with the fact that she risked her life and her family's ire by stealing the cure, that she became a powerless human, that she deals WITH humans who are so cretinous, that she is letting Josef totally lead her by the nose, that she is forced to watch Mick's relationship with Beth... just to get back the most important thing in the world to her... that of COURSE being Mick.

And man, I can feel for her thru all that, particularly her forced surrender to Josef and the MickBeth. He's holding a lethal threat over her head. MickBeth is a lethal threat to her heart. Really changes the view of those episodes, if this were to be the back story, both Cora's scenes and Josef's. Totally interesting to ponder.

And I always enjoy a little hard-ass Josef. The baby face has to mask a guy who will do whatever it takes. Or he'd never have made it to 400.

[MoonlitRose]

Interesting scenario, to think that Josef had pulled so many strings behind the scenes to have had Coraline "over a barrel".

I can see though, that Josef would do just about anything to keep the community safe, even if that meant manipulating his friend Mick, by using Morgaline to draw Mick back into the vampire fold.

Maybe Josef was playing Coraline just a little more, when he suggested that he hadn't figured out what she had done to make her father/family so angry with her? Josef certainly would not want to loose his advantage and keeping Coraline guessing about what he knows and doesn't know would help keep her off balance . I too thought Josef must have known a whole lot more about the cure than he was letting on, and he certainly didn't want to share that knowledge with Mick, and give him any hope of returning to his human state.

Very productive shower there, PNWgal!

[jen]

Oh, man!

When I'm in the shower, I just get wet.

This was amazing! Chillingly plausible and we all sensed that Josef knew a lot more than he told on a regular basis.

Fabulous!

[Luxe de Luxe]

wow, I absolutely love this! You make Coraline very human in this, in a way that, for me, garners some sympathy. I love it when you give us Machiavellian Josef. You write that Josef to perfection: the secrets, the ruthlessness, the unknown end game he is manipulating all his pawns towards.... Love it.

[jen]

Just read this fabulous little piece again and this time through, I wasn't struck by Josef's betrayal of Mick. He is just one of those people who honestly believes he knows what is best for those around him and accordingly 'fixes' their decisions if he does not agree with them. He feels no remorse for his actions, as in his own mind they are entirely with that person's best interests in mind.

Thank you again for this.

[Marigold]

This was very interesting, PNWgal! I have not ready many stories featuring Coraline, but I loved this one! It was fascinating to get inside her head.

I agree with Jen's comment. Josef was doing what he needed to do to protect the vampire community. I'm not surprised to hear that he had a scheme going on behind Mick's back. In my mind, this is his way of showing Mick how much he cares about him. Josef wants Mick to have a romantic partner in his life, and is trying to protect Mick from an inquisitive human.

Simply wonderful!

[jen]

This is intriguing!

It puts another spin entirely on the hotel fire and also on Josef's certainty that Coraline is dead, as in Dead dead.

The Morgan Vincent identity may just have taught Coraline more than she intended, though.

Thank you!

Jenna