Killing Time - PG13 - Challenge #117

[Lilly]

Alle, your comment posted while I was responding to the previous few. You've absolutely reduced me to this => . In a good way. Thank you SO much for your beautiful comments here. But even more importantly, I want to thank you for holding my hand last night and helping me work through some of the rough spots.

Heaven knows, my writing is NOT effortless -- as least not lately. But if it appears that way at all, then I guess I've been successful.

I always come away from one of your stories feeling as if I've just taken a vacation in someone else's head, and that's a remarkable thing.

That may be one the most gratifying things anyone has ever said to me. Thank you.

[Moonlighter]

Hmm, well I'd say you've given birth to a beautiful, beautiful baby...er, fic. This was great. And please -- no apologies for writing the dark side of Mick. He is a vampire after all.

Now, I have a score to settle. I come to avenge a man who was not my friend. But should have been.

This really made me kinda sad. He and Josh really were on the same side except when it came to gaining the affections of Beth.

All eyes are on me now. I am outnumbered, outgunned, and completely in my element.

This line is completely and totally hot. My knees are a-quiverin'!!

There is no salvation.

As I send him over the brink, the surge of blood delivered by his final breath brings me my release. And for just a moment, in this killing time, I am completely free.

Hoo-Ya! And there is dark Mick in a nutshell. The beast is released and he is free.

I'd like to make a motion for more of these fics by you, please. All in favor?

[jen]

In this fabulous fic, we see a facet of Mick that some of us (me included) might not be entirely comfortable with.

As much as he tries to be human, cling to what once was, he isn't human any longer. He can, and does, choose to be a positive force in the world and wants to redeem himself, yet from time to time, he slips into this mode when he revels in what he is now, and all the darkness inherent therein.

Does the fact that he will only unleash this dark fury on those he judges worthy of punishment absolve him of culpibility? I honestly don't know--but that is one of the great questions within Moonlight.

I started to say that the ease with which he assumes this role is troubling, but then again, he doesn't really assume this role easily. He tries everything else first, but when he feels that it is called for, he can wrap himself in it.

Wonderful fic, Lilly!

Thank you!

Jenna

[francis]

Lilly, you've outdone yourself with this. Chilling to the bone, yet exhilarating. So many paradoxes align to make one Mick St. John. I could watch this scene with new eyes reading this. I want to quote every line, but I'll refrain. But as this is the first time we see Mick revel in the glory of being a superior being, this was such a turning point, and brings back the noir of the first episodes, and still is such a point of Mick going further, getting ahead of himself and becoming who he should have been all along. Wonderful!

[Lilly]

Thank you, Moonlighter -- I truly appreciate your kind words. I have to say that I've thought I lot about how Mick might feel about Josh as a fallen comrade, thanks to a wonderful passage written by Alle in "Drifting". I think they might have been great friends under other circumstances. In my mind, Mick feels the loss of a good man, a man who shared a similar sense of justice, and there may just be some guilt there -- not only at not being able to save him, but at never having got to know him better.

As for "the beast" -- I've always felt that it was more a case of Mick closing off part of himself rather than there being a separate entity inside. I had written a line for this that I ultimately decided not to use: "There is no animal inside -- it's only me. Uncensored."


jen - I can certainly understand your discomfort with the vengeful, unrepentant side of Mick. To me, though, it's part of being a vampire -- a distinct being that I don't need to judge by human moral standards.


Thank so much, francis! I think he's been here before. We just never saw it. It's certainly a place he was afraid to go, but needed to, at least once in a while, on both an emotional and physically level.

[nutmegger911]

Well worth the wait.

All eyes are on me now. I am outnumbered, outgunned, and completely in my element.

Love, love, love this line! I can hear Mick's VO in this.

Glad your muse is back, and in such great form.

[Lilly]

Thanks so much, NM. I'm really tickled by how many people picked out that line.

[MoonShadow]

Wow Lilly,

What can I add that hasn't already been said? This piece rocked me to the core. It's one of the most powerful things I've read lately.
Thank you so much for posting such a wonderful story.

Simply amazing.

MS

[Moonlighter]

After tonight's rebroadcast of LLF on the CW, I had to come back and read this interpretation of the bar scene. It fills in so much and just gets to the guts of the scene. Again, great job, Lilly!

[francis]

Yeah, this is vampire Mick at his best. Out for vengeance, this was a very personal issue. He's not doing this for a client, he's doing it for Beth, and for himself. Josh's death hurt Beth, and no-one gets away with hurting his Beth. And you described him in a way that has me cowering in a corner, yet cheering him on. Wonderful dichotomy!

[Lilly]

Thank you so much, MS.

Moonlighter, I'm so glad this held up after a re-viewing of the episode. Thanks for coming back.

francis -- thanks so much for the re-read and for your additional thoughts here. This was personal for Mick. It wasn't about meting out justice -- it was about payback.

[RangerCM]

Another one that slipped past me while I've been away. I love this. Just saw this episode last night and that made this one-shot all the more powerful. I think I love this scene so much because we finally get to see that aspect of Mick that we all knew was there, just beneath the surface. And it was SO amazing to finally see it!

All eyes are on me now. I am outnumbered, outgunned, and completely in my element.

Yep. You could see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice-over.

There was another quote that really caught me too, but I can't seem to figure out how to go back and grab it. Anyway, thank you so much for this.

[allegrita]

I'm so happy to see this story pop back up. It's really a masterpiece, Lilly. I read it again after watching the episode... just incredibly powerful.

[jen]

Wow. Just...wow.

Looking around several threads for fics lead me back here and I am once again stunned. This fic brings that short scene into sharp focus. Some of us here like to look at Mick through 'warm, fuzzy' glasses, but what is here is not interested in being reasonable.

Love this quote.

Greater than the man I pretend to be. Deadlier than this little thug ever imagined. He doesn't understand that evil is a matter of perspective, and right now, I've got the better vantage point.

Yet, take a step back and you see that he is not unleashing the monster indiscriminantly.

Brava,

Jenna

[Lilly]

Thank you for coming back for another read, jenna. This isn't my usual Mick "voice" because this isn't the usual Mick -- it means so much to me that is still rings true to you.