Wolf in Sheep's Clothing - Part Three (PG-13)

[r1015bill]

I hadn't read this before and I enjoyed your interpretation.

It's one of those things that I think would have been covered in a second season but with no other guidance, it could go a lot of different ways.

But I do think, as happens in your story, that Mick would have made peace with it in the end because he can't live without her.

Thank you!

[Luxe de Luxe]

That scene with Josef in his office was just sensational --- it was exactly the way I imagine a conversation like that happening, those characterisations were laser-like in their precision.

I have to say... the dean foster thing was one thing that shocked me as a viewer. I felt the way you show Mick responding.... sending a man to his death! You give the reader in this 3 parter a sense of the emotional complexity this action provoked. Maybe because I have such strong reactions to it personally, I felt as if it the moral dilemma for Mick was perhaps resolved a little too quickly when he confronts her. I wonder whether he might have any lingering doubts.... his sense, in chap1, that there were parts of her character similar to Coraline's suggested to me that this view might linger somewhere right in the back of his mind, not seen, until she makes another ruthless decision. You set up a really fascinating exploration of this morally dubious decision of Beth's that was a joy to read.

[maggatha3]

Amazing reread!! And the-most-amazing-dialogues!!!

Thank you, GA.

[allegrita]

Huh--how did I never read this before?! I really like it.

In response to some who have said that this story resolves the issue of Beth's involvement in Foster's murder too quickly--I don't see this story's end as a total resolution of that issue. It deals with the first shock of discovery, with Mick's dismay and feelings of responsibility for Beth's actions. And it does a very good job (with Josef's able help) of getting Beth down from that totally inappropriate pedestal that Mick had her on. But it doesn't tidy everything up... in my mind, I see this story as more of a beginning than a resolution. Finally, Mick is beginning to see Beth as she really is: complicated, damaged, sometimes cruel, and often heedless. But he's made a decision (and to me, it's the only one) that this is just another thing that makes their relationship difficult. Something to be worked through and dealt with.

Mick and Beth can never have a complete relationship until they see each other as they really are, and they both have a long way to go in that regard. But this is a big step in the right direction. Does Mick trust Beth at this point? Hmmm... not entirely. She is more like Coraline--or, actually, like Josef--than he's comfortable with. But he'll get used to it. And the next step is for him to stop trying to exclude her from the vampires' world. She needs information in order to stop making stupid mistakes.

There's so much to love in this story, but my favorite parts are the conversation over whiskey in Josef's office, and that adorable scene in the hallway when Mick finds Beth sleeping in front of his door. Drunk vampire in love=soooo cute.