Sky High/Glee commentary for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nival_vixen
May. 10th, 2012 06:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tigriswolfThere is no header for these; two chapters of 'sweet dark playthings' behind the cut.
[So, wrote this one when I realized I hadn’t actually explained anything about their politics.]
“You’re all gonna die,” Mercedes tells him, holding his hand as they look out into the yard.
They’ve been McKinley graduates for a month. Finn finally received the email he’s been waiting for. Blaine, Sam, and a dozen others have already left.
“I love you,” Finn says. “Come with me.” With us, he doesn’t say. Mercedes likes Kurt well enough, he knows that. Most people like Kurt. It’s Puck they shy away from, and where there’s one, there’s the other.
Puck is scary, Finn willingly admits that. His power is… terrifying in a way most of the others Finn’s encountered aren’t.
But Kurt’s right, is the thing. Finn had never thought about it, but even with all their powers pooled, Normals still had the better end of the deal. The world was skewed in their favor, and Kurt wanted to even things out. Kurt had explained everything, even made Finn a list and illustrated it, and Finn’s dad died because Normals freaked out when he tried to save them. Mom had told him a nice lie for a long time, but Kurt helped him find out the truth. [To be honest, Kurt&Puck kinda think like Magneto. And I have no idea who’s right or not, or even if anyone can be right, in this situation.]
“I… a part of me wants to,” Mercedes says, turning to look at him. “But, baby, it’s not…” She sighs, reaching up with her free hand to flip her bangs out of her eyes. “The world isn’t fair. It never has been. But I like it the way it is.”
Finn runs the tips of his fingers along her palm. “I don’t want to leave you behind,” he tells her, “but I’m going, Sadie.” [I can’t remember why I paired them together. I think everyone else had already paired up. *shrugs*]
She looks away, back out the window. “Even if y’all don’t think of yourself as villains,” she says, voice sharp to hide her tears, “that’s how the government will paint you. You think Kurt and Puck can stand up to that? With a dozen barely-outta-school kids? It’ll be a massacre, Finn.” [The government really can’t call them anything else.]
It won’t be. Mercedes never got close enough to see, but Finn—he’s not sure what all Puck can do (and what he knows about is scary enough), but Kurt? There’s more to Kurt than foresight. And he promised Finn that none of them would die for a long time.
Kurt keeps his promises. [I said it in one of the other chapters, I think – but no one really understands Kurt’s power. He doesn’t see the future, or change it; he just sees possibilities, since the future is never concrete, and then subtly arranges things. He doesn’t change the future: he changes the present. It’s a pretty major power.]
Mercedes raises his hand to kiss his knuckles. “I guess I can check it out,” she mutters. “Not like I trust any of them boys to watch your back.”
Finn smiles, scooping her up to spin them both around. “It’ll be awesome, Sadie, I swear!” She laughs, but pulls his head down for a kiss.
Finn leaves a note for his mom, promising to be careful. Mercedes tells her parents she and her boy are going on a road-trip and will be back in three weeks. (They aren’t, and they won’t.)
Kurt greets them both with a smile; Puck ignores them. Blaine gives them a tour, and Sam introduces them to the couple of people they don’t know.
The first night, Mercedes sleeps in Finn’s arms; when they wake from a shared nightmare, she whispers, “Don’t die before me, ‘kay?”
“Only if you don’t die before me, either,” he whispers back. [Finn dies first.]
(Kurt has a plan. It’s a good plan.
When the World Council realizes what they’re doing, it’s almost a bloodbath.
Kurt saves Finn’s life, then Mercedes’, and neither of them will ever leave after that.) [As long as Kurt is in control of their group, the bloodshed is kept to a minimum. He understands about publicity, and public opinion, and just how far people can be pushed. He’s subtle. Puck… is not.]
…
In later years, when he’s asked about Kurt Hummel and Noah Puckerman, Arthur Abrams won’t know what to say. Every time, he’ll search for the words, and he’ll look to his wife, Tina, but she’ll be at a loss, too.
Arthur wrote a dozen technical manuals, all added to McKinley’s curriculum, and then to Hero schools around the world. He spent twenty years as the Hero representative to America’s government, while his wife was the ambassador for the World Council. [Artie and Tina didn’t join the cause because their dreams didn’t involve violence. They wanted to change the world in a cleaner way.]
Everyone is fascinated with Shadow and Sol, Inferno’s son and his pet psychic. Rachel Berry’s memoirs sold out every copy within a week because she dedicated a chapter to each of them; their school days, the beginning of their rhetoric, how they swayed so many powerful Supers to their cause. [No matter what world she’s in, Rachel will always be in spotlight.]
It was such a perfect tragedy, she wrote. Romeo and Juliet of our day, right there in the lunchroom, sharing a Coke and ovenbaked chicken. Kurt knew even then, of course. I doubt there’s much he didn’t know. [She understands him, in some ways. In others, he’s a total mystery. She respects him, though. And she’ll use him to boost herself up.]
For so long, after all, everyone believed Shadow was the mastermind, the true power behind the throne. He was where the authorities focused, where the assassins went—each and every one lost to the shadows forever, screaming for his pleasure alone. (Or maybe Sol listened, too, and that was the music in their bedroom. So much speculation, since so much went unknown.) [A lot of people speculated about the boys. Some were right. Most weren’t.]
They called Sol the pet psychic, were derisive in the planning room, laughed about bedroom games. Even with the input of their schoolmates, no one really understood Sol, his power or his plot. [Kurt really flourishes when he’s being underestimated. Also, about their names: Shadow is obvious. I think I was using Sol as some sort of pun – either the opposite of Puck, or symbolism for bringing light to the supers? I didn’t write the reason down, whatever it was.]
When we learned his mother had been Shade, Senator Rivers wrote in his tell-all, we realized that we had completely underestimated the Super known as Sol, once called Kurt Hummel. How could we have known? Shadow released every communiqué, gave every speech. There is so much I, we, would have done differently, if we’d any idea at all. [Part of Kurt’s plan involved no one knowing how much power he really had. Puck is loud, obvious, attractive, and strong. And scary. He presented a determined face to the world, and refused to back down. Everyone, watching, could easily believed he’d get shit down. But Kurt? Kurt isn’t intimidating. Not until you really pay attention. And by then? It’s too late.]
Quinn Fabray would say only that she disagreed with their methods. She’d worked her way up the Super Special Forces to Assistant Director and she sent dozens of agents after Shadow and Sol, and the only statement she ever gave was that she disagreed. A few brave newshounds noted that she said nothing about their endgame. [Quinn full-heartedly supports Kurt&Puck’s endgame. But like Tina&Artie, she had entirely different means of how to get there.]
And what each of them—the Abrams, Berry, and Fabray—what they each thought but never said—I wish I’d chosen differently. I wish I’d joined when I had the chance. I wish I was brave enough now to find Shadow and beg forgiveness and change things. [They remember the kids, heads bent close in the lunchroom, laughing, hands clasped, fingers tangled together. They remember the faces of everyone of their peers who joined Shadow and Sol, the names and the fates. Each of them wonders what might have been different. None of them know all the ways it could’ve gone worse. Kurt sure won’t tell.]
And what Noah says, face buried in a pillow that still smells like Kurt, listening to the screams of those responsible for Kurt going away, is, “Fuck you, why didn’t you take me, too?” [Puck can always find those he gives to the shadows. When he’s feeling particularly vindictive, he tracks them down and plays a bit.]
(And what Kurt thinks, in a place of quiet and peace, is, wait for me, Noah, I’m waiting for you.) [I’m not sure I ever explained this anywhere, but Kurt took himself out of reality, like his mother before him. Unlike her, he didn’t lose his place. He fully intends to return, when the time is right. And he does.]
[So, wrote this one when I realized I hadn’t actually explained anything about their politics.]
“You’re all gonna die,” Mercedes tells him, holding his hand as they look out into the yard.
They’ve been McKinley graduates for a month. Finn finally received the email he’s been waiting for. Blaine, Sam, and a dozen others have already left.
“I love you,” Finn says. “Come with me.” With us, he doesn’t say. Mercedes likes Kurt well enough, he knows that. Most people like Kurt. It’s Puck they shy away from, and where there’s one, there’s the other.
Puck is scary, Finn willingly admits that. His power is… terrifying in a way most of the others Finn’s encountered aren’t.
But Kurt’s right, is the thing. Finn had never thought about it, but even with all their powers pooled, Normals still had the better end of the deal. The world was skewed in their favor, and Kurt wanted to even things out. Kurt had explained everything, even made Finn a list and illustrated it, and Finn’s dad died because Normals freaked out when he tried to save them. Mom had told him a nice lie for a long time, but Kurt helped him find out the truth. [To be honest, Kurt&Puck kinda think like Magneto. And I have no idea who’s right or not, or even if anyone can be right, in this situation.]
“I… a part of me wants to,” Mercedes says, turning to look at him. “But, baby, it’s not…” She sighs, reaching up with her free hand to flip her bangs out of her eyes. “The world isn’t fair. It never has been. But I like it the way it is.”
Finn runs the tips of his fingers along her palm. “I don’t want to leave you behind,” he tells her, “but I’m going, Sadie.” [I can’t remember why I paired them together. I think everyone else had already paired up. *shrugs*]
She looks away, back out the window. “Even if y’all don’t think of yourself as villains,” she says, voice sharp to hide her tears, “that’s how the government will paint you. You think Kurt and Puck can stand up to that? With a dozen barely-outta-school kids? It’ll be a massacre, Finn.” [The government really can’t call them anything else.]
It won’t be. Mercedes never got close enough to see, but Finn—he’s not sure what all Puck can do (and what he knows about is scary enough), but Kurt? There’s more to Kurt than foresight. And he promised Finn that none of them would die for a long time.
Kurt keeps his promises. [I said it in one of the other chapters, I think – but no one really understands Kurt’s power. He doesn’t see the future, or change it; he just sees possibilities, since the future is never concrete, and then subtly arranges things. He doesn’t change the future: he changes the present. It’s a pretty major power.]
Mercedes raises his hand to kiss his knuckles. “I guess I can check it out,” she mutters. “Not like I trust any of them boys to watch your back.”
Finn smiles, scooping her up to spin them both around. “It’ll be awesome, Sadie, I swear!” She laughs, but pulls his head down for a kiss.
Finn leaves a note for his mom, promising to be careful. Mercedes tells her parents she and her boy are going on a road-trip and will be back in three weeks. (They aren’t, and they won’t.)
Kurt greets them both with a smile; Puck ignores them. Blaine gives them a tour, and Sam introduces them to the couple of people they don’t know.
The first night, Mercedes sleeps in Finn’s arms; when they wake from a shared nightmare, she whispers, “Don’t die before me, ‘kay?”
“Only if you don’t die before me, either,” he whispers back. [Finn dies first.]
(Kurt has a plan. It’s a good plan.
When the World Council realizes what they’re doing, it’s almost a bloodbath.
Kurt saves Finn’s life, then Mercedes’, and neither of them will ever leave after that.) [As long as Kurt is in control of their group, the bloodshed is kept to a minimum. He understands about publicity, and public opinion, and just how far people can be pushed. He’s subtle. Puck… is not.]
…
In later years, when he’s asked about Kurt Hummel and Noah Puckerman, Arthur Abrams won’t know what to say. Every time, he’ll search for the words, and he’ll look to his wife, Tina, but she’ll be at a loss, too.
Arthur wrote a dozen technical manuals, all added to McKinley’s curriculum, and then to Hero schools around the world. He spent twenty years as the Hero representative to America’s government, while his wife was the ambassador for the World Council. [Artie and Tina didn’t join the cause because their dreams didn’t involve violence. They wanted to change the world in a cleaner way.]
Everyone is fascinated with Shadow and Sol, Inferno’s son and his pet psychic. Rachel Berry’s memoirs sold out every copy within a week because she dedicated a chapter to each of them; their school days, the beginning of their rhetoric, how they swayed so many powerful Supers to their cause. [No matter what world she’s in, Rachel will always be in spotlight.]
It was such a perfect tragedy, she wrote. Romeo and Juliet of our day, right there in the lunchroom, sharing a Coke and ovenbaked chicken. Kurt knew even then, of course. I doubt there’s much he didn’t know. [She understands him, in some ways. In others, he’s a total mystery. She respects him, though. And she’ll use him to boost herself up.]
For so long, after all, everyone believed Shadow was the mastermind, the true power behind the throne. He was where the authorities focused, where the assassins went—each and every one lost to the shadows forever, screaming for his pleasure alone. (Or maybe Sol listened, too, and that was the music in their bedroom. So much speculation, since so much went unknown.) [A lot of people speculated about the boys. Some were right. Most weren’t.]
They called Sol the pet psychic, were derisive in the planning room, laughed about bedroom games. Even with the input of their schoolmates, no one really understood Sol, his power or his plot. [Kurt really flourishes when he’s being underestimated. Also, about their names: Shadow is obvious. I think I was using Sol as some sort of pun – either the opposite of Puck, or symbolism for bringing light to the supers? I didn’t write the reason down, whatever it was.]
When we learned his mother had been Shade, Senator Rivers wrote in his tell-all, we realized that we had completely underestimated the Super known as Sol, once called Kurt Hummel. How could we have known? Shadow released every communiqué, gave every speech. There is so much I, we, would have done differently, if we’d any idea at all. [Part of Kurt’s plan involved no one knowing how much power he really had. Puck is loud, obvious, attractive, and strong. And scary. He presented a determined face to the world, and refused to back down. Everyone, watching, could easily believed he’d get shit down. But Kurt? Kurt isn’t intimidating. Not until you really pay attention. And by then? It’s too late.]
Quinn Fabray would say only that she disagreed with their methods. She’d worked her way up the Super Special Forces to Assistant Director and she sent dozens of agents after Shadow and Sol, and the only statement she ever gave was that she disagreed. A few brave newshounds noted that she said nothing about their endgame. [Quinn full-heartedly supports Kurt&Puck’s endgame. But like Tina&Artie, she had entirely different means of how to get there.]
And what each of them—the Abrams, Berry, and Fabray—what they each thought but never said—I wish I’d chosen differently. I wish I’d joined when I had the chance. I wish I was brave enough now to find Shadow and beg forgiveness and change things. [They remember the kids, heads bent close in the lunchroom, laughing, hands clasped, fingers tangled together. They remember the faces of everyone of their peers who joined Shadow and Sol, the names and the fates. Each of them wonders what might have been different. None of them know all the ways it could’ve gone worse. Kurt sure won’t tell.]
And what Noah says, face buried in a pillow that still smells like Kurt, listening to the screams of those responsible for Kurt going away, is, “Fuck you, why didn’t you take me, too?” [Puck can always find those he gives to the shadows. When he’s feeling particularly vindictive, he tracks them down and plays a bit.]
(And what Kurt thinks, in a place of quiet and peace, is, wait for me, Noah, I’m waiting for you.) [I’m not sure I ever explained this anywhere, but Kurt took himself out of reality, like his mother before him. Unlike her, he didn’t lose his place. He fully intends to return, when the time is right. And he does.]
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(no subject)
Date: 2012-05-12 08:39 am (UTC)The politics of it were really interesting, and I liked seeing why they actually fought against the government. :)
(Haha, yeah, I can't imagine the government calling them the heroes when Kurt & Puck were fighting them!)
Finn dies first.
For some reason (I don't even like Finn that much) that just killed me!
I did wonder about the Shadow and Sol names, and the irony of Kurt being named the opposite of Puck.
I don't think you did explain about Kurt taking himself out of reality - you mentioned that his mother did that, and he would do the same, but not to save the world - but that was in the very first chapter, I think. :)
When will he return?! Is it really complete? :S
Thank you for doing this, it was brilliant to read your commentary for both chapters, and I really hope there's more for this story soon. But if not, I loved the story and will probably re-read it more than once! ^_^
(no subject)
Date: 2012-05-12 05:00 pm (UTC)(That icon is a thing of beauty.)
I think I explained the Kurt vs reality in a few comments, when people asked.
Yes, Kurt will return. And eventually, the supers&normals had equal rights, but it wasn't during Kurt&Puck's lifetime. (They ended bloodily.)
There will never be more, I'm pretty sure. Sorry.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-05-13 06:52 am (UTC)Ah, okay then. I'm not sure I read any comments.
Oh, that sounds really good! Even them dying bloodily. ... I didn't mean that to sound quite so morbid. o_O *shrugs*
That's all right. I love the story anyway.
Thank you again for the commentary! I really enjoyed it. :)