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crack_van2012-12-05 07:09 pm
hamimifk.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2012-12-05 07:09 pm
The Death of Terezi Pyrope by sunbreaksdown (PG15)
Yesterday's rec was a random, fun rarepair, but today we meet one of my top five OTPs of the series (and yes, I'm aware that's an abuse of the term OTP - shhhhhhhh) from one of my favorite HS authors! =D
Fandom: HOMESTUCK
Pairing: Terezi/Vriska
Length: 7,301
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sunbreaksdown
Author Website: AO3 | Tumblr
Why this must be read: In a fandom full of future fic canon divergent 'what ifs?', this is one of many, but it's one of my favorites because it plays out in a sadly, realistic way. So what if there had been no Sgrub and Terezi and Vriska's already tumultuous relationship manage to become a matespritship? That's the question presented here, in a sense, and the answer is simple: disaster. Not immediately though, which is part of the beauty of this fic. Taking place when the girls are much older (14 sweeps old, which is roughly, what? 30-something human years or so, correct?), we find Vriska still making excuses for her actions and inevitably making a single rash decision that will ultimately become her biggest downfall. This fic touches on the relationship between Vriska and Terezi and their lusii (and I don't know about others, but I like fics that handle the troll kids and their lusii) as well as a slightly vague, yet heart-wrenching parallel to the girl's Ancestors (things here are different though but the results aren't pretty either way, as one could gather from the title). The thing that stands out most to me here is that everything is plausible and believable all the way through. Sunbreaksdown writes the best Vriska in her stories and this is no exception (all her Vriska fics are just, the greatest, IMO). I recommend keeping some tissues at hand.
Summary:
Miserable lives meet miserable ends.
Excerpt:
The words tumble out with the sort of franticness that comes with having practised something over and over, wherein the actual situation is something that preparation does nothing to help. Vriska squeezes Terezi's hands, hoping that it will be enough to send her meaning pulsing into her. And it does, in a sense, because Vriska's fragmented ramble makes her voice quiver. And Terezi is well aware that there's only one thing that ever does that to Vriska. Vriska watches as she leans closer, and with the two of them in such close quarters, Vriska almost forgets how to breathe. She is suddenly certain that she must be doing so too loudly, that it doesn't follow the right sort of rhythm. And then she is breathing manually, chest lunging with each breath.
“What happened?” Terezi asks, and though she is telling herself not to go through with this song and dance again, there is something like concern in her voice. But with or without any music, they both skid awkwardly along, Terezi not able to deny that she cares, Vriska no longer able to pretend that she doesn't crave it. Like she craves recognition, like she once ached to fill her ancestor's boots.
But she is not Mindfang, and she never will be. Vriska knows that, has accepted that. Embraced it, even. Because Mindfang was a fool, as far as she's concerned; she isn't about to meet the same end that the woman did, isn't about to face off against the law when there is power within her rightful grasp that won't set the courtblock against her. She can and she will survive alone, just—
She just needs Terezi to listen. To understand.
“There was a rock slide. It was a mercy kill. God, it would've taken hours, if I hadn't done anything, and I couldn't let anyone go through that. I...” She bites on her lower lip. She justifies her actions to Terezi, and just like that, it's as if it really happened. She still hears the ungodly crash of rocks falling, an exoskeleton cracking, and then the ring of a guillotine's blade as her luck finally pays off, and puts her poor lusus out of its misery. The sound of metal cleaving heads clean off she borrows from the courtblock itself, like a track set to repeat in the back of her mind. Letting go of Terezi's hands, momentarily trapped in the maze of her own manufactured thoughts, Vriska makes a quick grab for her wrists. “I did what I had to, I guess.”
Terezi doesn't believe her. It might scare Terezi, just how convincing Vriska is, how much she believes herself, but Terezi knows that none of it is true. None of it, except for the last part. She reeks of deceit, but not in the bitter, foul way Terezi is used to. Still, a lie is a lie, and for all it's worth, Vriska may as well have spider-guts and bile matted in her hair. A noose around her neck, twisted and knotted out of unfurled intestines.
The corner of Terezi's mouth tugs towards, like she believes her. Vriska wonders if either of them will stop wanting that so very, very much.
The Death of Terezi Pyrope
For the curious, the author wrote a lighter alternative version of the story. It's worth a read if you end up enjoying this one or just would rather a lighter Terezi/Vriska piece. if cobalt may yet turn dark.
Fandom: HOMESTUCK
Pairing: Terezi/Vriska
Length: 7,301
Author on LJ:
sunbreaksdownAuthor Website: AO3 | Tumblr
Why this must be read: In a fandom full of future fic canon divergent 'what ifs?', this is one of many, but it's one of my favorites because it plays out in a sadly, realistic way. So what if there had been no Sgrub and Terezi and Vriska's already tumultuous relationship manage to become a matespritship? That's the question presented here, in a sense, and the answer is simple: disaster. Not immediately though, which is part of the beauty of this fic. Taking place when the girls are much older (14 sweeps old, which is roughly, what? 30-something human years or so, correct?), we find Vriska still making excuses for her actions and inevitably making a single rash decision that will ultimately become her biggest downfall. This fic touches on the relationship between Vriska and Terezi and their lusii (and I don't know about others, but I like fics that handle the troll kids and their lusii) as well as a slightly vague, yet heart-wrenching parallel to the girl's Ancestors (things here are different though but the results aren't pretty either way, as one could gather from the title). The thing that stands out most to me here is that everything is plausible and believable all the way through. Sunbreaksdown writes the best Vriska in her stories and this is no exception (all her Vriska fics are just, the greatest, IMO). I recommend keeping some tissues at hand.
Summary:
Miserable lives meet miserable ends.
Excerpt:
The words tumble out with the sort of franticness that comes with having practised something over and over, wherein the actual situation is something that preparation does nothing to help. Vriska squeezes Terezi's hands, hoping that it will be enough to send her meaning pulsing into her. And it does, in a sense, because Vriska's fragmented ramble makes her voice quiver. And Terezi is well aware that there's only one thing that ever does that to Vriska. Vriska watches as she leans closer, and with the two of them in such close quarters, Vriska almost forgets how to breathe. She is suddenly certain that she must be doing so too loudly, that it doesn't follow the right sort of rhythm. And then she is breathing manually, chest lunging with each breath.
“What happened?” Terezi asks, and though she is telling herself not to go through with this song and dance again, there is something like concern in her voice. But with or without any music, they both skid awkwardly along, Terezi not able to deny that she cares, Vriska no longer able to pretend that she doesn't crave it. Like she craves recognition, like she once ached to fill her ancestor's boots.
But she is not Mindfang, and she never will be. Vriska knows that, has accepted that. Embraced it, even. Because Mindfang was a fool, as far as she's concerned; she isn't about to meet the same end that the woman did, isn't about to face off against the law when there is power within her rightful grasp that won't set the courtblock against her. She can and she will survive alone, just—
She just needs Terezi to listen. To understand.
“There was a rock slide. It was a mercy kill. God, it would've taken hours, if I hadn't done anything, and I couldn't let anyone go through that. I...” She bites on her lower lip. She justifies her actions to Terezi, and just like that, it's as if it really happened. She still hears the ungodly crash of rocks falling, an exoskeleton cracking, and then the ring of a guillotine's blade as her luck finally pays off, and puts her poor lusus out of its misery. The sound of metal cleaving heads clean off she borrows from the courtblock itself, like a track set to repeat in the back of her mind. Letting go of Terezi's hands, momentarily trapped in the maze of her own manufactured thoughts, Vriska makes a quick grab for her wrists. “I did what I had to, I guess.”
Terezi doesn't believe her. It might scare Terezi, just how convincing Vriska is, how much she believes herself, but Terezi knows that none of it is true. None of it, except for the last part. She reeks of deceit, but not in the bitter, foul way Terezi is used to. Still, a lie is a lie, and for all it's worth, Vriska may as well have spider-guts and bile matted in her hair. A noose around her neck, twisted and knotted out of unfurled intestines.
The corner of Terezi's mouth tugs towards, like she believes her. Vriska wonders if either of them will stop wanting that so very, very much.
The Death of Terezi Pyrope
For the curious, the author wrote a lighter alternative version of the story. It's worth a read if you end up enjoying this one or just would rather a lighter Terezi/Vriska piece. if cobalt may yet turn dark.