Fics for 2020 # 003 ~ Espírito Santo

[kerk_hiraeth]

 

     TITLE: Espírito Santo

     AUTHOR: kerk_hiraeth

     FANDOM: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

     LENGTH: 350;

    CHARACTERS(s): Lisa; Dawn Summers;

    'SHIP(s): Dawn/Lisa;

    SUMMARY: Lisa is a semi-fanatical Earper, but the love of her life hates anything fictional about the Supernatural, until she comes up with a way to distract Dawn on the anniversary of her Mom's death. Given the dates; this is therefore set in a couple of months time.

    A/N: Listening to music videos to spark ideas, a song written and performed by Dominique Provost-Chalkley finally lit the touch paper. Lift Your Spirit Up; written for 2019's Seasons of Love, made me think of one partner (Lisa, Dawn's friend from The Body) trying to lift the spirits of her significant other up. The creator's role in Wynonna Earp and my joyful, and sometimes very tearful, reactions to the many reaction videos to the Wayhaught reunion scenes in S4, Ep2; Friends in Low Places, woke my muse from a long slumber (I am convinced she is at the very least bisexual; possibly trans, and also very possibly lesbian).

    I have also no doubt she is obsessed with Wayhaught.

    So this is dedicated to Dominique Provost-Chalkley; Katherine Barrell and Emily Andras, but also very much to all the Earpers; especially Wayhaught fans, who saved their show where Firefly fans failed; not that I would want to change the magic that was the one season we got but I feel so much joy in what they are experiencing right now.

    This is for you ~ and I swear before the Goddess that the song listed was playing when I was finishing this post ( though it did change before I could press post).

 

 

     “A show about Demons? Seriously?”

 

   Her Dawnie's voice was cracking a little; never voiced, today was always a reminder of how much she missed her Mom. Lisa never knew her own; never actually met Dawnie's either, but she felt both losses today more than any other.

 

   “Because I love it?”

 

   Dawn glowered; swore under her breath, but gave away her inner glow that betrayed how much she loved her Reflection. Everything one liked the other liked the opposite, and they loved each other all the more for it. They shared as much too, but they loved to find things to surprise and challenge each other.

 

   At the smirk on her face her Dawnie gave Lisa the finger.

 

   Lisa grinned; she had her. More than anything else her Dawnie needed distractions today and, in nearly twenty years together she had become a Jedi Master at picking exactly what her Dawnie needed on this anniversary of anniversaries.

 

   The kids were off with Slayers and their kids; they had the apartment, and bedroom, all to themselves.

 

   Lisa started the episode she had handpicked for tonight; no point trying to get Dawnie to watch the whole series; that was never going to happen, maybe binge watching fanvids, but not whole episodes.

 

   Might as well try to get her to watch a movie about Vampire Slayers. Lisa almost snorted her drink at the mere thought of trying that one.

 

   Of course Dawnie whined the whole time...

 

   Until Nicole Haught and Waverly Earp were reunited, and never made it to the bedroom.

 

   Even Lisa, who must have watched this a dozen times, was overcome by the Wayhaught reunion.

 

   They could almost feel each other's hearts beating faster as they stared, totally oblivious to the rest of the episode.

 

   They were speechless; their breathing audible, even over the end titles and they glistened with sweat.

 

   Five minutes after the screen slipped to powersave they had still barely moved.

 

   Slowly Lisa reached to turn the device off properly.

 

   “So, “ she hissed, “Bedroom?”

 

   Dawnie stared at her as if she had gone insane.

 

   “Wishing we had some stairs?”

 

   Dawnie managed to croak, “Uh huh... “

 

   At least they had a floor.

 

 

     

 

     Goddess watch over us all,

 

     kerk

 

 

   Now in my

   heart I

   see clearly

 

   a beautiful

   face

   shining back on me,

 

   stained

   with love

 

                     - Sappho

 

 

Comments

[elisi]

This is just a wonderful piece. Both in the portrayal of Dawn & Lisa's relationship, how Lisa cares about Dawn and takes great care to find something to help her love on the worst day of the year.

Also it's a great look at Wynonna Earp, from the point of view of a fan who wants to share something they love, but do it in a way tailored for the other person.

And apparently there is also a rather hot scene...

Well done, and I'm amazed you wrote this in such a short time. It feels very polished.

[kerk_hiraeth]

Most explicit lesbian love/sex scene ever filmed for television. As one reactor says though, "... the kind of sex scene straight people get (all the time - Buffy/Angel; Buffy/Spike etc ALL. THE. TIME). In the way the portrayal of Tara and Willow's was groundbreaking in Queer terms but only remarkable in heteronormative terms because they don't kiss are, again in straight terms, raely physically affection at all; but BtVS & WillTara raised the bar so much higher in terms of what Queer people , but particularly lesbians were willing to expect from their entertainment.

That's what Wynonna Earp is doing with almost every storyline that Wayhaught are involved in. Future shows with Queer characters will have to do so much better it really will change how we are portrayed.

Of course you know what 'vampire slayer' movie Lisa is thinking of... ;-)

kerk

[elisi]

"... the kind of sex scene straight people get (all the time
Excellent. Here's to equality everywhere!

That's what Wynonna Earp is doing with almost every storyline that Wayhaught are involved in. Future shows with Queer characters will have to do so much better it really will change how we are portrayed.
That makes me very happy.

Of course you know what 'vampire slayer' movie Lisa is thinking of... ;-)
I don't... (could be because I'm not awake)

[kerk_hiraeth]

Glad I got their relationship across; for a character who had very little screentime on the show she's become something of a cypher for something that's missing in my life I think. I have a whole head canon for her that I might write down one day; some it is in comments though. Her father is a Human Rights lawyer; her mother was mixed race and the couple never married. Her mom died when Lisa was two years old and her father has been pretty much alone since and raised her and changed his career path to one where he could take cases that did not keep him away from her for very long. Remember Giles wincing at Dawn's love of incessently happy boybands (pr something like that?); well Lisa has a love of bands like Sisters of Mercy; Siouxsie and the Banshees and Lacuna Coil; sort of like Goth Rock (I imagine that by the time of this story; she's a serious fan of Afropunk and Spoken Word Poetry). I haven't decided which 'verse this version of them is in, but the dating would favour the female!husband 'verse because of Faith and Tara's relationship in that one and the dating of some of those. They clearly have different tastes in entertainment; Dawn I think loves bubblegum entertainment; probably binge watches Talent shows, and Lisa would love Buffy & Jessica Jones, and would probably have made dozens of very angry ranty posts; or been tempted to, when Lexa got killed in The 100 (pronounced The Hundred); and they love to 'fuck' with each other and probably love embarrassing their kids too :-)

[elisi]

Glad I got their relationship across; for a character who had very little screentime on the show she's become something of a cypher for something that's missing in my life I think.
I love that TV can do that! :)

I have a whole head canon for her that I might write down one day; some it is in comments though.
Writing it all down would be lovely. Especially since you clearly have so much of it worked out. <3

[yourlibrarian]

My first thought was that this would be a perfect entry in the annual challenge over on AO3 for International Fanworks Day, since it involves characters being fannish about another canon. It's geared to drabbles, though I notice this hasn't stopped people from writing longer works!

[kerk_hiraeth]

Thanks;

wouldn't even know how to enter, and was actually unaware of that. I take it you like the story?

Almost forgot; it is up on Ao3 now as well. Cannot thank elisi enough for the help she is giving me. I might not even have gotten this one written at all if not for her.

kerk

[yourlibrarian]

Sorry, yes, I immediately thought of it because it expands the idea of how the second fandom gets used in the stories. So for example here, there is the backstory of the particular day, and how the two can be both different and alike, leading to how effective a distraction it turned out to be as they connected with it.

(Re: the IFD challenge, mostly it's a matter of making a post with the "International Fanworks Day 2021" tag attached -- it's a celebration participation thing rather than a formal challenge.)

[kerk_hiraeth]

I tried to get across an idea of what happened in the episode; without being spoilery; or too much so anyway. Only ever been able to watch the first season once; was at a friends and he let me use his Netflix. Since then it's all been fanvids and reactors; if you take a look at one of my other replies there's a fuller bit about Dawn & Lisa in this 'verse, but Lisa has proven a rich character for me; the backstory I have in my head for her; never written it down, is full of things that will never appear in stories.

And Dawnie; she had a rough start in life. Taking out all the fake stuff that has become 'real', she lost her mother and her sister in very short order; along with discovering her entire existence really was someone else's story of her life. Take all that and see what a Human Being she became by the end of Season Seven.

Greatest truth that Xander ever spoke, "I think you're Extra-ordinary."

I waiting to see if a four season boxset is released. Until very recently I'd assumed the show wasn;t on DVD; now I know it is I want to get the whole set. I'm Lisa in this regard; a semi-fanatical Earper, but definitely a fan of Waverly; Nicole; Dominique & Kat :-)

kerk

[elisi]

(Re: the IFD challenge, mostly it's a matter of making a post with the "International Fanworks Day 2021" tag attached -- it's a celebration participation thing rather than a formal challenge.)
Quick question - where do you make the post? Is it a DW community, or is just a question of tagging the work on AO3?

:)

[yourlibrarian]

One just adds the tag wherever it's posted. So if on AO3 probably best to tag it with "International Fanworks Day 2020" as I think I've heard the 2021 challenge is going to have a different focus.

[elisi]

Thank you, that's very helpful! :)

[kerk_hiraeth]

Thanks from me as well,

kerk

[yourlibrarian]

You both are very welcome, and yes, it's lovely that elisi is giving you a hand with posting :)

[beer_good_foamy]

This is brilliant! I love it when characters get to be fans, and that scene certainly should get fans... um... involved. :)

[kerk_hiraeth]

I watched a lot of the reaction videos, and when I watched, and listened, to the song that Dominique Provost-Chalkley wrote and performed, I kept coming back to Lisa and Dawn; think because I watched a few reaction videos for The Body, and I was a little frustrated that they all missed Lisa and Dawn's interaction they were in my mind. Most of the thinking process was actually subsconscious; got so much of Lisa's backstory in my head that I can slip into their relationship quite easily and I know Dawn will forever have a hard time when the anniversary of her Mom's death comes around. I don't believe she intended the after-effects because she'd watched the episode so many times but; importantly, never with her partner. I'm most pleased with this one because it gives more insight into both of them.