(no subject)

[dragonyphoenix]

Title: I'd Rather Do It This Way
Fandom: BtVS
Rating: Teen
Summary: After his near-suicide, Jonathan talks to his therapist about why he gave the gun to Buffy.
Character: Jonathan
Concrit: Please, in comments
Disclaimer: They aren't mine, not yet, but they will be ... once I've taken over the world. Bwah-ha-ha!
Word Count: 100
Note: Written for a prompt at Open on Sunday: That which yields is not necessarily weak.

“I don't want to talk about that.”

“All right Jonathan. Could you tell me why you gave up the gun?”

“What?”

Dr. Matthews reviewed his notes. “You gave the gun to Buffy Summers. Why? Were you afraid you'd upset her? Because she's a girl?”

You know I could have taken that by now. That wasn't the reason. He'd given her the gun because she'd told him everyone was hurting and because he could see the pain in her eyes, but mostly because she'd waited for him to hand it to her. He'd given her the gun because she'd trusted him.

Comments

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I was planning a Jonathan is strong because giving up the gun is harder than using it theme but it shifted to this on the second draft.

I did, however, plan to put dialogue into this one. My drabbles seem to have become dialogue-light and I wanted a more grounded story this time. I'm glad you enjoyed it. ;-)

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

Nicely done! I think this is probably the first fic I've ever seen that covers this territory. (I'm surprised there isn't more Jonathan fic btw, especially since this is such a fraught moment on the show. It could easily have gone the other way around.)

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

I've never thought about there not being a lot of Jonathan fic. It is weird. Granted he's not a main character but he's in a good number of episodes in the earlier seasons.

One of the things I love about that episode is that Jonathan, who isn't the killer, has the dramatic scene while the lunch lady, who is the would-be killer, has a comic-relief scene.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

One of the things I love about that episode is that Jonathan, who isn't the killer, has the dramatic scene while the lunch lady, who is the would-be killer, has a comic-relief scene.

It hadn't occurred to me until you said that, how that gets reversed/paralled in Season 6 when no one takes the Trio seriously ("Are you trying to annoy me to death?") until Katrina's death. (Earshot and Normal Again have some other nifty parallels but that's another subject. Or maybe not. The "bad guy" isn't the demon per se but the Trio who are tormenting Buffy in that ep too.)

Jonathan's death in S7 guts me btw.

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

Oooh, you're right. The Trio are baddies but they are also comic relief, just like the lunchlady in Earshot. Good catch! ;-)

I was thinking about jonathan's death too. I really wish Joss hadn't killed him. ;-(

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

I was thinking about jonathan's death too. I really wish Joss hadn't killed him. ;-(

I don't remember the episode where Andrew first murders him, but there is a lovely moment just before that when Jonathan admits that he still thinks about his old classmates and Andrew replies that they don't think about him anymore; Jonathan replies "Well I still think about them." He achieves, if not redemption then a momentary state of grace AND THEN he gets killed. (par for the course with Joss, right?)

And I admit I am NOT an Andrew fan, esp S7; but it seems bizarre to me that Jonathan, a character who has been in the show since S1 and is the only link outside the SG to that first season (The Pack), and who really wanted to be part of the SG, is the one who gets killed off while Andrew gets a rather major supporting role in S7 - mainly for comic relief but also for his "redemption story". (beer_good_foamy did an excellent meta on the problem of the very concept of "redemption stories".) And then in Storyteller we have to watch Andrew narrate umpteen versions of Jonathan's death for the benefit of Andrew.

Yeah, right.

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen S7 as often as the earlier seasons. It's the only one I don't own so, while I have seen Jonathan's death, I don't recall it well. I do like the state of grace and then death bit though. That is lovely.

I sort of want to get S7 just to see Storyteller and watch all the versions of Jonathan's death that Andrew comes up with! And I'm sure beer_good_foamy's meta was excellent and insightful.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

And I'm sure beer_good_foamy's meta was excellent and insightful.

http://beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com/178410.html

BGF's meta's are the sort that sometimes have me scratching my head a little the first time I read them because I've been away from that sort of language and sophistication for such a long time; then I re-read and the lightbulb goes on in my head; and then each time going back I get something else again from them.

[baudown.livejournal.com]

I'm a real Jonathan fan, so this was a pleasure to read.

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it.