Title: Ritual (42): The Right Thing
Author: mystery_sock
Pairing/Characters: Angela, implied Peter/Nathan, Peter, Arthur, Nathan
Rating: R
Spoilers: if you know who all of these characters are, you're good
Word Count: about 4000
Warnings: implied Petrellicest, angst, alcoholism
Summary: Angela and Arthur arrive at the Vermont summer house and find Peter emotionally devastated, and Nathan uncommunicative. Unfortunately, Arthur has his own problems that Angela also has to deal with...
Note: This is the conclusion of Ritual (40).
• Ritual Reader's Guide - all Ritual stories in chronological order •
( Nathan had done the right thing. )

Tags: angela, arthur, fic, nathan, peter, petrellicest, r, ritual

Betcha thought you wouldn't see this so soon, huh?

Title: Ritual (41): Masquerade
Author: mystery_sock
Pairing/Characters: Nathan/Heidi, implied Peter/Nathan, Arthur, Angela
Rating: NC-17
Spoilers: all episodes through 2.08: "Four Months Ago"; webcomic "War Buddies" (story takes place pre-series)
Word Count: about 9400
Warnings: language, implied incest, explicit sex, alcohol abuse
Summary: Nathan could always blame it all on the costume party, but letting his guard down with Heidi came with tremendous consequences. Unbeta'd; errors all mine.
• Ritual Reader's Guide - all Ritual stories in chronological order •
( He didn't have to be Nathan... and she didn't have to be Heidi. )

Tags: angela, arthur, fic, heidi, nathan, nc-17, peter, petrellicest, ritual
Current Mood: relieved

Okay, the dreams are starting to get out of hand... but last night's was one of the most vivid dreams I've had in years and it was just. so. cool. I have to post about it, and indeed I spent a long time this morning trying to recall as many details of the dream as possible, and determine whether or not what I had seen in my dream was true. Man, I was hoping it was. It's not. Boooooo!

I was asleep (in my dream) and someone (I don't know who; maybe my own mom) started shaking me to wake me up. I was grumpy at first, but then I noticed that the TV was on, and even though it was the middle of the night, there was a strange little viral Heroes teaser on that was about 1/2 hour in length.

The teaser was a non-chronologically structured history of all the nefarious things that Angela has done in the Petrelli mansion. There was a very important detail which I've now forgotten, unfortunately... damn... but essentially it offered actual proof that not only had Angela slept with every single male member of the Company Twelve (and Adam Monroe, for that matter) but that she had actually had a child by all of them, too, and given them all up for adoption. Arthur was present (in the present, as it were) only as a voice that was easily identifiable as Bruce Boxleitner's, though we never saw him, to my great frustration; but in the past he showed up a lot as portrayed by other actors. Cristine Rose was present as Angela throughout, and she looked the same as she does now even in the flashbacks, which is part of the reason why I honestly believed it. We also saw the very young Peter (about age 6 or 7) and the adolescent Nathan, acting like argumentative, obnoxious brothers.

One of the other neat things about what I saw was that it showed the grounds of the Petrelli mansion, the "back yard" as it were, and I remember that with such detail that I think I will integrate it into future fanfics. It doesn't violate what I've already written, so it's all quite good.

I wish I could remember more, but even more so, I wish my dream was real. It's kind of a cool idea - just unannounced showing a teaser for the show that doesn't actually show any footage that will end up in the season, but just highlighting a single character and the things they've done. In the dream, I taped it onto videotape even though I felt like it would end up on YouTube by morning, and I was so excited at the possibility of discussing it with my fellow fans. Alas, it's all just in my mind.

Anyway, back to my usual life, and back to finishing up Ritual (41) - I'm excited about how it's going to be received. It's substantially different from the other Rituals, and yet it's definitely a part of the larger story arc. I am quite proud of it. Look for it to drop sometime this week. And... FOR GOD'S SAKE GET THE FUCKING HIATUS OVER WITH ALREADY. I'M LOSING MY MIND.

Tags: angela, arthur, dream analysis, hiatus is killing me, nathan, peter
Current Mood: surreal
Current Music: Gnarls Barkley: Going On

Title: Ritual (40): A Mother Always Knows
Author: mystery_sock
Pairing/Characters: Peter/Nathan, Arthur, Angela
Rating: R
Spoilers: season 2 all
Word Count: about 7550
Warnings: language, implied incest, angst
Summary: Does Angela know about Peter and Nathan? How long has she known? Why hasn't she stopped them? Does she even want to?... Feedback and concrit welcome!
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( 'But still...'  )

Tags: angela, arthur, fic, nathan, peter, petrellicest, r, ritual

Title: Ritual (39): Both Sides Now
Author: mystery_sock
Pairing/Characters: Peter/Nathan, Arthur, Angela
Rating: NC-17
Spoilers: Episode 1.09 "Six Months Ago" and 2.04 "The Kindness of Strangers" (story takes place pre-series)
Word Count: about 9400
Warnings: language, incest, explicit m/m sex
Summary and Notes: As Peter backs away from studying for a law degree, he finds dealing with his father increasingly difficult... and Nathan seeks to exorcise his personal demons, with Peter's help. It is useful, but not strictly necessary, to read Ritual (27): Dixon first. Gracias to 47_trek_47 and fabrisse for their beta-ing help! Feedback=life.
• Ritual Reader's Guide - all Ritual stories in chronological order •

( 'What, is this, like, a date or something?'... )

Tags: angela, arthur, fic, nathan, nc-17, peter, petrellicest, ritual
Current Mood: happy

Happy birthday, Charlie Andrews. April showers; it's been stormin' all week. Let's all give Hiro-kun a sympathetic fictional hug.
....
Working, slowly, on Ritual 39. I am having unexpected difficulties deciding on POV, chronological setting, and whether or not I want it to turn into a longer, semi-drawn-out tale that's as much about Peter and Nathan's relationship with their father as it is about their relationship with each other.

It's not as though the former approach is a problem, but if I can't find a parallel between the two subjects, I ought to drop the parent/child Petrelli dynamic and concentrate on the brothers. There's plenty enough going on there in this story as it is (perhaps, even, too much). (And do I really want to write another 11,000 word fic? How many people have the patience to sit through that?)

This is an issue that I might have forseen last year, back when Ritual started growing in scope and complexity - as I go along, writing them becomes much harder work. I guess this is just something I do to myself; of course I could just write a simple, straightforward quick dash of smut, but other (cool) ideas keep crowding their way into my mind, and I then have to make decisions about what stays and what goes.

I am dying to write about Arthur Petrelli, if only because I'm dying to know him. Who is this guy, really? "War Buddies" gives a hint of how he was when he was in Vietnam (strict, slightly sentimental, lacking in superstition, get-the-job-done, harsh, unafraid to kill in the line of duty but not exactly bloodthirsty either, but also with a streak of cruelty) and we know he looks more or less almost exactly like the adult Nathan (thank you, Jason Badower; you're my favorite webcomics artist!). But there are so many unanswered questions, and Arthur Petrelli is as central to the mythology of Heroes as Chandra Suresh, Thompson, Linderman, or Kaito Nakamura – perhaps even more so.

But for me (and other fic writers in the fandom, especially Petrelli-lovers), it's also very personal. How did he interact with Nathan? With Peter? With Angela? (Yeah, seriously, what was going on there?) With the other members of the Company? I really, really wish they'd give us some canon on the show to work with, but I can't tell if they're going to go in that direction at all in their haste to give us lots of tasty supervillains. (Or maybe Arthur is one of those supervillains?...)

We need flashbacks (and hell, cast Adrian in the role; powder up his hair, slap some Buddy Holly glasses on him, and let him bust out his thespian chops) and we need them now. DAMN YOU, HIATUS.

Tags: arthur, charlie, heroes holiday, hiatus is killing me, writers block
Current Mood: okay
Current Music: Blitzen Trapper: Wild Mountain Nation

Title: Ritual (26): Crooked (1/2)
Pairing/Characters: Peter/Nathan, Arthur, Angela
Rating (part 1): PG (Overall): NC-17
Spoilers: through 2.11 "Powerless" and online comic "War Buddies"
Word Count (part 1): about 5500
Warnings: Angst, injury
Summary: All about Peter's beautiful flaws, and how much Nathan loves them. Part One: Peter's been weird since he was a kid... Author's notes at the end of Part Two.
Previous rituals:
(1) :: (2) :: (3) :: (4) :: (5) :: (6) :: (7) :: (8) :: (9) :: (10) :: (11) :: (12) :: (13) :: (14) :: (15) :: (16) :: (17) :: (18) :: (19) :: (20) :: (21) :: (22) :: (23) :: (24) :: (25)

( Peter's body is crooked... )

Tags: angela, arthur, fic, nathan, peter, pg, ritual