The inherent structure of the canon story (DISCOVER THE DEEP STRUCTURE OF THE UNIVERSE) means that you can ratchet the tension as high as you want - it'll never feel disproportionate :D So it makes sense that Rush is further and further damaged, more and more difficult to reach, to help and to heal. It makes sense that Young goes deeper and deeper into this relationship, to the point of becoming Rush in a tangental but fundamental way.
Oh, this is very interesting, this idea of the mounting stakes. And rings true with me. I always thought I didn't like H/C... turns out I just don't like bad H/C, I guess :) And I think it also makes a difference that Rush is the kind of character that the more you torture him, the more he-- becomes his own self. Partially because of his nature, and partially because of the nature of what his ultimate goal (and Destiny's) is (ascension).
"Our characters are telepathically linked, now they will automatically fall in loff!" is such a worn out trope.
WORD. And, y'know, it turns out to be a very good thing that she had that disclaimer about it being very SLOW building Young/Rush, because my first kneejerk reaction when they became telepathically linked was "Oh, no, I've read this story!" but -- as you say -- in those stories the luff is automatic, and the fact that it was explicitly stated to be slow meant I could trust it to -- not be the worn-out trope.
In my head, I sort of think of Rush's relationship with the AI to be both romantic and parental, in a really weird way. (Heck, the whole thing is weird.) I mean... I don't mean incestual, which gives me the squicks, more non-human in a way that a human mind can't really comprehend exactly. (Uh, I did a lot of thinking about this thing for a ficathon not too long ago, so it's in my brain...) Because the AI is like a big human kid in a lot of ways, and I think Rush gets that, and in other ways it's more than Rush is...
I have read both of those HP fics! I remember especially liking Transfigurations, and now I'll have to go find it again :P :) I did sort of give up on Stealing Harry while the sequel was still a WIP, but should get back to that one...
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Oh, this is very interesting, this idea of the mounting stakes. And rings true with me. I always thought I didn't like H/C... turns out I just don't like bad H/C, I guess :) And I think it also makes a difference that Rush is the kind of character that the more you torture him, the more he-- becomes his own self. Partially because of his nature, and partially because of the nature of what his ultimate goal (and Destiny's) is (ascension).
"Our characters are telepathically linked, now they will automatically fall in loff!" is such a worn out trope.
WORD. And, y'know, it turns out to be a very good thing that she had that disclaimer about it being very SLOW building Young/Rush, because my first kneejerk reaction when they became telepathically linked was "Oh, no, I've read this story!" but -- as you say -- in those stories the luff is automatic, and the fact that it was explicitly stated to be slow meant I could trust it to -- not be the worn-out trope.
In my head, I sort of think of Rush's relationship with the AI to be both romantic and parental, in a really weird way. (Heck, the whole thing is weird.) I mean... I don't mean incestual, which gives me the squicks, more non-human in a way that a human mind can't really comprehend exactly. (Uh, I did a lot of thinking about this thing for a ficathon not too long ago, so it's in my brain...) Because the AI is like a big human kid in a lot of ways, and I think Rush gets that, and in other ways it's more than Rush is...
I have read both of those HP fics! I remember especially liking Transfigurations, and now I'll have to go find it again :P :) I did sort of give up on Stealing Harry while the sequel was still a WIP, but should get back to that one...