The Crucible slash!
Oct. 26th, 2005 10:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tsuru_sanIn my English class, we are currently doing the play The Crucible. For me, this is the second time around since my class brushed on it briefly during my sophomore year at my old school. I pretty much instantly fell in love with it; it’s such a gripping and emotional play. Anyways, back then a year ago I said I should write some yummy Crucible slash. However, I just never got around to it.
But at last that has been changed. ^^ In my current class, I have been mostly playing my fav character Reverend Hale (with a brief stint as Giles Corey), and thepoor dear Reverend has acted as a very effective muse to my already bunny-swamped brain. I doubt I’ll ever write anything for this fandom again, but I’m sure Arthur Miller is still rolling in his grave now anyways…
This first version of the story is from Reverend Hale’s POV.
Title: Jesus in My Mind
Fandom: The Crucible
Pairing: one-sided Reverend Hale/John Proctor and John Proctor/Elizabeth Proctor
Rating: PG
Summary: (takes place between Act II & III) Reverend Hale comes back to see John Proctor again later during the night of Elizabeth’s arrest.
Notes: Hmm, the writing’s a bit on the sensational side, but I hope you will all forgive me. Oh and whenever Hale refers to his “illness” or “disease”, he’s talking about his attractions to men. (Companion piece to “Angel Here Before Me”)
Reverend Hale’s POV…
I knocked tentatively upon the Proctor family door and waited nervously at the house’s threshold. There was no way I could be welcome in this house now, not now as demons flocked around it and clacked their claws and hissed out a blanket of despair, but I had to try.
After all, these were demons I had sent…at least if Proctor was to be believed. If Miss Williams and the other girls were not really possessed—if their “unholy” ailments were actually spawned from naught but fear—then I had played a willing part in this travesty of justice. The guilt of this as of yet undetermined truth already settled heavily on a heart even so holy as mine. I had done Justice wrong earlier this evening when I’d stood mute and unmoving while John Proctor needed me. Pontius Pilate he’d called me, but unlike Pilate, I would not continue to turn away.
I felt the shame of a blush creep over my face as I continued to wait. If I likened myself to a righteous Pontius Pilate, did that mean—by logical association—that I considered John Proctor a Christly figure? I was not sure, but such thoughts had the ring of blasphemy about them.
I knew I could say without pride or vanity that I was a strong man in spirit, but even the apostles’ courage failed when our Lord was taken to His cross, and I was beginning to fear how long my mettle would last if this door wasn’t opened soon!
I readied to knock once more upon the heavy oak when suddenly it parted for me. “John,” I breathed. Seeing him disheveled there before me so unexpectedly sent a thrill unbidden down my back, and quietly I lamented. The sight of him moved me in a way it should not, and I fretted that mayhap my pained illness was choosing this moment to present itself.
“Reverend Hale? What are you doing here again? And at this time?”
I composed myself speedily. “Mr. Proctor, I wish to speak with you.”
“Of course, of course,” he said, and as I passed him, I could feel the heat from his body since walking through the doorway brought me so very near to him. “Sit,” he murmured distractedly. “Please seat yourself.”
“No, Mister, I’d rather stand for I shan’t keep you long. I came here, John Proctor…to apologize.”
His eyes widened with a strange kind of wonder as if he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. “What exactly are you saying, Reverend?”
I flinched in that moment, and looking away, I wrung my hands before at last finding the words. “I want to help you.”
If possible, Proctor appeared even more stunned now. There was such a hopeful openness in his eyes that my fluttering and traitorous heart leapt within my bosom. How had I thought this man to ever be a sinner? Part of me even fancied I envied Elizabeth the husband she had found…
Moving faster than I thought possible in his emotionally dilapidated state, John was abruptly clutching my hand. Tenderly, he placed a kiss upon my palm causing my cheeks to crimson, and I couldn’t help but inhale sharply as he began talking again. “We’re a good Christian family, Reverend Hale. Elizabeth never hurt a soul in her life. And I… Hale, I’ve never done a thing with malicious intent.”
Standing there flustered and ashamed, I still had it in me to pity him. Oh how I pitied us both! Him for his deep loss, and me for my perverted illness that chose now to rear its demonic head. “I—I’m so sorry, John,” I said to him as gently as I was able. “Your wife, she… I promise, I promise I shall do whatever I can to help you both. I, I admit I had my misgivings before, but I know now that you are an upright man.”
“Thank you…” He sounded so relieved while I fought to hide the turmoil which maliciously gripped me.
“Don’t thank me yet, Mr. Proctor,” I reminded him, at last able to retrieve my mask of neutrality…as well as my hand. “I am neither the Judge nor any other man of real importance. I come only to do the Will of God.”
“Whatever you can do,” John replied, “will be more than enough.”
-end-
And now the same event from John Proctor’s POV.
Title: Angel Here Before Me
Fandom: The Crucible
Pairing: one-sided Reverend Hale/John Proctor and John Proctor/Elizabeth Proctor
Rating: PG
Summary: (takes place between Act II & III) Reverend Hale comes back to see John Proctor again later during the night of Elizabeth’s arrest.
Notes: Hmm, the writing’s a bit on the sensational side, but I hope you will all forgive me. (Companion piece to “Jesus in My Mind”)
John Proctor’s POV…
The knocking came late that night. Twas well past midnight and crawling toward early morning. Perhaps it was the marshal again. Would they not leave me alone? And even if it was merely Giles Corey…Francis Nurse, it did not matter. In my abject sorrow, I wanted the company of no one. Surely I was suffering for my sins with Abigail. I’d never meant for Elizabeth to be brought low by my transgressions. She was a cold woman, but she was a good woman. This was all my fault.
No. No, I could not act this way. In trouble I may be, but helpless I was not. Whoever it was that dared intrude upon my grief I would speak to briefly and then send them on their way. Rising quickly from the kitchen table, I went to the door and pulled it open.
“John.” It was Reverend Hale, and he spoke my Christian name with such a surreal quality that I was almost taken aback for an instant.
“Reverend Hale? What are you doing here again? And at this time?”
“Mr. Proctor,” said he, “I wish to speak with you.”
“Of course, of course.” I motioned for him to enter, and he did, coming so close that our two persons nearly brushed against each other. “Sit,” I told him automatically. “Please seat yourself.”
“No, Mister, I’d rather stand for I shan’t keep you long. I came here, John Proctor…to apologize.”
I stared at him bewildered. “What exactly are you saying, Reverend?” Of all the people I’d expected compassion from, this man was the last I’d anticipated to come forward and offer it.
He faltered then, looked away, and wrung his hands before finally saying, “I want to help you.”
Again I found myself thunderstruck. What reasons did this man have to assist me, and did it really matter? I just needed someone to care. And with the light from a lantern I had hung ringing ‘round the Reverend’s head in a halo, he looked not unlike an angel of mercy who had come—if not to redeem a sinner like me—to at least save my dear wife.
Like a drowning man grappling for a lifeline, I grasped his hand, briefly pressing my lips to his palm. “We’re a good Christian family, Reverend Hale. Elizabeth never hurt a soul in her life. And I… Hale, I’ve never done a thing with malicious intent.” I shied slightly. That wasn’t the whole truth, but the whole truth I could not speak.
He looked down at me with pity, and had I been my normal self, I would’ve scoffed to see such emotions in his eyes. His words however, would make a man in my place weep, and weep I nearly did.
“I—I’m so sorry, John,” he told me, speaking gently like a mother trying to calm her babe. “Your wife, she… I promise, I promise I shall do whatever I can to help you both. I, I admit I had my misgivings before, but I know now that you are an upright man.”
“Thank you…” The raspy voice that issued from my lips sounded not like my own, but I didn’t care. Finally someone was going to help me, someone with power who really could help. Soon my dear wife would be back with me, yet even then I would not deserve her…though at least I could protect her, my ‘Lizabeth.
Retrieving his hand from my grip—had I really still been holding onto him?—the Reverend spoke again. “Don’t thank me yet, Mr. Proctor. I am neither the Judge nor any other man of real importance. I come only to do the Will of God.”
So the good Reverend seemed to be back to his former impartial self. No matter though. I had seen his humanity, and it lifted my spirits ever so little. “Whatever you can do will be more than enough.”
-end-
But at last that has been changed. ^^ In my current class, I have been mostly playing my fav character Reverend Hale (with a brief stint as Giles Corey), and the
This first version of the story is from Reverend Hale’s POV.
Title: Jesus in My Mind
Fandom: The Crucible
Pairing: one-sided Reverend Hale/John Proctor and John Proctor/Elizabeth Proctor
Rating: PG
Summary: (takes place between Act II & III) Reverend Hale comes back to see John Proctor again later during the night of Elizabeth’s arrest.
Notes: Hmm, the writing’s a bit on the sensational side, but I hope you will all forgive me. Oh and whenever Hale refers to his “illness” or “disease”, he’s talking about his attractions to men. (Companion piece to “Angel Here Before Me”)
Reverend Hale’s POV…
I knocked tentatively upon the Proctor family door and waited nervously at the house’s threshold. There was no way I could be welcome in this house now, not now as demons flocked around it and clacked their claws and hissed out a blanket of despair, but I had to try.
After all, these were demons I had sent…at least if Proctor was to be believed. If Miss Williams and the other girls were not really possessed—if their “unholy” ailments were actually spawned from naught but fear—then I had played a willing part in this travesty of justice. The guilt of this as of yet undetermined truth already settled heavily on a heart even so holy as mine. I had done Justice wrong earlier this evening when I’d stood mute and unmoving while John Proctor needed me. Pontius Pilate he’d called me, but unlike Pilate, I would not continue to turn away.
I felt the shame of a blush creep over my face as I continued to wait. If I likened myself to a righteous Pontius Pilate, did that mean—by logical association—that I considered John Proctor a Christly figure? I was not sure, but such thoughts had the ring of blasphemy about them.
I knew I could say without pride or vanity that I was a strong man in spirit, but even the apostles’ courage failed when our Lord was taken to His cross, and I was beginning to fear how long my mettle would last if this door wasn’t opened soon!
I readied to knock once more upon the heavy oak when suddenly it parted for me. “John,” I breathed. Seeing him disheveled there before me so unexpectedly sent a thrill unbidden down my back, and quietly I lamented. The sight of him moved me in a way it should not, and I fretted that mayhap my pained illness was choosing this moment to present itself.
“Reverend Hale? What are you doing here again? And at this time?”
I composed myself speedily. “Mr. Proctor, I wish to speak with you.”
“Of course, of course,” he said, and as I passed him, I could feel the heat from his body since walking through the doorway brought me so very near to him. “Sit,” he murmured distractedly. “Please seat yourself.”
“No, Mister, I’d rather stand for I shan’t keep you long. I came here, John Proctor…to apologize.”
His eyes widened with a strange kind of wonder as if he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. “What exactly are you saying, Reverend?”
I flinched in that moment, and looking away, I wrung my hands before at last finding the words. “I want to help you.”
If possible, Proctor appeared even more stunned now. There was such a hopeful openness in his eyes that my fluttering and traitorous heart leapt within my bosom. How had I thought this man to ever be a sinner? Part of me even fancied I envied Elizabeth the husband she had found…
Moving faster than I thought possible in his emotionally dilapidated state, John was abruptly clutching my hand. Tenderly, he placed a kiss upon my palm causing my cheeks to crimson, and I couldn’t help but inhale sharply as he began talking again. “We’re a good Christian family, Reverend Hale. Elizabeth never hurt a soul in her life. And I… Hale, I’ve never done a thing with malicious intent.”
Standing there flustered and ashamed, I still had it in me to pity him. Oh how I pitied us both! Him for his deep loss, and me for my perverted illness that chose now to rear its demonic head. “I—I’m so sorry, John,” I said to him as gently as I was able. “Your wife, she… I promise, I promise I shall do whatever I can to help you both. I, I admit I had my misgivings before, but I know now that you are an upright man.”
“Thank you…” He sounded so relieved while I fought to hide the turmoil which maliciously gripped me.
“Don’t thank me yet, Mr. Proctor,” I reminded him, at last able to retrieve my mask of neutrality…as well as my hand. “I am neither the Judge nor any other man of real importance. I come only to do the Will of God.”
“Whatever you can do,” John replied, “will be more than enough.”
-end-
And now the same event from John Proctor’s POV.
Title: Angel Here Before Me
Fandom: The Crucible
Pairing: one-sided Reverend Hale/John Proctor and John Proctor/Elizabeth Proctor
Rating: PG
Summary: (takes place between Act II & III) Reverend Hale comes back to see John Proctor again later during the night of Elizabeth’s arrest.
Notes: Hmm, the writing’s a bit on the sensational side, but I hope you will all forgive me. (Companion piece to “Jesus in My Mind”)
John Proctor’s POV…
The knocking came late that night. Twas well past midnight and crawling toward early morning. Perhaps it was the marshal again. Would they not leave me alone? And even if it was merely Giles Corey…Francis Nurse, it did not matter. In my abject sorrow, I wanted the company of no one. Surely I was suffering for my sins with Abigail. I’d never meant for Elizabeth to be brought low by my transgressions. She was a cold woman, but she was a good woman. This was all my fault.
No. No, I could not act this way. In trouble I may be, but helpless I was not. Whoever it was that dared intrude upon my grief I would speak to briefly and then send them on their way. Rising quickly from the kitchen table, I went to the door and pulled it open.
“John.” It was Reverend Hale, and he spoke my Christian name with such a surreal quality that I was almost taken aback for an instant.
“Reverend Hale? What are you doing here again? And at this time?”
“Mr. Proctor,” said he, “I wish to speak with you.”
“Of course, of course.” I motioned for him to enter, and he did, coming so close that our two persons nearly brushed against each other. “Sit,” I told him automatically. “Please seat yourself.”
“No, Mister, I’d rather stand for I shan’t keep you long. I came here, John Proctor…to apologize.”
I stared at him bewildered. “What exactly are you saying, Reverend?” Of all the people I’d expected compassion from, this man was the last I’d anticipated to come forward and offer it.
He faltered then, looked away, and wrung his hands before finally saying, “I want to help you.”
Again I found myself thunderstruck. What reasons did this man have to assist me, and did it really matter? I just needed someone to care. And with the light from a lantern I had hung ringing ‘round the Reverend’s head in a halo, he looked not unlike an angel of mercy who had come—if not to redeem a sinner like me—to at least save my dear wife.
Like a drowning man grappling for a lifeline, I grasped his hand, briefly pressing my lips to his palm. “We’re a good Christian family, Reverend Hale. Elizabeth never hurt a soul in her life. And I… Hale, I’ve never done a thing with malicious intent.” I shied slightly. That wasn’t the whole truth, but the whole truth I could not speak.
He looked down at me with pity, and had I been my normal self, I would’ve scoffed to see such emotions in his eyes. His words however, would make a man in my place weep, and weep I nearly did.
“I—I’m so sorry, John,” he told me, speaking gently like a mother trying to calm her babe. “Your wife, she… I promise, I promise I shall do whatever I can to help you both. I, I admit I had my misgivings before, but I know now that you are an upright man.”
“Thank you…” The raspy voice that issued from my lips sounded not like my own, but I didn’t care. Finally someone was going to help me, someone with power who really could help. Soon my dear wife would be back with me, yet even then I would not deserve her…though at least I could protect her, my ‘Lizabeth.
Retrieving his hand from my grip—had I really still been holding onto him?—the Reverend spoke again. “Don’t thank me yet, Mr. Proctor. I am neither the Judge nor any other man of real importance. I come only to do the Will of God.”
So the good Reverend seemed to be back to his former impartial self. No matter though. I had seen his humanity, and it lifted my spirits ever so little. “Whatever you can do will be more than enough.”
-end-
no subject
Date: 2005-10-27 05:14 pm (UTC)*has played the role twice now*, but yay, slash!*glomps you and memories to read later*
no subject
Date: 2005-10-28 01:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-28 01:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-28 01:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-28 01:19 am (UTC)I can't say I've ever seen Crucible slash before. Kudos! You're a real trailblazer! Eh HEH. ^_^; Also, you rock and I totally love you for this. XDDD
My favorite line: Seeing him disheveled there before me so unexpectedly sent a thrill unbidden down my back, and quietly I lamented. The sight of him moved me in a way it should not, and I fretted that mayhap my pained illness was choosing this moment to present itself.
...Guh. All sorts of guh.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-28 01:33 am (UTC)Wicked! Myself, I was in the back of the room waving my hand and generally making an arse out of myself for the part, and since none of the boys really wanted Hale, I got 'im. ^^
...Guh. All sorts of guh.
lol. Thank you! Tis so fun toying with clergy. Poor Hale though...his love is so unrequited. XD
no subject
Date: 2005-10-29 08:05 pm (UTC)...*DIES!!!*
Ah, I miss the days of making a complete jackass out of myself in class. Good times. Gooood times. //nostalgic moment
...hee.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-28 01:52 pm (UTC)I suddenly have the image of a Paris/Proctor hatefuck in my head. Oh God. What have you done to me?
Love it, by the way. Ver cool.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-29 01:33 am (UTC)Wanted to put on my own production.
That would've been kickass! Shame it didn't work out.
I suddenly have the image of a Paris/Proctor hatefuck in my head.
Mmm, yes. That one occurred to me too (especially after rewatching the movie). I'm also strongly entertaining the idea of some Hale/Danforth. ;)
What have you done to me?
*cue evil laughter* ^^