"...all you want to do is grab the person next to you, and just f*** the s*** out of them..." - Cabin Fever
Cabin Fever: Parting Shot is a Completed, FixIt - AU - Hurt/Comfort - Deconstruction Fic of Cabin Fever, written by HeatAndChills
.Its premise seems to be the same as the film's, but plays out as if the flesh eating virus never existed, essentially leaving us with an erotic college vacation story revolving around the film's five leads, but very much Played for Drama. Just like in the film, Marcy and Jeff are the 'frisky' established couple, while Paul timidly pines over Karen, and Bert lingers around getting on everybody else's nerves, all of which plays out around a cabin.
The plot follows Dark Horse couple Paul and Marcy as their friendship turns into a hot vacation affair. Here, their affair is driven by Wacky Fratboy Hijinks, Alcohol-Induced Idiocy and regretable drunken sexual escapades, all of which cumulatively cause friction within the established couples. As they grow increasingly upset with their own love interests, Paul and Marcy turn to one another as shoulders to cry on, with predicatable results.
Fans of the film will remember that Paul and Marcy ended up in bed together in what was basically a 2-minute detour for Fanservice. This fic takes that detour, changes the setup, and turns it into a story in its own right. Still shameless Fanservice, but definitely closer to Porn with Plot then the alternative.
It can be read here.
Don't Like? Don't Read! warning for a mild Attempted Rape scene.
Cabin Fever: Parting Shot contains examples of:
- Above the Influence:
- Subverted. Paul is definitely sexually attracted to Marcy, but when she offers herself to him, at the end of the shooting contest, he gives her every opportunity to back out, as she's had a few beers and she's tipsy. However, once it becomes clear that she understands what she is doing and really does want to sleep with him, he goes along with it.
- Also deconstructed at the beginning, by Paul. On one hand, he wants his first time with Karen to be a proper act of love. But on the other hand, he is worried that Karen will see him as a wet blanket and lose all interest in him if he doesn't get drunk and party with her and the others.
- Averted completely with Bert. When Marcy is severely wasted and drunk-horny, he sees it as the perfect opportunity to finally score with her, and makes the boldest move imaginable to make it a reality. And when Marcy still rejects him, Bert decides instead to take advantage of Karen, who is just as drunk, and much more cooperative.
- Adaptational Jerkass:
- Bert. Though he was certainly no saint in the film, he certainly never attempted to rape anybody.
- Jeff is about as likable as he was in the film here, although he comes off much more as a drunken buffoon in this.
- Adaptation Expansion: Paul and Marcy's sexual affair was swift and simple in the film. In this story it is much more fleshed out, particularly in terms of the aftermath and emotional decompression.
- Also see 'Backstory'.
- All Guys Want Sorority Women: After his efforts to romance Karen fall through, and Marcy offers herself to him, Paul quickly develops an insatiable attraction to Marcy. By the end of the story, literally all the guys want Marcy, who is far more sorority material then Karen.
- All Men Are Perverts: Averted. While Bert and Jeff are extremely sexually disrespectful towards the women during the story, Paul manages to traverse (and indulge in) the gauntlet of casual sex showing the women all due respect. Significant
Alternate Character Interpretation all round, as the film version of Paul is often called out by fans and reviewers for touching Karen inappropriately while she slept, whereas Jeff and Bert, though complete Jerkasses in their own rights, never did anything in the realm of sexual assault. - Alternate Universe Fic: The flesh eating virus and Henry the hermit don't seem to exist in this continuity.
- The Alcoholic: Jeff and Bert live this trope in the confines of the story. Worth noting that in the film, they do make a wager to drink nothing but beer all week long. But this fic depicts them having wild binges and adds a lot of Alcohol-Induced Idiocy that they never displayed in the film.
- Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: Plenty. Most notably, the shooting contest.
- Deconstructed with Bert's attempt to insert himself into Marcy and Jeff's lovemaking. Jeff tries to reason that it was an example of this, but Marcy realizes it was because he is a Jerkass.
- Minor example with Marcy stripping naked and dancing suggestively in front of Bert, who she knew to be a major pervert.
- Briefly Played for Laughs with Paul's comic bumbling when the stereo dies.
- Implied to be at least partly behind Karen's decision to have sex with Bert.
- Ambiguous Ending:
- Neither Paul nor Marcy seem to expect they'll become a couple after their one night stand. But will they? For that matter, it's not even clear whether they intend to keep their affair going for the duration of the vacation.
- Paul's future with Karen is likewise extremely ambiguous, even if he doesn't pair up with Marcy. It's unclear whether he'll even continue to pursue her.
- The ending notes that there will be tension to come between the protagonists and the other characters, though how this tension will play out is unknown.
- Attempted Rape: Though he probably doesn't realize it, this is clearly what Bert was doing to Marcy when he joined in her lovemaking session with Jeff. Played for Drama.
- Backstory: A few additions, including some elaboration on the history of Jeff and Bert's friendship, and some exposition of Marcy's family background.
- Bedmate Reveal: Both Paul and especially Marcy seem to get a sharp reality check when they wake up the morning after.
- Beer Goggles: Averted. Despite the high amount of unlikely, drunken hook-ups, none of them occur due to Beer Goggles, as the five characters are sexy as hell to begin with.
- Betrayal Fic: Yes. But worth remembering that relationship disintegration was a major theme in the film, so this fic rebrands betrayals that were in the film. But Karen's betrayal of Paul is a new one.
- Binge Montage: How the story gets from establishing the premise to the start of the plot.
- But I Would Really Enjoy It:
- Marcy wrestles with her own over-stimulated libido when Bert inserts himself into her lovemaking session with Jeff.
- Paul also grapples with this when he finds himself wanting to have sex with Marcy yet again, but she has fallen fast asleep after their last vigorous session and can't technically consent.
- But Liquor Is Quicker: Plenty, which is hardly surprising considdering it's a college Spring Break story.
- Jeff and Marcy are clearly very inibriated during their first love scene in the story. And Bert is also drunk as he attempts to insert himself into it.
- Karen seems to be blind drunk when Bert has sex with her.
- Averted in a later scene, where both the girls are especially cautious against allowing Bert to take advantage of them in their drunken state, due to the fact that he had taken advantage of both of them the night before, while they were drunk.
- Neither Marcy nor Paul are completely sober the first time they have sex for real.
- Caught with Your Pants Down: Subverted with Bert, as he damn well knew he was going to get caught and didn't care anyway. In fact, it was so obvious that he was going to handle his own frustration that Marcy explicitly warned him beforehand not to do it. Yet he's stopped before he can finish, regardless, as Marcy threatens to pelt him with chunks of charcoal when shame alone won't do the trick.
- Come Back to Bed, Honey: Jeff tries this on Marcy after Bert interrupted their lovemaking by trying to join in. Possibly subverted as there isn't actually a bed involved.
- Continuity Nod:
- The passing reference to Grimm in the first part.
- The general geography of the lake bank.
- The references to Bert shooting squirrels.
- The brief conversation at the reservoir.
- Marcy's musing about the murky water being their drinking water.
- Marcy's bath scene.
- Deconstruction Fic: Yes:
- Marcy's promiscuity and choice in partners.
- The whole subject of having an impulsive one night stand with a friend, which the film briskly skimmed through.
- Paul's infatuation with Karen.
- Wacky Fratboy Hijinks
- Subverted with how a group reacts to internal conflict. The film explored this pretty thoroughly. This fic does so too, but the conflict is all different.
- Designated Driver: Paul makes a reference during the shooting contest that is Played for Laughs.
- Did They or Didn't They?: Subverted. Although Marcy didn't actually see what went on between Bert and Karen while she was absent, she (accurately) concludes they had sex, based on their behavior immediately afterwards. However, Jeff, who saw exactly what she saw, doesn't seem to suspect anything happened.
- Did You Just Have Sex?: Completely averted. Despite there being several instances where characters are acting differently after having sex, 'nobody ever has to ask this question as they were already aware of their friends' sexual activity before they started showing behavioral cues. In the lone exception, where a sexual encounter takes place without any of the other characters being aware of it, the participants' behaviors don't change enough for any of their friends to notice.
- Do You Want to Copulate?: This is how Marcy begins her midnight liason with Paul. Leave subtlety at the door. Her previous offer to give him a Pity Sex blowjob is almost as forward.
- Don't Like? Don't Read!: Probably good advice for anyone who finds Attempted Rape triggering (see above).
- Double-Meaning Title:
- Marcy ends her relationship with Jeff in the most humiliating fashion she can think of (her 'parting shot'), and the story's central event is a bottle-shooting contest.
- That bottle-shooting contest is the reason Marcy breaks up with Jeff. In other words, the 'shots' are what 'parts' them.
- Drinking Contest: Not specifically mentioned. However, this fic seems to share its continuity with the film, where Jeff and Bert were having a week-long drinking contest. So it's probably taking place in this story, too.
- Drinking Game: Brief mention of one taking place during the first beach party, based on Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Inverted. The characters who are dealing with stuff during the second beach party actually drink less then they did when they were happier, and certainly much less then all their friends.
- Entitled to Have You: Bert seems to harbor a latent attitude of this nature toward Marcy, and eventually comes to believe he can justify it by demonstrating that he's the best crack shot out of the three males present. He even manages to talk (a severely drunk) Jeff into believing that the best shot amongst them is 'entitled' to Marcy.
- Everybody Has Lots of Sex: Yes, they do. Any questions?
- Extreme Libido: Bert seems to have this, and Marcy freely admits to having one during some moments of self reflection.
- Fanservice: Tonnes of it. Lots of sex and other teasing by the cast of the sexy, young twentysomethings from the film. Notably leaving out all the melting, diseased flesh shots, which spoiled most of the 'sexy' stuff in the film.
- Fan Disservice: A little bit of this too, though certainly not in the gory fashion of the film.
- Bert's sleazy attempt to insert himself into Marcy and Jeff's lovemaking is probably the standout example of this. In fact, his overall sleazy behavior has this effect, though it's mostly used to drive the story.
- Seeing Paul and Karen's romance plot hit the stumbling block of Karen sleeping with Bert is Fan Disservice for some.
- Watching a drunken Jeff and Bert debating how they could use Marcy's body as the grand prize for their shooting contest is another example. Thankfully, the resolution is quite satisfying.
- Fix Fic: Yes. Everybody Lives, and Paul and Marcy's storyline concludes much more amicably then in the film.
- There's also an ambiguous implication that Paul and Karen might have a happy ending, too.
- Averted with Marcy and Jeff. They still have a bitter breakup.
- Friends with Benefits: Paul and Marcy are this by the end of the story. Though it's implied the arrangement will only last a few days at most, until the end of the vacation. They aren't a proper couple, as they haven't fallen in love, and even openly discuss their intentions to pursue other people, during their morning-after pillow talk.
- Full-Frontal Assault: Minor example: Marcy scares Bert off with some well-aimed hunks of charcoal, while she's still naked, after having sex with Paul.
- Girl on Girl Is Hot: The three boys thoroughly enjoy watching the girls' sensous interactions during their striptease.
- The Grunting Orgasm: Yep.
- Guy on Guy Is Hot: The girls want the boys to repay their performance by doing a striptease of their own. But Bert refuses to play ball.
- Hand-or-Object Underwear: Marcy does this during an argument on the beach with Jeff, not for modesty reasons, but to keep her sensitive bits warm.
- Hangover Sensitivity: Badly averted with Paul. Despite being thoroughly soused the previous night, he doesn't seem to have a hangover at all.
- Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Marcy, but also surprisingly, Karen. Initially played for Fanservice, then Played for Drama.
- Het: Completely... Unless you count the pseudo-lesbian naked dance scene.
- Hurt/Comfort Fic: The central theme.
- I'll Be in My Bunk: Averted repeatedly:
- Paul goes back to his bunk after stumbling upon Karen and Bert having sex. Not to masturbate, but to throw a broken heart tantrum.
- Bert sees Jeff and Marcy having sex and decides to try to join in.
- Later, he watches while Marcy and Paul have sex, and begins to masturbate openly, right in front of them!
- The Immodest Orgasm: Invoked. Marcy deliberately lays it on thick when she's screwing Paul in front of Bert. She wants to torment Bert as much as possible, knowing how badly he wants to screw her, and resenting him for his sleazy efforts to bed her.
- Instant Seduction: Marcy was noted for this ability in the film, and it carries over into this Fan Fic.
- Instant Turn-Off: Zigzagged. Bert kills Marcy's mood fairly quickly when he inserts himself into her lovemaking with Jeff. But before she gets turned off, he actually turns her on a little.
- Interplay of Sex and Violence:
- The bottle-shooting-come-sex-scene probably qualifies.
- The scene where Paul rages through the cabin, taking his anger out on the furniture, while Karen and Bert are having sex.
- Interrupted Intimacy:
- Zigzagged with Jeff and Marcy when Bert decides to join them. Initially, it doesn't cause an interruption, but ultimately it puts a stop to the action.
- Subverted when Bert interrupts Paul and Marcy's post-coital moment, by masturbating right in front of them.
- Averted during Paul and Marcy's earlier clandestine sex act in the woods. One might expect the encounter to be interrupted by Karen, who was mentioned to still be in the area, but they don't.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: Marcy thinks this somewhat ironically, after being sexually assaulted by Bert, and then discovering Bert and Karen had consensual sex.
- Intimate Psychotherapy: Done very much of vein of Sex for Solace and Sex Is Liberation, as seen below. Coupled with a bit of pillow talk counseling between Paul and Marcy and implied to also take place unseen between Jeff and Marcy.
- Just Friends: This is where Paul is with Karen at the start of the story.
- Liquid Courage: Inverted. Despite his bold entry into the shooting contest, Paul actually does this because being (relatively) sober gives him an advantage.
- Male Frontal Nudity: Jeff goes au natural when the girls persuade him to do a striptease. Bert is nauseated.
- Making Love in All the Wrong Places: Subverted. It takes a while, but eventually this story's copious sexual activity moves into an actual bedroom.
- A Man Is Always Eager: Yeah, pretty much. Paul doesn't let his heartbreak over Karen get in the way of a chance to bang Marcy, Jeff isn't remotely put off by the fact that his best friend just inserted himself into a lovemaking session with his girlfriend, and Bert seems to have nothing else on his mind throughout the entire story.
- Mating Dance: Marcy and Karen's striptease is suggestive.
- The Modest Orgasm:
- Aside from the previously-mentioned encounter on the beach, Marcy reaches her destination in all her sex scenes without making a big deal of it.
- Karen is also very quiet during her sex scene with Bert. Likely because she's extremely drunk and possibly because she doesn't actually have an orgasm.
- Modesty Towel: Subverted. Karen does use a towel in this fashion after she's done a naked dance with Marcy. However, she doesn't do it for modesty reasons (she seems to have drunk all her inhibitions away), but rather simply for warmth.
- Naked People Are Funny: A little bit of this in the early stages of the story. But the comedic drunken nudity soon gives way to more serious storytelling.
- Nature Abhors a Virgin: Paul. Assuming he is a virgin, as is suggested.
- Next Thing They Knew: Pretty much how Marcy first hooks up with Paul.
- "Not If They Enjoyed It" Rationalization:
- Bert seems to believe this will ultimately justify intruding upon a lovemaking session between Marcy and Jeff, without an invitation.
- Pondered by Paul when he wants to have sex again with Marcy but she's fast asleep. He quickly decides it's wrong. See Questionable Consent.
- Not Staying for Breakfast:
- Deliberately averted in the main storyline, as probably the most obvious element of the film's character arcs which this fic attempts to fix (aside from the mass fatalities, of course). There was never any closure to Paul and Marcy's one night stand in the film, but in this story, they stay together long enough to sort out their feelings towards one another.
- Averted in the actual breakfast scene, by everybody in attendence; even though, for most of them, the various sexual acts during the previous night makes the meal extremely awkward. Double subverted with Paul in that scene. Literaly, he does stay for breakfast, but he races out almost immediately once he's finished his meal, and also he's not running out on a sex partner, he's running out on the girl he's infatuated with, who he caught sleeping with another guy.
- Obligatory Swearing: Present, but actually much less prolific then the film; which makes sense considdering this fic cuts out the more catastrophic elements - such as burning a stranger alive - which tends to trigger a lot of cursing. Probably stands out because the film was noted for its gratuitous usage of not only typical swears, but also gay slurs and even the N-bomb. This fic mostly just sticks to garden-variety swearing, apart from some limited homophobic slurs from Bert, for the sake of Character Continuity and solidifying his status as a Jerkass.
- Of Course I'm Not a Virgin: Paul attempts to do this when Marcy asks him, but she doesn't believe him.
- A Party, Also Known as an Orgy: The vacation as a whole.
- Pity Sex:
- Marcy's first sex act with Paul is this to a large degree.
- There are also overtones of this in their final sex scene.
- Plot-Inciting Infidelity: Played with. Karen isn't exactly in a relationship with Paul, but his heartbreak and the consequences of it work pretty much the same.
- Quest for Sex: A minor plot line from the film, Paul's Quest For Sex is given more focus here. Just like the film, he succeeds, just not with the girl he was expecting.
- Questionable Consent:
- It's not precisely clear how Bert and Karen ended up having sex. Though it seems obvious that it never would've happened if they hadn't been completely drunk.
- Played with, when Bert watches Marcy have sex with Paul. Marcy consents to allowing him to watch, but expressly forbids him to masturbate to the spectacle. Later, he masturbates anyway.
- Deconstructed and ultimately averted when Paul is struck with a Raging Stiffie while laying in bed with Marcy, who happens to be fast asleep after their exhausting sexual activity. He ponders the morality of having his way with her again, while she sleeps, rationalizing that she'd already consented to their previous encounter only minutes earlier; that she might even be pleased if she happened to wake up in the middle of it; and that he really, really wants it to happen. But ultimately, he decides that it would be wrong to have encore sex with her without her consent and instead takes matters into his own hands.
- Raging Stiffie: Paul gets a couple of these during his post-coital lay-in with Marcy
- Really Gets Around: Bert has a strong preference for Marcy, but he doesn't let that get in the way of exploiting other opportunities to get it on with the fairer sex. It's also implied that he fully embodies this trope outside of the story's timeframe.
- Sex Changes Everything:
- Subverted when Paul's close friendship with Karen turns sour after she sleeps with Bert. Subverted due to the fact that it isn't sex between the two friends that sours the relationship.
- Played straight, though a minor example, with Karen and Bert. Karen seemed to be a lot more comfortable around Bert before they had sex.
- Subverted yet again with Paul and Marcy. Yes, having sex does change everything for them. But the change is implied to be overall positive, and a maturing of their casual friendship. They haven't fallen in love, but they seem to be happy having become Friends with Benefits. Another notable departure from the film, as having sex ruined their relationship there.
- Sex Comedy: Averted (mostly). The Everybody Has Lots of Sex and Wacky Fratboy Hijinks foundations of this story has "Teenage Sex Comedy" written all over it, but despite that, the laughs are deliberately far less frequent then you would expect, with most of the Unresolved Sexual Tension being Played for Drama.
- Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll: The beach parties are this. Alcohol is a drug.
- Sex for Services: Played with. Paul's participation in the shooting contest is rewarded in this fashion by Marcy. But even though there was an agreement to this effect, in the end, it's implied that they had sex simply because they both wanted to, and that neither of them actually felt like Marcy was obliged to sleep with Paul.
- Sex for Solace: A lot! Almost entirely taking place between Marcy and Paul, although it's also hinted that Marcy may have done this with Jeff to help her get over the upsetting events of the previous night.
- Sex Is Evil, and I Am Horny: Played with. Marcy does some soul-searching regarding her promiscuity and briefly contemplates the conservative attitudes her family tried to ingrain in her towards sex.
- Sex Is Good: The overall takeaway of the story. Despite the many complications and drama it causes in their life, Paul and Marcy both seem to resolve that it makes their life so much better. Lampshaded by the fact that it's the ultimate resolution Marcy comes to during her previously-mentioned soul-search.
- Sex Is Liberation:
- Especially for Paul, who by the end of the story, is liberated from his friendzone hell by his casual affair with Marcy.
- To a lesser degree, Marcy, who uses her affair with Paul to fully liberate herself from her relationship with Jeff.
- Sex Is Violence:
- Inverted. Marcy uses sex with Paul as a deliberate insult and ego-bashing towards Bert. Followed up with her actually throwing objects at his head, while he attempts to masturbate!
- Double Subverted with the shooting contest. Despite Marcy "agreeing" that she would sleep with the winner after the contest, she was very turned off by the situation. However, while she was watched him compete, she found herself becoming very aroused by Paul's performance.
- Sexposition: Subverted. There is certainly some serious foreplay going on while Paul and Marcy discuss their lives and plans for the future at the end.
- Sexy Discretion Shot:
- Karen and Bert's sex scene plays out this way, from Marcy's point of view. Marcy stumbles on to the scene shortly after the fact, and can tell by their body language that they've just had sex.
- Marcy and Paul's later sexual encounters play out this way for Bert. He watches as a scantily-clad Marcy slips into Paul's bedroom late at night, knowing full well what will happen next.
- Shameless Fanservice Girl: Give them enough beer and both Marcy and Karen will live out this trope.
- Shower of Awkward: Averted. Given the genre of the story, and the tiny cabin that five people are sharing, one might've been expecting Marcy to be interrupted during her reflective bath scene. It doesn't happen.
- Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon: Briefly referenced early on.
- Skinny Dipping: Sure.
- Sleeps with Everyone but You:
- Strongly implied to be the basis of Bert's rotten attitude towards Marcy.
- Taking Marcy's heterosexuality into account, turns out to be quite literal, within the frame of the story. She sleeps with every guy there, except Bert.
- To a lesser degree, Paul struggles with a bit of this, regarding Karen, after she sleeps with Bert.
- Smells Sexy: Paul really digs the scent of Marcy's bath salts!
- Strangely Arousing: This story ventures into the distorted thinking of a drunken mind and explores how alcohol affects the libido. In one particular scene, wildly wasted Marcy finds herself getting turned on by something that she knows should be a massive mood killer. In fact, pretty soon, she isn't even clear how she feels about it. But arousal seems to be in there somewhere.
- The Tease:
- Marcy admits to herself how much she enjoys having three boys - her committed boyfriend and two other random guys - leering at her, while she performs a saucy strip-tease.
- Karen was implied to embody this trope towards Paul a little in the film, and for all intents and purposes, it seems to carry over into this Fan Fic.
- Technical Virgin: Marcy suspects that Paul is one. At least until she does something about that...
- Three-Way Sex: Subverted. Jeff, Bert and Marcy almost go here, but Marcy stops it before they go all the way.
- There Is Only One Bed: Subverted. Marcy has several options of who to share a bed with, but finds excuses for why she doesn't want to choose them, until she decides to share a bed with Paul. Basically she's just looking for a way to justify sleeping with Paul again, which she wants to do, even though she knows it's a bad idea.
- Think Unsexy Thoughts: Worried that his morning-after boner could make the morning-after awkwardness even worse, Paul gets rid of it with memories of getting dental fillings from an ugly dentist.
- Tone Shift: The film is a Horror/Comedy. The tone of this fic is Porn with Plot-Drama.
- A Threesome Is Hot: Strongly averted. The addition of Bert into the aforementioned sex scene between Jeff and Marcy is a total mood-killer, not only for Marcy, but for the reader as well.
- Two-Person Pool Party: Sort of. A lake is a type of pool, right?
- Virgin-Shaming: Marcy suspects that Paul is doing this to himself. She doesn't think any less of him, though.
- Virginity Flag: It's not specified what it is precisely, but Marcy seems to just be able to tell that Paul is a virgin.
- Wacky Fratboy Hijinks: Entirely Played for Drama, even when it seems like they're being Played for Laughs to begin with.
- Wham Line:
- Marcy:
"Would you like to?"(after asking Paul if he's ever had sex)"Yeah. By 'spend the night', I mean 'sex'."(after asking Paul to let her bunk with him)- Bert:
"Well, how 'bout this, man: Winner gets to fuck Marcy?"(organizing a bottle-shooting contest with Jeff) - Wild Teen Party:
- The beach parties.
- The striptease and the shooting contest are probably the standout examples.
