Fic Rec Post #4 (Sept 22-28)
You may have noticed that I skipped the week of September 15-21. That was done on purpose since apparently I didn't read much that week and of the few fics I did touch non of them were really rec worthy. I appear to have made up for it by the next week however...
Meta
Title: Sexual Assault, Triggering, and Warnings: An Essay by![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
impertinence
Summary: "Warning: Very explicit discussion of sexual assault and the nature, anatomy, cause & effect of triggers. Is itself triggery."
That is the feeling that anti-warnings people often pin down as a place where any survivor should know to leave a fic, no harm (or little harm) supposedly done. But that is the place that triggers me. The textual warning triggers me, which is why I need an extra-textual warning. By the time I anticipate it, it's too late; I'm back in the place where I'm trying to figure out if today is the day he stares at my crotch and licks his lips, or if I can talk him out of raping me, or at least into the living room so I have a chance to run away. For me this trigger is worse than being triggered by a violent rape scene. Because violent rape scenes throw me back into a specific assault, or at least a specific feeling. That creeping feeling, however, triggers me in a long-term, incredibly painful way.
Reason for the Rec: Before reading this meta I had never really thought about which side of the warning debate I fell on. If asked I would have said I was more for warnings (but I remember my early days of using warnings on an archive as a way to *find* fic I wanted to read). After reading this, I know exactly what side I fall on. The part I quoted above is an excelent point, which is why I made it the summary, however I think the part that stuck with me the most was a lineimertinence (possibly in the comments) said while explaining how calculus was also a trigger for her . Something along the lines of: There are so many possible triggers that it's impossible for people to warn for all of them. However as someone who is in danger of being triggered I already have to spend so much energy and stay on guard for the rare and random ones, why would you make me be even more careful about the obvious ones?
Or something like that (if there weren't 13 pages of comments I'd search out the comment to quote directly).
My Tags: Warnings, Triggering, SexualAssault
Title: On rape and men (Oh yes, I'm going there) bycereta
Summary: Because men raping women is systemic, and cultural, and yes it is the patriarchy and it is misogyny and it is men thinking they are entitled to women's bodies. "Well, what did she expect, getting drunk like that?" isn't salt in the wound, it is the foundation of the problem. The idea that if a woman is not actively preventing a man from sticking his penis into her (and even then, if she's an enemy), he is doing nothing wrong, and hey, who can blame him, IS THE PROBLEM.
Reason for the Rec: This was being rec'ed all over the place when it first was written but I'm still going to add to the recs since I was late to the game and read it months later and maybe others were the same. It's well worth the read. It's been a while since I've read it, and I know that I'm getting it confused with another piece of meta I'll be rec'ing later on so I'll keep this short and vague. This piece really made me think. It made me think about what it means to be a woman and the shit we have to deal with.
My Tags: Culture, Rape, Gender, Feminism
Title: Torchwood, major plot points, and apparently, mood spoilers, which I never thought I'd ever have an opinion on byseperis
Summary: I--have never ever had feelings on mood spoilers. I'm kind of revising that opinion en toto. Because the thing is? OMG IANTO! followed by THIS IS HORRIBLE above a cut tag is a goddamn spoiler. You are not being subtle or non-spoilery.
Reason for the Rec: Hee, I liked this piece of meta mostly because it agreed with two things I had already been feeling for a while.
When it comes to canon, I'm the biggest spoiler phobe that ever was. I don't even want to know whether or not you *liked* the episode or not, let alone details. I think I was really spoiled (as in given high expectations) by my first fandom which actually had epic wars between the spoiler hos and the spoiler virgins that everyone was really careful when it came to spoilers. Then I hit the stargate fandoms where spoilers are tossed around willy nilly with little concern for those who don't want to be spoiled. I really think people need to be a little more aware of what it is that they say when they react to an episode.
Secondly it really pointed out (in the comments) that the internet is not American. There were people all over LJ upset that they were being spoiled before they had time to download and watch the episodes yet there are so many in fandom who have to deal with that all the time. Maybe the spoilers floating about above cut or un-cut aren't normally as blatant as they were in this case but it's a fact of life for a lot of non-Americans that they just have to deal with. I know that I'll often not read my flist at all before I have a chance to get my hands on the latest episode of whatever show I'm currently in the fandom for (I don't have cable so have to download everything, even when I did, a lot of things air later in Canada anyway).
My Tags: Torchwood, Spoilers
Merlin
Title: Past Imperfect bythehoyden
Type: Slash (Merlin/Arthur)
Length: 2K-5K
Summary: You're being annoying, so no, I'd have to say this seems perfectly normal.
Reason for the Rec: This was just such a cute and interesting take on a first time fic. Poor confused Merlin.
My Tags: TimeTravel, Merlin's_Magic_is_Revealed, First_Time, Established_Relationship, Awesome
Title: And You Are... byaudrarose
Type: Slash (Merlin/Arthur)
Length: 500-1000
Summary: Earlier this afternoon I was innocently scanning the Porn Paragraph challenge over at [info]linaerys's lj and SUDDENLY I saw that [info]suaine had posted the prompt: Merlin + Arthur + AMNESIA.
AMNESIA.
My most beloved and utterly bulletproof kink. And so.
Reason for the Rec: Well, amnesia isn't quite a bulletproof kink for me, but I do enjoy it immensely. I love how without his memory Arthur's niceness and happiness and honesty shines through. Also, it's really fun. :)
My Tags: Amnesia, First_Time
Title: The British Billionaire's Secret Son bymuzivitch
Type: Preslash (Merlin/Arthur) This is a WIP, it is obviously meant to be slash but the author never got that far
Length: 2K-5K
Summary: Dearest Hunith and Merlin, she wrote, I realize this must be unexpected, and believe me when I say that if there was any alternative, I wouldn't dream of doing this. But I'm afraid I made a foolish choice of lovers, and he has left me destitute and with our child to support. I can't possibly take care of baby Lucan and work at the same time, and so I'm leaving him with you, where I know he will be cared for. I'll be in touch, she concluded, before signing it simply: Sophia.
Reason for the Rec: Ok, big warning before I get started, in case the bold above didn't catch, this is a work in progress that hasn't been updated in almost a year so is likely an abandoned WIP.
That out of the way, I still really enjoyed this fic. I adore harlequin style fics and Merlin and Arthur's interactions in this one are really fun.
My Tags: AU, Modern_AU, Harlequin, WIP, Awesome
Terminator
Title: Out on the Wire 'Verse byhalcyon_shift
These Things My Mother Taught Me
Like Locked Rooms
Never Said
Widows of the Ashes
The Next-to-last Mistake (Part 1)
Texas Sharpshooter
The Next-to-last Mistake (Part 2)
Type: Gen
Length: 25K-50K
Summary: John wants to tell them, but what can he say? "So, hi, I’m your son," to a man who isn’t much older than he is? "I’m the leader of the Resistance and, hey, your nephew," to a man carrying a gun that big?
Reason for the Rec: Technically these are all stand alone stories in a series but I lean more towards describing them as chapters in a single fic, which would make this another WIP rec. I still really rec that people read this series however. It's one of the only fics that I've found so far that goes into the details of what happens after John makes the jump to the future. I love the politics thrown in of John trying to get things done while no one really trusts him. I love how quickly he realizes the politics of the game and starts playing them.
Also, Sarah's storyline back in the past in interesting.
My Tags: Future_Fic, Awesome
Title: Pillow Talk byindiefic
Type: Het (Sarah/Kyle)
Length: 1K-2K
Summary: She leans into him, wrapping her arms around his waist, resting her cheek against his bare chest. "It’s still me, Kyle," she says softly. "And in 1984 I’m alone and so damn naïve and Skynet is after me."
Reason for the Rec: This was such a neat idea. At the end of the first Terminator movie Sarah is making a tape for John explaining the paradox of his birth. She wonders aloud if knowing that Kyle is going to dye would make it harder to send him back to save her and create John. So it's really interesting to see what she would do in that situation.
My Tags: Future_Fic, Established_Relationship
Title: This Girl I Know byliminalliz
Type: Prehet (John/Kate)
Length: 2K-5K
Summary: It's natural to assume that Skynet and the resistance knows about all about Katherine Brewster too.
Reason for the Rec: This fic has great kick-ass Kate, however I kind of have to laugh at the idea of Kate and SCC John since, if you work out time lines, Kate is quite a bit older than John in the movie 'verse, so she'd be kind of creepily old to be with a teenage John in the SCC 'verse.
My Tags: AU, Future_Fic
Misc Fandoms
Title: Fuzzy Duck Smell bydevildoll
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Type: Slash (John/Rodney)
Length: 5K-10K
Summary: "Are you telling me you just laid an egg?" Rodney + John + baby ducks. Crack!Fic. Humor. Mpreg, with an emphasis on the "egg."
Reason for the Rec: When I talk to people about how cracky the SGA fandom the first fic I always mention is... well the one where Rodney is a unicorn and John's a rainbow and there's mpreg. But! Before that fic was written I'd talk about the ass ducklings fic! Because this is just so awesome and fun and funny. Everyone in the fandom should read it.
My Tags: Mpreg, Crack, Established_Relationship, Awesome
Title: The Incestuous Courtship of the Antichrist's Bride byfleshflutter (MP3, M4B or M4A, read by fayjay)
Type: Slash (Sam/Dean)
Length: 25K-50K, 4-5 hours
Summary: Sam is trying to become the Antichrist in order to save the world. He has a small army of angels and demons, he has an adoring cult, he has a work of prophecy by Jack Kerouac, and he has Dean. Things are going pretty well until he accidentally signs Dean up as his Beloved Consort, a role that requires sex with the Antichrist on an altar. And that's when things stop going pretty well. Also, the soundtrack to the Apocalypse sucks.
Reason for the Rec: This was just such a fun fic. Everyone's so sarcastic and ridiculous. I love Castiel with his little "Do Not Disturb" sign and Sam getting drunk with Lucifer. And Sam's cult! A really fun read.
My Tags: Destiny, Crack, First_Time, Awesome
And now we're almost out of September. Just in time for October to finish....
Meta
Title: Sexual Assault, Triggering, and Warnings: An Essay by
impertinenceSummary: "Warning: Very explicit discussion of sexual assault and the nature, anatomy, cause & effect of triggers. Is itself triggery."
That is the feeling that anti-warnings people often pin down as a place where any survivor should know to leave a fic, no harm (or little harm) supposedly done. But that is the place that triggers me. The textual warning triggers me, which is why I need an extra-textual warning. By the time I anticipate it, it's too late; I'm back in the place where I'm trying to figure out if today is the day he stares at my crotch and licks his lips, or if I can talk him out of raping me, or at least into the living room so I have a chance to run away. For me this trigger is worse than being triggered by a violent rape scene. Because violent rape scenes throw me back into a specific assault, or at least a specific feeling. That creeping feeling, however, triggers me in a long-term, incredibly painful way.
Reason for the Rec: Before reading this meta I had never really thought about which side of the warning debate I fell on. If asked I would have said I was more for warnings (but I remember my early days of using warnings on an archive as a way to *find* fic I wanted to read). After reading this, I know exactly what side I fall on. The part I quoted above is an excelent point, which is why I made it the summary, however I think the part that stuck with me the most was a line
imertinence (possibly in the comments) said while explaining how calculus was also a trigger for her . Something along the lines of: There are so many possible triggers that it's impossible for people to warn for all of them. However as someone who is in danger of being triggered I already have to spend so much energy and stay on guard for the rare and random ones, why would you make me be even more careful about the obvious ones?Or something like that (if there weren't 13 pages of comments I'd search out the comment to quote directly).
My Tags: Warnings, Triggering, SexualAssault
Title: On rape and men (Oh yes, I'm going there) by
ceretaSummary: Because men raping women is systemic, and cultural, and yes it is the patriarchy and it is misogyny and it is men thinking they are entitled to women's bodies. "Well, what did she expect, getting drunk like that?" isn't salt in the wound, it is the foundation of the problem. The idea that if a woman is not actively preventing a man from sticking his penis into her (and even then, if she's an enemy), he is doing nothing wrong, and hey, who can blame him, IS THE PROBLEM.
Reason for the Rec: This was being rec'ed all over the place when it first was written but I'm still going to add to the recs since I was late to the game and read it months later and maybe others were the same. It's well worth the read. It's been a while since I've read it, and I know that I'm getting it confused with another piece of meta I'll be rec'ing later on so I'll keep this short and vague. This piece really made me think. It made me think about what it means to be a woman and the shit we have to deal with.
My Tags: Culture, Rape, Gender, Feminism
Title: Torchwood, major plot points, and apparently, mood spoilers, which I never thought I'd ever have an opinion on by
seperisSummary: I--have never ever had feelings on mood spoilers. I'm kind of revising that opinion en toto. Because the thing is? OMG IANTO! followed by THIS IS HORRIBLE above a cut tag is a goddamn spoiler. You are not being subtle or non-spoilery.
Reason for the Rec: Hee, I liked this piece of meta mostly because it agreed with two things I had already been feeling for a while.
When it comes to canon, I'm the biggest spoiler phobe that ever was. I don't even want to know whether or not you *liked* the episode or not, let alone details. I think I was really spoiled (as in given high expectations) by my first fandom which actually had epic wars between the spoiler hos and the spoiler virgins that everyone was really careful when it came to spoilers. Then I hit the stargate fandoms where spoilers are tossed around willy nilly with little concern for those who don't want to be spoiled. I really think people need to be a little more aware of what it is that they say when they react to an episode.
Secondly it really pointed out (in the comments) that the internet is not American. There were people all over LJ upset that they were being spoiled before they had time to download and watch the episodes yet there are so many in fandom who have to deal with that all the time. Maybe the spoilers floating about above cut or un-cut aren't normally as blatant as they were in this case but it's a fact of life for a lot of non-Americans that they just have to deal with. I know that I'll often not read my flist at all before I have a chance to get my hands on the latest episode of whatever show I'm currently in the fandom for (I don't have cable so have to download everything, even when I did, a lot of things air later in Canada anyway).
My Tags: Torchwood, Spoilers
Merlin
Title: Past Imperfect by
thehoydenType: Slash (Merlin/Arthur)
Length: 2K-5K
Summary: You're being annoying, so no, I'd have to say this seems perfectly normal.
Reason for the Rec: This was just such a cute and interesting take on a first time fic. Poor confused Merlin.
My Tags: TimeTravel, Merlin's_Magic_is_Revealed, First_Time, Established_Relationship, Awesome
Title: And You Are... by
audraroseType: Slash (Merlin/Arthur)
Length: 500-1000
Summary: Earlier this afternoon I was innocently scanning the Porn Paragraph challenge over at [info]linaerys's lj and SUDDENLY I saw that [info]suaine had posted the prompt: Merlin + Arthur + AMNESIA.
AMNESIA.
My most beloved and utterly bulletproof kink. And so.
Reason for the Rec: Well, amnesia isn't quite a bulletproof kink for me, but I do enjoy it immensely. I love how without his memory Arthur's niceness and happiness and honesty shines through. Also, it's really fun. :)
My Tags: Amnesia, First_Time
Title: The British Billionaire's Secret Son by
muzivitchType: Preslash (Merlin/Arthur) This is a WIP, it is obviously meant to be slash but the author never got that far
Length: 2K-5K
Summary: Dearest Hunith and Merlin, she wrote, I realize this must be unexpected, and believe me when I say that if there was any alternative, I wouldn't dream of doing this. But I'm afraid I made a foolish choice of lovers, and he has left me destitute and with our child to support. I can't possibly take care of baby Lucan and work at the same time, and so I'm leaving him with you, where I know he will be cared for. I'll be in touch, she concluded, before signing it simply: Sophia.
Reason for the Rec: Ok, big warning before I get started, in case the bold above didn't catch, this is a work in progress that hasn't been updated in almost a year so is likely an abandoned WIP.
That out of the way, I still really enjoyed this fic. I adore harlequin style fics and Merlin and Arthur's interactions in this one are really fun.
My Tags: AU, Modern_AU, Harlequin, WIP, Awesome
Terminator
Title: Out on the Wire 'Verse by
halcyon_shiftThese Things My Mother Taught Me
Like Locked Rooms
Never Said
Widows of the Ashes
The Next-to-last Mistake (Part 1)
Texas Sharpshooter
The Next-to-last Mistake (Part 2)
Type: Gen
Length: 25K-50K
Summary: John wants to tell them, but what can he say? "So, hi, I’m your son," to a man who isn’t much older than he is? "I’m the leader of the Resistance and, hey, your nephew," to a man carrying a gun that big?
Reason for the Rec: Technically these are all stand alone stories in a series but I lean more towards describing them as chapters in a single fic, which would make this another WIP rec. I still really rec that people read this series however. It's one of the only fics that I've found so far that goes into the details of what happens after John makes the jump to the future. I love the politics thrown in of John trying to get things done while no one really trusts him. I love how quickly he realizes the politics of the game and starts playing them.
Also, Sarah's storyline back in the past in interesting.
My Tags: Future_Fic, Awesome
Title: Pillow Talk by
indieficType: Het (Sarah/Kyle)
Length: 1K-2K
Summary: She leans into him, wrapping her arms around his waist, resting her cheek against his bare chest. "It’s still me, Kyle," she says softly. "And in 1984 I’m alone and so damn naïve and Skynet is after me."
Reason for the Rec: This was such a neat idea. At the end of the first Terminator movie Sarah is making a tape for John explaining the paradox of his birth. She wonders aloud if knowing that Kyle is going to dye would make it harder to send him back to save her and create John. So it's really interesting to see what she would do in that situation.
My Tags: Future_Fic, Established_Relationship
Title: This Girl I Know by
liminallizType: Prehet (John/Kate)
Length: 2K-5K
Summary: It's natural to assume that Skynet and the resistance knows about all about Katherine Brewster too.
Reason for the Rec: This fic has great kick-ass Kate, however I kind of have to laugh at the idea of Kate and SCC John since, if you work out time lines, Kate is quite a bit older than John in the movie 'verse, so she'd be kind of creepily old to be with a teenage John in the SCC 'verse.
My Tags: AU, Future_Fic
Misc Fandoms
Title: Fuzzy Duck Smell by
devildollFandom: Stargate Atlantis
Type: Slash (John/Rodney)
Length: 5K-10K
Summary: "Are you telling me you just laid an egg?" Rodney + John + baby ducks. Crack!Fic. Humor. Mpreg, with an emphasis on the "egg."
Reason for the Rec: When I talk to people about how cracky the SGA fandom the first fic I always mention is... well the one where Rodney is a unicorn and John's a rainbow and there's mpreg. But! Before that fic was written I'd talk about the ass ducklings fic! Because this is just so awesome and fun and funny. Everyone in the fandom should read it.
My Tags: Mpreg, Crack, Established_Relationship, Awesome
Title: The Incestuous Courtship of the Antichrist's Bride by
fleshflutter (MP3, M4B or M4A, read by fayjay)Type: Slash (Sam/Dean)
Length: 25K-50K, 4-5 hours
Summary: Sam is trying to become the Antichrist in order to save the world. He has a small army of angels and demons, he has an adoring cult, he has a work of prophecy by Jack Kerouac, and he has Dean. Things are going pretty well until he accidentally signs Dean up as his Beloved Consort, a role that requires sex with the Antichrist on an altar. And that's when things stop going pretty well. Also, the soundtrack to the Apocalypse sucks.
Reason for the Rec: This was just such a fun fic. Everyone's so sarcastic and ridiculous. I love Castiel with his little "Do Not Disturb" sign and Sam getting drunk with Lucifer. And Sam's cult! A really fun read.
My Tags: Destiny, Crack, First_Time, Awesome
And now we're almost out of September. Just in time for October to finish....