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insanenekoI just had one of those odd fannish moments where I realized the author of a fanfic I really liked had also written one I had major problems with, along with a very old favorite from a different fandom. There's nothing like that silly bit of delight in "she still writes!" and "she's writing in my current fandom!"
Rachael Sabotini (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
wickedwords) had written The Spare, a Harlequin SGA fic that I really, really enjoyed. I finally figured out that she also wrote Locusts and Wild Honey, a fic I was really mad at (which I will go into detail later). BUT BUT BUT what just made me want to jump up and down and flail is that she is one of the writers of the evil epic Highlander AU fic that sucked up quite a number of days that I kind of lost track of waiting for more: Seduction of a Desert Prince. I haven't read it in years but I do remember the lushness of the setting, the feel of the culture, the weight of the characterization. I need to block out some time and work through that epic again. Too bad it's not finished yet. *sighs*
In any case, Locusts and Wild Honey.
First off, because it started out so good. I wouldn't bother getting pissed at a story that started out bad. I'd just move on. I love Rodney's adjustment back to normal (or at least, his version of "normal" *g*). I love his fixation on smell and how innocent it seems to be. I love how the narration is imbued by Rodney's unique personality: "Dream-imagery sucked." I love John's attempts at normalcy and how he fails when the whole smell thing overwhelms him. Plus, he's not sleeping well or eating. The dreams, their odd random yet striking images. I loved the image of Carson's gaze at Rodney, that was "part pity, part empathy, part anger."
I love how his confrontation with John starts:
John briefly closed his eyes, holding his jaw and neck stiff as he opened them. "Rodney—"
"I didn't mean to hurt you." Rodney wasn't sure what he'd meant to do at all. He remembered being afraid that someone would hear them, pressing his hand over John's mouth lightly at first, and then gagging him. He remembered the feel of John's wrists held tight in his own as he pushed them deep into the bed, the way he’d talked endlessly while he held John down: "Gonna fuck you. Gonna fuck you so hard I'm finally going to get inside of you." John had struggled then, and Rodney had kissed him quiet. "Just gotta use enough lube, gotta make it easy, so it's like a knife through butter." He slipped his fingers into John then, rotating them while John groaned. "I'll show you. I'll show you how good it is. How good your ass is. How good—"
He remembered it all. He remembered the fear in John's eyes, too.
And THEN it did what kind of pissed me off. John starts trying to convince Rodney that it was actually consensual. Is it a macho attempt at empathy? I don't care if John likes it rough, likes Rodney, I just can't accept him getting over being overpowered and forced that way so easily. I mean, he was totally not doing well when Rodney did the whole smell thing at him. I can see him attempting to get over it, but not succeeding that well in the beginning. And I can't imagine Rodney (at least the fannish version of Rodney I know) just kind of accepting that, too. I'd think he'd be more neurotic and worry at it, the implications and how John may feel no matter how much he tries not to.
Considering how the story builds up, slowly, the end seemed almost stupid. Like it started out as careful, deliberate and turned into something else, something common and trite. Compared to the gentle swell and fierce struggle to recover from rape in a fic like Cartography by Touch, it just fails when it could have been more.
Rachael Sabotini (
wickedwords) had written The Spare, a Harlequin SGA fic that I really, really enjoyed. I finally figured out that she also wrote Locusts and Wild Honey, a fic I was really mad at (which I will go into detail later). BUT BUT BUT what just made me want to jump up and down and flail is that she is one of the writers of the evil epic Highlander AU fic that sucked up quite a number of days that I kind of lost track of waiting for more: Seduction of a Desert Prince. I haven't read it in years but I do remember the lushness of the setting, the feel of the culture, the weight of the characterization. I need to block out some time and work through that epic again. Too bad it's not finished yet. *sighs*In any case, Locusts and Wild Honey.
First off, because it started out so good. I wouldn't bother getting pissed at a story that started out bad. I'd just move on. I love Rodney's adjustment back to normal (or at least, his version of "normal" *g*). I love his fixation on smell and how innocent it seems to be. I love how the narration is imbued by Rodney's unique personality: "Dream-imagery sucked." I love John's attempts at normalcy and how he fails when the whole smell thing overwhelms him. Plus, he's not sleeping well or eating. The dreams, their odd random yet striking images. I loved the image of Carson's gaze at Rodney, that was "part pity, part empathy, part anger."
I love how his confrontation with John starts:
John briefly closed his eyes, holding his jaw and neck stiff as he opened them. "Rodney—"
"I didn't mean to hurt you." Rodney wasn't sure what he'd meant to do at all. He remembered being afraid that someone would hear them, pressing his hand over John's mouth lightly at first, and then gagging him. He remembered the feel of John's wrists held tight in his own as he pushed them deep into the bed, the way he’d talked endlessly while he held John down: "Gonna fuck you. Gonna fuck you so hard I'm finally going to get inside of you." John had struggled then, and Rodney had kissed him quiet. "Just gotta use enough lube, gotta make it easy, so it's like a knife through butter." He slipped his fingers into John then, rotating them while John groaned. "I'll show you. I'll show you how good it is. How good your ass is. How good—"
He remembered it all. He remembered the fear in John's eyes, too.
And THEN it did what kind of pissed me off. John starts trying to convince Rodney that it was actually consensual. Is it a macho attempt at empathy? I don't care if John likes it rough, likes Rodney, I just can't accept him getting over being overpowered and forced that way so easily. I mean, he was totally not doing well when Rodney did the whole smell thing at him. I can see him attempting to get over it, but not succeeding that well in the beginning. And I can't imagine Rodney (at least the fannish version of Rodney I know) just kind of accepting that, too. I'd think he'd be more neurotic and worry at it, the implications and how John may feel no matter how much he tries not to.
Considering how the story builds up, slowly, the end seemed almost stupid. Like it started out as careful, deliberate and turned into something else, something common and trite. Compared to the gentle swell and fierce struggle to recover from rape in a fic like Cartography by Touch, it just fails when it could have been more.