rec - coming home by xanthe

Okay, been up for an hour with--shocking!--tooth pain after *four hours* of sleep, so basically at this point, we can just go with I'm clinically insane and no longer responsible for what I do. My first act will be to declare myself queen of--hmm. Actually, I have no idea. But I would like to belatedly thank all the people on my buddylist for distracting me most of last night, since this has been getting steadily worse for the last couple of days. I love you all. Should I ever be queen of anything, I swear, brownies to everyone. And you know. Hot sex slaves. That sort of thing.

Okay, so comfort fic. Currently, and I honestly am still surprised I'm saying this, the prize for making me ungodly happy is Coming Home by xanthestories, prequel to General and Doctor Sheppard (link leads to part 1).

This isn't a conditional rec, but a--hmm. If you really liked General Sheppard, you'll like this one. You are group one. This is not aimed at you. If you, like me, did *not* get into the first one, okay, this rec is specifically for you. You are group two.

I didn't like the first one--nothing against the author, but I'm fairly specific on my bdsm and *really* specific on my John characterizations. The compare/contrast of universes did not work for me mostly because the AU was *too* different and I couldn't get context for a *lot* of the behavior. Coming Home, just for the fact that the author managed--and I have no idea how she did this--to build the freaking universe these people belong to? AWESOME. I mean--seriously, that is freaking *cool*. It's like candyland. Everyone's hot and wearing leather every day and being growly and possessive and seriously, who cannot love Miko in PVC boots, okay? Christ. The internal logic is sound, there are very intersting variations on characterization--but this is a strong enough AU I feel fairly comfortable with a wider field of characterization than I usually do. It's a wonderful, cuddly BDSM romance, Harlequin taking a trip to the toy store, but more than that, it's a good story. Just with floggers and collars and things.

I love that she's trying this, that she obviously put *thought* into this world and how this society might/could work, and frankly, she gets a ton of credit off the bat for attempting something this ambitious. I love how she keeps good internal logic. I love that she's hitting and bouncing on a lot of my kinks, period. I love that I am, for the first time in a long time, *obsessively* following a wip to see what on earth she'll do next. I am happy. I'm hitting *refresh* obsessively from midnight to one-fifteen--which seems to be her window of posting.

Comments

Re: slavery

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Slavery with the freedom to divorce.

*shrug* I read it for what it is and what it was intended to be--a BDSM AU fantasy. Sometimes, authors can pull it off, and sometimes, they squick me. In this case, for me, xanthe did a fantastic job of making it incredibly fun.

Re: slavery

[mecurtin.livejournal.com]

So what's the world-building that you like so much, if it's not about "how this isn't slavery, really"?

I'd also like to hear from anyone else dropping by who normally has Issues with slavery.

Slavery with the freedom to divorce.

But yanno, in real relationships the beatings tend to be the worst when the sub is thinking about walking out. "You belong to me and I'll kill you if you leave me" is way too much like reality for my taste, not much like fantasyland.

Re: slavery

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Are you seriously setting up a debate on whether or not it's slavery? This is the equivalent of going after every alien sex pollen fic as rape. It's fantasy, in a fantasy world, with a fantasy relationship.

I can totally get your strong issues are slavery--mine are rape and non-con and variations thereof. So this one is probably not going to work for you at all.

Re: slavery

[september1967.livejournal.com]

I for one have serious issues with slavery and I for one know that BDSM has nothing to do with 'traditional' notions of slavery. For instance, BDSM is supposed to be consensual. Usually there are contracts, especially if there is going to be a 24/7 scenario in the relationship. Safewords are assigned, etc.

This is NOT slavery which was fought against in the Civil War- there are VAST differences.

Re: slavery

[mecurtin.livejournal.com]

I had the impression that in this story BDSM is a societal norm, rather like marriage. Contracts and formal consent do not stop marriages from being abusive, or from overlapping with certain kinds of slavery. Not all historical slavery was like that of the American South, after all.

I have a *lot* of problems with 24/7 BDSM in modern society, but at least when such relationships are embedded in a larger society that doesn't approve it's comparatively easy to get out.

This is aside from the point that, for me, Sheppard's military career puts the evidence strongly on the side of him being a sub, so Top!Sheppard always has an extra hurdle to surmount.

Re: slavery

[september1967.livejournal.com]

I think you again are confusing two vastly different things. Even in an AU fantasy where BDSM is the norm, abuse isn't tolerated. Of course in ALL relationships abuse can happen. Abusive situations are usually not easy to get out of.

Sheppard's military career has nothing to do with being a top or bottom. I have no idea where that notion comes from. Clearly in this AU society, bottoms can be generals. Sexual preference isn't an issue for them in that society so being a bottom or being gay doesn't stop a person from 'rising to the top' in their chosen profession.

I really think you don't understand those who practice in a sexual lifestyle you're unfamiliar or uncomfortable with... its like those who are homophobic have little or no understanding of homosexuals.

[mecurtin.livejournal.com]

Piffle. I'm just trying to find out if the damn story is really "Stargates of Gor", and so far no-one has reassured me.

[september1967.livejournal.com]

Only if stargates of Gor is about a romance between a top and his sub.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

I actually choked on my coffee when I read this. *grins*

Re: slavery

[seperis.livejournal.com]

You haven't actually read the story, have you?

Re: slavery

[mecurtin.livejournal.com]

No, that's my point! I'm trying to find out if I can without serious risk of Brain Splosion. So far the signs are not good.

Re: slavery

[seperis.livejournal.com]

*sighs*

Yeah, no. You already said you don't like 24/7 fully consensual BDSM, so this will seriously not work for you. Plus, you arleady have some stereotyped notion of the military that's kinda odd, so I don't see how you could go into this and enjoy it if your comments so far are anything to go by.

But I seriously do not get where on earth you got the slavery thing.

Re: slavery

[mecurtin.livejournal.com]

I seriously do not get where on earth you got the slavery thing.

Probably John Norman, who is what I think of when people talk about 24/7 BDSM.

And if you've never read John Norman, you're *really really* lucky. Here's a parody (http://www.rdrop.com/users/wyvern/data/houseplants.html), trust me, you don't want to see the real thing.

Re: slavery

[seperis.livejournal.com]

I've read three quarteres of the Gor novels. It is nothing at all like the Gor novels. Okay, *this* is where you're coming from. There is no sexual slavery, period.

Re: slavery

[september1967.livejournal.com]

Thanks for that!