The War Prize by Meri (NC-17)
Title: The War Prize
Fandom: Supernatural RPS
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Categories: AU, Science Fiction, hostage, cultural misunderstandings
Length: Epic (66,800 words)
Warnings: Reference to past non-con.
Author on LJ: meri_oddities
Author Website: Meri Oddities,
Meri
Summary:
Jared, Monarch of Valdesco, did not want to get married. He especially didn't want a political marriage to someone who was part of the negotiations for peace. There was no way he could deal with a spouse whose culture was completely alien to his own.
Jensen Ackles was appalled to be the War Prize his country offered up as reparations. He sincerely did not want to go from being the High Chief's youngest son to being without status. And mostly, Jensen did not want to live in a country that was so technologically advanced that he had no hope of beginning to understand it.
But, like a lot of things in life, neither one of them was going to get a choice about it.
Review:
A lot of thought went into this story. It's clear from the outset that it is going to be all about the culture shock of moving into a country that's about half a century more advanced than what you're used to. What's less clear is that this cuts both ways; the Valdescans also make assumptions about Amaranth and its people that just aren't true, and some of the misunderstandings run very deep. The explorations of these differences is carefully done, too; as a reader, I didn't notice until quite a long way through the story that I was making the same assumptions as Jared and his people, despite half of it being Jensen's point of view.
The romance side of the story is equally well-handled, and equally stop-start in its progress. Naturally enough the boys start off putting up with what both think is an intolerable situation. For Jared, the whole idea of being handed a hostage he is expected to marry is barbaric; for Jensen, suddenly losing everything and being effectively owned by this stranger is pretty horrifying too. By their own lights they try to behave properly, but of course what's proper to one culture can be completely improper for the other. There are any number of times when Jared tries to do favours for Jensen that Jensen sees as punishments, for example. That they persevere in seeing each other as people is what eventually brings them together properly, and allows them to (heaven forfend!) actually talk about the whole mess.
For a story that has some quietly unpleasant corners, this is a remarkably uplifting read. I thoroughly recommend it.
The War Prize
Fandom: Supernatural RPS
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Categories: AU, Science Fiction, hostage, cultural misunderstandings
Length: Epic (66,800 words)
Warnings: Reference to past non-con.
Author on LJ: meri_oddities
Author Website: Meri Oddities,
Meri
Summary:
Jared, Monarch of Valdesco, did not want to get married. He especially didn't want a political marriage to someone who was part of the negotiations for peace. There was no way he could deal with a spouse whose culture was completely alien to his own.
Jensen Ackles was appalled to be the War Prize his country offered up as reparations. He sincerely did not want to go from being the High Chief's youngest son to being without status. And mostly, Jensen did not want to live in a country that was so technologically advanced that he had no hope of beginning to understand it.
But, like a lot of things in life, neither one of them was going to get a choice about it.
Review:
A lot of thought went into this story. It's clear from the outset that it is going to be all about the culture shock of moving into a country that's about half a century more advanced than what you're used to. What's less clear is that this cuts both ways; the Valdescans also make assumptions about Amaranth and its people that just aren't true, and some of the misunderstandings run very deep. The explorations of these differences is carefully done, too; as a reader, I didn't notice until quite a long way through the story that I was making the same assumptions as Jared and his people, despite half of it being Jensen's point of view.
The romance side of the story is equally well-handled, and equally stop-start in its progress. Naturally enough the boys start off putting up with what both think is an intolerable situation. For Jared, the whole idea of being handed a hostage he is expected to marry is barbaric; for Jensen, suddenly losing everything and being effectively owned by this stranger is pretty horrifying too. By their own lights they try to behave properly, but of course what's proper to one culture can be completely improper for the other. There are any number of times when Jared tries to do favours for Jensen that Jensen sees as punishments, for example. That they persevere in seeing each other as people is what eventually brings them together properly, and allows them to (heaven forfend!) actually talk about the whole mess.
For a story that has some quietly unpleasant corners, this is a remarkably uplifting read. I thoroughly recommend it.
The War Prize