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[loligo]

Recent discussions of a particular SGA story stirred up a whole tangle of thoughts about the treatment (and mostly avoidance) of depressing, oppressive topics in fanfic, and there's no way I can untangle them all into a neat essay tonight, but there's an imaginary story that's sort of key to my feelings on the whole thing. The story I long to read

Comments

[fullygoldy]

i'd read it if it were written by cesperanza (but it's not her style) or resonant, or astolat, or helenish, or synecdochic, or even 30toseoul (again not her style) because these writers are amazing and I've learned that I will appreciate anything they put out, even if it's not my usual cuppa. I trust them to give me things to think about along with all the hot smut. And I don't feel like I've been wasting brain cells after reading their stuff, so even though I'm mostly here for the light-hearted smut, I'll gladly let them twist my heart-strings and my brain round their little fingers, and thank them for making me cry or scream by offering chocolate and my undying adoration. /fangirling

[coffeeandink]

You've read this, right?

[loligo]

Yep. I loved that story when it was first published, and I still love it.

[katie_m]

Hee. Well, I'd bounce off of it because of the SGC-as-the-adversary issue--that's not a complaint, just an honest report of what my reaction has often been in the past to that kind of scenario. But other than that, I think it is a story I could like, yeah, and that was something I found very interesting about that post... I wouldn't find the story you describe depressing at all, though I wouldn't want all fanfic to be like that, and I didn't find helenish's story depressing either.

[loligo]

Well, I'd bounce off of it because of the SGC-as-the-adversary issue--that's not a complaint, just an honest report of what my reaction has often been in the past to that kind of scenario.Oh, not that the generals assigned to the SGC would ever do anything so wrong-headed, but they are at the mercy of the administration, after all. Imagine Bush and Rumsfeld in charge of the Stargate: they'd be trying to dismantle the IOC, covertly plotting to sabotage any Ancient technology not directly under the control of the American military, ignoring all the advice of their own military experts, and sending evangelical missionaries through the Gate to proselytize the Jaffa. Now there's a depressing story. But I'd still read it

[katie_m]

they'd be trying to dismantle the IOC, covertly plotting to sabotage any Ancient technology not directly under the control of the American military, ignoring all the advice of their own military experts, and sending evangelical missionaries through the Gate to proselytize the Jaffa. Now there's a depressing story. But I'd still read it.

Ooh, me too. I think it could pass my "too depressing to really like" threshold, depending on how it was written, but it would be cool.

[loligo]

Oh! To answer my own question, I just remembered one thing that's way past my threshold: child abuse. *That* gets the visceral backspace reaction. I don't care about the aesthetic merit or the seriousness with which the topic is handled, I just don't need fanfic to go there and I won't do it. Probably the only fanfic story with child abuse that I've ever finished was that Buffy story about Tara's cousin, and I could handle that (sort of) because she had so little screen time she was practically an original character. I didn't have anything invested in her. It was a very powerful story, but I'm still not entirely glad I read it.

I'm still not entirely glad I read LeGuin's "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas", for that matter. If someone had described the story first, I might well have just settled for the synopsis.

[fourteenlines]

I would totally read that story.

My end-of-the-line scenario for such a story is this: the Wraith win, but there are enough resources to get the people back through the gate to Earth instead of some alpha site. And they've figured out how to destroy the Atlantis gate and Atlantis without actually being there, or some peripheral character we all like has agreed to stay behind to activate it. While they'd probably have to knock Sheppard over the head to get him to agree to leave under such a scenario, it would make sense for Teyla and Ronon to go to Earth - nowhere else to go if the Wraith have won - AND I'd get the bonus of a team learning to survive after suffering crushing defeat! It'd be awesome. Man, someone (NOT ME) should write that story.