Persephone Ascending

[tzzzz]

Title: Persephone Ascending
Rating: R
Characters: John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, appearances by Ronon, Teyla, Carter, Keller, Dave Sheppard and OCs
Pairing: Sheppard/McKay, girl!Sheppard/McKay
Genre: genderfuck, intersex, kidfic (sort of)
Spoilers: Season 4 casting

Comments

[tzzzz]

Thank you! I really appreciate the feedback.

[debris_k]

That was wonderful. And sad. And awesome. And heartbreaking. I'm gonna go snuggle my woobie!Rodney now. You should go celebrate for a job well done - it is a great story. *woobies all over it, even thought it's not a quite a verb*

[tzzzz]

Thank you. So what if woobies isn't quiet a verb. Is it even a word? I'm happy you liked it.

[celtic_tigress]

I really want to unequivocally love this story, but I think I'm more conflicted about it than anything. John seems to have changed so fundamentally by the end of it, not just physically, that she is unrecognizable as an incarnation of her former self. I really feel Rodney's vacillation here; he knows that John is who he is supposed to love, and he still does, but she is also this new person that he has to learn to love separately from the John of the past.

I think ultimately what I feel the most at the end here is bittersweet grief and nostalgia. Nothing, and particularly John will never be the same again, and that calls for grief. Things and people have changed, but a chance for happiness still exists, and I'm glad Rodney was able to get past whatever barriers existed for him that would get in the way of that. Definitely a conflicting story, but perhaps better for how it made me think. Thank you.

[tzzzz]

Thank you for the detailed review! While I did want you to unequivocally love it, I also wanted there to be more conflict in the whole genderfuck arena. Because the mind/body dichotomy is inherently false (and things like hormones and different neurotransmitters from a fundamentally different construction of different bodies), I don't see how one could change gender without some degree of personality change (considering that women can experience personailty change due to hormones every month), even if in people with gender diaspora its usually for the better.

I hope they have a happy ending too.

[celtic_tigress]

The more I contemplate the story, the more I like it, actually. It will never be one of those stories I squee over and get giddy about reading, but in terms of the thinky-thoughts, you win hardcore. This is a story that definitely made me think very hard, and I appreciate it. This fandom tends toward the crack more than it does the meta, especially in the genderfuck trope, so this was a welcome and refreshing change. Please don't think I don't like it, because I do, I really, really do. It is just a piece that as a final reaction makes me sit back and go 'huh' rather than 'eeeeeeee!'. You know?

[mf_luder_xf]

"I missed you, too." He still does.

*heart breaks and spills out*

Oh, jeez. God, that's sad. And so lovely. Wonderfully created.

[tzzzz]

Thank you! I'm sorry it's sad, but happy you liked it.

[winter_elf]

Oh Rodney. I can see where he's missing John and glad for John all at the same time. And yet, I want to whap him for seeming to let John go and not staying. What Rodney wanted with Katie was to be loved/family/kids/. John loves him, and now look - a kid. That means sacrifices. I hope the end is Rodney coming to share John's life now.

[tzzzz]

You make such a good point about Katie. I'm sad it didn't think of it first. But I'm not sure Rodney's vision of life with Kaite would ever include leaving Atlantis either.

I'm not sure if the ending is Rodney coming to share John's life at exactly that point, but I think that in the future of this 'verse, he'll definitely come back to her.

Love your icon, by the way.