(no subject)

[kbk]

Finally, the dark!fic is done.

Title: Hospitality
Fandom: Stargate: Atlantis
Rating: R
Warnings: Abuse - physical and sexual. Killing. Brainwashing. General bastardry. Death. A little gore. A few bad words, but if you can't cope with that...

Further notes in the linked post.

As the divergences - a selection of alternate endings - are in the comments, I ask that if you choose to feedback (and please do) you do so in this post. Right here. 'k?

And now, I really need to sleep.

Comments

[mandysbitch.livejournal.com]

I found this utterly intriguing. I like it as a *whole* - not for any particular ending, or a preferred ending (although, naturally I'm partial to the whole sex slave thing *g*), just as a post-modern demonstration of the incompleteness of the story. Let me elaborate a bit - possibilities are inherent in a narrative, they're not explicit. When they are explicit the narrative is inconclusive - and as readers we like conclusions. But this does not mean the possibilities are not there, it's just that they have the appearance of conclusion. What if we defy the conclusion? The narrative becomes permeable and flexible. In other words, fanfic.

Extraordinary. And daring. Liked it indeed.

[kbk]

Um. Wow. Thank you!

To be honest, it's more that I couldn't decide which ending to go for. But I much prefer the post-modern explanation. *g*

You really have put a smile on my face here.

[mandysbitch.livejournal.com]

To be honest, it's more that I couldn't decide which ending to go for. But I much prefer the post-modern explanation.

The great thing about post-modernism is that it doesn't matter how you intended the story to be interpreted (and what is 'intention' anyway? Way too complicated) the meaning I make from it is just as important (or maybe more so). :)

Uh....

[(Anonymous)]

OMG...I'm pretty much speechless after this. I can't really pick a favourite ending as they're all pretty dark and grim :(. If I was feeling evil though, I'd probably pick one of the endings where Rodney ends up as John's sex toy...though of course, there's the one ending where Rodney seemed to enjoy it, so I pick that one.

Some of these endings are so sad ::sniffle::. All are very good though in the way you explore the emotions going on with Rodney and if/when the others remember what the did.

I'm afraid I'm not being very coherent, but there were so many great endings and I'm still trying to process them all.

Laura.

Oh and if your wondering, I followed the link to this from Wraithbait.

[kbk]

Oh, thank you!

I did basically set out to write something dark, and kinda felt like an actively happy ending would be a betrayal of that. And then different ways to hurt them kept occurring to me, hence the number of endings.

Thank you very much.

[fourteenlines.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow. That was...intense. Yeah. I don't really have anything intelligent to say on the matter, other than that, but yeah. WOW.

[kbk]

Oh, thank you. I love getting a comment like this - means I really did something.

[bluebrocade.livejournal.com]

Wow that was depressing. It was like a series of gut punches. So why did I read it all?? :-)

Really cool concept and very imaginative (and depraved!!) alternate endings.

[kbk]

Thank you very much!

(and ooh, is that RayK of Due South?)

[canadian-snoopy.livejournal.com]

There's two versions to what I want to say. Long version: the twistiness of this was so *good*. And I loved the minimalistic style of prose that you used in the story -- it just *works* with this and I couldn't imagine that anything else would've worked nearly as well so congrats on the choice.

God, so many different paths and even though you've managed to work through most of the permutatios that *I* can think of, I loved that feeling of untapped possibility. I just get the feeling that there's so much *more* that could be written and it would all still be original and twisty and *good*.

Short version: OMGLOVE!

;o))))

[kbk]

Hee! Thank you so much.

The thing with the possibilities is, the more I wrote, the more I thought of, so I totally agree that there's more that could be told.

Thanks again.

this was fabulous!

[sherrold.livejournal.com]

I loved the sharpness of them while brainwashed; the lovely benefit of having no doubts, I suppose. I loved the variety of endings (though I hated how plausible the really disturbing ones were [g]).

And seriously, what a clever use of LJ threading to back in and out of the story time!

Re: this was fabulous!

[kbk]

Thank you!

I´ve seen lj threading used in fic before, and it just seemed to fit for this.

I´m not keen on how plausible some of them are myself. My brain scares me sometimes.

[ladyvyola.livejournal.com]

Fantabulous!

I read this once before, when it was just the initial post without all the threads, and enjoyed the dry despair. But I love this even more now with all the shutter-snap nightmares dangling below it (if a word like "love" is apppropriate for something so grim).

[kbk]

Thank you. I think love is a perfectly seemly word. And "shutter-snap nightmares" a wonderful phrase.

[chalcopyrite.livejournal.com]

(Who sent me here? Um . . . Bright Shiny Objects, I think? Yes.)

This was very well done -- the kernel story itself was stark and spare, and it would have stood on its own, but then there was the web of possibilities spreading out from there. The comments format worked really well for that, btw -- giving a visual cue of where it had branched off. I think you hit just the right tone, too -- going into lush descriptions of emotion, or how bloody much Rodney's fingers hurt, or the blanketing horror, would have weirdly *diminished* the impact. By forsaking that, and making the emotion come through in what was said and what *wasn't* said ("You are one of them." "Yes." "You broke our angel." "Yes." Nnngh), you made it stand out in sharper relief -- and I do mean sharp; this one *cuts*. I've always loved alternate-universe sci-fi, and the way you explored the possibilities, slicing them thinner and thinner, made me feel like someone was opening windows in my *brain*. Thank you!

[kbk]

This comment is wonderful. Thank you so much.

[mckayfan.livejournal.com]

Just found this fic and all i can say is wow did you ever write another part?

[kbk]

The divergences linked above are all there is. I had to stop there, because otherwise I would have kept writing it forever.

Thank you!

Whoo, my tern to give you feedback.

[sirkate.livejournal.com]

*screams* (That's the scared kind) You are on crazy dark crack. Good writing, thrilling premise, scary as all hell. *whimpering of fear*

Re: Whoo, my tern to give you feedback.

[kbk]

I scared myself with this one. I am, um, glad you... appreciated it? *g* Thank you!

Re: Whoo, my tern to give you feedback.

[sirkate.livejournal.com]

tern? Jebus. Okay, i should not try to type when psyched out by scary well-written dark-fic. Tern. I suck.

[palebluebell.livejournal.com]

I wonder if you're aware of how addictive this is. You could keep writing endings for forever and a day, and I'd still be reading them. The whole concept of this is magnetic.

I've read this a dozen times previously, and I've tried to think why I love it - it's got something to do with the way you've played with it, the freedom it implies as well as a willingness to be adventuresome. Just the writing itself and the story keeps me coming back - I think it's amazing - thank you.

[kbk]

Oh, thank you!

I was, and am, immensely proud of this story. Two years on, it's just wonderful to get a comment like this to remind me that I actually managed to write this.

[zing_och.livejournal.com]

Oh wow - you're not kidding when you say dark.

I really liked the fic - it's something very different from what I've seen in fandom, and the divergences really worked for me.

[kbk]

Thank you! Such a nice comment to get, and so nice to get it now.