icarusancalion

I consistently like Musesfool's work, but every now and then one of her stories truly stands out.

Suicidal in the Morning. Supernatural. Sam and Dean, PG

Powerful and simple. The story is exactly what the title says: Dean Winchester contemplates various ways to commit suicide and then talks himself out of it. His self-deprecation and practicality keeps this story from being a bleak trip down a toilet bowl of misery. It's quite clear he doesn't intend to go through with it. But he has to work to keep himself going, every day. I understand Dean at the end of this story. More than that, I respect him.


Now for something completely different.

I asked my f-list for believable MPreg with excellent characterization and a compelling story. (Hey, hope springs eternal.)

Guess what? They found it.

Surrogate by Seekergeek, McShep, NC-17 bordering on R.

We all know John is completely crazy. We also know Rodney, though a egocentric jerk, is more willing to sacrifice himself than he'd ever admit. In Surrogate the two of them play a fine game of "bug on a windshield" for each other. Just when you think John sacrificing his life (again) is big--he sacrifices even more.

Surrogate opens with a tense action-adventure plot, then turns into a warm and gentle romance; MPreg for those who hate MPreg.

Seekergeek slays all the MPreg tropes. She wisely avoids a lurid focus on the baby and instead draws a bead on the tenuous relationship between John and Rodney. The baby is no magic "true love" formula, in fact, there is a considerable amount of denial surrounding the situation. Rather than romanticizing the stages and signs of pregnancy (the bile rises as I recall some MPregs I've read), we see the whole process through John's battle plan mentality. Particularly interesting are Seekergeek's insights into the issues that MPreg would create: she doesn't pan the camera past slapstick reactions but explores tough issues that would arise, the double standards, the say the military has over John's life, the personal exposure this would bring to a very private man.

I chewed my nails throughout and read quickly, on the edge of my seat. How could this ever work out for John? Even as all the typical problems of MPreg (the attitudes of his men, his team) fell away quickly. The big problems that I'd never considered loomed large. Because John is crazy to do this. Absolutely crazy. And I'm not surprised he did.