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stargateficrecRec Category: Hurt/Comfort
Pairing: none
Category: John Sheppard, angst
Warning: dark; descriptions of torture (both psychological and physical) and brainwashing; heavy angst; a major rift between the teammates
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kodiak_bear
Author's Website: Master Fic List on LJ
Link: It's Always Autumn in the Old Trees of Despair and Winter (the sequel)
(Full disclosure: I sometimes beta for this author, and was lucky enough to be one of the betas on the second story.)
Why This Must Be Read: The first of these two companion stories, It's Always Autumn in the Old Trees of Despair, is one of the most detailed and believable psychological torture/brainwashing stories that I've read (and that's actually a compliment! really!), and the sequel, Winter, deals with the consequences of having experienced such a deep break with one's normal reality. These were not easy stories to read (especially since, for various reasons, I find emotional torture considerably harder to deal with than physical torture in fiction) but ultimately, I found them very much worth it, especially for their psychological subtlety and the way that they present a complicated world where months of trauma can't be easily wrapped up in a five-minute episode tag.
Sheppard is at the core of these stories, but the rest of the team have their own journey as well, and the world-building is wonderful -- particularly in the first story, which features a disarmingly likable villain and a world/culture that is a character in its own right. There is a ton of hurt and angst in these stories, but it's never angst for angst's sake, and the characters' closeness shines through even when they're all two steps out of sync with each other.
Pairing: none
Category: John Sheppard, angst
Warning: dark; descriptions of torture (both psychological and physical) and brainwashing; heavy angst; a major rift between the teammates
Author on LJ:
kodiak_bearAuthor's Website: Master Fic List on LJ
Link: It's Always Autumn in the Old Trees of Despair and Winter (the sequel)
(Full disclosure: I sometimes beta for this author, and was lucky enough to be one of the betas on the second story.)
Why This Must Be Read: The first of these two companion stories, It's Always Autumn in the Old Trees of Despair, is one of the most detailed and believable psychological torture/brainwashing stories that I've read (and that's actually a compliment! really!), and the sequel, Winter, deals with the consequences of having experienced such a deep break with one's normal reality. These were not easy stories to read (especially since, for various reasons, I find emotional torture considerably harder to deal with than physical torture in fiction) but ultimately, I found them very much worth it, especially for their psychological subtlety and the way that they present a complicated world where months of trauma can't be easily wrapped up in a five-minute episode tag.
Sheppard is at the core of these stories, but the rest of the team have their own journey as well, and the world-building is wonderful -- particularly in the first story, which features a disarmingly likable villain and a world/culture that is a character in its own right. There is a ton of hurt and angst in these stories, but it's never angst for angst's sake, and the characters' closeness shines through even when they're all two steps out of sync with each other.
