Crimes Against Humanity (by seperis) (E)
Aug. 24th, 2021 12:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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stargateficrecShow: SGA
Rec Category: Alternate Universe - Dark (dark!John &/or dark!Rodney)
Characters: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard, Carson Beckett/Laura Cadman, Teyla Emmagan, Elizabeth Weir, Evan Lorne, Radek Zelenka, Bates, Jennifer Keller, Peter Grodin, Aiden Ford, Marshall Sumner, Miko Kusanagi.
Categories: M/M
Words: 61,836 in the full series
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, torture, drug use, sexual assault, medical experimentation
Author on DW:seperis
Author's Website: seperis on AO3
Link: Crimes Against Humanity on AO3
Why This Must Be Read: This series will be well known but it has hardly any comments on AO3, having been posted there after garnering a whole load of feedback on LJ. It really can't be left out of a recs list for dark McShep AUs. In the series they're both dark versions of themselves, as are all the other characters, and the wider universe is dystopian as well - which of course makes Rodney, John, and the inhabitants of Atlantis more sympathetic. Despite their psychopathic tendencies, it's hard not to get drawn into caring about John and Rodney - they're still very much themselves and the darker AU aspects fit well with what we know of them from canon. The relationship between them is also deliciously complex, with Rodney dominant even though John's stronger and more physically dangerous - as ever, it's Rodney's intellect that makes him deadly. If you like darker id-fic with plot, drama and kink, this may well be for you. Plus, as a bonus, there's a very hot PWP scene written byladycat: Downtime - best read after the main series.
There are three shorter stories after the initial long one, which are about Evan Lorne and how he gets to Atlantis, then settles in and finds his place there. These fics include some interesting backstory and outsider POV about Sheppard and McKay, and deepen the worldbuilding.
There's a podfic byreena_jenkins at the audiofic archive - the MP3 link works. Finally, the original CAH posts on seperis's LJ have a couple of extra snippets in the 'verse. Overall, as one commenter says, a "shivery but fun read." Highly recommended.
Atlantis was a neutral colony before it became a prison camp, split between the mainland facilities and the ocean bound city itself for the war criminals and those convicted of crimes against humanity. Alcatraz, he'd heard Sheppard drawl when he arrived in the gateroom, manacled and bruised from a scuffle in the Colorado gate room that ended with four injured Marines. Inescapable, or so they said, but Sheppard's single word reminded him that nothing's inescapable.
They just haven't figured out how to do it yet.
Rodney's restrictions keep him from the computers, unwired rooms, as low-tech as an Ancient facility light years beyond human evolution can possibly manage. Setting his hand against the wall, he feels the hum of energy just out of reach, the flashes of power that pulses into his palm like heat, watching the flicker of the force fields, memorizing the new modulation like he does every day, like there's a damn thing he can do about it.
God fucking dammit, he hates this place.
Looking out of his cell, he watches Sheppard being brought down the hall, accompanied by ten special ops, zats trained on his every movement. Tall and rail-thin, bloodstained prison uniform and messy dark hair, moving like naqada-reinforced manacles at wrists and ankles don't weigh any more than air. The dark head lifts briefly, eyes flicking to study the line of cells that were once living quarters, and for a second, Rodney feels that intense gaze on him.
Just a second, long enough for a pretty quirk of his mouth, and Rodney nods back, introductions done.
The cell across from Rodney is opened, and Rodney's view is blocked as one of the men presses the zat against John's throat, forcing his head higher, stripping away the manacles and pushing him inside. Rodney hears the sound of a body hitting the floor, straining his neck enough to see Sheppard on his feet, moving almost too fast for the eye to see, but they're ready, the forcefield going up instantly.
Rodney winces as John's thrown back with a shower of sparks, hitting the far wall, the sound like a rotten watermelon slamming into the ground.
Atlantean prison guards don't bother with banter with the prisoners--work done, they set the passwords and leave. Grabbing his one chair, Rodney pulls it to the doorway, sitting down to wait for Sheppard to recover consciousness.
It's been a while since he had a neighbor, after all.
Rec Category: Alternate Universe - Dark (dark!John &/or dark!Rodney)
Characters: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard, Carson Beckett/Laura Cadman, Teyla Emmagan, Elizabeth Weir, Evan Lorne, Radek Zelenka, Bates, Jennifer Keller, Peter Grodin, Aiden Ford, Marshall Sumner, Miko Kusanagi.
Categories: M/M
Words: 61,836 in the full series
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, torture, drug use, sexual assault, medical experimentation
Author on DW:
seperis Author's Website: seperis on AO3
Link: Crimes Against Humanity on AO3
Why This Must Be Read: This series will be well known but it has hardly any comments on AO3, having been posted there after garnering a whole load of feedback on LJ. It really can't be left out of a recs list for dark McShep AUs. In the series they're both dark versions of themselves, as are all the other characters, and the wider universe is dystopian as well - which of course makes Rodney, John, and the inhabitants of Atlantis more sympathetic. Despite their psychopathic tendencies, it's hard not to get drawn into caring about John and Rodney - they're still very much themselves and the darker AU aspects fit well with what we know of them from canon. The relationship between them is also deliciously complex, with Rodney dominant even though John's stronger and more physically dangerous - as ever, it's Rodney's intellect that makes him deadly. If you like darker id-fic with plot, drama and kink, this may well be for you. Plus, as a bonus, there's a very hot PWP scene written by
ladycat: Downtime - best read after the main series. There are three shorter stories after the initial long one, which are about Evan Lorne and how he gets to Atlantis, then settles in and finds his place there. These fics include some interesting backstory and outsider POV about Sheppard and McKay, and deepen the worldbuilding.
There's a podfic by
reena_jenkins at the audiofic archive - the MP3 link works. Finally, the original CAH posts on seperis's LJ have a couple of extra snippets in the 'verse. Overall, as one commenter says, a "shivery but fun read." Highly recommended. Atlantis was a neutral colony before it became a prison camp, split between the mainland facilities and the ocean bound city itself for the war criminals and those convicted of crimes against humanity. Alcatraz, he'd heard Sheppard drawl when he arrived in the gateroom, manacled and bruised from a scuffle in the Colorado gate room that ended with four injured Marines. Inescapable, or so they said, but Sheppard's single word reminded him that nothing's inescapable.
They just haven't figured out how to do it yet.
Rodney's restrictions keep him from the computers, unwired rooms, as low-tech as an Ancient facility light years beyond human evolution can possibly manage. Setting his hand against the wall, he feels the hum of energy just out of reach, the flashes of power that pulses into his palm like heat, watching the flicker of the force fields, memorizing the new modulation like he does every day, like there's a damn thing he can do about it.
God fucking dammit, he hates this place.
Looking out of his cell, he watches Sheppard being brought down the hall, accompanied by ten special ops, zats trained on his every movement. Tall and rail-thin, bloodstained prison uniform and messy dark hair, moving like naqada-reinforced manacles at wrists and ankles don't weigh any more than air. The dark head lifts briefly, eyes flicking to study the line of cells that were once living quarters, and for a second, Rodney feels that intense gaze on him.
Just a second, long enough for a pretty quirk of his mouth, and Rodney nods back, introductions done.
The cell across from Rodney is opened, and Rodney's view is blocked as one of the men presses the zat against John's throat, forcing his head higher, stripping away the manacles and pushing him inside. Rodney hears the sound of a body hitting the floor, straining his neck enough to see Sheppard on his feet, moving almost too fast for the eye to see, but they're ready, the forcefield going up instantly.
Rodney winces as John's thrown back with a shower of sparks, hitting the far wall, the sound like a rotten watermelon slamming into the ground.
Atlantean prison guards don't bother with banter with the prisoners--work done, they set the passwords and leave. Grabbing his one chair, Rodney pulls it to the doorway, sitting down to wait for Sheppard to recover consciousness.
It's been a while since he had a neighbor, after all.
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Date: 2021-08-23 03:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-08-23 05:47 pm (UTC)