REC: An Echo of Freedom

[brainofck]

An Echo of Freedom.

I followed green__grrl's suggestion to this piece.

It is full of rape and Danny-bashing. Not for the faint of heart. An intriguing AU where we see some of the big events in our SG-1 universe played out in very interesting alternate ways.

I don't totally know if I recommend it or not. I spent a ridiculous amount of time reading it when I should have been writing. I was riveted. The writing is excellent, the ideas are fresh, if cruel. I'm trying to do a better job of noting the things of interest that I read, so here is this.

Comments

[green-grrl.livejournal.com]

It's considered a classic in SG-1 AU and darkfic, but yeah, it is... disturbing. And the way it works out is troublesome (Jack has been his rapist, but he cares so much more than the sadistic rapists, so it's love. Um...). But, yeah, riveting.

(Hi! Having fun in CA.)

[brainofck.livejournal.com]

Glad you are having fun! :)

Yes. Jack as rapist. He used rape to teach him his new place in the world. Very problematic. On the other hand, she does create a context. Daniel has clearly come to accomodate sex with Jack as something that may not be consensual, but is not quite rape. Non-con with a very hard edge. He keeps saying it's just sex. But he has learned to enjoy it. And he definitely thinks of Jack as a protector of sorts, and acknowledges that he's a lot better than the alternatives. Not to mention that he still wants Jack to be his friend, the old Jack that he tries hard to see in the Colonel's eyes, and he sees his whole life stretching out in front of him permanently linked to Jack. It's definitely complicated, but the author manages to create a context in which you can imagine Daniel realistically falling into the role of lover not victim.

I dunno. As with all non-con very real issues. And I don't think the author tries to dodge them. Daniel's still afraid, even at the end, with most of his issues resolved with Jack. And so is Jack, in a way. He expresses his relief that promotion means that Daniel is no longer in danger.

[rotpunkt.livejournal.com]

This was well written and I'm not so hypocritical to deny I enjoy non-con a lot sometimes (and with Oscar Wilde, I'd state that stories might be badly written, but it's wrong to judge them as "good" or "bad" by moral standards even if they describe "bad" things). And I don't really know the series, so I can't judge it from the characters etc; but I really HATED the end. That is not meant as a quality judgement, too; only, to fulfill my personal need and want Danny should have killed them all, including Jack. The author shows very well that there is NO base for love or even friendship when there is no freedom. She also shows very well the incredible injustice of Jack's reactions when he expects Danny to be even grateful in the beginning after he sent a woman to him; which is very typical for suppressive relationships in my experience. The suppressor completely looses the awareness of how inhuman his actions are (I mean, he wanted to let Wedebrand have him again! And the way he gave him a "choice" was outrageous!) and expects gratefulness for things HE thinks are nice ...Therefore I could perhaps accept Danny falling in love with Jack AFTER having gained freedom, but not and never this way. As I said, no judgement intended in any way, just speaking from my personal emotional reactions. I also don't expect you to agree, only thought you might be interested in opinions of others. In any case thanks for the link, I'm venturing in fandoms that are new to me currently and linke and recs of good writers are the best guide (I know it wasn't exactly a rec, and that you are not sure about what to think of it, too, but I agree it's very interesting).

[green-grrl.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's a troublesome ending -- definitely "romanticized" in the way non-con often is in fanfic. The authors rely, too much maybe, on our predisposition to believe in the romantic connection between the pair?

I didn't know you were branching out! (As I read my VigBean2... :-) There are spectacular writers in Stargate. If you want to try some excellent stories that don't require a lot of canon knowledge, I might suggest Komos's Slipping (http://paian.livejournal.com/29402.html) or her Rules of Evidence (http://paian.livejournal.com/34166.html), or Synecdochic's Calibrate (http://www.kekkai.org/synecdochic/sg1/calibrate.html) or Euridyce After (http://www.kekkai.org/synecdochic/sg1/eurydice_after.html), or even our darling CK's Sun Stroke (http://brainofck.livejournal.com/157034.html).

[rotpunkt.livejournal.com]

Thank you! That's what I like most when I read outside VigBean - follow the recs of slashy friends! There is too much to read to decide when you have no recs; I followed some of helens recs recently, and it was very interesting. I will definitely try those you mention here! But we warned - I might come back to you... I sometimes "need to talk" about stories, like in this case with :)

[green-grrl.livejournal.com]

I am always happy to discuss fics and give recs! Give a shout if there are any particular types of fics or any fandoms you are looking for. At the top of my LJ I have a post with many, many of my fic rec pages linked. All five of these came off the SG-1 Writers recs page.

[brainofck.livejournal.com]

I prodded this some more, should you care to continue the prattle. *points down*

[brainofck.livejournal.com]

I think you have hit the nail on the head here. However, I do think the author was trying to deal with this issue. Jack is struggling with it, at the end. He has come to feel that he loves Daniel. He realizes that he can't be in love with Daniel and keep treating him as he does. So he tries to change. And he STILL gets it wrong, turning the changes that he is using to try to create a better foundation for a real love relationship into a new form of non-consensual relationship. We are lead to believe that he finally *gets* it, and that Daniel *gets* that Jack gets it. And therefore within the boundaries of the master-slave realtionship they find a new ground on which to establish a relationship of equals.

But it's not clear to me that she totally accomplishes it. And the titles sort of acknowledges that. It's an Echo, but not the real thing. They do the best they can in the context.

Still, I have a lot of mixed emotions about this and I agree with green_grrl that it ends up romanticizing a non-consensual relationship, as non-con in fandom generally does.

Sorry it took forever for me to make my way back here. :) Any time you want to talk fic, feel free. I just might do it in slow motion. I note that green_grrl was rec'ing. I would like to point out that quite a lot of my Stargate fic is nearly canon-free! :) Check out Possession (http://brainofck.livejournal.com/152807.html) for all your angsty double non-con needs! :D