sga_flashfic | Pure Bodies and Clean Hearts by Speranza (Virgin Challenge)

Hey, thanks! Slash--good for the heart, great for the heart!

I'd like to see more of this changed John. He seemed happier. As if now that his emotional scars were erased he had more emtional mobility. No pain, no baggage, no scars, just wonder at life.

Absolutely--I mean, sex aside, John's the character who's had the biggest life change: he's in a new galaxy, in a family, in a position of respect and authority, and he really doesn't have to suffer the rules he's rebelled against his whole life. Plus, by the end of the story he's got love, too. It seemed worth giving him an opportunity to realize the beauty of the second chance he's already had; like Dorothy, he had been reborn way before the river! *G* He was home all along, so to speak!

Thank you so much; I'm flattered and delighted!

Thank you; and yeah, you're right, in many key ways this is a teamfic. John discovers he's in a family before he discovers love within that family, I think. And that's all new to him, really.

I loved this story, the fact that John was the only one that had to go into the river..Rodney was at university very very young. *smile*

The way that John just felt, almost new..and that after, he immediately went right after Rodney. *smile*

Excellent!!

Oh, no, sorry, unclear--I don't think you should rewrite your summary in any way. I was just saying that, if I had to pick a single line from the story that best expresses it, that would be the line I would choose.

There was indeed readerly surprise at everyone being a virgin, and I liked that bit! I was very taken with Teyla's assertion that chastity made someone a better warrior. All that pent-up sexual tension, I guess.

This is lovely and brilliantly brief. This is the kind of story which could be dragged out for much longer and lose it's impact as a result.

I read what you've said about the number of comments you've received about your approach to virginity, and I agree with every one of them. If anything, I think it shows how negatively virginity, particularly past a certain age is viewed.

It's not just the fact you've made virginity seem a positive thing, that Rodney is the one who shows John things, but that it's a *normal* thing. I think that's what really came across.

For an awful lot of people (far more than society would have us believe)it's just how life turned out, for all sorts of reasons and it's not a huge deal. Rodney, Teyla and Ronon are all complete people without it, whereas it appears John understands he was incomplete with it.

I'm stopping the babbling now.

I'm apologising for the misplaced apostrophe. I'm sorry, I can't rest knowing it's there...

D'oh, I meant physically erase his prior sexual experiences to make him a virgin. See, not making sense. :) I mostly like that you made it about John being emotionally a virgin, I guess, rather than *physically* one--I mean, it sounds weirdly simple when I put it that way but it's more complex in a way I can't really figure out. Um. I just really liked it.

Yeah, I didn't make that up--and it still holds true in sports, no? No sex before the big game, etc?

Rodney, Teyla and Ronon are all complete people without it, whereas it appears John understands he was incomplete with it.

YES YES YES--*jumps up and down!*--that's what I meant! Not that it HAS to be this way, many sexually active people are totally fine *g*, but it CAN be, yes, absolutely! Well done!

Yeah, he really didn't let his virginity burn a hole in his pocket, did he? Given a second chance at life, our John's gonna take it--and Rodney's part of that second chance! A big part!

Mmmmmmm. Lovely. I love John getting to start again, coming out battered and new. Beautiful.

I do love a story where I'm left with a big silly smile on my face when I finished. I thought this was lovely - thank you.

If anyone needs to be born again it's poor John. Thanks for the story.

Thank you! (And, er, you know, I mean, he's just stupidly fun to beat up. I feel like I get the Mulder people in a whole new way. Dear X Files Fandom: I'm sorry! I understand now! *G*)

You're welcome! So glad I made you smile!

Yes, totally--though I mean, he's got a new job, new family, new galaxy; he's off too a pretty good start even before he gets his virginity and a new lover, if he'd only stop to appreciate it! Like I said: luckiest man in the galaxy.

Man sometimes I think it would be nice to get a do over, to go back to that moment and appreciate it properly. I also enjoyed the fact that you showed John viewing his life through less worldly eyes. In some ways the loss of a persons virginity is the perfect symbol of the headlong slide into the cynicism of adulthood.

Making my way through your lovely works, I gotta comment on this one too. Such a nice little snapshot, sigh ....

John glanced over at Rodney, but his back was to them, and he said nothing. The woods grew silent except for the crackling of the fire, the whisk-whisk of Ronon's knife against the strap, and John tucked his arms behind his head and lay back thoughtfully.

Teyla set her glass down and seemed just about to speak when Rodney said, in a low, hurried-sounding voice, "I went to university at fourteen." John thought that sounded like the beginning of a story, but Rodney looked away and didn't say anything else.

"That must've been tough," John offered finally. "Being younger. Hard to get a date."

Rodney looked over in relief, like he was grateful that John understood. "Yes, exactly. Nobody wants to sleep with a kid," and John was nodding when Rodney surprised him by adding, "and those who do? You don't want those who do," and John felt a sudden sick twinge; it hadn't occurred to him that a child prodigy at a university would be a magnet for every pederast and pervert in the place. "Better to just--do your research, focus on your experiments, stay out of trouble," Rodney said, biting his lip. "And then the years pass and--you know. The years pass."

I know it's much more natural to be a Johny-girl, but little snippets like this make me *heart* Mister NoSocialSkills Rodney. Gives my thumper a big ole wrenching to hear how isolated and lonely Rodney must have been by being so advanced. Backpedaling from your sexuality so hard and furious because it's dangerous, and then, by the time it's safe, you have no idea how to approach it--or *anyone* for that matter--anymore. How sad.

Not that being a virgin is a problem, it's more the underlying realization that Rodney considers his ignorance a bit abnormal and kind of ... embarassing. Love that Teyla and Ronon accept it without a blink, and John is upset about the implications of Rodney's childhood, but touched that Rodney would share such a revealing thing. Love that John found Rodney so appealing that he broke his newfound serenity to jump Rodney's contrary bones.

Why do I always have to like the difficult ones?

Pretty. Not in the inane way. In the true way.

B

I had saved this for a moment when I'd actually get to sit and you know, savor it, and I'm so glad I did. This is just beautiful and I love this part,

John felt it, too-- the sun on his face, the ground solid beneath his knees, and Teyla and Rodney warm on either side of him, their arms around him, and Ronon Dex ready to kill for him, and holy crap, he was in the Pegasus galaxy, he was the military commander of Atlantis and the luckiest man alive. He felt scraped raw, aching, but reborn somehow, and suddenly he was hiccupping and maybe crying a little, because he was alive, and still sort of young, and he could do anything he wanted, now; anything at all.

just made my heart seize in pure happiness for him. Just absolutely lovely.

Mmmm, this is so wonderful. I just read it three times in a row... and I feel like there's still a lot more to get out of it.

I've been meaning to reply to this for days, but every time I dissolve into hand-waving and general verklempt-ness. Thank you. It really means a lot for you to say something like that, because I admire your work so much. I love your sense of humor and I think your stories can cut just as sharply and just as cleanly--snark in the darkness is an asset, as far as I'm concerned. (I've been well-schooled by Joss Whedon.) I also admire just your general attitude toward fandom--classy and capable. So it makes me immensely pleased that you like my fumblings. I don't know what I'm doing, but for the most part, I'm having fun.

Pure Bodies and Clean Hearts by Speranza (Virgin Challenge)

no subject

Re: Born Again Sheppard

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject