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Domestic Dispute by Belatrix Carter (R)
Fandom: FARSCAPE
Pairing: John/Harvey
Author on LJ: Er, she has one, but not under this particular pseudonym.
Why this must be read:
Hey there, I'm Andraste, your Farscape reccer for April. I should state up front that - unlike many fans - I'm not in this fandom for the John/Aeryn love story. If you want more J/A, look in the memories or come back later. If you want to hear about other characters and other relationships, you're in luck *g*.
Farscape can be a confusing fandom for people who haven't watched the show from day one, as anyone who's read this brilliant overview will be aware. (And if you haven't read it, you really should, since it's both hilarious and informative.) A lot of the fanfiction requires specific knowledge of context in order to make sense. Therefore, I'm going to try and provide some notes with my recs. If you don't want to know the details, you can just read the stories.
There are no Farscape characters more confusing to the uninitiated than Harvey. He looks just like Scorpius, but he's not Scorpius. He's John's enemy, then he's John's ally. He likes to wear cowboy boots and silly hats. Only our protagonist can see him, except for that one time when ... anyway, try to explain him to a newbie and watch their eyes glaze over.
Essentially, Harvey began life as a mental copy - a 'neural clone' - of Scorpius, the show's chief Big Bad during Season Two and Season Three. Scorpius wanted information from John Crichton, so he copied his mind onto a computer chip and injected the chip into John's head. While there, it sent out tendrils into John's brain seeking wormhole information. As a result of this process, our protagonist began to hallucinate about Scorpius more and more, and it soon became clear than the hallucination had a personality all his own, borrowing from his host as well as his creator. After they started talking to each other and the neural clone explained his nature, John named him Harvey.
By the end of Season Two, Harvey had grown strong enough to take over John's body altogether, and while in control of his host he killed John's love interest Aeryn Sun. (Who was soon brought back to life. This happens quite a lot in FS.) Soon after, John had the chip removed by a surgeon. Scorpius turned up to claim it and - or so he thought at the time - the wormhole information it contained.
To the consternation of both John and Harvey, this didn't get rid of the neural clone. It turned out that he had somehow developed an existence idependant from his hardware. At first, Harvey wanted only to die now that his mission was over, and John was dismayed by his continued presence. Yet over the course of Season Three, the pair of them forged a strange alliance. Once he looked around the mind he was living in, Harvey began to revell in John's memories and grew deeply attached to his host, eventually siding with John against Scorpius. John in turn seemed to grow more accustomed to his imaginary friend and even to appreciate his help and advice.
Then, in Season Four, Scorpius arrived on Moya and offered to get rid of Harvey. John accepted with alacrity.
This twist bewildered many fans, since although John had never exactly welcomed Harvey it seemed very strange that he'd trust his enemy Scorpius more than the neural clone who had helped him on previous occasions. A large percentage of the audience had grown fond of the guy, too, charmed by his odd blend of innocence and guile and his entertaining costumes. As fans will, they cast around for an explanation and wrote fanfic. Which brings us, at last, to this neat story.
The slash subtext between John Crichton and Harvey was not exactly subtle on the show, if you could even call it subtext *g*. It was clear that Harvey's attachment to Crichton was rather intimate in nature, although John didn't return his affections. It's possible to achieve a whole new level of personal space invasion when you live inside someone's head.
This is the subject Belatrix Carter tackles in this story, which is equal parts sad and disturbing. It fills in the gap between Season Three and Season Four, when Crichton was stranded with only Harvey for company, and sheds light on the human's later decision. I think this is all the sadder for the audience because it perfectly captures Harvey's strange naivety - he genuinely doesn't understand what he's done, or why this would later give John a reason to want him gone forever. Well characterised and sharp. Go read.
Domestic Dispute
Pairing: John/Harvey
Author on LJ: Er, she has one, but not under this particular pseudonym.
Why this must be read:
Hey there, I'm Andraste, your Farscape reccer for April. I should state up front that - unlike many fans - I'm not in this fandom for the John/Aeryn love story. If you want more J/A, look in the memories or come back later. If you want to hear about other characters and other relationships, you're in luck *g*.
Farscape can be a confusing fandom for people who haven't watched the show from day one, as anyone who's read this brilliant overview will be aware. (And if you haven't read it, you really should, since it's both hilarious and informative.) A lot of the fanfiction requires specific knowledge of context in order to make sense. Therefore, I'm going to try and provide some notes with my recs. If you don't want to know the details, you can just read the stories.
There are no Farscape characters more confusing to the uninitiated than Harvey. He looks just like Scorpius, but he's not Scorpius. He's John's enemy, then he's John's ally. He likes to wear cowboy boots and silly hats. Only our protagonist can see him, except for that one time when ... anyway, try to explain him to a newbie and watch their eyes glaze over.
Essentially, Harvey began life as a mental copy - a 'neural clone' - of Scorpius, the show's chief Big Bad during Season Two and Season Three. Scorpius wanted information from John Crichton, so he copied his mind onto a computer chip and injected the chip into John's head. While there, it sent out tendrils into John's brain seeking wormhole information. As a result of this process, our protagonist began to hallucinate about Scorpius more and more, and it soon became clear than the hallucination had a personality all his own, borrowing from his host as well as his creator. After they started talking to each other and the neural clone explained his nature, John named him Harvey.
By the end of Season Two, Harvey had grown strong enough to take over John's body altogether, and while in control of his host he killed John's love interest Aeryn Sun. (Who was soon brought back to life. This happens quite a lot in FS.) Soon after, John had the chip removed by a surgeon. Scorpius turned up to claim it and - or so he thought at the time - the wormhole information it contained.
To the consternation of both John and Harvey, this didn't get rid of the neural clone. It turned out that he had somehow developed an existence idependant from his hardware. At first, Harvey wanted only to die now that his mission was over, and John was dismayed by his continued presence. Yet over the course of Season Three, the pair of them forged a strange alliance. Once he looked around the mind he was living in, Harvey began to revell in John's memories and grew deeply attached to his host, eventually siding with John against Scorpius. John in turn seemed to grow more accustomed to his imaginary friend and even to appreciate his help and advice.
Then, in Season Four, Scorpius arrived on Moya and offered to get rid of Harvey. John accepted with alacrity.
This twist bewildered many fans, since although John had never exactly welcomed Harvey it seemed very strange that he'd trust his enemy Scorpius more than the neural clone who had helped him on previous occasions. A large percentage of the audience had grown fond of the guy, too, charmed by his odd blend of innocence and guile and his entertaining costumes. As fans will, they cast around for an explanation and wrote fanfic. Which brings us, at last, to this neat story.
The slash subtext between John Crichton and Harvey was not exactly subtle on the show, if you could even call it subtext *g*. It was clear that Harvey's attachment to Crichton was rather intimate in nature, although John didn't return his affections. It's possible to achieve a whole new level of personal space invasion when you live inside someone's head.
This is the subject Belatrix Carter tackles in this story, which is equal parts sad and disturbing. It fills in the gap between Season Three and Season Four, when Crichton was stranded with only Harvey for company, and sheds light on the human's later decision. I think this is all the sadder for the audience because it perfectly captures Harvey's strange naivety - he genuinely doesn't understand what he's done, or why this would later give John a reason to want him gone forever. Well characterised and sharp. Go read.
Domestic Dispute
no subject
Reminds me a bit of Sab's A New Device is Being Tested, which has the added twist of the IY bracelets.
no subject
Poor, poor Harvey.
Reminds me a bit of Sab's A New Device is Being Tested, which has the added twist of the IY bracelets.
Yes - if it hadn't been recced already, I'd probably have done it myself.