"Five Times Derek Lied to John" by storiesfortravellers (T)

[stars-inthe-sky.livejournal.com]

Fandom: Terminator / Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles
Pairing: None
Length: 985 words
Author on LJ: daria234
Author Website: Dreamwidth
Why this must be read: I love a well-rendered "five things" fic, and this is that. The author uses the numbered format in effective serve of both the narrative and the timey-wimey-ness of the Terminator 'verse. In less than a thousand words, zhe also does an exceptional job of piecing together and pulling apart Derek's ultimately very complicated relationship with his once and future nephew.

The fifth time was soon after Derek gave him his birthday present. John was sleeping (except he wasn't), and Derek was checking on him. Uncle looking in on his nephew. Guard verifying his general's status.

He tried to be quiet about it. But still he was glad when John opened his eyes and gestured for Derek to come in. It was good that even a tired-kid version of Connor couldn't be sneaked up on.

John sat up in his bed. He looked...

Like kids in the future did when they were scared of John Connor.

"I knew," John said. He looked at Derek like that meant something.

 
Five Times Derek Lied to John

Comments

[endeni]

Wow, that was great, thanks for the rec!

[stars-inthe-sky.livejournal.com]

I'm just glad there are other people in this fandom!

[endeni]

LOL... Oh, I love the Terminator universe! But then I'm exceptionally multifannish, does it still counts? :D

[stars-inthe-sky.livejournal.com]

Definitely counts.

Over in a "Parks and Recreation" community this summer, I commented on an introduce-yourself thread that included a line about other fandoms you follow. Most people were like, "Oh, Hunger Games and the New Girl," or "I used to be really into the X-Files and then Pride & Prejudice," and mine was like, "How long do you have? I've been doing this for like a decade." Multiple people were floored at my lengthy multifandom tendencies, which sort of surprised me. If you like the 'verse and there's fic for it, why wouldn't you want to be reading it?

[endeni]

I've been doing this for like a decade - Exactly! *g*
And it means more fanworks for you to enjoy, yay! :D

[stars-inthe-sky.livejournal.com]

Oh man, Yuletide is the best thing EVER. I didn't even know I wanted to read Ripley/Hicks fic post-Aliens until some appeared on my screen.

[kungfuwaynewho.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link! Great story; it sometimes seems so hard to find really good genfic.

[stars-inthe-sky.livejournal.com]

I know! TSCC has an exceptional amount of het and (femme) slash for a fandom where one of the four main characters is a technically asexual robot, and another is son and nephew to the other two, respectively. But the genfic is to me the most interesting in the fandom--there are only so many iterations of angry, angsty, or H/C Sarah/Derek sex that can exist, don't you think?--as the franchise really isn't about the love between romantic partners as it is about the parent/child bond.

[kungfuwaynewho.livejournal.com]

Exactly! I sort of gave up on searching for fic because most of it was Sarah/Derek, which is one of those things where I just don't even see it at all, so I've missed out. I love Sarah-John parent/child stuff, but again, I never really came across much of it.

(Though I do admit to casually shipping John/Cameron, but I rarely find anything that actually pulls it off for me.)

[stars-inthe-sky.livejournal.com]

I don't mind it if it's done well, but it's not a pairing that really interests me (although I LOVE it when I find a good Sarah/Kyle item that takes into account who she became after T1). I'd rather read some wibbley-wobbly-timey-wimey mindfuckery or conspiracy theories on why Savannah was almost killed or short character study pieces like this one. I know it's fandom, and I love fandom, but not everything has to be shippy.

John/Cameron just squicks me to no end. Because she is a robot.

[kungfuwaynewho.livejournal.com]

Eh, my long tenure in BSG fandom has inured me to one or both partners in a relationship being a robot. But I actually do prefer just like shmoopy or friendly stuff as opposed to actual sexing, as it were.

I just find that in my old age I am less likely to read fic with ships I'm not interested in. Unless I know the author or it's rec'd as AN AMAZING STORY.

This whole discussion has made me (a) want to rewatched some TSCC and (b) write some TSCC genfic!

[stars-inthe-sky.livejournal.com]

:D

Someday I'm going to get around to writing the epic Sarah-Savannah mother/daughter plot bunny that's been knocking around my head since I watched the show for the first time last year. I think it'll end up including some shippy times, but the focus would be on Sarah's relationship with 'her' kid who never had reason to lose faith in her...

[kungfuwaynewho.livejournal.com]

That sounds like an awesome fic, and I will read it. XD

[stars-inthe-sky.livejournal.com]

I'll probably only get around to making it happen for a big bang or some other kind of deal where I can opt into peer pressure. I did the het_bigbang last year and it was awesome (and didn't require that fics be overly shippy as long as there was a het pairing in there somewhere), so it'd probably be for that or the heroinebigbang...we'll see.

[endeni]

OMG, you're right! So many new fics to read - and so little time... :D