Advantage

Fanfiction
Title:	Advantage
Author(s):	Resonant
Date(s):	04 July 2005
Length:	14,900 words
Genre(s):	slash fanfiction
Fandom(s):	Stargate Atlantis
Relationship(s):
External Links:	Advantage (in medias Res)
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Advantage is a John/Rodney Stargate Atlantis story by Resonant.

Summary: This slave-owner thing was a lot of responsibility.

DVD Commentary

A fan's 2008 DVD commentary is here.

Reactions and Reviews

John is chemically induced by some whacky aliens to please Rodney. A classic take on the slavefic genre.

Going through my list of stories to rec for SGA, I was surprised to discover that most of them weren't very long (at least by my standards). As a fandom, it doesn't seem to lend itself to good epic fics, which is a shame, because short stories aren't at all satisfying to me.

Advantage isn't exactly an epic, but at least it's long enough to have a plot. While on an away mission, John is marked with a temporary tattoo that makes him follow Rodney's orders (well, mostly). That may seem like a great thing for Rodney, but suddenly John's around looking for orders *all the time* and also being compelled by the tattoo to make Rodney healthier by cutting off his caffeine supply and forcing him to eat apples. You can just imagine how much Rodney likes that.

The best part of this fic is the way that slave!John is even more bossy than he is without the tattoo and at no point does he feel even a little bit out of character. Rodney's great also: not really taking advantage of slave!John, but also not seeing any problem in ordering to do menial tasks like finding him coffee and proofing complex mathmatical equations. Rounding out the fic is the rest of the cast, all reacting to this situation just as you expect them to, with Elizabeth and Carson sure that Rodney is taking advantage of John and Radek just shrugging his shoulders and getting back to work. Hilarious, surprisingly sweet, and vastly entertaining.

Yet another fanfic writing giant has turned up in the SGA fandom! It wasn't Rodney's fault. Really. Those stupid aliens didn't understand that Rodney always treats John like his personal servant. Unfortunately, now they've gone and made it so that John has no choice but to serve Rodney. Now, how to keep Rodney from taking advantage of his influence -- either intentionally or unintentionally.

This is fking brilliant. Read it.

Best Two Stories That Prove That Pegasus Galaxy Grows Some Truly Excellent Aliens, Even If They Seem to Be Mostly Just Rustic-Village-Oriented on the Show Itself. Advantage AND Abstain, by Resonant, aka resonant8. Stargate: Atlantis, John Sheppard/Rodney McKay.

I actually have three reasons for recommending both of these stories, and I'm bound and determined to write them all down. Just - indulge me, okay? First. I have to acknowledge outstanding achievements in the field of alien-induced sex, and Resonant and Stargate: Atlantis have both been doing amazing things in this arena. Seriously. SGA is, like, the Fandom of Pervy Aliens, and Resonant is - you know what, I don't think I want to finish that sentence. It's better that way. Suffice to say that Res totally deserves some kind of frameable certificate, maybe even a plaque, from grateful aficionados of aliens who make humans have sex for reasons best known to themselves. (I'd certainly chip in, because wow.) Also, second, and more tragically, I know everyone who reads this LJ has already read these two stories. So I had to recommend them, because - because I had to, dammit - but I figured I'd put both of them together. Isn't this the perfect time for a re-read? And, finally, these stories prove that if cliches are fun, twisted cliches are even more fun. Because, like, in Advantage, the aliens aren't making them have sex; they're just making John, well, I guess you could say altruistic. (I'd say "subservient," but he so isn't. Because even when John Sheppard is a willing slave, he's still insubordinate. And that, people, is why I love him.) And in Abstain, the aliens specifically make them not have sex. Which of course causes them to have sex. What can we learn from this? Well, my take-home lesson is that everything leads to McKay and Sheppard getting it on, and it's one that I'm glad to have learned.