xanthefic | Coming Home: Author's Notes (Reply)

Title: Coming Home
Author: Xanthe
Fandom: SGA
Pairing: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard (AU, set in a bisexual/BDSM universe)
Genre: Slash
Category: Romance, BDSM, spanking, hurt/comfort, angst, drama/action, BDSM-verse
Rating: NC17 for loving, consensual BDSM sex and spanking scenes.
Spoilers: Season One.
Wordcount: 183,800 – give or take *g*.
Posting: Because of the size of this story, I’ll be posting it in daily installments to my LJ. There are 19 installments of between 8000 and 11,000 words each. This story is finished and complete. I'll post links to the entire story at the end.

This novel-length story is a prequel to General & Dr Sheppard telling the story of how the AU John and Rodney first got together.

Summary: “Colonel John Sheppard knew, from the moment he first met Dr Rodney McKay, that the man would be trouble.”

Author’s Notes and Thank Yous

1. “Coming Home” is set in the same storyverse as ‘General & Dr Sheppard’ (G&DS). You don’t have to have read that in order to read and enjoy this.
2. This story is set entirely in a universe where bisexuality and BDSM sex are the norm. The BDSM depicted in this story is lifestyle BDSM – so it’s more intense than the “silk scarves” variety. It is safe, sane and consensual and the characters enjoy their sexuality. If you are squicked by BDSM practices (such as spanking, bondage, biting, marking, and dominant/submissive power exchange) please don’t read this story.
3. First and foremost this is a story about two people finding each other and learning how to be together. The BDSM is just a backdrop to that story.
4. Obviously as this is an AU, where bisexuality and BDSM are the norm and people are comfortable with that, the characters speak and act a bit differently to how they might speak and act in our universe. It was established in G&DS that the characters in this universe are much more open about their sexuality and comfortable talking about it.
5. Some events from the actual show are depicted in this story but they don’t necessarily happen in the same order, and they certainly don’t happen in quite the same way as they happened on the show. In a few places I have used some actual lines of dialogue from ‘Suspicion’, Hide and Seek’, and ‘38 Minutes’. This was done on purpose to emphasise the fact that this universe sometimes has echoes of our own.
6. Please don’t post to tell me how and why this society won’t work – I'm pretty sure I already know! If you like this kind of thing then it’s an enjoyable fantasy. It's not intended to be a "how to" guide to the functioning of a BDSM society or as to how BDSM should be practised. It's a story about people first and foremost.
7. I’m not postulating that this society is any better or worse than our own – it’s a fantasy construct with its own good and bad points.
8. I was working off my own canon here as some of the events that happen in ‘Coming Home’ are referred to in ‘G&DS’. I tried to make everything fit appropriately, and hope I succeeded. Some things will be picked up in the next story in this series, whenever I get around to writing it *g*. Please note that although John is a General in G&DS, he starts out as a Colonel here.
9. I love getting friendly feedback so please leave some if you enjoy this story!
10. A note about the posting method. I'm posting in installments but the story is finished. I'm posting in installments for various reasons: firstly, I do like to reply to feedback. I think if people have been kind enough to leave it then I like to acknowledge it. So if I posted more than 2 a day I simply wouldn't be able to keep up with the feedback and I want to enjoy the feedback and give people proper responses. Secondly, I asked my flist how they wanted the story to be posted and the consensus was that daily installments were best. People mentioned how they felt G&DS had been a real event, and they'd loved having something new to read each day and being able to chat with other readers about the fic. Of course people who don't like installments can wait until the entire story is posted and then read it all in one go - no problems there! There are 19 installments to this fic.
11. My apologies for the exceedingly long author’s notes! There was a reason why I felt they were necessary with this story.
12. Just to recap - if you dislike BDSM, or the way I write BDSM in particular, and/or you hated ‘G&DS’, then there’s really no reason for you to read ‘Coming Home’. If you loved 'G&DS' and/or really enjoy the way I write, then yay and hoorah and I hope you get a kick out of this one too – it's you guys I'm writing for!

Big Thanks To:

bluespirit_star for constant encouragement, discussion and support, to say nothing of prompt and helpful beta. I honestly couldn’t have written this without you, and most of the time I was actually writing it *for* you! Thanks so much.

flyingnorth for enthusiasm and many a long discussion about this universe

shrewreader for US beta.
Everyone who has been so encouraging (and patient!) about this story and all my flist for being so supportive whenever I mentioned it.

bluespirit_star again for yet another gorgeous title graphic

Now, on with the story!

Coming Home - Part One: Trouble with a Capital ‘T’.