rthstewart: (Default)
rthstewart ([personal profile] rthstewart) wrote2013-04-24 11:08 am

Herd Mentality -- New Fic

I posted the first part of a two chapter fic, Herd Mentality, last night. I will wait until it's complete before posting the whole thing on AO3. I mention in the notes that chapter 2 will take a darker  much darker turn.

Though the beginning is relatively benign and sweet, the story is not.  I think it will probably be darker than anything I've done before, including Carrying out my design to shatter the enemies .

Herd Mentality isn't a story about Horse Herd dynamics and Hwin and Rose finding their way.  What it is about is given away in the summary, a story about duty and tradition, rights and law, courage, and judgment.  For years, I've ducked the issue of where exactly I drew the line on the right of a community to pursue its own beliefs versus the right of a civil authority to protect the individuals in that community from those beliefs.  I raised the issue in the very first chapters of Part 1 of TSG and let readers come to their own conclusions.  I'm going to try to draw a line here.  A huge thanks to [personal profile] starbrow who let me posit the, "Can I really go there?  Should I really go there?" and gave me some valuable insights and research links into the critique I am mounting.

It's not for everybody and the next chapter will have some warnings. 

sailorsol: (Default)

[personal profile] sailorsol 2013-04-24 04:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Just as an FYI, there's a "Spare Oom" tag on AO3 now that you can use on your stories, if you're interested.
gingicat: woman in a green dress and cloak holding a rose, looking up at snow falling down on her (geeky - library)

[personal profile] gingicat 2013-04-24 09:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, I can see how that would get very dark. I'll likely read it even so.