iphignia939

Years ago, when Handmaid's Tale the TV show came out, I was living with a roommate who had a viewing party with friends every week. And when the show started airing they watched it every week, and I joined them, because it was an easy social activity where I never had to leave my own apartment.

I discovered through that experience that I apparently had a LOT more feelings about the original book (novella?) than I thought, because I had a LOT of feelings about how the show was doing things Wrong. It was tough for me to articulate why it bothered me so much, at the time, as the differences in S1 between book and show were still fairly subtle, but I decided the rest of the show wasn't worth my time, and felt very justified when it ended and I caught up on what they'd done with it all.

Anyway, all of which is to say, when The Testaments came out I was like - DEFINITELY reading that book! And then, the war in Ukraine, and October 7th, and another war, and another war, and another war... let's just say sinking into a fictional gender dystopia with bonus rape content on top was not something I really felt like doing.

So, the show came out, and I told myself I'd wait until I read the book. But I am very out of things to watch, and needed background noise for my day, and so started the first episode.

Boy howdy, if you ever need a form of entertainment know that you can watch an episode of The Testaments with me and I will pause about every 3 minutes and rant at you for like 20 minutes. For the entire episode. Guaranteed.

I can't say when this has EVER happened before, but legit the first 15 minutes of that episode annoyed me SO MUCH that I went and borrowed the book from the library ON THE SPOT and am now 25% into it, after less than a day (when I wasn't planning on having any reading time).

Do I ENJOY sinking into that particular one of Atwood's worlds? Not really, I'm still not mentally in a great place for it. But do I feel like I NEED her book so my braincells can recover from 15 minutes of the Hulu show? ABSOLUTELY.

My brain is basically treating it like medicine. Does it taste good? It does not, but we need to down it in one shot, as quickly as possible, so we can move on with our lives.

And yes, in case you were wondering, the medicine absolutely does work. How does that meme go? "Begone, you demons of stupidity"? That's me with that TV show.

*

I've been reading and enjoying so much The Pitt fic. Give me all the oldschool slash fics where it's just (presumably) straight dudes on a workplace show and then all of them being together in some combo or another.

1. Hot Under the Collar (85475 words) by itsflippinCJ
Chapters: 16/16
Fandom: The Pitt (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Jack Abbot/Michael "Robby" Robinavitch/Dennis Whitaker, Michael "Robby" Robinavitch/Dennis Whitaker, Jack Abbot/Michael "Robby" Robinavitch, Jack Abbot/Dennis Whitaker
Summary: In which Dennis "I'm obviously just a beta with a really mild scent and a huge thing for Alphas" Whitaker is completely obsessed with his chief and the night shift attending, and it's all totally normal and completely ok and 100% Not A Problem.

I read this fic during the break between S1 and S2, it doesn't require any knowledge of S2 canon (or really more than a few episodes of S1 to understand who everyone is). Dennis is a beta who is actually an alpha, and Robby and Jack are alphas too, and this is 85k of my favorite sort of porn-is-plot writing. A++, stellar work.


2. In their eyes shall shine (6066 words) by Irrelevancy
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Pitt (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Jack Abbot/Michael "Robby" Robinavitch
Summary:“You really think, after all we’ve seen together—hell, after all I’ve seen, you’ve got something crazy enough in your head that it’d scare me off?”

Now, this is VERY much a post S2 fic, but it's maybe my favorite one so far. It's medical kink, it's going into the deep end with Robby, it's exactly the dynamic I LOVE with him and Jack.


3. the taste of truth (16646 words) by Saturn
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Pitt (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Jack Abbot/Michael "Robby" Robinavitch
Summary: “I haven’t had a heat since I was fourteen,” Robby said, not meeting Jack’s eyes. “Never planned to again, but today…” He shrugged. “I guess today was too much. Game over.” Robby has his first heat in 40 years, after his suppressants fail. He can’t hide who he is anymore, but the last thing he wants is an Alpha.

OK, so, I could honestly just send you to read all of Saturn's fics and that would be its own reclist, but this is the first one read (because of course I started from the omega-verse). This is post S1, and it's wonderful and lovely and again dynamics I absolutely love and spot-on voices and just, everything.


4. save me, serve you (26213 words) by sweetsabbatical
Chapters: 5/?
Fandom: The Pitt (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Jack Abbot/Michael "Robby" Robinavitch, Jack Abbot/Michael "Robby" Robinavitch/Dennis Whitaker, Michael "Robby" Robinavitch/Dennis Whitaker, Jack Abbot/Dennis Whitaker
Summary: Everyone presents around the time they come to adulthood as either Dominant or Submissive. Dominants and Submissives alike require regular domination or submission to keep their hormone levels in check. Submissives are especially vulnerable to sickness if they do not enter subspace on a regular basis. Hucklerabbot biological BDSM AU.

Look, this is a WIP, I have no idea whether it'll ever be continued or finished, and I generally don't rec WIPs. However these types of AUs are so rare these days, and this one is really fun imo, and there's already 26K of it, and I don't feel like the chapters end in cliffhangers, so. I really enjoyed this, and if you're into these kinds of AUs you deserve to know this one exists lol


5. sweet sounds coming down (7827 words) by Saturn
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Pitt (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Jack Abbot/John Shen (The Pitt)
Summary: “Hey, thanks,” Abbot said, picking up the coffee cup. “Even if it’s a self-serving gesture, I appreciate it.” He gave John a wide grin—one that went all the way up to his eyes, highlighting his crow's feet—and John’s belly fluttered in response. He could practically feel his heart beating in his chest, and his palms were suddenly clammy.

Have I mentioned how great Saturn's fics are? SO GREAT. This one is Jack Abbot/John Shen and I enjoyed it a lot. I love the idea of them on the night shift together, I think it teases out a really interesting and different dynamic for Abbot that he doesn't get with Robby or Whitaker, and I wish to read more fics for this pairing.


6. Your Husband wants a Taste (15105 words) by AHumbleFan
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Pitt (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Jack Abbot/Michael "Robby" Robinavitch, Jack Abbot/Michael "Robby" Robinavitch/Dennis Whitaker, Jack Abbot/Dennis Whitaker, Michael "Robby" Robinavitch/Dennis Whitaker
Summary: Dennis Whitaker and Dr. Robby have an arrangement. After a little slip-up while on the job, Dr. Robby becomes aware of Dennis's situation. He can't afford the expensive price tag that comes with blood bags, and he can't remember the last time he's had a proper meal. Who would Dr. Robby be if he didn't lend a hand to his favorite vampire? Besides, it benefits both of them in more ways than one.

So, this fic really threw me for a loop. I read the summary on AO3 and skimmed the tags, and the fic turned out to be completely different than what I'd assumed. So, definitely read all the tags and summary carefully! Do not make my mistake! LOL but even though this has several tropes I usually avoid this ended up being a fun read that I'd recommend. Dennis is a vampire, Jack and Robby are werewolves and alphas, there's a whole load of worldbuilding and kink, and there's a second fic in this series as well.


7. let me look at you (3903 words) by Saturn, amalli
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Pitt (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Jack Abbot/Michael "Robby" Robinavitch
Summary: Before Robby can think better of it, the edge of his buzz hanging on, he adds to his text message, Can’t even get myself off the way I used to. He stares at his phone, at the reckless message he sent, his body heating, watching the dots on his phone pulse as Jack types a response.

Again SATURN. But honestly, if you only read 1 Robby/Jack fic, let it be this one. Where at no point are they in the same room together! LOLOL but seriously it's so spot on, so fun, such a great "is it a relationship if your friend is helping you to get off???" fic, just, fantastic.


8. wolf's bane (20112 words) by astrifere
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Pitt (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Relationships: Jack Abbot/Frank Langdon, Frank Langdon/Michael "Robby" Robinavitch, Jack Abbot/Frank Langdon/Michael "Robby" Robinavitch
Summary: Nothing is a secret in the Pitt for long—it’s a miracle he’s kept it under wraps for this long, despite the near-deadly dose of preternate inhibitors he’d had in his system for nearly a decade. Yeah. His physician at rehab had had a thing or two to say about that. So, here Frank is: emergency med resident, recovering addict, recent divorcee, and not-so-secret wolfshifter.

A Langdon/Robby/Jack fic appears! Definitely a post S2 story, that basically gave me everything I wanted from the Robby/Langdon dynamic, with bonus Jack on top. Also normally I skip stories where being an alpha or a werewolf or whatever involves actually shifting into an animal, but I gave this one a shot and it didn't disappoint.