Title:
 Chrysalis
Fandom: Oz
Pairing:
 Beecher/Keller
Categories: 
AU, Angst, Fluff
Length: 
Medium (~5000 words)
Warnings: violence, m/m sex, kinda dub-con in places, some homophobia 



Author on LJ:
geneticallydead
Website:
 n/a

Author's Summary:‘God don’t give a fuck about you, until you don’t give a fuck about him. And then he’s going to smite your ass. He will give you a reason to call his name; he wants you back.’

Review:

Since I've watched only one episode of Oz, I'll give you the super-short version of the series, and link you to some more in-depth overviews: Oz is an HBO show, about a maximum-security prison. The writers tried to make the thing as realistic as they could, meaning of course, there's rape, murder, gratuitous drug use, more rape and Nazis. This is considered an edgy show even for a network like HBO, so let ye be warned.
It follows the lives of the inmates and staff of the experimental Cell Block 5, aka 'Emerald City', in Oswald Penitentiary, and in particular, Tobias Beecher, an alcoholic lawyer who mowed down a little girl whilst totally blotto. Toby has it hard, in particular by the fact that he was made a Nazi's 'prag' (read: fucktoy) his first day there. It only gets worse from there folks. Then, through a somewhat convoluted revenge plot, he falls in love with a serial killer named Chris Keller, with whom he is very codependent. That's basically all I know.
If you want a better summary, but don't want to hear about the squicky stuff, thefourthvine wrote a fandom summary which is pretty awesome. But if you're made of sterner stuff than I, than take a gander at the crack_van fandom overview

Okay, maybe I cheated a little when I decided to make this part of my Dark Themes Week set. Because, in the Oz fandom, even the fluff is dark and brutal. But nonetheless, this is a good fic. It's an AU where Beecher manages to get parole, and he's only sort of coping with it. Of course, then Keller gets his sentence overturned, and makes a beeline to his former 'prison buddy', mad as heck that Beecher "left" him in prison. They resume their relationship, and though they're not quite happy, it's more bearable to be together than to be apart. I really love the poetic narration in this fic, and the addictive, codependent relationship portrayed between the two men. Here's a quote that I think sums it up:

Nobody will ever love him like Keller does, nobody will ever be driven to such passion or violence in his name. Anyone and everyone else will always be pale and faded by comparison, musty bugs pinned to boards next to a hothouse specimen.

In conclusion, though it gets a little melodramatic in places, this is wonderfully, awesomely f*ed-up fic.

Chrysalis