That's exactly how I feel too, and you explained that wonderfully. It's the helplessness and brainwashing stuff that gets to me, not so much physical whump.

I haven't looked at Castles yet, because for once in my life I'm waiting for this story to be finished before I start reading. But I will definitely give it a go, even though I realize now that I did think 'meh' when I saw the label 'slave fic'. You're absolutely right, kriady, you shouldn't judge a fic just by its label or by the author's previous work.

Good post!