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crack_van2005-01-01 10:40 am
alara-r.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2005-01-01 10:40 am
Entry tags:
Love Reign O'Er Me, by Ruth Gifford and Varoneeka (NC-17)
Hi there. I'm going to be doing the recs for Star Trek for the month of January. Since I'm a big fan of Q, he's going to show up in a disproportionate number of my recs. I'm also going to try to emphasize TNG, because it's the least recced so far of the five series.
Fandom : Star Trek: The Next Generation
Pairing : P/Q
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
telesilla (none for Varoneeka)
Author Website: Ruth Gifford on SlashFanfiction.com, Varoneeka's Slash, Mush and More
Why this must be read:
There are remarkably few P/Q fics out there that I actually find believable. Although I'm a fan of the pairing, I'm rather astonished by the amount of outright bad characterization out there in the fic. Part of the problem is that Q, as one person put it, would rather die than admit to any weakness, including being in love with a mere human, and Picard keeps his defenses up on full around Q. This story manages to neatly solve both problems by giving Q amnesia and dumping the two of them in a deserted oasis Q created (it's not a spoiler to say this is a machination of the Continuum's, as it's pretty obvious from the start.)
Without aeons of memory of being a defensive, arrogant, prickly asshole, Q has a completely different personality (it's never made explicit, but I imagine the authors are speculating that this was what Q was like when he first came into existence, when he still had a sense of wonder about the universe and a desire to learn, and before he and his people became completely jaded.) Picard finds it hard to believe this isn't all an elaborate prank of Q's, but the slow growth of his belief that it's not, and his realization of his feelings for Q, is drawn out over enough time that it is believable.
Q ate some of the rice and beans, his eyes not leaving his plate. "And you know nothing more about the Continuum?"
"Guinan, a mutual acquaintance, said that some members of the Continuum were 'almost respectable.' Other than that, no, I'm afraid not."
"When I'm not under direct orders from the Continuum or fearing for my life, my interactions with you seem governed by a desire to teach you things, especially things about yourself." Q waved his own fork. "Have you, in fact, been learning anything about yourself here?"
Picard let several minutes pass as he considered Q's question. Trust the entity, even without his memory, to ask him something so difficult and sit so expectantly for his answer.
"I suppose," he said at last, "that I have been a little disturbed by the peace I've found here. The rituals and rites have been calming. I tend to think of myself as an adventurer who hates routine. You might have been thinking to disabuse me of that notion."
Q frowned. "Would that sort of insight be helpful to you? I mean, you have to command your ship, and it has its own rituals, I'm sure. I don't see this changing your life much."
"I'm not sure your intention has ever been getting me to change the facts of my life so much as my attitude towards it."
"I wonder why, though. I mean, do I just feel the need to prove to you over and over that I'm right?" Q's voice wavered slightly as his attention strayed. "Hey, how old am I, anyway?"
"I have no idea. Millions of years old, at least, I should think."
"And how old do Humans live to be?"
"We can live to around a hundred and fifty years, with care."
Q wasn't sure if he kept the shock of pain those words caused from showing on his face.
"Q?" Picard asked, dropping his fork on his plate and leaning toward Q. "Are you all right?"
"It's just...I...I don't know what to think right now."
Picard desperately wished for the presence of Deanna Troi. How could he help Q with whatever it was that had startled and hurt the entity? He didn't know the first thing about helping an amnesiac, let alone one with whom he'd so often been at odds. *Don't be such a coward, Jean-Luc,* he told himself sternly. *Deanna's not here; you're all he's got.*
"All right," he said, trying to keep his voice steady but interested. "Something about the age discrepancy has upset you. Can you isolate it?" Even as he spoke, he braced for a sarcastic remark, steadied to have Q look up and needle him for practicing without a
license. Instead, Q frowned in concentration.
"It just...made me feel sad, I guess."
"That you've lost so much of your memory?"
"No! Ten years or ten million years...what difference does that make?"
"Good point," that voice calmly replied.
Q didn't know what Picard was doing, but something in the man's face and body language made him realize that Picard was genuinely concerned about him. The man was so quiet now, but it was an encouraging silence and it made Q feel that he could take his time, that Picard would wait for him to figure things out. He tried to pin-point that moment of pain.
"It's you," he murmured finally. "I felt sad knowing you have so little time."
Picard looked surprised and once more Q felt that tiny, private dagger-thrust of pain. Picard was surprised when he said something nice, he was surprised when Q expressed any sort of feeling, he was surprised when Q indicated that he felt pain for Picard's mortality...*Damnit, what did I *do* to him?*
"I don't think of it that way," Picard was saying now, his voice reflective. "I can't. I think I'd begun to think of it that way, but then, between your lesson when you took me back in time and my encounter with a man who was trying to turn back his own clock at any expense..."
His voice trailed off and Q waited, wondering what was going on in Picard's memory. *Once,* he thought, *I would have known just by wanting to know.* The thought made him feel a little odd. Had he done things like that? Intruded on this man's mind simply out of idle curiosity?
Love Reign O'Er Me
Fandom : Star Trek: The Next Generation
Pairing : P/Q
Author on LJ:
telesilla (none for Varoneeka)Author Website: Ruth Gifford on SlashFanfiction.com, Varoneeka's Slash, Mush and More
Why this must be read:
There are remarkably few P/Q fics out there that I actually find believable. Although I'm a fan of the pairing, I'm rather astonished by the amount of outright bad characterization out there in the fic. Part of the problem is that Q, as one person put it, would rather die than admit to any weakness, including being in love with a mere human, and Picard keeps his defenses up on full around Q. This story manages to neatly solve both problems by giving Q amnesia and dumping the two of them in a deserted oasis Q created (it's not a spoiler to say this is a machination of the Continuum's, as it's pretty obvious from the start.)
Without aeons of memory of being a defensive, arrogant, prickly asshole, Q has a completely different personality (it's never made explicit, but I imagine the authors are speculating that this was what Q was like when he first came into existence, when he still had a sense of wonder about the universe and a desire to learn, and before he and his people became completely jaded.) Picard finds it hard to believe this isn't all an elaborate prank of Q's, but the slow growth of his belief that it's not, and his realization of his feelings for Q, is drawn out over enough time that it is believable.
Q ate some of the rice and beans, his eyes not leaving his plate. "And you know nothing more about the Continuum?"
"Guinan, a mutual acquaintance, said that some members of the Continuum were 'almost respectable.' Other than that, no, I'm afraid not."
"When I'm not under direct orders from the Continuum or fearing for my life, my interactions with you seem governed by a desire to teach you things, especially things about yourself." Q waved his own fork. "Have you, in fact, been learning anything about yourself here?"
Picard let several minutes pass as he considered Q's question. Trust the entity, even without his memory, to ask him something so difficult and sit so expectantly for his answer.
"I suppose," he said at last, "that I have been a little disturbed by the peace I've found here. The rituals and rites have been calming. I tend to think of myself as an adventurer who hates routine. You might have been thinking to disabuse me of that notion."
Q frowned. "Would that sort of insight be helpful to you? I mean, you have to command your ship, and it has its own rituals, I'm sure. I don't see this changing your life much."
"I'm not sure your intention has ever been getting me to change the facts of my life so much as my attitude towards it."
"I wonder why, though. I mean, do I just feel the need to prove to you over and over that I'm right?" Q's voice wavered slightly as his attention strayed. "Hey, how old am I, anyway?"
"I have no idea. Millions of years old, at least, I should think."
"And how old do Humans live to be?"
"We can live to around a hundred and fifty years, with care."
Q wasn't sure if he kept the shock of pain those words caused from showing on his face.
"Q?" Picard asked, dropping his fork on his plate and leaning toward Q. "Are you all right?"
"It's just...I...I don't know what to think right now."
Picard desperately wished for the presence of Deanna Troi. How could he help Q with whatever it was that had startled and hurt the entity? He didn't know the first thing about helping an amnesiac, let alone one with whom he'd so often been at odds. *Don't be such a coward, Jean-Luc,* he told himself sternly. *Deanna's not here; you're all he's got.*
"All right," he said, trying to keep his voice steady but interested. "Something about the age discrepancy has upset you. Can you isolate it?" Even as he spoke, he braced for a sarcastic remark, steadied to have Q look up and needle him for practicing without a
license. Instead, Q frowned in concentration.
"It just...made me feel sad, I guess."
"That you've lost so much of your memory?"
"No! Ten years or ten million years...what difference does that make?"
"Good point," that voice calmly replied.
Q didn't know what Picard was doing, but something in the man's face and body language made him realize that Picard was genuinely concerned about him. The man was so quiet now, but it was an encouraging silence and it made Q feel that he could take his time, that Picard would wait for him to figure things out. He tried to pin-point that moment of pain.
"It's you," he murmured finally. "I felt sad knowing you have so little time."
Picard looked surprised and once more Q felt that tiny, private dagger-thrust of pain. Picard was surprised when he said something nice, he was surprised when Q expressed any sort of feeling, he was surprised when Q indicated that he felt pain for Picard's mortality...*Damnit, what did I *do* to him?*
"I don't think of it that way," Picard was saying now, his voice reflective. "I can't. I think I'd begun to think of it that way, but then, between your lesson when you took me back in time and my encounter with a man who was trying to turn back his own clock at any expense..."
His voice trailed off and Q waited, wondering what was going on in Picard's memory. *Once,* he thought, *I would have known just by wanting to know.* The thought made him feel a little odd. Had he done things like that? Intruded on this man's mind simply out of idle curiosity?
Love Reign O'Er Me
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