Ruminations, or While Johnny Lies Sleeping

Fanfiction
Title:	Ruminations, or While Johnny Lies Sleeping
Author(s):	Jeanita Danzik
Date(s):
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	Star Trek: TNG
Relationship(s):
External Links:	the story was here, posted here
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"Ruminations" by Jeanita Danzik is the third story in a Star Trek: TNG Picard/Q series.

Series

• Object Lessons
• Theme and Variations
• Ruminations, or While Johnny Lies Sleeping

Reactions and Reviews

Of the three stories in this series "Ruminations" is my personal favorite. In a way it is a mirror story to "Object Lessons," touching, as it does, on the SM dynamic from the POV of the top. In fact, all the story consists of is the rumination; Q sitting beside Picard's bed, watching him sleep and thinking about what the relationship means and how it is changing not only Picard, but Q as well. It is very hard to write about what a top gets out of a bdsm relationship; most people can understand the thrill of surrender, but have problems understanding why anyone would want to hurt, and/or humiliate the person they love. Jeanita rises to the challenge and manages to explain without preaching. The result is a trip through Q's confusing emotions, as we realize that, like many tops, he's not even sure of why he feels the way he does.

Of course this is not just a bit of self-examination on the part of Q, he also indulges himself by remembering scenes past (including an important look at his thought on the events of "Theme and Variations"), which gives us a chance to read some more of Jeanita's hot bdsm. Through these scenes and Q's memory we see why the entity is so overwhelmed by his Johnny, not only the obvious fact that Picard is gorgeous, but also the one thing any top who has a clue values in their sub, Johnny's strength and bravery. For that insight alone, this story is worth reading. Like all good fanfic, it explains something that was only touched on in passing on the show: why Q keeps coming back, and just what is it that he lacks that he's looking to find in Picard. Even if you don't agree with Jeanita's (and that of other writers for that matter) assumption about a bdsm relationship between these two men, the following passage should make a lot of Q's actions seem understandable:

"Such an irony. Johnny, who was human and mortal and too breakable for anyone's peace of mind, was amazingly, almost instinctively brave. Q, who would live forever, had no bravery in him. In fact, it was his utter lack of that quality that made the need to posses Johnny so irresistibly strong."

Thus endth the lesson.