Choices by Jane Davitt (NC-17)

[rydra_wong]

Rec Category: Jack O'Neill
Pairing: Jack/Daniel (also fantasized Jack/Daniel/Teal'c)
Category: slash, character study, BDSM, established relationship
Warnings: slash, masturbation, BDSM
Author on LJ: janedavitt
Author's Website: Jane's Stories
Link: Choices

Why This Must Be Read:

This could be a PWP - it's certainly hot and raw enough -- except that it's also a sharp character study, all about the complex relationship between sexual fantasy and beloved reality, kink as shame and kink as safety, and Jack's deep need to protect the people he loves, both inside and outside his own head.

Comments

[janedavitt.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for the rec! This is one of my more experimental ones and I'm so glad you liked it.

[rydra_wong]

Oh god, I love it. It's such a great character insight, and it's something that I've seen addressed in very few fics.

[janedavitt.livejournal.com]

I suppose it's because we generally prefer a perfect match, a complete contentment; once the pairing is together, that should satisfy them both on every level to make the 'happy ever after' work as it should. Jack shouldn't have Daniel and still want more; or have Daniel and want a different Daniel; it feels like he's being greedy or ungrateful.

But life's ike that; people are complicated and messy.

[rydra_wong]

And fantasies are not logical, except in the way that they totally are: Fantasy!Daniel is invulnerable and Jack can't "break him with tenderness", while Real!Daniel is wonderful but he's also a real human being who can be hurt by the world, and that's terrifying -- especially for someone like Jack who is always focused on protecting the people he loves (including protecting them from himself).

There's a good book called "Arousal" by Michael Bader which theorizes that sexual fantasy is all about getting the lizard brain whatever it needs to feel safe in order to get off.

[janedavitt.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the book rec; I just checked and my local library has it in and I have to return a book tomorrow so... :-)

[rydra_wong]

I'd be fascinated to know what you make it of it; it rang very true for me.

And it's also cool to read a book about sexual fantasy by a psych which is not only "non-judgemental", but argues that we have the fantasies we do, however weird or extreme they may seem, because they serve a good and useful mental function for us.

[janedavitt.livejournal.com]

I got it from the library and started it. Interesting take on it. I'm a little ambivalent about the neat way he ties a fantasy into an event or significant person from childhood; it seems a bit _too_ neat, but he makes some compelling arguments.

[rydra_wong]

Yeah, it's a useful framework for thinking about some of this stuff, I think, even if you don't buy it (or how he applies it) in all cases.