Stargate Atlantis Flashfiction

If it makes you feel any better, I can't even figure out what about John's behavior people think is hate-worthy. I mean, he's scrupulously honest; there's nothing in his words or his behavior that should give off any indication that he's hitting Rodney up for anything other than a stress-relief buddy fuck. To me, the drama of the story is in the decision Rodney makes, to take John on those terms even though he appears to be emotionally invested already and is clearly not comfortable with the casual sex that's on offer. I didn't read it as a men-suck story at all; I think the story happens where people put themselves into these self-destructive positions, hoping against all reason and hope that it'll somehow magically transform into true love. And at the end, Rodney has exactly what he started with: a metric ton of painful and confusing feelings about John, and a guy who cares about him and likes him as a friend, but doesn't feel the same way he does. I like the story because it does deny that magical ending: people who like but don't love you don't actually fall madly in love with you just because you have sex with them. And more than one of us has done what Rodney does before: close your eyes and want it really bad and dive in hoping that this time is the exception. Yeah, John's oblivious to all that, but he's not psychic, and he's got his own shit to deal with, so I don't put it off on him, morally speaking. This was Rodney's bad decision, in a very sympathetic and in-character way. Having never been in an m/m relationship, for obvious reasons, I won't speculate on what the story says about men, but I will say that I've seen this same fucking thing go down in f/f relationships, so I think it's more an issue of human weakness than gender politics. Insightful story, with hot sex used to illustrate the characterizations -- the very best kind! Thanks for writing it.