Lost-fic: Game On.
Mar. 1st, 2005 11:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hackthis_archiveI loved last week's episode of Lost with an unholy passion. Actually 'unholy' is the only kind of passion I've got.
Lost
Locke. Spoilers for 'In Translation'
Game On
1.
It's just a distraction.
John is good at those.
2.
It's not a lie; it's just not necessarily the whole truth and nothing but. Of course the truth is always subjective at any given time, so really, who's to say he's done anything wrong at all? Everyone certainly seems better for it right now.
3.
He intervenes, not because he cares about their nonsense, but because they need an immediate fix to the problem at hand. Exposing Walt will serve no immediate purpose, and this sort of chicken scrapping between adults is only momentarily amusing before it gets old. Yes, John could just let it go –- but he won't.
Jin. Michael. Sun. All people who should know better, but share everyday grievances and human failings that can destroy them over time; this fight over the ship can destroy the whole group right now.
A real leader can't allow that to happen -- after all, Jack is simply John's figurehead.
4.
He practices what he's going to say to the gathered assembly before he says it, because it has to be believable. It has to sound right. He can't blame it on the polar bears -- they don't have opposable thumbs.
5.
There's a part of him that can't believe how easy they are to trick -- and yet, he tells himself it's not a trick. It's just a way to change the subject, to remind them what's really important. The ship isn't important; internal harmony is. Focusing on the real enemy -- man's manipulability, man's vulnerability – that's what is important.
In the great scheme of things, the ship is fly shit on the wall, almost unnoticeable unless you're looking way too hard for it.
6.
John is not an arrogant man -- at least he tells himself he's not an arrogant man, and so he believes this. He's not omniscient or omnipotent or anything approaching a deity, especially on this island. He's just a man trying to stay alive and make the most of a bad situation, and what he does is provide a service, nothing more, nothing less.
His service is simply this: he makes things easier for some people and more difficult for others. He molds people into who they should be, who they can be. He does his best to ease tension and redirect dissention. It's too easy to see the group dynamic disintegrate into something primal and dangerous. The sort of thing that happened in Lord of the Flies could easily happen here and John doesn't want that.
This is his island -- it takes care of him and he takes care of it. It's a reciprocal relationship.
7.
Diversion is the oldest trick in the book. If you're stealing something over here, make an explosion over there. If you want to take the heat off the eleven-year old boy who burned down his only means of escape, blame the invisible island ghosts.
It works every time.
-end-
I feel terribly rusty writing-wise. Hmm.
In other news -- there's now an update to the Gmail/Live Journal issue, which really is not satisfactory at all, IMO, since I signed up for gmail specifically to attend to my LJ needs.
Lost
Locke. Spoilers for 'In Translation'
Game On
1.
It's just a distraction.
John is good at those.
2.
It's not a lie; it's just not necessarily the whole truth and nothing but. Of course the truth is always subjective at any given time, so really, who's to say he's done anything wrong at all? Everyone certainly seems better for it right now.
3.
He intervenes, not because he cares about their nonsense, but because they need an immediate fix to the problem at hand. Exposing Walt will serve no immediate purpose, and this sort of chicken scrapping between adults is only momentarily amusing before it gets old. Yes, John could just let it go –- but he won't.
Jin. Michael. Sun. All people who should know better, but share everyday grievances and human failings that can destroy them over time; this fight over the ship can destroy the whole group right now.
A real leader can't allow that to happen -- after all, Jack is simply John's figurehead.
4.
He practices what he's going to say to the gathered assembly before he says it, because it has to be believable. It has to sound right. He can't blame it on the polar bears -- they don't have opposable thumbs.
5.
There's a part of him that can't believe how easy they are to trick -- and yet, he tells himself it's not a trick. It's just a way to change the subject, to remind them what's really important. The ship isn't important; internal harmony is. Focusing on the real enemy -- man's manipulability, man's vulnerability – that's what is important.
In the great scheme of things, the ship is fly shit on the wall, almost unnoticeable unless you're looking way too hard for it.
6.
John is not an arrogant man -- at least he tells himself he's not an arrogant man, and so he believes this. He's not omniscient or omnipotent or anything approaching a deity, especially on this island. He's just a man trying to stay alive and make the most of a bad situation, and what he does is provide a service, nothing more, nothing less.
His service is simply this: he makes things easier for some people and more difficult for others. He molds people into who they should be, who they can be. He does his best to ease tension and redirect dissention. It's too easy to see the group dynamic disintegrate into something primal and dangerous. The sort of thing that happened in Lord of the Flies could easily happen here and John doesn't want that.
This is his island -- it takes care of him and he takes care of it. It's a reciprocal relationship.
7.
Diversion is the oldest trick in the book. If you're stealing something over here, make an explosion over there. If you want to take the heat off the eleven-year old boy who burned down his only means of escape, blame the invisible island ghosts.
It works every time.
-end-
I feel terribly rusty writing-wise. Hmm.
In other news -- there's now an update to the Gmail/Live Journal issue, which really is not satisfactory at all, IMO, since I signed up for gmail specifically to attend to my LJ needs.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-03-01 08:10 pm (UTC)Love the fic!
no subject
Date: 2005-03-01 08:21 pm (UTC)after all, Jack is simply John's figurehead.
Ridiculously true.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-01 08:31 pm (UTC)I can see Locke having these thoughts with no problem what so ever.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-01 08:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-01 08:42 pm (UTC)yay Locke fic! i still say he is batshit insane..i just cant figure out if thats a good thing or a bad thing.
i love the line about polar bears not having opposable thumbs. hee!
no subject
Date: 2005-03-01 09:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-01 09:11 pm (UTC)In the great scheme of things, the ship is fly shit on the wall, almost unnoticeable unless you're looking way too hard for it.
Awe.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-01 09:15 pm (UTC)I absolutely loved this line. It gets at the heart of why I think Locke is so dangerous; he truly believes that everything he does is for the best and while it often is, sometimes I think he's wrong and I don't think he's capable of understanding that.
Anyway, great insight into Locke! You do an amazing job at capturing the ambiguity of the character.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-01 09:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-01 10:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-01 11:53 pm (UTC)A real leader can't allow that to happen -- after all, Jack is simply John's figurehead.
Best. Line. Ever. You rusty is better than 99% of the fic out there. So glad you posted this! Thanks, babe!
no subject
Date: 2005-03-02 03:10 am (UTC)Nice.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-02 03:32 am (UTC)A real leader can't allow that to happen -- after all, Jack is simply John's figurehead
is just. so. gah...just yes
no subject
Date: 2005-03-02 09:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-14 04:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-20 05:44 am (UTC)