Waaaaah! This makes me feel so sad for John, while at the same time it makes me want to smack him in the head with his bottle and tell him to pull it the hell together for those boys. *sigh* You really said a lot with your 100 words.
Thanks. :D Sometimes that 100 word limit is a real pain in the butt; but other times, it really forces you to pare it down to the essentials. I'd never written drabbles before I started writing them for Supernatural, and I gotta admit, they're a lot of fun.
I can definitely see this. I certainly can’t blame John for seeking whatever solace he could after his wife was killed in such a world-shattering way. I can also see him having a moment of clarity, understanding that he needs to climb out of the bottle to take care of his kids.
I never thought that John was an alcoholic or even a problem drinker. But I would never blame the man for getting a little shitfaced occasionally, given what happened to him and the responsibility that he bore.
Thanks. I often think the amount of emotional and psychological damage John incurred not only by Mary's murder, but also by the mode of her murder, is under considered in judging his choices. It's relatively easy to think you'd put your kids first even in that case ... a lot like thinking you'd be brave on the battlefield. But the reality of those dynamics is that you never know how you would react until you're actually there. And while yes, there are those who would put the kids first and pull an Audy Murphy on the field of battle; there are far more who see themselves this way and would swear on a stack of bibles that this is how they would react, only to find that, under the actual duress of those scenarios, they fold in on themselves and end up in a fetal position, too wounded by their own fears and losses to even see the world around them, let alone make good choices therein
( ... )
Yeah, I can't blame John for indulging in the bottle. I think it speaks to his character as a man that he was able to not get trapped there.
And while I see John as a hero, it's also balanced with his absolute failures as a father. Yes, John saved a lot of people. Yes, he was able to pull himself together enough to keep his family together. But he also allowed his crusade to consume him to the exclusion of everything else, including that family he fought so hard for in the beginning.
I think it balances him out and makes him very human.
Yes, if there's one thing drabbles do, it's force you to edit, edit, edit until you've got the essential karat of gold.
And yes, I also never saw John as alcoholic (and certainly not once the boys were a little older and traveling with him), but I can see him surrender a little bit at the beginning. Especially since no one believes him and he's beginning to disbelieve himself about what happened. Before meeting Missouri. I can see this happening between the lines of the journal entries.
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I never thought that John was an alcoholic or even a problem drinker. But I would never blame the man for getting a little shitfaced occasionally, given what happened to him and the responsibility that he bore.
Very nice.
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And while I see John as a hero, it's also balanced with his absolute failures as a father. Yes, John saved a lot of people. Yes, he was able to pull himself together enough to keep his family together. But he also allowed his crusade to consume him to the exclusion of everything else, including that family he fought so hard for in the beginning.
I think it balances him out and makes him very human.
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And yes, I also never saw John as alcoholic (and certainly not once the boys were a little older and traveling with him), but I can see him surrender a little bit at the beginning. Especially since no one believes him and he's beginning to disbelieve himself about what happened. Before meeting Missouri. I can see this happening between the lines of the journal entries.
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