The Hurt Locker Fiction: "Lethal Games" (PG-13)
Title: Lethal Games
Fandom: The Hurt Locker
Author: HalfshellVenus
Characters: JT Sanborn, Will James (Gen, Drama)
Rating: PG-13
Summary: It's too hard to watch this, but he can't turn away…
Author's Notes: happywriter06 requested any kind of Will/JT ("The Hurt Locker") for The Fall Fandom Free-For-All. This is for you, because I know you could use some love ( Read more... )
Fandom: The Hurt Locker
Author: HalfshellVenus
Characters: JT Sanborn, Will James (Gen, Drama)
Rating: PG-13
Summary: It's too hard to watch this, but he can't turn away…
Author's Notes: happywriter06 requested any kind of Will/JT ("The Hurt Locker") for The Fall Fandom Free-For-All. This is for you, because I know you could use some love ( Read more... )
Comments 11
I love the character of James because he's the kind of guy that makes you want to punch him. And I love the character of JT for the line that he walks in dealing with him as a superior and a man.
They get drunk later, back at the barracks. JT and the Sergeant take shots at each other like last time, testing something that might be anger or revenge, or some twisted kind of friendship that has its roots in disregard and distrust. It's fucked-up, no matter how you look at it, but all of them are laughing in the end.
My favorite line because it takes me back to how I felt watching that scene. I was nervous because their interactions coudld've gone either way and they can't afford to hate each other.
You. Are. The. Best.
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So good at what he does, and yet so infuriating, and dangerous to other people because of that overconfidence.
And I loved JT because of his steadiness in dealing with every situation, no matter how aggravating. You could never be sure Eldridge wouldn't come apart, but JT was utterly dependable even if it was killing him to stay planted in a bad situation.
My favorite line because it takes me back to how I felt watching that scene. I was nervous because their interactions coudld've gone either way and they can't afford to hate each other.
The whole movie made me nervous, because they keep returning to incredibly dangerous situations and then you have the volatility of James and his risky choices on top of it. I spent half the movie waiting for them to kill each other out of some form of stupidity. And I know what you mean about that scene-- it could have turned so easily into something poisonous and unfixable, and in the end they'll still ( ... )
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That was such a pivotal moment, in how the viewer feels about his character, and when I set out to write this for Simone I knew exactly which prompt I wanted to work with, and where this story would end. James transforms the tiniest bit over time, and the shift from being the careless jackass who's sure nothing can touch him to realizing that it ISN'T always about him made his character all the richer.
I'm so pleased you liked this-- the three of us were among the few who saw this movie and were really caught up in it. It's honestly one of the best war movies I've ever seen-- I'd place it third behind "Platoon" and "84-Charlie Mopic," both of which I love (and which are incredibly different from each other).
Thanks so much for reading and commenting!
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Somebody else wrote Hurt Locker fic! Snoopy Dance!
But today he finally realized that other people are terribly, heartbreakingly mortal.
And this gets right back to a line I read in a really good review of Hurt Locker, which described the movie as a series of cruel tests of character.
Excellent.
Bravo!
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which described the movie as a series of cruel tests of character.
It IS, and not only of Will James' character but of all the people in the movie. But it's a stunning story, and the characters are less predictable than you'd expect.
I'm so glad you liked this-- and I've got tabs open to look at your fics!
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This is good, though I couldn't figure out who JT was until I IMDB'd it and saw that Sanborn's first name is JT. :-)
I agree with Simone about that scene where they were "play" fighting, because I was like 50% 'boys are so weird' and 50% scared someone was going to get knifed.
When we were watching it, I said to Lisa that you need to be a little bit crazy to the kind of job they do, and we need them to be a little bit crazy so there are people to do that kind of job. It's a horrifying thing. When he re-upped at the end, I knew it was the only thing he could do, but I was glad the movie was over and I didn't have to watch and wonder when he would die.
Excellent job.
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I had to look this up again (the meaning was explained around the time the film released in the U.S.) It seems to be less a literal thing than an idea of a place you box up your pain (repressing it so you can go on, which applies more to Sanborn). Though the urban slang dictionary uses it as synonymous with failure, as in "We sent that team to the hurt locker."
I agree with Simone about that scene where they were "play" fighting, because I was like 50% 'boys are so weird' and 50% scared someone was going to get knifed.
Oh, me too. That scene was so full of raw emotions and negative bleedover that there was always the real possibility of one of the guys losing it and killing someone. But it was a great scene, because it underlined how these guys are being forced to work together even though they're not functioning well as a unit and they don't trust each other for a second (and with good reason).
When he re-upped ( ... )
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Also, Jeremy Renner and Colin Farrell starred in SWAT together. 6 degrees of separation, and what have you!
I've never seen Platoon, or the other film you mention. With Platoon it's always been that I was afraid of it traumatizing me. In comparison with The Hurt Locker how would you grade it on violence?
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