FIC: Desperate Times, Desperate Measures {TSN - Eduardo/Sean}

[silviakundera]

Title: Desperate Times, Desperate Measures
Fandom: The Social Network
Pairing: Eduardo/Sean
Words: 800
Summary: Some things are inevitable. And then there's Sean and Eduardo in a Canadian shack.
Note: This ridiculous encounter was written for the Canadian Shack Challenge's 10th anniversary. [Your characters just have to end up in one. It's a thing

Comments

Oh, I talk a lot.

[popcorn_orgasms]

Agh! I completely agree with your entitlement & privilege reading. The thing that connects Eduardo and Sean, and that puts them in competition with each other, is that they both have so much to prove. Eduardo has his daddy issues and a lot of privilege tied to a lot of pressure. He's been given money, and a good education, he's bilingual, his parents not only support him but they also push him, he's able to travel as he pleases and has to exist between two cultures (in affluent spaces in both). But all of that is tied to a need to suceed. It wasn't for nothing. Every additional thing he earns takes him to the next thing he should be attaining or reaching for.

Harvard--> The Club --> Campus Elite -->Professional Success. Every step just adds one more rung to reach for, something else he has to prove.

And though Sean doesn't have the academic or financial background, (where it all comes easy and if you fall flat on your face, there's just more money and more contacts and some support to help you back onto your feet) he got to skip those first steps altogether. Sean got fame and approval and everyone clamoring for him all through his own 'smarts.' And god that's got to give your ego a huge boost and a huge chip on your shoulder. he got it all so young, but he also got to learn that as quickly as that spotlight turns on you and people look at you as a really really desirable commodity it can fade away. People's attention span is limited; it's all what have you done for me lately. And when that starts to go, well then you're just some dude crashing on people's couches and maybe getting on people's nerves. You've got to stay useful and stay relevant, and that's what Eduardo missed.

Eduardo put it all in up front. He gave everything, so when people (Mark) got used to that gift, he started to wonder 'what have you done for me lately.' It seemed like Eduardo wasn't contributing even though he'd already contributed so much. If people can't see it or feel it, they're not thinking about it, and it doesn't count. That's the lesson Sean learned. He'll never put all his cards on the table. Better to start well and keep dazzling people. You have to keep something in reserve for when their annoyance starts to creep up and they wonder if your bad outweighs your good.

Sean would never have put the 300,000 in a bank account to be drawn down as needed. Even if he chose to finance the project he would have put $50,000 and they would have had to come back to him for more. He wouldn't have made them beg, because it's not about humiliating people, it's about keeping them grateful and happy you're around. You want to be the guy that when there's a problem, they turn and start asking 'Where's Sean?' You want them to come searching for you. (And when they do, you want them to know how hard you worked to deliver what they needed, even if you didn't work that hard at all. You want them to think of you as they guy you'll always come through, if only they ask).

And to make that happen you have to be absent. Because if you're always around or taking care of problems before other people notice, they don't get a chance to realize how fucking important you are. They just get accustomed to things running smoothly and don't realize how much work you put into it. You need to be available on call, but not always present fixing.

Re: Oh, I talk a lot.

[popcorn_orgasms]

The difference between Sean and Eduardo, is that Sean is the consultant and Eduardo's the mother. Of course you're grateful to the guy who rushes in and fixes your problems. You know he's smart, because he's doing something you can't handle, and you're appreciative because you don't feel entitled to his help. He has a shit ton of things to do, you're just happy he's making time for you. Your mum though, you might think to thank her now and then, but over time the things that really stick are are the one's she couldn't fix. Because even though you know you should be grateful, she loves you and she's always taken care of you and she's made it her job--not something you have to earn or keep.

Imagine Sean when he first blew up. Young, startled, proud, with all those people telling him how great he was, and even more mind blowing--when he really knew he had power--all those people threatening him, all the people who were scared of him. Eduardo battling with him was one way Sean knew he was in. It's not about how much someone tells you you matter, because people keep telling you that even when they've lost interest. Because people are shit at tough honesty. It's the people fighting to keep you out--the harder they fight, the more of a threat you must be to them and the more power you must have. When people don't fight you at all, when they just dismiss you or worse yet smile at you and move on, that's when you know you're finished.

Imagine how many execs who were pleading for 5 minutes of Sean's time, were smiling blandly, excusing themselves mid-sentence and walking away a few years later. But Sean's greastest gift is that his best talent is internal. His biggest asset is just himself and his mind and the shit he loves to do with it. Not his credentials, not his history. If he can just get himself in the door he can actually make shit better. (But too many people are stuck on the credentials. Too many people want to play it safe. He'll never be that guy. That's why he needs in from the beginning, so he can shape the model around the way he thinks, because he knows he can't change himself to fit into models and spaces that don't work for him. He'll just take off. And this is a total aside, but part of the thing with Eduardo, the totally unexpected thing, is that he totally works for him. He thought that kid was something totally different. A nuisance, a rival, someone tied to Mark, someone he would enjoy bringing down because it was a measure of his rise, but as a person, he'd be as bland as a toasted banana-honey sandwich. Tasty, but something you'd eat once in a blue moon when you felt like having a rare, quiet day just taking in the view of the ocean and the breeze. But then it turned out that Eduardo was feisty and snarky and fierce and sharp and sweet and felt so fucking good. And just actually a kind of caretaking that Sean didn't realize he wanted (needed!) but it works for him. He loves it. And since no one does it. Definitely no one does it in an absent-minded way, where it's just happening and you happen to be there so you benefit from it, Sean notices it every time. It matters. And he appreciates it. And then he wants it and keeps wanting it and maybe he wants this guy around always and to keep him away from assholes). Not only is he brilliant, he's also the type of guy who learns from his mistakes. He knows better now and he can put that into practice.

Problem is, with his personal life, all those business lessons really shouldn't be applied to that. That's how you hurt people and yourself. Business is business, and personal life is personal life and you shouldn't actually live those in the same way. If you're Sean. And I think that's what he can learn post movie and in the fic.

Re: Oh, I talk a lot.

[popcorn_orgasms]

Also, totally aside from Napster, the reason he can sleep on people's couches is because he's created this lifestyle and image people want to buy into. People want a piece of this transient, wildchild genius. If he were Mark, people would resent the shit out of him trying to crash at their place. But he's this charming Lothario, this easy-going, brilliant, madman. He creates this whole thing around him that people just want to slip into--where life is a vacation, a party, an experience. And people want part of that. The whole idea that you could be the next one to get a taste of the famous Napster guy, to have a 'Sean' story to tell--a little thrilling. I know a guy like that in my grad class, where everyone has a party story about his drunkenness. So things he does that might be offensive or out of this world actually get accepted a lot more easily, cause (a) everyone's heard a story and they can put it in context (b) it's a part of what joins us as a community--part of our communal narrative and (c) if you don't have a story maybe you want one to share. Napster might be part of the past where Sean crashed and burned and rolled out on fire, but Sean of Napster is a living legend.

Still though, must be nice to kiss and touch and lie holding someone who could give a fuck about all that. Who isn't going to be telling stories to anyone. Who just sees you, the person and deals with you as only that person. Who you are to them. Not who you were to your company or the scene or could be to their business. Totally new for Sean. And the idea that you could interact with someone, where neither of you really had another motive. That someone would be with you and not be selfish (because of course if you were hanging out with Sean you would be selfish, you already know what he's getting out of it--mooching off of you--and you want something in return. It's always give and take, Sean just finds a way to take more and get out quickly) is (a) kind of stupid you think at first and then (b) kind of...good...maybe amazing and then (c) a mind warp drug because you find yourself doing things for them for no reason at all, for no motive, and that's not how you act if you're Sean.

Because when you're Sean, you have no back-up plan, you're living your backup plan, you're only around for as long as the good thing about right now lasts and then you'll move onto another (because if all you have to offer is your mind and that unlike a reputation can't be besmirched, or a license cancelled, or contacts messed up, then you can do whatever you like and burn your way through things). So everything you do right now, like with pool, you can see all the angles to it. And you're sure you can work it to your favor. There's no time to cool down, no time to settle in, and no one you want to take with you to wherever you go next. Partying and being brilliant is your job, and you're always working.

I think Eduardo helps him to shed those skins for a while, cause Eduardo doesn't want the party and isn't looking for any brilliant tips, he just wants the guy for the moment. And Sean starts to figure out where Sean the person begins and SEAN(TM) ends.

My thoughts! Keep talking, I love your thoughts on this. :) (And Eduardo gets a space, where no pressure, no expectations. Sean doesn't need him to anticipate anything and give it or to be any version of himself or live up to anything. Sean is pretty accepting of people, cause he's very much a cut your losses guy so he doesn't need people to change for him. But Sean really appreciates who Eduardo is--all those little things he does, just because that's how he feels or thinks. And you're right, Eduardo can be burning mad and pissed and scream and vent, because that's what people do to Sean 90% of the time. (Kind of. In the End, or the middle, whatever, Sean's not into specifics, except when he is.) And Sean kind of loves it, it turns him on, because yeah he's been mad and pissed off and fucked over and omg he loves honesty. When people put it out there and say what they feel and no subterfuge and no games, so Sean doesn't need to be paranoid. So he knows what's up and he doesn't need to check for the 2, 3, 5 traps they're laying for him.

Re: Oh, I talk a lot.

[popcorn_orgasms]

Cause look at Saverin, if someone would fuck him over, someone like Mark who he did all that shit for and ran himself ragged for and Mark who can barely even look up from coding and doesn't seem to have real emotions long enough to hold a grudge, well what the fuck do you think they'd do to Sean if they could. But I think with Eduardo he finds a person who is, you know, all Bambi eyes (with everything right there so you can read it even when he wants to hide it), and who's kind of tough, and who's stupidly loyal and who since he doesn't need to watch his back, he can actually be a decent human being with. And shocker, Sean being a decent human being actually manages to be enough since well, people for whatever stupid reason have kind of overlooked Saverin because they're idiots.

It's totally the Mona Lisa fic. It's right down your street and it only comes along once in lifetime, and Sean is not an idiot. Sean knows when shit is worth something, and he knows what to do with that. He knows how to prioritize. It's just the first time a person is sliding to the top of his priority list. You know, maybe even above himself. I'm sure he has a lot of moneys of 'how the fuck did that happen, what are you putting in the water, and then, who made you, seriously? What planet manufactured you'