The Art Of Writing Jacob/Esau
First and foremost, I have to thank tellshannon815 for inviting me to a lead discussion here again -- this time about yet another of my very favorite pairings, involving two of my very favorite characters: the almighty Jacob and his awesome brother, Smokey/Man In Black/Nameless Boy/Dr. Smoke/Esau. I’m going to mostly stick with Esau from here on out, though.
But ( Read more... )
But ( Read more... )
And of course: thank you for your kind words about this discussion! I tend to get a bit carried away doing these, but they're just so much fun! Glad I didn't bore you to tears ;)
1.) I definitely agree. I think it's that love/not-quite-hate dynamic, that almost madness of affection coupled with rage, that makes the characters for me. The bitterness is only outweighed (though at times, not heartily outweighed enough) by the care. They just work.
2.) I, too, prefer to look at them, first and foremost, as brothers. (And the soul language is such a tangible weakness for me, so I'm particularly happy you brought that up :D)
3.) I love that you point out the Smoke Monster as its own entity apart from the existences/forms we've seen on the show. I think that's definitely an avenue that has great potential, and that fandom has yet to delve into at large.
4.) That water-boarding scene is one of my favorites -- it's such a different Jacob that what we'd seen up to that point, and it really created that dynamic element in his characterization, and set up, as you mentioned, the idea that he was, in fact, so much less static in reality than he was often portrayed in theory.
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1) That's it exactly. They just work. Nothing's forced, nothing is emotionally/spiritually unrealistic -- they just work. There is something about them, like you mentioned before, whether it be the acting, the setting, the writing -- there is something about them that just clicks.
2) My favourite kind of writing is the exploration of what's going on beneath the skin. (It's why it's such a pleasure to write Lucifer in SPN fandom -- any angel, really. That sense of otherness that, in one moment, becomes something physical.) And the incest thing is more of a turn-on than a turn-off, for me. It's why I like slash fiction so much. Aside from copious amount of The Pretty, it's more the mindset that gets to me, the how and the why. Why does Man A like Man B? How does a heterosexual male become attracted to another man? Writing that -- pre!slash, the build-up to something more -- is my favourite thing about writing, period. It's psychological. Adding incest to the mix is just a whole new level of mindfuck. (Though, with these boys, I think it's less of a hurdle and more of a seasoning. Esau didn't know what dead was -- how's he supposed to know what incest is?)
3) It's something I'd love to read, possibly write in the future. It sort of takes the end game to a whole new level.
4) It showed Jacob's humanity, and I loved the scenes where Lost did that. He can get upset. He can make mistakes. He's not above using violence and force to express an opinion, or state a fact. And also, I love that just a few hours earlier, to Esau, he'd been perfectly calm and collected, even while his brother talked about killing him. Then in romps this stranger, and he goes into a rage.
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Also... there's nothing wrong with the way you watched the series. It happens to the best of us.
2.) I completely and utterly agree with you -- I have a deep, abiding love for the depth of character that can be explored inside that sense of otherness, of separation. Likewise, I find the incest thing a turn-on as well, because I think there's something really unique about the mentality and the emotionality of it... there's that epic element of something that's innately raw and connected, bound in ways that other pairings can't quite replicate. You also make a very good point with these two -- it's a very different, almost innocent sort of thing, in a sense, at least at first, because they don't know what makes it right or wrong; I think it'd be intriguing to see that particular idea explored, perhaps as they later interact with the world in their own ways and discover the social mores that would seek to define their relationship.
4.) The dichotomy of Jacob's reactions really is gorgeously telling, you're entirely right.
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