The Art Of Writing Jacob/Esau

[hitlikehammers]

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

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[devilsduplicity]

Thank you! I've heard Lost is one of the genuinely best fandoms out there, so I probably won't be lurking for too terribly long. Going through the series was an absolute pleasure, and, admittedly, done in sort of an obsessive manner. There were days when I didn't leave my room. We don't talk about those times. And, hey, it's always a delight to read a well-written meta. \o/

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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[hitlikehammers]

I might be biased, but Lost is likely one of my favorite (if not my favorite, flat out) fandoms :)

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.