FIC: Pretty Lies (1/14)

[tromana]

Title: Pretty Lies
Author: tromana
Rating: T
Characters: Jane/Lisbon, Team
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Summary: Falling alone is scary. Dragging someone down with you, even moreso.
Spoilers: Up to 2x08 His Red Right Hand
Notes: written for lil smiles in a LiveJournal prompt meme. Prompt: “I’m not worth saving.”

Title and lyrics from “Pretty Lies” from

Comments

[tromana]

Argh, I hate it when that kind of thing happens. Over on FFN it happens all the time.

Anyway, thank you very much. I agree with what you say about the Jane/Lisbon dynamic. I think if/when Lisbon falls in love with someone, she barely notices herself before it's too late. Someone else said that Lisbon has seen a fair bit of him and hasn't run away yet and I agreed with that, but I think the question is how much does it scare her more than anything else.

I need to rewatch Red Brick and Ivy - in the future, I'd quite like to use Sophie in Unbound. Sophie is a very charasmatic character and it's easy to see why Jane was drawn to her after his wife's death. Those glamourous women definitely fit in with his 'old' lifestyle and I think he needs someone who is less 'showy' now too. At the same time though, I've always believed that Lisbon has a fair few similar qualities to his wife - like the ability to ground him and remain unfazed by him, because otherwise his relationship with his wife would have been woefully unbalanced and I don't like the idea of him having a 'trophy' wife. It doesn't fit with what we see now.

[boutondor]

Disclaimer: these are wild speculations with very little to back-up. lol.

I think if/when Lisbon falls in love with someone, she barely notices herself before it's too late.

If I understand what you mean, I completely agree. Here's sort of how I see Lisbon falling in love: she has someone in her circle who gets closer bit by bit and she doesn't notice. She just likes being around that person and spending time with that person. She wants to know the person more, wants to help him, wants to be there for him. Everything about the process is concentrated on the person and not herself.

Someone else said that Lisbon has seen a fair bit of him and hasn't run away yet and I agreed with that, but I think the question is how much does it scare her more than anything else.

I think that she is very scared by what she sees of Jane. I also think that her strong desire to help him, to ease his pain and to be there for him sort of puts her in denial about what she sees.

At the same time though, I've always believed that Lisbon has a fair few similar qualities to his wife - like the ability to ground him and remain unfazed by him, because otherwise his relationship with his wife would have been woefully unbalanced and I don't like the idea of him having a 'trophy' wife. It doesn't fit with what we see now.

You're probably right. I think Jane's wife must have been a mix between Sophie and Lisbon. I don't think she was as strong as Lisbon is, in the sense that I think she must have given into Jane more than Lisbon does (Lisbon already gives into Jane a lot). Bosco did say, according to Jane's file, that Jane's wife had pleaded with him to quit the psychic business and Jane didn't. It sounded to me that Jane's wife had really wanted him to quit and Jane had refused to listen to her. I don't think Jane had a trophy wife, like you said it doesn't fit. I think someone can be not as vocal, opinionated and stubborn as Lisbon and not be a doormat or trophy wife. Not sure it would mean that the marriage had been unbalanced either. I could see Jane with Sophie without the relationship being that unbalanced. It would be a very different relationship from the one he could have with Lisbon, but it wouldn't necessarily be unbalanced. I think that what prevents this is that Jane doesn't like to control women. I don't think he liked it when he was married to his wife either.

Having said that, from what we've seen Jane was a cocky bastard back then. I wouldn't be surprised if one day it's revealed that Jane had cheated on his wife. He seems really disgusted with adultery, more than the others, and I think that maybe it's because he had had affairs when he was married and now bitterly regrets it. Anyway, it's really only a theory and I don't have much proof to back that up. Same with the wife. It's all wild speculations.

[tromana]

Hahaa... isn't most discussion on TV shows wild speculation?

Yeah, I can see Lisbon being scared of Jane and that being what pushes her closer to him in order to try and save him, mostly from himself, because I think he's the one who causes himself the most damage. It's all just a downward spiral for them both from there.

I think it would make sense if his wife was somewhere between the two. I don't think we're ever likely to know much more about her than what we know now. I'm not surprised Jane's wife wanted him to quit once he'd made his fortune and there was little left for him to achieve, as it were. You're right - you don't need to be as stubborn as Lisbon to be a trophy wife or doormat, but it can help, especially with characters like Jane. I don't know about Jane and Sophie having a balanced relationship - in a way, I could have seen them being quite combative, but didn't Sophie mould herself to another man's wishes? (Dying her hair blonde?) I think Jane likes 'messing around' with people's emotions - just not to the extent where he has them entirely under his thumb.

I've seen people speculate that either Jane, his wife, or both of them cheated and that explained he's particular disgust. I think cheating would fit quite well with his persona before Red John as it's about having the world at his feet and the knowledge that he was doing something 'wrong' and getting away with it.