Prison Break Gen Fiction: Shackled

[halfshellvenus]

Title: Shackled
Author: HalfshellVenus
Characters: Michael, T-Bag (Gen)
Rating: PG-13 (subject matter, language)
Summary: T-Bag remains a burden that Michael finds it all too hard to escape.
Spoilers: Season 1 finale.
Author's Notes: For foxriverinmate, who wanted Michael in cuffs (and I know she didn't mean this!), and for my prisonbreak100 challenge. This is #92, "Run

Comments

[gretazreta]

Michael wasn't listening. He was too preoccupied with realizing that the monster had always been barely below the surface, all this time. - that was my favourite line in this, because it seemed to work on so many levels, kind of a metaphor for the whole experience of prison for Michael

[halfshellvenus]

I loved your feedback on this-- all the layers under the surface that were part of Michael's larger downfall.

And that the monster is inside himself as well. The last line is made my stomach sink something wicked, because, just, YES.
Oh heavens, all the things he urged and let happen in the name of saving Lincoln-- all the people hurt, destroyed, killed for the sake of a single person. Lincoln has said it himself-- he was never worth all that. No-one is. :(

That last long shot of Michael walking through the Panamanian prison like some sort of fallen angel...he needs redemption, some way or other? To see if he can get that other Michael back?
This thought was very interesting. I would love to see the writers go that way, first because he gave away other people's sacrifices too casually (it's bothered a lot of hardcore viewers), and also because the dramatic possibilities would be wonderful. Season 2 really lacked actual drama vs. melodrama. There were moments-- Sara vs. Kellerman was a high point, particularly the aftermath of

[halfshellvenus]

Thank you, Claire!

I tell you, working with all the little details in that episode just made writing this take forever. Darn late-S1 and all of S2. :(

This was what was interesting about the episode to me-- the failure of Michael's plans in the face of so many random things going wrong (as they do), and the awfulness of the choices that get made for him and that he can now live with thanks to the negative transformation of who he's become. His innocence is gone, and more than that he's lost so much of the compassion that made him exactly who he was. It's very sad, really.

I wish we were seeing more of this kind of drama in the show now, and less of the running around action-based stuff. The drama was much more interesting, at least to me.

[inaudiblechaos]

Your writing in terms of Michael’s emotions is really powerful. I was completely drawn in by the imagery you used.

I like this line.

The weight of the metal on his wrist bit into him and marked him with every mistake he could not change.

And this.

the suddenly lighter weight on his wrist like an admonishment for his earlier impatience

I love the way you show the changing man that Michael has become and how the different parts of him collide in the fact that it’s too late to go back.

Michael's head was filled with blood then, so much blood on the table, on T-Bag's arm… in Michael's past.

The Michael who would have cared was already long gone, run off by the ruthlessness that had shackled itself to Michael's soul.

I think there’s something so bittersweet about the inevitability of his transformation. Sad, yes. But at the same time it shows how much he was willing to sacrifice, consciously or not.

x

[halfshellvenus]

Oh, I loved the lines you picked-- which contrast each other in terms of action but are headed in the same direction of guilt and remorse.

I love the way you show the changing man that Michael has become and how the different parts of him collide in the fact that it’s too late to go back.
What's worse is that, although Michael doesn't seem to realize it, much of what he tries to fix winds up somehow making things worse. It's like a metaphor for the decision to save Lincoln at the cost of everyone the two of them came into contact with. He never realized he was making that exact choice, but that's what it became.

I think there’s something so bittersweet about the inevitability of his transformation. Sad, yes. But at the same time it shows how much he was willing to sacrifice, consciously or not. Interesting thought-- it does speak of his commitment to his brother. I think Michael had some idea that this experience would change him, but I don't think he realized that it wouldn't be just through what was done to him, it would be in

[shaitanah]

Oh my God... This is so powerful! I can definitely see Michael thinking and feeling this way.

[halfshellvenus]

Oh, thank you! I tell you, when you struggle for days and days to get a story to move forward, you start to wonder if it's lost all its feeling.

I'm please that you think it has not! :)

[shaitanah]

I know exactly what you mean. But this story really feels alive!

[taxidryer]

That was stressful.

I love the parallel you draw between the shackle and Michael’s soul. That’s really a great insight.

God. Sickening, absolutely sickening.
Ew. I’ve seen this scene like everybody else but somehow reading it makes it worse.

Nice job !

[halfshellvenus]

I love the parallel you draw between the shackle and Michael’s soul.
That really was the core of this whole story. It's what made it interesting-- that and the notion of being chained to the person that represents all his failures, and yet Michael did bring that on himself and on the world (even if he never meant that to happen).

Ew. I’ve seen this scene like everybody else but somehow reading it makes it worse.
It was a real shock in that episode-- everybody was stunned by it except of course Abruzzi. And I took a pretty light hand with the description of it, but it was such a jolt, and a great moment for inserting a different dramatic viewpoint on what it means.

I'm glad you liked this. Thank you!