Some catharsis.

[erinptah]

Title: Real Americans
Rating: PG-13 (violence)
Disclaimer: This is a work of parody. Dialog, actions, and content are the product of the author's imagination only. Fictional characters are not mine.

After Monday's very angry TDS, Stephen makes the mistake that sets Jon off.

The pacing of this is shot, but it was cathartic to draw.


Real Americans... by ~sailorptah on deviantART

See, here's the thing: All the details here are all factual, though the real Jon would never lash out with them like this. The man got a USO award for the stuff he does with wounded soldiers, and he never so much as talks about it, even when his support of the troops is disparaged on the grounds of his being a liberal. So, uh, metaphorically roughing someone up on his behalf? Kinda felt good.

Comments

[gaiafaye.livejournal.com]

Honest question: is he just roughing Stephen up or ready to commit sexual assault??

[erinptah]

Honest answer, tl;dr version: This is the most overt in a long list of scenes I've written that have poked at the boundaries between "this is sexual" and "this is harmful." (There's no agenda or goal to this, so it's not like I keep track of where they are, but if you rummaged around in my fic looking for them, you'd start to pick them up. I just noticed that this icon is one of them.) A common smut scenario around these parts is "X bends Y over a desk and has his way with him" - and, listen, I'm not hating on that; I've written "Stephen" fantasizing about the exact same thing. But even though it's hot, there are these oddly violent undercurrents. So this is the deliberate inverse: it's violent on the surface, it's not supposed to be sexy, but at the same time there is sexual subtext. And that's not accidental. (Stephen's reaction has its own set of messy implications, but that's another essay.)

Honest answer, short version: I don't know how far this snapped!Jon was ready to go. Which is why I unsnapped him quick, and put on extra disclaimers.

[gaiafaye.livejournal.com]

Heh, I wasn't expecting such a thorough answer! Thanks.

It just took me aback, not just because Jon reacted so violently, but because the end was so sweet. It slingshots in tone.

Btw, I knew about the Walter Reed thing, but what does Jon mean about building schools?

[erinptah]

Yeah, I know. The emotional whiplash is one of the things I was thinking of when I said "the pacing is shot" :/

I'll do something more consistent another time. This was more about anger than craft.

Each time Jon's hosted the Night of Too Many Stars, he's not only helped raise funds, but he's personally given $50,000 towards building schools for autism education. Given his track record, I wouldn't be surprised if he's given more that he hasn't talked about (the on-air donations were to get others in the audience in a giving mood), but even if he hasn't, the public donations are pretty darn impressive.

[gaiafaye.livejournal.com]

Ah, Night of Too Many Stars. I thought maybe he'd helped literally build a school, like a Habitat-for-Humanityesque deal.

[erinptah]

Also: You ask me about something to do with "Stephen", and you don't expect a thorough answer? For shame! You clearly do not know me well enough =P

[gaiafaye.livejournal.com]

I should have known better! I'll blame lack of sleep. ;)