No Slouch by Liondragon [sloth - 7ds]

[shusu.livejournal.com]

Title: No Slouch
Author: Liondragon
Challenge: Seven Deadly Sins (Sloth)
Word Count: 433
Summary: John wanted to say that was a contradiction in terms.  Instead he stood up straighter.
Warnings: Obscene language and graphic imagery.  No insult is intended to any branch of the military -- just pinging off canon.
Note: First flashfic! I drafted this serendipitously a day or so before the photo-manips started circulating.  This was too intense to write right away.
Not my character, universe does not belong to me.

Unauthorized duplication and distribution prohibited.

No Slouch
by Liondragon

        Because he was a damn good pilot and a military son, the brass turned apologetic after the hearing, so much so that Sheppard wanted to shift from at ease to attention.  Three of them had attended the memorials; one assured him that the press blackout was blanket policy and wasn't it a shame.  Sheppard was glad of it, he didn't-say.  He didn't want to be a hero here.  He didn't want anyone to know, least of all these men with silver-burred hair and silver stars.

        But he was a good officer at heart (this they reassured him) and so endured their condolences, their whispered anecdotes of chopper pilots in 'Nam who'd put a stop to worse, their thin attempts at humor when they asked 'Antarctica, really?'  The hearing had stamped him stupid, and the informal litany, brave.  You couldn't waste brave pilots these days.

        Then the last stepped up to him (Marine General, the shine off his nameplate hurt his eyes) and got in his face.

        "You motherfucking faggot."  John wanted to say that was a contradiction in terms.  Instead he stood up straighter.  "If you think I'm going to congratulate you for disobeying direct orders in the fucking field, your head's as soft as the rest of you.  You should be thrown out on your ass with the rest of the trash.  You hear me?  Ignoring an order in the field is as good as desertion.  Maybe you forgot about that while you were popping beers with the natives.  March your worthless ass out of this building before I have you removed."

        John thought of Mitch and Dex, who had been total slobs, flew like aces, and had been so much steaming meat and fat on the hot sand.  (John was walking now, shoes clicking, metronome-perfect.)  From one step to the next, John decided.  He had always stood taller than the rest, cut no corners before inspections, shined buckles and shoes to mirrors, steam-ironed trouser seams to points, shaved clean every day, kept his hands out of his pockets, trained his hair and his back and his eyes straight, straight, straight.

        No more.

        Click.

        No more.

Comments

[shusu.livejournal.com]

Glad you like it :)

[ceitie.livejournal.com]

Oh, I like this version of John, and how the black mark changed him into the person we meet in Antarctica. Very cool, and I especially like the emphasis on 'straight'. Heh.

[shusu.livejournal.com]

His posture just seems so off, even to a layperson like me, but it also seems so IC for him to be doing it on purpose. I mean, whole other galaxy and all.

And yeah, I was tempted for .000000001 seconds to run 'straight' through a thesaurus but the moment, ah, passed. *g*

[stormheller.livejournal.com]

Interesting. Definitely food for thought.
Thanks for sharing.
~ Stormy

[shusu.livejournal.com]

Thank you for commenting!

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

This was really good. Nice and sharp, crisp. Thanks

[shusu.livejournal.com]

I'm happy you enjoyed it. It was actually toned down; or, I didn't go on about how disturbed I was by the original image.

[amalthia]

i really liked this a lot.

[shusu.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[crysothemis.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love this. And I see this a real possibility, that the black mark was what changed him.

Gorgeous.

[shusu.livejournal.com]

*pets pensive Shep*

It's a suggestion that his discipline is now focused on being undisciplined... making the effort to unlearn and revert. Who knows :) I think JF's performance in "Home" jarred me.

Thanks for the feedback!

[shusu.livejournal.com]

Hey, I hope you don't mind, a couple of people are asking after Shep's hair manips, so I'm going to link them to your journal.

[crysothemis.livejournal.com]

Of course I don't mind. Link away. As long as they know what they're getting into. ::g::

[shusu.livejournal.com]

It's like watching a car crash. Except it's really strangely sexy. *g*

[reginabellatrix.livejournal.com]

Although it seems unlikely that John was ever much of a proper officer (see his conversation with Weir at the beginning of The Intruder), I really like this look at how he could have gone from being the perfect little officer to Mr. Wild Hair and I-stick-my-hands-in-my-pockets.

Lovely job. Thanks for sharing.

[shusu.livejournal.com]

Thank you for commenting! Thanks also for pointing that episode out, as I'm not completely up to speed with canon yet. I've seen docu's on what it takes to even qualify as an USAF pilot, much less one with his supposed record, which does put some distance between point A and point Π.

[lunasky.livejournal.com]

So chilling and such a great way to connect the dots from who he was to who he became in Atlantis. The ending is still sending shivers up my spine. :)

[shusu.livejournal.com]

:) This has been disturbing me for days. Just those expletives, beating a tattoo in my brain. *shivers with you*

[emrinalexander.livejournal.com]

If this isn't how John Sheppard ended up being the man we first meet in Antarctica...it should be. I've always had the niggling "this guy is career military? Why?" questions in the back of my head, but your flashfic certainly answers those questions. It's wonderfully written, intense and a lot crafted into a small space.

[shusu.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad to hear from Sheppard fans on this. :) Thank you for the thoughtful feedback.

[packmentality.livejournal.com]

I really like this. :-)

[shusu.livejournal.com]

Thanks :)

[archerlass.livejournal.com]

I love this view of John. It explains so much and adds so much to a character I love.
My favorite bit -
..trained his hair and his back and his eyes straight, straight, straight.

No more.

Click.

No more.

Nicely done! :)

[shusu.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It's good to hear from Sheppard fans, since I'm such a newbie to the whole thing.

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

Brilliant. Loved it. Thanks.

[shusu.livejournal.com]

Thanks for commenting! :D

[lydiabell.livejournal.com]

I liked this. I wonder if, on this interpretation, one might expect John to revert to a more military bearing as time goes on and he has more responsibility and is respected in his command of Atlantis.

Alos, if you don't mind my asking, what photomanips? :)

babble!

[shusu.livejournal.com]

http://crysothemis.livejournal.com/2006/03/25/
http://crysothemis.livejournal.com/2006/03/26/

As crysothemis said above, don't click till you know what you're getting into. *g*

one might expect John to revert to a more military bearing as time goes on and he has more responsibility and is respected in his command of Atlantis

I don't usually interpret my own work unless I'm writing a sequel, but in my internal imaginings...

Training to be an Air Force pilot and a career soldier is just too rigorous -- a personality like Sheppard's falls in line because he really, really likes flying and the camaraderie of military life. Like, you have to do this hard thing (and *be* this hard thing) in order to get to do what you love.

Well, now he's on Atlantis and commanding the same way he flies: naturally and instinctively. He gets to play around and be a bit of a big kid (like he wasn't allowed to before?) and he gets the love and respect anyway. With maturity, he's just... more comfortable in his own skin. To me that fits with his age and rank.

So, no, I don't personally think he'll return to his rigid bearing while on Atlantis. There's no incentive for him to change back, and my fic is implying that there's an additional motivation to keep up his rebellious ways. That anger and spark comes out in desperate situations on screen, so I kind of grabbed it and internalized it here.

If Atlantis were opened to the outside world, and/or played a greater diplomatic role in either galaxy, he'd probably pawn off that job to Elizabeth and simply turn up the charm, instead of playing it straight.

[spoke.livejournal.com]

Bweeee. ^^

[shusu.livejournal.com]

:p

[kuonji14.livejournal.com]

wow, that was really really perfect. I've always imagined John the surfer dude teenager and rebellious soldier young adult, but man, this was beautiful. A fabulous pov on things, thanks for sharing!

Also, like someone said, so 'crisp'. Again, perfect for the piece.

Btw, what photo-manips?

[shusu.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the feedback! The image was just disturbing me so much, I had to untangle it and show.

Manips:
http://crysothemis.livejournal.com/2006/03/25/
http://crysothemis.livejournal.com/2006/03/26/

As crysothemis said above, don't click till you know what you're getting into. *g*

I've always imagined John the surfer dude teenager and rebellious soldier young adult, but man, this was beautiful.

Yeah, I really wanted to reconcile his rank and age with his background. "Home" really hit me hard... I mean, you get to see the weird bachelor-pad fantasy of his life (which includes letting Teyla shop for hours!); then in this extremely twisted Oedipal / Body Snatchers moment, there's the gun in his hand. It's like, how can both of those exist at the same time? Part of the soothing psychology of the military is the discipline and belonging -- to watch Sheppard be so proficient and yet lacking that discipline? Kind of jarring for me.

It would be easier to critique the writing and performance, but flashfic is more fun. ^^

[kuonji14.livejournal.com]

thanks, wow, those are some interesting photos indeed.

You're right; I do wonder how he got to be a Major. Though I attribute it to luck, probably O'Neill-ish COs who appreciated his style along the way.

[epicycles.livejournal.com]

Love it! Great answer to those weird John contradictions -- the proficiency without the discipline, like you said. *Adds to personal John backstory*

welcome to flashfic, hope you stay awhile!

[shusu.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Just trying to keep the bunnies under control. ^^

[no-eden.livejournal.com]

My ability to read fics months after they are written is unprecedented. Anyway. This is simply brilliant. Possibly the best John!fic I've ever read. Wow.

[shusu.livejournal.com]

I applaud your ability! This one's ... one year and two months old. Practically my first SGA fic. Oh the nostalgia. I'm glad you enjoyed it! I have more indexed at rfp.

[no-eden.livejournal.com]

Why thank you. My record is actually one year and five months, but this is a close second. I'll definitely check out your other stuff. :)