Help Haiti Fic: Seeing Face To Face

[wendymr]

Story: Seeing Face To Face
Author: wmr/ wendymr 
Characters: Ninth Doctor, Jack Harkness (Pete's World)
Universe:  Through A Glass Darkly
Rated: PG13
Summary: It's time. He has to go and see the lad

Written for yamx in return for a very generous donation to disaster relief in Haiti as a result of the help_haiti community fundraising efforts. I'm so sorry that it's

Comments

[honorh]

*Sigh* There's such an undercurrent of sadness in this 'verse. There tends to be, with Nine, but I think it's actually sadder because it's Jack who has the Issues this time around. It's like it's not supposed to be that way--not when he and the Doctor were together. But I love the way you're exploring them. I'd love to see more of this 'verse, both before and after they found Rose.

[wendymr]

Your comment really set me thinking. Initially I thought But of course Jack and Nine had happy times before Schattenwelt burned - and I hadn't really thought of this story as having a particularly sad or melancholy theme. But, yes, there are the undercurrents of trouble to come, and both Jack and the Doctor's uncertainty about each other's feelings.

So... yes, you're getting your wish. I'm working on a story to follow more or less immediately after this one - the Anywhere but Earth destination the Doctor promises Jack. A teaser:

He cuffs the Doctor’s shoulder lightly. “Supercilious git.” It’s a familiar, and affectionate, insult

[lindenharp]

Though this certainly works as a standalone, it is much more meaningful in the light of (no pun intended) "Through a Glass Darkly". The Doctor's insecurity is almost charming, since we know that they're going to wind up together as full-time lovers. On the other hand, the insults thrown at Jack are a scary foreshadowing of the tragedy that is to come.

Lovely work, as always.

[wendymr]

Oh, yes, I think this really does need knowledge of TAGD to make complete sense - I've even set up the series index on my LJ to show TAGD needing to be read first. The foreshadowing here is much more significant when the reader knows what's to come. And, of course, the Doctor's insecurity here comes directly from TAGD

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed this.

[tardis_stowaway]

The Doctor's insecurity is touching (and astonishingly clueless). Jack's use of the L-word surprised me almost as much as the Doctor, although it definitely fit. I'm glad the Doctor reacted as he did instead of freezing or running. Excellent use of foreshadowing to add a bit of warning to this otherwise really sweet fic. This is an excellent addition to this 'verse.

[wendymr]

Yes, the Doctor is pretty clueless here - though Nine could be in some ways, and he is well aware of Jack's track record of being attracted to the pretty ones (what he doesn't see is that Jack's attracted to pretty much anyone). So he's comparing himself to Eight and thinking he comes off badly.

I think by this time (and given that the Time War is so far in his past) the Doctor's not going to run at the mention of the L-word. He knew that Jack loves him, and he reciprocates, though he's unlikely to say it. It's just the in love bit that takes him by surprise - but he's known and cared about Jack for so long now that he's not going to run away from it.

Thank you! I'm really glad you enjoyed this.

[kholly]

I hadn't thought about it, but it seems so obvious rationing out his visits with Jack. He never would have lasted through 4 lifetimes otherwise.

I like how you look at things, and make us look at things, in this 'verse. To us Jack is beautiful, but you've put him in a context where people don't agree. And it could almost be a joke, but it's not really. It sort of reminds me of an old Twilight Zone episode where they were doing plastic surgery on someone to fix her disfigurement and at the end they say sorry it didn't work and then you get the reveal that the patient is played by the woman who ended up playing Daisy Duke and the normal people all had pig face prosthetics.

So here we have two beautiful guys who both have issues with appearance and both have worries that the other might stop loving them as a result. And it might be absurd, but you've written it so that it feels so real from each of their perspectives.

Sorry, I might be over thinking. It's a rainy weekend morning and I seem to be in a mood.

[wendymr]

You're definitely not over-thinking! I love it when my stories inspire people to get analytical. Yes, Jack in this verse really is exactly in the position you've described - I love that analogy you've given! He's been conditioned to consider himself less attractive by Earth standards, even if his Schatten origins are far less obvious than with those inhabitants who resemble their simian ancestors more. That theme is explored again in The Beholder's Eye.

And it's such a compliment that they, and their issues, feel real and plausible to you. That's one of the biggest challenges about writing AU versions of familiar characters: how much can I change them before they don't feel like themselves any more?

I'm thrilled that this story, and the series, made you think so much!

[trobadora]

I really enjoyed this. Their mutual insecurity is rather sweet, and I like the way you portray the Doctor's avoidance. Going back to the TARDIS to avoid running away is spot on!

And like someone said above, the undercurrent of sadness just fits with Nine-era fic, no matter how AU you go.

Damn, I miss Nine.

[wendymr]

Thank you! The Doctor knows himself very well, and also cares about Jack enough by now to want to prevent that flight impulse of his. Whatever Jack wants their relationship to become now, the Doctor doesn't want to hurt him by running away.

And, yes, I miss Nine too. So very much :(