TEAM BUILDING - REVERSE THE POLARITY REMIX (R) BY IAMSHADOW AND SAM_STORYTELLER

[shadowfiction]

Title: Team Building - Reverse The Polarity Remix
Author: iamshadow and sam_storyteller
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairings: Jack/Suzie, Suzie/Owen, Jack/Ianto
Rating: R
Word Count: 5,057
Summary: Jack isn't looking for a team. Jack doesn't need a team. But Jack doesn't count on his team finding himWarnings: Prequel era. Pathos, language, sex, violence, mentioned minor character

Comments

[rexluscus]

Whoa, I love the irony of the ending. I like the reverse chronological order, like you're moving back toward some original crime (which turns out to be Suzie, and just the fact of Jack not wanting to be alone).

[shadowfiction]

The reverse chronology was Sam's idea; a way of fixing the pacing in the original, which I was dissatisfied with. I really like how it turned out. It's something that I wouldn't have thought of, myself.

[melayneseahawk]

And this is even better. You guys are awesome!

[shadowfiction]

Thank you! I'm glad you liked them!

[neifile7]

Well, I liked the original, and can see why you initially wanted to deal with Suzie first, since she's such a strong presence in the other sections. But I think the remix packs a huge punch. Yay for taking risks with chronology.

(And having just struggled through a Suzie fic, I am AWED by your characterization here.)

[shadowfiction]

In my head, it made the most sense to go from the 1999 massacre up to pre-Season One, because you see the team and the team dynamic grow and change. And Suzie's a very important factor in the way the team evolves. Hence why I would never have thought of mixing it up. However, it works, and it fixed the pacing problem beautifully.

[chiara7]

What an amazing revision, and kudos to you and Sam for letting us see the before and after and talking about the process. That's really helpful and illuminating for other writers.

Yes, the last two paragraphs have all kinds of evident irony. But what gets to me is that they're also literally true. Leadership is easier for Jack from the moment that he starts thinking of the team as *his* people-- individually and collectively. He has blind spots about what they are in themselves, but he's already figured out what they mean to him, and he won't shy away from that even when he's proven wrong. Cue theme music for all of S1.

Damn, this is satisfying stuff.

[shadowfiction]

Thanks! I like talking about the process I go through anyway, and I like it when other writers do it, too. I'm interested to hear about how other people work, because they're almost always different to me, and I learn a lot just by reading about their process.

Ah, the last two paragraphs are all Sam.

[elisi]

*flails*

I cannot tell you how much I adore this! It's all very well done, but the stand out part for me is Suzie - not just her own piece, but the glimpses of her in the other parts too. She's such a fascinating, broken character, but one who (like Jack) is very good at presenting a cool facade to the world. Especially loved this, which has become my personal canon now:

She's looking right through him and fucking him hard, as though sex is just another weapon, like pointing the gun at his head in the hotel room. He's simply the last in what's probably a long line of men with power over her that she's slept with.

Thank you so much!

ETA: Forgot to say how perfect this is:

Prisoner Sato is a treasure, and Jack covets her, covets what he could use her for.

[shadowfiction]

I'd never even been interested in Suzie as a character before, but writing her was really enjoyable. She was great to write dialogue for, in particular. She has some really snappy cynical lines that I love. Also, the idea that Suzie needs to establish power in a certain way - particularly, sex - makes a lot of sense with the character I created.

Jack covets Tosh; we see that in Fragments. There's raw want on his face in his interview with her, and it's not sexual want. We know Jack's a bit of a tech-geek (in Who, in Boom Town, he gets all over-excited about the Extrapolator) and to find someone who could create a bit of tech from faulty plans centuries ahead of time would be an amazing thing for him. He'd be able to get all excited with somebody again. It's suggested that Suzie's good with computers, but that doesn't necessarily mean she's got the mind for creation or modification of advanced tech. It takes a very singular mind to do that kind of work.

[elisi]

Also, the idea that Suzie needs to establish power in a certain way - particularly, sex - makes a lot of sense with the character I created.
Having recently re-watched 'They Keep Killing Suzie' I have to agree very much. And having seen a lot of 'did they or didn't they?' re. Jack/Suzie, I think your explanation makes the most sense of any I've come across. (I appreciate this insight into her especially because I'm currently writing a fic set in 2004, and although Suzie is only in it very briefly it helps a lot to know where she and Jack stand.)

Jack covets Tosh; we see that in Fragments. There's raw want on his face in his interview with her, and it's not sexual want.
That's it precisely.

Also I love the idea of Jack being Torchwood all on his own for 2 years - I can totally see that!

[shadowfiction]

Jack and Suzie have a dynamic that's a lot about power and sex, even if they never slept together. It's that dangerous kind of charisma that makes you think both of them would smile while digging the knife in. In a lot of ways, Suzie reminds me of John Hart, and I think that's subconsciously why Jack chose her. He was looking for a partner, then, and he went for what was familiar.

Yeah, there's no sexual chemistry between Jack and Tosh. It's a very paternal dynamic. He fosters her, nurtures her, but he never puts the moves on her or implies he wants her in a sexual way.

I can see Jack closing off from the outside world for a while after Alex and the rest of the '99 team died. It's what he seems to do when he loses people.