The only thing I couldn't buy was Jack accepting the Doctor's offer. A week, pain-free, against never getting to spend even a minute alone with the Doctor again for as long as they're imprisoned on the ship? I can't see Jack taking that option. He seems to take the attitude to pain that it passes. He recovers and moves on. He seems to take pain as an acceptable price for something better.
You are perfectly welcome to disagree with that aspect of the fic (goodness knows I've disagreed with parts of the actual show), but here's my reasoning, if it might help:
Yes, Jack does seem to take pain more or less in stride now. Heck, he takes death somewhat in stride now. But just because he can do this doesn't mean torture for days and weeks and months on end wouldn't wear him down. By some point, he would want some escape, and maybe if the Doctor's offer had come at some other time (such as one of those days when the Master had just shot him with the screwdriver, for instance), he wouldn't have accepted. But he just went through hours of some really gruesome stuff that even I would rather not contemplate. The horror and the pain are just... too much for him right now, and at the moment, he is very very weak, physically, mentally, and in terms of will power.
Plus, this is an opportunity to be closer to the Doctor than he's been in, well, over a century. He has some idea of what the Doctor is planning to do, either from Torchwood or his travels with Nine, and on some level, he's craving for that closeness and comfort (especially with the Doctor, the man he's loved for years and years), particularly after being on his own except for lots and lots and lots of pain and the occasional kidding around with Tish.
Then there's the fact that this is the first time the Master has left them alone together in months--he has no idea why the Master is doing it and no reason to think that the Master will do it again. Sure, there's some hope, whether the Doctor does this or not, but there's no way to be sure. And that uncertainty makes the risk of never being left alone with the Doctor again seem smaller, especially in the state he's in.
So, to summarize a rather ranty rant of rantness, Jack isn't doing this for the Doctor at this point, and while he's thinking of consequences, they aren't what really drive him at this moment. What drives him is the here and the now and what's led to that here and now, and honestly, I thought he was allowed a bit of selfishness.
Perhaps I should try to make that clearer in the fic?
And, again, you are more than welcome to disagree with me. Different people, different interpretations. :) And thanks for sharing the criticism--lots of people would just skate over it or not comment.
As for all the things you did enjoy: they were exactly what I was aiming at, and I'm really happy that they came through and you enjoyed them. Thanks so much for the comment!
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Date: 2008-02-03 07:08 pm (UTC)You are perfectly welcome to disagree with that aspect of the fic (goodness knows I've disagreed with parts of the actual show), but here's my reasoning, if it might help:
Yes, Jack does seem to take pain more or less in stride now. Heck, he takes death somewhat in stride now. But just because he can do this doesn't mean torture for days and weeks and months on end wouldn't wear him down. By some point, he would want some escape, and maybe if the Doctor's offer had come at some other time (such as one of those days when the Master had just shot him with the screwdriver, for instance), he wouldn't have accepted. But he just went through hours of some really gruesome stuff that even I would rather not contemplate. The horror and the pain are just... too much for him right now, and at the moment, he is very very weak, physically, mentally, and in terms of will power.
Plus, this is an opportunity to be closer to the Doctor than he's been in, well, over a century. He has some idea of what the Doctor is planning to do, either from Torchwood or his travels with Nine, and on some level, he's craving for that closeness and comfort (especially with the Doctor, the man he's loved for years and years), particularly after being on his own except for lots and lots and lots of pain and the occasional kidding around with Tish.
Then there's the fact that this is the first time the Master has left them alone together in months--he has no idea why the Master is doing it and no reason to think that the Master will do it again. Sure, there's some hope, whether the Doctor does this or not, but there's no way to be sure. And that uncertainty makes the risk of never being left alone with the Doctor again seem smaller, especially in the state he's in.
So, to summarize a rather ranty rant of rantness, Jack isn't doing this for the Doctor at this point, and while he's thinking of consequences, they aren't what really drive him at this moment. What drives him is the here and the now and what's led to that here and now, and honestly, I thought he was allowed a bit of selfishness.
Perhaps I should try to make that clearer in the fic?
And, again, you are more than welcome to disagree with me. Different people, different interpretations. :) And thanks for sharing the criticism--lots of people would just skate over it or not comment.
As for all the things you did enjoy: they were exactly what I was aiming at, and I'm really happy that they came through and you enjoyed them. Thanks so much for the comment!