The Harkness Variations; Post-CoE

[cblj_backup]

Sam's fanfiction archive has moved. The story formerly found here may now be found at:

http://sam-storyteller.dreamwidth.org/127064.html

Thank you for your patience!

Comments

[gracie-musica.livejournal.com]

*happy sigh*

And oh, so many of these are just perfect tiny little fic ideas waiting to explode. I'm almost afraid to touch them because I know they'll break in my hands!

[elisi]

Oh *excellent*!

[phineyj.livejournal.com]

These are lovely, especially no. 8.

[givemethebook.livejournal.com]

I LOVE Nr. 8. :D

[keeperofdestiny.livejournal.com]

That has completely scrambled my head @_@ Some heartbreaking, some beautiful, all incredible.

[melayneseahawk.livejournal.com]

I like X very much.

[not-hathor.livejournal.com]

Oh my! Several of these would make wonderful AU stories. Thank you for sharing, Sam!

[not-hathor.livejournal.com]

Oh dear, I just had a plot wolverine take a chunk out of my leg --- what if the 'Creatures too Terrible to Imagine' from no. 9 were the same aliens as in No. 10? I CAN'T write it myself, since I refuse to watch TW S3... (spoilers can be our friends!)...

[edibleflowers.livejournal.com]

Oh God, thank you for this. They're all pure gems, but I love 5 and 8. And 10, especially, because I refuse to believe Jack never opened up to Ianto.

[sam-storyteller.livejournal.com]

Well, I dated 10 "2010" on purpose -- I think it's not unlikely that Jack didn't open up to Ianto as much as he could have, pre-CoE, in part because if he tells Ianto every horrible thing that ever happened to him he's going to be talking for a LONG time. :D So I think given more time Jack might start to tell more stories, but it would need that emotional kick of Tosh and Owen dying, and a deepening relationship, before he could.

[wiredblowfish.livejournal.com]

I love the possibilty resonating in these. They inspired my mind! Thanks:)

[thaddeusfavour.livejournal.com]

This is like a viewmaster fic. See a picture. Click. See another. Click. See the last one and BAM! the viewmaster explodes. Meaning that you really do always know just how to "end" your stories to make them something more than just the sum of their parts. What a great kicker.

I loved the whole thing, but my favorite bits:

#3 because I can see that, #4 creeped me out, #6 was poignant, #7 was sad, #8 OMG I ship this now! And of course #10 is my favorite and I love it, with a sweet honorable mention to #9 because I like thinking of Jack as a writer.

[sam-storyteller.livejournal.com]

I'd like to write a Time Agency Corporate Climber fic sometime, I won't lie; the setup fascinates me.

Seven, with Alex trying to kill everyone, was quite sad, but at the same time I feel like it's also a redemption -- he never knew Tosh, so he couldn't feel that loss, and he got to save three of his friends from death. Plus he wouldn't feel as responsible for Alex, because he shot him in self-defence instead of pleading with him to stop as Alex shot himself.

The threesome seems very popular, and I like the idea, but I think I like almost more the idea of Jack clinging to them while Torchwood London burns -- watching it on the telly, trying to get through to UNIT, and Ianto and Lisa so grateful to be in Cardiff and so broken to see all of their friends dying. There wasn't room in the drabble but I really wanted the image of the two of them standing together, holding hands, trying to be brave for Jack as they watch.

I think Jack would make a great novelist :D

[sadera992.livejournal.com]

aww, these are just brilliant! Makes you realise how important Jack is to so many people. And the consequences of his actions. Simply lovely, your work continues to amaze me.

[dysprositos.livejournal.com]

This is brilliant! It's a horrible tease, of course, but brilliant, and I'd rather have Stories Sam Probably Won't Write In Full than no Sam stories at all.

(...I want to read III, VI, and VIII soooo bad, though.)

[sam-storyteller.livejournal.com]

I really like the threesome idea, though I have to admit my personal favourite is II, Jack as an antique dealer. :D

[rhianona]

very nice possibilities. I am amused by the idea of jack, ianto and lisa in a threesome. Now someone should actually write that.

I also really liked no.5 , but then Ian, Barbara and Susan are my favorite companions.

[sam-storyteller.livejournal.com]

I have to admit after I wrote it I found the idea of the threesome sort of charming -- Ianto and Lisa have each other and get to have Jack, and Jack in turn has two people to love him.

[temporal-witch.livejournal.com]

Once again, you've made my day with your fantastic bits of insight into the 'verse that is TW. I think I love you. ♥

I really do love your work. Thank you for this.

[hab318princess.livejournal.com]

beautiful vignettes...

[gogo-didi.livejournal.com]

Oh loved these. 5, 8 and 10 were my favourites :-)

[revolutionaryjo.livejournal.com]

Ohh, that last bit. I love the whole thing, but that was the part that really got me.

[vsee.livejournal.com]

Ooh, some fascinating glimpses of different stories. Thank you for this.

[aimsleydale.livejournal.com]

These are all brilliant :) I like that the reader has vestly different reactions to each one, but mostly bitter-sweet, I think. The potential for the canon adventures/heartbreak/joy is lost when the different actions are taken - even if these actions save lives - but the potential in the AU is lost in the canon. And especially I love that each drabble contains a bit of give-and-take - save 12 children and a piece of your soul, but kill 12 million. Or rejoin Rose and the Doctor in the TARDIS but lose the Doctor's love. I like that you don't try to just 'fix' things. And I like the slightly different Jacks we see in each one.

Which is rambly, but what I mean is yes, very lovely. I really really like no 9 for some reason :)

[pandoras-closet.livejournal.com]

1963 should be a full fic. Especially when Jack and the Doctor finally confront each other, time traveler to time traveler.

[sam-storyteller.livejournal.com]

The re-meeting would be really and truly awesome. :D

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

These are great. One little thing, and tragedy is averted (or not). You win, Sam.

[debitha.livejournal.com]

Old Doctor Who episodes! Awesome.

Although, you went on a bit of a killing spree, huh. Rose goes splat, Tosh dies in prison. VI just kind of hurts, poor Jack.

I really want more of VIII. Not just the sex (OK, the sex too), but the whole dynamic. It seems like an interesting set up, and I'd like to see how it works out.

And of course, I love X for obvious reasons. :o)

[sam-storyteller.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think this is the first time I've had to warn for character death. I was looking at it going, warnings? HUH. WEIRD.

[julesjones]

Love this. Just love it. And like a lot of other people, 5 and 8 are my favourites. I'd love to see the idea in 5 as a longer piece.

[neifile7.livejournal.com]

Glad to see you keeping up the drabbling. :) These are great fun but also a little...sad? There's sort of a cumulative impact when you get to the end and realize just how much has gone wrong for him (even if they aren't all about his losses). Also, the order of arrangement here is one of the most effective things, just the little shifts in tone and rhythm that make for a kind of reader's hopscotch. Love that.

All wonderful, but V inspires geeky glee and X guts me.

Am I allowed to self-insert in VII? I'd gladly take a bullet for the chance of a rescue by the Handsome Safety Captain. :D

[sam-storyteller.livejournal.com]

I was going, in some ways, for "Look how much has gone right for him" but without the done-to-death It's A Wonderful Life motif.

I have to say I was pulling names out of the air but surely there's a reason Anya came to me as a name :D Go to town, if you want to be a Torchwood Survivor I am all the way on board. :D

[arclevel.livejournal.com]

All gorgeous. I'll particularly take 10 as truth. :-)