Seriously this comment was so great, it robbed me of words. We were nervous about tackling FoB for the very reasons you mention; it's such a fandom divider, and it is so fabulous to hear that it worked for you, despite your reservations about the canon.
Thank you so much for your compliments re: our writing. Most of fanfic's pleasure, I think, stems from the recognition of characters, the continuation & the deepening of stories and worlds we love. To have our writing be a part of that pleasure is immensely gratifying and very flattering, so thank you for that, truly.
The FoB being an uber-wise, self-sacrificing, immortal bizarro celebrity as he is in canon, is just a great big flaming bore. But turning him into the Farenheit 451 Project for the entire universe? Him offering himself to all comers, to remember their own little stories so that they'd live far beyond their own little lifetimes?
Well, I guess I'm a bit of a fanboy -- I'm very fond of the FoB storyline. When I heard it, my instant reaction was "OMG THAT IS SO FUCKING COOL." Rach, if I remember correctly, was first struck by the horror and sorrow of it. And that's Doctor Who for you, I guess, mixing grotesquerie and horror and timey-wimey-ness all together, with a bit of a laugh.
As for how Jack becomes Boe... well, seeded (heh, I guess that's sort of a pun now!) into the story so far, if you noticed, were all those bits about when Jack's lost his memory, and is getting it back? He keeps getting headaches? We've also talked a lot about how much memory can the human brain really hold. Might part of that process of evolution involve the brain literally expanding? Over millions of years??? So I think that's probably part of it. As well as becoming more telepathic, which is also what's going on. And then, when even that much memory becomes too much to hold (in this story) he sort of buds, and you have a little baby Boe [this is our explanation for Boekind, which we know from canon all die out before Jack/Boe dies].
Thank you for your fantastic feedback. We treasure it!
Re: Best. Present. Ever.
Thank you so much for your compliments re: our writing. Most of fanfic's pleasure, I think, stems from the recognition of characters, the continuation & the deepening of stories and worlds we love. To have our writing be a part of that pleasure is immensely gratifying and very flattering, so thank you for that, truly.
The FoB being an uber-wise, self-sacrificing, immortal bizarro celebrity as he is in canon, is just a great big flaming bore. But turning him into the Farenheit 451 Project for the entire universe? Him offering himself to all comers, to remember their own little stories so that they'd live far beyond their own little lifetimes?
Well, I guess I'm a bit of a fanboy -- I'm very fond of the FoB storyline. When I heard it, my instant reaction was "OMG THAT IS SO FUCKING COOL." Rach, if I remember correctly, was first struck by the horror and sorrow of it. And that's Doctor Who for you, I guess, mixing grotesquerie and horror and timey-wimey-ness all together, with a bit of a laugh.
As for how Jack becomes Boe... well, seeded (heh, I guess that's sort of a pun now!) into the story so far, if you noticed, were all those bits about when Jack's lost his memory, and is getting it back? He keeps getting headaches? We've also talked a lot about how much memory can the human brain really hold. Might part of that process of evolution involve the brain literally expanding? Over millions of years??? So I think that's probably part of it. As well as becoming more telepathic, which is also what's going on. And then, when even that much memory becomes too much to hold (in this story) he sort of buds, and you have a little baby Boe [this is our explanation for Boekind, which we know from canon all die out before Jack/Boe dies].
Thank you for your fantastic feedback. We treasure it!