Previous Entry | Next Entry

Torchwood: Fanfic: Monsters

  • Jun. 7th, 2014 at 3:19 PM
Title: Monsters
Fandom: Torchwood
Author: [livejournal.com profile] badly_knitted
Characters: Jack, mentions Torchwood
Rating: G
Word Count: 364
Spoilers: Mostly small ones for Day One, Small Worlds, Something Borrowed and bigger ones for Meat.
Summary: Which monsters are the most monstrous? Jack can’t decide.
Written For: Challenge 85 – Monsters.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.



The Rift brought them monsters of all shapes and sizes; Weevils, Hoix, Nostrovites, gaseous aliens that fed on orgasmic energy of all things. There was never a shortage. Some were intelligent, others were simply displaced creatures, hunting and killing by instinct. It didn’t make them any less monstrous or the carnage they left behind any less horrific, but their behaviour was at least comprehensible.

Then there were the creatures with whom humanity shared the planet. Exactly who the earth belonged to had at times been violently contested, especially between mankind and the Silurians, but there existed far worse monsters than even them, lurking outside of time. The Fae, the Mara; whatever label humanity gave them it did nothing to lessen the fear they could inspire. They were so far beyond human understanding that there could never be any reasoning with them. Quick to anger and lethal in the retaliation they meted out for crimes against themselves or their chosen ones, they were truly the stuff of nightmares.

And yet, Jack reflected, they were not the worst monsters Torchwood had ever faced. Not by any stretch of the imagination.

Surely the true monsters were not the aliens with their often-unfathomable ways, but the humans who could look on something as miraculous and wonderful as this gentle, noble creature and see only a cash cow, something they could butcher for profit. They carved out and sold its flesh while it lived, not giving a thought for the suffering they were inflicting on an intelligent being that had never harmed a living soul, and they did it simply for the money.

There had been plenty of occasions when Jack had considered himself a monster, times when others had accused him of being soulless, heartless, the worst monster of them all and he’d agreed, ashamed of his own actions. Now he was faced with a choice: to slaughter these human monsters, as they deserved, or to let them continue to live out their lives with no memory of the last few months.

Once again he was faced with a choice he didn’t want to make. He just didn’t know which course of action would be the least monstrous.

The End




Comments

[identity profile] awieatti.livejournal.com wrote:
Jun. 7th, 2014 03:10 pm (UTC)
I agree - humans are probably the worst monsters. Not all humans of course. Thank God for the exceptions!
(I guess there's a monster in everyone, and every monster has a good side to them.)
bk_forever: (The Oncoming Coat)
[personal profile] bk_forever wrote:
Jun. 7th, 2014 05:50 pm (UTC)
I don't know, I think some monsters are just monsters with no good in them, but I agree that we can all do monstrous things if we let ourselves. We just have to be stronger than the monster inside us and refuse to let it take control.

Thank you.
[identity profile] tardisjournal.livejournal.com wrote:
Jun. 7th, 2014 04:06 pm (UTC)
Indeed--humans are the most monstrous, because unlike the displaced creatures Jack thinks about, humans know better and chose to be monstrous anyway.

I like how you went for the less-obvious choice of the villains in "Meat" over the cannibals here. So much has been written (and rightfully so!) about the misdeeds of the cannibals, but in its own way the casual way those men tortured the Space Whale, over and over again, was just as monstrous.

Well-done!
bk_forever: (The Oncoming Coat)
[personal profile] bk_forever wrote:
Jun. 7th, 2014 06:02 pm (UTC)
It's [livejournal.com profile] milady_dragon's fault I used the Space Whale, it's very much in my mind right now because of her current Dragon-Verse fic. The hardest part of this was coming up with other monsters to mention because the part about the monstrous treatment of the space whale was the first thing that came to mind.

I was going to mention the cannibals too, but I couldn't find a way to fit it in.

Thank you!

(How's the betaing going? I'm working on my other big series for the bingo and it's already nearly 12000 words long and not finished! It's probably going to be over 15000 without the last part! I think I'll write the last part as a fill for the Victory/Success square and a short sequel for the Dream House/Dream Car square making that about their Dream Job.)
[identity profile] tardisjournal.livejournal.com wrote:
Jun. 7th, 2014 06:51 pm (UTC)
Well, it really worked! :)

(The betaing is going well, though this week proved to be much busier than I thought and I didn't get as much time to work on it as I would have liked, so I've been working in dribs and drabs. I should have something back to you to look at this weekend though. It's great to see that you're on such a writing roll!)
bk_forever: (Ianto Little Smile)
[personal profile] bk_forever wrote:
Jun. 7th, 2014 09:44 pm (UTC)
Terrific! Thank you! No mad rush, I've got plenty to work on, lol!

I'm knackered. I've finished the first draft of the Jack & Ianto as kids in school plays fic, though I still have to do their college performance of Grease which will be the Victory/Success bingo square. What I've just written is for the squares First Meeting, Wild Card (probably use Best Friends Forever), Building/Creating something and Play. The first draft has come out at 13,595 words, I wrote 2713 words today. Tomorrow I need to write some drabbles and start editing this monster. My editing usually results in a longer fic, lol! Monday I'll hopefully get the Victory/Success one done or at least half done. Then I need to write the Dream Job one. After that, who knows? So much still to do *sigh*
[identity profile] tardisjournal.livejournal.com wrote:
Jun. 7th, 2014 11:16 pm (UTC)
I just sent the first part, plus a bit more, back to you. Check your email. :)

I feel tired just reading about everything you're working on! That's amazing. I remember when we first met you were in a bit of a rut and hadn't written in awhile, and didn't know when you would again. Now you're a force of nature!
bk_forever: (Ianto Little Smile)
[personal profile] bk_forever wrote:
Jun. 8th, 2014 10:24 am (UTC)
I think writing is the only thing keeping me sane right now - even though it's driving me crazy too, lol!

Thank you! I'll get that downloaded and see what's what sometime today =)

About

[community profile] fan_flashworks is an all-fandoms multi-media flashworks community. We post a themed challenge every ten days or so; you make any kind of fanwork in response to the challenge and post it here. More detailed guidelines are here.

The community on Livejournal:
[livejournal.com profile] fan_flashworks

Tags

Latest Month

February 2026
S M T W T F S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios
Designed by [personal profile] chasethestars