"Her Father's Daughter"

[shivver]

Title: "Her Father's Daughter"
Fandom(s): Doctor Who
Characters: Jackie Tyler
Pairing(s): None
Rating: G
Genre: General
Word Count: 178

Summary: A mother's worry...

Notes: I don't really know if I like this. But it's the first thing I've finished in a while, so I get to inflict it on you.


Sorry about that, love! The door, you know. Flowers. Oh, no! Got the wrong flat. Flowers for me? As if. Been years since I got flowers. Gotta send them to meself.

Now, what was I saying? Oh yeah. Yeah. I know, I know. She’s just a kid. I shouldn’t push so hard, but still. All that money to buy equipment and uniforms, then one meet and she wins the bronze and that's it! Won’t go to lessons, won’t practise. Same with schooling. She'll never be anything if she don't apply herself. Always flitting about, that one. Her father's daughter, you know, God rest his soul.

Well, it's not as if gymnastics is good for anything. My daughter’s not gonna swing on a pole for money. But what's next? Whatever catches her fancy. Wandering off is the one thing she’s good at. Not enough eyes in the world to keep on her. She just does what she wants, follows the wind, she does. One day, I swear, she’s just going to disappear and I don’t know what I’ll do.

Comments

[dm12.livejournal.com]

Poor mothers... always worrying about their daughters. If they get in trouble, it's because they are their father's child!

That is the feeling I got with Rose, she was always flitting from one thing to another. Gymnastics could at least keep a person limber, but other studies are needed to keep up in the world.

Poor Jackie, having to go it all alone. I got the feeling that Rose didn't appreciate all of the sacrifices Jackie had to make just to keep a roof over their heads and food in their mouths.

[shivver13.livejournal.com]

Jackie may not necessarily have been a good mother, but she was a devoted mother. I think that's one of the things I loved about the three mothers in the first four seasons - they demonstrated it in different ways, but they were all devoted primarily to their daughters' health and happiness.

[dm12.livejournal.com]

It was nice to actually see some family background on the companions. Family is what makes us who we are.

Rose grew up without a Dad, so she didn't have a good strong male influence. Her mom seemed somewhat lonely and was bringing men home, so that can't have been good for Rose either. Still, Jackie loved her daughter and was fiercely protective of her when needed. Rose got to be with her family at the end (and the "Duplicate").

Martha's family was dysfunctional. Her father ran after whoever struck his fancy. Martha became the go-between in her family, the peacemaker. Martha had the courage to finally tell the Doctor off for being oblivious to other people's feelings, and walked out on him. She was all the better for it, too, returned to her family, completed her studies, and joined UNIT.

Donna's family struck me as the most normal. Both her parents were around to see her into adulthood, and she also had her grandfather around. Not everyone has that! Her mom's method of "encouraging" Donna to be her best was off. Constantly belittling someone doesn't help them. So even though she meant well, Sylvia's treatment of Donna only led to low self-esteem. The Doctor tried so very hard to counter that by constantly pointing out when she was being brilliant (which she was). A shame all of that came crashing back down, leaving Donna exactly as she was before she met the Doctor. The whole bit at the end when he told Sylvia and Wilf how important she was, Sylvia's retort that she still was important... and the Doctor's biting comment that maybe she should try telling Donna that more often (since he could no longer do so), just broke my heart.

[shivver13.livejournal.com]

Actually, one of the things I really liked about the families' characterizations is that they also established a socio-economic background for the companion. Rose's family was working-class, and I expect that Jackie didn't have much money as Rose was growing up. Neither of them have much aspiration to raise themselves above it.

Martha's family was obviously well-off: her father drives a convertible sportscar, her mother's house is very nice, they go to black-tie parties in expensive evening gowns and Leo, the 21-year-old with multiple children still can afford to own a tux. Francine was obviously very status conscious, and both Martha and Tish were ambitious.

Donna's family was somewhere between the two. Sylvia could afford a house but worried about her mortgage payments. Donna was happy being a temp, but she was proud of her excellence in what she does.

All of this really contributed to the story and the feel that the characters are real people. Contrast this to Amy and Clara. Neither of them really had a family, and we know nothing about them. Amy was a kissogram, but at no point do we get the feel that she was either strapped for money or drifting about as she waited for the Doctor. And then in both cases, suddenly they are wildly successful at a career no one had any idea they had. Those two characters only really exist in relation to the Doctor.

[dm12.livejournal.com]

True enough, but you should know a tux can often be cheaper than a suit! Believe it or not, they are often made from inferior grades of material since they aren't worn very often. So, unless he had one made to his specifications with really good material, it was a cheap buy. The sewing is often poorly done, especially on pants hems. The accouterments, however, can add up a little bit, but still not as bad as buying a half way decent suit. That said, evening gowns make up for it with how outrageously expensive they are, so your point still stands.

I think Donna was happy being a temp, and it's my theory that temping was the ideal preparation for travel with the Doctor! She did the exact same thing he does; goes into a situation cold, evaluates it and the people involved very quickly, determines and implements the solution, then moves on to the next situation. She was very good at it, and that's what made her such an excellent companion.

I agree about Amy and Clara. We don't get a feeling of background, training, family, or anything that makes them an actual, real person. They never trained for their, as you put it, wildly successful careers. They just existed for the Doctor... no other real life. And that, in spite of Clara only agreeing to travel with him on Wednesdays!

[bas_math_girl]

Poor Jackie; always underappreciated and overworked. Of course she worried about her daughter. Who wouldn't, if they were half decent? You've captured her beautifully.

[shivver13.livejournal.com]

Thanks! She's difficult for me, since her speech is so colloquial. I have to scour the transcripts for her lines to try to get her right.

[purplecat]

Nice one. It seems quite like the sort of thing Jackie would say (not terribly focused herself!) but a lot of her concerns were genuine.

[shivver13.livejournal.com]

Thanks! It's always easy to see in others faults that you don't recognize in yourself. And as a mother, you definitely worry when you see them in your child.

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

Poor Jackie! I did love her so...

*HUGS*

[shivver13.livejournal.com]

Rose must have been a handful when she was a kid. She certainly was as an adult. :)

[alumfelga.livejournal.com]

I could hear Jackie's voice when I was reading, you really caught her way of talking - even if it's an internal monologue. Poor Jackie, I felt sorry for her when Rose was traveling with the Doctor and she was left alone. I never thought I liked her when she was in the show but she seemed so real with her worries, her love and care for Rose, her simple life. I miss characters like her.

[shivver13.livejournal.com]

Thanks! That's really what I was striving for - I think my favorite part of writing is trying to imitate the character voices.

I've always loved the real, down-to-earth feel of Jackie. And I always felt she had this aura of sadness about her, that though she loved Rose, she always wished her life had turned out better. She was very lucky to have a second chance with Pete in Pete's World.