I am working up a re-write of G-Force Defector (isn't this like required of all BotP fanfic writers sooner or later?) and I have a question. What do you think Jason's motivation is for taking flowers with a note from Don to Mrs. Wade? I totally understand why he brings her flowers - he either hit or nearly hit (depending upon if we believe Zark) this woman with his car and she clearly didn't press charges and still seems to like him. What I'm having trouble with is the card & note from Don. Clearly, this would entail Jason visiting Don, probably in a holding cell somewhere, and making him write his mother a letter. Why does he care so much? Thanks for your thoughts -- Julie K. (jublke)

I think that Jason really started to pity Mrs Wade when he found out who she was and the faith she had in her son. Being without parents himself, I also think that he was horrified to think that a child would completely not contact their parent (for whatever reason). I like to think that they took him back o the Phoenix, and on the trip back, Jason put the hard word on him about writing to his mother.

Turning that around, I always wondered if it was Don who, like Maddy says while on the Phoenix, convinced Jason to revisit his mother. Taking the note (and flowers) from him because he could not go (since he was in prison or was going to be) and was feeling remorseful.

It could go either way. I'm guessing that it's a mixture of what Maddy and CD have suggested. Don was rmorseful on the journey back on the Phoenix, because he understood the error he had made ni trusting Zoltar. These regrets included his Mom, and as he spoke with Jason about this, Jason encouraged him to contact his mother, promising to ensure the note was delivered.

I got the feeling that he was doing it more for Don's mother than for Don.

Thanks, gals! You've given me a lot to ponder ... hmmm. Julie K.

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You know, I just thought of something. I know why Don was kicked off the original G-Force Team! It's because he wasn't an orphan!

Originally posted by Transmute Jun You know, I just thought of something. I know why Don was kicked off the original G-Force Team! It's because he wasn't an orphan!

I was wondering about that, too. So Don has a mother, but he either left or didn't make the final cut. Mark has a father, but Cronus was absent most of the time, so he might as well have been an orphan. Keyop was grown, created, or whatever you want to call it and has no parents, to speak of. Tiny has Captain Jack, but is he a friend or a relative of some sorts. What about Princess and Jason?

Originally posted by Transmute Jun You know, I just thought of something. I know why Don was kicked off the original G-Force Team! It's because he wasn't an orphan!

I was just thinking that in my AU as well. Don had parents where as many of the other children brought into the project were orphans. Although, in my AU, I don't think that is the main reason Don is removed from the program, so whether his family plays a part in his dismissal I will have to look into further.

Originally posted by amethyst

Originally posted by Transmute Jun You know, I just thought of something. I know why Don was kicked off the original G-Force Team! It's because he wasn't an orphan!

What about Princess and Jason?

Interestingly enough last night I was just trying to figure out Jason's past myself, for a short segment in one of my stories. I wondered if he might have a similar story to Joe and if I wrote one that was, would people accept it.

Originally posted by clouddancer

Originally posted by amethyst

Originally posted by Transmute Jun You know, I just thought of something. I know why Don was kicked off the original G-Force Team! It's because he wasn't an orphan!

What about Princess and Jason?

Interestingly enough last night I was just trying to figure out Jason's past myself, for a short segment in one of my stories. I wondered if he might have a similar story to Joe and if I wrote one that was, would people accept it.

I don't see why not. I think many people just automatically assume that. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Originally posted by amethyst I think many people just automatically assume that.

Which is what I am a little afraid of. I have always know in my AU that Jason's parents were assassinated by Spectran spies. Once I saw Gatch, then I got the "location" of where they were assassinated. Now I worry if I write the same beach scene it will feel like copying. So, I flip-flop about where I should place the killing.

CD, technically MUCH of BOTP is 'copying'. I don't think you need to worry about that! Amethyst, the BOTP Team are all supposed to be 'five fearless young orphans'. It's in the opening credits. I don't think Mark was intended to have a father, but the BOTP writers figured it out partway through the series (after trying to pass Cronus off as a 'good friend' of Mark's) and sort of put it in half-heartedly at a late date.

I agree more with LB. I think it was all Jason. I can't see Jason being nice on Don's behalf, but I can see him being nice for Mrs. Wade.

Originally posted by Transmute Jun Amethyst, the BOTP Team are all supposed to be 'five fearless young orphans'. It's in the opening credits. I don't think Mark was intended to have a father, but the BOTP writers figured it out partway through the series (after trying to pass Cronus off as a 'good friend' of Mark's) and sort of put it in half-heartedly at a late date.

True, but it is still fun to try and figure it out. It's odd that they incorporated some of Ken and Ryu's backgrounds, but none of Joe's. Why is it that neither Jun nor Princess got a background (of course Princess couldn't get much of one since Jun didn't)? Even Jinpei got a glimpse of where he might have come from.

Originally posted by Becky Rock I can't see Jason being nice on Don's behalf, but I can see him being nice for Mrs. Wade.

Yeah, especially as Don tried to shoot him! And would have succeeded if not for Mark showing up and the fact that even the Spectrans didn't trust the rat with live ammo.

Originally posted by amethyst It's odd that they incorporated some of Ken and Ryu's backgrounds, but none of Joe's. Why is it that neither Jun nor Princess got a background (of course Princess couldn't get much of one since Jun didn't)? Even Jinpei got a glimpse of where he might have come from.

It does seem like it was something of a conscious choice on the part of the BOTP creators not to supply much background info on any of them, doesn't it? If they'd really wanted to, I think there would have been ways to work some details into the dialogue here and there, in episodes, or even have Zark tell the viewers things. As you say, though, even in Gatch, only Ken and Joe got a lot of attention to their backgrounds, and Jun got almost none. We've seen how they ended up using some of the "Ken/Red Impulse" story arc for Mark, but I agree that it is a bit odd that they used none of Joe's. Granted, they never got Gatch episodes 78 or 81, which would have been ideal for that purpose (though with some serious editing for violence needed!) But they did get episode 31, where Joe's driving at the track and he remembers seeing a Devil Star and his parents getting shot. I think they could have used that as a way to work in some background information about Jason, especially if they wanted to make it that he was an orphan because his parents had been killed by a Galaxy Girl. But they cut all that out. I guess it was one thing to present characters as orphans, but a little too grim to show that one of them saw his parents get murdered right in front of him. Unless they could have made it such that his parents were kidnapped, not killed? On the other hand, leaving their backgrounds vague and mysterious might have been seen as a way for kids to imagine whatever they wanted and fill in the blanks themselves? Heh, just like we do now with fics...

I think, as a kid, I always imagined that they were truly orphans like in stories... abandoned at someone's doorstep as infants, and then raised together 'practically since birth' to be part of G-Force.

I can see the appeal there, the idea of them all being raised together from a very young age, especially as that means they wouldn't have any traumatic memories of losing their parents and they'd have very close ties, having always known each other. That would be a nice contrast to Gatch too, where Ken might have been with Dr. Nambu at age four (though his mother didn't die until he was eleven) but Joe certainly didn't show up until he was about age 9. Jinpei and Jun must have come later still, and I've generally assumed Ryu was last... The only catch -wouldn't Mark and Princess would feel like a "brother" and "sister" to each other, if they'd been raised together from very young ages? Can you grow up in the same household with someone that you know isn't your biological sibling and then develop romantic feelings for them? I wouldn't know, personally, but then, I think it could be possible. Probably depends a lot on how the 'parental figure(s)' raise and treat the children in question and how they explain the situation to them from young ages onward. Granted, this isn't something we'd likely have been contemplating as kids watching BOTP!

The 'Westermarck Effect' would be in play. It's why unrelated animals of different sexes, raised together, often will not mate. They see each other as siblings. This is why, in my AU, Princess was the first adopted, with Mark entering the family only after Cronus leaves him with Anderson. He knew Princess as the Chief's daughter, and sees Anderson as his guardian. (I've toyed with the idea that he spent some time in Dr. Harland's household, given some lines in that episode, and to explain how he knows Debbie.) Given that we know very little about Don Wade (such as the reason for his hatred of G-Force), we have to presume that Jason's actions are on behalf of Mamma Wade. Maybe, like Joe, he's feeling the lack of a mother figure. Or he's trying to spare her the shock of learning her son's a traitor. BTW, given her apparent age (she looks on the far side of 55), Don must have been born late in her life. Learning of his treachery would be even more cruel because of that. (Let's remember that BotP tended to treat defection as a mere peccadillo rather than the serious matter that it is. Both Dr. Carig and Don Wade are welcomed back to the fold rather than imprisoned, and I think that Dr. Strecker would have been treated the same way if the scriptwriters had been able to get him out of his exploding mecha.)

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Hard to say. I think that possibly G force differenciate between treason and betraying them personally. If Don gave away their identities, for example (and we have good reason to suspect he `hasnt`) then Jason would have killed him. Theres a lot more than this than meets the eye. Its obvious Dons version of morality involves finding out just who will give him the biggest chemistry set. His mind goes no further than that. And he `could` be still working for Chief Anderson. I can think of several reasons why the Chief would want someone working for Spectra.

random though... do we actually know that Don wrote the letter and flowers...???? or could Jason have done it on his own? or someone else? thus diverting attention away from the fact that Don would not be coming back for a while and Jason was just the delivery person (one would think that with more sophisticated surveillance and 7zark7 they would be keeping an eye on Don's mother and anyone who came near her)

Originally posted by Tengu And he `could` be still working for Chief Anderson. I can think of several reasons why the Chief would want someone working for Spectra.

Oh wow, now there's an interesting idea -Don was really a "double agent," only pretending to quit G-Force and defect to Spectra in order to pull off an intelligence-gathering mission on their scientific developments and no one knew this except Chief Anderson...

Originally posted by littlewolf do we actually know that Don wrote the letter and flowers...???? or could Jason have done it on his own?

It's my hunch that Jason did it all.

Originally posted by lborgia88 Oh wow, now there's an interesting idea -Don was really a "double agent," only pretending to quit G-Force and defect to Spectra in order to pull off an intelligence-gathering mission on their scientific developments and no one knew this except Chief Anderson...

Of course, then the Chief s hiding that from the Team as well... not the first time he's held back information from them.

That's an interesting idea and fic fodder.