Fic: The Spectacular Catastrophe of Your Endless Childhood [Part 2]

[kalichan]

Title: The Spectacular Catastrophe of Your Endless Childhood
Pairing/Characters: Ianto [Ianto/OFCs, Ianto/Lisa]
Authors: rm & kalichan
Rating/Warning: NC-17, het, pre-slash
Summary: The early education and adventures of Ianto Jones.
Wordcount: ~11,000 [posted in 2 parts]
Authors' Note: This is a prequel to our Jack/Ianto series, I Had No Idea I Had Been

Comments

[rm]

Yes yes yes yes yes yes.

Hi, sorry. But yes! This is actually something Kali and I have talked about a lot, because one of our gripes at the fandom has been this whole thing of peopel bitching about GDL's weight and whatever, and we got to talking about it in terms of Ianto, and I was like, "God, I think Jack absolutely adores the more solid version of him" and I can't even tell you where that comes from in our heads entirely -- part of it is surely our own preferences, and part of it is just our gut instincts about Jack and his sensuality, but I think there's also something to be said for this idea that Jack likes compatriots, comrades in arms, not little, miserable, starving boys.

Like I think he must have thought Ianto was quite fetching right off, but after the Lisa thing comes to light, it's like Christ, the kid wasn't eating or sleeping. Ianto who steps up to take care of himself and choose to exist in the world is a very sexy thing.

Oh, and this will be coming up as a mention in one of these final installments. It's been important to us for a while to have Jack address this and really have this sort of hot/uncomfortable moment of discussing flesh in a way that's rather at odds with our current century -- both in terms of body ideals, but also in terms of how men can be complimented.

[fmanalyst]

It's the old line about seeing the boy inside the man, but from the other direction: seeing the man emerge from the boy. And one could get the sense that Jack has become accustomed to watching this process of maturation and finds it very sexy. I'm reminded of the scene from KKBB with Captain John here. Marsters may be shorter and leaner than Barrowman, but his presence is just as solid, and so the kiss and then fight is a meeting of equals, which is a big part of what makes that scene so sexy. Two powerful forces meeting.

I think that's also part of why the relationship between Jack and Tosh is the way it is. Naoko Mori is shorter and slighter, and Tosh's personality is much less confident. Because she doesn't have the solidity or gravitas to meet him, she's under his arm, under his care, rather than an equal.

One of my favorite installments in your series is the one set after Lost Souls. The scene where Jack and Gwen talk about her not having been willing to step up and take him is so important. Jack is the kind of man who is expected to take things and people, but what he seems to really want is to be taken himself. A beta male trapped in the role of an alpha male. One interesting fic that explores this aspect of Jack is a crossover with the US Queer as Folk which pairs him with Brian Kinney, which gives Jack the opportunity to yield to another alpha male without having to lose face within his own group.

[rm]

I have (and I think Kali has too) totally read that fic. Jack's also got a sweetness to him Brian doesn't, and whether that connects to the alpha/beta thing it's hard to say, but it's an interesting pairing.

I'm also really fascinated by Tosh's dynamic with both Jack and Ianto (I'd love to read some good Ianto/Tosh fic, I think). I tend to think her friendship with Jack is actually pretty complicated and private, just because of the whole UNIT prison thing and her nature in general.

[fmanalyst]

I've read a fair amount of Ianto/Tosh fic, but none jump out to me as particularly strong. The best one I can think of (I can't think of any titles at the moment) has them working together after Countrycide to train at getting their hands free from various kinds of bindings, culminating in the scene from Meat. Another has Jack assigning Tosh to train Ianto as a technician around the time that Gwen was hired. Oh, it's Geek Gifts by adina_atl.

I think I'm going to start doing fic recs from a literary point of view on my lj. It'll probably turn into a procrastination tool after my sabbatical starts next semester. (I'm planning a project that relates fan work to narrative theory.)

[fmanalyst]

Wait, there's actually another one besides Geek Gifts that I was thinking of. I'm going to have to find that again.

[kalichan]

I think about the Jack - Brian Kinney parallels a lot actually; although they're quite different in affect, there's something about the two characters that seems similar; I wonder if it's the influence of RTD on the two shows.

I think I'm going to start doing fic recs from a literary point of view on my lj. It'll probably turn into a procrastination tool after my sabbatical starts next semester. (I'm planning a project that relates fan work to narrative theory.)

How very cool. I'm writing my dissertation currently (theoretically, very, very theoretically; my procrastinating powers are mighty), and it's ended up being a lot about fan work and narrative. I'll look forward to your fic recs.

A beta male trapped in the role of an alpha male.

I think that's very interesting, and very true. Jack, to me, is fascinating because he is coded so aggressively, and yet often responds in ways that we often think of as feminine. There's absolutely no way in which he couldn't be considered badass, but at the same time, his flirtation is so very "come-hither." I find the construction of masculinity implied to be quite daring.