jack/ianto, fandom, monogamy, work/life balance &c

[pogrebin]

As a side-effect of mainlining a lot of Torchwood fic, I started to Think Thoughts. Consider this my bitchy and obvious letter to fandom, which probably won't apply to anyone reading on the old flist, but you might recognise some of my small frustrations. Oh, and there's nothing here that hasn't been said before and better by other people

Comments

[pogrebin]

Hee. Well hello there, it's good to meet you!

Oh, man. I'm a terrible masochist with my fic reading. I like to read the good stuff, but occasionally I just can't stop myself from reading the terrible fic and spending the entire time crying on the inside. It's the same urge that makes me obsessively watch Fox TV, I think.

And, woo, I'm glad that I made some kind of sense. :D I really have to put together a list of the fics that I actually like in fandom, I have a feeling that would illustrate what I think about Jack/Ianto so much better than meta!

[pogrebin]

Yeah, I tend to go with recommendations' lists by people I already know as a way in. But torchwood_house has impressed me-- they've got a good archive, and a lot of the fic they link to works for me.

And of course I don't mind linkage! I've friended you, if that's all right. Always happy to add more Torchwood fans to the list-- I'm very new to Torchwood and its messy joys!

Re: Jack and Ianto picking up a third. Oh yes. Heh, I wish you all the very best with playing around with it-- do link me up if you guys post publicly. :D

I do believe I can remember a fic with this in it-- ah, it's I Had No Idea I Had Been Travelling. If you haven't read it-- one of the chapters deals with this scenario. It's described as character development through sex, which it really is. Lots of kinky issues, and it makes Jack/Ianto work in a way that isn't my version, but still worked for me.

[mahkia]

THIS. All of it. I kind of want to have kinky avant-garde sex with you now. Kind of. >_>

[pogrebin]

Hee. We should do it for fandom if nothing else!

[mahkia]

Jack and Ianto would want us to. *nods sagely*

[pogrebin]

There has to be some kind of rule about this somewhere. Every time two Torchwood fangirls shag, an angel gets hit on by Jack Harkness Jack and Ianto get to have a threesome.

:D

[bentley]

Well, the alternative is Iack, which sounds like it needs to be followed with she screamed in disgust.

Also: YES, THIS. Though I'd debate re: your first point that Jack's quick "strictly business" and Ianto's unimpressedness with that in the S4 finale eps (forgive me, I can't remember the episode title or exact quote) puts up a good argument for Ianto having set some rules; or for being jealous - and then dealing maturely with it. I mean what I love about their relationship and the fact that there is so much contradicting subtext depending on who's writing the scripts any given day is that you can essentially make anything from it.

So tell me, tell me, tell me you've read rm and kalichan's infamous epic, I Had No Idea I Had Been Travelling. Which you know, encapsulates these things and more, and sets an impossible bar for the rest of us.

[bentley]

Oh look, you recced it up there, how silly of me. :) But honestly I could talk about that fic for hours.

[pogrebin]

I have to admit I'm not really a fan of this frankenword approach to ship naming. I think it shows my fandom age. I come from a time when there were ship names, and there were captains, and we were all dreadfully literal. (You so know early HP fandom would have just called them 'Coffee and Stopwatches' and have done with it.) Well, I pretty much loathed that as well, so. :D

Oh, yes, I think it's kind of all bets are a bit off post-Exit Wounds. At least for a good while, I think the three of T3 (plus Rhys) are probably going to end up completely stuck to each other. And prompting a change in their relationship/rules. (And, as you say, you can totally read it as Ianto saying 'you met a soldier in a bar' or 'you met a soldier in a bar without me' or 'you met a soldier in a bar on torchwood time, in the midst of an apocalypse? Really, sir, do we have to have that conversation again? They are so sparing with their glimpses into the functioning of their relationship, that it's sort of straddled halfway between canon and fanon slash, isn't

[mahkia]

And, as you say, you can totally read it as Ianto saying 'you met a soldier in a bar' or 'you met a soldier in a bar without me' or 'you met a soldier in a bar on torchwood time, in the midst of an apocalypse? Really, sir, do we have to have that conversation again?

Oh god, this. XD All of it. I LOVE that about Jack/Ianto. You just don't know, because there's too many options. Even still, far too many people are doing it wrong, and I say this on a very wide spectrum.

[elfiepike]

poly-friendliness FTW! seriously. c'mon, fandom, make it happen.

[pogrebin]

I know, man. We believe in you, Torchwood fangirls!

[flats]

If only I was in this (any) fandom so I could understand what you've written! It sounds immensely interesting (skeptical as I am about the actual workability of poly) and it'd be nice if I knew the telly show in question to be able to follow what you say more deeply.

My friends were taking the piss out of me last night for living without a TV and therefore having these massive massive gaps in my popculture knowledge. Is true, and makes me seem a little improperly socialised ;)

[pogrebin]

Heh, I have the inverse of the same experience. I'm so super-saturated TV wise that I'm constantly drawing comparisons and making references that other people just don't get. I'm constantly mocked by friends for my telly geekery. That show that you've thought about watching? I've got the boxset.

But- hm, if you're interested in Torchwood but not in watching the TV, here's an excellent Primer for Torchwood fanfic which assumes you haven't seen the show, and lots of links there that give you pretty much all the background you need. Fair warning: it might sucker you in. Torchwood: come for the canon man-on-man, stay for the zombies, sigh. To give you some sense of my love-hate-oh my gof why, I imagine Torchwood: epic fail is one of my favourite fandom things.