Danse Macabre, Jack/Ianto (NC-17)

[valderys]

Title: Danse Macabre
Author: valderys
Recipient: maharetr
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 7,640
Notes: Written for the apocalyptothon. Some spoilers for Torchwood season 2. Prompt was for ‘An On The Beach-style final days’.
Summary: A day in the very ordinary life of Ianto Jones.

Comments

[etharei]

This? Is genius. Absolutely brilliant. Reminiscent of those horror films where everything starts out normal, and then the camera zooms out little by little and shows how things have changed. A great idea and masterful execution, and the pacing is perfect for the style.

The sex is scorching hot, too :D

I also love the conversation with Jack at the end. 'Tis very true, wars and conflicts get a lot of attention while epidemics don't, even when the latter can cause more death. 'S not exciting if there aren't explosions, apparently.

Most of all I love your Ianto; consistently in-character, and an absolute hero in a way that people can only be in a prolonged crisis. The relationship between him and Jack is also very clear and solid, without being expounded upon needlessly.

Great job, I'm adding this to my memories!

[valderys]

Horror, but gentle horror, I hope? :) I certainly intended it that way, deliberately because that's the style that 'On the Beach' is written in.

Ianto is a hero, of course he is, but I reckon if he gets infected, suddenly Jack will have a stonking great motive for sorting the plague out! (Actually, in thinking about that, I bet Jack would freeze Ianto with their cryo-freezing unit until there was a cure. Hmm... There's a different fic entirely in there, isn't there? Must make a note... :)

[misswinterhill]

This was so well written - the descriptions, the gentle revelation of the horrible truth, the matter of fact way that life continues. The present tense worked so well to bring me right into the moment of the story! Thanks for posting it.

[valderys]

I like writing present tense - I find I often start a fic in past tense and then I realise I've switched over sometime in the middle - it's a real bugger if I don't notice straight away. And then I look at all the tenses jumbled up together and get completely confused! Thanks for reading!

[hab318princess]

Oh, wow, that was just fantastic!

Felt so real, as if we were walking alongside Ianto.

Beautiful

[valderys]

'Walking with Torchwood'... Ahem. That would be an interesting wildlife programme :)

[hab318princess]

Well, Jack has eaten dinosaur (so he claims), maybe we'll get some hunting tips!

I can just hear David Attenborough on the 'mating rituals' of the Torchwood male. "Here he is with his offering of coffee, picking up the deliberately dropped reports, showing off..."

OK, sorry, too much of an imagination!

[eternalwings]

Dark, beautifully paced and fantastic detail. Loved it.

[valderys]

That's lovely of you! Thank you!

[clarrisani]

Now this is a perfect example of a fan fic done right. Well done. I love how you've structured everything and had the build up to the scene between Jack and Ianto at the end, and entwining it with the discussion about the new disease and the Spanish Flu. It all works so well.

I'd love to know what happens next and if they ever do find a way to combat it. So... any chance we'll get to find out, or is that up to our own imaginations?

[valderys]

Ah, I think the reveal has already happened, really. If I try to add anything, it won't work, at least in my mind. I'd rather leave it all to folk's imaginations! :)

I'm glad you liked the structure, I was a bit unsure that the exposition at the end was a bit clumsy, but the fic was already at 7,000 words and I needed to finish it somewhere! :)