So sorry for ranting on, but I had a few specifics I wanted to praise as well (see, nice excuse, isn't it?). The lifespan of Jack as you describe it is brilliant, also the discussion of it in comments. I really like what was said about the lack of one true love forever not actually diminishing the emotions. Even if Jack loved Ianto as much as any human being can possibly love another, this would fade with time and he would find love as strong again and again. A lot of readers (including myself) and writers I think struggle with this fact. It is simply hard to accept because the lifespan of Jack is hard to really accept. Relationships can never carry the same relative weight in the big picture for him as they do for us and a lot of people tend to think that means everything weighs less for Jack even in non relative terms, which I can't and don't want to believe. Romantics sometimes want to fix this by giving Ianto enormous, extra special, weight in Jacks life, but that is completely unrealistic. Jack had his whole existence altered by Rose and the Doctor and I'm not sure even they will amount to the relative importance of normal persons partner in a solid, long term relationship.
I could write a novel here so I'll just mention one last thing: the interaction between Ianto and Gwen is amazing! I have never liked Gwen in fiction as much as I do here. I tend to either find she is glorified and made out to be the only character capable of compassion and emotions not completely centered around herself (they are all emotional people damn it, not cybermen in need of Gwen's reprogramming! Sorry, off topic) or bashed beyond recognition. You write her as likable and annoying, insightful and yet stuck in her own views of what is a happy relationship. Something was said in the comments about Gwen's power to make people open up. I find that interesting but I'm not sure I agree. I think Gwen's ability is really to ask the right questions, I don't think Ianto reveals anything to her that he would not be willing to say to anyone else if they sought the information. That is not opening up in my opinion, he shared something, but he didn't talk because he felt he had to or because he thought it would make him feel better, he explained to her the circumstances which she misunderstood. I found in a way that the whole conversation turned 180 degrees around from what she intended with it. She was certainly curious, even nosy, but she came from a caring place - she wanted to help. Instead Ianto tried to tech her something about life at torchwood, not helping her per se, but he was the one to offer insight. Their different views on relationships is extremely in character and I think you pegged for me the importance of Gwen, in TW the organisation and the TV series. She offers a perspective they have lost track of, a point of view they no longer have since their lives have been swallowed by TW. Yes, she offers empathy and a caring heart, but I don't actually think TW was lacking that before, just the initiative to act on it. She is not, as sometimes seen in fandom, a selfish sanctimonious bitch or a martyr or a saint, she is a caring human being with very strong feelings about the right to normality and "fairness" (meaning happiness to her) - for TW employees, victims and innocent bystanders. I feel that when I watch TW, this was maybe the fist time I really did while reading fic.
Lastly, Ianto's view about the lack of "playing house" with Jack is brilliant. That is not who they are and it doesn't seem they ever could be, but they can still be happy, and in love. The inner struggle of not wanting more than he can have is great. He wants what he already has with Jack, doesn't want it to change in that way, but maybe he can't quite silence the subconscious part of him that is still holding on to the domestic fantasy. Hope is tricky, wonderful and dangerous. I keep coming back to that in this series, for all of the characters. There are lots of underlying themes and I'm not sure that one was entirely intentional, but that really gets to me...
Ok, so maybe I wrote that novel after all. Are you still awake? Thanks for the story and for (hopefully) putting up with my rambling!
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I could write a novel here so I'll just mention one last thing: the interaction between Ianto and Gwen is amazing! I have never liked Gwen in fiction as much as I do here. I tend to either find she is glorified and made out to be the only character capable of compassion and emotions not completely centered around herself (they are all emotional people damn it, not cybermen in need of Gwen's reprogramming! Sorry, off topic) or bashed beyond recognition. You write her as likable and annoying, insightful and yet stuck in her own views of what is a happy relationship. Something was said in the comments about Gwen's power to make people open up. I find that interesting but I'm not sure I agree. I think Gwen's ability is really to ask the right questions, I don't think Ianto reveals anything to her that he would not be willing to say to anyone else if they sought the information. That is not opening up in my opinion, he shared something, but he didn't talk because he felt he had to or because he thought it would make him feel better, he explained to her the circumstances which she misunderstood. I found in a way that the whole conversation turned 180 degrees around from what she intended with it. She was certainly curious, even nosy, but she came from a caring place - she wanted to help. Instead Ianto tried to tech her something about life at torchwood, not helping her per se, but he was the one to offer insight. Their different views on relationships is extremely in character and I think you pegged for me the importance of Gwen, in TW the organisation and the TV series. She offers a perspective they have lost track of, a point of view they no longer have since their lives have been swallowed by TW. Yes, she offers empathy and a caring heart, but I don't actually think TW was lacking that before, just the initiative to act on it. She is not, as sometimes seen in fandom, a selfish sanctimonious bitch or a martyr or a saint, she is a caring human being with very strong feelings about the right to normality and "fairness" (meaning happiness to her) - for TW employees, victims and innocent bystanders. I feel that when I watch TW, this was maybe the fist time I really did while reading fic.
Lastly, Ianto's view about the lack of "playing house" with Jack is brilliant. That is not who they are and it doesn't seem they ever could be, but they can still be happy, and in love. The inner struggle of not wanting more than he can have is great. He wants what he already has with Jack, doesn't want it to change in that way, but maybe he can't quite silence the subconscious part of him that is still holding on to the domestic fantasy. Hope is tricky, wonderful and dangerous. I keep coming back to that in this series, for all of the characters. There are lots of underlying themes and I'm not sure that one was entirely intentional, but that really gets to me...
Ok, so maybe I wrote that novel after all. Are you still awake? Thanks for the story and for (hopefully) putting up with my rambling!