Meta, IHNIIHBT, fanfiction, and astounding levels of WOW

[fictional]

I just have to say that the levels of dialogue we've been able to have during and after the posting of IHNIIHBT -- about Torchwood, about Doctor Who, about canon, about writing, about characters, about sexual politics, about fanfiction and stories themselves -- have utterly astounded us.

It's been fun, it's been illuminating... to steal a word, it's been grand. We are very grateful!

And now this: neifile7 has written Sex, Lies and Storytelling, a meditation on our story, but also the nature of fanfic, and fanfic in this fandom specifically. Please do go and read it, if you have a moment. Or several moments; it's detailed, beautifully organized and written, thoughtful and really, really insightful. Not just about our story -- and I hasten to add that I'm not just telling you to read it just because it's complimentary (although it is, which in the interests of full disclosure, does induce a great deal a fair amount of squee in me) -- but also about timeframe & fiction, and the possibilities of fanfic: the form itself, as well as how it is disseminated and produced.

I hope to talk to some of you about some of these things in comments there.

It's moments like this that make me feel really happy about fandom. Happy that it exists, and even happier to be a part of it! Y'all are awesome.

Comments

[lefaym.livejournal.com]

Thanks for linking there-- that was indeed a wonderful, clearly written essay.

I am still tearing up, btw, when I think of Ianto's note and the "better than coins" line. *wibble*

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's quite mindboggling to think of someone doing this level of critique on our work. Like... wow.

*wibbles back* our next two pieces are going to be happier, I think. Killing him was so hard, but as Rach and I were saying to each other as we wrote, even though the story started in Series 2 -- it began with Ianto killing Jack, and had to end, sort of, in reverse. Because it was the story of Ianto's life. If that makes sense.

[rm.livejournal.com]

You have to tell people what's up after Jenny!

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

Shouldn't we wait till... we're actually done or approaching done with Jenny? So as not to be too much of a cocktease?

[rm.livejournal.com]

naaaaaaah. Especialyl since some people are all squeemish about Jenny.

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

Okay. I'll post about it when I get home tonight.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I cosplay Jack, and you're telling me not to.... never mind.

[natalief.livejournal.com]

*smiles*

[lefaym.livejournal.com]

Although you didn't really kill him-- you just acknowledged his mortality, and that he would die (probably soon). We don't even know that Jack read the note-- as Ianto acknowledges, it could have been lost, or destroyed, or something else. We just know that he is going to die-- which we always knew, but you bring his mortality into such sharp focus that we can't hide from it.

But yes, it defintiely still has that symmetry, Jack's temporary death vs. Ianto's eternal one-- and indeed your choice to not tell us how he died makes it seem all the more eternal-- it's not something you can pin down, or express in something so finite as words.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Well, I for one really hope Jack got the note, because he's so pissed in the Boe story that Ianto didn't leave a note. I mean, that's why Ianto wrote it. jack's been bitching at him about that for like two years at this point.

[lefaym.livejournal.com]

Well I hope he read it too, because it's so horrible to contemplate him not getting it. But then I think about Jack reading it, and that's horrible too. D: (Horrible in the best way, of course.)

I also hope Ianto got his lush burial site.

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

I also hope Ianto got his lush burial site.

All will be revealed.

[neifile7.livejournal.com]

Ummm...will this be in the DVD extras?

If Ianto didn't get his lush burial site, I propose a fan competition for a "Cenotaph to Ianto." Kind of like Boullée's Newton Cenotaph, only, you know, buildable. And less classical mechanics, more alien tech.

(Thanks for the linky; we're getting some fun comments over there.)

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

Ummm...will this be in the DVD extras?

Yes.

If Ianto didn't get his lush burial site, I propose a fan competition for a "Cenotaph to Ianto." Kind of like Boullée's Newton Cenotaph, only, you know, buildable. And less classical mechanics, more alien tech.

That actually sounds... fun? *ponders*

[demotu.livejournal.com]

I need to reread the whole thing in one go. I've reread the parts many times, but never yet straight through.

I also want to print it off and bind it. The only way to bind I know is Japanese bookbinding, so I wouldn't look like a normal book but I think it might be an easy way to do a layout for. I'd have to figure out a cover, though.

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

You know, I have taken at least two courses in bookbinding, but I am still super shaky on it. I don't know why.

[chiara7.livejournal.com]

The story deserves every bit of intelligent squee it gets. Anya did a lot of us a favor with her essay, because I think we're still mostly too awestruck to be very coherent. Hope it keeps the discussion going.

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm really enjoying a chance to get to talk about some of this stuff! And you were plenty coherent in comments! *grins*