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tarotgalTitle: Gift for Lady Korana
Author: tarotgal
Fandom: Torchwood (set after Doctor Who Season 4 but before Children of Earth)
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: Not my world or characters; just my story. Written for fun, not for money.
Summary: Ianto has a cold, a fact that barely registers with Jack as they’ve got more important matters to deal with.
Author’s Notes: I can’t even begin to apologize for this being so very late. I hope it’s worth the wait! Written as a holiday (2007?) gift for Lady Korana.
Story: http://tgsrealm.beastlet.com/stories/GiftLadyKoranaTW1.html
Okay, so I really need to learn how to write Torchwood fic without plots. I still think my plots are massive fails. And I keep trying to just write proper PWP but they never turn out the way I want-- the bad plots sneak in when I'm not looking! I actually hated parts of this during draft 1. I'm not super happy with it now several revisions later, but there are parts I do love (and I like more than I dislike) and you've waited a lot time for this. So I hope you can overlook its weaknesses and focus on the sniffly, sneezy, angsty Ianto boy instead :-) I hope you enjoy it!
Author: tarotgal
Fandom: Torchwood (set after Doctor Who Season 4 but before Children of Earth)
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: Not my world or characters; just my story. Written for fun, not for money.
Summary: Ianto has a cold, a fact that barely registers with Jack as they’ve got more important matters to deal with.
Author’s Notes: I can’t even begin to apologize for this being so very late. I hope it’s worth the wait! Written as a holiday (2007?) gift for Lady Korana.
Story: http://tgsrealm.beastlet.com/stories/GiftLadyKoranaTW1.html
Okay, so I really need to learn how to write Torchwood fic without plots. I still think my plots are massive fails. And I keep trying to just write proper PWP but they never turn out the way I want-- the bad plots sneak in when I'm not looking! I actually hated parts of this during draft 1. I'm not super happy with it now several revisions later, but there are parts I do love (and I like more than I dislike) and you've waited a lot time for this. So I hope you can overlook its weaknesses and focus on the sniffly, sneezy, angsty Ianto boy instead :-) I hope you enjoy it!
no subject
Date: 2009-10-18 04:24 pm (UTC)Jack needs a swift kick in the backside! At first I thought he was being distant because the illness might remind him of Ianto's mortality, but this seemed to go beyond that. If he were just ignoring it, the least he can do is still be his normal flirty self, but he just came across so cold. By the end, I understand his motivation, but I sure don't agree with him here. Boy does he owe Ianto a heap of comfort, though he does seem rather eager to deliver it, (or comfort sex, at the very least *G*). Wish I could be there to watch it all...
Thank goodness Gwen was so sweet. I really love Ianto-Gwen friendship. Go Team Wales! I am especially fond of Gwen being slightly mothering toward Ianto. Recent audio plays and books really back this up here, with her often calling him 'Sweetheart', saving his semi-conscious arse at least twice, and wrapping him up in a blanket to warm him once. Great stuff. So glad to see it reflected here as well, even if you haven't been exposed to nearly the amount of extras I have.
No worries needed about the plot. It was more than adequate to hang the story on. Just enough info to create a sense of importance about the mission without bogging the fic down with too many nitpicky details about the technology or motivations. A very typical Whoniverse approach, actually. I've seen DW eps based on far less believable stuff. New New New New etc. York and comes to mind. (They really have every single disease? Let's cure them by mixing all the IV bags together and then spraying it and transmitting the cure by touch. My pharmacist self says NO WAY!) :-)
Oh, and I think this had to be the 2008 request. I didn't fall hard for TW until about spring 2008 when I did a season 2 marathon with sirenprincess so I could be caught up and download Fragments and Exit Wounds when they aired in the UK. So this isn't all that terribly late, all things considered. *G*
In conclusion, THANK YOU! *hugs*
no subject
Date: 2009-10-19 04:42 am (UTC)*EG* So... you liked him here then? ;-) heehee Yay.
*skips replying to your Jack comments, because I've read your other second read post*
Boy does he owe Ianto a heap of comfort, though he does seem rather eager to deliver it, (or comfort sex, at the very least *G*). Wish I could be there to watch it all...
Oh absolutely. Remember, you've still got that ficlet you won from me coming. (Um, it's 6+ pages right now... so not quite a ficlet any more- darn bunny! LOL)
Go Team Wales!
LOL! Love that!
No worries needed about the plot. It was more than adequate to hang the story on. Just enough info to create a sense of importance about the mission without bogging the fic down with too many nitpicky details about the technology or motivations. A very typical Whoniverse approach, actually.
Thanks! I was so terribly annoyed with it for a while. I'm glad you thought it got the job done. I figured if anything didn't come through plot-wise, it was because Ianto wasn't really 100% on his game.
I've seen DW eps based on far less believable stuff. New New New New etc. York and comes to mind. (They really have every single disease? Let's cure them by mixing all the IV bags together and then spraying it and transmitting the cure by touch. My pharmacist self says NO WAY!) :-)
Wha?? I know practically nothing... but even I know that's not going to work. Pffft!
Oh, and I think this had to be the 2008 request.
Well, here's the thing. In 2008 I asked people with outstanding requests if they wanted to revise their requests. So technically I think it is the fic I would have written for 2007, just with a new bunny in place of LotR in 2008, and finally written in 2009.
And in conclusion, I'm glad you liked it! *is relieved*
no subject
Date: 2009-10-20 05:28 pm (UTC)It's the first ep of DW Series 2, 'New Earth', with the hospital Cassandra and the Face of Boe (side note: after CoE and a certain heartbreaking Face of Boe fic written post-CoE, I can't watch Face of Boe stuff without wanting to cry now.) and the cat nurses. Interesting tidbit: they filed the 'cure' scene in the lobby of the Millennium Centre and I was thinking about that ep when I was there. And then thinking of Saxon as I walked up the same stairs he and his wife walked down in 'The Sound of Drums' on our way to our balcony seats for "The Sound of Music". One of these days I need to upload some pics from that trip...or anything at all off my memory cards, actually. *G*
In 2008 I asked people with outstanding requests if they wanted to revise their request.
Oh yeah, I remember that now!
no subject
Date: 2009-10-18 04:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-19 03:31 am (UTC)I'm glad it seemed realistic-- I hope it means the details weren't too much/too overpowering compared to the rest of the story.
But, yeah, I went on the rail website and looked at a bunch of different routes. I decided Liverpool was a good spot (it's close to a coast and it's well-known so there would be lots of options for a guy on the run there). I found a route to Liverpool that had a change of trains. Those ARE the same train numbers that were given to me when I set up the itinerary online. Once I found out how long the train ride from Cardiff to Birmingham was, I used Google Maps to figure out how long the drive would be. I checked out some traffic sites to determine that, yeah, traffic getting into Birmingham would be better than traffic getting into Liverpool. So, yeah, it would have been a much better bet for them to try to apprehend the guy when he transferred trains.
The only thing I made up were the platform numbers. I tried to research the train station there in Birmingham. Apparently there are only a few National Rail platforms (3?) but I thought having the trains at platforms 1 & 2 would be too convenient. And I couldn't find an online layout of the station. So I just made that part up completely. Sorry it's not more realistic (anyone who's actually been to the Birmingham Snow Hill Station would laugh their arses off at this, I'm certain). But for the purposes of the story, I figured totally inventing the station and choosing platforms that may/may not exist or may/may not be near each other would be all right. No one would know but me. And now you. And everyone one else reading this. DOH!
no subject
Date: 2009-10-20 05:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-18 05:11 pm (UTC)On re-read, all the tiny things, like the glances and eye contact, practically jumped out at me. I way, way underestimated the SF aspect of this, possibly because I didn't see it coming on first readthrough and it made me feel slightly uncomfortable, though I'm not sure why. The second time through, knowing Jack's true motivation, the earlier little details slot into place for me. The moments of eye contact, brief glances, and the times where there is no mention of symptoms now frought with meaning.
Jack's driving seems more of a kindness than an act of expediency now; a chance at rest the best he could do for Ianto at the time. And I have a big thing for touching/kissing foreheads, so I kinda missed Jack's shoulder touch because Gwen was checking for fever. So sorry! I can't get over how different my second reading experience was from my first. Overexcited from the newness and overprotective of Ianto and angry at Jack vs. savoring the reread with foreknowledge. Wow. I feel like the world's biggest dunce, and like I didn't do justice to your hard work. So sorry! If anything, it was a fascinating lesson in emotional response shaping perception...
Btw, the end is pretty hot now. ;-)
no subject
Date: 2009-10-19 05:07 am (UTC)No sweat! Methinks Jack is too busy at the moment with Ianto to have noticed *G*
Maybe you just deserve extra kudos for making Ianto so miserable that I felt I had to defend him, hehe.
Well, *I* am sorry as a writer that I didn't make any of the hints stronger (massive fail). But I'm glad Ianto's misery came through-- poor boy.
On re-read, all the tiny things, like the glances and eye contact, practically jumped out at me. I way, way underestimated the SF aspect of this, possibly because I didn't see it coming on first readthrough and it made me feel slightly uncomfortable, though I'm not sure why. The second time through, knowing Jack's true motivation, the earlier little details slot into place for me. The moments of eye contact, brief glances, and the times where there is no mention of symptoms now frought with meaning.
It's a tough balance between Ianto's POV and hints. Maybe I should have thought about it a little better. You know what? I probably should have hinted that I got the entire idea for this from your bunny/idea about how Jack is "never too old to discover a new turn-on." I really like the idea of Jack with the fetish (and, like, a fetish for pretty much everything else as well, because that just makes sense for him).
Anyway, I'm glad that on the second readthrough it was less infuriating for you and things fell into place the way they were supposed to. I gotta imagine that if Jack had taken one good look at a sneezy Ianto... or placed his palm on Ianto's warm forehead... jack would have been powerless and the world would have shifted into an alternate dimension of chaos and destruction. Ianto is just THAT nummy, you know?
And I have a big thing for touching/kissing foreheads, so I kinda missed Jack's shoulder touch because Gwen was checking for fever.
*makes mental note* heehee And, yeah, understandable.
If anything, it was a fascinating lesson in emotional response shaping perception...
LOL! Well, as an author, it really helps to know how people respond and react to my words (helps me determine what works/doesn't work). It sort of feels like I was there, watching you read the story in front of me. But, seriously, don't feel sorry. It's probably my fault for not making it more clear. And the point is, you got it now and you read it twice! I'm so thrilled it got more than one read in the first place! *feels honored* Thanks :-) I'm glad you really enjoyed it in the end.
Btw, the end is pretty hot now. ;-)
Oh, I should hope so!
Now, the reason I had to finish this up before the ficlet, is because that story relies more heavily on the fact that Jack finds sneezey!Ianto as irresistible as the rest of us do. Except, that one isn't really a sequel, because it's set during series 2. But if I'd posted that one first, it would have spoiled this one completely.
Anyhoo, I should have the other one done sooner rather than later. I'm feeling a little stuck with the ending... but I'm sure something will come out and make it fall into place.
no subject
Date: 2009-10-20 05:51 pm (UTC)I'm trying to think of what else you could have done to foreshadow it without totally giving away the ending. Maybe a little twitch from Jack at the right moment or a tiny hint of lust in his eyes, suppressed so quickly Ianto thinks he misinterpreted it for something else. That's about all I've got.
LOL, there's very little I can't see Jack going for or trying out at least once. SF stuff is rather tame compared to some of the stuff TW writers have been coming up with lately. Remind me to link you to Omnijaxual when I'm not nearly falling asleep at the laptop. It's a fic challenge group devoted to Jack having sex with anything and everything as long as it's not human. I'm hoping for Jack/Jadzia Dax, personally. Two people with lifetimes worth of sexual knowledge of multiple genders and species. Or Jack/Legolas. That would just be really really pretty! *G*