Get Loved, Make More, Try to Stay Alive by dsudis (R)

[laughingacademy.livejournal.com]

Fandom: TORCHWOOD
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Length: 68,550 words, 8 chapters and an epilogue
Author on LJ: dsudis
Author Website: http://dira.ficlaundering.com/
Why this must be read:

Hello! I’m laughingacademy, and I’m thrilled that the mods were suckers kind enough to give me another opportunity to make some recs.

I am especially pleased that I get to write up this fic, described by its author as both “the Torchwood Epic of Ridiculousness and Doom” and “Less than 19% mpreg by volume”. Yes, mpreg, but don’t let that put you off — dsudis handles the situation with intelligence and humor, not only explaining how it happened, but finding a clever way around all that food cravings/morning sickness/swollen ankles nonsense.

Ultimately, the pregnancy is not the point, but the occasion for a rich, multifaceted story. It’s an exercise in world-building, a romance, a tragedy, and a comedy in the Shakespearean sense. And if that’s not enough to convince you, here’s a bit from the chapter in which Martha Jones and the Doctor get the news:

"So what was this news about our mutual friend, then? Not that it isn't lovely to meet you on general principle of course," the Doctor added, "but I'd have thought Jack would be doing the introducing if--he hasn't got himself into trouble, has he?"

That was what they used to call it, wasn't it? Getting a girl in trouble?

"Not... himself," Ianto managed. "Me."

[...] Finally, the Doctor turned and looked at Martha.

"I see why you called me," he said. "You know what this means?"

Martha nodded, her mouth a tight line. Ianto restrained the urge to run. They weren't looking at him, he shouldn’t draw their attention by moving.

"It means," Martha said slowly, holding the Doctor's gaze, "that at some point in the future, Captain Jack Harkness--"

"Our Jack," the Doctor said, and but for a cracked octave of pitch he could have been any of the mums or grans in the street where Ianto had grown up, speaking possessively of a favorite lad they'd known since he was in nappies.

Martha grinned suddenly, looking to Ianto and then back to the Doctor. "Our Jack is going to have a baby, tell me you don't want to see that! Jack! And a baby!"

I can think of few better ways of starting a new year than by reading this paean to life with all its pains and possibilities.

Get Loved, Make More, Try to Stay Alive

Comments

[merelyn.livejournal.com]

Excellent rec! This one is basically a masterpiece. :)

[seraphim-12.livejournal.com]

bloody brilliant rec, loved it to pieces, thank you!

[simplystars.livejournal.com]

This fic got me into Torchwood - and I hadn't even seen one episode when I read it. So freaking brilliant.