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I'm having a Jack/Ianto day because they continue to make me stupidly happy. Why? I could not even tell you, but they do. Staying happy poses some challenges though, given my issues with OTPs in general and OTPs when one half of the couple is immortal or long-lived and the other is not. But it is okay because I have strategies!
The first is a denial based focus on the here and now. If you never think beyond the present, there is no need to address the various uncomfortable questions that would leave me going 'aw crap, now I have to make them break up' in my head. This requires avoiding or ignoring any discussion or fic set beyond the limited time frame of the current show and a ten year window or so. This is a good on the fly method, but doesn't stand up for too long because I'm me and I tend to think way too much about these things.
The second is to somehow make Ianto immortal himself. Time Lord, freak accident with an alien device, secretly an alien himself, whatever...between fic and my own brain the possibilities are endless. No more immortal/mortal issues, yay! Er...except this has the unintended side effect of breaking them up in my head anyway on account of I just can't bring myself to believe anyone could stay together for an actual literal forever without getting sick of each other. Under this scenario the best I can do is that they go off and live separate lives and loves and adventures and get back together once every couple hundred years or so for more time together before splitting up again until next time, which would be awesome, but loses the kind of intensity that tends to draw me to the immortal/mortal kind of pairing in the first place.
Which leaves me with...and I'm sure no one will be even remotely surprised...the OT3, baby. If Ianto has a partner he can share the human experiences that he can't with Jack, then he doesn't have to sacrifice them, or his own life, to choose be with Jack long term as well. If the third is someone they both have an equally strong relationship with then everybody wins! Well, it still sort of sucks for Jack who gets left behind in the end no matter what, but that is pretty much unavoidable. But I do so love the idea of Ianto being able to change and grow older as a shared experience that Jack still gets to be a part of in a non-destructive way for both of them. The OT3 is a magic thing, yes it is.
The first is a denial based focus on the here and now. If you never think beyond the present, there is no need to address the various uncomfortable questions that would leave me going 'aw crap, now I have to make them break up' in my head. This requires avoiding or ignoring any discussion or fic set beyond the limited time frame of the current show and a ten year window or so. This is a good on the fly method, but doesn't stand up for too long because I'm me and I tend to think way too much about these things.
The second is to somehow make Ianto immortal himself. Time Lord, freak accident with an alien device, secretly an alien himself, whatever...between fic and my own brain the possibilities are endless. No more immortal/mortal issues, yay! Er...except this has the unintended side effect of breaking them up in my head anyway on account of I just can't bring myself to believe anyone could stay together for an actual literal forever without getting sick of each other. Under this scenario the best I can do is that they go off and live separate lives and loves and adventures and get back together once every couple hundred years or so for more time together before splitting up again until next time, which would be awesome, but loses the kind of intensity that tends to draw me to the immortal/mortal kind of pairing in the first place.
Which leaves me with...and I'm sure no one will be even remotely surprised...the OT3, baby. If Ianto has a partner he can share the human experiences that he can't with Jack, then he doesn't have to sacrifice them, or his own life, to choose be with Jack long term as well. If the third is someone they both have an equally strong relationship with then everybody wins! Well, it still sort of sucks for Jack who gets left behind in the end no matter what, but that is pretty much unavoidable. But I do so love the idea of Ianto being able to change and grow older as a shared experience that Jack still gets to be a part of in a non-destructive way for both of them. The OT3 is a magic thing, yes it is.
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