squash writes things

[Insert appropriate greeting] Barricade Day to you all. Here’s a little, er, early barricade cheer for our fandom holiday. ;) 

Hey, look! It’s a comic about someone who lived! For a change! That’s good, isn’t it? ……. ;) Anyway, this exists because of something @pilferingapples​ once wrote about how it was upsetting her that Marius was stuck in recovery for so long, by the time he was back up and running, “everyone else is long buried […] (bodies, June heat, etc) […] and after six months, surely everyone’s families/friends/etc would have been through their houses and cleaned up and cleared out personal belongings; landlords aren’t going to keep a tenant’s room as  memorial. […] The Amis aren’t just dead, from Marius’ POV; they’ve been erased.” And such a soulful, poignant lament simply begs to be illustrated, does it not? [Pilferingapples, I don’t know whether to use “credit” or “blame” in attributing this to you… ;) Take your pick!]

[Mind you, this is still probably a nicer alternative to what I’d originally had planned, before I changed my mind a little over two weeks ago… Which is not to say that it’ll never see the light of day either…]

Also - gasp! - Cosette openly displaying affection in public? The scandal! You will forgive me my artistic licence - I’d have drawn them in the privacy of their own garden, only it wouldn’t been as dramatic as having the Luxembourg for a backdrop. (And on that note, I couldn’t find enough information on what the gardens looked like back in the day - save that the statues came later -, so you will please pretend with me that it’s well, whatever I drew it to be, LOL).

Technical note: In case you were wondering about the weird size of page 3, it’s that way because, if it had been printed out, the page would’ve been rotated 90 degrees anti-clockwise.

[Yup, drew my fingers half off. Again. What was it you said again, Pilf? “You are an Icarus flying too close to the sun on wings of ambition and highly questionable time management XD”… Er. Yeah. At least I get a little credit for managing to finish it by 5th June this year? Heheh.] —————————————————-

So I’ve been intrigued by the death of Le Cabuc for a while now. Back in 2013 Murf and I had a brief meta conversation about him that was mostly about his identity as Claquesous and the metaphor of his death paralleling his existence as a member of Patron-Minette. But in my most recent re-read I’ve become really interested in the tense change during Le Cabuc’s actions at the barricade. Nowhere else in the novel is there a switch to the present tense that describes a current action (there are a few passages which switch to the present tense in which the viewer is presented with a past scene to imagine rather than a scene currently happening).

In doing some googling (since my knowledge of French consists of one semester in uni before I switched to German), I get the impression that French tense usage is different from English tense usage, and that present tense is often used in historical or journalistic writing rather than the past tense that’s usually used in English. Historical present tense is used in English historical/journalist writing sometimes too, usually as a combination of present and past tense in order to emphasize certain moments. But also, as far as I can tell (with the help of google translate and various conjugation grids), most of the book is in past tense and this small section is actually in present tense.

So, anyway, I think it’s very interesting that Hugo chose to make this tiny moment specifically present tense. Like I said above, the only other times we get present tense, Hugo is describing to the reader a scene to imagine or painting a picture of a specific moment in history (specifically Waterloo).

Hugo switches to present tense for a total of 9 sentences before switching back to past tense. The tense change occurs as Le Cabuc exclaims “Bash the door in!” and runs to the door, and switches back to past tense once he begins to hit the door with the butt of his rifle.

“Knock!” “They won’t open.” “Bash the door in!” Le Cabuc runs to the door, which had a very massive knocker, and raps. The door does not open. He raps a second time. Nobody answers. A third rap. The same silence. “Is there anybody there?” cries Le Cabuc Nothing stirs. Then he seizes a musket and begins to beat the door with the butt. It was an old alley door, arched, low, narrow, solid, entirely of oak, lined on the inside with sheet-iron and with iron braces, a genuine fortress postern. The blows made the house tremble, but did not shake the door. Nevertheless, it is likely that the inhabitants were alarmed, for they finally saw a little square window on the fourth floor light up and open, and at this window appeared a candle, and the pious and frightened face of a gray-haired man, the doorkeeper. The man who was knocking stopped.

(FMA translation)

What fascinates me is that the major action, the murder of the doorkeeper and subsequent execution of Le Cabuc, are not what is emphasized by present tense. Instead, it is the moment just preceding.

So it’s general knowledge that Le Cabuc is actually Claquesous, and also that he is probably a police plant in order to incite chaos. Hugo mentions during his introduction of Patron-Minette that they have contacts with the police who pay them to do dirty work or who they pay off to look the other way, depending on the circumstances. So we know Le Cabuc is both Claquesous and a plant. This explains his actions but not the tense change and its location in the scene.

If Hugo wanted to emphasize the senseless anarchy of Le Cabuc’s actions or the judgement of Enjolras, he’d have put the tense change there. Instead, he focuses on the moment just before. This moment also occurs before any combat at the barricade itself, which means it’s not necessarily focusing in on a moment of desperation, the kind of which Hugo describes later.

In the paragraphs before, Hugo sets up the weirdness of Le Cabuc’s actions by describing Le Cabuc himself and his relation to the barricade: he tells us that no one actually knows him, even those who “claimed to recognize him,” that he either is drunk or is acting drunk, that he’s encouraging others to drink, and that his clothes are “worn out at the shoulders”. (As an aside, the description of his dockhand’s jacket reminds me of Hugo’s description of Thenardier’s costume from The Changer; perhaps this is a disguise rented from The Changer as well.) Hugo tells us that Le Cabuc was unfamiliar, erratic, and odd, and then immediately launches into the scene at the door of the house.

I think the change in tense is meant to emphasize Le Cabuc’s actions by bringing to attention the weirdness of them before the main event. He’s initially described as being out of place, but the moment the tense changes, you realize he’s really, really out of place. Something is wrong here, these actions are not actions of someone who believes in the future of the rebellion; they are reckless and thoughtless even before the moment of killing.

At no point during the assault on the barricade do the insurgents break into any purely residential home; they do use the bistro and its subsequent residential floors, but they do not break down any doors to people’s houses alone. A random citizen insurgent’s sudden decision/desire to shoot from upper floors and to bash down the doors of someone’s home to do so is weird. Le Cabuc’s desire is met by a calm rejection: “Yes, but the house is shut up” and “They won’t open.” The insurgents who respond to Le Cabuc know that it’s not an option and they aren’t trying to force it to be one. The people must decide for themselves, Le Cabuc cannot decide for them.

Also, the English translation doesn’t do this, but as far as I can tell, there are actually 3 different words used for the knocks on the door. The first “cognons” (knock), then “frappe” (strike), then “coup” (blow). His knocks get progressively more aggressive and angry the longer there is no response.

So the present tense immediately brings us to attention. There’s something weird going on, something wrong, this person is not supposed to be acting this way. Hugo almost seems to use this moment of present tense in the same way he uses it during the Waterloo section: the reader is suddenly meant to be in the moment, imagining it as vividly as possible. The reader is no longer passively reading, suddenly they, like Enjolras and the other insurgents at the barricade, are watching this man run to a door and try and beat it down, and they’re confused by his actions and don’t quite know what to make of it.

As soon as the story changes back to past tense, it’s obvious that something bad is going to happen. We all know there’s no way the residents are going to open the door, and Le Cabuc has only just been introduced as weird and unfamiliar. Hugo doesn’t need to keep that intense hold on the reader anymore; he’s got us.

Le Cabuc briefly becomes “the man who was knocking” before again being referred to as Le Cabuc. Another moment of weirdness used to emphasize the uncertainty of Le Cabuc’s actions and identity. The switch into present tense is bracketed by descriptions of Le Cabuc’s unfamiliarity and unknown-ness.

So this switch to present tense is Hugo suddenly jumping from telling a story to telling a moment; he’s now in journalism mode, giving us a play-by-play of something that ocurred, because it’s important and a lead-up to something even more important. So why change back? Why isn’t all of Le Cabuc’s scene in present tense?

Because at this point, we know all of the subsequent action is going to be important. Le Cabuc’s actions are the first actions of an insurgent (or “insurgent”) on the barricade. The only other events preceding were the actual raising of the barricade and the capture of Javert, both of which do not involve anyone outside of the rebellion itself, citizen or soldier. (I say this because Javert is disguised as an insurgent, so he’s already behind the barricade and part of the action within.) This is the first moment after the building of the barricade that any outsider is involved. The change is there to make us realize that something weird is going on, but the return to past tense happens because remaining in present tense isn’t necessary. We all know shit is going to go down, and we’re paying attention now.

This is also the moment that forces the hand of a “Good” character to commit violence; it is the only moment when a Good character actively kills another in a way that is not directly related to battle. This moment is important, but it doesn’t need the distraction of a tense change to emphasize it. The jarring change wakes us up, jolts us out of our reading stupor, so we are ready for this terrible and “savage” moment, a moment where Enjolras judges and condemns not only Le Cabuc, but himself as well.

if you've made replies on posts there is now a tab on your blog showing every post youve replied to and your reply.

if this is not what you want, either go to your blog and click comments and disable it from there or just go to your individual blogs setting pages. just change it from blue to grey if you dont want everyone to see your replies AND the post you're replying to

PLEASE BE ADVISED that it is set to disabled for blogs that have not made any replies but it will turn ON if you reply with that blog in the future.! i just tested it with my main, which was greyed out but it turned on the moment i left a test reply

so couple of clarifications. comments are disabled as default for primary blogs that have their likes disabled. they are seemingly enabled for all other blogs that have replied to posts

me: yeah whatever. i don’t feel shit.

5 minutes later: dude i swear i just saw cassandra clare post an incest fic

(screenshot from the linked RNZ article)

it took me less than three minutes, and that's only because I wrote a whole paragraphs on why this is a stupid idea. all you really need to put is "don't pass this bill" if you want. it'll only take 30 seconds.

Justice For Jordan Shaw

On the subject of AI, I have a confession to make: I use it. Not to write for me, but to help me check for inconsistencies, to brainstorm ideas, to write outlines, to give me a couple of lines when I've been stuck for hours, to be my beta reader, if you will. Generative AI is bad? Yes, but it also a useful tool if one isn't lazy. I don't ask: write me a story. I go with my story and ask: help me with continuity. Look, this paragraph is clunky, how do I make it better? The demonization of generative AI is fair, but to be honest, I also understand people who use it. Maybe they're afraid of writing themselves, maybe they're insecure and don't trust their prose. Maybe they have brilliannt ideas but they need help to make them become fics.

To me, this is very much connected to my last ask where I was talking about how we don't have enough mentors in fandom to support the influx of people entering it.

All of the things that you're asking AI to do used to be done by a beta reader (or more than one!). A fandom friend (or even a random stranger who volunteered) would read through your work and help you with those issues.

Betas are amazing. They can help with grammar and spelling. They can regionalize language. They can provide sensitivity reading if they're from a marginalized community that you're writing about and aren't a member of. They can track canon, help with research, even just be a sounding board to discuss ideas with.

And sometimes, they're just a cheer reader - someone reading your story and telling you how awesome it is because they love it just as much as you do.

I understand turning to AI if you 1) don't know beta readers exist or 2) don't know how to obtain one. The need for that kind of support doesn't go away just because you can't access it.

But for anyone out there who needs this kind of help and wants to avoid Gen AI, you can write a post on your blog, add it to an author's note, check out resources like @needabeta or - if the time of year is right and you have the funds - place a bid on beta reading services during @fandomtrumpshate

Beta readers are often involved in fandom events like big bangs and exchanges, and if anyone is looking to host such an event, it's a great way to get people involved who aren't writers or artists but would love to help out.

And I get how frustrating those moments are, some of my fics didn't survive the initial outline process and some have been WIPs for a decade because I just don't quite have the right idea or energy to wrap them up.

But if you have a brilliant idea and ask AI to turn it into a story for you, you didn't write it! The robot did! Your personal grasp of prose doesn't improve, and the chance to process and learn from your own frustration is sacrificed. Moreover, the potential human connections you might gain from that fic and from the process of creating are diluted.

One of the coolest parts about fandom for me is getting to talk out ideas with other folks! To be inspired or solve a problem with a friend!

Seriously - our skills as writers improve through the effort, by buckling up for the hard parts where we feel stuck or insecure and choosing to be brave - by continuing to write and experiment anyway. We learn by doing!!!

I don't like the word lazy, but avoiding the harder, riskier parts of the writing process is actually a surefire way to increase anxiety and insecurity in the long term. I'm sympathetic to perfectionism, to the fear of rejection, but I beg you not to turn to AI to soothe that!

If you feel unable to write or share anything without AI helping you create it, that's a sign AI has taken a predatory role in your life.

Learning new things is frustrating! Not being able to get something to work or look or read the way you want it to is frustrating!

But you're robbing yourself of a lot of learning and growth by turning to gen AI to solve it rather than sitting with that frustration.

Being able to keep going at it through frustration is a very valuable skill that is genuinely transferable to a lot of different types of tasks.

I always worry that we, as gen AI haters, end up sounding like Socrates complaining about the youth writing things down instead of just remembering them, but I do genuinely worry that we'll end up with a lot of young people with a very low tolerance for frustration, the way use of generative AI in school is going.

Socrates wasn't wrong about the impact on memory, but he was wrong about the broader impact on society, so this is where I'd argue that off loading the task of remembering is different from off loading the task of problem solving. It's okay that we don't remember information as well when looking it up is trivial, but if we can't problem solve on our own, we also can't examine the solutions generative AI provides for us and evaluate whether that solution is suitable for the given task.

They're preying on insecurities to do it. Yes, you can write an essay - but can you write a good essay, they ask you. Do you not want to improve your output? Do you not want people to think of you as competent and very clever? Why go through the mortifying process of failing and failing and failing until you succeed if you can just skip the "learning" part of doing, and simply generate a ready-made product?

So may I present my own casting choice for Odysseus:

Absolutely not

You know who would try that shit?

Is this the face of a man who would defy the very gods to get home to his wife?

You know who would defy the gods just to show he could get away with it?

the most dogshit useless decimated search engine in the entire world:

[Part 2 L-R here]

This list is made up entirely of older Torchwood fanfiction whose authors never transferred the stories to AO3 (therefore the majority of fics are pre-2011). These fics span a wide range of lengths, fanfic genres, and writing styles, although most are longer than 1k. However, I am fairly picky when it comes to fic quality, so these are only the ones out of everything I read that I thought were very good. Any warnings, pairings, or clarifying notes I might want to write are in brackets. All fics are either gen or Jack/Ianto unless otherwise specified. This list is alphabetical by title.

Sanctuary by tanarian - Jack is looking for something and with the help of the TARDIS, he finds it.

Sand And Shards by roundstonewoods - They couldn’t make him talk to Jack, they certainly couldn’t make him sleep with Jack, and they sure as fuck couldn’t make him forgive Jack.

Save Me by fabluelous - Ianto must save a younger Jack from himself. Complications follow, as they tend to do when it comes to Torchwood.

Scourge The Flesh (And Set The Soul Free) by beesandbrews - A failed case brings up sins of Jack's past. Unable to deal with his guilt any longer, Jack makes a difficult request that changes Ianto's worldview in a profound way. [TW: bdsm that skirts the edge of dubcon]

Sea Change by sanginmychains - Jack delivers breakfast and some honesty to Ianto’s hotel room, on the morning after the night they lived twice.

Second Look by remindmeofthe - Sometimes, you get a chance to see the past through a different pair of eyes: your own.

Sharing The Warmth by beesandbrews - Gwen presses a button. It isn’t as harmless as she expected.

Sharp by whereupon - There are things Ianto thinks he maybe remembers, things he will not talk about.

A Shattered Mirror Still Reflects by tanarian - Jack, Ianto, and the complexities of loyalty. An alternate take to the aftermath of Cyberwoman.

Shooting The Messenger by salmon-pink - Jack gives the orders, Ianto obeys, and Owen thinks that maybe everyone has lost their minds, himself included. [Owen/Ianto/(Jack-ish)]

Singularity by aeshna_uk - The universe folds. He plays on.

Sixteen Miles To The Promised Land by black_eyedgirl - He walks forward, quick steps, and gets so close Jack can only see his feet in their white shoes. “What did you do?” Jack coughs, and sees the blood in his hand. “Nice to see you too.”

Skin Deep by Danse Macabre - Two weeks after Lisa's death, Ianto finds himself faced with another betrayal.

Slice Of Discovery by theohsocurlyone - With great gratitude for making this so, we send you this in return; a glimpse, a slice of discovery. A key.

Snapshots by bjewelled - Not everyone was as good at living through the end of the world as Martha. Tish Jones certainly wasn't.

Snapshots by tearoseandhoney - Mica Davies knew she was special because of The Man.

Something Beautiful by cyus - After Torchwood, after Jack, Gwen lives her life, even as Jack comes back.

Somewhere In The Blue Hills 1 2 by lower_case_me - Jack comes back. He hasn't brought with him what Ianto wanted back most.

A Song Incomplete by solsticezero - An alien device shows Jack and Ianto parts of each other's past they wish they had not seen.

The Space Between by antelope_writes - After the events of Cyberwoman, Jack attempts to fix his working relationship with Ianto.

The Spirit Of Torchwood by soera - In which Ianto can see ghosts. In which those ghosts are surprisingly helpful.

Stone Tape by solsticezero - The team investigates the ruins of an ancient Welsh castle - with disastrous consequences.

Strange Monsters by aeshna_uk - "'Turn twice' you said. Well, that was number two and, god knows, I'm ready to just get the hell out of here."

Subject: (no subject) by solsticezero - When the Mainframe was restored and the connection to the Hub computers reestablished after the wreckage had been cleared away, Jack had one new message waiting in his inbox.

Sunflower Sutra by heddychaa - Poetry in bed. [Goes with Holy, Holy, Holy, recc’ed above.]

Sun In The Sky by giddygeek - Ianto, Jack, and the echoes of Lisa. 

Sunshine On Skin by snowwhiteliar - He gasps in a breath, eyes fluttering open, mentally reeling from sensations he can’t comprehend. There’s a similar gasp nearby.

The Support Group For Intergalactic Superheroes by antelope_writes - About a year after Exit Wounds, the Doctor comes to Cardiff to refuel the TARDIS and to visit Jack and Martha. [Link goes to final chapter, where all other chapters are linked]

Suppressing Sorrow by erin_giles - Her priority at the moment is Ianto. Post-Exit Wounds.

Symphony Eroica, Accompanied by the Shipwrecked by antelope_writes - After the events of Adrift, Ianto tells Gwen a story.

Tell My Father by crystalfic - Passchendaele was like walking into hell, and Jack was there. But first, he needed to learn how to feel again.

That One Talent Which Is Death To Hide by kalichan - Ianto picks up the pieces.

That Secret Place by cyus - Ianto was watching, like he was watching everything in the Hub. She knew because she was watching him. [Ianto/Suzie]

There Is Nothing Here Worth Saving by heddychaa - The nicest thing she ever did for him.

There Will Always Be A Torchwood by pokerkitten - The search for Jack, and for themselves. Ianto seems to be at the heart of it all, willing or not.

They Are Gone Into The World Of Light by shane_mayhem - Jack finds an article in the paper, triggering a chain of events that force him to confront grief, memory, and remembrance, and what to do when you know you’ll be confronting them forever.

Things Rank And Gross Possess It Merely 1 2 by garnettrees -  "I can't hope!" Tish hissed, desperate for him to stop, afraid he wouldn't go on. "It hurts." [TW: mentions of torture. Note: This fic is an abandoned WIP, but it’s so well written I’m including it anyway.]

This Is Not For You by solsticezero - Let’s play hallways. [Note: This fic is based on House Of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. Knowledge of the novel is probably handy.]

This Jack, That Jack by cookielaura - Ianto can’t be sure. He has his suspicions, but they’re as vague as they are persistent. Even after they solidify into something resembling a theory, there’s no safe way to test it, no way to check without risking everything. Still, he wonders.

Those Left Behind by entangled_now - How things unfold after Jack disappears. [Owen/Ianto]

Three Portraits Of Divinity by antelope_writes - A beautiful child of the gods, the agony of loving an angel, an ancient weather god.

Thumos by frostfire_17 - Discussing Gwen’s potential after her first day at Torchwood, Jack is lacking in the moral compass department, Ianto is blandly stoic, and a simple question complicates the night.

Till Human Voices Wake Us by solsticezero - An argument about mortality.

Time Doesn’t Stop For The World’s End by black_eyedgirl - They were all indoors when it happened. Working late, in the lower levels, and Jack dreaded to think what might have been had the world ended on an afternoon instead of during overtime.

Time Has Set Its Maggot by cyus - London doesn't give a fuck about Cardiff, but it's the visits home that bring back the things you can never quite leave behind. Loosely connected to Prince Of The Apple Towns, recc’ed above.

To All The People That You Became by analineblue - Gwen and Rhiannon share a chance meeting in a coffee shop, post-CoE.

Tomorrow Will Be Better by erin_giles - She wished she could just say the words ‘Don’t fall in love with him.’ and make it that simple.

To The Waters And The Wild by shadowbyrd - Fairies never forget.

Trial By Torchwood by laligin - There's danger in the archives and a problem to solve, but no easy solution.

Triptych by fodian - the calm the love the hate the calm the calm.

Trust Issues by JolinarJackson - After Torchwood One falls, Ianto Jones escapes with a half-converted cyberwoman, but UNIT catches them. Months later, Jack Harkness lets himself talk into taking over custody of Jones, not knowing that he's inviting trouble into his base.

The Truth Is Rarely Pure by mercury_phoenix - "You really think that anyone is only skin deep, Ianto Jones? You scratch hard enough, there's always more to find." It is the night of blood and metal, and Jack is left alone in the Hub with a broken young Welshman. What happened in those hours we never see?

The Truth Is…Somewhere by shadowbyrd - Five lies Rhys tells Gwen.

Tuning Zero by zephyrocity - Jack and the Doctor try to finish a conversation they won’t have for another several trillion years, and amidst fleeting visions of what’s to come, Jack’s sanity isn’t the only thing that’s unravelling.

Two Solitudes by veronicaluv - Jack has returned but all is not well between him and Ianto - and it may be too late to make it right.

Unearthed by missdeanna, rm, xtricks - As Cardiff rebuilds, some of the city’s maintenance crew begin to behave strangely and modern citizens begin to worship ancient gods. Torchwood is drawn into an investigation centering on the shut down nuclear reactor at Turnmill, where Owen Harper died.

Unfixed Wishes by christine_twfan - Ianto discovers an alien artifact in the archives, which sets him on an unexpected path.

Unwelcome Answers by donutsweeper - Owen and Gwen interrogate Jack, but no one is prepared for the answers they receive.

Vicarious, or Ianto is an Asshole by snglesrvngfrend - It was late in the morning and Owen was still missing from the Hub. The team was unsettled, of course, but no one wanted to get too worked up, What could happen to him anyway, he’s already dead, until they really needed to. He couldn’t be sleeping off a bender, or waking up in someone else’s flat. [Owen/Ianto]

Waiting For Jack 1 2 by pinkamethyst - He kisses you four days, twelve hours and fifty-eight minutes after Jack disappears. Your first thought is that he doesn’t kiss anything like Jack. Your second thought is that he’s a very good kisser. Your third thought is that perhaps you shouldn’t be doing this with him. // You and Tosh sit in a bar, both drinking. Too much. You lost count an hour ago. You stopped caring two hours ago. Her eyes look more than a little unfocused. Neither of you say much. [Owen/Ianto, Gwen/Toshiko]

The Walk by becky_h - The Doctor abandoned Jack. Jack does what he can, while he can, to try to make it right- or at least better. [Jack/Himself]

Warmth by louiex - As Jack tries his best to fit back into Torchwood life (in more ways than one), an attack on one of his team makes him reconsider the lengths he would go to those he once left behind.

We Walk by electro-club - Jack is tired of running away from his ghosts.

Weevil All Laugh At Gilded Butterflies by aviv_b - A fine autumn day, a walk in a park, what could possibly go wrong?

Whatever Pays The Wages by paperclipbitch - “Tell me who I have to bribe, fuck, or kill to get out of here.” A case study in types of manipulation.

What Happens In 100 Lifetimes by jbs-teeth - Ianto reminds Jack of someone else he knew, a long time ago.

What Lies Within by xtricks - Ianto becomes contaminated with an alien. Jack will do whatever he can to hold onto him, even as he changes. [Link goes to the last chapter, which has all the others linked. [TW: tentacle sex, which is partly metaphorical and partly literal.]

Wherein by curiouslyfic - Ianto Jones is not the hero for whom this spectacle has been arranged. [TW: romantic Face Of Boe tentacle sex]

Wild Wood by stray_heart - Jack Harkness has many ghosts. Most of them are himself.

Wish You Were Here (And I Wasn’t) by paperclipbitch - The team are forced on another countryside camping trip. [Owen/Ianto]

With Apples by Marguerite1 - Comfort me with apples, stay me with flagons. Jack comforts Owen after he revives in End Of Days.

With The Birds I’ll Share This Lonely View by dani_the_girl - Jack takes Ianto to see Flat Holm.

With Your Crooked Heart by solsticezero - From the Captain's Blog for Exit Wounds: "Ianto, I know you're reading this over my shoulder, pretending to fix that damn shelf. So get over here and take me out somewhere."

Writing The Truth In Blue by pecos - The glimpse of a pink dress shirt in the rubbish skip was enough to tweak Jack’s curiosity. What he eventually found led him to realize what he was about to lose forever.

Yesterday Night, Tomorrow Morning by dani_the_girl - After Lisa has been shot, Jack considers what to do with Ianto.