#but ianto still loves him and believes in him

[rystiel]

when you find out your boyfriend essentially murdered a bunch of kids but you still cradle his dead body in your arms so he doesn’t wake up alone

[iantoscoffee]

everyday i wake up, i think about jack saying “i take it all back, all right? but not him” and i boil my eyes out

jack had many lovers and i’ m sure every single one of them was special and shaped jack’ s life a little but i believe that ianto, despite the little time they had, was and always will be that one the left the biggest mark on jack; he was ready to retreat if it meant to save ianto, he was willing to lose if it meant having ianto still by his side.

idk im tired now but ill make sure to express this better in another post cause srs i love their relationship sm i need to analyse it, i need to smash my head against the wall

[torchwood-99]

I Went To The Torchwood Panel Today, With GDL and Kai Owen

So, to kick things off, they talked a fair bit about how Ianto and Rhys were meant to be killed off fairly early on, and that they didn't have the biggest roles to start with. Rhys was a "semi regular" character, and GDL had to audition with another character's lines because there weren't enough written for Ianto. Kai said he and Eve already knew each other because they did youth theatre together (!!!<3) And after the first read through of the first scripts, Eve came up to him and said they had to work to make the chemistry and heat believable in order to get people to fall in love with them as a couple, because the more people love Gwen and Rhys, the better chance Rhys had of getting a bigger a role and sticking around longer. Kai is very grateful to Eve for that. (my queen, my angel) Then they talked about how Ianto managed to evade the cull twice and made it to Children of Earth, and that Rhys is still alive (which GDL accused Kai of being braggy about) They also talked about how quickly Ianto rebounded from Lisa onto Jack "after all his friends shot her", and they talked about how COE was just very, very good. They were asked by a member of the audience which time period they would like to travel to. GDL said he loves armour and horses and all that, so he would pick the Middle Ages, except for the gonorrhoea and other diseases. Kai said he'd go and watch Elvis in Vegas, and to watch Live Aid. This got a big round of applause. GDL grumbled that no one clapped for "the middle ages and gonorrhoea" Then they were asked which Doctor was their favourite. GDL said it was the doctor who did surgery on one of his testicals. And Sylvester McCoy. Kai said David, which got another round of applause, so two for two for Kai. The sex gas came up a lot in discussion, so when they took a group photo and asked what we should say, GDL had us all say "Sex gas!"

[teslapunk3327]

While I'm not religious, I absolutely love how Ianto is a tiny bit Christian. When a religious preacher is locked in the Torchwood cells, the rest of the team don't take anything he says seriously. They're all atheist/agnostic afterall. But Ianto does.

"You are a believer?"

"I dabble."

Eventhough Ianto is in a relationship with a man who dies repeatedly, and is adamant about certain nothingness after death. And then his coworker who agreed, there is nothing. Just a constant darkness. Yet Ianto still dabbles in the belief of an afterlife. Despite what Jack and Owen say.

And then it makes so much sense that he worked for Torchwood One. Hearing him pledge allegiance to "Queen and Country", and the monarchy. Saying it with his whole, entire heart.

And then in "In The Shadows" where he goes to the nightmare realm to save Jack. I don't think that Jack seeing him as an angel was purely a hallucination. I think this nightmare realm mistook Ianto's moral purity, and he was considered a genuine angel within that realm. This would make sense with the fact that he saves Jack from eternal Hell via faith alone. No scientific explanation. Just pure faith, and his love for Jack.

And then finally, his first BF audio. The clouds arranged behind him like angel wings, and it's literally called "Fall to Earth."

[copperbadge]

I know that it’s been a Very Long Time but do you ever get terribly nostalgic for old/less active fandoms? I confess I recently came back to tumblr and saw that I followed you. I was like, of course Sam storyteller, the Bucky guy. But then I got a hankering for my older and dearer by far love Ianto Jones and went back to reread some of the greatest hits and I remembered. You are not the Loki guy. You are the Ianto guy, to me, and I can’t believe I forgot that. I miss that fandom so much it was so fucking. Toxic. The Gwen bashing, I simply cannot romanticize it in good conscience. But the fic quality and diversity was, dare I say it, nearly unparalleled (in my heart). Like when it hit it really hit you know? A golden age of trashy sci fi indeed. I miss my dead welsh son. Sorry to ramble in your ask box about the dubious old days

Anon, I am so sorry, a bunch of my asks got pushed way down in the inbox and then I forgot they were there, so apologies this is MONTHS late in getting posted.

I, eh, I don't really get nostalgic for old fandoms. Usually I leave them for a reason, but even if I just drift away, my experience of a fandom is pretty fundamentally different from most because of my higher profile. There are things I can't do or say in a fandom that other people could, and there are things that happen to me outside of my control. They're not even necessarily bad things, just stuff like...I'll write a fic in a new fandom, and people from my previous fandom will start engaging with the canon because I did. So often, rather than just falling away from a fandom, I'll leave a fandom and drag a bunch of people with me. They might not even leave the older fandom, but they come along to the new one too.

And often the wanks that pull people in without their consent simply don't touch me because there's a portion of fandom that is either scared of me (or my readers) or just doesn't want anything to do with me. I can't determine which.

Torchwood's a pretty good case in point -- the Gwen bashing was extreme. I wasn't a fan of Gwen but what I saw from the antigwenallies was really, really gross. Still, even though I wrote fic about Gwen and engaged in meta around her presence in the show, I avoided them and thus had exactly one interaction with them ever, which was when they posted up a fic of mine as "anti-Gwen" and I asked them to remove it and never recc anything of mine again. They did, and that was the end of that. Nobody ever came to my posts to attack her or me. Likewise, there was one really, really aggressive anti-Ianto wanker, but she never engaged with me or even as far as I know talked about me, despite the fact I was a huge Ianto fan and wrote a lot of fic about him. I really hated the shit she said, but I also didn't see any value in arguing, so I left her alone and she left me alone. (I won't name her because I checked up on her a few years ago and it turns out she was struggling with serious mental health issues that she'd gotten a lot of help for, and felt really terrible about the things she'd done, so I'm actually quite proud of her. But if you know you know.)

I also just...have a bad memory, so I often don't remember what happened in a fandom, or even sometimes that I was in a fandom. Most of the memories I do have are either vaguely warm and friendly, or "avoid this fandom/person at all costs" based in a negative interaction (which I sometimes don't remember the details of).

So yeah...I mean, Torchwood ended pretty terribly so I don't miss it in part because I try not to think about it. Generally if I have a good time in a fandom and then leave it, it's because I simply said all I had to say there. But I'm usually looking forward, not back, just because the past is a bit of a fog bank for me, most of the time.

[dw-humps-n-snarkives]

My two cents at the Johnto discourse since "complexity" is at play here:

1. The audio has explicitly called back on the imagery of mirrors representing the fact that the events that took place in this particular audio is an alternate timeline. Everything in this audio did not happen in TV Torchwood's canon.

(Although, I'm one of the people that don't believe in canon when it comes to the Whoniverse, but we're speaking in narratives here. You can argue that TV John is still capable of doing such things considering what transpired in the episodes involving him, but there's still a particular part of his character that we tend to overlook which I will be picking up at #5).

2. You are ALLOWED to be uncomfortable with the contents of this audio as you can with many other forms of media and many types of fandom. This audio was an experimental approach to Torchwood as a whole, John is Jack's narrative foil and his character is supposed to show that "this is what would happen if Captain Jack Harkness never attempted to be the better person in any chance he gets."

Jack is not a good person, but he's not inherently evil either. John is definitely not a good person, you could say he's Jack's evil counterpart, but you can still see a sense of humanity in John's character especially when you see him interact with Jack.

(See: The latter portion of TDOCJ when Jack realized that John went back to him because he wanted to stop the universe from collapsing, the entirety of Peach Blossom Heights in The Sins of Captain John, and smidges of dialogue between the two where John's behavior can be easily labelled as "a crazy and clingy ex.")

3. Ianto wasn't the only one who suffered in John's reign in the audio (I know that sounds horrible since I'm putting him aside but bear with me here, he'll have the whole portion after this).

Gwen was coerced to have sex with John and it immediately moves to the part of the timeline where John deliberately killed Gwen, John killing Rhys when he was (understandably) upset with not being informed that his girlfriend died, Tosh was literally treated as a disposable, and you could barely get anything from Owen since he was only mentioned once.

What Ianto went through is undoubtably SA. The way John toyed with Ianto is completely unacceptable and it should not be glorified, romanticized, or repeated in any way, shape, or form. That being said, as a fellow polycule Ianto, Jack, and John enjoyer, this audio is definitely NOT the sole reason why people ship Johnto, or conjure ship content involving John.

I'd like to refer you to this post involving Ianto's many horrible non-consensual happenings in his relationships throughout every Torchwood timeline out there (with Ianto ALWAYS being the victim). John and Ianto's relationship in this audio is also the potential outcome of "if Jack and Ianto's relationship were to be more toxic and unethical in the workplace" (and their relationship in TV Torchwood was hardly on equal grounding, too).

A VERY IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL NOTE:

I'm not stating that Jack and Ianto's relationship should be seen in a negative light, pointing out the flaws and toxic traits of a relationship doesn't make their love for each other and entire relationship any less valid. Their relationship is complicated and that's normal, I'm only pointing out the power imbalance in Jack and Ianto's relationship when viewing it in a workplace setting (being Torchwood).

Said power imbalance doesn't mean I'm ignoring the choice of both Jack and Ianto to start and keep the relationship going as they are both consenting adults, whatever problems that may cause between and outside them will follow (it's just unfortunate that in Ianto's story, he always gets involved in fucked up arrangements in his relationships because of Torchwood, whether platonic, familial, or romantic).

4. Creating ships and pairs that could potentially be toxic for either or both parties is not a new concept. If done right, liking complicated ships and pairs only means you find the dynamic, the narrative, and/or the reaction between each persons interesting, it could even be used as a study for people who are interested in making a story because stories cannot exist without conflict. This also means you don't actively support the good or bad things about a ship or a narrative, that's the point of having an audience in the first place: members of fandoms are meant to criticize the source, whether it's in a positive or negative way, because people find a way to make something new out of it in the most creative way possible. That's what fandom is.

5. Captain John Hart as a character was never meant to be taken too seriously in the first place. His behavior in The Sins of Captain John proves as such, and using him at TDOCJ was a perfect way of presenting the exaggerated "what-if" situation as he perfectly thrives in parodies and he thrives in the purest form of pettiness and unfiltered, somewhat childishly edgy entertainment. No doubt, he's a murderous, selfish asshole, but liking a villain character doesn't reflect your character as the viewer and consumer of the character's content (See: The Master).

Remember that this is Torchwood, the show where everyone is capable of doing the most unethical and immoral thing to get to their objective, and Captain John Hart and Ianto Jones are not exempted from such influence.

Most importantly, always handle discourse in a civilized manner. Coming after people while making a point will become futile as there will be no discussion made when someone gets hurt.

You're allowed to critcize the content, but don't judge the people who enjoy it. Appreciating a supposedly problematic ship does not reflect on their overall humanity.

[uss-genderprise]

so i listened to don't need the sunshine by catatonia yesterday and this line stuck out to me

(instant janto playlist addition)

and i couldn't stop thinking about it. because it's just do them. it's (to me, at least) a line about just caring about someone so much you just want to hear them speak, no matter what they're talking about. it's almost like enjoying your friend infodumping about their hyperfixation even if you couldn't care less about the actual subject, just because you enjoy their enthusiasm and the sound of their voice.

but it's also about knowing someone is lying. knowing that everything they say is a lie, and extrapolating the truth from it. it's about knowing someone well enough to know they're lying. it's about getting to know someone without knowing anything about them. when you spend a lot of time with a person, you might not know their favourite colour or their mother's maiden name or the name of their first pet or who they went to school with but you know them as a person. you understand them. you know - for lack of a better term - their vibe.

and sometimes that's all you need. sometimes that's enough. sometimes, you know nothing about a person, but you know them well enough to know when they're lying, well enough to fall in love with them.

personally, i think that when ianto said "i tell you everything" he was lying. he lied about his family life, about his relationship with his dad, about lisa. their entire relationship was built on a foundation of lies. but on some level, all those lies are telling. they all reveal some fundamental truth about him.

and jack isn't any better, keeping so much of himself hidden. lies of omission are still lies. but they know the other is lying, so it's fine. it doesn't matter. they love each other without needing the truth. they just want each other's company, knowing it's doomed from the start, knowing they'll never know everything about each other. none of that matters, because they understand each other, and they love each other.

i think when ianto said the last person he kissed was lisa is when jack first realised ianto lies easily. i think he knew that when ianto said his father was a master tailor he was lying. i think, on some level, he believed that when ianto said "i love you", he was still lying.

ianto doesn't know jack's real name. he doesn't even know for sure that jack isn't his real name. he doesn't know how many lovers jack has had, how many kids. he doesn't know jack's exact age. he didn't know about the doctor before jack ran off with him. but he knows how jack likes his coffee. he knows jack always cheats when they play naked hide and seek. he knows there is more to jack than he ever says. and he knows he loves him.

i swear i can be normal about them

[shejustcalledmeafish]

it’s time for some guys in some situations

i’ve got a bunch of these and i will be abusing this power you have given me to the fullest extent. (mostly requesting a fuck ton of johnto + john/jack/ianto)

first up on our list:

4 + 7 (mind meld/telepathy/mind reading • trapped in a room/closet/elevator); john/jack/ianto

“If you make a closet joke, you won’t be leaving it alive,” John promised as he slammed his fists up against the thick oak door. Absolutely ridiculous quality craftsmanship for a bloody broom closet. “I’ve had enough of those from you.” He felt more than heard Jack open and close his mouth behind him. He resisted the urge to try the handle again, knowing he’d only get a scorched palm for his troubles.

The mission had been going well, or well enough. They’d made it in and found the latest Rift Gift in record time. John still had it tucked in his coat. But they hadn’t been the only ones after it. One broom closet mistaken for an exit, one door handle melted by a laser blast, and one Jack Harkness taking up far too much room with his broad shoulders.

John huffed and slid to the floor, back pressed against the door. Back in the day, this would have been a lovely situation to find themselves in. A nice excuse for a shag. They didn’t do that anymore.

John could tell Jack was thinking about it though. Even after so many years apart, they slipped back together like well-oiled gears. The rest of the team could tell. Especially Ianto. Sweet sexy jealous Ianto.

“If you move, I can try and break down the door,” Jack said, snapping John back to reality. He rolled his eyes.

“I could too,” he muttered, before enunciating more clearly. “We have what they want. We’re better off keeping it safe and letting Toshiko and Eye Candy chase them off.” A moment’s hesitation, then Jack joined him on the floor.

“Fine. But if they call for us, I’m going to tear it off its hinges.” Jack tapped his earpiece. “Ianto? What’s going on out there?”

“We’re in pursuit,” Ianto’s voice answered after a few seconds, tinny in John’s ear as well. “Are you alright?”

“We’re fine, just a little trapped,” Jack replied. “Capture them or chase them off, then swing back around and pick us up. We’re in the broom closet on the second floor.”

“The one with the melted doorknob,” John elaborated. For a moment, Ianto didn’t respond. It was enough to send irritation flushing hot through John. He didn’t know what else he had to do to prove himself. He kept his hands to himself, did the work.

“Right. I’ll bring Rob.” John blinked in confusion.

“Rob?” No response. Jack laughed, a low rumble in the dim light.

“He named the crowbar we keep in the SUV boot.” John let out a soft ah of understanding. “Apparently this is Rob the Second, although I didn’t get the full story.”

“More than he’d give me,” John said, then regretted.

“John—“

“Shut it,” he snapped. “You don’t have to pretend to care. It’s easier if you don’t, for both of us.” Because of course Jack had been pretending. Sure, he’d let John stay with the team when he asked, but John knew it was because they were dangerously understaffed. Jack needed someone skilled to make sure the others got home at night. And John could do that. He didn’t have to like it, and Jack didn’t have to like him.

“I’m not pretending,” Jack said. The confusion was laid on too thick for John to even entertain believing him. “John, you know I care about you, right?”

“And you know I told you to shut it, right?” John snapped back. He wrapped his arms around himself, tucking them under his coat. This was bad. He’d been holding his tongue for so long he’d gotten used to the blood in his mouth. He needed to remember that, and stop before Jack forced him out and he lost the only thing he had left.

This time, Jack thankfully listened. They sat in silence, John very deliberately staring down at his feet. Even in the dim, he could tell his boots needed a wash and a polish. Something to distract him after work then. If the team had plans, he’d never know.

“I almost forgot how he pouted like this,” Jack’s voice rang clear in his head. John snapped his head up to glare at him.

“I’m not pouting,” John bit out at him. Jack blinked.

“I didn’t say anything.” John could feel the irritation and something else coursing through his body, bringing blood fresh to his cheeks. And now Jack was fucking lying to him, again, and—

“So defensive. Angry.” It was Jack’s voice, but his mouth definitely wasn’t moving. Or rather, he wasn’t talking, although his lip twitched upward in a smile as John heard the next thought. “It’s sexy.” John wasn’t that stupid. He reached inside his coat, and pulled out the small device that had fallen through the Rift.

“I’m hearing your thoughts, Jack,” John said, and almost immediately, he felt the low murmuring of thoughts from Jack’s head cease, like a dam slamming down over a river. Shut out in the cold silence. He expected nothing else.

“Oh?” Jack said like he hadn’t just turned his psyche into Fort Knox.

“Very surface level only. Things you’re thinking like you might say.” John turned the device in his hands, feeling the intricacies rather than just squinting at it. “I think this is a psychic amplifier. Low level, or maybe broken. Just enough to give my aptitude a push into hearing without me actively trying to read you.”

“Makes sense,” Jack said, and held out a hand. John passed it to him. He didn’t bother trying to shore up his own mental walls. Jack already knew him too well, knew too much of him. Some days, John wasn’t sure if he knew Jack at all, if he just saw Javic because that was what he wanted to see. He wasn’t drunk enough for this train of thought and so derailed it.

Before Jack could question him any further, there were footsteps out in the hall. They both stayed silent, listening as the person approached the door.

“Jack?” Ianto called, and John saw the gleam of Jack’s teeth.

“In here!” Jack called, getting to his feet. John followed suit, stepping closer to Jack to get away from the door. “Did you catch them?”

“Got away, but Tosh is in the SUV, following them on the CCTV,” Ianto said. “The hinges are on the outside, so I’ll have you out shortly.”

“Thanks,” Jack said. John stayed quiet, hoping they would both overlook that John was in a tight space with his ex. Not that he’d done anything, but Ianto wouldn’t believe him. He wouldn’t believe himself.

“Did you kill John, or just gag him?” Ianto joked as metal scraped against wood.

“Hale and hearty, Eye Candy,” John said before Jack could make his own joke.

“Good,” Ianto said. “I was worried.” John just stared at the light working its way into the closet as Ianto worked on the hinges. Worried about Jack, not him. He didn’t have to be told that he was an afterthought.

“Is that really what you think about us?” Jack said. Ianto paused in his work. “John.” John thought some elegant insults about Jack’s parentage and sexual prowess. “Now, you know that’s a lie.”

“Jack?” Ianto asked.

“He’s reading my mind, Eye Candy. It’s what the Macguffin does.” John crossed his arms. “Careful, he could read yours too.”

“I—“ Jack started, then stopped himself. “It’s not intentional. Whoever’s holding it gets a psychic boost. Since John and I are already semi-telepathic, well.”

“I see,” Ianto said. His voice was frosty, and John felt a sudden urge to know what he was thinking. A risky thought. He never much liked telepathy for this reason. There were some things people weren’t meant to know. “Could you give it to John?”

“What?” John said before he could stop himself. This night was going awry in so many ways already. He couldn’t fathom what Ianto’s agenda here was. But maybe he was about to find out.

“Sure,” Jack said, and then there was a hand on John’s arm, pulling it away from himself. Warm rough familiar fingers pressed the alien metal into his palm before retreating.

“The effects take a bit to take hold,” John said, worried about when it would. He clutched the device so hard it was leaving marks on his skin. “We could keep passing it between us, make sure it doesn’t get a chance to latch on and activate.”

“No,” Ianto said, and he could see Jack nodding. Ianto started to work again on the hinges as their thoughts began to sliver their way into John’s mind. Jack had dropped his defenses, and so all John had to do was sit and listen as the truth, and it felt too potent to be anything but the truth, poured inside him.

It wasn’t individual sentences at this point, just the overwhelming knowledge that he’d been wrong. He’d been absolutely certain he was only something they tolerated. A mistake that Jack had let into their lives, and was too good now to simply kick him out again. But they’d been working together for months now, and John got the undeniable impression that neither of them were any good at keeping their hearts in check.

“I’m so sorry I made you feel like that,” Jack’s voice burst through the blur of affection. John stiffened for a moment because Jack never apologized, not to him. “It wasn’t you, it was me. I was trying to keep myself away because I thought it could never work, not with how we’d changed, and not with Ianto.”

“It might still not,” John said. “Ianto, your boyfriend wants to have me.” The real unspoken truth, the one that they’d known from the moment John had been permitted to stay. The fact that had been keeping them all in orbit around each other, close, but never making contact. Until now.

“I know,” Ianto replied as he pulled the last hinge free. “He’s not the only one.” John had to shut his eyes against the light as Ianto pried the door open with a godawful screech of the damaged wood and metal being forced to give. John felt Jack’s hand take his own, entwining their fingers and holding the device securely between them.

“Can we show you?” Jack said, closer to John now than he’d been in months, more intimate than they’d been in years. Ianto stood there for a moment, sweating and shining and triumphant. Then he dropped the crowbar, the infamous Rob the Second, and stepped into the closet with them.

“Mind if I join you?” So polite even as John knew they were all balanced on the cliff’s edge and wanting nothing more than to plummet over the edge.

“Yes,” John said, and in an instant, they were both on him, Jack turning his head toward him to catch his mouth with kisses, Ianto stepping up near-flush with John’s hips and placing his own hand over the device. It didn’t take long for Ianto to join the link, their minds connecting as easily as their bodies. Ianto was a natural at the threeway, mouth to John’s exposed throat, free hand easily cupping his arse as they moved backward to press against the wall.

They would have break away eventually, talk about what exactly this meant, or rather, not talk about it and move forward like they had. The device would be deactivated and secured in the archives, too dangerous to keep out, even for such a transcendental experience as this. But for now, John was held solid and firm, and all he had to do was let go. So he did.

[prismartist]

thoughts on the michael palin episode of the torchwood radio series (with very minimal knowledge of torchwood or doctor who)

yes i'm only two episodes into doctor who and no i have not seen torchwood. if you're wondering why in the world i listened to the episode anyway, the answer is simply: michael palin.

this is very welcome to nightvale "a story about you" vibes and i love it.

three things i find very amusing: 1) michael palin canonically exists in the doctor who extended universe, 2) the destructive psychic being trying to take over the world is aware of him, and 3) the destructive psychic being trying to take over the world chose to impersonate michael palin voicing an ASMR self-help tape to try and rope people into their evil plan.

(addendum: just found out that monty python is canon to doctor who and the doctor claims to have come up with the name for flying circus. that's fun!!)

(do you think aliens are fans of monty python.)

everyone is indeed bisexual, including the evil michael palin self-help voice.

jack harkness is sooo fucking hot you guys even evil michael palin can't stop talking about how hot he is.

the voice's reaction to ianto kissing jack is so funny he literally goes "oh 😳" like i can imagine his face wahdhsjdhsf.

i'm assuming the labelling of the gang as certain brain aspects is accurate to their characters? because that's fun if so. they seem cool :D

you know at first i did think it was a general "you" and thought it was funny that the writers just assume the people who are listening are most likely to be anti-social, anxious, and stressed. and well, let's just say i ended up relating a lot to Y/N,

"inability to say how she feels" "she likes biscuits" same toshiko.

jack harkness died trying to get biscuits. i'm pretty sure evil michael palin was the one who killed him and it just lured Y/N to possess it afterwards but i also like the idea that jack harkness somehow got himself fucking killed while trying to get biscuits.

there's a rift???

i'm not gonna lie for a good while i was absolutely vibing with being evil bisexual michael palin's abused henchman.

on that note oh my goddddd michael palin being angry and swearing this is so!!!!!! this is everything to me <33333 like you have no idea he's popping the fuck off and i'm more than living for it i'm ascending!!

jack harkness is so sweet oh my 🥺🥺🥺🥺 is he always like this??

the worldbuilding is so cool by the way i love the way this all works in general, the weird mind palace psychic connection stuff. i'm sure part of it is an excuse to make michael palin play jack but it works and i'm obsessed. cool supernatural stuff for the win!!!

speaking of wins it actually is so sweet listening to Y/N push through and save the world and jack praising them…… i'm so proud of them/us <3333

which makes the ending all the more DEVASTATING. good god not the tragedy DDD: nooo evil michael palin i liked hanging out with you but not for eternity in the mind torture beach DDDD:

i'm choosing to believe the warped theme at the end was the gang finding and destroying the tape because i just want my lil self-insert guy to be happy :(

anyways evil bisexual michael palin was amazing the concept is so cool i was sucked in the entire time. looking forward to watching torchwood even more now!! that episode's now a comfort media for me <3 (still has not seen torchwood).

[jantostolemyheart]

Fic #7

Title: Cry For Absolution

Fandom: Torchwood, Arrow

Characters: Ianto Jones, Malcolm Merlyn

Pairing: Ianto/Malcolm

Status: complete

Fic is inspired by one @professeurm wrote

Yes the title is a Ghost reference, no not a songfic

It was the second time Malcolm woke from a nightmare. Thankfully he hadn't tried to strangle Ianto again, but he didn't want to risk it, or worse. He sat up, watching the man beside him sleep. Ianto looked so young, so innocent - he was almost 30 but he had that face that made you look younger than you were. Malcolm sighed softly, and carefully got up from the bed. He knew it was a mistake to stay over, Ianto would only end up hurt. His earlier nightmare proved that.

He was buttoning up his jacket when he felt Ianto come up behind him. "Cariad? What are you doing?"

Malcolm turned to face him. "It was a mistake to stay overnight. I nearly killed you, I keep having nightmares and I'm not willing to risk one of them actually killing you." He moved to the door, but Ianto put a hand on his arm to stop him.

"You don't have to go." His voice was soft, the vestiges of sleep still evident.

"Yes, I do." Malcolm was gentle yet firm.

Ianto frowned. "Go, then." Malcolm stroked Ianto's cheek gently, kissed him on the forehead before opening the door to leave. Ianto didn't watch, heading back to his room, and Malcolm left.

He did not let Malcolm see the tears that were falling fast and hard. He'd been a fool to fall for Malcolm Merlyn, but still, he didn't regret it.

Walking to his car, he didn't let any emotions show on his face. He couldn't have anyone see he was weak. However, he couldn't hold on any longer during the drive home, and the tears silently streamed down his cheeks. It hurt to leave Ianto. The only person he had loved like this since Rebecca died. He had sworn to never fall in love again. One night stands? A short fling? Sure, no emotions attached. Falling in love hadn't been an option, but then he met Ianto Jones. That sweet, quiet Welshman, who had come to him for a job. He had referred him to Palmer Tech instead, and the young man had fit in quite successfully there.

They had met once more at a function, and continued to meet up in their free time. This time was the first night they had spent together. It amazed Malcolm to no end how someone could know everything about him, what he'd done, and still want him. He had no idea if Ianto loved him too, the Welshman was also skilled at hiding his emotions. Taking a deep breath, he headed to his room. It would be better this way. Safer. At least, that's what he tried to convince himself.

Days later, when he was looking out his office window, Malcolm saw the smoke signal. The League. Fuck. He left the building as quickly as possible, changing into the outfit he had worn in his League years. Going as fast as he dared without getting in legal trouble, he reached the location of the signal. Ra's Al Ghul greeted him, a smug expression on his face. "So glad you could make it, Al Saher."

"What do you want from me?" He demanded of Ra's.

"I believe I have something of yours. Do you recognize this man?" A hooded League member dragged Ianto forward. His arms and legs were tied, he was gagged, and his face bloodied. Malcolm let out a soft gasp. Ra's smiled. So he was right, this youngster was important to Al Saher. "What have you done to him? What do you want?"

"Oh, I want you to suffer. You have broken the League's code of conduct when you carried out that undertaking. You must be punished, yet immediate death is too good for you, Al Saher. You were once my right-hand man, yet you will not have the luxury of my mercy. You will watch as your beloved suffers, and then you will too."

A rough hand shoved Malcolm down to his knees, holding him firmly in place. "Why hurt him? Why not just take me back with you to Nanda Parbat, and leave him out of this? Ianto is innocent in all of this. I am the one you want, not him!"

"Be silent and face your punishment with dignity, Al Saher. He lost all hope of being innocent once he built a relationship with you. You will be silent, and you will watch your beloved suffer. Taking his place would do nothing. He will still be punished for your crimes."

Malcolm tried to break free, to pull his beaten and battered boyfriend into his arms to protect him. He couldn't move, though. He head five of the assassins holding him down. Ra's really meant business. He was powerless to stop everything, and was forced to watch as Ra's further beat the man he loved. Once Ra's had had his fill, he drew his sword and slid it into Ianto's chest, straight through his heart, and Ianto slumped over. Malcolm screamed.

"I will allow you a few moments with your beloved, and then it will be your turn." He motioned for the members to let go of Malcolm and give them space.

"No no no no no!" Malcolm sobbed, kneeling next to Ianto's body. He untied Ianto and removed the gag, cradled him close. "I'm sorry, Ianto, I'm so sorry-"

He felt a hand against his chest. "I love you, Cariad-"

Ianto's eyes closed, and he was gone. Malcolm could only sit there, frozen. The man he loved was gone. The man who could love monsters.

[noforkingclue]

The Freedom of the Press Chapter 20 (Dhawan!Master x reader)

Freedom of the Press tag list: @startrekkingaroundasgard, @wandaloki, @praxeus-13, @lokabrenna0801, @wincheskka, @nines-leather-jacket

You looked blankly at the now cold mug of tea in your hands. People milled about you but you didn’t hear anything they were saying. You jumped when warm hands took the mug out of your grip and replaced it with a new one. You looked up into the pale face of Ianto. He gave you a smile that didn’t quite meet his eyes as he sat down next to you.

“How are-“

“Don’t,” you said, “Just don’t.”

“Yeah,” Ianto said dejectedly, “I know.”

You took a sip of your tea with shaking hand and was secretly grateful that it was Ianto who made it. Even now he was still able to make an amazing cuppa. His eyes were red rimmed and you could see the tear tracks down his face. It looked as though he had tried to wash them way but had given up. You knew from experience.

“Have you heard anything from O?” you asked, “I tried calling him but I haven’t managed to get through.”

“No,” Ianto’ voice cracked slightly and he coughed and said a bit more firmly, “No but I’m sure he’s fine.”

“He’s usually so prompt at replying though,” you said, “I don’t want-“

Ianto reached over at took one of your hands. He gave it a squeeze and gave you a soft smile.

“Don’t think like this,” he said, “It’ll be alright.”

You wished you could believe him. You really wished you could.

“Y/n?”

You looked over and the Doc was standing by your table.

“I just-“

“Don’t.” you and Ianto said at the same time

“Right,” she gave you a pained looked, “It’s just…”

“If Romana wants to ask me any questions I’m really not in the right state of mind,” you said, “I just can’t. Not tonight. No more.”

“Yeah, she knows. She’s going to need to as some more but not tonight,” she held out her mobile and grimaced slightly, “your boyfriend.”

You jumped to your feet and snatched her phone. You walked away from your friends as the Doc took your seat. You could see the pained look on her face and, while you knew they cared about you, you were tired of seeing it. Sympathy wasn’t going to bring your friend back.

“O?” you asked shakily

“Yeah, it’s me,” he said, “Love, is everything ok?”

You closed your eyes as hot tears poured down your cheeks.

“No,” you said weakly, “No it isn’t. That bastard got Jack.”

“Oh fuck.”

“Where are you?” you asked, “I tried calling but you didn’t pick up. Why did you call the Doc and not me?”

“I’ve been busy.”

“Busy.” You said blankly

“I’ve been in hospital all night.”

“Hospital?!” you cried and sunk down into a seat, “What happened? Are you ok? Did the Master get to you too?”

“No,” O said quickly, “No, I’m ok. It’s my… mother. She wasn’t well and had to be taken in.”

“Is she ok?”

“She is now. Now, where are you? I’ll come and get you. You shouldn’t be alone right now.”

“No, you spend time with your family,” you said, “enjoy your time with them while you can.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Ok. I’ll check in with you regularly. If you want me to be with you let me know, alright?”

“Will do. Oh yeah, one more thing?”

“Yes?”

“You didn’t answer one of my questions- why did you call the Doc and not me?”

“I tried,” he said, “When you didn’t pick up I thought that your phone had died or it wasn’t on you. From the amount of missed calls I thought it was best to get in contact with someone who might be near you. Even if that person was Theta.”

You could heat the bitterness in his voice and couldn’t help but chuckle. Even though he hated her he still cared enough about you to call her to try and get in contact with you.

“Who will you be staying with?” he asked

“Ianto,” you said, “it’s best that neither of us are alone right now.

“Ok,” O let out a sigh of relief, “Ok. As long as you’re safe.”

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

“Like I said- I’ll check in regularly. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

*

When you hung up the Master let out a sigh of relief and leant back in his seat. He tossed his phone gently as he looked down at the stitches on his hand. Damn it, he hadn’t been expecting you to take a swing at him. Well, he hadn’t exactly been lying when he said he was at the hospital.

He let out a dark chuckle as he ran a finger over them.

Oh yes, he was going to enjoy breaking you.

[torchwood-99]

Jack, An Unnatural Leader

Jack isn't a natural leader, and doesn't like being the leader.

Jack is introduced to the show as a sidekick, and that's how he likes it. One of the reasons why Jack is so devoted to the Doctor is that the Doctor is older than him, wiser than him, more experienced than him.

As an immortal being, Jack is often in the unenviable position of being the most experienced person in the room, making him the most logical choice for leader.

But it's not a role he thrives in, it's not a role he would, at the end of the day, choose for himself. He ends up in charge of Torchwood not because he's the right man for the job, but because he's the last man left, and he's only the last man left because he's the only character that the guy who killed the whole team couldn't kill.

Now, Jack can take charge, especially when in the thick of it. When he's on the space station you see how he commands the room, he's got charisma, he's got battle experience, but he's still under the direction of the Doctor.

In Season 1, the team eventually falls apart under his command. End of Day, the whole team fractures and splinters under his leadership. He's excellent at taking charge in a crisis, in the field of battle, but over a long term period, he flounders.

When he returns after TYTNW, the team has formed a much more supportive, much more cohesive unit. A unit he is a welcome addition to, and they're better for having his experience, his skill, but as a group of people who must depend on each other, who must trust and support each other, they have done better without him.

End of Days, the team's lack of trust in Jack, and Jack's sensitivity towards that lack of trust, is the ultimate downfall. The team don't know who Jack is, they don't know his past, so they can't trust him, so when they get visions of their loved ones making all sorts of promises, his voice, his authority, the trust they have in him, isn't enough to counter the temptations and the warnings those visions give.

Jack keeps his past a secret because he is ashamed of it, and that shame makes him question his own leadership, which is why challenging his secrecy is such a red button for him.

And Jack's past does come back to haunt him, and kill his loved ones. Every time a member of his team (post Suzie) dies, their deaths are wrapped up in Jack's past catching up with him. Gray kills Owen and Suzie, Ianto is killed by the same aliens Jack facilitated trafficking orphans to, and it's Jack's immortality that was used to create the Blessing, which resulted in Esther's death.

When Rhys and Anwen are kidnapped and Gwen demands Jack think on his past and figure out who he's pissed off, she's speaking from experience there, because every person she's loved and lost, she's lost in some ways because of an event in Jack's past.

Whereas Jack was an innocent in Gray's kidnapping, his silence on his brother, his refusal to inform the team who Gray is, to face up to his past with Gray, even after John Hart tells him in KKBB that he's found him, leaves the team sitting ducks to Gray's revenge plot. Maybe being in the know, maybe having a head's up that Jack's missing brother might be back on the scene would have ultimately made no difference, maybe it would have given them the edge they needed to survive, but the odds would have been vastly more in their favour than their not knowing.

In trading children to the 456, Jack was culpable, and there arguably was a cruel karmic force at work that saw the 456 return and take from Jack two of the people he would miss the most, after he gave them the children no one else would miss.

Ironically, Ianto is lost when Jack gives them a speech very similar to the one the Doctor gives in Zero Hour, trying to use his track record and a show of bravado to scare them off, and the result is lots of people die. Jack tries to save the day doing what he believes the Doctor would do, and the result is death.

The Doctor's own moral complexity aside, Jack sees the Doctor as the ultimate force for good, the greatest moral force in the universe, and that's why, for all his skill, charisma and knowledge, Jack wishes to be the Doctor's right hand man, his general, taking charge but taking charge under the Doctor's direction.

When the Doctor isn't around, Jack finds someone else to assign the role of moral force to. Gwen. He brings Gwen on board to "remind them what it is to be human". Gwen has a simple, uncomplicated past, and she comes into the team with a firm sense of right and wrong, one that has yet to be challenged, yet goes on to be so.

Gwen finds herself questioning her own morality and struggling with her sense of right and wrong big time as the season goes on, yet when she takes charge post Jack's disappearance, we see she not only manages to hold the team together, but make them stronger as a force.

Come COE, Gwen's the one to come up with the shoplifting plan, and most crucially, she's the one to make a connection with Lois Habiba, she forges a connection with Lois, makes the call to trust Lois, and wins her trust to the extent that Lois is willing to risk everything to help the team. Help without which Torchwood, and the world, would have been screwed.

Miracle Day comes, and Jack and Rex are about to make the ultimate sacrifice, only for Esther to get shot, and then Jack falters, and doesn't know what to do, whether or not to go ahead with the plan or abort and try to save Esther.

It's Gwen who says go ahead, it's Gwen who says there's going to be a cost, but it has to be done, it's Gwen who says the things Rex needs to hear to move forward with the plan.

Gwen is a natural leader in a way that Jack is not, yet Gwen's story does not lack in moral failures and challenges. What is it that has Gwen manage to trust her moral judgement, to continue to make connections based on trust, when Jack struggles?

Aside from perhaps an inner confidence, and the benefit of not having experienced literal hundreds years worth of trauma and losses, Gwen too had a figure she looked up to as a greater being. Gwen too had a Doctor, and it was Jack.

Whereas Jack was only with the Doctor for short bursts of time, time that generally vindicated Jack's view of the Doctor (which we can partially thank Doctor Who being a family show for), Gwen works with Jack for long periods of time, and she has a front row seat to his flaws and his failures, as well as his successes. And right from the start, Gwen regularly challenges Jack's moral choices, so in time, whereas Jack never quite shakes his idealisation of the Doctor, Gwen has a much more nuanced and critical view of Jack.

Jack never stops believing that no matter how hard he tries, no matter how much he tries to be a good leader, there's still someone out there better, more moral, more worthy, than him to lead.

Gwen however, despite her own flaws, of which she knows she has plenty of, swiftly learns that actually, no one is the perfect leader, and actually, sometimes she really is the best person to be in control of things.

Gwen trusts herself in a way Jack doesn't, Gwen trusts her right to lead in a way Jack doesn't, and so people trust Gwen in a way they don't trust Jack. And this creates a self-fulfilling prophecy, with Gwen's trust and Jack's distrust being vindicated.

[meta-squash]

Some other general all-over-the-place Torchwood thoughts that are coming up as I'm writing a post-Cyberwoman fic:

I'd love to know why they decided Ianto canonically lives in Radyr. It would make sense if, like Owen between seasons 1 and 2, Ianto maybe moved to Radyr. But I feel like it would make much more sense for Ianto to live in Splott or Roath or someplace like that in season 1, or at least while Lisa was still in the hub.

Radyr is a fairly nice, well-off area and a shortish commute (30mins) but still longer than Ianto probably would want. If he was planning on restoring Lisa to health and then leaving and taking her with him to live somewhere else, I would think he'd want to live in the cheapest place he could find. I also think he'd want to live somewhere very close to the hub, so he could get there as quickly as possible if something went wrong with Lisa in the night. If he were in Splott/Roath/Adamsdown/somewhere like that, it would be both cheap(er) and a less than 15 minute drive to the hub in the day, probably even shorter at night. (Plus it would totally explain his "I believe estate agents pronounce it 'Splo' quip in Day One.)

I've also always hated the weird timeline of Ianto's early Torchwood 3 employment. By Fragments, he's been there less than 2 years. Which would mean that by the time of Suzie's death, he'd probably only been there a month or two. I feel like all of the stakes and all of the interactions during Cyberwoman would make so much more sense if he'd already been there at least 4 months or longer. His "When was the last time you asked me anything about my life" is a much heavier truth if he's been there long enough that they're comfortable with him and consider him a fully established part of the team and not just someone still a little new. It would probably take him months to use Torchwood's resources to find Tanizaki, plan out all the details of getting Lisa well and getting all three of them safely out of and away from the hub, and get contingency plans in place. The stakes would be much higher if he'd been keeping her alive for like 4 or 5 months rather than just 2 or 3, meaning the shock of her not actually being fully Lisa and the manipulation of cyberman-mind would be a lot more intense and Ianto's denial a lot stronger.

On the opposite end of the observation spectrum, I'm so glad they kept in the "You think you're a hero, but you're the biggest monster of all" line, which was originally supposed to be cut. A lot of Jack's behaviors are really fucked up and horrible. Sometimes it's because he doesn't have a choice (Small Worlds), sometimes it's because he's too emotionally involved (Cyberwoman) and sometimes it's just plan fucked up (Combat). I think it's a great quote for Ianto to say because it really does highlight the things Jack does or the decisions he makes or the commands he gives that go just a little too far. And it reveals the lack of that "how far is too far" questioning, the examination of what is ethical or humane or whatever. And because Jack is immortal he constantly has to live with his actions, and there's always that question of will he become numb to it all. And of course that sentiment that he's the biggest monster of all is constantly turned on him again and again by other people and he has to continue to live with it and decide whether it hardens him or whether he allows it to change him in a more progressive or positive way.

[jakowskis]

im SO pissed i didnt listen to believe for a fucking year bc i heard bad things about it. im never listening to anyone else's opinions again cuz THAT WAS BRILLIANT. THAT WAS EVERYTHING I WANT OUT OF TORCHWOOD i mean it was still a bit shit highkey but it was EXACTLY what i want out of this garbage show. sooo fucking season one core (aka my fav) all sorts of dark horrific connotations and unhealthy dynamics but no emotional weight or responsibility xD once again i cannot tell if the writer was even fucking AWARE of a lot of the things he was implying but what i interpreted as being implied is making me fucking tear up the floorboards im. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

that was so cynical and bitter and awful and miserable and edgy and shitty ITS EVERYTHING I WANTED. i love torchwood being goofy i do but what draws me into the show and the reason it's become one of my most, uh, aggressive hyperfixations ever (which is ridic btw) is cuz its FUCKED UP AND UNHAPPY and that? was fuuuuucked. obsessed.

cult leader jack cult leader jack cult leader jack U DONT UNDERSTAND IT MAKES ME RABID and they ran with it i. stick figure violence stick figure violence. feeling rabid. AND HIS FUCKING SPEECH AT THE END. DOES HE KNOW??? hes so fucking deluded I LOVE IT. ITS FASCINATING he thinks hes good.... he thinks hes good... hes aware n he feels responsible and yet he doesnt SEE he doesnt see he thinks hes doing his best. NOOO it had the be intentional literally "jack tell us what that was about" "later lol" "sure yeah always later" and then hes like "YOU HAVE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY" GRRR JACK. JACK. also faith n believing.... ianto's trust. ianto's trust. you believe me like a god FUCK MY LIFEEEEEEEEEEE

jack always being five steps ahead + being 10x more competent than the team always makes me fucking roll my eyes but at this point i just kind of perceive it as the way tw constantly paints him as a deity figure. he can do no wrong

GWENS CYNICISM. TORCHWOOD BREAKING HER. TORCHWOOD BREAKING HER!!!!!!!!! FUUUUUUUUUUUUCK it's toxic... it's toxic... this job gets inside you THIS JOB GETS INSIDE YOUUU. torchwood thesis statement: this job fucking breaks you.

FINALLY some good fucking tosh x owen food. DONT GET ME WRONG THAT WAS FUCKING AWFUL but that was sooooooo much more compelling than the fucking bullshit that canon gave us. owen being a toxic abusive fucking manchild + doing smth bad enough to tosh that she FINALLY went "wow THATS the man im obsessing over" like g-d i would've killedddd for that to happen in the show i HATE that she wasted herself on him. i hate it. her disgust and anger at him was so THERAPEUTIC for me 😭 idk what it says about me that the way i was grinning when they were arguing n bitching at each other was probs the closest ive ever gotten to actually shipping them HFKJDSF theres smth wrong w me. i just think s2 tosh is too fucking sweet and good and probably naive and i think owen could so easily fuck her up, like i don't think there's a world where he wouldn't hurt her tbh, and i don't want that to happen i adore her too much. like i don't think he's irredeemable, i ship him w other characters who i think could handle him, but i don't think tosh could, and that was validation of that opinion, you know? i'd be more willing to ship them if tosh was firm with him and didn't let him walk all over her, and it sucks that she didn't do that and got herself hurt and THATS what it took to make her call him tf out and tell him how much he sucks. ig a lot of why towen bugs me sm boils down to the fact that im not comfortable shipping someone who's kind of awful with someone who idealizes them and doesn't seem to grasp the scale of how bad they are. that's a recipe for an unhealthy dynamic and if i didn't like tosh i might be intrigued by it ngl HFSKDF but thats my babygirl and the idea of putting her thru Being With Him disgusts me. she deserves better until he gets his fucking shit together. which he never does and she never gets to have something good bc she was waiting for his shitty ass lmao YAYY!!

owen was AWFUL in that btw. and i adored him in it. my fav owen is an owen who's spiraling and destructively fixated on something for selfish purposes to the point that he doesnt care who he hurts to accomplish it. he's so villain coded fhsdkfjdsk he redeems himself in the show and i love that but the audios further explore the fact that he's got such a darkness to him he SO EASILY can be pushed into destroying everything. hes constantly on the precipice of monstrosity and cruelty bc of his own hurt. it's like hes so full of rot it leaks out of him and infects others and he hates it but he cant help it. i will never get over the doctor with poison fingers oh he makes my heart ache. he's just so misguided. he's so broken.

which brings us back to jack's speech. (him talking to the cult leader lady) "They were broken, and you were the person they turned to for help. If you don’t accept their problems, then don’t offer yourself as a solution." literally im gonna think about this for months. HE DOESNT SEE!!!!!!!!!

g-d and ianto's orientation or whatever. that was Fantastic ianto insight. he's so much more interesting when he's away from jack it's almost impressive.

i am just. gdddddddddddddddddddddddd. i am so distraught. help meeee

[thetorchwoodarchive]

Hello!! I was wondering if you guys have any recs for fics where Ianto meets a past version of Jack 💕

Sing Me Like a Choir by princessoftheworlds (JackIanto | complete | 62462 | E)

Javic Thane and Ianto Jones were never meant to meet, but that won't stop them from falling for each other. A love story where even time and space couldn't keep two men apart.

synchronicity by princessoftheworlds (JackIanto | complete | 1805 | T)

Sighing, Ianto continues further up the Plass, the soles of his boots striking against the cobblestone as he rounds around the water tower. Then he glances up, and his mouth drops open in shock.

Right there, standing smackdab in the center of the Plass, as striking and obvious as it could possibly be, is a bright blue wooden box with glowing windows.

Jack and Ianto have a chance meeting in Cardiff, two years and several tragedies too early.

minor details by fitzroysquare (JackIanto, Gwen&Ianto | complete | 12246 | T)

Jack Harkness is a liar. Jack Harkness is also a lie. Surprisingly, no one has seemed to have caught onto those two things yet.

[Or: Jack loses his memory and thinks he’s Javic Piotr Thane, conman. He acts like it, too.]

Of Motion In Perpetuity by Beleriandings (JackIanto, GwenRhys | complete | 106706 | M)

When Gwen, Jack and Ianto investigate a cold case from end of the nineteenth century, they find themselves pulled back in time against their will, fighting to protect each other and to get home.

Time Tracks by (Cyborgtamaki, thirteeninafez | complete | 174005 | T)

It took him a second to realise what had happened; what had felt like hours while travelling through the rift shrunk itself in his head to a mere instant of searing gold. That’s when the flicker of the fire in front of him finally registered through his confused daze. In his haste to get away from the flames around him, he slipped and fell, scrambling back until he was a safe distance away from the smoke and the heat. It was only then that he took notice of the voices behind him. He turned towards the noise of a deep, northern voice spluttering and saying, confused and almost angry.

“Who the hell are you?”

The man rolled over onto his knees and stood up, looking around like he’d never seen a street before. “Jones.” He sounded uncertain but then spoke again with more confidence. “Ianto Jones.”

Ghost Story by Mad_Maudlin (Jack/Ianto | complete | 70423 | T)

I called out. "Would you like to hear a ghost story?"

For a moment Jack didn't move, and I knew he'd recognized my voice. After a moment he said, flatly, "I don't believe in ghosts."

"It's a complicated story," I admitted, and pulled the watch from my pocket by the chain. "And it starts with 'Long ago and far away.'"

Requiem by engagemythrusters (JackIanto | complete | 2462 | T)

Captain Jack Harkness died on Satellite Five and woke to find someone he had never seen before in his life.

The Star of the Universe by celedan (JackIanto | complete | 23729 | E)

By chance, young Torchwood One employee Ianto Jones saves popstar Serenity Carter from aliens, and has to flee with her from their assailants. At the same time, the Doctor drags Jack Harkness back to Earth for an impromptu adventure. Running into each other, the two parties have to flee together and solve their problem while Jack's heart aches to see Ianto again after all this time.

Your Face Is Turned by copperbadge (JackIanto, JackOther(s), IantoOther(s), JackIantoOC | complete | 75390 | E)

Lo Boeshane has a promising career ahead of him as he enters his first year of Fleet Officer Training, but the war is still with him and life at Quantico Station can be difficult. Meanwhile, Ianto Jones is just trying to figure out why the Doctor kidnapped him to the fifty-first century and why Jack abandoned him at a school for the Fleet's military elite. He suspects it may have something to do with Lo, but his attempts to help the troubled young veteran may damage his own timestream beyond repair.

Another Chance by gmariam (JackIanto | complete | 3108 | T)

Jack Harkness meets Ianto Jones in a London pub, celebrating his birthday with friends from Torchwood One.

Resurrection of the lost by FredAndGeorgeForever (Jack&Ianto, Jack&Team, JackIanto | complete | 2794 | T)

It was a perfectly normal day at Torchwood when a demand came to help bring Torchwood four back. Nothing weird about that at all.

[aletterinthenameofsanity]

i am coming home to you (if it's the last thing that i do)

Jack Harkness x Ianto Jones. During Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Angst with a Happy Ending. Crossposted on ao3. Title is from “Sax Rohmer #1″ by the Mountain Goats.

"I came back for you," Jack says, looking straight at Ianto, and Ianto's heart seizes, beating out an irregular two-part beat in his chest. Then Jack glances to the rest of the group and Ianto's heart slows back into its usual disappointed rhythm. "All of you."

Ianto is used to being overlooked by Jack. He is used to being the second one chosen. He is used to being shunned by everyone on the team since everything that happened with Lisa. He is used to being forced back into the archives in favor of Gwen's leadership after Jack's appearance. He is used to being last needed, last appreciated, last loved. Not loved at all, in fact, not since Lisa left, no matter how tight Jack hugged him after waking up in the morgue. Jack only hugged him after hugging Gwen, who insisted on sitting by his side and letting no one near- Ianto was clearly never the priority then.

Of course Jack didn't come back for him. Why would he? Ianto was the man who betrayed him and Torchwood and the bed that he once shared with Jack in an effort to keep him from finding out about Lisa. He turned everything that Jack cherished into something vile. No matter what efforts Ianto has made since then, his sacrifices during the cannibal case, him standing up to his teammates when it came to opening the rift, he cannot make up for all of the hurt he caused.

But then, in the office, Jack asks him out on a date, in a fumbling, awkward way that Ianto has never seen the good Captain ask someone out in. Normally he's the suavest person in the room; right now, he feels more authentic than he ever has, something weary in his gaze, something jumbled in his tone.

And Ianto wants to say yes- he knows he's going to say yes- but somehow his brain is scrambling faster than his mouth because the words come tumbling out: "Did you come back for me? From wherever you went?" When Jack blinks, Ianto adds, in for a penny, in for a pound, "Be honest with me, Jack. I swear I won't judge you either way."

Jack's bright gaze fixes on Ianto, steady and examining and dangerous, always dangerous, but infinitely more tender than anything Ianto's seen from him, even back when they were still sleeping together. "I saw things while I was with my Doctor," Jack says, voice a low rumble, steady but quiet. "Many things. Bad things. And they made me realize that of all of the people in my current life, you are the one I would least like to live without."

The admission punches the breath from Ianto's lungs. He was Jack's priority? His reason to return? The first thought? The one person he would least like to live without?

The truth tumbles from Ianto's mouth without inhibition, loosened by pleasant shock and a reckless bravery and some small bit of codependent love: "I believe that the feeling is mutual, sir."

Jack smirks, that confident, mistaken for arrogant thing, that charming calling card that right here, right now, belongs to Ianto Jones. "Then that's a yes on the date?"

Ianto nods. "That's a yes, sir."

Jack steps forward, presses a kiss to Ianto's cheek, and says, "I can't wait to go on a real date with you, Ianto Jones." His eyes sparkle with that mad, dangerous, gorgeous mirth as he says: "But we've gotta get rid of my ex first."

Ianto offers Jack a small, sure smirk. "Why do I have the feeling that will be a reoccurring problem?"

"You willing to put up with it, Ianto Jones?"

Ianto shrugs, some bright thing buoying his chest as he jokes, sincerity bleeding through the teasing lilt in his voice: "We've all got our baggage, sir."

Jack offers out a hand and Ianto takes it. "That we do, Ianto." He jerks his head toward the door. "And now, we run."

They take off, and that thing buoying Ianto's chest rushes from his mouth, bubbling into excited laughter as their legs pound and their muscles burn and they save the world for the hundredth time and for here, for now, Ianto gets to have Jack Harkness singularly, selfishly, in all of his mad, brave, selfless, beautiful glory.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/45220966