#ianto loves jack so much but he’s only a moment in jack’s life

[ghost-in-marble]

As powerful as it is to know that Jack was willing to let the world go to the 456 if only Ianto would be spared, as a bubble moment in and of itself, it’s so much more powerful knowing Jack’s characterization. Because he is always making hard calls and making sacrifices for the good of the world, but Ianto is where he draws the line.

Jack let Jasmine go with the fairies for the good of the world. This is made more palatable because she wanted to go, but it’s still a sacrifice that makes Jasmine’s mother lash out at him and causes Gwen, Tosh, and Owen to give him the cold shoulder. I think it’s debatable whether or not he would have let the fairies have her even if she hadn’t wanted to go - maybe the issue would have dragged on a bit longer, but barring any other solutions presenting themselves (and the episode makes it clear this is unlikely), I think he would have given her up.

He sacrificed the original 456 victims as well. He knew that he was handing a bunch of scared little kids to an alien, and he didn’t know what was going to happen to them; they could have been dinner for all he knew. This was also not his call to make, but he went along with it because it was made clear that it was 12 kids or the world. He follows orders and doesn’t even try to find another solution.

He sacrifices Steven, his own grandson, to stop the 456, because it’s down to the wire and this is the only solution available. They don’t have time to come up with anything else. And what else is he going to do? Go hunt down a less conveniently available child and devastate someone else’s family just to keep his own intact? Most people would have; we see all the politicians specifically discuss that none of their families will lose children to the 456.

Yet Jack is willing to walk away from the path he’s set himself on of protecting the world, and would let terrible, horrific things happen in the world and to other people, if only it would save Ianto’s life. And knowing that in the context of Jack’s previously established characterization just makes it that much more devastating and really speaks to how much he loves and needs Ianto, and also to the effect the loss of Ianto has on him, despite their relationship never really being discussed in the text very much or taking centre stage at all.

[nogoodninny]

watching Stolen Earth again, and my favorite moment is, and always be

The transmission coming in from the alien ship

Who is it?

Everyone was tuned in on their respective computers.

Then comes the voice.

EXTERMINATE!!

The terror on the faces of the Doctor’s former companions as they each hear that voice. The voice they could never forget. The voice that chilled them to their very core…

EXTERMINATE!!

Sarah Jane Smith holds Luke close. Her poor boy! He’s so young! She couldn’t protect him! Not from them. She herself has come face to face with the creator of these monsters. She knew how twisted and cold they can be.

She was there at the beginning, it’s only fitting she’d be there at the end.

EXTERMINATE!!

Captain Jack Harkness cries. He pulls Ianto and Gwen close and holds them tight. There is nothing he can do! So soon after losing two members of his found family, he will now have to say goodbye to the two most important people in his life. The two people that were his entire world. His best friend and the man he loved, gone. In a second. The worst part of it is, he knows exactly the pain they will feel when it happens. He knows what will happen. He’s felt it himself. After all, you never forget your first death

EXTERMINATE!!!

Martha Jones, surrounded by a military specially trained to fight the supernatural, and all of the sudden that doesn’t matter. There is not a military in the universe that could stand against them. Not one that could survive the onslaught. Dead, all of her coworkers, dead. Her family, dead. Humanity, dead.

She’s faces them in New York, she saw them take good people, people who only wanted to survive, and turned them into experiments. Into pigs. She stood against them and has seen what they are willing to do to survive, and it was horrifying.

EXTERMINATE!!!

Rose Tyler hears the voice through a laptop, alone in a trashed electronics store. Terrified. Rose Tyler is the only person who has ever shown mercy to these creatures. She made one feel. She stood by the Doctor when he was ready to give up. One of his darkest moments. But the Doctor chose coward over killer, even facing his worst enemy, even after he sent her away

But she found her way back to him. Rose Tyler looked into the heart of the TARDIS to find her way back and she saw them, and she made them no more, and it hurt. But she did it for him, and he saved her.

Her doctor. The one that grabbed her hand and told her to run. Her doctor who was fresh out of the Time War. The first time she’d ever seen him afraid, was when he simply looked upon one, one who was broken and chained and tortured. She had never seen her doctor show this much fear or anger. Now here she was, alone. Where was her Doctor? Her Allies? She has to find them. No one should have to face them alone.

EXTERMINATE!!!!

Now these people, who have dedicated their lives to protecting the earth when the Doctor wasn’t there, are facing such horrible creatures and he was nowhere to be found. And they couldn’t fight them alone, not these creatures, these horrible creatures

Not these creatures that have haunted every nightmare they’ve had.

Not these creatures that they all know the Doctor fears above all

The Daleks.

[jakowskis]

💖💙💜 owen harper bisexuality masterpost 💖💙💜

i've had this in my drafts for a minute but i figured i'd finish it up and post it today for bisexual visibility day :D

it hasn't cropped up recently, but i've seen a lot of people who've questioned owen's bisexuality over the years and i thought i'd compile all the 'evidence' (although it completely baffles me that we got a show with five canonical bisexual characters and people want to write two of them off as straight / "heterflexible" ?? there shouldn't have to be 'proof' of owen being bi, RTD said torchwood is about five bisexuals fighting aliens in cardiff which means they're all bi, full stop. also, bisexuals should never have to 'prove' they're bi, and in regards to fictional characters, i'm sick of people nit-picking who 'deserves' to be counted as rep and refusing to 'claim' certain characters if they're morally grey or if the fandom simply doesn't Like them as much-)

but i digress.

so without further ado, here's everything i've found that supports owen's status as a bicon :-)

explicit canon instances

➤➤ obviously, we have to start with his gay kiss in the first episode of the show. there's a lot to be said about that kiss, i'm not gonna get into all that here, but i've seen a lot of people say it's not proof of owen being attracted to men, and i wholeheartedly disagree. you can literally catch him smiling very happily after the kiss (and one of owen's few genuine smiles of the series, too). i don't think a straight man (or even a "heteroflexible" man) would beam at another guy who's just informed him that he wants to fuck him. a fair amount of people have also said they interpreted owen calling the taxi as him intending to get away from the couple, but i don't understand how they're getting that impression, because that smile makes it seem very much apparent to me that running away is the last thing he wants to do.

it's also, notably, the first time we see bisexuality IN the bisexual show, which i don't think should be discounted. like, we see owen do something gay before jack does, for fuck's sake. is it a good first impression of how torchwood portrays bisexuality? no. is setting owen up as a more sex-driven, opportunistic bisexual nicely contrasted against ianto & tosh's more romance-oriented brand of demisexual bi/pansexuality? in my opinion, yes. i love that the torchwood bisexuals all practice their bisexuality in different ways. that's very special to me. 'cause it's realistic! real bisexuals all experience bisexuality differently! obviously it'd be a different story if he was the only bi rep, because lord knows we've seen enough of that already, but torchwood makes an effort to show us five different brands of bisexuality, and five different bi stories that largely only exist in the subtext, that aren't the focus of the show, and it's fantastic. it's all i could ever want out of bi rep, honestly, even if it is a bit dated now.

➤➤ the other explicit moment in the show: asking tosh and ianto for an end-of-the-world threesome in sleeper (s2ep2). i've actually never seen owen bi-deniers (fhdskjf it's a conspiracy) even mention this scene. owen literally asks ianto if they can have sex with each other to his face, and he's dead serious when he asks it. that's... i mean you can't mistake that as anything else. like fhdsjkf??

➤➤ next we jump to some of the, i suppose, extended universe content. whether the books are canon or not is debated, but the novel 'another life' features owen playing an online simulation game, and it makes a point to depict owen flirting with someone with a male avatar + wondering to himself if the guy would be down for cyber-sex. [someone posted part of that scene here. for context, owen's also got a VR headset on during that bit.]

➤➤ another instance is on the website, which some also don't regard as canon, but, i mean, i don't know who worked on the things we see on that site, but obviously they got their information from somewhere. they probably consulted with the writers on the show, or at the very least got notes on what things to touch on. anyway, there's a portion of the site where you can find a 'background check' on owen, and it's just a collection of messages from some ex-lovers of his. one of them is a man.

again, some people disregard the canon validity of the website, but the way i see it, the information on this site was released while the show was airing for fans to look at and to gain further insight on the characters. one of the things they felt a need to tell us about owen, important enough to be featured in his background (wayyy before the katie plot was developed), was that he wasn't just interested in women. personally, i regard that as canon. you can find this here. and even if you wanna say fragments jossed this background, it doesn't joss his, like... identity.

next we have things said by russell t. davies himself + by burn gorman (owen's actor)

➤➤ again, RTD (who's torchwood's creator, but i'm assuming everyone reading this knows that) explicitly described torchwood as "a bunch of bisexuals living under cardiff and fighting aliens". that's not ambiguous. [i don't have a direct source for this quote, it was apparently said on the dvd extras.]

burn's comments on owen's sexuality include...

➤➤ (when asked who owen fancies) "Owen's pretty cocky, he'll try it on with whoever comes along." [x] and yes, this is vague, but vagueness is often interpreted as proof of bisexuality. (for example, in the pacific rim dvd features, newt's bio stating he was interested in "whoever will take him" was widely interpreted by the fandom as him being bi.)

➤➤ (in regards to owen's "let's all have sex" line) "I don't think he [...] thinks about the implications, or whether it's with a man or a woman." [x]

(ok i have to admit, although i absolutely adore burn, i'm not super fond of the way his 2006-08 self would talk about how torchwood handled sexuality*. however! he kind of hit the nail on the head in saying that, even if it's in the context of owen wanting end-of-the-world sex, because my take on how owen sees his own sexuality has always essentially boiled down to thinking he'd be like, "well, why wouldn't men also be an option?" (well, with sexual attraction anyway; i think owen's relationship with romantic attraction is far more complex.) i think he resembles jack in that way; anyone's a prospective sexual partner, if they're attractive and interesting and he decides he wants them, and he's also impulsive as hell, so he doesn't think too hard about gender in the moment if he decides he's into someone. there's not really any hang-ups.)

➤➤ and ofc...

(out of context this could look like he's just jokingly calling owen an alien-fucker, although owen makes his thoughts on alien-fucking pretty clear in countrycide lol, but it was said in the context of owen/andy as a ship [x].)

*if you're wondering what i'm referring to, it's a comment here [x] about how the torchwood team's bisexuality is a result of being in a pressure cooker environment and having a 'wartime mentality', and they just kind of 'take what they can get'. the implication that bisexuality is out of desperation/accessibility rather than attraction is pretty damn icky, BUT i love him lots and he generally seems to be pretty woke these days (+ otherwise has always seemed to grasp why torchwood's rep was so unique and groundbreaking and important) so i'll go ahead and hope that was just, y'know, simple 'being a straight guy in 2008' ignorance. fifteen years is a long time and i have faith his opinions have evolved by now, esp considering he used the word 'pansexual' at a 2016 con [x]. (actually, ok, you caught me, that last bit wasn't super relevant and i didn't need to bring it up, but i just wanted to gush about him doing it because how often do you hear that word out of celebs, especially older and presumably straight ones. and in 2016, too. kinda slay of him, ngl)

aaand finally, some random, non-explicit little things that i think support him being a bisexy king (several of these are goofy and half-serious)

➤➤ in episode 2, they make a point to cut to owen smiling after jack's line about "you people and your quaint little labels". one might argue he's smiling at gwen & carys on the screen, but cutting to him immediately after jack says it very much implies he's reacting to jack's words, and i think it's particularly poignant after, again, we saw him kiss a man the episode prior. (which, another thing - owen's literal introduction features him kissing a man, like that's gotta count for something. if the literal third thing i ever see a male character do ever is kiss a guy, that means something.)

➤➤ and of course, in the same episode, we get "period military is not the dress code of a straight man" .... owen's the only one of them with working gaydar. also what a fruity thing to say

➤➤ speaking of fruity things to say, in s2e10 when they're all watching the old film, owen goes "look at the state of them 💅" and he says it SO cunty for no reason it always kills me fhsdkjfd

➤➤ combat.

➤➤ no, really.

➤➤ bonus: in the combat commentary, it's mentioned that when RTD saw the above scene between mark & owen, he said it was "the gayest thing he'd ever seen".

➤➤ in the three monkeys, a big finish audio featuring owen & andy, owen flirts with andy repeatedly. even if he just does it to be annoying, it's still pretty damn gay. also the pet names... (he calls him sweetheart, sunshine, and tiger. it's half-mocking, sure, especially because it's owen, but there's also a domesticity to it.)

➤➤ and then there's the hope's "you're alive again and you want crisps?!" "be glad that's all i'm asking for" (owen was like 'i will not use this as an excuse to try to sleep w andy i will not use this as an excuse to try to sleep w andy i will not use th') these are the only two audios i've heard with this duo, i'm sure there's more examples in the other two. i know gooseberry literally has owen sabotaging andy's relationship with his gf and that is... woohoohoo.... i'll update this once i get through those.

➤➤ …. this is my personal opinion but i lowkey think he kinda wants john hart a bit when they all first meet him in kkbb hdskjfds. gwen & tosh both seem very charmed by him and they're meant to, it's supposed to be like 'oh, look at jack's ex waltzing in and charming the pants off everyone (ha), and only ianto and jack see through him' - owen isn't given a flirty line of dialogue or even a close-up shot of him eyeing john like the girls get, but if you watch him closely he certainly looks… intrigued by him. i think owen's more of a bi disaster than he lets on.

➤➤ in episode 10, diane notes that owen has "beauty products" in his bathroom. obviously this shouldn't be indicative of sexuality, but how many Straight Men in 2006 were moisturizing lmao. hell, how many do nowadays 😭

➤➤ gwen & owen's dynamic settles into a lovely little friendship in s2 and owen lowkey gives gbf vibes <3 them making fun of the movie in s2e10 together + the cheek-kissing at the end of s2e9… bi besties!!

➤➤ the peace sign he throws up in meat when he meets rhys fdsjk i don't even believe in some of the silly internet jokes abt bi culture but c'mon

➤➤ have you seen his taste in women. diane is soo butch and gwen's a total tomboy in s1. that's bi culture babey!!!! i too like girls when they're boys

➤➤ i already talked about it but the aforementioned scene where he asks tosh and ianto for a threesome... he asks them, like, immediately after they team up and bully him for not comprehending that there's "no phones. phones all broken. anyone there? no, 'cause the phones aren't working." that was suuuch a disaster bi owen moment for me. i too would get a little revved up if tosh and ianto both bullied me at once <3

aaand finally... the biggest Evidence of all....

➤➤ he's a leather jacket bisexual. need i say more

and that's all! thanks for reading!

[credit for the dividers used in this. didn't tumblr used to have built-in dividers? i miss that.]

[sallysellsseashellssundays]

They keep killing Suzie rewatch

Yaaay I finally got to rewatch this episode, this was one of my favorites originally, it certainly didn’t disappoint the second time around!

Suzie is such an evil manipulative character, but I love her so much for it lol

I don’t think I’ll ever understand how someone can hate Gwen, she’s such a great character, she literally has so much empathy that she got the glove to work immediately and for such a long time too compared to Suzie who’d only gotten I believe 2 minutes total in all her time using it

Please someone out there please tell me there’s a gif of the dramatic af moment where Ianto names the life knife, the way the camera pans to him lmao

I think my favorite part about this entire episode is the parallel between Jack who wants to die vs Suzie who is willing to do anything to live. Suzie is so upset that he’s making a judgement on whether she should live after finding out about his “condition” but it’s so wonderfully contrasted to Jack’s earlier conversation where he says he’d never wish immortality on Suzie wanting to kill her instead. Honestly wish we could have had more Jack and Suzie interactions in this episode

My least favorite thing is how they spend over an hour on the phone with Detective Swanson when they could have just called Gwen to warn her, although I do laugh at the police force making fun of how they’re trapped in their own base

I feel so stupid for not understanding the Gwen/Owen relationship the first time around, it’s so obvious he cares deeply about her, he’s very protective of her, and if it weren’t for Rhys being such an amazing character I could really see Gwen and Owen being a great long term relationship

I think this had the first overt, onscreen, canon Ianto/Jack moment too! I like how in front of everyone else this episode we hear him say ‘sir’ or ‘captain’ but in private refers to him as ‘Jack’, that’s the sort of stuff I completely missed the first time

My new ranking:

1.) They keep killing Suzie/Ghost machine

2.) Small worlds

3.) Countrycide

4.) Cyberwoman/Greeks bearing gifts

5.) Everything changes

6.) Day One

[queenclaudiabrown]

Forgotten Flowers

Fandom: Torchwood Pairing: Toshiko 'Tosh' Sato X Owen Harper Content warnings: Content warnings: spoilers for ‘Adam’ canonical memory loss, I think that’s it Word count: 953

     Toshiko Sato woke up with a crick in her neck.

     She was slumped over the briefing room’s table, and when she looked around, she found Ianto, Gwen, and Owen all at the table as well.  Jack was nowhere to be found, and that wasn’t actually that surprising.  Owen was just waking up as well, blinking and frowning adorably, like a kitten just woken.  “What the bloody h3ll’s going on?”  He muttered, as confused as she was.

     “I don’t know.”  Tosh admitted, moving her arms back and to the sides to stretch.  “Last thing I remember is going to bed.”

     “I think I fell asleep watching the telly.”  Owen said.  Noticing something on the table next to him, he frowned.  “Why are my old reading glasses here?”

     “And where are mine?”  Tosh queried, patting herself down in search of her wayward spectacles.

     Ianto made a sound, sitting upright.  He looked around in as much confusion as they were in, then stood up and poked his head out the doorway.  “Jack?”  He called.  “Jack?”  Turning away from the door again and going to Gwen’s side, he asked, “Have either of you seen Jack?”

     Tosh shook her head.  “No, we’ve only been awake a minute.  He could be in his office.”

     Nodding, Ianto gently shook Gwen’s shoulder.  Tosh stood and walked out of the room, stretching either arm across her chest.  She headed for her computer, pulling up system files and the CCTV logs.  Gwen and Owen emerged and also opened up the computers, the three of them conferring on which avenues to pursue for answers each.    

     “Has anyone seen my diary?”  Ianto asked.  Receiving a collective negative, he disappeared again in search of his book.

     Several minutes passed as the three of them fruitlessly scoured their resources for any clue as to what had transpired between their last memories and waking up.  “Jack, how have we lost two days?”  Gwen queried as their wayward leader appeared.

     “What do you mean?”  He asked.

     “Last 48 hours- none of us can remember a thing.”  Ianto clarified, re-entering the Hub. 

     “The system’s blank, the CCTV’s been wiped.”  Tosh chimed in.  “What’s going on?  What’ve we been doing?”

     Their leader was silent for a moment, confusion and suspicion warring on his face.  “I don’t know.”  He admitted at last.

     “Great, that’s two days of my life that I’ll never get back.”  Owen remarked dryly.

     “Looks like Toshiko got herself a secret admirer, though.”  Jack commented, gesturing to the large vase of flowers that she admittedly hadn’t really noticed on her desk with his mug.

     “Oh, yeah?”  Owen seemed to notice as well as Tosh took the card from where it sat among the blooms.

     “‘To Tosh, Love and apologies-’” her breath caught as she read the name of the sender, but she pushed past it to finish the card with no noticeable hesitation.  “‘-Owen.’”  She couldn’t help her smile as she looked up at him.  “They’re from you.”

     With an amused expression on his face, he opened his mouth to speak, but shut it before actually saying anything.  He came over, pulling his jacket on, and plucked the card from her hands, scanning over it himself.  “Well, I’d say that I don’t do flowers or apologies, but… well, that is my handwriting.”  With a shrug, he offered the card back to her, and she returned it to its place as he gave her a rather rueful half-smirk.  “Must’ve done something awful.  My bad.”

     “It’s not like I remember, so… forgiven.”  She replied, her smile widening.  She prayed she hadn’t come across as too lenient.

     “You’re not gonna make him beg a little?  Grovel a bit?”  Gwen jokingly critiqued.

     Tosh shrugged.  “Like I said, I don’t remember.  It couldn’t have been that bad, and he did apologize.”  (She ignored the rest of the team exchanging looks.)

     “Well, that’s a relief.”  Owen said, but whether it was sarcastic or genuine, she couldn’t tell.  “You got anything left to do before you go home?”

     Rather startled at his unusual (for him) question, it took Tosh a moment to formulate a response.  “Not much, no.  I was going to close up the windows on the computer and then get a bite to eat on the way to my flat.”  She replied.

     After all, she had no idea when and what she ate last.

     “Now there’s an idea.  I could go with you, if you like.”  He offered, surprising her even more.  “I’m leaving now anyway, and I’m starving.”

     Tosh weighed her options for a brief moment, but it took very little to convince her to agree.  Smiling, she nodded.  “I’d like that.  Thank you.”

     He gave her one of his odd little half-smirks.  “There’s a nice sandwich shop not far from here.  I remember seeing smoked salmon on their menu.  That’s your favorite, isn’t it?”

     She tilted her head, confused yet pleasantly surprised that he knew her favorite kind.  “How’d you know that?”

     He shrugged.  “Must’ve heard you mention it at some point.”

     Tosh wondered if maybe he soaked up the little things she said like she did his.  God, she hoped so, even if she was sure it was a foolish hope.  She said nothing, unsure of what to say, and quickly closed out of the windows on her computer.  When she finished, she collected her jacket and bag, and followed Owen outside.

     Their colleagues watched them go.  “He’d better not break her heart.”  Gwen was the first to break the pensive, observant silence.

     “If he does, I’ll feed him to Janet.”  Jack agreed.

      Ianto merely smiled and went in search of his journal again, intending to add this possible new development to the book if he could just bloody find it.

[torchwood-99]

My Favourite Torchwood Looks

So the thing I really love about Gwen’s windbreaker is the colour. Not only does it look pretty, but the light green makes her stand out in a way that really suits Gwen as the newbie, and the pale mint green is just begging to get splattered in blood and dirt. You see Gwen wearing this and it’s obvious what is going to happen to her, and her jacket, by the end of the episode.

Obviously Jack’s coat is iconic. I know he goes through a few variations of coats, and styles them all similarly. I like it with this dark blue shirt the most, and I think the coat looks best in Countrycide, against the fields and grey brick and the Brecon Beacons. When he wears it in Cardiff, he looks really out of time, which makes sense. But in the seemingly abandoned village, where his team are all dressed in heavier clothes as well (apart from Gwen in the above jacket) he actually fits in for once. It pits him firmly against the cannibals along with his team, which is fitting seeing as he’s the one who saves them in the end.

Owen wears this jacket quite a lot, I think. I just really like how it looks with the blue shirt. This is one of the first moments where we see Owen scared, and realise just how vulnerable Owen is under his tough front.

Tosh looks so gorgeous. Love the colour blocking with the red and black, and the lapels of her coat. 

Gwen just looks so adorable in her police uniform, hair drenched from the rain, giving that big wide eyed surprised look that she wears so well. Especially in the earlier seasons. This look just feels like it sums Gwen up at the beginning. In a uniform, firmly in the real world, about to be sucked into something totally new.

Ianto wears so many suits, but this is my favourite variation. Like with Tosh, I love the red and black, and I think the stripy tie goes so nice with the shirt and black blazer. Plus, this is the scene where he and Gwen link arms (iconic) and the red of his shirt complements Gwen’s warm brown blouse.

Just such a gorgeous shade, and I love how soft and romantic the blouse is. Tosh dresses much more femininely than Gwen, which makes sense for their personalities and their job roles, seeing she spends less time in the field than Gwen.  She looks really beautiful in these rich shades, and the flowy fabric is so nice.

Ianto in red and black again! But this time with a suit coat with a pointy up collar! I love a pointy up collar! And I love coats like this.

My favourite Owen look, and sums him up perfectly! The Doctor’s lab coat with all the badges. It’s one of the first looks we see him in, and the one he wears where he is introduced to Gwen and the audience. Seeing as he’s the first to break out laughing, and to confess to ordering pizza under Torchwood, the playfulness of the badges sums up his role in the scene perfectly!

Just a really pretty look on Tosh. I don’t think we usually see Tosh’s arms so bare, which makes sense seeing as this is the moment where Mary reveals herself as an alien. Tosh, falling in love, is likewise more open and revealing in her clothes. The soft, draping fabric and the colour works perfect for a character falling in love.

Gwen looked sooo pretty on her wedding! I actually think she looked better after the fight with the Nostrovite, when her hair was a bit more mussed up. I just wanted a close up of the veil.

This is Ianto’s coat again! I just really liked how it looked in the rain and the streetlights, bonus for his (and Gwen) delightful smiles.

Love LOVE the long leather coat over the skirt. It’s just so flattering, the pink peeking though under the collar, the dark colours with the light pink. She looks so sleek and elegant.

God Gwen looks so gorgeous in this top! As a costume piece, it’s great seeing as this is a Gwen focussed episode, so the bright colour draws attention to her. Plus, as an episode it’s all about Gwen’s compassion, but also death and life. So bright blood red fits all that to a tee. 

This is my other favourite Owen costume. Owen’s had such a god awful time at this point, so seeing him at Gwen’s wedding, clapping and smiling and asking Tosh to dance, is so beautiful. 

This look kind of gives me a lab coat with badges feel in reverse, but instead of the formal lab coat made informal with the badges, it’s an informal t-shirt made suitable for a wedding with a boutonniere. I love imagining how Owen ended up with the flower on his shirt. Was it his idea, did Tosh or Ianto force it on him? I wonder where they found it. I kind of love picturing Tosh and Ianto telling Owen he needs to smarten up before the ceremony, and Banana Boat (who was in charge of flowers) pops up and is all “Need a corsage? The Best Man has you covered!” 

Awesome leather coat on Tosh, just needs a shout out. Also love what Mary is wearing, that skirt and those tights are awesome.

I just adore this blouse on Gwen! In a scene where the highlight is Gwen and Ianto linking arms, I love that the sleeves on this blouse are such a focal point. The bell sleeves are a departure for Gwen, and they’re so soft and romantic and they flatter her perfectly, as does that lovely neckline. Also love the warm brown, which looks amazing on her, and suits her grounded and tough, but passionate and gentle personality.

Leather coat on Gwen! Long leather coat on Gwen!

This is the first episode (KKBB) where we see Gwen in leather, which was introduced to show how she had levelled up after Jack has left, and it was down to her to take charge. 

The top underneath is awesome too.

Long woollen coat on Tosh! 

I just really like coats ok!

Tosh looked so beautiful on Gwen’s wedding day. Most of all I love the red and white flowers, and the silver necklace. The red, the purple, the white and silver just look so gorgeous together.

Such an iconic scene. What I love about this jacket (and her trousers which you can’t see here) is that she kind of makes me think of fighter pilots, which means she really complements Jack. When the two are standing side by side, watching the helicopter burn, after so much time apart.

Black jacket and red shirt. We see this look on Gwen a lot. It’s pretty much her signature, I think. If I want to cosplay as Gwen, I’d go with a leather jacket and a red shirt.

But I love this look the most because of how beautiful she looks when she’s messy, especially with her smudged makeup and extra especially her wavy, messy hair.

Favourite looks for Jack and Ianto here. Both without their top layer, so we get to see Jack in his waistcoat, and Ianto in his red shirt. Both have rolled their sleeves up too, which is double points, and it means they look like they go together even though they’re in opposite colours.

Owen needs a black jacket, red shirt moment too!!! We can’t leave him out. And I do love this shirt on him, especially with the jacket.

Like I was going to leave out the episode where Owen wears a necklace!

And it’s Gwen’s wedding dress again! This is Gwen in the dress Ianto got her, and her stomach is baggy and splattered with alien blood, but despite that, she looks utterly radiant. Glowing. I love her jewellery, and her hair curls now that they’re a bit more bedraggled. I always thought she looked a little stiff and overdone in her wedding clothes when she was first going down the aisle. It makes sense she would be uncomfortable with the alien bump, but at the same time, I think this just shows that Gwen is happiest and at her most confident when she is fresh from a bloody tussle with an alien shapeshifter.

[dracwife]

stay with me. | junto

ship: junto word count: 1010 summary: my half of an art trade with @canonjunto !! yayay ty again for being patient things have been wild lately.

It happened so fast, he couldn't stop it. He couldn't even understand what was happening. He heard the strange call of whatever it was -- whatever Jack had them chasing, but it wasn't what worried him. It was the deafening silence after that made his heart race. That caused his adrenaline to spike, his legs to burn as he raced through the halls, calling desperately the other's name; he never should have let them go alone. He should've stayed with them, it was all his fault. 

He stumbled upon their bleeding body finally, at the center of an otherwise empty corridor. He had forgotten entirely about whatever otherworldly being that he was supposed to be chasing to begin with. 

"Juette," his voice was hushed, panicked.

He dropped to his knees by their side, his hands immediately coming to cover the wound that tore across their abdomen. Blood pooled around them, slowly, it stained his legs and soaked his suit but he didn't care. He shook as he held his fingers against the cut, trying desperately to apply pressure to stop the bleeding, but his mind raced and whatever first aid that he'd been taught he couldn't reach, his brain blanked and he could only worry in that moment if they were even still alive.

He cried their name again.

The small huff they replied with, that groan, the twitch of their hand that rose slowly to rest against his arm breathed relief into Ianto.

"You're going to be okay. You're alright. Stay with me."

Juette's head fell back, and Ianto's arm came gracefully to cradle it against the cement below, they were still alive, he thought. There was still hope.

Tears stung his eyes, and the pain only ceased as they fell finally, down and mixing with the deep crimson that bled through his fingers now. He cried. He cried hard, and freely. He cried, out of fear and anger, and for their life. 

If there was a god, if there was anything out there, some omnipotent being, he begged them, he did not ask for much. He tried to be simple and plain. But please, he pleaded, if there was anyone listening, spare their life. 

He cried. He cried, because he knew this was his fault. Because he couldn't stop the bleeding, or their pain. He cried, for himself. For them. For the feelings that he had buried so long, so regrettably, and for never acting on them. He cried, because had lost the person he'd loved once already, and he was about to again.

He didn't hear the other footsteps approaching him, or feel the hand on his shoulder. All he saw was the body on the ground torn away by the others, being rushed back to the Headquarters, back to safety. 

He didn't remember much beyond that. He remembers the anxiety. He remembers his stomach churning every moment he wasn't allowed to see them.

He remembers how his cheeks burned from the tears, and how exhausted he felt.

He remembers Owen telling him he did a serviceable job at stopping the bleeding, and he remembers laughing dryly, in protest, and looking at the dark, dried stains that covered himself in disbelief.

He remembers Jack telling him they'd be okay.

But beyond that, it was a blur. He wasn't sure how long he'd been waiting. 

He had been on autopilot, filing folders and brewing coffee after coffee for himself. Not that he could sleep anyways. 

With bloodstained hands he signed reports, shoved them in files and shoved them too away. He kept himself busy, his hands busy.

His hands…

He should wash them, he decides. He nods, blankly staring, agreeing with himself. He finds himself at the sink, turning the water on and scrubbing at his skin.

What if something had gone wrong? What if he was too late. It was all his fault. All his fault.

All his fault…

His hands burn, from the soap and the hot water. He's ran them raw, standing here. How long had it been? 

He turns the water off. Dries his hands. They still feel dirty. He feels the blood on them still. It's warm. He wants to wash them again. He does.

The footsteps resounded through the room, vinyl and rubber against metal that echoed off of the concrete and bounded back, breaking the heavy silence that had settled over the HQ hours ago.

"You should be resting."

Ianto's voice is dry, low. He doesn't look up from where he's rustling amongst the medical supplies.

He's met with an uncertain quiet.

"Juette…" He turns, finally coming face to face with where they stood behind him. The gauze wrapped around their torso frayed slightly, after hours of picking, it was a surprise they were still even intact. 

He sighs, glancing the bandages over. 

"You have to be careful. If those stitches come undone…"

"I know."

"You could be really hurt, Ju. I'm serious."

"I already was seriously hurt."

"I know. And I don't want it to happen again. Please, I can't see you hurt again. I love you."

Juette smiles. Their hand comes up, rests against his face. They reach up, place a kiss against his cheek. 

"I know."

Ianto's left reeling, for the first time since he'd heard the cry of that creature, he felt…Okay. Relaxed. Fuzzy, even. In a good way. In that warm, butterflies-in-you-stomach kind of way. He might've even smiled. 

"You do?"

Juette's chuckle is airy and quiet.

"You saved my life, Ianto."

"I did."

"You cried for me."

"...I did."

You don't hide it very well."

"I don't, do I?"

They shake their head. Chuckle again. Kiss him, softly. His hands rest carefully at their waist, he's careful to not bother the bandages more than they are already.

"I guess I'm better at hiding it than you are."

He's taken aback, but after a second, smiles. "You…?"

They nod. Kiss him again.

"Of course I do. Now, come keep me company while I rest, okay?"

Ianto nods. His fingers brush against Juette's before intertwining with them. 

"Okay."

[ivegotforever]

‘ night terrors ‘ 

There are so many things that Jack has been afraid of happening in the very extended life. Most of them he has lived through dozens of times over—so much of himself had been lost and chipped away as he passed through time reliving that pain and heartache. With all that weighing on his soul and the inner turmoil to come from the trauma he received from early life to know only one thing came to mind. "Watching the love of my life die in front of me." It's a low murmur. His heart sinks when the awful memory comes to the forefront of his thoughts. ' We've got to get you out of here. I can survive anything, but you can't. ' ' Too late. I breathed the air. ' He tries to swallow the bile that burns his esophagus. This had been one of the worst moments in his life—something that will torture him for the rest of his days. He should have done something, did something different to keep his love from dying. ' There's got to be something. There's got to be an antidote. ' ' You said you would fight. ' ' Then I take it back, all right? I take it all back. But not him! ' "It chills me to my core. It's all my fault Ianto died. If he had gotten out of the room—if I could have done something then he would still be alive."

the worst nightmare that jack has had —— @mostincrediblechange

[this-is-quite-homoerotic]

3, 21, 33? (Happy Gwensday!)

Thank you for sending this and a special thanks for making the ask game in the first place! And happy Gwen Cooper Appreciation Day! This was so much fun :D

3. Favourite girlboss moment in Series 1 or 2

Oh, this is a tough one. I think it’d have to choose Gwen going off by herself to investigate what Jack’s hiding in Adrift. By that point, she’s so integrated into Torchwood and has placed so much trust in Jack and the team, but even when Jack pulls rank and orders her to stop looking into it, she’s willing to go behind his back to get to the bottom of it. Because it was important to her, and she couldn’t look away from this even if it meant Jack wasn’t who she thought (it’s heavily implied she thinks he might be doing something awful behind the scenes, or at least covering it up), not even if it meant she’d be making an enemy out of him, a powerful immortal. She was willing to risk her life to find out what dark secret he was hiding and do what she could to try to make things right. She’s incredible and I love her.

Honourable mention goes to Gwen being willing to sacrifice herself in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang in order to save the city. Like a boss.

21. Best Gwen centred episode

It’s gotta be Something Borrowed! Not only is it a hilarious episode with lots of Rhys and the team leaving the Hub (and dressing up <3) but it’s also in a way the moment where Gwen’s two lives come to a head and she’s forced to make a decision (this first happened in Meat, to be fair, but I feel like it was continued here). In Meat, she chooses Rhys (even though she was pretty sure Jack wouldn’t retcon her, I still think it’s huge that she was willing to stand up to him and tell him to do it if he felt he must, even if it meant she’d lose Torchwood and the team and the sense of purpose she got from her work, because she couldn’t take this away from Rhys or go back to lying to him and hiding such a huge part of herself from him). 

But in Something Borrowed I feel like it goes full circle when she insists on marrying Rhys no matter what, overnight alien pregnancy be damned. It feels to me like she was choosing both, in a way. Yes, she’s marrying Rhys, yes, she’s Torchwood, she will walk down the aisle and swear her love and loyalty to him while also fighting aliens and she will look beautiful doing it, just you try and stop her! (Don’t try and stop her.)

Of course this only works because Rhys is behind her 100% (king 😌✨) and in his own way he’s choosing her too, Torchwood mindfuckery and alien weirdness included. At the end of the episode, when they retcon all the guests, the happy couple is offered the chance to have their memory altered too, but they turn it down. They want to remember this day, they want all of it, just as it is. They don’t want a fake picture perfect wedding or marriage, they want the real thing. It took them a long time and a lot of stumbling to get to that point, but they got there and they’re happy with it. Neither of them would trade it for the world. 

There are also so many little scenes throughout the episode (like Jack trying to convince her to postpone the wedding and Gwen refusing, Ianto choosing Gwen’s new dress, Tosh delivering it, etc.) that illustrate how close the team has become and how much they care for each other that I just love a lot. So yeah, one of my favourite episodes <3

33. A pre-COE headcanon

My pre-CoE headcanon is that when either Gwen or Ianto had a really bad day (or week, or month) or were just feeling a little stir crazy or anxious, they would tell Jack they were taking some time off (Torchwood permitting) and drag the other one to the pub or the nearest coffee shop and just talk for a bit to unwind. Not about anything Torchwood related most of the time, unless there was something specific in their mind they wanted to talk through. Mostly they talk about small things or gossip, they learn more about each other before Torchwood shaped them into who they are, Gwen learns about Ianto’s time in London, Ianto gets to hear about Gwen’s teenage rebellion against her mother’s idea of who she should be and later tells her a little bit about his bad family situation and confesses his own forays into shoplifting in his teens. I don’t know, I just want them being there for each other and getting to know each other better. Both Jack and Ianto were, each in their own way, Gwen’s best friends, and I would like to see more of them in the quiet times in between.

Additionally, I’m a little sad that Gwen doesn’t seem to keep in touch with Andy all that much (though I think she chose to keep her distance for his safety, given how Torchwood has a track record of being very dangerous to anyone in its vicinity), so I would also like Gwen having a coffee with him just to chat and catch up every once in a while when there are no emergencies and she isn’t actively asking for his help for a case. I don’t think this happened in canon, sadly, but I would like it if it had.

[gingerteaonthetardis]

Hello, dear!

Here's a one-word prompt for the next century (or a century after that, we know how life gets).

Be it NinexRose or TenxRose,

Handkerchief

Much love! And thank you for existing! 🌸✨

sasha, thank you for the ask! hope you don't mind, but i used your lovely prompt as a jumping off-point for the first day of the doctorrose fic marathon.

prompts: handkerchief, alternate meeting, alternate universe

rating: t (for thirsty)

read on ao3.

-

The sun was high over London.

Rose had lived in the city all her life, and she knew—knew with certainty—that it had never been as blisteringly hot as it was right this moment. The people on telly were calling it an "unprecedented heatwave." She was calling it a rapid descent into madness, brought on by 30∘C weather. It was unbearable, and so she'd firmly told the building super on the phone two days earlier.

It was rare for a place in the city to have any sort of climate control, and she felt her own good fortune keenly, but that didn’t make it any less bloody hot when it broke.

The linoleum against her back had long since warmed to her body temperature, depriving her of the brief, sweet relief she'd felt when she first laid down. But now, she was too sluggish to move. She rolled her head to the side, grimacing at the dusty baseboards beneath the kitchen table. The whole place was really due for a cleaning, but such things would have to wait at least until the sun went down.

She arched her hips up, digging into the pocket of her denim shorts, and withdrew her mobile. After choosing the first contact, she resumed chewing distractedly on her bottom lip as the phone rang.

“Anything?” A sharp, Scottish accent came promptly down the line.

“Nope. You?”

“Nothing.”

“I’m telling you, Amy, Wilson’s having us on about this so-called ‘maintenance guy.’ If there is one, how come I’ve never seen him before?” It was far more likely Wilson just wanted to offload his responsibilities onto someone else—even if that someone else was a fiction.

Her upstairs neighbor pretended to consider, giving a thoughtful hum. “He could be a ghost?”

“Oh, I quite like that. Explains all the moaning you hear in the corridors.”

“No, that’s just Jack and his boyfriend.”

Rose snorted. “Don’t let Ianto hear you say that, he’d be mortified. God," she cringed as a spider skittered across the floor, enviously immune to the heat. "I really need to do the cleaning. I’m pretty sure there’s a colony of dust mites starting under the cupboards.”

“Me too,” Amy said wistfully. “I’m due for a good dusting."

“Oh, hush, I bet Rory’ll do it for you. Last time it was the washing up—maybe next time he stays over, he’ll break out the mop. And speaking of next time—”

“Don’t start.”

“When will you be seeing Doctor Love again?”

Amy’s groan was loud enough to make Rose pull the speaker away from her ear, a wide grin splitting her face. “He’s a nurse, Rose, not a doctor. A nurse. You know this.”

“And?”

Her friend sighed. “This Friday.”

“Ha!” Rose’s laugh echoed over the ceiling tiles barely a second before a knock sounded at the front door. It was an act of divine will to peel herself up off the floor, especially with the way her skin wanted to stick. “I knew it! You'll have to tell me everything, but later. Right now,” she lowered her voice as she padded barefoot to the door, “I’ve got a ghost to catch.”

“He’s here?”

“In the flesh.” Rose paused. “Hopefully. Later, Ames.” She hung up before her friend could get in more than a few notes of the Ghostbusters theme tune.

Slipping her mobile back into her pocket, Rose peered out through the peephole into the hall, but saw only blue, presumably of a shirt. She sent up a silent prayer—please be him—and then wrenched open the front door.

The man who stood there was distinctly not a ghost.

He was, in fact, quite a solid person. Tall, with wide shoulders and lean, muscled arms crossed casually over his chest. Some sort of tool belt was slung low around his hips, signifying his purpose at her door. And the blue was his shirt, she registered dumbly. It suited him quite well. Namely, his eyes—which were also blue. And sparkling. And she was gaping like a fish.

“Right. Hello,” she started awkwardly.

“Hi.” His smirk had a funny slant to it, like he was just trying it out for the first time and hadn’t yet got used to the expression.

“Are you maintenance?”

“I’m John, actually. But yes.”

A high-pitched sound that could plausibly have been a giggle—or a particularly squeaky hinge—escaped her, and she rolled up onto her toes, bouncing nervously. “John. Right. That—that’s great. I’m Rose.”

He cocked his head to the side, still wearing that odd little smile. “Nice to meet you, Rose.” His accent was strong and decidedly Northern, and for some reason, it seemed to be turning her brain into some sort of formless liquid. “Can I come in?”

It took her a moment to remember that she was blocking the entry, and she stepped clumsily to the side. “Oh. Yeah, sure.” She swallowed, hoping against hope that she could pull it together in the next ten seconds. “Come on in.”

-

It had been a day from hell, if he was honest.

The HVAC at Úlfur Square going down first thing in the morning in the middle of a heatwave would have been enough of an issue without that cheapskate, Wilson, insisting that it would be too expensive to fix. So, instead of doing any actual repairs, he was being sent door-to-door, measuring windows for individual window units.

The whole thing was a bloody waste of time and money, and it was horrific for the environment to boot, not that anybody in these flats could do anything about that. They were about as powerless as him when it came to Wilson’s barmy decisions.

He did not enjoy the reminder.

So, he was in a predictably unpleasant mood by the time he’d made it up to the ninth floor.

That is, until he’d heard her voice from inside the flat, thick South London accent piercing the door.

“Got a ghost to catch…. in the flesh.” A pause. “Hopefully.”

He certainly hoped she wasn’t talking about him. The last thing he needed was an amateur psychic adding to his stress.

But, to his surprise, the woman who opened the door didn’t seem like a psychic at all. Not unless psychics were mind-meltingly gorgeous. Which she was.

And her name was Rose.

She couldn’t have been above her mid-twenties, and her eyes were a wide, intelligent brown. Her beauty was the sort that dared you to confront it: bold-featured, spelled out in a sharply-angled jaw and wide, pink lips that immediately spread into a smile.

And, of course, she was wearing possibly the shortest denims known to man. This was the most distracting factor, turning his brain to mush as he attempted to introduce himself.

John blinked himself back to reality, suddenly aware that he’d been staring as he followed her into her flat. The hems of her shorts were beginning to fray in the most distracting way, little threads hanging down the backs of her thighs. But she was saying something—probably something important.

"What?"

"Do you need to look at the thermostat?" Rose said, clearly repeating herself. She fidgeted with the strap of her vest top, gliding the elastic over her thumb. He tried not to follow the nervous gesture too closely. "Or the vents?"

"Nah, just the windows." He stepped around her deftly, if only to get her legs out of his eyeline. He didn't need distractions; he had a job to do. And anyway, he didn’t want to be one of those men ogling unsuspecting women. Down boy.

"Oh." She huffed out a little sound like a sigh. "What do windows have to do with the central air?" The woman plainly knew how to ask the right questions, which was oddly intriguing, even if he didn’t particularly want to answer. He knew she wouldn’t like what he had to say. None of the other tenants had, so far.

"Nothing," he answered, sliding out his measuring tape with a cheerful whir. "But they've got everything to do with the AC units he’s putting in every apartment."

“You’re kidding. That cheapskate.”

His words exactly. “Nope.” His lips popped around the ‘p’ sound, making him sound far more disaffected than he actually felt. “Not kidding.”

He took the measurements quickly, not looking forward to the next three floors ahead of him. It would only get hotter as he climbed higher. He wouldn't even be doing this if Wilson could find the sodding building plan—

“So, that’s what he’s got you doing? Putting in, what—a hundred units?” Her voice tilted up at the end, genuinely curious, and he shot a glance over his shoulder to where she stood—leaning up against the edge of a small table. The surface was littered with scraps of fabric, multi-coloured and bright. Her eyebrows arched expressively.

She was the first person who didn’t want to blame him, it seemed. In fact, she almost sounded sorry for him.

He shrugged. “More than that. But that’s the job. What is it you do?”

"I'm a seamstress," she replied, shrugging. The motion was strangely graceful, and he forced himself to look away. "My best friend, Amy—she lives upstairs—well, she works at the ballet and I was always fixing tears in her costumes. Got to the point I was doing it for everybody, so they hired me on."

He stifled a snort of laughter as he jotted down the window measurements into his notebook. "It's the same with me," he said. "Wilson was hopeless when he first took this place over, and I offered to help. Now I do maintenance full time."

"Guess we both just sort of—fell into things, yeah?" He could hear the smile in Rose’s voice like a siren's song, urging him to look up. But his gaze was somehow trapped, watching her legs un-cross and re-cross. One of her kneecaps was dotted with freckles. Little kisses from the sun, unevenly placed.

The observation made him sweat.

"Yeah," he mumbled, finally looking up. She was biting her lip like it was a pink, overripe fruit, and he wondered if he was in hell. At least that would explain the heat. "Guess so."

-

The next time he showed up, she remembered her manners.

His brow was slick with sweat as he carried the unwieldy window unit in through her front door, and she tried not to hover. Amy said she had an independent streak a mile long and hated people doing things for her, even things she couldn't do herself.

It was why she'd taught herself to drive, despite the impracticality of owning a car in London, and why the plumber tended to avoid her calls. He wasn't overly fond of her sitting on the floor beside him, insisting he explain every step of the process so she could fix it herself next time.

But there was nothing to be done about this air-conditioner; the installation was simple and would only take a few minutes, he said, and then he’d show her how to use it.

"D’you want a drink?"

She didn't mean to address the question to his straining biceps, but such was life.

"Sure," he grunted. "So long as it's not tea."

Rose snorted. "In this heat? I'm not that mental."

"No," he agreed, and she felt the heat of his eyes glance off of her skin, even as her back was to him. It was like a physical weight, sending prickling awareness down her spine. "Definitely not."

Her thoughts were abstracted as she stood in the kitchen, preparing two tall glasses of lemonade. Condensation pooled against the tips of her fingers, and she was grateful that her freezer still worked, at least, because the heat had everything else on the fritz. Including her.

That is, it must’ve been the heat, because she didn’t love her other options.

Days had passed since his first visit, and Rose hadn't quite been able to remove the hot handyman from her head.

There was some plausible deniability in the oppressive weather, but it didn't stop his eyes from leaping to mind when she closed her own, or the memory of his arms crossing over his chest from dancing through her dreams.

And then he’d shown up at her flat again, his half-smile blooming into something wider, almost sillier, the moment she opened the door. Which sent her into babbling stupidity.

According to Jack, this was because she was intensely single and needed to get a leg over. But Rose wasn’t so sure. It felt like something about him specifically turned her mind to pudding. Like there was some potentiality in him that called to her.

She heard the beeping in the other room as the window unit kicked on, as well as the soft rushing of blessed, cool air entering her flat. Seconds later, heavy work boots entered her kitchen on steady steps. “Well, your AC’s up and running now. It should start cooling down in just a few minutes.”

She turned to face him with thanks on her lips, hand already extended out in front of her to give him his lemonade. But her heart dropped all the way into her stomach at the sight that met her.

Sweat had plastered part of his thin shirt to his skin, highlighting every contour of his chest—every line and plane standing out in sharp relief, emphasized by his raised arm, where he’d lifted his hand to mop at his face with a handkerchief. None of this should’ve sent her head spinning the way it did, but she found her mouth closing and then opening and then closing again, unable to formulate words. Sentences. English.

“Thanks,” she managed.

Watching him drink the lemonade was scarcely less distracting. His throat worked, and her traitorous eyes couldn’t help but track the movement with strange fascination. She had to say something—something normal.

“So—you sound like you’re from the North.”

John chuckled, the sound flooding butterflies through her belly. “Well-spotted. Grew up there, with my mum.”

“What brought you to London?”

She didn’t miss his hesitation, or the way his eyes darted to the ground before he spoke. But when he did, his voice held a forced levity. “It was a small town, where we lived. Everybody knew everybody. After a while, the smallness stopped being comforting and it started to feel…”

He trailed off and then shrugged, as if finding the right words didn’t matter. But it clearly did.

“Stifling?” she offered.

“A bit,” he said, huffing a laugh.

“Do you miss it ever?”

“I guess, but you know how it is—or maybe you don’t,” he added, smirking faintly, “living in London your whole life.”

She grinned, biting down on her tongue to stop the burgeoning laughter. Her accent was as dead a giveaway as his, she supposed. “How could you tell?” she teased. “Guess I need a refund on all those elocution lessons.”

“Definitely.” He nodded in mock-sobriety. “Your teacher was a hack.”

If it weren’t for the glitter in his eyes, she’d assume he was making fun. But she could see only gentle amusement. Something so rich and sticky, like fondness, only it seemed impossible for her to have earned the sentiment. It sent prickles of heat up and down her spine.

“But then,” he added, “so was mine.”

Her escaping laughter filled the whole kitchen.

-

Of course Rose would be so bloody easy to talk to.

He stood around in her kitchen much longer than he should have, taking slow sips of a first and then a second glass of lemonade, listening to her throaty laugh and wondering how in the world he’d gotten so caught up in this stranger after only a few minutes in her company. Her oversized t-shirt that swallowed her shorts, the wisps of hair that came loose from her ponytail—everything about her felt engineered to make him mental.

She was just so effortless and bright.

And she was pulling things out of him he’d never expected to tell anyone else—certainly not a stranger. He found himself telling her about how he’d always liked fixing things, even from a young age. How he’d had to get good at it if he wanted to have things other people just… got.

“But really, I think I wanted to help people,” he admitted. “And this is what I’m good at. Maybe it isn’t changing the world or saving the universe—”

But she’d cut him off before the self-deprecating comment could fully form.

“I think that’s brilliant.” She was insistent, reaching across the ever-decreasing space between them to grasp his arm. Her skin was impossibly soft. “Most people mean ‘doctor’ or ‘scientist’ or something, when they say they want to help people, and we need them. But we need people who do what you do, too.”

He missed her touch the second she released him.

“Obviously,” she added, “or else I’d melt.”

Her impish smile made him laugh. “Well, the world’s lucky I’m not a doctor. Bad bedside manner, me.”

For some odd reason, she refused to believe that.

It was with great resentment that he dragged himself back to reality: a reality where he still had three more floors ahead of him, all of whom needed the relief of cold air.

“Well, thanks for the lemonade,” he said lamely. His feet dragged, unwilling to turn him towards the door. “Guess I owe you a drink.”

Silence fell.

“Oh.” To his mortification, a flush crawled up Rose’s cheeks, and she bit down on her lip in obvious discomfort. Great. All her talk had just been good manners, he reminded himself. Just polite socialising with someone she was stuck spending a bit of time with.

And he’d gone and made it something it wasn’t.

“Right,” he found himself going on, voice tight. The word seemed to be coming to him from a great distance. “I’m off, then.” And, without another word, he turned and legged it out of the flat before he could stick his boot further into his mouth.

“Stupid,” he muttered, lengthening his stride. The stairs were just ahead—a few more steps and the beautiful woman would be behind him for good. He wouldn’t have to be distracted by her long legs, or her pretty, shiny hair, or her beaming smile, or the way she laughed, or how she seemed so interested in talking with him—

“Wait!”

John froze. And despite himself—despite his good sense—hope bloomed.

Maybe he hadn’t bollocksed this up. Maybe she had felt… whatever it was that he felt.

Right. What he was going to do was this: he was going to give her his business card. His card with his number on it, where she could reach him. Any time, day or night, but perhaps especially during evenings or maybe weekends. If she wanted.

He could couch it as a professional thing, even—just an offer of help, in case anything went wrong in her flat ever. Or if she needed a friend. Rose seemed like she’d make a good friend.

And if she tossed his number in the bin, fine. The ball would still be in her court. He still would’ve done something.

That, he decided, was the plan, as he turned to face Rose, only to see...

His own handkerchief, being waved in his face.

“You dropped this,” Rose explained rapidly, still flushing—or perhaps she was red from running after him in the heat. She pushed the wadded up fabric into his palm, and a tingle passed through his fingers. Like a current, electrifying him head to toe. “I’m sure you’ll be needing it again. Lots more flats to take care of.”

Do it, you coward.

Give her the card.

But for some reason, his hand was frozen around the handkerchief. Reaching into his back pocket felt about as realistic as crossing a million miles in a single instant. He didn’t want to make her uncomfortable; he didn’t want to push.

So, he nodded, forcing a friendly smile—hopefully not a grimace—onto his face. “Thanks, Rose.”

Her lips fell into an “o” shape again, parting in something like shock, and his own cheeks started to heat. Why did saying her name sound so intimate all of the sudden?

“You’re welcome, John,” she replied. And then, after a moment of stillness, a moment that could’ve easily lasted ten minutes, she turned heel and darted back into her flat. Disappearing.

Perhaps for good.

Reluctantly, he turned his back on her and the closing door. “Stupid,” he muttered again. The sibilant hiss echoed up the stairs ahead of him, shaming him as he stalked up to the next floor.

-

The blessed cool didn’t last.

Barely twenty-four hours after John showed up with the air-conditioner, the lights went out. And not just the lights—everything went out. The refrigerator stopped humming. Even the buzz of her brand new air-conditioner died suddenly away.

The power for the whole flat seemed to be gone in a second, leaving her in a dimness that the mid-morning light couldn’t penetrate.

Without all the white noise, the space was eerily silent.

Ten seconds later, her mobile rang.

“Did you just lose power?” Amy’s voice was predictably sharp.

“God, you too?” Rose asked, groaning as she collapsed onto her bed. The rumpled bedding was cool against her back, but without the steady influx of cold air, she knew it wouldn’t stay that way for long. She tried to savour it. “You know, I’m starting to think we should withhold rent or something. Make Wilson fix the stupid central air, properly this time.”

Her friend’s scoff echoed down the line. “Admit it, you just want to see the sexy maintenance guy again.”

Rose rolled her eyes. Of course Amy would’ve noticed the man’s looks; her friend always had an eye for these things, having worked for a while as a model. It was difficult to stop the embarrassment from seeping into her tone as she said, “Don’t be ridiculous. We’re not all as wildly horny as you.”

“Jack is.”

“Yes, well, Jack’s an exception,” she snorted. “His libido is borderline superhuman. But now we’re on the subject: how’s Doctor Lo—”

But Amy cut her off with a hiss. “Shh! He’ll hear you.”

“He’s there right now?” A slow smile spread across Rose’s lips as she sat up. “And what were you doing, pray tell, before the power went out? Playing naughty nurses?”

“Shut up,” Amy managed through her riot of giggles. “We were just talking!”

The tangible joy in her voice made Rose’s own heart race in sympathy. It was high time the beautiful redhead got her happy ending. She’d spent so long pining after a man who would never come back—most of the time Rose had known her, really, she’d been hung up on him—but now, it seemed her heart was in the process of being reclaimed.

Good, she thought warmly. Good for her.

And—the thought came sneaking in, unable to be ignored—maybe it would be her turn, eventually.

But this wasn’t about her; it was about Amy and her happiness. “Talking, is it? That’s what you call it these days?”

“Get your mind out of the gutter!”

“How can I when you’re the one who dragged me there?” She was grinning so widely that her cheeks hurt. “Anyway, if he’s there, why the hell are you talking to me? Go… spoon or whatever it is you do!”

“Spoon,” her friend echoed, mimicking Rose’s accent. “You’re unbelievable. And you definitely need to be serviced by that handyman.”

“Amy!”

“Call me when your power comes back, all right? I need to go stop Rory—I think he’s going for the dishes again.”

“Go, go!” Rose giggled at the sound of Amy’s ever-present heels clicking across the floor, and the obvious squeak of her opening a door.

“Yep, he’s got the gloves on. Stay cool down there!”

“You too, ta!”

And then the call ended, leaving her once more in the uncomfortable stillness of her empty flat. It made her hands fidget.

She’d never liked the quiet. Growing up on the estate, she’d felt most at home amidst the hubbub and noise, the impression of bodies everywhere. A place where people were too close for secrets, pressed between too-thin walls. It was a little like how John had described living in a small town, actually.

Oh, stop it, she chided. He’s not coming back today.

It had taken several days for John to show up the first time, she reasoned—no doubt due to Wilson’s negligence—so it would probably take just about as long for him to show up this time. There was no sense waiting around for him, hoping he’d show up.

Instead, she forced herself to her feet, and went searching for her duster.

It was time to tackle those baseboards.

-

He couldn’t help it—he hesitated outside Rose’s door.

John had spent approximately the length of the tube ride over kicking himself for hitting on a person who lived in a building he serviced. How mental was that? Not to mention, unprofessional. And now he had to see her again.

But this is the last time. The reminder didn’t make him feel even the tiniest bit better. In fact, he felt worse. An odd, sick feeling filled his stomach as his hand lifted, and then knocked gently against the hollow door.

“Shit! Just a minute!” The sound of her voice through the door was a jolt, making him stand taller—more tensely—in anticipation.

Blimey, but this woman had too much power over him.

Seconds later, the door fell open to reveal—Rose, of course, but Rose unlike he’d seen her before.

Her face was bright pink, coated in a thin sheen of sweat, and her hair, though pulled back, stuck out chaotically. Bits of it were plastered to her forehead and the side of her neck, where the trail of chaos only continued: down the front of her t-shirt, sweat—or possibly splashes of water—had turned the thin fabric nearly transparent.

She was wearing a bright yellow rubber glove on one hand, in which the other glove was crumpled, and both were dripping with—yes, definitely sudsy water. Spatters of the same decorated her shorts, which were mercifully not the denims, but only marginally less distracting for all that.

And she went impossibly redder as she took in his sudden appearance.

“Sorry,” he found himself saying, “is this a bad time?”

A look of bafflement crossed her face. “What? Oh—no! I mean, I wasn’t expecting you or anything. Obviously,” she added, gesturing down at her body. “I mean, look at the state of—but no, it’s not a bad time.”

“Right.” He grinned. “Well, I think you look lovely. Suits you—the yellow, I mean.” The words spilled out without his conscious awareness of their formation, and he stilled instantly, prepared for her uncomfortable reaction.

Damn, damn, damn. He’d told himself he wasn’t going to do this.

But instead of freezing up, she just giggled. A high, delirious sound he hadn’t heard since the first time he walked through her door. But still. Her smile was incandescently bright. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

“God, what am I like? Blocking the door again,” she tittered, stepping aside. “Come on in, then. I’ll just go… change my top.” She disappeared so quickly into her bedroom that he almost felt she was avoiding him.

But she reappeared just as quickly, pulling a fresh t-shirt down over her stomach. She’d discarded the yellow gloves somewhere along the way. “D’you want something to drink?” she called over her shoulder, already heading to the kitchen. “I’m all stocked up on lemons.”

“No need.”

“Oh.”

Was he losing it, or did she sound disappointed? Rose paused on the threshold of the kitchen, chewing aimlessly on her full bottom lip. Her lips, along with her face, were still so pink. She must’ve been cleaning quite vigorously before he showed up.

“Won’t be a minute,” he explained, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “Wilson’s finally decided to get someone in about the HVAC. I’m just here to take out this troublesome box—” and he smacked the top of the window unit with his free hand, “before it blows another fuse.”

“Is that what happened?” Rose gasped. “Oh my god, did I turn it up too high? It’s just been so bleeding hot—”

“No,” he rushed to reassure her, though he had to hold back a laugh. “It’s nothing to do with you specifically. More to do with having over a hundred air-conditioners overtaxing the system. Not your fault at all.”

She gave a sigh of audible relief, and he shot her an teasing grin.

“Like you said before. Wilson’s a cheapskate. This one’s on him.”

Her answering smile held just as much mischief. “Good to know.” But then, her expression changed, the corners of her mouth dipping unsteadily. “So, you’re not… going to be back to fix it?”

For a moment, he was struck dumb.

She definitely sounded disappointed. It was hard to mistake: the way her voice went all tentative and soft, like she was hoping for a different answer than the one they both knew he’d give. And she was fiddling nervously with the hem of her shirt again, like she had that first day.

He held her gaze carefully, trying not to stare. “No,” he said.

And her face fell.

Do it, you coward.

“But here’s my card, in case you ever need anything else.” He reached into his back pocket, feeling for the worn-down edges of the cards he always kept there. He was usually giving them to mums with broken televisions, of course, but one could never be too prepared. “You know me,” he said cheerfully. “I’m happy to help.”

Rose took it, and he watched her face carefully—so carefully, looking for any sign that what he wanted to say next would be well-received. Her lips lifted into a soft, sweet smile, but her eyes remained on the paper.

“Thanks, John.”

Just do it. “Don’t hesitate to call,” he added. Gathering his courage, he said, “Even if it’s just for a drink. We can even go somewhere with air-conditioning, if you like.”

Her chin snapped up. He waited for her to freeze. For anything to happen.

But her smile just widened, her teeth catching on her bottom lip. The skin around it went white from the pressure, but the rest of it looked soft and pink and highly kissable—

But he was getting ahead of himself.

Finally, she nodded. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she laughed, low in her throat. It was such a sweet sound. He wondered if he’d ever tire of hearing it. Maybe it was too soon to say, but… he had a feeling.

“Fantastic.”

[reverse-the-jellybaby]

thoughts on combat and captain Jack Harkness

- for both of them: GAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY! SO SO SO SO GAYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!

combat:

(unfortunately I have to talk about Noel Clarke as a writer in a positive way bc he wrote a great episode…as much as he’s a piece of garbage. I can only offer my apologies)

- he really said Torchwood but also make it Fight Club huh?

- he also said make Owen the biggest cunt he’s been all season and I admire that. Because it kick starts his wonderful character development.

- I also admire him for writing Gwen’s cheating confession with a dash of Retcon involved. Like, damn. Way to show Gwen just cannot face the consequences of her own guilt, huh? But that’s the kind of character stuff that I LOVE in Torchwood. Really deplorable shit. Characters making the worst decisions possible that you can scream about and analyse. Gwen often gets treated with kid gloves but this episode really went in on her worst qualities.

- ooofffff the energy in the room after Owen and Gwen end the affair and return to the hub pissed at each other. The angry glares. The snark. Oh lord. And then it’s still lowkey reeeeeeally awkward when we get to Captain Jack Harkness but they’re trying to be cool and professional now.

- as much as I don’t support Noel based on recent events, he wrote a bloody great episode. He took Owen and Gwen in particular down as dark as they could go, a feat I can only hope to achieve in my fanfics.

- the crazy frog ringtone absolutely took me out

- forgot that Gwen didn’t actually know that Owen had fallen for Diane but plays it off like she does when Tosh mentions it. Speaks volumes about how badly damaged that relationship had become by that point, and I’ll definitely have to work that into my series somehow.

- I made a seperate post about this but why would the show continue to push Jack and Gwen when Jack and TOSH is RIGHT THERE. There’s a moment in combat when Jack holds tosh close while hiding from the villains and I felt more chemistry in that tiny moment than in all of the Gwen/Jack scenes iM SORRY I JUST DONT GET IT.

- speaks volumes about Gwen’s professionalism that despite how angry she is with him, she still runs right into the cage to help save his life.

- as much as I hate to say it…this may be one of my favourite episodes. Siiiiiggghhhh.

Captain Jack Harkness

- SAME DEAL IN THIS EPISODE. So much Jack/tosh material here! And YET.

- the Owen and Ianto moments in this episode were just 🤌🤌🤌🤌 incredible. Top tier. Vitriolic work buddies, then the arguing. So spicy.

- remembered that in End of Days, Owen looks shocked when he sees Jack and Ianto holding each other and now that I remembered him mocking Ianto about the relationship being in his “sad wet dreams” I’m thinking either he boils it down to just sex or he thinks Ianto’s just lying. So when he sees them in End of Days and he reacts in the way he does he’s like oh…I guess it was more than that.

- something this show does so well is male intimacy, showing men at their most vulnerable in so many ways. We see it here with both Captain Jack’s. So much emotion in their final kiss before Jack and tosh return to the present. So much unsaid, so much that doesn’t need to be said.

- Captain Jack’s theme was just fucking beautiful and I got a little choked up because I’d forgotten how gorgeous it is. The score for this show is just 👌👌

[agent-jones]

Okay so I was enabled by @someawkwardprose to expand on my thoughts here and now you all are going to be subjected to my rambling about how this would have played out in my mind. I just really love how complicated in an emotional way it would have been.

And in my head this is canon because it’s how the actors played it so sorry Broken, but I’m different.

Jack and Ianto sleeping together from the beginning.

So, Ianto came in and immediately was flirting with Jack, there was a palpable sexual tension between them. In the warehouse, there was that moment where they were on top of each other and Ianto was the one to dip his head slightly, he was the one to almost initiate that kiss. And then he remembered why he was there. He remembered Lisa and pushed away. That’s the kicker he remembered. For a brief moment as he and Jack rolled around on the ground, as they worked together and flirted, he forgot. He forgot how traumatised he was, he forgot why he was there, he forgot that there was something waiting for him. It gave him a chance to lose himself for a moment. Jack was that from the very beginning for him. And it scared him and it made him feel guilty, but he couldn’t help how he felt around Jack.

So then he starts working there, and Jack keeps flirting and he finds himself flirting back. He was surprised to find that he liked it, that he was excited by it and for it. There was something about Jack that he was drawn to.

And then the offer came. One night Jack alludes to something more than flirting and Ianto agrees before he even means to. He walks out of Jack’s office and stops and he doesn’t know what he’s doing. But he rationalizes it. He tells himself that this is a good thing, he gets to be at the hub late at night, it gives him a chance to check on Lisa over night. It gives him a way to distract Jack from wandering down to the basement. Does he hate himself for it? Absolutely. But he also *wants* Jack. And so it gives him a small relief from the guilt about Jack. It isn’t just that he’s using him, but he does like him. He really does.

He gets to Jack’s little bunker and Jack pulls him in and his mind goes blank the instant their lips meet. He’s not had much experience with men. But enough to keep him from freezing immediately. It only takes a second for him to forget everything again. Jack’s effect is somehow amplified through his touch. It’s been so long since Ianto had had any kind of physical connection, and he’s been dancing around these weird conflicting feelings for Jack for a while now and he just gives in. Jack turns his mind off in the best of ways. He fully loses himself in him as they have sex. He enjoys it, he has fun, he gets to just have this normal night of hooking up. For a while it’s just him and a man he’s attracted to and it feels okay.

And it’s just a hook up so he leaves. But first, he heads to the basement and before he can even go into the room, he breaks down. He’s flooded with of the guilt from all sides. It’s overwhelming and he doesn’t know what to do. He’s torn and he’s broken and he hates himself because this is just what he has to do. But he never wanted to become a man who hurts people, who betrays people. He is inherently Good and now he’s resorted to this. But there is also good in what he’s doing. He’s saving Lisa and giving Jack what he wants.

And Jack is addictive.

God those times where they are together and everything fades and all it is is pleasure and forgetting and just existing in a good place. The guilt never hits until he’s alone with his thoughts. And he doesn’t realise it’s because when he’s with Jack, there is a part of him that’s happy. He likes Jack. He just refuses to let himself see it because he loves Lisa and she is still here.

He doesn’t realize Jack has actual feelings until Lisa is gone. When Jack can’t shoot him no matter how he threats, the utter betrayal and hurt on Jack’s face when he realised that Ianto has been using him.

And the way Ianto wakes up in Jack’s arms because he’s been kissed back to life and Jack holds him for a few moments. They sit there in that water and Jack holds him. Once again he forgets. There’s a moment of peace with Jack until he hears Lisa screaming.

And then Lisa is dead and Jack is alive and the team have killed her and Ianto is grieving and hurt and angry and shattered into pieces that could never be put back together.

And his anger is misplaced. He hates Jack for making him forget her. He hates Jack for killing her. He hates Jack for making him feel happy. He hates Jack for turning him into a man who cheats on his girlfriend.

It isn’t Jack’s fault and he knows this. But he still hates him. He hates them both. Mostly himself but he is human and misplaces anger.

And then Jack softens to him. He starts helping put him back together again. He is still angry and angry at him for putting him back together because he doesn’t deserve it.

He doesn’t deserve Jack to forgive him and want him again.

But then he realises he needs Jack. He needs to forget, he needs that touch that has always sent him to a mindless peace.

And Jack gets it and he allows it. He wants Ianto too. Ianto was important to him, he trusted him and finds that he can’t stop trusting him. He can see that Ianto is good and there is something about him that he can’t stop himself from falling for.

But they don’t start with the intentions of being together, so they are both guarded and under the pretense that it’s just because they need what the other provides. They have walls up and it only starts crumbling before the world turns upside down. There was potential there when their touches that make them forget turn to touches that they crave because it helps them feel alive and cared for and wanted and needed.

There is the potential to be something great.

[horselover107]

Aside from giving us trans girl Mica (please Whoinverse never double check your scripts it gives me life), the latest Torchwood audio implies something interesting about Ianto’s relationship with his sister and his nephews Mica and David. According to Ianto he wants to be a more involved Uncle, who is involved in the kids life. He wants to do more than buy them the occasional present and be shoved out the door. He wants to be there for them and give them things often. But his sister is the one that doesn’t really give the space to do that, she’s the one pushing him out. There’s nothing he can really apologize to his sister for to make it better, their relationship is just…strained.

And what’s interesting is that’s NOT the relationship we see in Children of Earth. What we see in children of earth is a fundamentally strained relationship, yes, but the narrative blame for that falls on IANTO. He only stops by because he needs to study some kids for work. He literally pays the kids off not to bother him. His sister has trouble connecting with him, but she does seem to be trying, even if it’s in a way that’s making him uncomfortable (and if she ultimately outed him before he was ready to tell her about Jack). Rhiannon, just like Jack’s daughter, is a victim of Torchwood coming first. He’s always going to chose his job over her, and that’s in part what COE all leads to (rip Ianto). More than that Ianto is a class traitor who wears suits and is married to his fancy job, avoids the council estate they grew up on, where Rhiannon still lives with her family. He lies about about his background to his friends, in part because he’s ashamed in part because it’s pretty clear he was the victim of abuse as a kid and wants to put as much distance there as possible from his past. He does love his sister and the kids, but he doesn’t understand them and they don’t understand him. Rhiannon and Johnny love him, even if they in turn dont understand him and make feel awkward.

But I just think it’s really interesting that from Ianto’s perspective this isn’t because he’s avoiding them. It’s because his sister is shutting him out. She’s not trying to reach out and get to know him better, quite the opposite. And yeah I know the real reason for this is that whichever one of the James Goss clones wrote the audio this time around hadn’t watched COE in a second. The line immediately before this was that Ianto had “nephews”. But is does accidentally add onto an already really interesting and complex dynamic. You can always put it down to “Ianto Lies”, because he does. That is also a thing COE focuses in on. Rather brutally. But the moment in the audio is narratively set up as a moment of truth and honesty.

There’s really no room in the continuity for Ianto and Rhiannon to have an audio together because COE rests so strongly on the fact he hasn’t been around lately and she has no idea what Ianto does with his time. But I really want to someone to write a Ianto resurrection fic that explores their relationship, taking into account the perspective that Ianto had about Rhiannon being at fault, now that it’s canon.

Anyways yes I’m over thinking the silly Sontaran audio with the cat, and the continuity error.

[thetorchwoodarchive]

Found family event masterpost

Thank you for all your submissions! Below the cut is the list of Torchwood fic recs focused on found family, as submitted by you, our followers!

we built a family (home) by myre ( JackIanto | Complete | 17844 | M )

When Jack gets back, things are different—he’s different—and he’s not sure where he fits anymore, but he should’ve known that there was a place reserved just for him.

Ianto Jones' thoughts on Life, Death, and Summer Squashes by Arnica ( JackIanto, GwenRhys | Complete | 17762 | T )

The first thing he remembers afterward (and the rest of his life will always before and after Thames House now) is waking up to the sound of hospital machinery droning away, Gwen's head heavy on his legs as she drools on him with Rhys snoring away in the chair next to her, his hand spread wide across her back, head tipped back as he sleeps. Then there's Jack, sitting sideways in the window with his gun drawn and resting in his lap as he does something with the wrist straps in his hands.

Two of Us Are Hung From the Same Twisted Rope by ShastaFirecracker ( JackIanto, ToshOwen | Complete | 15799 | T )

An accident with some sort of brain-scanning alien device leaves Owen and Ianto sharing Ianto's body. Hijinks and nightmares ensue.

Does Africa Know a Song of Me? by etmuse ( JackIanto, MarthaTom, GwenRhys | Complete | 17618 | T )

Jack gets a call from UNIT. They need his help in Namibia. And when they arrive, Jack and Ianto (because Jack wouldn't leave him behind) discover the only communication they have with the team is letters.

Torchwood One Archive by james ( JackIanto | Complete | 11346 | M )

AU after season one. Jack has returned to Torchwood and to Ianto. Ianto is determined to make the best of it but he knows it won't last forever. Their time together threatens to get even shorter when the Doctor shows up unexpectedly.

In Bits and Pieces by reiley ( JackIanto, GwenRhys | Complete | 83306 | M )

Sort of a fill-in-the-blanks story throughout the entire series: How they pull the pieces together after the world shatters, focusing mainly on Jack and Ianto, but all the others are there, too. Takes place between 'Exit Wounds' and 'The Stolen Earth', goes through all of series 1 and 2, and far back into the past.

Lost and Found by Kaneko ( JackIanto | Complete | 3642 | E )

Straddled over the rift, the Hub was a place where things were lost and found. Strange objects washed in like driftwood. Things went missing. There was never any sign of where they'd gone.

Personnel Issues by PinkFairy727 ( JackIanto, GwenRhys | Complete | 41434 | T )

The Torchwood Three email newsletter: an excuse to gossip, bitch, plan dates, fight, and discuss squirrel rats. Co-authored with sparking_off.

Warnings: canon character death and swearing.

Just this once by Beleriandings ( JackIanto, ToshOwen, GwenRhys, LoisEsther | Complete | 239639 | T )

(Everybody lives.) (Or: when a certain Doctor arrives to save Owen Harper from a stricken nuclear power station, it begins a chain of events that will lead Torchwood Three down a very different path. From time locks and telepathy to tea and coffee, high-speed chases to unresolved sibling issues, their new lives (and new and old loves) may be different, but their bonds of friendship and family grow stronger every day. But when every child on earth starts speaking with one voice, the team are torn apart again as they’re forced to fight for their lives, and to confront monsters they’d thought they’d left behind in the past. But with all of them working together – along with some allies they’ve made along the way – Torchwood Three will stop at nothing to save their friends and set the world to rights. The consequences will ripple out across the universe and into the distant future. But they have to start somewhere, and the present is as good a place as any.)

Club Wales by pocky_slash ( Gwen&Ianto, GwenRhys, JackIanto | Complete | 19898 | T )

In the wake of Jack's disappearance, Gwen finds comfort in a new friendship with Ianto. Gossip, bonding, and other hijinks of understanding ensue.

Hell or High Water by aliciajazmin ( GwenJohnTosh | Complete | 3102 | T )

Toshiko, Gwen, and John have been married for a year now, beginning a life of adventure and crime (but only against those who deserve it). A mission going wrong results in the discovery of an orphan.

The three of them and the orphan must then decide what they want for their future.

A E I O Moo, I love Y O U by aliciajazmin ( GwenJackIantoRhys, GwenRhys, JackIanto | Complete | 627 | G )

Jack finds a new song to introduce to Anwen.

AKA Roses are red, violets are blue, Jack likes to sing: A E I O Moo.

Never Has He Ever by Jackdaw816 (JohnAndy | Complete | 1666 | T )

Hub lockdowns are great for juvenile drinking games and revelations of the self

Coping by innocent-until-proven-geeky (JackIanto, Gwen&Ianto, Gwen&Jack | Complete | 910 | G )

After the events of Exit Wounds, Jack, Ianto, and Gwen are exhausted.

Hug by innocent-until-proven-geeky ( Gwen&Ianto | Complete | 401 | G )

Not-wanting-to-let-go hugs.

March 31st in the Torchwood Family Household by innocent-until-proven-geeky ( JackIanto, GwenRhys, GwenJackIantoRhys | Complete | 117 | G )

Happy Trans Day of Visibility! Please enjoy this little ficlet of trans Torchwood polycule. In my headcanon, Ianto is a binary trans man using he/him pronouns, Jack is genderfluid using he/him pronouns, and Gwen is nonbinary using they/them pronouns with Torchwood and she/her pronouns in public.

Here For You (a friend's night out) by BookWerm ( Ianto&Tosh | Complete | 354 | T )

An answer to the prompt : “I’m their best friend” with Ianto and Gwen or Ianto and Tosh

The Lonely Cheryth by BookWerm ( Alice&Jack, Steven&Jack, Others | Complete | 6581 | G )

Steven's Uncle Jack is a mystery. One that he's determined to solve.

A fic through quite a bit of Steven's life (yes, he lives through Children of earth) that was quite a bit of fun

A Moment (An Eternity) by Clare_Hope ( JackIanto, ToshOwen, GwenRhys | WIP | 10923 | T )

Owen slid underneath the closing door just in time to escape the room about to be flooded with radioactive coolant. Tosh didn't die of her wounds because with Owen there, she got medical attention before it was too late. The entire Torchwood team made it through that terrible day. Everything should be alright now. But Jack is really, really not alright.

Below 20° Celsius by Clare_Hope ( JackIanto, Team | Complete | 5182 | T )

20° Celsius is generally considered to be the lowest a human's body temperature can be before dying. This is bad news for Jack, who is a bit colder than that when he's pulled out of Cardiff Bay after drowning continually for a couple hours. The good news is that he doesn't have to deal with it alone.

Work Friends by Clare_Hope (Ianto&Tosh | WIP | 3431 | T )

After everything that happened with Mary, Ianto is the only one who doesn't seem uncomfortable around Toshiko. She can't read his mind anymore, but pretty sure she knows what he's thinking: We've both seen someone we thought loved us killed by Jack. I understand. I might be the only one who understands.

Of Motion in Perpetuity by Beleriandings ( JackIanto, GwenRhys | Complete | 106708 | 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.

Conditional Iteration by Beleriandings ( Gwen&Ianto, JackIanto, GwenRhys | WIP | 35431 | T )

Gwen can only watch, helpless and raging and grieving, as Jack and Ianto die in Thames House. The next moment though, she finds herself pulled out of time, back to the moment it all started to go wrong. Maybe second chances aren't in quite such short supply as she thought.

Coffee Break by firesnap ( Gwen&Ianto | Complete | 2069 | G )

Gwen and Ianto steal a few minutes to chat and make plans.

Another Rainy Day by SerenityJane ( Team | Complete | 3088 | T )

Tosh darted the occasional look at the closed door, curiousity warring with courtesy. So was Gwen, but she looked more like someone was dangling sweets in front of her nose and telling her she couldn’t have them. No prize for guessing who the candy was. Owen was watching the girls, and desperately trying not to think of pink elephants.

The Right Kind of Doctor by joonscribble ( Owen&Team | Complete | 2008 | R )

Three times Owen Harper was good at his job. Set between season 1 and 2.

Stargazing and Truth-Telling by earlybloomingparentheses ( JackIanto | Complete | 4632 | T )

A month after the events of "Exit Wounds," Jack Harkness heads off to an unknown galaxy on a mission for UNIT, and Ianto and Gwen are left behind to stare up at the stars and wonder when he's coming back. As a small act of rebellion against Jack's perpetual mysteriousness, they decide to play a game: they have to answer each other's questions with absolute honesty. There's a lot Ianto needs to get off his chest, his feelings about Jack Harkness not least, but the truth is tricky--it's never safe, and it's certainly never easy.

ghosts in my head by Sholio ( Team | Complete | 2637 | T )

Owen doesn't sleep, but he does dream. And the dreams he gets are mostly nightmares, because of course they are.

Facing Light in the Flow by engagemythrusters ( JackIanto, GwenRhys | Complete | 3821 | T )

A slice of a life nobody had dreamt they would ever have.

The Door Wide Open by sherlockpond ( GwenRhys, JackIanto, ToshOwen | Complete | 5333 | G )

Torchwood incurs a tough life on its field operatives.  They deserve times where they feel like they need to be vulnerable in  front of each other. [6 times the team were emotionally honest with one another - set during various points of S1 and S2]

Flatpacked by Beleriandings ( Ianto&Rhys, JackIanto, GwenRhys | Complete | 6946 | G )

Rhys has a day off, and decides to spend it peacefully looking at homeware in Ikea. He's not expecting to bump into one of his wife's coworkers there; much less, a shapeshifting alien that likes to eat batteries. But then again, that's Torchwood for you.

On saving the world, and what happens after by Beleriandings ( Gwen&Ianto, JackIanto | Complete | 2447 | G )

After the events of Journey's End, Gwen and Ianto wait for Jack to come home.

Domestic Disharmony by thirteeninafez ( Gwen&Ianto, Gwen&Jack, GwenRhys, JackIanto | Complete | 3163 | G )

In which Jack and Gwen get stuck in the Archives and discuss green milk, thermostats and Ianto Jones.

After the events of Journey's End, Gwen and Ianto wait for Jack to come home.

Pastries, Avoidance Tactics, and a Bottle of Scotch by pocky_slash ( Gwen&Ianto, JackIanto, GwenRhys | Complete | 6220 | G )

In which Gwen said something she regrets, Ianto makes a poor dinner choice, Rhys offers sound advice, and Jack has a key. A different sort of "Meat" post-ep.

Respite by Beleriandings ( Gwen&Ianto, GwenRhys, JackIanto | Complete | 2591 | G )

Even by their usual standards, Gwen thought it was absolutely fair to say it had been a rough week.

Blood on Steel by Sholio (Owen&Ianto, Gwen&Jack&Owen&Tosh&Ianto | Complete | 12257 | T)

An alien booby trap turns the Hub into a deathtrap. Lucky thing it doesn't react to someone with no vital signs. Now Owen is their only hope. More specifically, he's Ianto's only hope.

The Cartography of Feeling by Sholio (Owen&Ianto | Complete | 20846 | T)

"We're sodding gladiators," Owen said. "Fuck this entire day and Jack Harkness too."

(Or: Owen and Ianto are abducted by aliens and forced to arena-fight. But the worst part might be the control device that connects them in an emotion and pain-sharing bond.)

Haul Out the Holly by Flamingbluepanda (JackIanto, GwenRhys | Complete | 1069 | G)

Sometimes you need a little magic in your christmas

with a lil’ help from my friends by Flamingbluepanda (JackIanto, GwenRhys, OwenTosh | complete | 1307 | G)

Everyone needs a Hug sometimes, Torchwood Included

(Or, five times Jack thought about hugs and the one time he thought of nothing at all)

I’ll think of you each time I watch from distant skies by Violetmessages (JackIanto, GwenRhys, Jack&Team | complete | 3749 | T)

In which Tosh makes a discovery and the team comes together to show Jack how much they love him.

Halfway Back by Sholio (Gwen&Jack&Owen&Ianto&Tosh | complete | 13953 | T)

Team Torchwood run a sanctuary for magical creatures, and this time they've got a basilisk on their hands.

Team Means Pack by Sholio (Gwen&Jack&Owen&Ianto&Tosh | complete | 2615 | G)

Post-Countrycide in a universe with werewolves.

Stormwrack by Sholio (Gen | complete | 2111 | T)

The last time Owen was in the Brecon Beacons, Welsh cannibals tried to eat him. This time, it was pouring buckets on him, and he was dead. At least the latter might help with the cannibal problem, although given his luck, probably not. They might just consider him well-aged, like a side of bacon.

Sky’s the Limit by Blackkat (JackIanto, SuzieTosh, Ianto&Suzie | series | 6,694 | T)

Ianto and Suzie meet as strangers on a rooftop, and bond over aborted suicide attempts, failed plans, bastard fathers, and the fact that they're batting for both teams. Friendship is a beautiful thing.

Forever and What Comes After by violetmessages (JackIanto, GwenRhys | complete | 10028 | T)

“Hm, imagine if they did,” Ianto said. “Torchwood would have to come out of retirement.”

In which Gwen and Ianto relax at a spa, Jack and Rhys attempt bad science, and Anwen is just along for the ride.

Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time by paycheckgurl (JackIanto, GwenRhys | complete | 3351 | T)

This wasn’t exactly how they planned their Christmas going, but they were going to make the best of it.

Remnants of a Forgotten Past by paycheckgurl (Gwen Cooper & Jack Harkness & Owen Harper & Ianto Jones & Toshiko Sato | complete | 7523 | T)

Torchwood's latest case hits close to home for Tosh when it seems to center on Lodmoor Research Facility's Newest project...of a destructive off world variety.

Written for Torchwood MiniBang

Midlife Crisis by Princessoftheworlds (JackIanto | complete | 371 | T)

"You do realize," begins Owen one day during their usual lunch meeting, chopsticks dangling from his hand, "that technically, Javic is your mid-life crisis?"

Found you made us a star by Princessoftheworlds (JackIanto, OwenTosh, GwenRhys | complete | 6477 | T)

Millennia after having lost their team, Jack and Ianto set about reuniting with old friends and crafting a Torchwood for a new future.

[gwendolyncooper]

the tenth doctor has some rights & y’all keep forgetting he exists outside of jack and martha

All right y’all, this is gonna be an unpopular opinion, so buckle up.

First up, a disclaimer: I love Ten. I love the Tenth Doctor. He’s one of my comfort characters, he got me through some really rough times. I also understand that he was super shit to both Martha and Jack, and that he was a very flawed character. That’s kind of the point of the Doctor, as much as flawed characters are with Torchwood.

I’m also absolutely not going to give him any slack for the way he treated Jack and Martha, as much as I want to dive into what I believe to be his thought process on it. It was shit. He’s done some really shit stuff. He’s not only the shit stuff.

Anyway.

There’s a lot I could get into, but my beef with the Torchwood fandom is Ten introducing Jack to Alonso.

It wasn’t cruel and it wasn’t reducing Jack to just a horny bastard, and here’s why.

Obviously, we have to look at the circumstances: Jack has lost Ianto Jones. We can assume that the Doctor knows he has, and knows what Ianto meant to him. We also have to acknowledge that we really have no clue where in Jack’s timeline he was when the Doctor brought Alonso to his attention, so we cannot accurately say how long it has been since he lost Ianto, just that he’s traveling the stars, which is about 99% of Jack Harkness’ timeline, since he’s functionally immortal.

ANYWAY. We all know that the show Doctor Who tends to reduce Jack into a walking bisexual stereotype - flirty to an extreme, sexualized, and dtf anyone who moves. Yes, we all hate it. I don’t get why they did, especially since it was RTD, but they did. And yes, Ten did it frequently, too. This wasn’t one of those times.

Ten exists as a person and as the Doctor for a vast amount of time outside of Jack or even his time with Martha (including her bc she’s Torchwood idc what anyone says). He was there with Rose, with Donna, during his time alone. He’s one of the longest-running Doctors in New Who. And it’s his time outside of Jack and Martha that makes this moment so incredibly different.

The Doctor loses people. He knows that. He always will. We discuss Jack accepting loss so often, but the Doctor has and always will know that pain just as deeply. He knows that who he is, what he does, the way his life works, means he will always lose people. But, just like Jack, that doesn’t stop him from getting attached and loving hard. And he did with Rose, and god, poor Martha got the brunt of that grief. And that’s what it was, grief. It wasn’t a good way to deal with it and it certainly wasn’t fair, but the Doctor was grieving. And when it came time to regenerate, he had just lost not only his best friend (world-ending psychopath or not), but his entire planet and people a second time, on top of losing Donna forever as well. He was in the throes of his grief, and he did for Jack exactly what he does for himself when trying to survive it: he picks up the pieces and pours his love into someone new.

Ten had minutes before his regeneration. And he spent those minutes going back to see the people he’d lost and would never see again, while he could as the same man. And Jack was grieving a loss that he understood, and felt, and Ten did the one thing he knew to do and tried to give him someone he not only knew was a good person, but knew would be Jack’s type. It wasn’t for a quick fuck, it wasn’t for a hookup -- Ten was grieving, Ten was dying, and he did for Jack what he couldn’t do for himself -- he tried to give Jack a place to pour the sort of abundant love that they both shared the ability to give.

Was it good timing? We don’t actually know. Was it sort of shit to do it without an explanation? Yeah, it kinda was. But the way the Torchwood fandom views Ten is through the incredibly narrow lens of Jack Harkness and Martha Jones, and he exists so widely and incredibly and fully outside of them that ignoring that twists who he is and his actions.

Anyway tag your Ten hate. I’ll back you all up on saying he treated them like shit, because he did. But I think most of the fandom has this one moment very, very wrong because we’re looking at it through a narrow lens and aren’t taking in the whole picture.