THE DEFINITIVE FANON GUIDE TO JACK AND IANTO, PART THE FIRST

[tencrush]

Now that we've all calmed down a bit, it's time for some science. I have put together a wee poll to find out what is going on in ALL YOUR PRETTY LITTLE HEADS. There have been many things we haven't been told about Jack and Ianto, most of us have filled in the blanks with out own personal fanon, and I'd like to know what, on the whole, that fanon comprises. On with the science...



[Poll #1171935]



If you have any other questions you think need adressing, let me know and we'll do another one before we start analysing numbers, yeah?

Comments

[edithmatilda.livejournal.com]

There are some random in there based on I only saw most of S2 via LJ.

[inkvictus.livejournal.com]

All mouth and precious little trousers.
ROFLMFAO!!!

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

Jack's HOLE, lol.

I actually reckon the exchange of looks about the hockey stick was more "Where did you get that from, and wtf use do you imagine it's going to be?" than "You fished that out from under the bed?!"

[tencrush]

Well, see, in Sleeper, Jack said to the cop who was suspicious about keeping sports equipment in the bedroom "You should come to my place and play hockey some time." So it is only natural a lot of fans have grabbed hold of the wrong end of the hockey stick and started beating around the bush with it.

[kittykat2305.livejournal.com]

I loved the dungeon as a giveaway, Although I have to say I am dying to see Ianto's flat, I mean we are alway in Gwens and have seen into both Tosh and Owens, I want to see Iantos damn it.

[off_coloratura]

I think Ianto lives in a motel.

[rainshadowsfic.livejournal.com]

Hah! That was fun =D

My friend and I were having a discussion about their first sexual encounter. I mean, I CAN see before Cyberwoman, I guess, but I'm more inclined to say after. *shrugs* that's a tough one.

oh. and Jack's an omnisexual slllllluuuut. yesyesyes.

[dazeyhaze.livejournal.com]

This made me giggle. Tried to answer as seriously as possible but I think I failed miserably, and had fun doing it too xD

[jo02]

Thank you so much for doing this!
If I wasn't in a silly mood before I started I certainly was at the end.
I look forward to the analysis - and of course further polls.

[stopwatch-plz.livejournal.com]

Oh my god, i think I broke something trying not to laugh out loud at work XD

I nearly died at the "Ianto's family are... Welsh"

XD

[off_coloratura]

That was my favorite bit as well.

[cayendi.livejournal.com]

I thought the last two questions were really weird (and promoting labelism), which of course depends on what you're really asking with the 'wife' question ...

Personally, I think they're both versatile :D
and just LOVE to dabble

[cayendi.livejournal.com]

Oh, and as for Jack being his first.
Gareth did mention that in an interview once. Don't know the exact wording, but he did say that Jack was Ianto's first gay experience

[ionlylurkhere.livejournal.com]

This is one of those silly "I voted for this, but I really think this" comments.

Re: monogamous, I think they've Had The Chat and they're currently effectively monogamous, but what's actually going on is that Jack has agreed not to look for other partners for the moment while Ianto tries to get more comfortable with the idea of poly. The whole "Gwen threesome nao? LOL!" bit in Adrift comes into this in ways I haven't quite worked out.

Hockey stick: pain play, see, 'cos of Jack's enhanced healing and I read this Buffy fic this one time that centred around the interaction of Slayer healing powers and BDSM and *cough*.

[cayendi.livejournal.com]

Oh, I can see Ianto/Jack in a threesome, but not with Gwen (err ... or Owen or Toshiko)

[laureen.livejournal.com]

Time Lord!Ianto is love. Srsly. *cough* Yeah, yeah, so I might have a bit of an obsession with Time Lord!Ianto. But, since I'm not the onyl one who said so, I can be happy (and almost normal). ^_^

[foreverrhapsody.livejournal.com]

Y. I know it'd probably never happen in the show, but I've read two or three good fics that present that idea, and I love it to bits.

[fides.livejournal.com]

At the risk of adding boring seriousness to this. There were a couple where the answer I wanted just wasn't there or fell between so:

Jack might have introduced Ianto to kink (or some kinks because as much as virgin!Jack would be funny I think he starts with more and broader experience) but that once started he likes to play just as much as Jack does and has a wonderfully filthy and inventive mind.

Where they are right now. It's a bit of a downer but I think Ianto has always known just what the life expectancy of Torchwood employees are and what his choices are. He's committed to Torchwood and Jack for the rest of his life but that doesn't mean he is looking for/expecting happy ever after just something good in the time he has left. And while I think they are basically monogamous I don't think that necessarily rules out any planned and agreed on additions (in whatever capacity).

Hockey stick - all of the above. I mean why have something like that only for one use.

There was a joke in Sentinel fandom at one point which ran 'Jim Ellison, top or bottom? - Whichever Blair says he is'. Just replace Jim's name with Jack's and Blair's with Ianto and... joking aside I think they both switch and both top from the top as well as topping from the bottom depending on their or their partner's need on any given occasion. I just like the idea in the Captain's blog that Ianto handcuffs Jack to his chair to stop him doing things Ianto think are wrong and Jack suspects that Ianto enjoys Jack being the boss occasionally.

:-)

[tencrush]

re. Dead: they ARE, though. There's been A LOT of clues thrown at us that they're ALL dead. AN AWFUL LOT.

I should have just put "Ianto's a bit kinky, but no more than the average person, which I am not, and if you're reading this, chances are neither are you", shouldn't I?

[dragonkal.livejournal.com]

This was so much fun! And great to see where my answers stack up to the general populace of fandom.

Couple comments: My take on their relationship for #3 wasn't available as an answer -- you can be serious, committed, and not monogamous.

I couldn't answer the "wife" question because I think we've pretty well been told they switch.

And I would just like to take a moment to shake my fist at Russell T. Davies for confusing the hell out of me about whether Jack is Ianto's first man or not. Russell has said that the reason Ianto has the same name as Gareth's character in "Mine All Mine" is that it's the "same character" -- in which case Ianto's had at least one boyfriend. But Gareth has said explicitly that he feels Jack is Ianto's first gay experience, and I think his performance suggests that (as does some of the writing). So I'm going with Gareth on this one.

[tencrush]

Well, yeah, that's why I put dabble in, I figured most people would figure they switch. I tend to see Ianto as a bit more on top than jack, myself, but it's all just for fun, right?
(I'm kind of regretting putting "monogamous" in there, yeah, or at least, I'm regretting not adding "serious, committed and polyamorous" to the list of choices, becasue I keep shouting at people about polyamory and serious commitment not being mutually exclusive and now I've shot myself in the foot by not including it as an option.)

I WAS inclined to go with Gareth as well, but the more I think about it, the more I'm not so sure and I think he's probably dabbled. Drunkenly.

[snakeling]

To clear up what I ticked :)

I think Jack introduced Ianto to kink, and Ianto grabbed the idea and ran away with it in a way that still amazes Jack (but in a good way) :D

I voted that Jack moved elsewhere because the Hole now gives him claustrophobia, and he moved in with Ianto because 1) it happened to be available right away, 2) Ianto wasn't about to let him out of his sight after 2x13.

Re: the wife label (and wtf at two 51st century guys using it), I read Jack as a natural sub (he can play dom if he needs to, but it's not his natural inclination), and Ianto is definitely the one calling all the shots in their relationship, starting from as far as TKKS. If we're talking about topping/bottoming, I don't think they care as long as they're both getting off.

[eandh99.livejournal.com]

I'd have gone with you on this Jack=sub idea right up to Adrift, but the man who comes out of the greenhouse with his trousers open looked extremely toppy to me. And I agree, the Jack who's been through DW Last of the Time Lords and TW2 ep 13 is not going to sleep in a hole.

[ireth-ancalimon.livejournal.com]

I loved the question about lanto's family for some reason that made me laugh lol .. x

[fatchickengirl.livejournal.com]

I think they (RTD Chris Chibneel) are trying to keep the will they or won't they, well they did, but by keeping us geussing just HOW involed and what they get up to keeps that frission!!!

[foreverrhapsody.livejournal.com]

I've always wondered when they started doing it after Jack came back in season 2, or at least what people think about when it happened.

[eandh99.livejournal.com]

For me, I'm pretty sure they "resumed" between KKBB and Sleeper, because Ianto's pretty damn giddy all through Sleeper. My own soundtrack for that ep is largely "My boyfriend's back and you're going to be sorry."

[eandh99.livejournal.com]

I'd have liked to vote for Welsh and dead for Ianto's family.

[stopwatch-plz.livejournal.com]

Me too *lol*

I voted Welsh first of all, then changed it to Dead as it really is what I think, rather than just being really goddamn funny XD

[totallytracy.livejournal.com]

I liked the poll but I think if you do another one, some questions should have an option of

o another answer not listed here

'cause there were a few that didn't have my choice. Like for example, I think Ianto's house is tidy but not overly tidy, more lived in, but not a mess.

I also have a different opinion on the "wife" question.

But, loved the poll and love being part of polls.

[msp-hacker.livejournal.com]

I agree with a few posters above: while Jack was just getting comfortable in sleeping in the bunker below his office again - with a bigger bed because Ianto replaced during his absence because it was "broken" - there is no way that Jack is sleeping there now after "Exit Wounds"

Heck, I don't even think he's to the point where he can sleep laying down yet.

[ladyharkness.livejournal.com]

I think Ianto shocks Jack in how perverse his mind is, compared to Jack's preconception of him. So I answered that, but I'd just like to say that in a sexual sense I'm of the camp where nothing in the universe could shock Jack in bed. He's a complete whore and that is why I adore him :D

God I wanna see the dungeon. NOW!

[jbs-teeth.livejournal.com]

K, this is way fun. My answers pretty much match up with the majority opinions, with one notable exception:

As a person who, on occasion (like when I'm very tired or stressed), can slip into being truly OCD about tidyness, I don't see that Ianto actually has any real signs of it. I think he makes a concerted effort to dress well, and he cleans up because it's his job, but he's not nearly as naturally into the clean, as we often describe him. There's also something in his posture that belies the characterization of him as perfectly anal. (Which is clearly in no way definitive, but just partly how I see him.)

Anyway, so I chose to think of his house as being a total mess (even though I think it would probably be somewhere in between).

OH, AND something else I've been thinking a lot about since Fragments was the fact that Jack describes Ianto as basically a "drifter" before he went to work for Torchwood I. I find that bit of information totally jarring to what I thought I knew about him. And I think it could mean that he's only got some barely furnished place that can be left at a moments notice OR he's found a place he can call home (awww) now that he's got purpose in life and therefor has a gorgeous little brick house with nice modern furniture (Asian influences), which he keeps clean and tidy because those things represent newfound security (strictly in the sense of belonging to a larger purpose).

I'm interested in the "wife" question, too. I think it's pretty interesting that the answers to the penultimate question are almost even, but then the large majority of people went with dabbling for the last response.

Personally, I like to think of them both being as masculine as reasonable. IMO, that's where the hotness comes from. (Unfortunately, I think I have a tendency to assign Ianto slightly feminine characteristics in writing only because there's a lot of blanks in his "voice," and I tend to fill in with my self; and, I'm a woman. I try not to, but it happens, and I kind of assume it does with other female writers.)

However, I DO think there is something going on that could be more like The President and the First Lady. If we ever do get a woman in the office over here, I'd like to think that the dynamic would be much the same, and therefor would not be explicitly gender based.

So, what I mean is, Jack is the husband in the sense of being the one who goes out and does the ugly fighting and makes the hard professional decisions, but Ianto is the one that provides him with the emotional strength and support that is necessary to do that. Historically, these are gender roles, but they in no way need to be, and I'm sure many of the people out there have marriages that function exactly like that, but where the female partner is the Action Figure and the husband is the Sidekick. (K, don't kill me: it's just meant to be slightly humorous and illustrative, not offensive.)

Jack, like any main protagonist figure -- let's use Buffy, Sydney (Alias) or Veronica Mars as examples to show it's not gender-based -- need strong emotional support to be successful and could not be as successful without it. (Analogously, Ianto would be filling the roles of Xander/Willow/Giles, Vaughn and Wallace, respectively.)

[kribban.livejournal.com]

I completely agree with your President/First Lady analogy.

Now I'll imagine Ianto as First Gentleman. *g*

[http://users.livejournal.com/_stolendreams_/]

Ianto's family are... Welsh!
LOL! Love it.

[mygirlfine.livejournal.com]

Phew, I thought I was the only who realized Ianto's family is deader than dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. I look forward to seeing your reasoning tomorrow. Ianto & death = issues / emo!Ianto.

If they are in fact not dead, I'll assume TW writers really really have no idea what they are doing.

[nightspring.livejournal.com]

Oh, I totally agree re the writers not knowing what they are doing if Ianto's family isn't dead! Well, I recently read a fic where Ianto's mom is still alive at a psychiatric instituiton, but has been totally non-responsive for many many years and might as well be dead except her body is still breathing. And that *could* work if it was canon, sort of, but yeah, if it turns out any of Ianto's immediate family is still alive, I'm going to demand the writers be lined up and shot.

Oh, btw, not immediately related to Jack/Ianto, but Ianto = only child, or could he have had siblings? If so, oldest, youngest, or middle?