More opinions formed in reaction to fanfic

[beccaelizabeth]

I don't think Ianto had a particularly traumatic childhood. Or much trauma in general, before Torchwood. Possibly losing a grandparent through old age or something of that magnitude. Then again, possibly not. Because he somehow kept hold of the idea things would all work out if he did everything right. And it never seemed to occur to him the going wrong would be from someone he loved, rather than to them. To me, that says he didn't have abusive parents, because then he'd know that love and danger happens in the same place. And he probably hadn't lost a lover to death before her, though that one could go either way. 'Not again' could be a before and after thought. But mostly, he just seemed so sweet about doing everything possible, he semed to think it was the shiny kind of fairytale, wake her up again later. So I don't think it had gone wrong before.

Mostly, though... Does the woobie need more trauma?
I really don't think so.


Yes, he hurts pretty, but he's close enough to crazy as it is.



Also, the only fic I've read that mentioned suicide and self harm in contexts I could believe had the phrase "filed under S for stupid".
Because I figure if Ianto was going to, he would have by now.

Owen we've got canon for. I don't read much Owen fic. Does it portray him as suicidal / self destructive? Because that would be plenty in character, except he hasn't managed the getting dead part yet, so there's obviously some tension the other way in there.

Ianto just keeps doing his job. Maybe there's stuff under the suit... hell, no maybe about it, he's got plenty going on under there. But he's been as wrecked as can be, and he's still here. So.

Comments

[damalan.livejournal.com]

Nice little analysis.

I think you're right about his relationships with earlier lovers; he keeps hoping for the best for his relationship with Lisa long after he could see it wasn't going to work out. That's an expectation thing for certain.

Other losses - it's harder to say. By the time I was Ianto's age (assuming he shared Gareth's age), I had lost all my grandparents and my father. I regard myself as fairly emotional, but with enough loss it all balances out, and I was less upset each time. It's not that loss is expected, just that coping mechanisms improve.

But I agree that Ianto doesn't need any more bad news in his short life! :)

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

If Ianto didn't want to live, he wouldn't even have to actively do anything - just not get out of the way fast enough a couple of times. I suspect that the constant threat of death in Torchwood would teach you how much you don't want to die.

Ianto has enough trouble in canon to drive whole brigades of woobies to their tragic demise; that he survives with hope intact is one of the things I like best about him.

He's an *action* woobie. :-)

[beccaelizabeth]

Could Countrycide be read as him putting himself in harm's way on purpose?
There's a line in Babylon 5 I circle back to a lot, about finding something to die for because it's easier than finding something to live for.
Ianto made a plan where he'd be in danger, but a nice heroic death kind.

Except he was so scared about it it didn't seem like a... Owen in a weevil cage kind of thing.

But Owen's attempt was unambiguously unnecessary, yesno? Am about to rewatch so I can pay attention to that aspect.


But then Jack in Cyberwoman and End of Days both fits the 'something to die for' model rather too well. Only then he woke up after and said thanks. So maybe he's over it.


Action woobie - must icon :-)

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

Huh, I don't THINK he was putting himself in harm's way in Countrycide. I haven't watched it with that in mind, though... I think he was trying very hard to stay alive in Countrycide, and also very scared!

Owen's weevil cage thing was, as far as I can tell, total attempted suicide by testosterone. He seemed very invested in making sure the weevil-fight-club-guy knew he was hard core.

Hmm, I have to watch BOTH those again with motives in mind.

[lonelybrit]

My impression is that all of the Torchwood crowd have some kind of skeleton in their personal history. We know Tosh has a grandfather - who was persecuted during WW2 - but it's implied her mother is ill/dead. Owen has the hints of something wrong in his past on the TW.org website. Plus of course Diane. Gwen, well, I think maybe Torchwood is her traumatic/unsettling event. It's hard to say.

I agree that I can't see Ianto as being child to abusive parents. But he is an ambitious character, and there is something a little childlike about him and his (initial) faith that life would turn out alright. For some reason I see him as having grown up with just the one parent and the remaining one being where he got his appreciation of hard work and a job well from, if that makes sense, but at the same time he was a little bit coddled and protected. I would say I expect both parents to be dead, but then again I was surprised to learn Gwen's Mum is still alive so Ive honestly no clue :)

[beccaelizabeth]

Hard work from parents fits the pictures in my head too.



lots of different things fit the pictures in my head. too little data to pin them to!

[crystalshard.livejournal.com]

I agree. I think Ianto must have had a normal childhood, with parents who loved him. I don't know whether he had any sibilings - although going by his 'loner' style, I'd say only child - but I'd say he grew up, went to school, college, university without emotional problems other than the loss of a grandparent or similar.

He probably stood out as very intelligent, which is probably why Torchwood recruited him in the first place. Torchwood One would want the best.

I'd think that surviving Carary Wharf would be enough trauma for anyone's life. And I'd lay odds that it was the first major trauma in his life, given his reactions in Cyberwoman.

[beccaelizabeth]

'intelligent' is a fuzzy word. Don't reckon Torchwood needs people that are good at IQ test ticky boxes. More like the kind of people who can be given an entirely unfamiliar problem and yet still make something of it.

He's quiet, efficient, and just possibly a tad obsessive.
He's got a wide range of interests.
And a quirky sense of humour.

... basically reminds me of most gamers I've ever met, or SF geeks in general.


If he had siblings they might be a large age gap away, or they might have gone to different schools, just to mention two from my near acquaintance that still results in 'loners'.


Actually, thinking on the age gap thing, I've got a suddenly plausible version of Ianto that babysat for a much younger sibling a lot. It fits with my theory that he's the mom. With the feeding people and cleaning up after them and stuff.
... also I now have a mental image of said younger sibling being all wide eyed hero worship about him whenever he comes home. Huh.


I'm trying to figure out if Ianto going to boarding school is really likely from things I'm seeing in the character or just things I'm projecting...

[kiltfriction.livejournal.com]

I got the looked after younger sibling vibe pretty strongly from Ianto too. :D

I disagree about Torchwood not needing people with high IQ's though. Three does seem to be very much an operational outpost, so not so much needed there but I think at Headquarters it was a very different story.

I always imagined Ianto as being trained as the Torchwood equivalent of an MI5 Intelligence Officer. Makes use of his intelligence, he's recall, analytical and research skills, even accounts for his lack of field experience. He's was trained to be the brain behind the scenes, analysing and directing, not being on the front line.

[beccaelizabeth]

*nods* about intelligence officer

The thing about IQ tests is the only thing they measure is ability to do IQ tests. We did some studying about this in sociology. IQ tests are just hoops to jump through. So while I'm sure Torchwood needs people that are all kinds of clever, I don't think the ability to do standardised tests is going to come up much in day to day operations.

[kiltfriction.livejournal.com]

IQ tests aren't reliable at all, you can train yourself to do them easily and even if you don't they can give you widley varying results.

Deeply agree about the all kinds of clever being recruited to TW. Ianto's got analytical smarts but you also need people with practical skills, emotional intelligence, a dozen types of specialists etc.

Since you've hit on two of the same vibes I got from Ianto, mind if I ask you about another I got? You figure Ianto's got a degree under his belt? For some reason I really don't and I'm not sure what it is.

My personal fun theory is he entered as a low-level entrant at MI5, worked his way up a bit within the organisation and got transfered through to TW. Though I'm aware that bits pure fanwank :D

[beccaelizabeth]

I figure Ianto for an overachieving education. 4 A-levels and a MSc in Information Management was what I decided last time I thought about it.
But the 'why' I figure that is mostly so he can out snark Owen on roughly his own terms, so there's definitely other ways to read him.