...

Sigh....

Let's talk about it.

Considering this is a smol site with no algorithmic boost (unlike social) I have no idea if this is gonna reach the right people or not, but considering this is like an online diary for me I wanna just... talk about this..

They're taking down "The Ianto Shrine" at the end of April 😭

Click to embiggen

What is the Ianto Shrine, if you don't know?

Well - imagine the show Doctor Who. Now imagine it was so successful when it was rebooted in 2005, that in 2006 a spin-off following one of the shows recurring characters was launched called Torchwood.

Now imagine that a few years later in 2009 one of the most beloved characters in that show was killed off in a shock twist.

Now imagine that fans of the show and the character were so saddened by the event that they erected a temporary shrine for him in Cardiff Bay near one of the shows primary shooting locations (and in-universe locations).

NOW imagine (stay with me here) that shrine has been standing for something like 17 years, frequently refreshed with new memorials by fans over time, and is still there today.

Finally, imagine that was all somehow true. The shrine is real, standing proudly in Cardiff Bay and offiically maintained by the people at Mermaid Quay.

It was announced today that the Mermaid Quay staff have declared the site dilapidated. Warped wood, rusted metal - they're saying it's a health and safety hazard. They want to take it down, and give the space to something else.

If I were anyone else - an outsider to the fandom - I'd be saying "fair enough, it's been a loooong time", and part of me does think that even now. I get it, logistically.

I mean Doctor Who hasn't been performing well for a while now. While it's been known for bringing tourism to Cardiff, I doubt it's doing much of that anymore. And Torchwood is a 20 year old spin-off of all things. Ianto Jones's death shocked the country back when Doctor Who and the related shows were actually big. But they're not anymore, sadly (coming from someone who is actively still a huge fan of the show, btw)

But emotionally, I'm distraught.

I've loved Doctor Who since I was a kid, but Torchwood was something I got into in my early teenage years (well before I should have, considering it was quite an adult show) and it helped lead me into discovering myself.

Torchwood's main character, Captain Jack Harkness, has frequently been described as omnisexual and his main on-screen love interest was Ianto Jones - the character the shrine is for. Their on-screen multifaceted romance was like a lightning rod for young queer me. I was already out when I started watching Torchwood, but I had no grounding - no references - to queer culture or life. I was lost as a teen, not knowing my own identity fully. I know it was just a show - oftentimes tacky and dramatised - but it did show me a real example of a MLM relationship for I think the first time.

And Ianto dying did destroy me tbf - I can't watch even a clip of it on YouTube without breaking down into floods of tears every time. 🥲

Thing is, though, I don't get sad when I visit the shrine. I just feel this overwhelming sense of peace.

I think it might be because it's a rare example of a real life physical connection to a universe that meant everything to me as a kid. The fact that the fictional Ianto is immortalised on that shrine in our real world is what makes it so special. There's a plaque there explaining who Ianto was, and the sacrafice he made. It's almost like it takes place in-universe. (In fairness there is also a note explaining it's fictional underneath so it's not literally deceiving people by spreading fiction like it's truth lol) It links our world to that one with something physically present, in the place the show was both filmed and based in. Going there ties it all together - my real life, and the one I yearned for as a teenager.

I've been a handful of times, and I miss it already and it's not even gone yet. I'm definitely going to go again before it goes away at the end of April. One of the weekends this month I think. I'm just gonna sit there as I have previously and enjoy that quietude, but this time it'll be bittersweet as I know it'll be the last time before it's gone forever. </3

Sorry for being so melodramatic but I'm not wrong tbh. It's rare that a fictional property get's a real world physical talisman to tie it to our reality - let alone a whole dedicated space. xD

Anyways, enjoy some pictures me and my family have taken over the years at the shrine. It's a highly unusual weird little quirk of British TV culture, and in some regards it's 100% outstayed its welcome, but I'm gonna miss it.

Click to embiggen