DED OF TURCHWAD
Various Torchwood-related things: First, I still haven't seen past S2E09... I brushed it off as not being in the mood for TV, but I'm squeeful about Doctor Who coming back. So what was it?
I finally got a clue today.
I was mildly annoyed when the BBC Torchwood site started being off-limits to people outside the UK, leaving us with the (delightful, but not nearly as satisfying) Captain's Blog on the BBCA site. However, in what might just make me the last Torchwood fan in the world to know about this, as I don't haunt the main community, I discovered iantos_desktop, which is a collection of all the supplemental web material, including the UK-only stuff.
So I went and caught up on what I'd seen so far, and immensely enjoyed Ianto's snark via email and IM and the retro Torchwood training guides, which are the best parts of the UK site, hands down.
And then I got to the last episode I'd seen, which clarified for me why I couldn't summon up the enthusiasm to watch more Torchwood, and instantly made it better, as well.
The short version is that I was really, really angry at canon!Jack, and what the writers were doing to him. I just didn't catch on at first, because I love Jack Harkness to bits and identify strongly with him in a lot of ways... But canon!Jack is not my Jack anymore. This makes me sad.
See, apparently, Jack was married, based on a picture seen only for a second. Since my entire justification for Jack turning into a jealous ass (when before he was fine with Rhys/Gwen) is that he doesn't understand monogamy and thus suddenly reads Rhys as the person who is trapping Gwen in a lifelong monogamous relationship, this threw me for a bit of a loop. JACK? MARRIED? NO!
Also, I was really angry at him for staring longingly after Gwen and paying almost no attention to Ianto... Who he happened to be dancing with. I don't mind Jack/Gwen. Jack's polyamorous/open-minded/slutty like that. But my personal canon regarding Jack states that, if Jack Harkness is dancing with/close to someone he's got an attraction for, that's where his focus is. He's certainly capable of multi-tasking, yet part of Jack's charm is that when his attention's on you, you feel like you're the only person in the universe. His attention can shift, of course, but, even worried about Gwen, he should have paid some attention to Ianto. And what should have been a lovely scene for them had zero chemistry. That just... That made me angry at him. I wanted to kick him in the balls. IANTO IS NOT YOUR DOORMAT, CANON!JACK! PAY ATTENTION TO HIM! HE IS DANCING WITH YOU! BROOD LATER, BUT FOR NOW MAKE THE GODDAMN DANCE SPECIAL! *sniffles* ...you fucker. (Yes, I have very strong feelings about Jack/Ianto. They're my Torchwood OTP, damnit. I just don't expect or even want exclusivity there, because that would be Bad For Jack.)
But back to Jack being married. This is the picture. And, upon close inspection, this makes it better for me.
I can't be the only one who thinks the bride in that picture is biologically male. I have no hard proof, of course. There are several clues: the facial structure, the cleft chin (while not unheard of in women, far more common in men), the way the hair's styled, what seems to be an awfully flat chest... And I think I see an Adam's apple, but it's hard to be sure.
It's not impossible for that to be a female, but my money's on male, as far as biology goes. (Whether se was a woman born into the wrong body, a fetishistic transvestite, a drag queen --did they have drag queens then? Probably not by that name, anyway--, ambiguously gendered and prone to crossdressing/genderfuck, or just a gay man who thought it would be funny is, of course, open for debate.)
But for me, the biggest "NOOOOO" factor of Jack getting married was the monogamy. And I thought about why that picture made me smile so much once I got a closer look at it. Part of it's that, judging from the age of the photo, if the bride's legally male, there's no way it's a legal wedding. This would be two people making their own rules, which implies commitment, but not socially-recognized monogamous union. (Not that legal marriages always mean that the people involved are monogamous... I've known several polyamorous married couples, but in most cases, the implication is that if you're marrying someone, you'll be monogamous, and that's how society treats them.)
This gives us several fascinating possibilities that don't completely destroy Jack's character. Although subverting some social norms doesn't mean subverting all of them, the fact that they're already pushing the envelope with the physical sex of the bride makes it somewhat more likely that their marriage wouldn't necessarily conform to the monogamy ideal, either. Committed to be with one specific partner, yes, but not ruling out the possibility of other partners.
Personally, I'd like to believe that Jack found a lovely woman who he fell hard for, who had the misfortune of being born with a penis. Although she neither wanted nor expected a monogamous relationship, they were in love. She had to present at male to get by in the world at large, but she'd always wanted to have a pretty wedding, wear the dress, feel like the most beautiful woman in the world for a day...
And so, with the help of a few like-minded friends, they did just that. Small, private ceremony, not legally binding, but they didn't care. Had photos taken by an open-minded photographer, possibly a close friend of theirs.
And although they obviously didn't both live happily (and sluttily) ever after, I'd like to think they had a good go of it, no matter who else Jack happened to be with at the time, and when she died Jack was crushed.
Thank you, Torchwood, for giving me a reason to hope you haven't yet mangled Jack beyond recognition. Though I'm still pissed off about that dance, I think I can go back to watching now.
And, although I'd meant to post this much, much earlier, I give you the best Torchwood fic in the history of ever, originally brought to my attention by starletfallen. Even if you don't watch Torchwood, even if you don't read fanfic, READ THIS. I mean it. It's completely plausible crack, and it's hilarious and wonderful.
I finally got a clue today.
I was mildly annoyed when the BBC Torchwood site started being off-limits to people outside the UK, leaving us with the (delightful, but not nearly as satisfying) Captain's Blog on the BBCA site. However, in what might just make me the last Torchwood fan in the world to know about this, as I don't haunt the main community, I discovered iantos_desktop, which is a collection of all the supplemental web material, including the UK-only stuff.
So I went and caught up on what I'd seen so far, and immensely enjoyed Ianto's snark via email and IM and the retro Torchwood training guides, which are the best parts of the UK site, hands down.
And then I got to the last episode I'd seen, which clarified for me why I couldn't summon up the enthusiasm to watch more Torchwood, and instantly made it better, as well.
The short version is that I was really, really angry at canon!Jack, and what the writers were doing to him. I just didn't catch on at first, because I love Jack Harkness to bits and identify strongly with him in a lot of ways... But canon!Jack is not my Jack anymore. This makes me sad.
See, apparently, Jack was married, based on a picture seen only for a second. Since my entire justification for Jack turning into a jealous ass (when before he was fine with Rhys/Gwen) is that he doesn't understand monogamy and thus suddenly reads Rhys as the person who is trapping Gwen in a lifelong monogamous relationship, this threw me for a bit of a loop. JACK? MARRIED? NO!
Also, I was really angry at him for staring longingly after Gwen and paying almost no attention to Ianto... Who he happened to be dancing with. I don't mind Jack/Gwen. Jack's polyamorous/open-minded/slutty like that. But my personal canon regarding Jack states that, if Jack Harkness is dancing with/close to someone he's got an attraction for, that's where his focus is. He's certainly capable of multi-tasking, yet part of Jack's charm is that when his attention's on you, you feel like you're the only person in the universe. His attention can shift, of course, but, even worried about Gwen, he should have paid some attention to Ianto. And what should have been a lovely scene for them had zero chemistry. That just... That made me angry at him. I wanted to kick him in the balls. IANTO IS NOT YOUR DOORMAT, CANON!JACK! PAY ATTENTION TO HIM! HE IS DANCING WITH YOU! BROOD LATER, BUT FOR NOW MAKE THE GODDAMN DANCE SPECIAL! *sniffles* ...you fucker. (Yes, I have very strong feelings about Jack/Ianto. They're my Torchwood OTP, damnit. I just don't expect or even want exclusivity there, because that would be Bad For Jack.)
But back to Jack being married. This is the picture. And, upon close inspection, this makes it better for me.
I can't be the only one who thinks the bride in that picture is biologically male. I have no hard proof, of course. There are several clues: the facial structure, the cleft chin (while not unheard of in women, far more common in men), the way the hair's styled, what seems to be an awfully flat chest... And I think I see an Adam's apple, but it's hard to be sure.
It's not impossible for that to be a female, but my money's on male, as far as biology goes. (Whether se was a woman born into the wrong body, a fetishistic transvestite, a drag queen --did they have drag queens then? Probably not by that name, anyway--, ambiguously gendered and prone to crossdressing/genderfuck, or just a gay man who thought it would be funny is, of course, open for debate.)
But for me, the biggest "NOOOOO" factor of Jack getting married was the monogamy. And I thought about why that picture made me smile so much once I got a closer look at it. Part of it's that, judging from the age of the photo, if the bride's legally male, there's no way it's a legal wedding. This would be two people making their own rules, which implies commitment, but not socially-recognized monogamous union. (Not that legal marriages always mean that the people involved are monogamous... I've known several polyamorous married couples, but in most cases, the implication is that if you're marrying someone, you'll be monogamous, and that's how society treats them.)
This gives us several fascinating possibilities that don't completely destroy Jack's character. Although subverting some social norms doesn't mean subverting all of them, the fact that they're already pushing the envelope with the physical sex of the bride makes it somewhat more likely that their marriage wouldn't necessarily conform to the monogamy ideal, either. Committed to be with one specific partner, yes, but not ruling out the possibility of other partners.
Personally, I'd like to believe that Jack found a lovely woman who he fell hard for, who had the misfortune of being born with a penis. Although she neither wanted nor expected a monogamous relationship, they were in love. She had to present at male to get by in the world at large, but she'd always wanted to have a pretty wedding, wear the dress, feel like the most beautiful woman in the world for a day...
And so, with the help of a few like-minded friends, they did just that. Small, private ceremony, not legally binding, but they didn't care. Had photos taken by an open-minded photographer, possibly a close friend of theirs.
And although they obviously didn't both live happily (and sluttily) ever after, I'd like to think they had a good go of it, no matter who else Jack happened to be with at the time, and when she died Jack was crushed.
Thank you, Torchwood, for giving me a reason to hope you haven't yet mangled Jack beyond recognition. Though I'm still pissed off about that dance, I think I can go back to watching now.
And, although I'd meant to post this much, much earlier, I give you the best Torchwood fic in the history of ever, originally brought to my attention by starletfallen. Even if you don't watch Torchwood, even if you don't read fanfic, READ THIS. I mean it. It's completely plausible crack, and it's hilarious and wonderful.