Fic challenge

[tanarian]

Title: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Characters: Jack, Ianto, Gwen, Martha, Mickey
Rating: Mild PG for kiss
Spoilers: Strong for Journey's End
Warning: Not really a good choice for Martha and Mickey fans
Disclaimer: Not mine; they belong to RTD and to the BBC
Summary: Written for Day Six challenge on horizonssing.

How happy is the blameless vestal'

Comments

[msp_hacker]

*shakes head* While I feel sorry for Ianto, I think he could have handled things a little better. Namely, saying something about how he felt he was being excluded and belittled!

[tanarian]

Having gone through depression myself, I found it very difficult to have to constantly speak up and ask people to notice me. (To be honest, I think they're more likely to kill the character off, but I couldn't quite do that to Ianto!)

[msp_hacker]

I don't think they're going to kill Ianto off. At the very least, not so soon after killing Owen and Toshiko. I especially don't worry about the writers not knowing what to do with Ianto because they don't really know what they're doing with any of the characters besides Jack! Especially in the case of Ianto, since the only part where he did things that no one else could have done was really Cyberwoman - with a few brief moments in Countrycide - I'm hoping with the addition of the already strongly developed Martha and Mickey that they'll focus on developing Ianto more and giving Gwen more consistent characterization.

If anything else, there's always the hope that Rusty, the other higher-ups, and to a small degree John Barrowman, wants to avoid the "a homosexual relationship always ends in death" sci-fi trope.

[tanarian]

I'd worry less if it wasn't for the fact that RTD seems to consider a nice tragic ending to be the very height of TV writing. First season of Torchwood ended in them losing Jack, second season had them losing Owen and Toshiko. First season of New Who had them losing Jack and the Doctor regenerating, second season had him losing Rose, third season had the Master being killed and the Doctor losing Martha and fourth season had Donna as good as dead. It's not an encouraging track record, you know!

While the characters of Martha and Mickey are strong in Who, they will be unknown to the Torchwood fanbase who don't watch both shows (and they exist). And the fact that Martha and Mickey are strong characters will mean that they are used more. A scriptwriter who's pushed for time is going to use a readily developed character rather than go to all the trouble of fleshing out another one - especially if they're having to write a new villain as well

[gogo_didi]

Aww, no. I kept expecting someone to notice or for Ianto to say something and for it to get better and stay that way, and it didn't. That was so sad! Good though.

:-)

[tanarian]

Ianto is very good at hiding things and the others have their own lives. The problem I see with Ianto for the next series is that all the others can do what he does, so there's no need for his character any more, especially if they're going to be kiddy-friendly so no naughty stuff!

[gogo_didi]

I'm worried about Ianto getting even less screen time than he has been getting and I absolutely hate the idea of it going kiddy-friendly. Isnt that what 'The Sarah Jane Adventures' is for? *grumble grumble*

[tanarian]

Well with Martha, Gwen, Jack AND Mickey all having strong fan followings (which include RTD, damn it), I also can't see much time left over for Ianto. Mickey can do the action man and computers, Martha can do the medical and tech stuff as well as being action woman, Jack and Gwen are also action people, plus Gwen was doing most of the research last series, so I really think they're setting the scene to write Ianto out. They've tried twice so far (and one source said that the only reason they opted for Owen to be zombified was because Burn wanted out) and I keep thinking that third time's the charm. Plus JB has been going on about Ianto being a bad man and/or alien and we know how that kind of things turns out in Torchwood, don't we?

As for kiddy-friendly, I'm assuming it will go into the 7pm slot that Dr Who normally inhabits, especially if it's going to be across a 5-day stretch. Especially since all the little girl-fans who adore Martha will be wanting to watch.

[love_jackianto]

'He never saw him again, and quickly forgot about him.'
Oh, that's so sad. I can really see something like this happening to Ianto.

[tanarian]

Since I can't see what he'll have to do in the next series, I really don't see him lasting much longer. What with this and losing Donna, I am in such a deep funk it's unreal.

[love_jackianto]

'Since I can't see what he'll have to do in the next series, I really don't see him lasting much longer.'
Yeah, me neither. With Martha and Mickey joining the show I can see Ianto be pushed to the sidelines and than being killed off, just like they did to a certain someone *points to icon*

[tanarian]

Exactly. Tosh's death was almost a mercy killing, considering what they did to her in second season.

[tanarian]

Thanks. I wrote it from the heart because I have a really bad feeling.

[merucha]

Nope. NO. Never. Sorry. Refuse to accept, even in fan fiction as good as yours.

[tanarian]

Oh, you're quite right. They're more likely to kill off the character, but I couldn't quite bring myself to do that!

[merucha]

At this point I'm all for waiting. I don't see an upside in their killing off Ianto; it would kill a large part of their fan base and they would be incredibly stupid to to that. Unless their purpose is to abandon Torchwood altogether and concentrate on Doctor Who, because, honestly, they never seem to have made half the effort with TW than they put on DW. And supposedly, Mr. I-need-a-young-MarySue himself retains control of Torchwood so I don't know.

As I told you before, in that case, canon can be merrily abandoned. To hell with them.

[love_jackianto]

'As I told you before, in that case, canon can be merrily abandoned. To hell with them.'
I second that, who needs canon anyway.