Torchwood Meta (original) (raw)

http://archiveofourown.org/users/solitary_summer/pseuds/solitary_summer

These are reprints of posts previously put up on LJ, so they might be familiar to y'all, but I thought they were worth linking to here.

23 January 2013 @ 10:07 am

This isn't TW-specific, but I figured I'd ask it here...

Over on Torchwood Story Finder, I got into a discussion with someone about the etiquitte of messaging/commenting on abandoned WIPs, encouraging the author to finish them.

(The conversation thread is here.)

The person I was discussing it with feels that you should only do it rarely and only if you have a previous relationship with the author; my opinion is that as long as you're polite and encouraging rather than demanding, a single message isn't rude and can even be helpful by letting the author know that their work is still appreciated and that they're still attracting new fans. But I'm only a reader, not a writer, so I could be totally off.

Authors? What do you think?

23 December 2012 @ 03:13 pm

Something fun over the Holidays , if Torchwood had a Secret Santa what do you think they would get for each and why ?

This is my list , feel free to change who each of them get if you prefer different people giving to others

Giver - Reciever

Jack to Tosh, - Flowers some sort of Christmas Flowers, i think Jack would give Tosh something very feminine and i want her to to able to enjoy her flowers unlike Adam

Gwen to Ianto - Y Nadoling it's the Welsh Christmas Cake, i think Gwen would give Ianto something Welsh but forgot to do it and Rhys would have one at home LOL

Ianto to Owen - i think Ianto would also give something Welsh but something to improve Owen's mood, beer LOL a six pack of bouquet Welsh beer and if Owen rubbished it Ianto would happily drink them

Tosh to Gwen - I think Tosh would go standard Bath Oils/Salts gift pack maybe a particular scent that she knows Gwen likes though to be girly

Owen to Jack - Would completely forget and ianto would hand over a nice Scotch that he brought Jack seperately LOL

21 December 2012 @ 01:31 pm

Okay, I'm seriously confused about his actions in this ep, especially toward Owen.

In

Captain Jack Harkness

, he knew that Tosh was working to get the formulas back to the rest of the Team so that they could open the Rift and return them. He was confident that they'd do it, to the point where he told The Real Captain Jack that he'd be leaving soon; he never tried to stop her.

So why in

End of Days

is he so furious that they opened the rift to get them back? Owen straight up calls him on it a couple times, and Jack never gives an answer other than "You shouldn't have done it." Furthermore, while he could take the slow path back to 2008 and be fine as long as he avoided himself, Toshiko would be very old or dead by then - not to mention that life as a Japanese woman in 1940's UK would be very difficult for her. For him to say that no, Owen should have left them there, was a slap in the face to Tosh.

(Now, it's possible that he planned to go to Torchwood HQ and ask them to put the two of them in a cryofreeze until 2008, but there's never any mention of it as an option. You'd think that when Tosh was freaking out in 1941, he'd have reassured her that there was another option, but he didn't.)

I'd love to hear other people's thoughts, because otherwise my only option is just "Jack was being a total dick." Which is very much possible, but it kinda undercuts the episode.

15 December 2012 @ 04:26 pm

I think Jack is a bit all over the place in Meat and i don't know why ? Maybe your thoughts could help me understand him better. or maybe you think Jack is his normal self and why. There are some things that are left unanswered to me which seem important and they are

1. Why is saving the Space Whale so important to Jack ? and i ask this not based on why woiuldn't you i think morally so the right thing to do but in the boardroom we have Tosh's very cold response of and how will this help arm us for the future and Owen and Ianto look at each other after Jack says we shouldn't save it, like this is the first time this has happened

2. The end bit with Jack deciding that having Gwen at Torchwood is more important than anything else, and this isn't even about Ianto which is cruel from Jack but also what about Tosh and Owen don't they count either, you get much more of a hurt and angry look from Tosh and Owen than Ianto, Ianto comes across more like, he doesn't want to deal with Jack and Gwen their crap any more

3. What is the stalking above from Jack about before Rhys turns up, it's Tosh, Ianto and Owen, just gossiping about what's to happen but it's made to seem like such a big moment , surely he can't hear what's being said unless Jack is now the Bionic Woman

4. Convo with Rhys about Gwen that's she was the only one and needed her for her police skills, since when ? Jack laughed off Gwen's offer to be a laison between TW and the police in EC and doesn't seem incline to help the police any other time, i thought it was supposed to be about her being "normal" and his human connect to the world or whatever

While getting that Jack is in love with Gwen for this ep cause he forgot the ep before LOL so angst galore but is that it , he is so threaten by Rhys knowing and Gwen supposedly finally choosing Rhys that he acts out of character and does things he normally wouldn't to what prove his heart to Gwen or something. He just seems very very very self centred and obsessed with the whale and i'm not understanding the reasons behind it. I know lots of people have Jack's view about the whale remind him of his own time with the Master but that's not brought up or now after Miracle Day are we supposed to think that Jack was remembering Angelo and when he was sold to the butchers , so this is why and if so is Gwen Angelo ?, i thought they were parrelling Ianto and Angelo in MD that's why the whole redoing of the fall on top of one another scene not that scene was appreciated by me at all, made me really angry actually but getting back to the point which is i don't understand why Jack acts like he does in this ep

09 December 2012 @ 02:58 am

Ladies and Gentlemen I have a confession. I obsess over how to make fictional objects work. If you have ever seen someone put down a book with a world weary sigh and stalk out of the room only to return with reference books, legal pads, graph paper, and drafting pencils, odds are good you've seen me or one of my ilk. I get distracted sketching out schematics, making notes, and leave real and digital sticky notes with drabbles and snippits focused on what an object does. I love cool gadgets and the less sense they make, the more I obsess.

Case in point, the Vortex Manipulator of a Time Agent. At first glance it's totally fine. Visibly rugged? Check. Able to fit into the vast majority of cultures and time periods as imagined by human beings? Sure! A couple lights, sleek design, and buttons to press? Hey, it has all of that! The vortex Manipulator is obviously the accessory of the Future!

Yeah, I made that joke. Shake your head and move on.

The point is that it looks awesome and does a perfect job as Jack's do-anything-never-fail gadget (you know, like Bob's keytool Glitch, or Inspector Gadget's hat) unless like myself you are an obsessive world builder who must know how everything works. In that case you, like me, find yourself congratulating the Time Agency on inventing the most useless super powered mini-computer ever. Think carefully about Jack's wrist strap for me.

here's a peek if you don't have it memorized.

People, this thing has three buttons. THREE BUTTONS. Three freaking buttons, the D-pad from a Nintendo DS, a light that you probably shouldn't look directly into,(but I would. Every time cause it's just so blue) and a screen roughly a quarter the size of an ipod nano (which is only a little more than twice the size of my icon). It looks slick, but when you consider the fact that this thing does all of the following according to Tardis.wikia...

...some problems arise.

I'm surely not the only person who sees that these are a lot of complex features of ask of three buttons, a d-pad, and a screen too small to read a tweet on! It drives me insane. I have spent good man hours working out all sorts of awesome sci-fi crazy ways for this thing to do all those functions at the same time. I've played with omni-tech capabilities where the manipulator is designed to assimilate pathways Borg style to adapt other bits of period appropriate technology as it's control panel, but it made a much better steampunk picture than it did description in a story. I've had crazy fun with developing a really complex version on the Vortex manipulator where symbiotic nanites produced by the strap allow the agent to sync themselves at the push of one of those three stupid buttons and use their own body as monitor, mouse, and keyboard, forming extra connections that allow themselves to see a HUD display similar to the contact technology Torchwood uses in cannon without the contacts while allowing for a full visual mode that operates a full scale interactive holographic interface. (Like Jarvis from Iron Man). There was even an explanation cut from a longer piece where agents wrist straps were programmed to respond on a psychic level using buttons just for things like hitting enter or cancel.

Sorry, I was imagining tweeting at the speed of thought again. It's sooooo good. Anyway.

I think about how much memory they need and how to store it (It was a ridiculous hunt through Wikipedia to discover that the largest unit of data storage invented by man is the Yottabyte. It is, seriously, 1 quadrillion bytes. A QUADRILLION. I figure a manipulator must need approximately that to be able to handle time travel) I imagine using actual clouds (nebula clouds to be precise) to encrypt and store data. I almost literally drive myself insane coming up with complex ways for these things to work that never leave the notes pages because they'd bog down a story line.

NO LONGER SAYS I!

I am not alone. I know I cannot be the only person who stays awake at night pondering the line between physics and metaphysics. Have you ever given Jack's wrist strap any thought? How do you think it works? Do you hate the possibilities I've thrown together? What are your favorite non-cannon features to add to a vortex manipulator? Does Jack use it more like a Wikipedia that just happens to time travel when in good repair, is it full of pictures/holograms/recordings or his life? Does it secretly hold Earths largest digital music collection? The topic is Vortex Manipulators and all the odd quirky thoughts about them that you've never been able to fit into a normal conversation. This is your chance. Tell me about them.

I'm REALLY interested.

ps ; could I get a classification for technology and a tag for vortex manipulator?

x-posted @torchwood_salon on Dreamwidth

Current Location: Maine

Current Mood: awake (so damn awake)

Current Music: Some Nights- Fun

09 December 2012 @ 04:46 pm

This is not a Ianto versus Gwen topic in who you pick this is all about Jack and choices i think he makes. to me in certain eps the seems to be a moment were Jack makes a choice between the Ianto or Gwen and aside from Meat i think Jack chooses Ianto and i have always found it hard to understand why Jack does this, if he loves Gwen.
This topic has come up for me again because i'm doing a rewatch of Torchwood at the moment and it starts with They Keep Killing Suzie when Jack instead of staying with Gwen who has almost dies goes to talk to Ianto
Moment 2 Combat Jack tells Gwen to go home to Rhys and takes Ianto with him to the hospital
Moment 3 End Of Days when Jack revives after his 3 days, he comes upstairs and openly kisses Ianto
Moment 4 Kiss Kiss Bang Bang there is two which makes it confusing the first being Jack's "i came back for you" but then we have the engagement ring scene with Gwen back to Ianto and asking him out on a date
Moment 5 Adam to me the mirror each other in this ep Ianto and Gwen , Gwens change excepted by Jack but Ianto's change not excepted but also Boardroom both Gwen and Ianto open up about their feelings for Jack but Jack chooses Ianto
Moment 6 Something Borrowed while not a good moment with the dance, Jack could have stop dancing with Ianto but he choose to stay
Moment 7 Adrift Gwen is shut out, Ianto is included upstairs after she walks in on them
Moment 8 Exit Wounds after let out of the cells Gwen flies at Jack, but he moves her aside to hug Ianto

One again i really don't want an one versus the other thing cause it's not about Gwen or Ianto, just about Jack and why Jack makes the choices he makes

29 November 2012 @ 10:18 am

Hey there!

I'm fairly new to Torchwood, having just found the show and gotten into it within the last few months. I'm trying desperately to catch up with the fan community, and I love that this community-about-meta exists! I thought I'd toss some stuff out there:

Most of us accept the show as Canon (though some vary about the ending of CoE and all of MD). How do you feel about the extended-universe Torchwood stuff? Here I mean the audio books/plays, the torchwood.co.uk website*, the print books, and other Official BBC Releases.

What Fanon is common in the fan community? Part of my problem is that, coming into it late, it's hard for me to tell what's fanon and what's extended-universe stuff that I just haven't encountered yet.

Also, what do you have in your personal head-canon that isn't part of any of the above, just stuff that feels Right to you?

*I really wish that the website from Season 1 was still available. I've only heard about the Captain's Logs, and there's lots of stuff from there that shows up in fics.

29 November 2012 @ 10:20 am

I'm sorry guys, I'm really, really busy this week. I want to make a nice meta or proper post, but instead I'm going to throw my first quick idea at the wall spaghetti-style.

Dog person or cat person? (Or other domesticated animal of your choosing.)

My thoughts!

Ianto: Dog.
Jack:

Dinosaur

Cat. They go well with his

tendency to run away with the Doctor

erratic lifestyle.
Gwen: Dog.
Owen: Cat. But at this point the best we could expect from post-Katie Owen is a begrudging bowl of food put out for local strays. The man does not want to care for things.
Tosh: She would melt over kittens, but I don't think Tosh is a free-range pet type. Myna!
Andy: Dog!
Suzie: I can't imagine Suzie with a pet mammal. I want to get her a reptile, like a gecko or a snake. But, um, cat? (Zombie cat, to chase the zombie flies.)
Emma Louise-Cowell: Cat.
Rhiannon: Dog

because it's genetic

.
Alice: Hm. I want to say cat but I imagine she would really, really enjoy dogs.

If you want ideas for more characters, check out the tags. I made one for every character on the Torchwood wikipedia articles because I am crazy.

Here's a random Miracle Day one.

Ponyboy Curtis

The Gentleman: Dog. Like, the scary ones from Clue. To retain his image, of course.

20 November 2012 @ 02:37 pm

Let's kick this off with something fun!

fodian does the most awesome and hilarious breakdown of the Jack/Ianto dynamic in this post. It's mostly a line-by-line analysis of Ianto and Jack's conversations in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Meat.

My favorite part of this meta (besides the uproarious laughing) is how Ianto is clearly a total eyerolling sarcastic bad-ass who balances his uncertainty and hesitance without letting it affect his performance.

It also points out the double layers and emotional acting in the show. fodian shows how eyerolls and pointed looks are just as important as actual bits of dialogue. There's an awful lot that goes unsaid in this show, that comes across in only hints and nods. It's one of the things that leaves so much room for us fans to play, but it also means that we can (and do!) spend a lot of time poring over scenes for those hidden gems that aren't spelled out for us.

(This post can also be found on our Dreamwidth sister community and you can feel free to comment here or there!)