Squandering makes happy...

[wiseheart]

I've decided not to post any work-related stuff for a while, unless I'm in real need of moral support. I'm dealing with that shit all the time in reality, why should I sacrifice cyberlife to it as well?

So, in a sudden attack of squandering I decided to waste quite some money on DVDs today. To waste, because I don't have the time to watch them - my backlog is already as long as Gandalf's beard, and there's little hope to change that before summer holidays.

Anyway, I've bought four of the Sharpe movies - alas, I'm completely uninterested in that historical era, but they have mucho Beany goodness in them. I hope one day makamu will find the time to visit me, and then we can salivate over the movies together. I always take a look when I buy DVDs, to see if they start off at all, and laughed my head off hearing people say "Leftenent" instead of Lieutenant all the time. I know it's historically sound, it just sounds sooo funny to my foreigner's ears.

Also, I bought 5 DVDs with the first 13 episodes of Torchwood on them. As I know Hungarian entertainment industry, I'll never get the rest of the series - it's their little hobby to offer random parts of series out of connection, which is probably the reason why I can't find more than the first 3 episodes of Andromeda, either.

The rest is behind a tag to spare the feelings of the British, because I'm being a bit mean to Torchwood. So, if you think it would bother you, just don't look, okay? ;o))


Still, I'm glad to have found at least this much Torchwood. Granted, the series is more than a little trashy, but I've come to love it. It's like a train wreck, somehow - I just can't help watching it. The characters grow on you in no time, so that you don't mind the stupid stories that would put the worst of the original Trek to shame. And I generally love to watch stuff in original, with the actors' own voices and stuff.

Besides, British movies are always a lot easier to understand for me from the language than US ones. Despite "Leftenent" and other such charming oddities. The way Owen Harper pronounces "investigation" is a treasure, even though I needed three restarts to realize which word he was actually saying.

Also, I love the fact that the actors lack that artificial prettiness that makes most US stuff so unconvincing. (Labouring woman in a collapsed tunnel with her hairdo and make-up perfect, anyone?) Well, with the exception of John Barrowman, but Botox can do that to a person, I guess. It can also make a man have an uncanny resemblance to a wilting lady, if filmed from the wrong angle. Still, the man is pretty, despite his likeness to Tom Cruise (which isn't his fault), and he's a good actor.


Okay, I've been mean enough. I still like Torchwood. My love for British series isn't obsessive enough to spend money on Primeval DVDs, too, but I find it a good sign that we at last do have a certain offer to chose from in the sci-fi/mystery genre. Hey, they even brought out Angel - alas, I already have bought most of Seasons 1 and 2 on VCR, and the further seasons are of no interest for me. In my eyes, Angel ended before they went to Pylea (the stupid demon dimension Lorne is from).

Heh. Enough of the verbal rubbish. Back to the regularly scheduled RL chaos. If I survive until Easter break, I'll try to catch up with flist's journals, honestly.

Comments

[artemis10002000]

Anyway, I agree with you re: Ianto & Jack. I had the serious urge to kick Jack into the nuts... and the others, too, for being so servile towards him. It's hard to believe the later development of their relationship.
Yeah, after Cyberwomen, I'd be more inclined to tell Ianto "stay the hell away from that guy, he's an obsessive, possessive and manipulative creep!" *shrug* But I guess things are going to improve A LOT between them, so I'm curious about that, even if I have troubles right now imagining them being in love. I did get the impression that Jack was jealous of Playboy-Borg girl, though.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Just realized I haven't answered this comment yet...

Yes, Ianto and Jack's relationship will develop a bit during the following episodes, but it still remains one-sided and somewhat abusive, IMO. I saw a few clips about Gwen's wedding on YouTube the other day, and Jack's reaction when Ianto finally gathered his courage and made a brave step was no way what I'd have wanted for poor Ianto.

It's his fault, though. He shouldn't have fallen for someone who's not trapped in the same timeslot as he is.

You should read this Wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ianto_Jones), especially the paragraph titled Relationship with jack.

Whatever the two actors might think about the relationship between the characters they play, I tend to agree with author Stephen James Walker's opinion: Jack and Ianto see two diagonally opposite thing in their relationship, and for Ianto, this can only end in heartbreak and tragedy.

[artemis10002000]

Oh, I'll have to see if I can find these clips. Very curious about them.

Gwen's getting married? Huh. Wouldn't have expected that. Well, I hope she'll at least stop ogling other guys after the wedding.

I'll definitely read that article, thanks for the link. I think it's not even just the same timeslot so much for Jack as that he's stopped really truly caring about other people. Everyone dies anyway, so he's cut himself off from the rest of the world. Oh, he flirts and beds people and has friends and may even care for them, but he doesn't let alone close anymore emotionally. Can't really blame him, you can only watch so many people grow old and die on you before you decide not to let yourself get hurt anymore. He doesn't care, maybe he doesn't even realise, that he hurts other people in the process. With his whole "only the tech matters" attitude, I wonder sometimes if he sees the people on the street as real people at all or just as pawns in the big cosmic power game. And to think I read somewhere that this is the NICE Jack, who was already reformed by the Doctor to care about people.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I'm currently working on a fairly introspective (and hopefully short!) piece, set right after next week's episode. It features Jack sitting at Ianto's bedside, who'd been worked through brutally in that episode, and thinking about "Cyberwoman" and how he's actually hired Ianto and why Ianto wanted to be hired in the first place and stuff.

It's meant as the transition between "I hate you, you're the biggest monster here!" in "Cyberwoman" and Ianto casually offering himself to Jack only four frigging episodes later. You'll see it. You'll hate it, I think. Not the act in itself, but the fact that there was not a hint leading to that.

[artemis10002000]

That sounds really intriguing, I'm looking forward to reading it!

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'll hate it, too. I saw it on Youtube as part of a clip of Jack/Ianto moments from every episode and even with these, I was just confused because it seemed so sudden. I figured watching the full episodes would make it seem less abrupt, but apparently, not.

Maybe the writers just got really bored of waiting any longer for the sexy stuff to happen? *laughs*

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

It comes *entirely* out of the blue, that's what I find so confusing!

Have you seen the fairy episode the day before yesterday? I just loved the little scene, fairly early in the episode, when Jack touches Ianto's shoulder and they both froze for a moment. I think the attraction must have been there for a while, but Ianto was just too caught up with Lisa hiding in the basement. Besides, he strikes me as a "serial monogamist" - someone who's with one person at a time.

[artemis10002000]

Ianto as a monogamist - definitely! I can easily picture him feeling a certain attraction for Jack for a long time, but he's completely devoted to Lisa and so he ignores and dismisses his feelings for Jack.

By the way, I loved the fairy episode for the simple reason that we finally see Jack showing some genuine emotions, learn about his past and his emotional shell is cracked. I like a Jack who is tortured by living outside of time a lot better than one who doesn't/pretends not to care about anything or anyone. Or maybe that's just me liking to see characters tortured *evil grin*

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Yep, you're an evil, evil woman - and I wouldn't have you in any other way. ;)

I'm struggling with the post-Countrycide piece a bit, I don't want to make it too sappy. But once you've seen the episode (comes up next week), you'll probably understand why I think it was the turning point in the relationship between them.

Oh, and the title of the story will be "There's Nothing Wrong With Comfort Sex"... *evil cackle* I just can't resist that line ever since it popped up in my head in an entirely different context. *g*

[artemis10002000]

I'm very excited about that episode already after all you've told me about it.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Be warned that it's a very brutal one. Yeah, it has action!Ianto, but you need a strong stomach for it. Best would be not to have dinner directly before watching.

[artemis10002000]

Oh dear... *grins* Good thing I like to see characters suffer :D

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Well, now that you've seen it... what do you think?

[artemis10002000]

I really liked both Ianto and Jack in this story. Tosh, too. They're awesome and I just adored Ianto's play here. But I really disliked the episode as a whole. Horror b-movies never appealed to me, actually I don't like horror movies at all. So the plot didn't appeal to me at all and I disliked the gory stuff. Yeah, so good character episode, but plot was yuck.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I told you it won't be pleasant. I don't really understand why almost every series would need their cannibal episode, but, well, apparently there are evergreens I'll never truly get.

I really liked both Ianto and Jack in this story. Tosh, too. They're awesome and I just adored Ianto's play here.

Yeah, me, too. I loved Tosh's little snide remark about Gwen getting her feet under the table quickly enough. *g* Ianto was really, really traumatized, which isn't particularly surprising. I mean, we're what? Two weeks after the Cyberwoman episode? And he gets beaten up and almost eaten? And nobody really cared in the end what happened to him, because Ohmg, Gwen was wangsting about why cannibals want to eat people?

What I find interesting was the Ianto/Tosh interaction. I don't know what Ianto used to do at Torchwood One, but it couldn't exactly be field work - although getting the half-converted Lisa out of the burning ruins couldn't have been an easy task. Still, I think that mostly he must have done administrative and research work, so it's understandable that the others being adrenaline junkies alienated him a little. He did what he had to do for Lisa but *not* because he enjoyed such action hero stuff, I think.

Now that you've seen the episode, perhaps you understand why I think that the whole thing between him and Jack must have started as some kind of comfort sex. I think Jack cares about his co-workers, if for nobody else at this point, and he didn't want to lose Ianto so soon after losing Suzie. And poor Ianto seriously needed some comforting after this ordeal.

[artemis10002000]

Yeah, Ianto does need comfort now! Poor guy. He has the worst of luck these last couple of weeks. And of course, just like you said already, the writers didn't pay any attention at all to his trauma.

That Ianto isn't an action hero makes me like him all the more. He doesn't do that stuff because he wants to but rather because he feels he must and I think him all the more brave for it. It's comparatively easy getting yourself into dangerous situations if you live for the thrill of it, but Ianto hates it and he still does his job. Especially since he'd have had every reason to wash his hands off Torchwood and the entire alien insanity after Lisa died.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Oh, I very much agree. But at least they must have given him a good basic training at Torchwood One, as he seems to know how to use a gun (unlike stupid Gwen at frist), and he's great with computers, too. Remember, in the pilot it was him and not Tosh who hacked Gwen's PC from the Hub.

In one of the Season 2 episodes he mentions that his father was a master tailor, and somewhere else is mentioned that he was "an able student, if nothing extraordinary" before joining TW1, so he must be at least a university graduate, although the writers mess up his personal timeline saying that he was born in 1983. With working for TW1 for 2 years already, it barely gives him enough time to have some decent studies, eh?

Timeline consistency - like steady characterization - doesn't seem to be the strength of the writers. We're lucky that the actors are so talented.

[artemis10002000]

Yes, they make up for a lot of grievances.

Maybe he's gifted and skipped a few classes?

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

He seems to be smart, but it's definitely said that he wasn't anything extraordinary at university, so... It annoys me to no end when the screenwriters can't be bothered to keep their own timeline convincing.

[artemis10002000]

Guess not then. And yes, it's very annoying when writers can't be bothered to remember their own timeline.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Torchwood is particularly horrid in that department, unfortunately.

[artemis10002000]

Guess I'll find plenty of reasons to tear out my hair in frustration then *laughs*

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

You have no idea! But you will...
*enter ominous music, while Gwen makes big cow-eyes and whimpers "Oh, Jack...!"

[artemis10002000]

*laughs*