#Beth halloran

[the-torchwood-archive]

A small collection of these that I've been hanging onto

[xxmisty]

we watched Sleeper last night so I thought today would be a good day to share one of my favourite pieces from Torchwood Inktober 2021 of Beth with her... terrifying alien arm-knife thing (which would also be useful to have in emergencies... just saying... could do with a transforming weapon arm myself just in case we ever get broken into in the middle of the night! Not that I’m a sleeper agent.... I think... sorry, what was I saying??)

[autisticiantojvnes]

[ID: Eight gifs of Torchwood. Beth Halloran, sitting in the Hub with a device attached to her head, asks: "Will it hurt?" Jack Harkness answers: "Yeah." She tells him: "Your bedside manner's rubbish." Gwen Cooper says: "You should see his manners in bed. They're atrocious... Apparently. So I've heard." Owen Harper looks over at Ianto Jones, who chimes in: "Oh, they are. I remember this-" Jack loudly clears his throat to interrupt him. End ID]

[daughter-of-melpomene]

𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗗𝗬 𝗣𝗟𝗢𝗧 𝗕𝗨𝗡𝗡𝗜𝗘𝗦

We’re back at it again with some random plot bunnies!! These ones are all for comedy movies or sitcoms that I particularly love - I probably won’t make any proper intro posts for them, but you’re all still welcome to send me any asks about them that you’d like!!

Cecelia Jane “CJ” Billings, she/her, The Hangover OC, Phil Wenneck ship, Megan Fox FC. Doug’s younger sister by one year who’s been hanging around the rest of the guys since they were all kids. Phil has been flirting with her for years, but she’s always rebuffed him because she thinks he’s just trying to get with her so he can say that he’s slept with his best friend’s sister (which is true at first, but he does eventually gain actual feelings for her). Doug’s best woman when he gets married in the first movie, so she’s there for the start of the Wolf Pack and all the subsequent adventures and chaos, and she and Phil slowly fall in love over the course of the trilogy. Very sarcastic and witty and tends toward being a pessimist, but also knows how to let loose and have fun. A travel writer in her normal life, and isn’t afraid to flaunt her knowledge of different places and cultures, which especially comes in useful during the Bangkok fiasco. Also bisexual, and sleeps with several men and women during the Wolf Pack’s escapades.

Elizabeth “Betty” Jones, she/her, Ghosts CBS (American version) OC, Hetty Woodstone ship, Lana Parilla FC. A former fifties housewife who was staying overnight at Woodstone Mansion after leaving her cheating husband, only to fall down the stairs and die the next morning and find a group of ghosts standing over her. Has mild gravity manipulation for her ghost power, but she can’t really do more than make small objects hover a few inches above their surfaces. Eventually reveals that she’s bisexual and was in love with her best friend from life, but remains very scared of relationships after her husband cheated on her. Eventually Sam and Isaac team up to set her up with Hetty after they realize the two of them have feelings for each other, and they become a really sweet couple. Very sweet and a bit of a mother hen since she never had children of her own (which was a big reason her bastard husband said he cheated on her), but also has an amazing dead-eyed disapproving look that is Trevor and Thor are deeply afraid of.

Rachel “Rocky” Drake, she/her, Ghosts CBS (American version) OC, Flower Montero ship, Bex Taylor-Klaus FC. Lead guitarist in a Riot Grrl band back in the 90’s, who were staying at Woodstone Mansion the night before a gig in the city when a chandelier fell on Rocky and killed her. Gained pyrokinesis as a ghost power, and loves using to mess with the candles in the mansion and help Thor play with the lights. The bane of Hetty’s existence since she’s basically the opposite of a “proper lady,” and spends most of her time whacking Trevor upside the head when he says something douchey. Very fierce and sarcastic and usually wearing a scowl, basically Flower’s opposite, but has had a crush on her since she first saw her, so of course Isaac, Alberta, and Sam team up to get them together.

Dorcas Brinley, she/her, Ghosts BBC (British version) OC, Julian Fawcett ship, Carey Mulligan FC. A baker who died in the 90’s during a wedding being held at Button House which she had made the desserts for, having been stabbed by a coworker who was actually meaning to kill someone else. An incredibly shy sweetheart of a lady who, as her ghost power, can make any Living who walks through her smell their favourite dessert. Very much an opposites-attract couple with Julian, but she brings out his softer side and he brings her out of her shell. Pretty withdrawn and doesn’t interact much with anyone else at first, but eventually becomes really good friends with Mary and Pat.

Beth Fawkes, she/her, The Office (American version) OC, poly Andy Bernard/Erin Hannon ship, Emily Bett Rickards FC. An accounting worker at Dunder Mifflin who’s been best friends with Oscar since she started her job. Doesn’t talk to her co-workers a lot, but is kind of friends with Pam and has a weird mother-daughter relationship with Meredith. Develops a crush on Andy quickly after he starts working at the office but resigns herself to pining when she realizes he has feelings for Erin, before she finds herself beginning for fall for Erin as well, and eventually they all get together. Very smart and quiet and rarely entertains any foolishness, but will never hesitate to help out anyone who needs it. Also Jim and Pam’s biggest shipper, and nearly throws a whole party when they finally get together.

Mariah Green, she/her, Friends OC, Phoebe Buffay ship, Reneé Rapp FC. Rachel’s youngest sister who becomes determined to make something of herself outside of her family’s money after Rachel runs away from her wedding, so she decides to try and make it on Broadway. Winds up meeting Joey through an audition and he introduces her to the gang, not realizing she’s Rachel’s sister and being very embarrassed once he realizes she is. Actually does wind up getting a few minor stage roles and briefly moves in with Phoebe after the other woman offers, during which they fall in love. An amazing singer who’s very bold and outspoken and determined, but can also be impulsive and has trouble with thinking before she speaks. She and Rachel don’t always get along as sisters, but they do generally have a good relationship, and she winds up becoming really good friends with Joey and Chandler.

Graham Pryor, he/him, Friends OC, Chandler Bing ship, Matthew Grey Gubler FC. A new part-time worker at Central Perk who’s also in school to get a degree in literature. Very interested in the classics and historic book manuscripts, and winds up bonding with Ross because of that beyond being friends with Rachel because of work. Chandler has a full-on bi crises because of him and has to work on overcoming his internalized homophobia from what happened with his dad, but they get there eventually and become a really sweet couple. Graham’s kind of awkward, but incredibly intelligent, and very loyal and sweet. Joey likes to teasingly call him and Ross the Nerd Squad, which usually earns him a swat upside the head from Monica.

Elizabeth “Betsy” Harrington, she/her, The Nice Guys OC, Jackson Healy ship, Rose Byrne FC. Friends with Jackson since their early twenties and had only slept with him once since before the events of the movie, but they both claim they’ve moved on since and now Betsy is just the go-between with Jackson and his clients, getting everyone who approaches her to make sure they won’t turn him into the police. Neither of them ever properly moved on, though, and over the course of the whole case they begin to really fall back in love and end the movie together for real. Betsy is hard as a rock, sarcastic and quick-witted and with no time for nonsense, but she also has a soft spot for kids and is completely loving and loyal to those she really cares about, and can read people within only a few minutes of knowing them. Becomes really good but weird friends with Holland, and basically becomes an aunt to his daughter along with Jackson.

Elizabeth “Betty” Halloran, she/her, M*A*S*H OC, Radar O’Reilly ship, Lola Tung FC. The daughter of a Chinese immigrant and an American general, she really wants to help in the war effort once it kicks off but has no experience in nursing or being a clerk. Nevertheless, her father, who’s never really been there for his wife and daughter and just wants Betty to stop bugging him, assigns her as another clerk to the 4077th, knowing Henry is too intimidated by the brass to argue. Most of the unit doesn’t really like or trust her much at first - especially Frank, for obvious reasons - but Henry comes to see her as another daughter and before long most of the camp sees her as their niece or little sister, and Margaret even takes her under her wing. Very sweet, cheerful, and friendly, which can lead others to think she’s a bit airheaded, but she’s actually very clever and makes a very good clerk, and while she and Radar sort of fumble their way through having crushes on each other, they do become a very sweet couple. (Hawkeye also gives her dad a very good telling-off at one point, which is very fun.)

Tagging the OC besties: @auxiliarydetective, @luucypevensie, @manyfandomocs, @ginevrastilinski-ocs, @dancingsunflowers-ocs (also gonna tag @eddysocs, @ginger-grimm, and @come-along-pond for the Ghosts content, and @juliaswickcrs for the Friends content).

[crumb]

Damon has been cast in an upcoming Blumhouse/Amazon Prime Horror Action series and as a series regular!!! I'm fucking screaming! His character is “the owner of a successful country music club" named Lucky. 😭 I'm so excited for this! Full Article from BloodyDisgusting:

Four new cast members join Kevin Bacon and Jennifer Nettles on Blumhouse TV’s “The Bondsman,” an action horror series for Amazon’s Prime Video. That includes actor Damon Herriman (Run Rabbit Run, The Nightingale, “Mindhunter”). Variety reports that Herriman, Beth Grant (No Country For Old Men, Donnie Darko), Maxwell Jenkins (“Arcadian,” “Lost In Space”) and Jolene Purdy (“The White Lotus,” “Orange Is The New Black”) have all joined the show in series regular roles. The action horror series “centers on Hub Halloran (Kevin Bacon), a backwoods bounty hunter who comes back from the dead with an unexpected second chance at life, love, and a nearly-forgotten musical career — only to find that his old job now has a demonic new twist.” “The Bondsman” was created by Grainger David (The Chair), who will also executive produce. Erik Oleson will serve as showrunner and executive producer via CrimeThink. Jennifer Nettles will play Hub Halloran’s ex-wife, Maryanne. Beth Grant will play Kitty, the mother of Hub Halloran. Herriman will appear as Lucky, who is described as “the owner of a successful country music club, who is in a relationship with Maryanne.” Jenkins will play Cade, Hub and Maryanne’s son. Jolene Purdy will play Midge, who is described as “weary with the understated gravitas of someone who’s learned the hard way how to hold her ground in a male-dominated world. Midge may look unassuming but she’s actually a secret emissary.” Amazon ordered eight half-hour episodes of “The Bondsman.” Jason Blum, Chris McCumber, Jeremy Gold, and Chris Dickie for Blumhouse TV also executive produce, as does Paul Shapiro from CrimeThink. Bacon will also executive produce in addition to leading the series. “The Bondsman” also marks the latest collaboration between Blumhouse and Amazon. Blumhouse is also behind Prime Video’s horror dramedy “The Horror of Dolores Roach,” which debuted last summer on the streaming platform.

[bracketsoffear]

Beth Halloran vs. the Master

C'rizz vs. Kamelion

The Gangers vs. the Eighth Doctor

Rory the Roman vs. Plastic Mickey

Izzy Sinclair vs. Tiffany Korta

Sam Jones vs. Clara Oswald

The Autons vs. The Slitheen

Josie Day vs. Fitz Kreiner

[ao3feed-torchwood]

Aliens and Spies and Torchwood Oh My!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/50084893 by Rocky_Oberlin An alien who identifies as human may be a spy who could take down Cardiff and the rest of the world. Ianto is not amused and certainly not happy. Words: 5884, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Series: Part 17 of Guardian Ianto series Fandoms: Torchwood Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: Gen Characters: Ianto Jones, Owen Harper, Toshiko Sato, Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, Beth Halloran Additional Tags: Episode: s02e10 Sleepers, BBC Sherlock - Freeform

[torchwood-99]

Jack is unusually cruel in Sleeper, strangely lacking in kindness or empathy for Beth, and immediately jumping to 100 when Beth is implicated in the murders. This seems odd, until you remember that this is the second episode of season 2, meaning not too long ago, Jack was on the Valiant, being tortured by the Master (who we hear via Word of God had Jack’s team murdered during TYTNW). The Master was another murderous alien who took the form of a human, hidden in plain sight until the time came to put their plan into action. Jack sees Beth and is reminded of the Master, and the trauma he suffered at the Master’s hands.

Now, moving onto Meat, Gwen says something really unkind to Jack, telling him he ‘does have a heart after all’ when Jack decides they are going to try and save the Space Whale. Gwen never holds back from criticising Jack, that’s practically her job, and Rhys’s presence almost certainly has made Gwen shorter and harsher with Jack, but to accuse him of not having a heart when the pair of them are so close and affectionate is quite jarring. But Meat is two episodes on from Sleeper, so near in Gwen’s memory. Both cases involved innocents being exploited and harmed for nefarious purposes, Beth and the Space Whale. And then there’s Rhys, a civilian and Gwen’s love, being placed right in the firing line as well on Jack’s command, which further causes Gwen’s memories and grief over Beth to be pushed to the surface. 

I don’t think “you do have a heart after all” represents Gwen’s genuine view on Jack’s character, she knows his best parts, why else would she wait with him for days when everyone else gave him up for dead, but in that moment of intense fear and stress, Gwen lets out the anger she feels over the heartlessness Jack has shown on occasions, such as his treatment of Beth.

[juette]

(if you like my memes please consider reblogging my commission info!)

[autisticiantojvnes]

[ID: Fourteen gifs of Torchwood. The first gif shows Ianto Jones walking into Torchwood's temporary hub with several shopping bags and parcels. Jack Harkness calls from off-screen: "Where've you been? We thought you'd got arrested." Ianto answers: "Just buying essentials. Technology's one thing, but let's not forget the creature comforts." The second gif shows Ianto getting a bar of chocolate out of his suit's inner pocket and showing Jack as he tells him: "I've got a secret weapon. Chocolate, preferably dark." The third gif shows Ianto walking through the Hub with a tray of tea mugs. The fourth gif shows him telling Beth Halloran: "You'll probably get dehydrated during the probing." He helps her take a sip of a water bottle through a straw stuck in it.

The fifth gif shows him telling Jack: "I've got reception, sir." Jack asks, baffled: "How do you do that? We're sealed off!" Ianto answers: "Just used the Water Tower as a relay." The sixth gif shows Jack, outside with the wind blowing through his hair, asking: "Tosh, can you get a tracking signal?" Ianto calls: "Already done. I took the liberty." The seventh gif shows Ianto telling Gwen Cooper: "There's a package on your desk." He smiles awkwardly at her, and she slowly turns to leave. The eighth gif shows him telling Adam, as he flips through Ianto's diary: "My diary. You're not in it. Everyone else is. Why would I leave you out when you've been here so long?"

The ninth gif shows Ianto counting time on his pocket watch: "Nine minutes fifty, forty-nine, forty-eight..." John Hart looks up in horror. Ianto holds up the pocket watch and says with a bright smile: "Always at the ready!" The tenth gif shows Toshiko Sato saying: "The software can't function properly." Ianto replies: "It's narrowed the numbers down. I could check through the rest. The old fashioned way. With my eyes." He points to his eyes. The eleventh gif shows two scenes, the first of Jack rushing out of his office, with Ianto calmly taking his coat off the hook and handing it to him. The second scene shows the Hub shaking and the light flickering, with Jack leaning on Ianto as they leave. As they pass through his office, Ianto takes Jack's coat off the hook.

The twelfth gif shows Ianto holding a dead, partially Cyberman-converted body, as he tells an off-screen Lisa Hallett: "I'll hide the body. Everything's gonna be OK." The thirteenth gif shows the Torchwood team (Gwen, Tosh, and Owen Harper) looking on in annoyance and frustration as Jack drives away in the SUV. Ianto crosses the street and raises his arm as he shouts: "TAXI!" The fourteenth gif shows Ianto, in a hardhat and reflective vest, driving a forklift as he takes out a chunk of concrete from a building. End ID]

ianto jones + being a reliable & efficient king

“I think Ianto likes things that run like clockwork – literally – and he doesn’t like to rely on machines. He’s much more drawn to hard copies of things, like his diary, and books that have been written hundreds of years ago. That need for things that are timeless and lasting works to his advantage in Adam, when he goes to his diary, which cannot lie or be tempered with. […] And, on another level, Jack is timeless and lasting, too, and you see Ianto’s fascination after he sees him on the screen in From Out Of The Rain. So I do love all that. The reliability of his personality, which he tries to hide a lot of the time.” (Gareth David-Lloyd, Torchwood – The Official Magazine, Issue #5, 2008)

[toshsato]

- hell or high water by the rescues

[this-is-quite-homoerotic]

Torchwood as Reductress headlines 42/?

[princess-of-the-worlds]

Torchwood and the (Mis)treatment of its Characters of Color

Let’s be honest; despite its decent track record with queer characters, Torchwood has a problem with how it treats its characters of colors, and I say this as a South Asian, bisexual fan of the show. 

For the purposes of this post, I will only be looking at the Torchwood television series (so spoilers for Seasons 1 and 2, Children of Earth, and Miracle Day), and not as Big Finish Torchwood releases since I do not believe myself to be well-versed enough in them to be able to make an accurate post. And also, as much as I love Big Finish for eveything they’re doing, on-screen POC representation is very different from audio POC representation. (And for the purposes of this post, I will not be addressing the mistreatment of Martha Jones, which really, if you think about it, stems from Doctor Who and not Torchwood.)

TLDR; Torchwood has neglected or mistreated its characters of color, given them little or no background, and brutally killed them off, often for shock value.

Let’s start with Suzie Costello. 

Suzie Costello, played by Indira Varma who is a British actress of Indian descent, was promoted alongside the regular cast members in publicity material before “Everything Changes” aired, giving the impression that she would be sticking around for a while or would be a main character. Instead, she was unceremoniously killed off at the end of the first episode and only pops up once more in “They Keep Killing Suzie.” At no point was Suzie acknowledged as a woman of color or given much more background beyond her tumultuous, most likely abusive, relationship with her father.

Next, we get to Toshiko Sato, left as the only person of color on the team after Suzie’s death. 

Wonderful, gorgeous, caring Tosh who, for all intents and purposes, is essentially a walking stereotype. She’s an Asian (Japanese specifically) technology genius who is unlucky at love. Need I say more? (Check out this Teen Vogue article if you’re wondering why that’s a bad thing, or, honestly, just quickly search Google.) And all three of the Tosh-heavy episodes (”Greeks Bearing Gifts,” “To the Last Man,” and “Adam”) feature her being unlucky in love (Mary betraying her, Tommy dying, and Adam manipulating her). Plus, there’s everything with Owen where she pines after him for years only for him to finally recognize that before he dies, and then he, well, dies; that plot arc only ends in death and sadness.

Additionally, we only have limited background for Tosh in comparison to Jack and Gwen (who I guess you could kind of say are the main characters) but even in comparison to Ianto (for whom more background was revealed only because he became a more prominent character in COE.) We know she was born in London, moved to Japan as a child, and at some point moved back before growing up in the United Kingdom. She had a younger brother (mentioned in a deleted scene in “Captain Jack Harkness”) and a grandfather who worked at Bletchley Park (mentioned in “Greeks Bearing Gifts” and “Captain Jack Harkness.”) She also very much loved her family, or at least her mother, enough to commit treason for her, despite her mother only being seen in “End of Days” and “Fragments.” But that’s about it. 

There was so much more Torchwood could have done with Tosh. We could have seen more about her family or her education. We certainly could have seen more about her bisexuality; everything that happened with Mary was not a satisfying resolution. Instead, she was killed off alongside Owen in “Exit Wounds.” Torchwood used the death of a woman of color for shock value, and no matter how effective or emotional that was, it was not excusable. There was so much story left to be told with Toshiko Sato. 

Tosh’s death brought the racial diversity in Torchwood down to zilch.

Next, we have Lisa Hallett.

Now, Lisa Hallett...what do we actually know about her? She worked at Torchwood One, dated Ianto Jones, and loved him enough to maybe fight cyberprogramming for him - this part might be subjective to your own interpretation of “Cyberwoman.” We don’t know anything about her, really, apart from how she is defined and described for a white male main character, which...is problematic enough. I mean, would it have been too much to ask the writers for maybe some further description? I mean, I don’t know. Maybe where exactly she worked in Torchwood London? How she joined? How she met Ianto? If she had any family, any other friends? Why she loved Torchwood and worked there? Heck, a flashback scene featuring a non-cyberized Lisa and Ianto would have been brilliant. Is that too much to have asked of the Torchwood writers? I don’t know.

Then there’s the entire fact that Lisa was turned into a Cyberwoman. Now, I have many problems with how Doctor Who and Torchwood uses its Cybermen, especially regarding its continuous brutalization of black and brown bodies for emotional and shock value (Lisa, Danny Pink, and Bill Potts are only some examples.) It sends a very, very nasty message to these shows’ viewers of color, especially if they’re younger and more impressionable. Plus, the depiction of Lisa in “Cyberwoman” was uncomfortable and unnecessarily sexualized, but this is a whole different essay. But in the end, Lisa Hallett was pumped with bullets many, many times, and her death only added to the emotional pain of a white man.

Now, we come to more minor characters.

Beth Halloran was a human who did not know her true identity as an alien sleeper agent. She had a very interesting and action-packed story arc in “Sleeper” before ending up dead at the hands of Torchwood. She had an emotional struggle between her human identity and her truth as an alien sleeper and chose to help save the world, intentionally ending up dead at the hands of Torchwood. That being said, she was still another character of color who Torchwood had bothered fleshing out who ended up dead.

Next, there’s Dr. Rupesh Patanjali. 

Introduced in COE, he’s a medical doctor who catches Jack and Ianto working on a case and ends up piquing their interest after he makes some shit up. Spoiler alert: he’s an MI-5 plant. We see Gwen attempt to conduct orientation and recruitment with him. He has a fun setup to be a potential new Torchwood member and inside spy, but instead, he lures Jack to the hospital where Jack’s implanted with a bomb. And despite doing his job as requested and doing it rather well, Rupesh Patanjali is shot dead by Agent Johnson that very episode, just like Beth.

Then we have Lois Habiba, arguably the most interesting and fun character introduced in COE. 

She’s a naive newcomer, almost like Gwen, but during her first week working in the Home Office, she finds herself committing treason, conspiring against her boss Frobisher, and helping save the world from an alien invasion. She’s smart, resourceful, and principled, very much like Ianto. Like with a lot of the characters on this list, we know next-to-nothing about her background, which is odd considering her rather major role in COE. And despite being seemingly set up to become a member of Torchwood, we never see her again.

Finally, we come to Miracle Day and its two new characters of color, Rex Matheson and Dr. Vera Juarez. I won’t be getting into too much detail here, especially since MD has its own problems.

Ah, Rex.

Torchwood finally has a man of color for a main character who seems like he could be an interesting foil to Jack (a high-ranking CIA agent with a high bullshit meter), and what do they do...they kill him in his first scene. Oh, and they make him “lightly” homophobic, because that’s always fun. And then he ends up immortal in some kind of bullshit plot hole...I have enough to say there.

Vera, however, was quite interesting. Again, little to no background besides the basic (from San Antonio, had an ex-husband, is a surgeon), but she was still a Latina medical doctor. She had morals and was very stubborn and determined to save people, which is why she insisted into helping Torchwood sneak into the overflow camp. And what did she get for that? She ended up brutually shot in front of her lover Rex, which traumatized them both, and then literally burnt alive. Thrown on top of that? In a quite meta move really, the death of another woman of color was used to incite outrage around the country, and the world, and expose the wrongdoings of the United States government regarding the Miracle. Good stuff? Either way, it came at the cost of the death of one strong woman of color and the further trauma of another man of color.

Plus, there’s everything about how unnecessarily violent and graphic some of the deaths of these characters of color. To put it into perspective, think about how Owen or Ianto or Esther died. (I’m not trying to reduce the values of their deaths; I’m just trying to get you to think about it.)

So yeah, that’s all I have to say about that. Torchwood, you could have done better with your characters of color. (And thank you if you stuck all this way with me.)

TLDR; Torchwood has neglected or mistreated its characters of color, given them little or no background, and brutally killed them off, often for shock value.

[bracketsoffear]

Beth Halloran "She thinks she’s a normal human being, only to learn she’s actually an alien sleeper agent when she’s attacked in her home. She wants desperately to be human, but upon learning that her entire memory is fabricated and it will all be forgotten once she is fully awakened, she commits suicide via cop (more or less) so she can die human and not destroy the world as an alien stranger."

The Master Evil renegade Time Lord who loves using masks, disguises, and cunning puns on his own name to take on various roles and plot his schemes for world conquest and/or destruction.

[rockislandadultreads]

Small Town Womanizers in Fiction: books to check out

A Crime of a Different Stripe by Sally Goldenbaum

As sleepy Sea Harbor, Massachusetts settles into the glow of autumn, a baby-on-the-way has the Seaside Knitters feeling warm and fuzzy. Only, these crafty ladies can’t get too cozy when sweater weather delivers an unexpected arrival—murder! While no-nonsense mother-to-be Cass Halloran tries downplaying her pregnancy and her frequent doctor’s visits as an “older” mother-to-be, a softer side of the lobsterwoman emerges as she joins the Seaside Knitters in knitting an abundance of delicate hats and booties. But in contrast to the happy news, terrifying events unfold at the town’s art series that puts a real chill in their New England fall . . . Izzy Perry’s husband Sam had reservations about inviting his one-time mentor Harrison Grant to speak at the opening reception, although he never imagined the famed and charismatic photographer would rudely embarrass his hosts that evening. But when a dead body turns up along the wooded shoreline the next day, startling secrets come into focus that could undo the tight-knit community of local artists . . . With a mysterious murder pitting neighbors against each other, Izzy, Birdie, Nell, and a vulnerable Cass find themselves entangled in a dangerous hunt for answers. Can four best friends somehow tie together scattered clues and pacify a list of potential culprits before a cascade of fallen foliage buries the pièce de résistance of a ruthless killer?

Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny

A wise, bighearted, boundlessly joyful novel of love, disaster, and unconventional family Jane falls in love with Duncan easily. He is charming, good-natured, and handsome but unfortunately, he has also slept with nearly every woman in Boyne City, Michigan. Jane sees Duncan’s old girlfriends everywhere–at restaurants, at the grocery store, even three towns away. While Jane may be able to come to terms with dating the world’s most prolific seducer of women, she wishes she did not have to share him quite so widely. His ex-wife, Aggie, a woman with shiny hair and pale milkmaid skin, still has Duncan mow her lawn. His coworker, Jimmy, comes and goes from Duncan’s apartment at the most inopportune times. Sometimes Jane wonders if a relationship can even work with three people in it–never mind four. Five if you count Aggie’s eccentric husband, Gary. Not to mention all the other residents of Boyne City, who freely share with Jane their opinions of her choices. But any notion Jane had of love and marriage changes with one terrible car crash. Soon Jane’s life is permanently intertwined with Duncan’s, Aggie’s, and Jimmy’s, and Jane knows she will never have Duncan to herself. But could it be possible that a deeper kind of happiness is right in front of Jane’s eyes? A novel that is alternately bittersweet and laugh-out-loud funny, Katherine Heiny’s Early Morning Riser is her most astonishingly wonderful work to date.

The Sassy Belles by Beth Albright

Meet the Sassy Belles They're strong as a mint julep, sweet as peach cobbler, and no matter what, they stick together. There are only two seasons in Tuscaloosa -- football and waiting-for-football. When Lewis Heart, football announcer and voice of the Crimson Tide, vanishes after an impromptu romp with Vivi Ann McFadden at the Fountain Mist Motel, Vivi does what any Southern woman would do: call her best friend, Blake O'Hara Heart, attorney-at-law. With the town gossip swirling around them, Vivi and Blake are determined to find out what happened to Lewis and clear Vivi's reputation. Because after all, men may come and go, but the Sassy Belles are forever.

The Supremes Sing the Happy Heartache Blues by Edward Kelsey Moore

When a late life love affair blooms between Mr. Forrest Payne, the owner of the Pink Slipper Gentleman's Club, and Miss Beatrice Jordan, famous for yelling warnings of eternal damnation at the Club's departing patrons, their wedding summons a legend to town. Mr El Walker, the great guitar bluesman, comes home to give a command performance in Plainview, Indiana, a place he'd sworn never to set foot in again.

Among those in this tightly knit community who show up every Sunday after church for lunch at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat are the lifelong friends known locally as The Supremes: Clarice, facing down her chance at and fear of a great career; Barbara Jean, grappling with the loss of a mother whose life humiliated both of them, and Odette, reaching toward her husband through an anger of his that she does not understand.

[thatlastdanceofchances]

6, 16, 20 for Torchwood ask game?

Thanks for the ask!

6. Favourite character not in the main five?

If I'm limited to the TV series, I would say John Hart. He's fun to watch and that scene of Jack and John at the bar is just iconic!

I really enjoyed Beth Halloran (Sleeper) and Lois Habiba (Children of Earth) as well. I have this whole AU headcanon where Beth survives and becomes a regular during series 2. In this AU, she even could be a part of Serenity!

16. Is there a plot line you wish had been expanded on/explored further in the show?

I mean apart from them addressing any of the consent issues? Sorry, this is my biggest issue with the show.

To actually answer the question, this is a very small thing but that line where Ianto says he knows Providence Park in Out of the rain? The way it's shot, the way it's delivered, I honestly thought when I first watched the episode that this was going somewhere. In the end, it was just a throwaway line.

It's rarer now - probably because we've had some Ianto backstory since then - but it used to be a trope back in the LiveJournal fandom that one of Ianto's relatives or even Ianto himself was/had been a patient there.

But, yes, I would have loved this line to mean something because more tragic Ianto backstory means more angsty fics. :-D

20. Give me a hot take on anything you like!

You know what, I'm sorry this is going to be negative but since I mentioned it earlier? Torchwood having an issue with consent? It's ruined some of Torchwood for me.

So, content warnings for dubious consent/rape being mentioned between the Jack!tea icons (courtesy of @cozsheep​).

I've learned to like Owen (thank you series 2 and Big Finish) but what’s preventing me from really loving him? It’s that his character exposition scene in the first episode is him raping two people. For some other characters/plot points, I’ve been able to go past the things that bother me in the writing to fully celebrate what I love in fandom. But this one? I still have a hard time ignoring it and I hate that I can't get past that scene and be fully enthusiastic about this very interesting character.

I would say that’s on me but...between this, Day One, Believe, Love Rat, Hostile Environment, etc? Almost none the non-consensual sexual relations in these stories are addressed as such and, if addressed, are quickly shrugged off. Once back in the 2000s in a show that was promoted as Doctor Who but edgy and with sex is a mistake. These many times...no...just no!

Sorry @bookwermthings for being a total downer on this fun ask game. So, you know what, here's a lighter - but still controversial - hot take: Jack's outfit is perfect in Boom Town! :-D