#nostrovite

[periwinklefox13]

Which monster should Pasternoster x Torchwood meet??

I'm thinking something mythological...

@winkcats-world

[greendreamer]

Torchwood: Up Close master list

Torchwood: Up Close was a series of 2-minute-long shorts released during S2 via the Torchwood Website. All shorts centre around different behind-the-scenes elements (some include the cast goofing around) This is a master list of all known shorts* **

*Currently there is no list of all shorts made. The ones in this list are all I have found or have found evidence that they once existed.

** I think some of these might have been their own series/individual short on the website) aka no apart of Up Close

Sneak peek

KKBB - The New Hub

KKBB - Up Close with James Marsters

KKBB - Up Close with the Blowfish

KKBB - Up Close with the Stuntman

KKBB - Captain's Vlog

Sleeper - Special Effects

Sleeper - Up Close in the Hub

Sleeper - Studio Tour

Sleeper - Up Close with the Writer

Sleeper - Captain's Vlog

To the Last Man - Up Close with Anthony Lewis (WW1 look)

To the Last Man - Up Close with Anthony Lewis (location filming)

To the Last Man - Up Close with Naoko Mori & Anthony Lewis

To the Last Man - Studio Tour

To the Last Man - Captain's Vlog

Meat - Up Close with Kai Owen

Meat - Up Close with Barney Curnow (SFX)

Meat - Up Close with John Barrowman & Naoko Mori

Adam - Up Close with Naoko Mori & Bryan Dick

Adam - Up Close with John Barrowman & Bryan Dick

Adam - Up Close with the Photograph

Adam - Captain's Vlog

Something Borrowed - Up Close with Eve Myles

Something Borrowed - Up Close at the Wedding [Source - Wikipedia page]

Something Borrowed - Up Close with the Nostrovite [Source - Wikipedia page]

Adrift - Up Close with Ruth Jones [Source - Wikipedia page]

Adrift - Up Close at the Recce [Source - Wikipedia page]

???? - Shooting the Trails

???? - Up Close Fun on Set

???? - Untitled up close with GDL [source - sneak peek]

Here's all viewable shorts in a handy playlist [Link]

[I have no idea how many were made, but I like to hope there was AT LEAST one short per episode. Plus the same with the Captain's Vlog, one per episod.]

[monstermince]

I love everything in the plot to the episode 'Something Borrowed,' however, if I had the rights to Torchwood, I would make the episode 400x gayer by giving the nostrovite-Jack-being-intimate-with-Gwen scene to each of the team too, so Gwen just keeps getting private moments with her shapeshifted team members who want to kiss her, because the nostrovite is great at reading people and clocked in 0.001 seconds that everyone on the team wants to make out with each other.

Like, nostrovite!Tosh follows Gwen into the bathroom to help her 'fix her dress' and now she's helping to smooth the fabric down Gwen's side and making Significant Eye Contact.

nostrovite!Ianto asks to have a quick moment with Gwen in one of the empty hallways of the wedding venue, so he can ask her about the wedding guests and how best to corral them to safety, and basically now she's getting kabedon'd up against the nice 1000 year old stone walls.

The nostrovite probably doesn't 100% understand that Owen is dead-dead, so that's when the slip-up happens because the nostrovite says something about how good Gwen smells and Gwen is like, wait Owen doesn't have any of his senses any more.

The episode ends just like canon, with the exception that it's everyone dancing together in one big group hug, and Rhys and Gwen are in the middle, and everyone is happy and content and loved.

And then John shows up to crash the party with sikk beats and fire tricks done by lighting drinks on fire <3

[torchwood-99]

Gwen:  Don't get bitten by a Nostrovite. Because you will get pregnant, and die.

[autisticiantojvnes]

[ID: Five gifs of Torchwood. Rhys Williams, wearing a tuxedo and wielding a chain saw, is yelling at the Nostrovite, which is currently impersonating his mother. He is slowly advancing towards her as he yells: "I have had a gut's full of you! You get my girlfriend pregnant. You impersonate my Mum! And you ruin my wedding day!" He raises the chainsaw and revs it, about to bring it down on the Nostrovite, when it suddenly cuts out. Rhys pauses, then says: "Fuck!" End ID]

best of torchwood → 2.09 | “Let me have my young, and I won’t hurt you.”   

[doctorwhoexpandeduniverseprompts]

Torchwood Prompt:

(AU for the episode "Something Borrowed")

Turns out, Nostrovite mothers kill the pregnant hosts not because it's a requirement of the child's birth-- but because baby Nostrovite imprint on their mothers-- both the host and the mother Nostrovite! With the Nostrovite mother killed and Owen's Singularity Scalpel out of commission, Gwen Cooper has just given birth to a carnivorous shape-shifting baby...

...who has just imprinted on her like a baby duck.

And it is adorable.

" We are not keeping it." Rhys argued weakly. The baby grabbed his finger and cooed. "Okay, but only if you can guarantee I'm not going to wake up in the middle of the night to find its eaten the cat."

"Rhys, we don't even have a cat."

"You know what I mean!"

[princess-of-the-worlds]

Oooh drabble prompts.... Rhys and Ianto chatting about stuff during Children of Earth, maybe? Or just like, team friendship (of your choice) during CoE???

Bloody Beans

The beans are done.

The beans Rhys’d been cooking are finally done, and Jack’s run out without a word, the way he sometimes does but has been doing in increasing frequency since the Hub blew up.

Ianto stares down at his paper plate of steaming beans and a piece or two of slightly-charred bread and sighs. The last few days have been an absolute hellish rollercoaster, and this is the first time he’s really had a chance to sit down and reflect, and of course, Jack’s not here.

“You okay, mate?” Rhys asks as he passes by Ianto, a raggedy towel wrapped around the handle of his pot of beans. “Those beans aren’t going to eat themselves.”

Rhys settles down against the creaky chair opposite Ianto, using a plastic spoon to eat straight from the pot. Ordinarily, Ianto would glance up and furrow his brow or wrinkle his nose in disgust, but he can’t bring himself to. Instead, he slumps his shoulders and takes a bite of his toast.

He needs to talk to someone, to quell his sudden doubts about him and Jack, but his ideal option - Gwen - is gone, and while he and Rhys have definitely grown closer since the trains incident, to the point where Rhys is no longer Gwen’s boyfriend/husband Rhys but Rhys to him, Ianto doesn’t know if...

The words slip out before he can allow him: “In all your years with Gwen, has it ever felt like she was slipping way from you?”

“Pardon?” Rhys freezes with a spoonful of beans half-way to his mouth. He resumes the action, chews, and swallows the beans before setting the spoon down and facing Ianto with a thoughtful expression. “In the sense that she was growing more and more distant from me?”

Ianto nods and raises his eyebrows when Rhys laughs suddenly.

“Sorry, sorry,” the other man says. “I shouldn’t laugh at you, Ianto, mate. It’s just that...” He chuckles once more before calming down, straightening his shoulders. “There was this time, right after she joined Torchwood, where it felt like for months, she was a different person. That she was keeping a big secret from me.”

“And she was,” Ianto surmises.

Rhys nods. “And she was. And it turns out, she’d only lied to me because she thought she was protecting me, because your Captain Jack had told her to.” He picks up his spoon again. “Take it from a married man, Ianto. Sometimes, the ones we love will lie to us because they think they’re trying to protect us. It’s your job to make them understand that whatever it is, you can face it together.”

“I guess,” replies Ianto, but he knows he stil sounds hesitant, because as reassuring and well-intended Rhys’s advice was, it hasn’t quelled any of Ianto’s doubts.

“And if it’s your Jack you’re thinking of,” Rhys says, gesturing now with his spoon and accidentally fllinging bits of beans everywhere, causing Ianto to grimace, “I wouldn’t worry too much. That man’s never going to leave you; he loves you too much. If you could have seen his expression when he made his way from the cement block, you would know...that’s the way Gwen looked at me after I killed that Nostrovite.”

Blushing brightly, Ianto ducks his head and doesn’t respond. 

Finally, Rhys says, “Take my word for it, mate. Jack Harkness loves you, and he’s not going anywhere from you any time soon.”

[dinodina]

14 and whatever ship you want!

From this. 

Read here on ao3.

“You still have your Christmas lights up? It’s February! Get your life together!”

Rhys, working less crazy hours than Gwen, took charge of holiday decorations. It was their first Christmas as a married couple, and he wanted it to be special. There was always the chance that Gwen would skip it—last Christmas, she’d brought home a socially awkward cousin, who’d then seen Rhys naked.

It then turned out that the cousin was actually a time traveler and that the visit was Torchwood business.

Looking back now, it wasn’t even the craziest thing Rhys had interacted with in the flat. There was the time Gwen told him about aliens. Or when one of them followed her home and asked for lasagne because it had overheard them talking on the phone about dinner. Or when one bit Gwen and made her pregnant. Or when Rhys answered a telemarketer right at the moment Torchwood broke into the office they were calling from—he’d heard the alien takedown over the phone and was more impressed with Gwen than ever.

Now that they were married, Rhys was less desperate for normalcy. Having your whole wedding party retconned—not to mention one of the groomsmen being eaten—really put life in perspective.

But they were doing Christmas. At least dinner. At least a tree.

Gwen had a blessed day off and they went to get it. She was even present for the first half-hour of decoration—lights and tinsel and even some baubles. Rhys finished by himself, humming along to holiday music on the radio, and Gwen came home tired but happy to see the lights on the windowsills.

Rhys sent a picture of them to his parents, who were still hounding him about the amount of alcohol at the wedding. He was proud of them.

Christmas passed, blessedly parent-free, and although Gwen had to run out to wrangle a Weevil, the holiday was otherwise uninterrupted. Rhys made a traditional dinner and exercised creativity on dessert, miraculously succeeding at homemade ice-cream; they cuddled in the living room while It’s a Wonderful Life played in the background; they retired to their bed well after midnight for a thoroughly festive celebration.

Boxing Day dawned.

So did the New Year.

Gwen ran back to Torchwood and Rhys continued his managerial duties. Snow fell down hard on Cardiff and Gwen went though several pairs of boots trudging through sludge and uncleared alleys. Rhys rerouted lorries and came up with a new jingle for Harwood Haulage.

The holidays were over. Life returned to normal.

Weeks passed. Outside the window, the sky got greyer and duller; the sun set too early and the heating never kicked in when it needed to. Rhys slept in the pink fuzzy socks Gwen bought as a gag gift several Valentine's Days ago, putting his foot down when she demanded he share them.

But he stopped at the store on the way back from work and picked up a pair for Gwen, this one smaller and decorated in magenta hearts around the top edge. They matched the new lingerie set Gwen had bought for the approaching holiday—Rhys was no secret agent, but Gwen was awful at hiding surprises.

He bought flowers and chocolates and the spatula Gwen had been eyeing but always said was too expensive to actually get.

The flowers would go into a colored vase. It was one of the few wedding gifts that hadn’t been crushed by the Nostrovite, and one of the few from Gwen’s mum that wasn’t ugly as shit. Rhys didn’t want to drag his mother-in-law into a Valentine’s celebration, but Gwen liked the vase, and Rhys would do anything for her. Even accept Mary Cooper as family. Even wave hello to their Mrs. James, their nosy, nosy, nosy neighbor, who had once tried to find their spare key by searching under the doormat, in order to preserve the peace.

She was holding cookies, this time, the perfect way to talk to neighbors—it was a conversation starter and a way into the flat itself if she was pushy enough—but Rhys was well-trained.

He shot her a quick hello and got to quick work getting his key in the lock. Two seconds, and he would be in.

Two seconds, and Mrs. James only needed one to take a peek inside before the door shut.

Rhys leaned against it and let out a sigh.

“You still have your Christmas lights up?” Mrs. James’s shrill voice asked from behind the door. Rhys leaned over to cover the peephole with the back of his head. He didn’t know if she could see inside now, but it was better to be safe than sorry. “It’s February!”

Rhys knew it was February, thank you very much.

He just hadn’t gotten to it yet.

And the lights were ambient, damn it.

“Young man,” Mrs. James trilled triumphantly, “Get your life together!”

Rhys had no doubt that her knitting circle would know all about this by the end of the day—he would be lucky if that was how long it took for the news to spread, and hoped that Gwen wouldn’t be met with judgmental stares on her way into the building. Just on her way out the next day.

That was about as much as you could win with Mrs. James.

Still—Rhys titled his head and looked at the lights lining the windows and counters—it looked nice. Ambient. Atmospheric. Pretty. The lights had come with a remote control, well worth the extra money, and now twinkled a pretty pink.

It was pretty seasonal, as far as things went. Flowers, chocolate, mood lighting…

Yeah. Rhys grinned and forgot all about Mrs. James. This would be a great Valentine’s Day.

[goingtoasgard]

Series Two of Torchwood by Me, based exclusively on what I’ve picked up from fanfiction:

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang – Jack comes back while the others are after a Blowfish and he shoots it. John Hart shows up. Jack asks Ianto on a date while they’re in an office. They all get transported a day back in time.

Sleeper – Somebody called Beth is possessed and Ianto makes a comment about Jack’s manners in bed.

To the Last Man – Tommy is from the past and he lives in the Torchwood freezer. Once a year he gets defrosted and he has a thing with Tosh.

Meat – A guy who works for Rhys’s company is in a lorry accident. While at the scene Rhys sees Gwen and Torchwood come to investigate. He confronts Gwen about it later but she denies it. He then finds out the truth that she works for Torchwood and that the guy was transporting alien meat. Jack gets Rhys to pose as the new delivery guy as their way in. Rhys asks Jack if he’s gay. Rhys and Ianto get captured and their wrists tied. Ianto gets free and fights with one of the guards who tries to shoot him but the gun jams. Rhys is shot. The space whale alien dies. Jack tells Gwen to retcon Rhys but she says no and tells everyone that they’re all lonely people who think the outside world is scary and cold, but she knows it’s not because she has Rhys. Jack caves so Rhys knows now.

Adam – Somebody, presumably a guy called Adam, tricks Ianto into thinking he’s a murderer and it ends with them all getting their memories wiped.

Reset/Dead Man Walking/A Day in Death (because I don’t entirely know which episode is which with these three) – MARTHA! Jack asks Martha for a UNIT cap. Martha talks to Ianto about Jack, during which he says they “dabble”. Tosh asks Owen out on a date and he agrees. Owen dies and Jack brings him back using a second glove but he’s still dead. Owen can’t eat, heal or have sex now. He brakes his fingers.

Something Borrowed – Gwen’s wedding. Gwen gets bitten by a Nostrovite and it makes her pregnant but she refuses to postpone her wedding so Ianto buys her a new wedding dress and gets asked if it’s for him. Jack dramatically gets to storm in and say “stop the wedding” because the Nostrovite is coming and hunting Gwen down because it wants its baby. At some point the DJ is killed and in the end it’s Rhys that saves Gwen. They get married. Ianto fills in as the DJ. Jack and Gwen dance together and Gwen asks what Jack will do without her while she’s on her honeymoon and Jack replies, “The usual. Pizza. Ianto. Save the world a couple of times.” Ianto interrupts their dance and dances with Jack. They have to retcon all the wedding guests.

From Out of the Rain – No idea

Adrift – A boy gets snatched by the rift and Gwen won’t let it go and neither will but Jack won’t let her pursue it. Gwen catches Jack and Ianto in the greenhouse and Ianto jokes that Jack always cheats as naked hide and seek. Ianto leaves a GPS for Gwen which leads her to an island, Flaw Holm, which she goes to with the boys mother. There she finds all the rift victims, all of whom are severely damaged. Jack shows up and explains that it’s the best option and that the people who run the place think that they’re medical experiment victims.

Fragments – Everyone’s backstory! Owen was recruited after his fiancé, Katie, was killed by an alien. Jack recruited Tosh from a UNIT prison which she landed in after trying to help her mother. Ianto stalked Jack and kept annoying him. Jack wanted nothing to do with him but he eventually relented when they caught a pterodactyl together.

Exit wounds – John shows up again, but this time with Jack’s long lost brother Grey (he let go of his hand?). Grey wants revenge on Jack so he takes him 2000 years into the past and buries him, where Jack remains in a constant cycle of death and resurrection until he’s found in the 1900s and frozen. Tosh and Owen die.

How did I do?

[greendreamer]

Upon doing a little bit of research into Torchwood: Up Close I have learned

That it was indeed a web-exclusive series on The Torcwhood website during the run of S2

It does not have a page of the TARDIS wiki

Not only is there a missing episode staring GDL (thanks to a clip being used for the ["sneak peek"] for the series) no idea which episode this one is related to tho...

But there were at least 2 done for Adrift! (both are used as references on the Wikipedia page for the episode)[Up Close with Ruth Jones + Up Close at the Recce]

Trolling back through the S2 Wikipedia pages. 2 more episodes are used as references on Something Borrowed [Up close at the Wedding + Up Close with the Nostrovite] As far as I can tell the former is different from [Up Close With Eve Myles] that can be found on YT

There is no official list of episodes. So, unless stated otherwise, I going to presume that AT LEAST one short was made per episode

the shorts relating to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Sleeper, To the Last Man, Meat and Adam can easily be found on YT

Basically, lost media for one of the best seasons of Torchwood

[agent-jones]

In Defence of Gwendolyn Elizabeth Cooper

Okay, I want to start this out with a few DISCLAIMERS. First, this is probably going to be a long post, so buckle in. Second, I just want to say upfront that I DO NOT CONDONE the mistakes Gwen has made. Defending and understanding her are far different from actually condoning what she’s done and I figured I would put that blanket statement right here at the top. I know she did Bad Things. This isn’t to excuse that, it’s to explain, maybe, why she did what she did and perhaps people can gain a new perspective on Gwen Cooper in the process.

Okay. Leggo.

I asked for people to send their reasonings for not liking Gwen and I did get a few responses, so THANK YOU to those who messaged me! Everyone was very polite about it and I’m very grateful for that. The overwhelming reason people seem to hate Gwen is how she acted in regards to her relationship with RHYS. There is a lot to unpack there so I’m going to put all of the Rhys stuff in one section, and then move on to the other reasons I’ve seen about the fandom.

Rhys

Cheating on Rhys with Owen.

The thing about Torchwood is that they deal with the shittiest parts of the Universe. Suzie was right about that. Gwen came in not really knowing what she was getting herself into. Suddenly, she’s thrown into this chaotic, messy environment where she’s almost killed on basically a daily basis and she comes home from work and she can’t talk about it. She has to pretend to Rhys that she spent the day pushing paperwork, when actually the deadliest alien in the Universe tried to cut her head open with scary conversion tools and a member of their team ended up being the reason for it. She deals with trauma on a daily basis and the one person she should be able to talk to, who should be able to hold her and let her fall apart to him, isn’t allowed to know. Of course she feels isolated, wouldn’t you? Our partners are supposed to be the people we go to for support and help, but she literally cannot tell him a single thing about her life anymore. But she gets home and she has to it there and think about everything that scares her and all of the horrible things she sees, the death and destruction and tragedy, and she can’t say a single thing about it.

So, of course the idea of being with someone she can talk to is tempting, being with someone who shares her experiences and can truly empathise with her fears and help her through this new, and tragedy-filled, way of life. Why wouldn’t she want that? Owen offers it. Owen. Who knows she has a boyfriend, who literally says “I torture people in happy relationships,” comes to her and says “you can share these things with me.” And lost and unable to talk to anyone else but him, she gives into the temptation. Because, maybe this is better for her than having a partner who can’t be allowed to know the new Gwen Cooper: Torchwood Operative. Maybe she can finally have someone who will hold her and help her through things she can’t share with her boyfriend.

Flirting with/“Throwing herself at” Jack

Not going to lie, this one really bugs me when I see it. Why? Because Jack Harkness instigates pretty much every flirtation they have. The gun range scene: Jack sensually moving against her body to “show her the proper way to shoot.” Kiss Kiss Bang Bang: that cellar scene, where he caresses her arm and gives her this line about coming back for her [ after he had just said the same thing to Ianto so ]. Her wedding: the nostrovite was the one to lean in to kiss Gwen, the one to say “sometimes you meet someone who knocks your world off--” whatever the wording is. That nostrovite, using Jack, knew that he flirts with her like that, for it was the one making all of the moves. 

Jack is this enigmatic, BEAUTIFUL man who swoops into the life of Gwen Cooper, shows her that the Universe is bigger than anyone could imagine, and flirts with her, looks at her like she’s the most special human being on Earth. It’s no surprise she got a crush. It happens. But never, does she throw herself at him, in fact he always seems to be the one trying to do something, even though he also knows she has a boyfriend and consistently reminds her to keep hold of that life. Yes, she kissed him in Day One. But you know who else kissed Jack Harkness even though she had a boyfriend? Martha Jones. People make mistakes. It was the heat of the moment where Jack saved this girl that Gwen cared for and was so scared was going to die, she saw Jack act gentle and kind and yes, she made a mistake. But, it happens.

If you’re going to crucify Gwen for making very human mistakes such as this, it’s unfair to crucify her and not the men who played just as big of a role in it. They’re in no way innocent and to turn Gwen into this horrid, cheating slut and not condemn the men for knowingly throwing themselves at her despite her relationship status is really, quite frankly, sexist and a double-standard. 

Drugging Rhys

A horrible decision. Wrong. Yes, she did something incredibly invasive and absolutely not okay. She did it because she was spiraling. The thing with Owen had ended and I truly believed Gwen realised that she needed and loved Rhys, that he was the man for her and she needed to hold onto that. But, she was still holding back secrets, there were still things she couldn’t tell him. She was feeling guilty and wanted to tell Rhys the truth. But, if he left her because of it? That’s it. She loses her life outside of Torchwood, she loses the one thing keeping her grounded on Earth as the Universe tears into her at work. Of course she’s terrified and yes, it made her do something incredibly not okay. She took away Rhys’s ability to choose for himself.

She shows remorse for this, obviously, when she refuses to retcon Rhys at the end of Meat. She won’t do that to him again, won’t take away his right to know what he knows. And then again at their wedding. Jack offers them both retcon and Gwen says no, no secrets anymore. In that moment, Rhys’s face almost seemed disappointed that they weren’t going to forget that hellish day, that maybe he wanted to remember it in a way that didn’t involve aliens and their families almost being torn to shreds. But, Gwen has learned from her mistake. She won’t do it again.

Also. Gwen is not the only team member who has done something like that, in fact they all have:

Owen: took away the agency of two people by spraying them with a perfume that made them want to have sex with him. Two people who didn’t want to before they were drugged. That is date r*** and it is very bad. But, Owen is forgiven by the fandom for it. He’s loved and not bashed.

Jack: literally retcons anyone who talks to him for too long.

Tosh: dug around in the inner-most private thoughts of the people around her, invaded the deepest crevices of their minds and peered in on their secrets. This is absolutely not okay.

Ianto: clearly took advantage of and manipulated Jack in order to save Lisa. Got two innocent people killed, nearly got the entire team killed, and then allowed Jack to be given to slave traders and killed, before changing his mind and rescuing him. These are really horrible things, and yet he is the fan favourite. 

Gwen has done no more wrong than the rest of the team. This is the point of Torchwood: flawed human beings doing what they can to save the world and that “flawed” descriptor is for Gwen too. 

“She’s a Bitch”

Oh I’ve heard this one a few times and it always confuses me. She’s a bitch? When? When was Gwen ever mean to anyone? 

When she thought the thing about Tosh’s boots over jeans look being out of fashion? First, it was her private thought that Tosh had no business listening to. Second, it wasn’t thought in a mean-spirited way, she was simply making a fashion observation. We all do it. It does make us bitches to point out when things have gone out of fashion. Tosh was more of a bitch to Gwen when she found out about her and Owen in Countrycide “didn’t take you long to get your feet under the table.” That’s a bitchy and petty thing to say, but no one is calling Tosh a bitch.

Is she ever a bitch to Rhys? Not that I remember [ of course beyond the everything up there ]. But, there are moments where Rhys is a total ASS to her. Her new boss runs up to her saying there’s an emergency and that she’s needed, what does Rhys do? He screams at her “SIT THE FUCK DOWN, GWEN”  in front of her boss. That is not an okay thing to do, ever. Then, there’s the moment in Adrift when he says something like “sometimes I really hate you, Gwen.” He says this to his wife because she’s going through something very hard on her that is making her question the Universe and because it’s swaying her decision on if she wants to bring kids into the world, he says he hates her. At this point, he knows what she sees, knows what she goes through on a daily basis and doesn’t bother to take into consideration that she’s stressed and traumatised when trying to get her to make huge life decisions.

Gwen has emotions, but she’s never flat out mean to people, but there have been times where others have been cruel to her, and they aren’t hated for it.

“What she said at the end of Meat was uncalled for”

This is what she says:

GWEN: But none of you have any partners outside of this. JACK: But we understand how you feel. GWEN: No, you don't. No, you don't, Jack. You all think it's cold and lonely out there. But it isn't for me because I have him. 

She isn’t wrong. She doesn’t say anything cruel about the team. She points out the fact that they can’t understand what it’s like to have to hide her ENTIRE life from her partner. Jack and Ianto have a relationship, they’re partners yes, but they can actually talk about how hard the job is, they can talk about Torchwood and the shit they see and how it affects them. Is it so wrong for Gwen to say they can’t understand how she feels that she can’t? The entire team apart from her have been so entwined with Torchwood for so long that they don’t have lives outside of it, and that’s what she’s saying and she’s not wrong. Why hate her for pointing out the truth because she wants to be able to talk to the person she loves about the harder parts of her life?

“She acts superior to the team”

This one I see a lot. That people seem to think she somehow acts like she’s better than them, that she acts righteous somehow. But, that’s not what she’s doing. I’ve made a post about this before, but I’ll sum it up here. Jack hired Gwen because he needed someone with a new perspective, someone who could see how what they do affects civilians and help them use that to work better. He brought her in to remind them that they need to do better by the people of Cardiff. 

And that’s what she does,

She calls them out for being callous about Carys because that’s what Jack hired her for. The girl was dying and to her, it seemed like they didn’t care and so she spoke up, like Jack had asked her to do. She realises that she’s wrong in a way and she adjusts how she goes about it. Jack consistently reminds her why she was brought on, to call them out when they needed it and to remind them that there are human beings that are affected by what they do and they should care. And then when she does that, the fandom hates her for it. Don’t hate her for doing the job she was brought in to do.

Her Miracle Day speech

The Gwen in Miracle Day is not the same Gwen who peered over that parking garage barrier to spy on Torchwood. She saw the worst of the Universe, she watched as so many people died around her. Her friends all died horrific deaths. She was yanked by Jack into this whirlwind of a life, into the chaos and destruction that was Torchwood-- and then he left her. 

GWEN: Are you ever coming back, Jack? JACK: What for? GWEN: Me. 

He says nothing and leaves anyway. She begged her best friend to not leave her, after the last of her friends was killed, and he basically said she wasn’t worth staying for. How could she not be broken after that? As two people very close to me have said [ credit to @cxptained​ and @agent-sato​ ]: everyone else on the team was brought into Torchwood already broken, Torchwood took them in and put them back together again. Gwen came into Torchwood whole. She had a life and was happy. She lived, but she was SHATTERED. Torchwood took her and broke her. 

So yes, she says something that is horrible. She says that when everyone else died and she survived, she felt better than them. But sometimes we have thoughts that we don’t control, we have thoughts that we know are wrong. She knows it’s wrong. Eve’s acting? You can tell that she had those thoughts and that she felt horrible for having them.

Not to mention, she says this as she’s trying to get her baby daughter back from strangers who have kidnapped her. She’s desperate and terrified and angry and her daughter is in danger. Her mental space is horrible right now. She was abandoned by Jack, broken by Torchwood and when he appears again and she’s dragged back in? Her daughter is put in danger. But she also missed Torchwood and Jack. She’s terrified and lost and conflicted and she said something bad. But she knows she is wrong.

And So...

Gwen Cooper is a human being. She is a character in a show where ALL of the main characters are written to be flawed and complicated and to make mistakes while saving the world. She was put through so much and it seems as though she’s blamed for the fact that it changed her and led her to making decisions she may not have made had Torchwood not dragged her in.

She deserves more than how she’s treated by the fans.

[icewarrior2000]

Something Borrowed

(Series 2, Episode 9)

Summary: Gwen gets bitten by a shapeshifting Nostrovite the night before her wedding and ends up pregnant.  She’s damn sure she’s going to go through with the wedding, much to the consternation of her friends and family.  Inconveniently, the mother has arrived to rip Gwen open and deliver her alien sprog so Jack gets to run in and yell “Stop the wedding!”  Tosh grows a backbone, Jack saves the day with a huge fucking gun, Gwen and Rhys finally get a happy ending and Ianto’s the wedding fairy.

Snog Count: 54 (3 for Gwen and Rhys (could have been more – I was cooking at the time) and Gwen almost locks lip with Shapeshifter Jack).

Original Air Date: 5 March 2008.

Starring: John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper), Burn Gorman (Dr. Owen Harper), Naoko Mori (Toshiko Sato) & Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto Jones).

Writer: Phil Ford.

Director: Ashley Way.

Producer: Richard Stokes & Chris Chibnall.

Executive Producer: Russell T. Davies & Julie Gardner.

[torchwood-99]

My Favourite Torchwood Looks

So the thing I really love about Gwen’s windbreaker is the colour. Not only does it look pretty, but the light green makes her stand out in a way that really suits Gwen as the newbie, and the pale mint green is just begging to get splattered in blood and dirt. You see Gwen wearing this and it’s obvious what is going to happen to her, and her jacket, by the end of the episode.

Obviously Jack’s coat is iconic. I know he goes through a few variations of coats, and styles them all similarly. I like it with this dark blue shirt the most, and I think the coat looks best in Countrycide, against the fields and grey brick and the Brecon Beacons. When he wears it in Cardiff, he looks really out of time, which makes sense. But in the seemingly abandoned village, where his team are all dressed in heavier clothes as well (apart from Gwen in the above jacket) he actually fits in for once. It pits him firmly against the cannibals along with his team, which is fitting seeing as he’s the one who saves them in the end.

Owen wears this jacket quite a lot, I think. I just really like how it looks with the blue shirt. This is one of the first moments where we see Owen scared, and realise just how vulnerable Owen is under his tough front.

Tosh looks so gorgeous. Love the colour blocking with the red and black, and the lapels of her coat. 

Gwen just looks so adorable in her police uniform, hair drenched from the rain, giving that big wide eyed surprised look that she wears so well. Especially in the earlier seasons. This look just feels like it sums Gwen up at the beginning. In a uniform, firmly in the real world, about to be sucked into something totally new.

Ianto wears so many suits, but this is my favourite variation. Like with Tosh, I love the red and black, and I think the stripy tie goes so nice with the shirt and black blazer. Plus, this is the scene where he and Gwen link arms (iconic) and the red of his shirt complements Gwen’s warm brown blouse.

Just such a gorgeous shade, and I love how soft and romantic the blouse is. Tosh dresses much more femininely than Gwen, which makes sense for their personalities and their job roles, seeing she spends less time in the field than Gwen.  She looks really beautiful in these rich shades, and the flowy fabric is so nice.

Ianto in red and black again! But this time with a suit coat with a pointy up collar! I love a pointy up collar! And I love coats like this.

My favourite Owen look, and sums him up perfectly! The Doctor’s lab coat with all the badges. It’s one of the first looks we see him in, and the one he wears where he is introduced to Gwen and the audience. Seeing as he’s the first to break out laughing, and to confess to ordering pizza under Torchwood, the playfulness of the badges sums up his role in the scene perfectly!

Just a really pretty look on Tosh. I don’t think we usually see Tosh’s arms so bare, which makes sense seeing as this is the moment where Mary reveals herself as an alien. Tosh, falling in love, is likewise more open and revealing in her clothes. The soft, draping fabric and the colour works perfect for a character falling in love.

Gwen looked sooo pretty on her wedding! I actually think she looked better after the fight with the Nostrovite, when her hair was a bit more mussed up. I just wanted a close up of the veil.

This is Ianto’s coat again! I just really liked how it looked in the rain and the streetlights, bonus for his (and Gwen) delightful smiles.

Love LOVE the long leather coat over the skirt. It’s just so flattering, the pink peeking though under the collar, the dark colours with the light pink. She looks so sleek and elegant.

God Gwen looks so gorgeous in this top! As a costume piece, it’s great seeing as this is a Gwen focussed episode, so the bright colour draws attention to her. Plus, as an episode it’s all about Gwen’s compassion, but also death and life. So bright blood red fits all that to a tee. 

This is my other favourite Owen costume. Owen’s had such a god awful time at this point, so seeing him at Gwen’s wedding, clapping and smiling and asking Tosh to dance, is so beautiful. 

This look kind of gives me a lab coat with badges feel in reverse, but instead of the formal lab coat made informal with the badges, it’s an informal t-shirt made suitable for a wedding with a boutonniere. I love imagining how Owen ended up with the flower on his shirt. Was it his idea, did Tosh or Ianto force it on him? I wonder where they found it. I kind of love picturing Tosh and Ianto telling Owen he needs to smarten up before the ceremony, and Banana Boat (who was in charge of flowers) pops up and is all “Need a corsage? The Best Man has you covered!” 

Awesome leather coat on Tosh, just needs a shout out. Also love what Mary is wearing, that skirt and those tights are awesome.

I just adore this blouse on Gwen! In a scene where the highlight is Gwen and Ianto linking arms, I love that the sleeves on this blouse are such a focal point. The bell sleeves are a departure for Gwen, and they’re so soft and romantic and they flatter her perfectly, as does that lovely neckline. Also love the warm brown, which looks amazing on her, and suits her grounded and tough, but passionate and gentle personality.

Leather coat on Gwen! Long leather coat on Gwen!

This is the first episode (KKBB) where we see Gwen in leather, which was introduced to show how she had levelled up after Jack has left, and it was down to her to take charge. 

The top underneath is awesome too.

Long woollen coat on Tosh! 

I just really like coats ok!

Tosh looked so beautiful on Gwen’s wedding day. Most of all I love the red and white flowers, and the silver necklace. The red, the purple, the white and silver just look so gorgeous together.

Such an iconic scene. What I love about this jacket (and her trousers which you can’t see here) is that she kind of makes me think of fighter pilots, which means she really complements Jack. When the two are standing side by side, watching the helicopter burn, after so much time apart.

Black jacket and red shirt. We see this look on Gwen a lot. It’s pretty much her signature, I think. If I want to cosplay as Gwen, I’d go with a leather jacket and a red shirt.

But I love this look the most because of how beautiful she looks when she’s messy, especially with her smudged makeup and extra especially her wavy, messy hair.

Favourite looks for Jack and Ianto here. Both without their top layer, so we get to see Jack in his waistcoat, and Ianto in his red shirt. Both have rolled their sleeves up too, which is double points, and it means they look like they go together even though they’re in opposite colours.

Owen needs a black jacket, red shirt moment too!!! We can’t leave him out. And I do love this shirt on him, especially with the jacket.

Like I was going to leave out the episode where Owen wears a necklace!

And it’s Gwen’s wedding dress again! This is Gwen in the dress Ianto got her, and her stomach is baggy and splattered with alien blood, but despite that, she looks utterly radiant. Glowing. I love her jewellery, and her hair curls now that they’re a bit more bedraggled. I always thought she looked a little stiff and overdone in her wedding clothes when she was first going down the aisle. It makes sense she would be uncomfortable with the alien bump, but at the same time, I think this just shows that Gwen is happiest and at her most confident when she is fresh from a bloody tussle with an alien shapeshifter.

[i-was-bored-so-this-happened]

Rae Watches Torchwood

2x09 Something Borrowed

Assuming Gwen gets married in this one, @nowhere-dawn-death-phan

Spoilers. Obviously

“And Torchwood is ready” Torchwood has never been ready for anything ever so far

Not pink fluffy cowboy hats, noo

Oh, shapeshifters are fun

Shapeshifter’s going to infect her or pass something on through that bite, isn’t it?

Bloody hell

I mean...called it

Gwen’s just...eating whole pickles....

Ianto’s on dress-duty. Fun

More angry Rhys. Always angry Rhys

Tosh and Owen!

Also, x-ray of a Cyberman behind Tosh

“Duckling”

Battle of the In-Laws

“I don’t need a babysitter” Maybe feel happy that your mate Tosh is coming to your wedding? Isn’t that, you know, nice?

“Evolution is full of surprises” Sassy Tosh

“Bananas make me vomit.” uh, Tosh? You okay?

Black blood. Lady’s a shapeshifter

Just going to take a second to say, I love Toshiko Sato

Too late, Momma Nostrovite’s found Gwen

Are they going to have to retcon the whole wedding after Owen explodes something? Cause he’s probably going to explode something. Or die - oh wait...

Oh I like the mirror on the wall in this room. Also like Gwen’s necklace

Ah crap everything’s going to go to shit cause Gwen’s parents know it’s not Rhys’ and his parents don’t think it’s his either

Oof. Spider web of...black pasta?

GWEN NO

Battle Of The In-Laws Part Two

Is Gwen really that late if you’re all still walking around and talking?

Rhys’ Mum Wears Green and Gwen’s Mum Wear Purple...to a Red and Gold themed Wedding

And now everyone’s going to think the baby’s Jack’s.

“The problem seems to be an American with no sense of timing or fashion.”

The situation is not contained, Ianto

IT’S A SHAPESHIFTER YOU IDIOTS. IF IT KNOWS YOU KNOW WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IT’S GOING TO SHIFT, ISN’T IT??? DON’T LEAVE GWEN!!!! OWEN!!!

Battle Of The In-Laws, Part Three

Please tell me Gwen’s hiding a gun under her flowers

yeah! I was right!

Gwen. Gwen. It’s a shapeshifter. Shape. Shifter. Stop trusting all the random people that burst into your room

GWEN I FUCKING TOLD YOU SO

Bigger guns!!

“It’s not baby Jesus.” Jack told Gwen. And now she’s in a barn

Rhys is going to take a fucking chain-saw to this thing that looks like a demonic version of his mother

Whoops, never mind

Slightly more chaotic than Jenny Lewis’ wedding.........

Is...is Ianto DJing???

Ah, Tosh and Owen are dancing

Every time you see Ianto in this scene, he’s just finishing another drink

Gwen. Jack. You better not

He’s come back to take Jack from Gwen, thank you, Ianto

Knew they’d have to retcon the whole wedding

Gwen saying thank you for the dress. That’s it, that’s the note

Don’t blow confetti everywhere, Ianto’s going to have to clean that

[bitsygirl9]

Review Torchwood: S2 Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

I wrote this ages ago when I was still heavily into Torchwood. It’s a review for the opening episode of s2 ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’ so I figured I’d put it up here because why not? 

(Also currently listening to Jenny Lewis ‘You are what you love’)

So Jack tells Ianto that he came back for him (sort of). Ianto is so swayed by this meaningful moment he responds by completely blanking Jack when he suggests they do it on the photo-copier (or something). Jack is so surprised by this because, apparently, this routine is usually fool-proof, even if you just came back from buggering off to be with another man without so much as a 'see ya' note and can't believe Ianto isn't responding accordingly. Realising that his 'I'll show you mine if you show me yours’ routine probably isn't going to cut it this time he decides to ask him out on a date. (That's what they still do in the 21st century, right?) lol. JB's surprise face is hilarious in this scene when Ianto isn't having any of it and it shows up three times in this ep. When he finds out about Gwen's engagement and once with John.

So, yep, a bit late and I still haven't finished s1, but I'm going to try and rewatch s2. So Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang. So this is a cheesy, cheesy, like supersized cheesy episode and some of the dialogue is a bit terrible, but there are some interesting character moments particularly between Jack and John. Well, their cheesier moments make me cringe quite a bit, but their more serious moments are interesting and mostly more effective to me. I get that Jack is supposed to be conflicted about John or something, but he's really the master of mixed messages. And also non-sequiturs.

Best Moment: Don't really have one so I'll just go with Ianto eye-rolling at Hart's comments in the boardroom scene just because that made me laugh out loud. Also lol at the coked-up, family hostage-taking blowfish stopping for the light. Still got to respect that road code even if you're an amoral, druggie criminal type, I guess.

Worst Moment: Don't exactly have one of those either, but I'll go with the 'See how Gwen is in charge scene' at the beginning. Honestly, they sell Owen taking charge in the earlier car chase scene better than they do Gwen. This scene is so awkward and self-conscious like even the writers don't buy what they were trying to sell. I guess that's why Gwen needs to remind us a few times that she was in charge. Lol. Does Tosh really need to be told to update the database and Ianto to take the dead body Owen's finished with to the Morgue? Lol. These are all pretty routine aspects of their job, surely. They don't really need Gwen for that. If you need to dumb down other characters to sell the abilities of another character I suspect you're doing it wrong. Also if the point is to show that the team missed Jack, but still managed to function without him then maybe having him have to come to their rescue once again probably isn't the way to go. So cool entrance and some pretty awkward meta via blowfish to get the newbies up to speed, but way to undermine the idea that this is an effective team once again. Also, if Ianto is supposed to be the least effective field member why exactly is he taking point? Just so newbies get that he's the least effective field member? lol I get that they are a man is down, but surely dealing with the immediate threat should be a priority.

WTF moments: It's Torchwood so yeah. Are they ignoring The Empty Child's existence? In that we're told Jack is bitter about the Time Agency because they stole 2 years of his memory and that's why he left and is even happy to con them. Granted a lot of time has passed since that moment, but time doesn't seem to have much of an effect on Jack's memories so should he really come off as that nostalgic about them? Kind of a weird moment.

Also, does Jack have to have a problem using his words all the time? Maybe the show wants it to ambiguous about Jack warning Gwen not to let John kiss her so we wonder if he's jealous for a while or are surprised by the real reason or something, but it kind of makes Jack look like a bit of a moron that he doesn't just tell her that Hart's likely wearing some sort of poisonous gloss and that's why she should be careful about him kissing her and not simply because he's just that kind of letch. Also, Gwen is probably the most likely to fall for an easy sob story so I'm not sure I buy her argument that she's the best one to get info out of John lol.

Also shouldn't Jack be aware that John's wrist strap can likely jam signals and so have anticipated that? Of course, it could be a new model or modulation on John's part, but it seems like it should be pretty rudimentary considering how much more technologically advanced they're supposed to be.

Are we supposed to assume John knew where Jack was for a while, but was just looking for an excuse to show up on his doorstep?

Also, he tells Gwen specifically that Jack will never stay. Is he supposed to be referring to her specifically? Are we to assume Hart is jealous of Gwen because he immediately just gets how Jack feels about her or something? Like the nostrovite in SB. Any thoughts?

Also, is it just me or were those canisters not well hidden at all? I get that it was a trap, but unless they'd only just been put there anyone could have just picked one of them up and wondered off with them lol.

In EOD Rhys is murdered and Gwen is supposedly so devastated, unwilling to live with this loss she's willing to destroy the world to get him back. I don't know what the time-line is supposed to be, but are we to assume this event had such an emotional impact on her that the only person she cares enough about to remember is Jack when she's about to die and that she's still in just give me the signal and it'll be 'Rhys, who' mode? So what was the point of all that again?

Is Owen supposed to be coming on to Tosh in their scene in the lock-up? I would say yes, but I've seen Meat. So um. Ok. It feels like he's feeling out a potential relationship with her, but are we also supposed to seriously believe by this point that Owen still doesn't get that Tosh fancies him? Her innuendo asking if he needed a hand 'getting it up' in Countrycide too subtle for him?

Gwen's comment that she tells Jack everything and he tells her nothing. Did they basically just then turn around and recycle this moment for Ianto's use in ep 4 of COE? Or should I give the writers more credit and believe they're aiming for something much deeper i.e despite living all this time and with all these experiences Jack really doesn't change his tune all that much. It's still the same old music. Because it does kind of feel like that in this episode anyway.

Anything New: Not really. I mean the special effects are cheesier than I remember.

Religious/Literary: Well there's the whole life is meaningless, there is nothing routine. Does that count? Which follows on to:

Humanity: Good or Bad: Apparently we're all just a bunch of sad sacks with nothing to look forward to except death. Is it because the writers are all at or close to middle-age or something because, gees, these people are slit-wrists inducingly miserable about life. lol. And there are still 12 more episodes to go. Where's the Prozac?

Anything Else:  I guess Ianto and stopwatches is a thing. He's more excited by that than he is by Jack asking him out lol.