#rip tosh and owen

[professeurm]

watching ugowatch react to exit wounds and we're both bawling

one of the saddest ep on god

[captainfairygodmother]

Jack this is EVIL of you

Happy Valentines ig

[burins]

on Torchwood and the temptations of queer tragedy

(originally published in yaoi zine 5, here for ease of reading but also you should check out the fantastic scholarship in the free full PDF!!)

If you were on Tumblr in 2009-2012, you are probably aware of Torchwood. A spin off of Russell T. Davies’ 2005 reboot of Doctor Who, Torchwood stars immortal time traveler Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) as part of a cast of misfits assigned to investigate the assorted supernatural and alien debris that falls through a spacetime rift running through the heart of Cardiff. Jack Harkness, in the tradition of swashbuckling space bisexuals, is great to watch, and his slow burn romance with buttoned-up researcher Ianto is the highlight of the series. Or at least it was to me, watching it as a deeply closeted teen in 2011.

Towards the end of the third series of Torchwood, Ianto is exposed to an alien virus and dies very fetchingly in Jack’s arms. It’s extremely Mimi from La Boheme (not, for once in an essay about queer people, Rent.) Ianto knows Jack is immortal and at no risk from the virus (Jack has already survived being blown up and sealed in concrete just in the previous three episodes); he knows that Jack will have to live the rest of his very, very, very long life watching people he loves die. He asks Jack not to forget him, and Jack promises that he won’t. Ianto’s last words are to deny that Jack is capable of remembering him a thousand years into the future; Jack kisses him, succumbs to the virus, and approximately four minutes of show time later, revives.

Reader, I watched this at approximately 1 AM on my beast of a high school laptop, huddled under the covers and trying not to wake my sister by sobbing too loud. I slammed the laptop shut to have a good cry. Then I opened up the laptop and watched the scene again. It became sort of a talisman for me— any time I needed to cry and couldn’t manage it, out would come my Megavideo rip of Torchwood-ChildrenOfEarth-xVideo-x64-S03E04-HD.mkv, scrolled to 53:14. Three minute death scene, me sobbing like a baby, reliable as clockwork.

I loved it for its utility; I needed those three minutes to unlock grief I couldn’t access in other ways. I loved it despite there being two arguably sadder death scenes at the end of the second series (RIP Owen and Tosh, you deserved better.) And I loved it despite its being perhaps the most textbook example of bury your gays imaginable.

Like a lot of media analysis tools that gained widespread popularity in an era with TVTropes, “bury your gays” is a cudgel and not a scalpel. Of course no one wants to be straight people’s tragedy porn. Of course it’s grating to only ever see yourself onscreen as a cautionary tale. Of course the real life origins of the trope are rooted in homophobic moral panics and censorship. And of course many queer people are plenty tired of tragedy. We die more often than straight people, and sooner, for a variety of reasons; we live lives more affected by the mundane grinding sadnesses of poverty and illness and rejection. Is it then problematic to portray queer grief, real or fictional? What about homophobia? Is it actually inherently more revolutionary to write fantasy stories where everyone’s chill with the gays, but somehow also they still have hereditary monarchies? I don’t actually have the answers here, by the way. Like everyone’s least favorite Republican uncle I’m just asking questions.

The real problem I have with “bury your gays” is that I love to bury my gays. I don’t recommend “but I like it” as a lens of critical analysis, fan studies notwithstanding, but you show me a potential tragedy and I am pulling out the shovel. I love to watch Ianto choke to death in his lover’s arms, and I love to listen to several hundred hours of podcast about gay divorce, and I cherish everything that Interview with the Vampire AMC has going on, and I read and reread Nell driving her car into the tree, and I think stabbing is maybe the pinnacle of romance.

Why do I love a queer tragedy so? Why do I gravitate to fic that features death and despair and ideological divorce? Why, as a child, was I always putting my plastic animals through travails that wouldn’t be out of place in a particularly melodramatic episode of Game of Thrones?

The easy answer would be that I was raised Catholic and haven’t quite escaped the ideological shadow of the redemptive power of suffering, but I have too much experience with chronic pain to still think suffering is redemptive. The other obvious answer would be that I’m chasing catharsis in the classic Aristotelian sense of emotional release, but I don’t think that’s the entirety of it either. There is sometimes a sort of talismanic nature to watching, or reading about, or writing a gay tragedy, a warding off of potential harm. It does feel like a little ritual. Aristotle describes catharsis as a release of pity and fear: look at those poor bastards. And as a queer viewer, the scraped underbelly of that emotion, how easily that could be me. Thank god it isn’t.

But neither pity nor fear nor their uneasy third, disgust, are really the emotions I feel when I press repeat on tragedy. To paraphrase Sontag, I “weep in part because [I] have seen it many times. [I] want to weep. Pathos, in the form of a narrative, does not wear out.”* What I feel is grief, and also pleasure. Pleasure in ritual; pleasure in release; pleasure in a borrowed grief that is both real and unreal, because I can set it aside when the episode finally comes to its end; pleasure because after all, the painful and the erotic are never as far apart as we might pretend.

I watched Ianto’s death scene again for this essay, half-expecting that it wouldn’t really work the same. I tried rewatching Torchwood a few years ago and couldn’t make it past a few episodes. I’m not 17 anymore, and everything from the special effects to the treatment of its female characters has aged not unlike milk. I’ve found new tragedies to visit and revisit. But I did cry, watching Jack try and fail to keep his lover by his side. And it felt good.

*Regarding the Pain of Others, 83. Despite the title and the way it’s used in conversations about media (including by me, here) this is actually an essay on war photojournalism. Worth a read but not for the reasons you might think.

[iamsuperwholocked]

Tosh: I’m kind of crushing on someone, but I’m worried about telling you who it is, because you’re not going to like it

Ianto: Just rip the bandage off.

Tosh: It’s Owen.

Ianto: Put the bandage back on.

[romanticfistfightz]

hello my dear rambling yapping buddy how are you?

okay. but like. i totally think dean winchester would LOVE to be a member of torchwood three. i mean. secret base. pizza with friends. queer drama. hunting aliens. saving people. dying like three times a week. theres also jack harkness and i dont think dean would be normal about this guy

(also. idk but i just think that. while janto is very destiel coded. owen/tosh are LITERALLY deancas. they had the deathbed love confessions twice......... and they never got a chance to be together.....)

im sorry off topic before i forgto you HAVE to show me the myslovitz destiel playlist PLEASE bro i was so normal abt myslovitz like half a year ago i made a tshisrt a patch named my rat artur rojek saw them live listened only to myslovitz for like a momth . pleas

anyway YEAH he would Not fit with the doctor at all but hed be perfect for torchwood3 <33 "man i didnt think aliens were real i thought its just ghosts and demons and stuff" "??? fuck you mean ghosts and demons???" . i like to imagine dean would make fun of them being british and not having as many guns like hed go to the impala and open the trunk and theres more guns in there than torchwood has in general. rip dean winchester you wouldve loved to die three times a week with jack IMAGINE the others reaction not only our boss is an immortal guy with angst about it the new american dude is also immortal but for other reasons and loves to die randomly apparently <33

[rootytootypie]

Kinda gross but Owen from torchwood?? Especially after that whole zombie thing and all of the potty humor there oml 😳💨🦸‍♀️

💨: Pre-zombification, Owen thought of farting is an annoying inconvenience. Especially considering people’s reaction. The amount of rerouting he had to do on call for a moment of gassy peace pre-Jack bothered him. He gets why people are fussy about gas and might not want to be looked after by a flatulent doctor, but why the hell should that be his problem? (He really is Torchwood’s answer to House)

Post-death, he’s even more bothered, because it’s still happening and now he can’t control it because of how much sensation he’s lost. It’s not even relieving! He’s actually a touch ashamed now that it serves no purpose beyond his corpse releasing foul air into the room. He’s a little more shy, and annoyed at that shyness, especially when the others make jokes he would have chuckled at one point.

😳: Living Owen was a 3/10 on the embarrassment scale. Like the occasional fart loud or smelly enough to disrupt a lecture class of 130 people might make him go a bit pink, but that would be it. Even in normal size sixth form courses, he’d definitely crack one off if he knew the teacher would find it disrespectful, because he was a cheeky little shit in school. Even with Katie, he’d generally let rip and say “You may as well learn what death do us part means.”

His most embarrassing moment was post-resurrection. He was examining Ianto after he was burned in the midst of a Dalek attack. Everyone else was gathering around decompressing and trying to dissect why Daleks were in Cardiff, when, without warning, a hideous smell spread throughout the room. A smell so bad that Ianto sat up on the examining table and puked.

Owen had little to no idea how that one had been so awful in particular, but he was all too relieved that he could no longer blush.

🦸‍♂️: The best guess anyone had after an examination of human, paranormal and extraterrestrial medical texts was that while Owen wasn’t breathing, he’s definitely absorbing air, and that gas is the only way it can filter out after hours of buildup. As Owen saw it, yet another downside of being undead was being a ticking time bomb of flatulence. Honestly, between that, the inability to feel or eat, and the permanent open wound, he has no clue how other people like the rest of Torchwood Three are still willing to joke around and be friendly to him, much less how Tosh could still have a crush on him. Honestly, he might as well be in a Hammer horror film. (Cue all of us being like 🥺 pookie noooo!) (Just me? Okay.)

[sundayinthcpark]

hi folks i watched s2 e1 of torchwood while i was on a plane and these r the notes i took/the posts i would’ve made had i not been on a plane

fully incapable of watching television w/o writing commentary so i’m gonna write this post from the plane and post it later ‼️

‘have you seen a blowfish driving a sports car?’ gwen cooper i love you so much

‘bloody torchwood’ fucking GIGGLING everyone in cardiff hates them don’t they

OWEN IS SCARED OF THE BIG FISH me too buddy i’m terrified of fish

owen u dumb bitch telling gwen to hold the wheel he’s so silly

the fish is on cocaine i’m gonna scream why is he being such a douche abt jack being gone ianto pls shoot him

JACK ⁉️⁉️

‘hey kids. did ya miss me?’ WHAT THE FUCK

oh he’s still a pretty boy and they r all just doing their jobs ignoring him AS THEY SHOULD

i will be a jack harkness anti for a moment LOL

go OFF gwen

‘i found my doctor.’ shut up i can’t stand u sometimes

‘i came back for you.’ ACTUALLY SHUT UP WTF

who is this man he looks like pure evil wtf why did he just drop an entire man off a building

‘help me, obi-wan kenobi. you’re my only hope.’ GIGGLINF THATS SO STUPID

ianto my bff

why is this thing with jack and whoever he is looking like a duel oH THEYRE SNOGGING and now they’re throwing punches this. sounds about like jack.

they’re so me they can’t decide if they love or hate jack

‘you went to murder rehab?’ help ???

why is tosh flirting w him i hate him

what. what is gwen and jack’s relationship fr HAHA

gwen’s pupils r fucking enormous

NO FR WHAT. IS THEIR RELATIONSHIP NOTHIN MAKES SENSE

dying this is so silly i can’t stand jack or john

ooooooh and now john has disappeared goddamnit

paralysing lipgloss i’m gonna kill him fr

is owen flirting with tosh OMG ‼️‼️‼️

‘you touch her again and i will kill you, okay?’ GO OWEN ‼️‼️

poor ianto baby :((

WAIT JACK ACTUALLY ASKED HIM OUT ‼️‼️ janto time janto time

rip jack again

idiotic mfers never hang around long enough to find out if jack’s staying dead

not owen calling gwen darling :(( i love pet names especially when i know they’re not super romantic LOL

THE SIMULTANEOUS GUNS COCKING OOOOH THEYRE SO HOT

their teamwork is shit but also i love them all

IANTO WITH HIS TIMER I COULD KISS HIM

oh god it’s so pretty when they work together

‘oh, that’s gorgeous.’ ‘that’s a poodle.’ FUCKING LOSING IT

GO GWEN SHES SO HOT

who is gray what does that mean MARTHA JONES COMING UP WOOO MY GIRL why did i only download one ep that was silly

[jakowskis]

Day 18 - Who would you say had the best character development? Who do you wish got more? 

not even being biased when i say this; i think, objectively, it's owen. torchwood's a messily written show; in s1 n s2, owen's literally like the only one who gets an actual story arc, both times around. (jack's gray arc in s2 is garbage imo i dont count it lol.) his s2 arc is great n p beloved by fans; his s1 arc is my personal fav ever. love him or hate him, he's fleshed out and he's real. i think they're all rlly good characters, considering the way the show is, but owen just stands out. second to him, it's definitely gwen. i think gwen's a fantastically written character. ohhh gwen cooper my beloved

jack, i think, should be interesting, but they went in a weird direction with him when they developed him further from his doctor who self. i mean, i mostly like it (...kinda), but it's.. yeah, it's certainly interesting, and i think it could've been done differently and maybe... been a bit more cohesive. to say the least. and tosh and ianto just got plain ripped off. they're both underdeveloped as hell and it makes me MAD. they deserve sm better. tosh in particular... ianto at least got to live into the third season. i wish they'd done so much more with my girl tosh :(

[speedwayy]

i call this one the owen harper homosexuality theorem

[sparklehounds]

when the torchwood is warrior cats

[iant0jones]

Me: I would do anything for the torchwood team I love them so so SO much

Ianto: always keep your room clean and organized so you’ll feel more relaxed at home

Tosh: get your homework done early so you’re not stressed later on

Owen: go to the fucking doctor

Jack: be brave and experience new things

Gwen: be gentle with yourself

Me:

[reverse-the-jellybaby]

fun with the torchwood external hub interface 2: electric boogaloo

well damn, you guys loved the last one and guess what?! I’ve got more! 

gwen cooper = crystals gay

ianto’s coffee cult i cannOT with him calling himself king ianto 

now THAT is a definite confirmation of bi owen - this is from owen’s background check

gee i wonder who’s been horny on main in the group chat

a lost letter from tosh to her aunt, talking about mary and being bi - yes she does call it a “lesbian” kiss, but the series clearly defines her as bi 

other highlights of gwen’s background check, including rhys’s awful AWFUL screen name, and owen calling her fit already in her psych evaluation ;) 

TOSH DGBDKhdksgbksjhf

rip torchwood microwave ?? - 2006, and canon confirmation of ianto’s love of karaoke

owen “kittens break my heart really” harper

jack PLEASE

[dominique-mini]

have y'all ever thought that jack could have, at any given point in his very long existence, commited temporal suicide, but he just........ didn't?

what I'm saying is: the chances of him becoming immortal if he never met the doctor are very low. i don't need even to go that far, the chances of him becoming immortal if he had met the doctor just a few years later are also very low, since the whole bad wolf thing never happened again (you know what i mean no one else became immortal because someone RIPPED OPEN THE HEART OF THE TARDIS)

all he needs to do is just come back to 1940s london and stop himself from meeting the doctor

and like;;;; jack doesn't have a time machine, but i believe he ends up travelling all the time. be it by accident, or by flirting with someone with a time machine..... i believe he travels in time a lot

and for all we know, he just never commited temporal suicide. it makes total sense and it's really really sad. because if he commits temporal suicide there, everything he did from that moment on would be erased from reality. everything;;;;; that meant Torchwood Three, the team....... that meant he would have never loved ianto.

and i think that's exactly what holds him back. no matter how miserable he feels all the time, erasing himself from the universe would erase all the changes he made into the team's lives. owen would loose his fiancee and never truly understand why, tosh would be locked up for life and ianto would be utterly alone after lisa's death.

and even though jack wouldn't be there to witness those destinies (because he erased himself so that version of him wouldn't exist therefore he couldn't possibly be sorry or even remember them), he still refuses, because he refuses to create a parallel universe where his team get such miserable lives.

[romanticfistfightz]

btw today i had a dream. that i watched dw episodes with jack so i could watch torchwood next . like i literally called it "jack harkness cinematic universe" . and now that i think about it. i should also watch the unquiet dead because of yknow the rift creation and gwyneth (was that her name??). and then these episodes with slitheens . 'cause tosh was there. and- im normal btw.

yoooo hell yea h .... jack harkness cinematic universe....... also yeah i think the unquiet death girl was gwyneth which . very original with naming her gwen later but it makes sense to more point out the Connection but im gonna be honest i didnt pick up its the same actress until my bf told me he knew her from somewhere when we watched torchwood for the first time . and then i forgor and when i made my friend watch dw with me (we stopped right before angels in manhattan bc i couldnt do it but we never picked it back up :( ) i saw her and was like wow thats gwen!! and then i forgor. until ten asked if her familys been in cardiff forever and then i was oh yeah she was there with nine!!!! . i have no idea why i just Forget shes been there im so sorry gwen .

also yessss slitheen eps. .... any 9th ep.. i love nine soooo much. sorry it took me so long to answer i started writing this like 30mins ago and kept getting distracted</3 also tosh.... hi....... i love tosh but i cant believe owen was supposed to go there that day id love to see owen interact with the doctor at least ONCE also its so funny how everyone in torchwood met the doctor. but not owen the torchwood doctor. rip owen you wouldve loved arguing with nine <//3

[c-murphy]

Tosh: I have a crush, but I’m a little embarrassed to tell you

Ianto: C’mon Tosh, you know I’m not going to judge. Just rip that bandaid off.

Tosh: it’s Owen

Ianto: You put that bandaid back on. You put that bandaid back on and let that wound fester

[torchwood-99]

Do Gwen haters actually hate Gwen? Because I’ve read their Gwen Bashing fanfics, and Gwen wasn’t in them.

In those stories, Gwen looks down on Tosh.

In canon, Gwen respects Tosh’s intelligence, and wanted to go out fighting in her’s and Owen’s memory. 

In those stories, Gwen hates and resents Ianto for Jack and Lisa.

In canon, Gwen is the one who feels shame at Lisa’s death, and only laughed when she accidentally caught Jack and Ianto shagging, and teased them about being a couple.

In those stories Gwen is selfish and a coward who thinks her life is more precious than the rest.

In canon, Gwen offered up her life for Carys and when Tosh and Ianto went missing insisted on going after them despite being wounded, and countless times risks her life to save others. In canon Gwen nearly walked into the rift without a second thought because it meant saving her home.

In those stories, all Gwen ever cared about after joining Torchwood was getting into Jack’s pants.

In canon, Gwen discovered there was a world of incredible and dangerous things and desperately wanted to discover more.

In those stories, Gwen just keeps Rhys around out of habit and would dump him first chance Jack offered.

In canon, Gwen would open the universe to keep Rhys alive, and would walk away from Torchwood before stealing Rhys’s memories of the risks he took for her.

In those stories Owen thinks Gwen is irritating and barely has any time for her.

In canon, Owen runs to console her when Rhys dies and respects her leadership and desperately tries to save her twice over in KKBB and is the one to hold her after she is nearly blown up.

In canon Gwen is the one Owen holds before he gives up his life, and is the one he tells about how he doesn’t want to live a half life. 

In canon, Gwen is the one who is able to make Owen smile and laugh without bitterness after his death. In canon, Gwen is the one who crawls under falling glass to pull Owen to safety.

In those stories, Jack stops caring about Gwen when he stops idealising her and sees her flaws.

In canon, Jack and Gwen go through hell together and their flaws are ripped open to be shown at full display, and they walk away loving each other all the more for the understanding they share.

So when I read these stories and I see them say “We hate Gwen Cooper”

What Gwen Cooper are they talking about?