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eldabeI'm running out of time on this, but I must have started and stopped this post at least a dozen times. I've looked at the date this show is supposed to air, and it's Time To Post.
Torchwood is having a fourth season. When rumors about this started, I was totally dismissive. "No way," I said, "no way will Torchwood have a fourth season. RTD broke all the toys in the toybox after Children of Earth. That was the finale. That was it. Torchwood is over."
Because that's what it seemed like. Children of Earth was such a departure from the first two seasons, and the team went from a staff of five to two, and then Jack walked away. I had my private little fan theories about What Happened Next, as did we all, and fandom was free to play in the pool that RTD had clearly abandoned. We had our fix-its and our non-fix-its and our sheer "ignore COE and possibly also Exit Wounds" and we were good, if a little sad and maybe a slowly dying fandom. But that's how it goes.
I was a little frustrated coming into the fandom late, because a torn-apart, slowly-dying fandom isn't necessarily one that you want to fall head-over-heels into. I spent at least two months silently playing catch-up before I really posted anything anywhere. I contented myself with the bits of fandom that were still active, and that was it.
As I came to the fandom about a year after Children of Earth, I couldn't partition it away from canon the way some fans could. It came to me as part of the bundle, and while I could easily read fic that ignored it, or contradicted it, COE was there to stay. Even if COE was different. It was there anyway.
But then suddenly it wasn't a dismissive rumor with Fox. Suddenly the show was a pre-production with Starz. And all the craving I had for an active fandom came rolling back. I wouldn't have to settle for old fics and authors that have left the fandom and long-abandoned theories and excitment. Torchwood didn't have to be a sleepy fandom anymore. It could be an active place with new characters and fan theories and excitement! I knew I was going to be watching it. I was THERE.
But Ianto was my favorite character of the team. (Rhiannon is my favorite character. But that is neither here nor there.) And like I said, COE was a pretty decisive "breaking the toys, burning the toybox and stamping on the ashes" moment. And I wasn't thrilled with the American angle. And the show was clearly going to skip the closure the fans craved. (And RTD clearly has no idea how old Anwen is supposed to be/act. Babies change pretty fast, Russell. Google it.)
And then I got scared. I mean, this fandom is already splintered into factions. Another season is only going to make it far worse.
Now I'm going through major ups and downs over this. Some days, I just avoid every post I see on Torchwood. Some days, I read some of them. Some days I'm nothing buy exclamation points of excitement. At this point I avoid almost all interviews, but I check out most of the publicity images.
I have a few files of crazy rants I've written in response to interviews and some of the earliest released information. The lines that get me really mad are when RTD (or sometimes John Barrowman) are all, "Oh, this show is going to be just as edgy and sex and gay and whatnot as the old Torchwood." Listen, for all the implications in Old TW, we saw Owen naked a few times, a few straight-sex moments and some gay kissing. Really didn't push as many boundaries as you thought. So actually, you're just pushing the envelope now and claiming that you're continuing in the same vein. Not buying it, guys.
Plus, darker and grittier? I don't want darker and grittier. The show started out walking a careful balance between hellish and dark (just rewatch the first five episodes if you don't believe me) and redemptive. The characters had lighthearted moments, and while they were increasingly isolated from the rest of the world, they weren't swimming in it! COE went waaaay downhill in that respect. And...I don't want more dark and gritty. I get that enough in comic book fandom, and in all sorts of other media. I want a pet pterodactyl.
fiwen1010 said something really interesting the first time we met. She referred to it as a spin-off of our Torchwood. It's an intriguing idea. I've been mulling it over, and I've gone back and forth on it. As I have for everything about this show, now.
I can say that I'll be in fandom on it, because that's where I want to be. I want to have the fun time with theories and watching with other people and bouncing with happiness. I know this is going to be at least a little bittersweet. I already know that if/when I write fanfiction for Miracle Day, a lot of it will be me incorporating thoughts from the first three seasons in the thought processes of Gwen, Jack, Rhys and Andy. I'm already curious about what happened to Jack while he was gone. Because while I personally theorize that he left to move on, Ianto and Steven weren't the only dark patches he abandoned when he fled Earth. I just don't see why he would return so soon after he left, why he would come back to Gwen in particular, who is nothing more than a reminder of why he left, really. Plus, I want Lois Habiba! More than that, I want ALICE. I can understand Jack not bothering to disturb Ianto's family, but there is no way in hell he hasn't looked up his daughter.
Still, I'm firmly in fandom on this one. Let's see how it goes, I guess.
Torchwood is having a fourth season. When rumors about this started, I was totally dismissive. "No way," I said, "no way will Torchwood have a fourth season. RTD broke all the toys in the toybox after Children of Earth. That was the finale. That was it. Torchwood is over."
Because that's what it seemed like. Children of Earth was such a departure from the first two seasons, and the team went from a staff of five to two, and then Jack walked away. I had my private little fan theories about What Happened Next, as did we all, and fandom was free to play in the pool that RTD had clearly abandoned. We had our fix-its and our non-fix-its and our sheer "ignore COE and possibly also Exit Wounds" and we were good, if a little sad and maybe a slowly dying fandom. But that's how it goes.
I was a little frustrated coming into the fandom late, because a torn-apart, slowly-dying fandom isn't necessarily one that you want to fall head-over-heels into. I spent at least two months silently playing catch-up before I really posted anything anywhere. I contented myself with the bits of fandom that were still active, and that was it.
As I came to the fandom about a year after Children of Earth, I couldn't partition it away from canon the way some fans could. It came to me as part of the bundle, and while I could easily read fic that ignored it, or contradicted it, COE was there to stay. Even if COE was different. It was there anyway.
But then suddenly it wasn't a dismissive rumor with Fox. Suddenly the show was a pre-production with Starz. And all the craving I had for an active fandom came rolling back. I wouldn't have to settle for old fics and authors that have left the fandom and long-abandoned theories and excitment. Torchwood didn't have to be a sleepy fandom anymore. It could be an active place with new characters and fan theories and excitement! I knew I was going to be watching it. I was THERE.
But Ianto was my favorite character of the team. (Rhiannon is my favorite character. But that is neither here nor there.) And like I said, COE was a pretty decisive "breaking the toys, burning the toybox and stamping on the ashes" moment. And I wasn't thrilled with the American angle. And the show was clearly going to skip the closure the fans craved. (And RTD clearly has no idea how old Anwen is supposed to be/act. Babies change pretty fast, Russell. Google it.)
And then I got scared. I mean, this fandom is already splintered into factions. Another season is only going to make it far worse.
Now I'm going through major ups and downs over this. Some days, I just avoid every post I see on Torchwood. Some days, I read some of them. Some days I'm nothing buy exclamation points of excitement. At this point I avoid almost all interviews, but I check out most of the publicity images.
I have a few files of crazy rants I've written in response to interviews and some of the earliest released information. The lines that get me really mad are when RTD (or sometimes John Barrowman) are all, "Oh, this show is going to be just as edgy and sex and gay and whatnot as the old Torchwood." Listen, for all the implications in Old TW, we saw Owen naked a few times, a few straight-sex moments and some gay kissing. Really didn't push as many boundaries as you thought. So actually, you're just pushing the envelope now and claiming that you're continuing in the same vein. Not buying it, guys.
Plus, darker and grittier? I don't want darker and grittier. The show started out walking a careful balance between hellish and dark (just rewatch the first five episodes if you don't believe me) and redemptive. The characters had lighthearted moments, and while they were increasingly isolated from the rest of the world, they weren't swimming in it! COE went waaaay downhill in that respect. And...I don't want more dark and gritty. I get that enough in comic book fandom, and in all sorts of other media. I want a pet pterodactyl.
fiwen1010 said something really interesting the first time we met. She referred to it as a spin-off of our Torchwood. It's an intriguing idea. I've been mulling it over, and I've gone back and forth on it. As I have for everything about this show, now.I can say that I'll be in fandom on it, because that's where I want to be. I want to have the fun time with theories and watching with other people and bouncing with happiness. I know this is going to be at least a little bittersweet. I already know that if/when I write fanfiction for Miracle Day, a lot of it will be me incorporating thoughts from the first three seasons in the thought processes of Gwen, Jack, Rhys and Andy. I'm already curious about what happened to Jack while he was gone. Because while I personally theorize that he left to move on, Ianto and Steven weren't the only dark patches he abandoned when he fled Earth. I just don't see why he would return so soon after he left, why he would come back to Gwen in particular, who is nothing more than a reminder of why he left, really. Plus, I want Lois Habiba! More than that, I want ALICE. I can understand Jack not bothering to disturb Ianto's family, but there is no way in hell he hasn't looked up his daughter.
Still, I'm firmly in fandom on this one. Let's see how it goes, I guess.
