torchwood panel in 160 characters or less

[fictional]

I'm kinda lj spamming today, for which my apologies. However! I kinda wish I were in Atlanta right now. Still. Next best thing to being there is this little liveblog from dragon*con via text message. If you've been reading I Had No Idea I Had Been Traveling, we feel even more justified now! Thanks, Gareth. ;-) I'm sure Rach will post about this in detail later, and then y'all can hear about g.d.l.'s favorite line (eye candy!), the fact that his ass hurts, and other such tidbits. Till then, I give you:



rach: i am going to hell.
kali: pourquoi?
rach: at panel. lots of info and blushing.
kali: awesome. take notes for me. remember, think mauve.
rach: i am!
rach: lots of Ianto backstory next series and relationship development with jack he says
kali: well we will be jossed but that will be awesome. how are they gonna fit all that in five eps? hopefully the writers wont fuck it up.
rach: gdl blushes at everything
rach: this is getting so raunchy!
rach: some insane girl just asked him out during the q & a in a really tacky way. also his favorite episode to film was adam because of the strangulation.
kali: ha! i knew it! did he say yes to the date? ;-)
rach: he was gracious but clearly and rightfully freaked out. but he did just kiss a girl and thanked her for thanking him for playing a bi character so movingly.
kali: *cries*
rach: now the topic has moved on to felching
kali: is he for or against?
rach: for. talking about booze for a while. now he says that if jack broke ianto's heart, it might be the last straw for him, and implies potential suicide.
kali: oh! gdl is a emo!ianto fan, is he? i guess we already knew that.
rach: yup. also long story will explain later that led him to saying people better not post online that he's barrowman's bitch now.
kali: too late, gareth honey, too late.
rach: also says adam latched onto something that was already in ianto
kali: and us, for the win!
rach: wait til you hear the lead up
rach: and he's a nin fan. and is obsessing on trent now.
rach: also hilarious slutty tosh story
rach: and now annoyance with gwack
rach: recharging phone, will call with details.

Comments

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

And what a partytrick it is. Lucky, lucky you. I've only seen clips of it from youtube. thank god for the internets!

I love that the cast so obviously really thinks about this stuff, and characterization, and why people do the things, instead of being like 90% of actors in a SF/F genre and saying, "well, it was just on the pages, I dunno." I feel like the actors really love and honor their characters, which I just appreciate so so much.

Yeah, I really wish I were at this con, which is odd for me, but for some reason the TW cast brings it out. We don't get to see them as much on this side of the Atlantic, which is v. v. sad. But good for my bank balance, as I'm sure I'd be contemplating all sorts of trips to see 'em, if it were even remotely possible and didn't involve intl travel. They are so gracious and fun. And they seem like fans themselves, which I think is one of the top reasons I like them so much.

Which is why, as Rach & I were saying on the phone, fanppl who don't know where the line is - and in this fandom, that line seems to be pretty freakin' far - are really annoying. Because they've been terribly good about allowing us access, and staying really fond and lovely, so it actually really gets to me. Especially for lads like G.D.L. who, let's face it, aren't *fabulously wealthy* or huge celebrities, but still have to deal with people who, due to their own internal narrative, have completely dehumanized them, and force them to either be rude, or distance themselves, or just play along in a manner uncomfortable for everybody. None of which are fun options. Like, come on!

[fairyd123.livejournal.com]

Gareth is very much the protector of Ianto. I mean if you read the Torchwood magazine things like Ianto's look of anguish at the end of Fragments was purely down to Gareth - Chris Chibnall appeared to think that Ianto's back story in Fragments was light hearted romantic comedy rather than the tale of a man so desperate to save the woman he loves that he is prepared to whore himself out to a stranger.

He really does think about his character and his motivations and is great at conventions as a result. He can also be hilarious- like his take on how Jack ends up as the Face of Boe. Some of it is fan service obviously - I don't believe for a second that he's actually sat down and read Jack/Ianto fanfic but he does it very well.

I think the reason my friends and I keep trekking up to Cardiff to see him and his band sing the same 9 songs is because for the most part he is very gracious and sweet and his friends are amusing and we have a real laugh. True he can be incredibly moody and grumpy when he's not in the mood but normally he is very good and has the patience of a saint when it comes to the ones who must have enough pictures of him to wallpaper a house!

He's never had anyone ask him out before though at a convention. At worst people just gaze adoringly at him. I mean what did she think he was going to say? "Well I was happily involved with Gemma but even though you're a total stranger and I don't even know your name and you've just asked me out in front of an entire room of people showing that you're clearly a total freak with no concept of how to behave in public or indeed civilised society since you asked so nicely why the hell not?"

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was thinking of the Fragments thing too, when I was saying that. I mean, there've been several occasions where Ianto's character was solely carried by G.D.L. with little to no help from the writers, and I really respect that. He's always got something going on in the background; i find it very impressive.

And hey, I love it when they do fan service. It seems like a v. clever marketing ploy among other things, and I like it when people give me the courtesy to actually figure out the things we want and deliver them with panache. But yeah, actually I agree on the fic front. Googled it maybe, and seen what popped up 'cause, well. That seems like a normal reaction.

Which is another reason why things like the "lay off the pies" thing in this fandom really irritate me. Aside from all the other reasons that it's ridiculous, offensive, and also, not very funny - it's such an utter lack of respect for someone who seems to work pretty hard to give us respect, when obviously nutjobs can make it kinda embarrassing to do so.

[fairyd123.livejournal.com]

Oh don't get me started on the pie crap. God was that unfunny and repetitive. Gareth has a very small belly (which to be honest is probably purely drink) which tends to show up in photos because at the gigs he is often wearing tight black t-shirts and strutting in stuff in poses which don't look very flattering. I have in the past had to go through photos I;ve taken and delete the unflattering ones before giving them to him but he is hardly obese. Just needs to do a few stomach crunches. But why fixate on his weight? Such a bizarre thing to do.

And yes given that he is very internet savvy (the guys in his band seem to find photos and vids wherever they're posted for the myspaces - including on LJ) it it disrespectful to talk such nonsense about him when he does try very hard with the fans. I mean he even dresses relatively sharply and makes sure he's clean shaven before he does conventions because he knows the fans for the most part are expecting to see Ianto appear before them (at the gigs he's normally in either a hoodie or a baseball cap and not necessarily fresh - my friends and I got slimey kisses on the cheek when we said goodbye at the last gig he was dripping head to toe in sweat!)

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

I find his shape quite cute, to be honest. To hell with those girls and their pies!

[rm.livejournal.com]

He looked fucking awesome. Buff and not skinny.

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

Envy can't actually kill you, can it?
I mean, that's just an expression, right?

[fairyd123.livejournal.com]

The arms are very distracting - at least they were the last time I saw him -they're huge!

[enkanowen.livejournal.com]

at Polaris, he went to work out at the hotel's gym in a muscle shirt... I had problems forming sentences while he was walking by... guh...

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

Word. I like him with meat on his bones. I think it's cute.

[enkanowen.livejournal.com]

hahhaah shoulda seen him at Polaris at 10 am. There was nothing clean shaven or even showered or underwear (I swear he makes these distracting comments on purpose). He's hottest that way. Put the boy in a suit and awww kinda cute but jeans, tee and a mic in front of him... rock and roll suits the man so well.

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

Good actors can fill in the gaps between good writing better than writers can fill in the gaps in between good acting.:(

[andreth47.livejournal.com]

Please excuse me for jumping in! This is a lovely discussion: it's both fangirly and rational, which is a rarity. *g* But I had to ask,- what is Gareth's take on how Jack ends up as FoB?

Carry on!

[fairyd123.livejournal.com]

He said (jokingly) that Jack probably got decapitated (I think he said that Jack got run over on some train tracks) and that Ianto out of love scooped up his head and put it in a big jar and fed it lots of miracle grow!

Then someone asked how the Face of Boe could have children at which point Gareth suggested that maybe Ianto lended a helping hand with his sperm!

In black and white it doesn't sound very amusing but it was hilarious at the time!

I've only seen clips of it from youtube. thank god for the internets!

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

Why wasn't I informed of this???????

Re: I've only seen clips of it from youtube. thank god for the internets!

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P783l05o0xY

Re: I've only seen clips of it from youtube. thank god for the internets!

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

I love the internet!:-)

"well, it was just on the pages, I dunno."

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

Sometimes this is a function of how much the writers care about it.
As David Duchovny once said:"Hey, I don't write this stuff!"
For the most part, I think actors care about the stories they tell. (That's my best guess.) Having a story to tell the writers care about is important to them, because it matters, and they are in the profession of being servants to words.
I think they want believe that the audience can tell when they're doing something good.

Re: "well, it was just on the pages, I dunno."

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

I don't know though. When you get the genre ghetto, I think there are actors who resent it, never having been geeks themselves, and thus don't really get into the story as much as they could. It's one of the reasons I appreciate Torchwood & Doctor Who (and Firefly); you can tell the actors AND the writers are all fans. It's one of the reasons I like Tennant better than Eccleston; I think the love really shows.

Well, i did say 'sometimes'

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

Well, i did say sometimes Having lived in Alberta* almost all my life, I must now wrap my head around the concept that there are actors who don't know they're geeks....
Agree that it makes a difference, and that the difference shows.



*W.O. Mitchell, play write and story writer, lived for 24 years in High River. Alberta, quite near here, and very near where I grew up. Despite his fame across the country, locals used to point him out with the words "That's old man Mitchell. He doesn't do anything!"