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rmFor one thing, we get a lot of time in Jack's head about his immortality and how this affects his ability to relate to other people. It seems like a great set-up for CoE in the sense that I don't feel like Jack has made a choice yet about how to emotionally engage Ianto, but he can tell he has to and that it's going to cost him either way (there's also a bit of thought about whether Gwen or Ianto will leave Torchwood by death or retcon, which felt deeply ominous to me as regards CoE). He's dwelling on Owen and Tosh; he feels isolated; he has to make hard choices. As much as the central plot of this one seems to revolve around Ianto and the singing thing, Pinborough's access point to the TW universe is clearly Jack and Jack's emotions. We haven't seen that before, and since that's my access point to TW also, it was a great read for me. Her Gwen is solid and interesting, and it's worth noting that we almost never see Ianto's emotions from Ianto's perspective, except when he's cranky -- instead we see Gwen and Jack assuming what he's thinking. It's interesting, and I don't know if it was a conscious decision on the author's part, but it's worth nothing.
She's also fantastic with the OCs. I loved Cutler and her details were, in general, sharp and interesting, although this is also where the book potentially runs into trouble for some readers. There's a significant subplot involving a severely autistic boy. The plot is within the realm of reason, but in an extremely outlying way that could imply a lack of understanding of autism, and it's probably going to piss some readers off. I was willing to run with it and, when that part of the plot gets resolved, accept it, because this is a book all about murky shitty choices and it's clearly taking its cues both from Meat and Small Worlds. But if you're not comfortable with shitty and grey choices not being explicitly spelled out as such or having bad consequences, this book may make you angry, but I think it walks the line in true Torchwood style.
For Jack and Ianto fans, their relationship feels like solid, if unlabeled, background noise, and it's satisfying. Pinborough gets away with (or was willing to provide) more risque innuendo than I've seen in the novels so far, even as it's much less an upfront thing than, say, Almost Perfect. There are times you want to shake both Jack and Ianto, but not in a stupid French farce sort of way -- they're both just odd ducks, and I think there's some good fanfiction fodder in trying to figure out why on earth they conduct themselves towards each other quite the way they do.
Hopefully we'll have more from Pinborough in this franchise. She's bringing something to the table no one else has yet -- in the books or on screen (with the possible exception of Out of Time) -- and I think her work has the potential to satisfy readers who look at some of the more emotionally thoughtful and well-plotted fanwork in this franchise and say "why couldn't the show do this?"
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laurashapiro alerts us to a documentary on gender identity issues, homosexuality and Iran on HBO. Review (a must read) here: http://www.doublex.com/section/arts/get-sex-change-iranxtricks here: http://xtricks.livejournal.com/96484.html
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Date: 2009-07-01 02:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-01 03:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-01 03:51 pm (UTC)Hehe. I'm wearing the navy blue uniqlo shirt right now. No, I have not stolen your clothing.
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Date: 2009-07-01 03:53 pm (UTC)How are you and is there still a TW plan or are you hiding and sleeping?
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Date: 2009-07-01 04:21 pm (UTC)Otherwise I plan on going to the DWNY event and then have an BBC-American viewing party at my place if folks are still up to it.
Stomach and other regions in pain due to period/mono/liver infection. I'm beginning to think my possible overuse of Tylenol caused or exacerbated my liver infection.
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Date: 2009-07-01 04:22 pm (UTC)I can probably get a line on the episodes.
I'm not sure I can wait until the DWNY thing (which I'll probably go to), largely because if I need to have an emotional freakout over CoE, I'd like to do with without Barnaby's commentary.
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Date: 2009-07-01 04:34 pm (UTC)(Or anyone else's commentary, frankly.)
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Date: 2009-07-01 04:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-01 05:05 pm (UTC)Any plans for the Fourth?
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Date: 2009-07-01 05:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-01 04:13 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2009-07-01 04:32 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2009-07-01 05:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-01 10:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-01 04:41 pm (UTC)This is one giant clusterfuck of a story
Oh definitely. (Saw that linked from @gothamist on Twitter the other night and went "oh hell what?!") The more because the wounded party (according to comments at the post) is a HuffPo contributor.
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Date: 2009-07-01 04:51 pm (UTC)So acetimophen is the only painkiller I *can* take safely.
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Date: 2009-07-01 05:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-01 05:03 pm (UTC)I've seen at least three different versions of this story. Someone in the comments posted a link to an article in the NYPost that has elements (anti-semitic remarks) that I haven't seen anywhere else.
At least the pug came through it OK.
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Date: 2009-07-01 05:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-01 05:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-01 05:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-01 05:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-01 05:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-01 09:17 pm (UTC)unless you mean media as the plural of medium, which it is, but...
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Date: 2009-07-01 05:47 pm (UTC)And that poor woman - what a horrid situation all the way 'round.
Re: Vidding
Date: 2009-07-01 05:50 pm (UTC)Although, with only 22 members, I doubt this is going to get anywhere. Sink like a stone, indeed.
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Date: 2009-07-01 06:25 pm (UTC)Since I'm sort of the opposite of everyone else here - acetimiophen does aboslutely nothing for me - and I use Vicoden a fair amount for migraines (before we found a preventative med that seems to be working, yay!), I would like an option for a drug that doesn't have acetimiophen in it and it seems like you can't *find* plain codine or etc. Everyone seems to just throw acetimiphoen in everything.
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Date: 2009-07-01 09:52 pm (UTC)This unfortunately means some of those mixed drugs are my only options.
Celiac Article
Date: 2009-07-01 10:18 pm (UTC)http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/49558522.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUl
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Date: 2009-07-01 11:44 pm (UTC)I'm stocking up on Things With Quinine since it's the only thing that touches my muscle pain so far.
Re: VIdeorama
Date: 2009-07-01 11:46 pm (UTC)http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/6169/vidoramavideoawardsrule.png
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Date: 2009-07-02 04:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-02 06:15 am (UTC)Shitty Logic
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Date: 2009-07-02 08:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-07 10:24 am (UTC)OTOH, shared argh on writers behaving badly. And how much LGBT wtf can one put into a single week? Apparently lots. *facepalm*