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captainsblog(For those arriving late, as well as those maddeningly numbed by my daily attention to this 30-day meme about television shows, the whole list of daily subjects is here.)
Day 20 - Favorite kiss
I am so not doing this.
I am, however, doing something better. While I have never seen one lip press another in the context of the story I am about to tell, there is something as deep, and passionate, and loving of the things that matter in it than anything in the televised histories of the SATC girls, or David and Maddie from Moonlighting, or any other nominee I could think of from memory or general reputation.
It is a love story of the finest kind. Of two characters, but also of a fan and her fandom, and unlike even that record-breaking kiss at the end of Princess Bride, the story you are about to hear is true.
By way of background: I got this explanation from a blogger from Cardiff (one I had no connection to whatsoever until I googled this) who told the tale far better than I ever could *-
Hands up if you have seen or heard of a TV show called Torchwood. It is one of the spin off series of Doctor Who. It is mainly based and filmed in and around Cardiff, especially Cardiff Bay. The center for the Torchwood team is called the Hub and is suppose to be hidden under Roald Dahl Plaza. Now during the last episode of Torchwood the Hub blew up with poor Ianto Jones (one of the team) still inside. So I assume you can see where this is going. This memorial wall is to the character Ianto Jones! This is where part of his body was found in the TV show. He was a big part of the series and loved by many. This is a tiny part of the original memorial. There have been hundreds of flowers left over time and letters from people who have come from all over the world (and lots of coffee sachets!) Madness! The people who own this part of the bay had to put up a sign to tell people this was not a real person....
(Ray again.) A dear Friend of mine who also lives and attends the university in Cardiff has taken a personal role in maintaining, and occasionally preserving, the memorial. Known on her blog simply as the "TIC" (for Tourist Information Centre), she often comments on the good, the bad and the occasional ugly that arises at that site. Last week, she had quite the dose of the latter. While working around the memorial, she was accosted by a roving pack of what can only be described as heterosexual hooligans, who took exception to such a tribute. By "taking exception," I mean "tearing down pieces of the shrine."
First, they said, it was because the honourees weren't real, but in time, their true colours (red, with a black-on-white symbol in the middle and not a hint of the rest of the rainbow) started coming out. Hooligan the First "called the subject of the memorial-- remember, many items express feelings or images of the relationship between Jack and Ianto- 'disgusting'." Hooligan 3 (the one in the middle being surprisingly quiet) then joined in the condemnation, likening Jack/Ianto pairings to murder and pedophilia. The leader then started going after Melissa herself with his words, responding to her objections to their acts and attitudes as evidencing that she "needed help and 'some serious brainwashing from Jesus.'"
On behalf of my Christian faith, which is far more foreign to them than it is to her Jewish/Mormon/atheistic background, I apologise.
More important, though, is that she didn't apologise. She stuck to her guns, despite being totally unarmed and outnumbered, and kept the site from suffering further damage, as well as reporting it as a hate crime. (Unfortunately for the perps, the head of the Safe Wales LGBT section is quite the Torchwood fan.)
And so, I begin this day of remembrance by saluting a kiss I never saw, from a show (Torchwood,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nonspecific) I've never watched- between two lovers made real by fans, kept alive by more of them, and protected from harm by one of the most special of them. ::faraway hugs in Mel's general direction::
----
* But clearly not as well as Mel herself would have. There are some minor canonical inaccuracies in that description of Ianto's demise. We discussed them in IMing last night:
Me: put. the fandom. down. it's not important. what's important is what the fans did there, and especially what you did
Mel: I'm an archaeologist! FACTS!
You are far more than an archaeologist. Just sayin'.
Day 20 - Favorite kiss
I am so not doing this.
I am, however, doing something better. While I have never seen one lip press another in the context of the story I am about to tell, there is something as deep, and passionate, and loving of the things that matter in it than anything in the televised histories of the SATC girls, or David and Maddie from Moonlighting, or any other nominee I could think of from memory or general reputation.
It is a love story of the finest kind. Of two characters, but also of a fan and her fandom, and unlike even that record-breaking kiss at the end of Princess Bride, the story you are about to hear is true.
By way of background: I got this explanation from a blogger from Cardiff (one I had no connection to whatsoever until I googled this) who told the tale far better than I ever could *-
Hands up if you have seen or heard of a TV show called Torchwood. It is one of the spin off series of Doctor Who. It is mainly based and filmed in and around Cardiff, especially Cardiff Bay. The center for the Torchwood team is called the Hub and is suppose to be hidden under Roald Dahl Plaza. Now during the last episode of Torchwood the Hub blew up with poor Ianto Jones (one of the team) still inside. So I assume you can see where this is going. This memorial wall is to the character Ianto Jones! This is where part of his body was found in the TV show. He was a big part of the series and loved by many. This is a tiny part of the original memorial. There have been hundreds of flowers left over time and letters from people who have come from all over the world (and lots of coffee sachets!) Madness! The people who own this part of the bay had to put up a sign to tell people this was not a real person....
(Ray again.) A dear Friend of mine who also lives and attends the university in Cardiff has taken a personal role in maintaining, and occasionally preserving, the memorial. Known on her blog simply as the "TIC" (for Tourist Information Centre), she often comments on the good, the bad and the occasional ugly that arises at that site. Last week, she had quite the dose of the latter. While working around the memorial, she was accosted by a roving pack of what can only be described as heterosexual hooligans, who took exception to such a tribute. By "taking exception," I mean "tearing down pieces of the shrine."
First, they said, it was because the honourees weren't real, but in time, their true colours (red, with a black-on-white symbol in the middle and not a hint of the rest of the rainbow) started coming out. Hooligan the First "called the subject of the memorial-- remember, many items express feelings or images of the relationship between Jack and Ianto- 'disgusting'." Hooligan 3 (the one in the middle being surprisingly quiet) then joined in the condemnation, likening Jack/Ianto pairings to murder and pedophilia. The leader then started going after Melissa herself with his words, responding to her objections to their acts and attitudes as evidencing that she "needed help and 'some serious brainwashing from Jesus.'"
On behalf of my Christian faith, which is far more foreign to them than it is to her Jewish/Mormon/atheistic background, I apologise.
More important, though, is that she didn't apologise. She stuck to her guns, despite being totally unarmed and outnumbered, and kept the site from suffering further damage, as well as reporting it as a hate crime. (Unfortunately for the perps, the head of the Safe Wales LGBT section is quite the Torchwood fan.)
And so, I begin this day of remembrance by saluting a kiss I never saw, from a show (Torchwood,
nonspecific) I've never watched- between two lovers made real by fans, kept alive by more of them, and protected from harm by one of the most special of them. ::faraway hugs in Mel's general direction::----
* But clearly not as well as Mel herself would have. There are some minor canonical inaccuracies in that description of Ianto's demise. We discussed them in IMing last night:
Me: put. the fandom. down. it's not important. what's important is what the fans did there, and especially what you did
Mel: I'm an archaeologist! FACTS!
You are far more than an archaeologist. Just sayin'.