Red, pink and blue
Jan. 19th, 2008 10:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccaelizabethWherein I read far too much into small amounts of data, about clothes in TW 2-01.
So: Jack. Back. Wearing much the same thing. But, interesting, to me it looks like the shirt is a different blue. Royal instead of navy, more saturated, and neither like a uniform nor very dark. Different color than he spent a year in. It's more colorful, more vibrant - kind of like Jack, who has some extra spark back. The same, only more so. I like it.
Plus, you've got to admit he looks great in blue.
Same can be said for James Marsters and red - we've seen that before.
In Buffyverse color language Spike's shirts had pretty clear meanings, though I haven't currently a quote to back that up. Red shirt was for passion, blue for loyal/love. True blue.
Of course closer to home there's TW 1-04 commentary, saying the lights are red and blue because of course they're the emergency colors. I think between them our two Captains definitely add up to an emergency.
Harkness uniform blues, loyalty, identity - he was way defensive, "note the stripes" / "I worked my way up through the ranks". He earned Captain, and the symbols thereof.
"Captain John Hart, note the sarcasm"
He's wearing a uniform too, even more antique than Jack. It's kind of like Sharpe. I think then rank could be bought? I'm two logic steps out on that one, requires more research. The gold braid makes gold a big feature of the thing, but likely not in any precious metal sense. Fools gold flash? Mercenary gold, for sure. And that's a uniform jacket but note the lack of stripes, or any other signs for that matter. Looks a bit naked for an actual uniform, yesno? Again, with the need for research, but. Has the appearance of military, the swish dressy sort, without the signs of allegiance.
The red is pretty intense, but deep enough to be a bit wine and blood. And if we're calling it passion? That's an easy fit.
But, interesting, there's also blue on it. Collar, cuffs, and jeans. It's dark, could be black, like Jack's coat is pretty much grey except for picking up the light. But I think if you turn up the color on the monitor or push the saturation in photoshop there's blue. In the Hub in the right light, blue. And I wouldn't be poking that too much except that in Buffyverse shirts that would be mixed messages, and isn't it fun to wonder if it is here too? Faded out, beat up, gone dark, but some true-blue lurking in there too...
The shirt, messed up and stained, says mileage, and mess, and not paying as much attention to his appearance underneath the first layer. It's not a very layered look, but any more than one layer and there's more than one message going on. So- flash on the outside, trashed underneath?
The leather and the excess of straps adds a certain something. I realise I quite easily go to a bondage place, but it's an odd excess of symbols of restraint on a guy who doesn't seem to have any. Have you seen those boots? Those are good boots. Straps and buckles all the way up. It's like he's being held together, caught in. And his weapons, in the big gunslinger rig, are the most obvious part of that. He's wrapped up in them. I mean compare it to Jack's relatively discreet little gun and holster, and what we have here is a great big statement. Big guns, big straps, lots of swagger and aggression.
And then we see him being disarmed, and it's layers and layers of weapon. The big statement is drawing attention away from the little sneaky things. I mean, he claims to be a two weapon guy, and with them so out there in plain sight, would everyone think to look for the rest? So he's distracting through exaggeration. And you can get that from the look even before you get to the plan.
His sword... I like the sword. Got to say, hitting all my kinks there. I love katana blades - well made they're a masterful application of metallurgy, a real peak of elegant weapon design. I know, everyone feels that way about their favourites, but I've spent somewhat embarrassing lengths of time with my nose pressed up against the glass in a museum checking out the look of the metal. I can wax poetic about it at length.
This? Well, I can like it, but, will you look at the scales on that? We've got a snakeskin scabbard and hilt going on there. That's a bit more flash than a really serious blade should go with. I mean I think of a really nice sword and I'm thinking something plain, stripped down, ready to work. This is anything but plain. And again, he's got a laser knife up his sleeve, so he can do discreet, but this thing is out there being flash and making a statement.
I don't know that the pattern is really snake related, but doesn't the idea work for the connotations? And it do look scaled, and has a nifty repeating pattern. Very nice.
... reminds me a little bit of those 3 for £20 'katana' sets you can get on discount web pages, but I'm just not a flashy person really. More you know, less you have to show.
So, anyway - read the guy's outfit and you can get a lot out of it. There's significant overlap with Jack - military, history, weapons, excessive belts, wrist strap - but there's a difference in style on each of those keywords, always making Jack seem like the more moderate one. Like Owen says "He's worse than Jack", and it shows.
Next: Pink. Ianto.
Now pink is a lovely sort of Janus color in the symbolism, because it keeps on shifting meanings. Yes, we've got a nice little pink and blue set going on with Ianto and Jack, and it do slightly bring to mind the wife conversation. Ianto would be a very good wife. He cleans, he gets the food in... bit too easy to read it that way.
Some people of my acquaintance have, er, very specific ideas of the meaning of pink on a guy. But apparently these days even straight guys can wear pink shirts, or at least so my brother assures my mum.
... heh, I just googled 'men wearing pink' and the second answer is "Real men do wear pink, they just don't talk about it". Another one goes "maybe it’s because a man who wears pink exudes confidence, yet is sensitive." I r giggling here. :eyeroll:
ANYways, so we have some feminine associations and some queer ones. Okays. Moving on.
The fun thing is that pink also has completely the opposite associations. Pink was for boys once, according to a lot of websites. Associated with red, blood, war, it was just a lighter version of a lucky, active, masculine color.
So we've got Jones in a light red and John in a dark...
fun.
His tie has a bit of blue, I think, and light stripes. His suit is a charcoal pinstripe. Very officey. And we get Jack telling how he feels about offices. Exotic. As far removed from his life as can be. So we've got the visual contrast, and a sort of continuum where Jack's outfit can almost go with Ianto's if he takes the coat off but kind of match John's with the outer military layer on them both, but Ianto doesn't match John at all in style.
Ianto is wearing a belt. But it isn't where he keeps his gun. For that he reaches in the inside left of his jacket. So that's a level more discreet than even Jack, up to sneaky. And also, it isn't stuffed down the back of his trousers like Countrycide, he probably has the right equipment now. Just can't see it cause he keeps his jacket on. Ianto is always layered - shirt, jacket, waistcoat. More to him than meets the eye.
... yes I went to a 'and looks good out of a suit' place for a minute there. Do you think we gets any visuals? I think the most skin we've seen on him is his forearms. Which are very pretty in their way, but...
er, I had a topic, right? right...
Hmmm, what else... Shoes? John has the spectacular big boots of straps, Jack has the smaller yet still boot like clunky shoes, both of them brown. Consider the different effect if John was all black leather... aaaaand I'm back from the happy place again. Ahem. ANYway, Ianto again has the most formal/modern option, shiny little goes with suits shoes.
I just watched real slow and Ianto's *gun* has TORCHWOOD on a little plate down the side. I can't decide if that's cool or *facepalm*.
... no, no, that's definitely *facepalm*. I mean, you can just see someone customising them for this ultra secret government agency, just like the SUV... *sigh*
I liked that office. Up on the wall they had 'Think Team' on red behind Jack and 'Customer Team' on blue behind Ianto. As well as the usual Fire Door signs and stuff. I tend to end up reading the background, it's another hazard of being in the subtitle habit.
... I may have watched that office scene just a teensy few many times just now.
*happy grins*
Okay, so I think I've squeezed the outfits dry for now. There's the other half of the team to play with too, but I've been sitting here an hour and it's probably Very Silly already.
Best accessory: Silver tray. Because things must be done in the proper style.
:-D
So: Jack. Back. Wearing much the same thing. But, interesting, to me it looks like the shirt is a different blue. Royal instead of navy, more saturated, and neither like a uniform nor very dark. Different color than he spent a year in. It's more colorful, more vibrant - kind of like Jack, who has some extra spark back. The same, only more so. I like it.
Plus, you've got to admit he looks great in blue.
Same can be said for James Marsters and red - we've seen that before.
In Buffyverse color language Spike's shirts had pretty clear meanings, though I haven't currently a quote to back that up. Red shirt was for passion, blue for loyal/love. True blue.
Of course closer to home there's TW 1-04 commentary, saying the lights are red and blue because of course they're the emergency colors. I think between them our two Captains definitely add up to an emergency.
Harkness uniform blues, loyalty, identity - he was way defensive, "note the stripes" / "I worked my way up through the ranks". He earned Captain, and the symbols thereof.
"Captain John Hart, note the sarcasm"
He's wearing a uniform too, even more antique than Jack. It's kind of like Sharpe. I think then rank could be bought? I'm two logic steps out on that one, requires more research. The gold braid makes gold a big feature of the thing, but likely not in any precious metal sense. Fools gold flash? Mercenary gold, for sure. And that's a uniform jacket but note the lack of stripes, or any other signs for that matter. Looks a bit naked for an actual uniform, yesno? Again, with the need for research, but. Has the appearance of military, the swish dressy sort, without the signs of allegiance.
The red is pretty intense, but deep enough to be a bit wine and blood. And if we're calling it passion? That's an easy fit.
But, interesting, there's also blue on it. Collar, cuffs, and jeans. It's dark, could be black, like Jack's coat is pretty much grey except for picking up the light. But I think if you turn up the color on the monitor or push the saturation in photoshop there's blue. In the Hub in the right light, blue. And I wouldn't be poking that too much except that in Buffyverse shirts that would be mixed messages, and isn't it fun to wonder if it is here too? Faded out, beat up, gone dark, but some true-blue lurking in there too...
The shirt, messed up and stained, says mileage, and mess, and not paying as much attention to his appearance underneath the first layer. It's not a very layered look, but any more than one layer and there's more than one message going on. So- flash on the outside, trashed underneath?
The leather and the excess of straps adds a certain something. I realise I quite easily go to a bondage place, but it's an odd excess of symbols of restraint on a guy who doesn't seem to have any. Have you seen those boots? Those are good boots. Straps and buckles all the way up. It's like he's being held together, caught in. And his weapons, in the big gunslinger rig, are the most obvious part of that. He's wrapped up in them. I mean compare it to Jack's relatively discreet little gun and holster, and what we have here is a great big statement. Big guns, big straps, lots of swagger and aggression.
And then we see him being disarmed, and it's layers and layers of weapon. The big statement is drawing attention away from the little sneaky things. I mean, he claims to be a two weapon guy, and with them so out there in plain sight, would everyone think to look for the rest? So he's distracting through exaggeration. And you can get that from the look even before you get to the plan.
His sword... I like the sword. Got to say, hitting all my kinks there. I love katana blades - well made they're a masterful application of metallurgy, a real peak of elegant weapon design. I know, everyone feels that way about their favourites, but I've spent somewhat embarrassing lengths of time with my nose pressed up against the glass in a museum checking out the look of the metal. I can wax poetic about it at length.
This? Well, I can like it, but, will you look at the scales on that? We've got a snakeskin scabbard and hilt going on there. That's a bit more flash than a really serious blade should go with. I mean I think of a really nice sword and I'm thinking something plain, stripped down, ready to work. This is anything but plain. And again, he's got a laser knife up his sleeve, so he can do discreet, but this thing is out there being flash and making a statement.
I don't know that the pattern is really snake related, but doesn't the idea work for the connotations? And it do look scaled, and has a nifty repeating pattern. Very nice.
... reminds me a little bit of those 3 for £20 'katana' sets you can get on discount web pages, but I'm just not a flashy person really. More you know, less you have to show.
So, anyway - read the guy's outfit and you can get a lot out of it. There's significant overlap with Jack - military, history, weapons, excessive belts, wrist strap - but there's a difference in style on each of those keywords, always making Jack seem like the more moderate one. Like Owen says "He's worse than Jack", and it shows.
Next: Pink. Ianto.
Now pink is a lovely sort of Janus color in the symbolism, because it keeps on shifting meanings. Yes, we've got a nice little pink and blue set going on with Ianto and Jack, and it do slightly bring to mind the wife conversation. Ianto would be a very good wife. He cleans, he gets the food in... bit too easy to read it that way.
Some people of my acquaintance have, er, very specific ideas of the meaning of pink on a guy. But apparently these days even straight guys can wear pink shirts, or at least so my brother assures my mum.
... heh, I just googled 'men wearing pink' and the second answer is "Real men do wear pink, they just don't talk about it". Another one goes "maybe it’s because a man who wears pink exudes confidence, yet is sensitive." I r giggling here. :eyeroll:
ANYways, so we have some feminine associations and some queer ones. Okays. Moving on.
The fun thing is that pink also has completely the opposite associations. Pink was for boys once, according to a lot of websites. Associated with red, blood, war, it was just a lighter version of a lucky, active, masculine color.
So we've got Jones in a light red and John in a dark...
fun.
His tie has a bit of blue, I think, and light stripes. His suit is a charcoal pinstripe. Very officey. And we get Jack telling how he feels about offices. Exotic. As far removed from his life as can be. So we've got the visual contrast, and a sort of continuum where Jack's outfit can almost go with Ianto's if he takes the coat off but kind of match John's with the outer military layer on them both, but Ianto doesn't match John at all in style.
Ianto is wearing a belt. But it isn't where he keeps his gun. For that he reaches in the inside left of his jacket. So that's a level more discreet than even Jack, up to sneaky. And also, it isn't stuffed down the back of his trousers like Countrycide, he probably has the right equipment now. Just can't see it cause he keeps his jacket on. Ianto is always layered - shirt, jacket, waistcoat. More to him than meets the eye.
... yes I went to a 'and looks good out of a suit' place for a minute there. Do you think we gets any visuals? I think the most skin we've seen on him is his forearms. Which are very pretty in their way, but...
er, I had a topic, right? right...
Hmmm, what else... Shoes? John has the spectacular big boots of straps, Jack has the smaller yet still boot like clunky shoes, both of them brown. Consider the different effect if John was all black leather... aaaaand I'm back from the happy place again. Ahem. ANYway, Ianto again has the most formal/modern option, shiny little goes with suits shoes.
I just watched real slow and Ianto's *gun* has TORCHWOOD on a little plate down the side. I can't decide if that's cool or *facepalm*.
... no, no, that's definitely *facepalm*. I mean, you can just see someone customising them for this ultra secret government agency, just like the SUV... *sigh*
I liked that office. Up on the wall they had 'Think Team' on red behind Jack and 'Customer Team' on blue behind Ianto. As well as the usual Fire Door signs and stuff. I tend to end up reading the background, it's another hazard of being in the subtitle habit.
... I may have watched that office scene just a teensy few many times just now.
*happy grins*
Okay, so I think I've squeezed the outfits dry for now. There's the other half of the team to play with too, but I've been sitting here an hour and it's probably Very Silly already.
Best accessory: Silver tray. Because things must be done in the proper style.
:-D
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 12:52 am (UTC)I think the pink/blue for babies was reverse order in the 19th century; I remember reading that somewhere too.
I wish I could watch this show. Oh well, maybe someday... I'm enjoying the analysis, anyway.
Of course, if I do ever get to watch it, it may have to be when the husband isn't home, because slash, even implied, makes him very uncomfortable.
canon slash FTW
Date: 2008-01-20 04:04 pm (UTC)heh... er, this is not implied. or subtle. or in any way possible to miss.
but it is rather fun. and things go boom and smash. got to like that.
Re: canon slash FTW
Date: 2008-01-20 04:48 pm (UTC)Re: canon slash FTW
Date: 2008-01-20 08:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 02:34 am (UTC)Sharpe earned his promotion- moving up the ranks at a time that most bought their promotions- which is how Jack claimed to have earned his Capt stripes. Not sure what that implies, but it's made me think.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 04:01 pm (UTC)I'm vaguely wondering if I should rewatch Sharpe.
comparing the Rifles jacket to John's red and gold... Rifles were green and actually useful for blending in. John would stand out, unless on alien landscapes. Even then I'm not seeing blue-red-gold as a camouflage... maybe on a planet of really big flowers or something...
no subject
Date: 2008-01-30 05:15 am (UTC)Hmm that's all I can remember off the top of my head. I'd double check the references; I do need to brush up on my ancient mythology.
I just wikied Blue :
* Psychics who claim to be able to observe the aura with their third eye report that someone with a blue aura is a person who is oriented toward spirituality. People with blue auras are said to be in interested in social service work and to be in occupations such as social worker, counselor, teacher, writer, and psychologist.
* In the United Kingdom blue is the colour of the Conservative Party.
* Blue in Judaism: In the Torah, the Israelites were commanded to put fringes, tzitzit, on the corners of their garments, and to weave within these fringes a "twisted thread of blue (tekhelet)".[6] In ancient days, this blue thread was made from a dye extracted from a Mediterranean snail called the hilazon. Maimonides claimed that this blue was the colour of “the clear noonday sky”; Rashi, the colour of the evening sky. According to several rabbinic sages, blue is the colour of God’s Glory. Staring at this colour aids in mediation, bringing us a glimpse of the “pavement of sapphire, like the very sky for purity”, which is a likeness of the Throne of God. (The Hebrew word for glory. Many items in the Mishkan, the portable sanctuary in the wilderness, such as the menorah, many of the vessels, and the Ark of the Covenant, were covered with blue cloth when transported from place to place.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So yeah Blue=purity
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Red
*In human color psychology, red is associated with energy and blood, and emotions that stir the blood, including anger, passion, and love.
*Red is also used as a symbol of courage and sacrifice, as in blood spilt in sacrifice or courage in the face of lethal danger. Examples of this are found in the flags of many nations including the United States, as well as in the novel The Red Badge of Courage, in which a soldier in the American Civil War discovers the meaning of courage.[24] Besides the association with guilt previously mentioned, in Christianity, red represents the color of Christian martyrs who suffered death for their faith. It is sometimes used for Holy Thursday and during Eastertide. In Roman Catholic tradition it is used for all feast days of Christian martyrs as well as Palm Sunday in anticipation of the death of Jesus.[20] Along the same lines, red is associated in Roman mythology with the god of war, Mars. A Roman general receiving a triumph had his entire body painted red in honor of his achievement. The phrase "red-blooded" describes someone who is audacious, robust, or virile. In English heraldry, red (called gules) denoted ardent affection or love, while crimson (blood-color) stood for boldness, enthusiasm, or impetuosity. Psychics who claim to be able to observe the aura with their third eye report that someone with a red aura is typically someone who is in an occupation requiring vibrant health and vigorous physical exertion, such as a professional sportsperson, a personal trainer, or a manual laborer.
This is all from Wikipedia.
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Wow you can tell I was bored. So I'm thinking Ianto wearing pink represents his sacrifice in Lisa being killed by the team and caring for Jack.