AHAHAHAHA!

I was just having a discussion with my parents earlier today about how every actor ever has been on an episode of Law and Order.

Then I walk into the room to talk to them, and they're watching Law and Order.

And freaking Enver Gjokaj is on the screen!

Oh, I died.

(Only saw half of the episode, but he was very good.)

I just bought pajama pants from the little boys section of K-Mart. They're a little bit big on me. I am smaller than an adolescent boy.

...They had a skull and crossbones pattern.


Also, I've been trying to figure out what order to watch Buffy and Angel in, because I'm asking for the DVDs for Christmas. Beyond a general agreement that Season 4/Season 1 crosses over a lot, the differing opinions are giving me a headache. One person says you should flip shows every episode, one says every disc will due, one says you can just watch all of Buffy before all of Angel, another vehemently protests that that ruins it entirely, another objects that the flipping ruins the flow of each show...

Oy vey.

I have no idea. Anyone familiar with them and have their own opinions to add?


Anyway, going to NYC this week. Will be seeing Next to Normal and Avenue Q! Don't care how much my dad complains about being dragged to musicals, it's gonna kick ass! (And he's totally going to love Avenue Q, at the very least.)

Also will be hitting the Nintendo store. Because I am a geek.

So, I found this new comm called comment_fic. And I went through their unanswered Dollhouse prompts and answered four of them:


Dollhouse, Topher/Dr. Saunders, Topher has his own man-reaction to Saunders hovering around him as they scan shower tapes

Dollhouse, Whiskey/Topher, Lady in Red

Dollhouse, Topher/Dr Saunders, first time she didn't hate him (This one is a genuine drabble. Yes, I am proud of that.)

Dollhouse, Topher/Claire, escape


Not sure if I want to make full posts on my fic journal with these or just make a post linking to them. I'll figure it out later.


I've been in a write-y mood, lately. This probably because it is nearing the end of the semester, and therefore I have a fuckton of work to do.

So, here’s the setup for this one. After Belonging aired, I was talking on the phone to my mom and mentioned something about Dollhouse, and she said she thought she saw part of an episode the other day. She described the beginning with Sierra up until the credits when she went, “this is creepy,” and turned it off and went to bed. Then later on she thought, “hey, I wonder if that was that brainwashing sci-fi show kay was talking about.” She said it looked interesting, if creepy, so I jumped in and asked if she wants to watch it with me when I’m home. I’m always trying to get her to watch my geeky TV shows and such. (Hey, she’s sat through Dr. Horrible, the first series of the new Doctor Who, and several episodes of Avatar and Fullmetal Alchemist.) She just kinda sigh-laughs at me and says maybe.

Also, we have a three-hour time difference between us, and I am a night person while my mom is a morning person. This conversation took place around 2 AM my time, before I went to bed, and 5 AM her time, after she woke up. We’re that cool.

Me: so you know what's weird? paparazzi photos. I never fully realized this until I started following a couple actors.
Me: I just flipped through 16 shots of an actor I like eating ice cream on the street
Mom: how are they weird - i'm intrigued
Mom: oh, yep, got it - they are indeed weird
Mom: and they get paid a lot of money for that crap
Me: not for the stalker ones taken with telephoto lenses. while they're eating ice cream and going about their day
Me: oh wait, you meant the paparazzi
Me: I was confused, because there are also a lot of bizarre photoshoots that the actors do get paid for
Mom: yep, they must still get paid a decent amount of money or else maybe their conscience would get hold and they'd quit doing weird stuff - the ones i like are "look at so and so's weird face" well duh, if you took a million photos of me, i'm sure at some point i'd be making a weird face, like when i'm licking ice cream :)
Me: http://www3.pictures.zimbio.com/fp/Fran+Kranz+Ice+Cream+Beverly+Hills+lVadSSVvtrbl.jpg
he pulls it off
Mom: oh, was he eating ice cream - i was looking at the arms and the chest! and the cute hair
Mom: who is that?
Me: I know, right? he's my new celebrity crush
Mom: i can see why - a name please :)
Me: Fran Kranz. He plays a main character on dollhouse
Mom: of course!

Later:

Me: oh, hi. just stumbled across this picture: http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/0FjpvpnjONK/Stars+Set+Dollhouse+Venice+Beach/v7N2ehD3oV6/Fran+Kranz
Mom: ahh, gotta love the papparazzi - oh, marijuana center, i almost missed that :) chest and arms
Me: haha
Mom: lol
Mom: why, yes kayla, i will watch dollhouse with you when you're home



...What?


Also, this:

Me: also ELLEN. ELLEN DOLLHOUSE IS CANCELED
Me: THEY'RE STILL GOING TO AIR ALL THE SEASON 2 EPS WHICH IS ABOUT WHAT I EXPECTED, BUT STILL
Me: D=
Elle: WHAT?
Elle: NOOOOO
Elle: NO
Elle: I REFUSE
Elle: MY LIFE IS A SHAM
Elle: I HOPE THEY MAKE A MOVIE D=
Me: I NOW KNOW WHAT IT FELT LIKE TO BE A FIREFLY FAN IN REAL TIME
Me: THEY'D BETTER AS HELL MAKE SOMETHING
Elle: XDDDD DD=
Me: BUT I DO HAVE GOOD NEWS
Me: I FOUND A PICTURE OF FRAN KRANZ EATING ICE CREAM:
http://www3.pictures.zimbio.com/fp/Fran+Kranz+Ice+Cream+Beverly+Hills+lVadSSVvtrbl.jpg
Elle: XDDDDDDD
Me: THIS IS IMPORTANT FOR REASONS
Elle: with his tongue out XD


The other 15 photos can be found here, btw.

Why am I posting so much? Clearly, I have a lot of THOUGHTS and FEELINGS this week.

Explanation of the Year Award goes to my genetics TA:

“It’s like if we had a sperm bank, and we sent it to the moon…and there’s a population of women up there…See, the organisms don’t move, but the alleles…This is a horrible example; don’t remember this.”

“No, I’m pretty sure we’re gonna use ‘Moon Women’ as an answer on all our exams from now on.”



On an unrelated note, I evidently cope through fic writing.

It’s not the fact that Dollhouse is cancelled, though that does suck. My worst fear was that we wouldn’t even get all the season two episodes, and when it was confirmed we would, I’d pretty much excepted that two full seasons was all we’d get. It’s the fact that it was announced now.

It’s that there’s no sense of hope for it.
It’s that people aren’t even going to bother promoting it now.
It’s that there are still nine episodes left to air, and people are already acting like it’s gone.
It’s that the cancellation will hang over the rest of the season and make it all a bit depressing.
It’s that Amy Acker’s only in three episodes this season.

OKAY. FROM THIS SENTENCE ON, THE SADNESS IS GONE. I am only going to access it while writing depressing, self-indulgent fanfic and contemplating the downward spiral that is my life (life not actually a downward spiral; quoting a friend of a friend here).

There are nine episodes left in this season, and unless FOX has a death-by-fan-rage-wish, we will get to see them all. It ain’t dead yet. And I have all the confidence in the world that these episodes will be fucking awesome. The writers knew a third season was unlikely, so the finale is likely to be a very satisfying conclusion. And it looks like we’re going to get lots of backstory and intriguing mythology for the rest of the season. And we get double Dollhouse throughout December, starting just over three weeks from now! Who’s pumped for that? I am!

I refuse to let this color my enjoyment of the remainder of this show. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to try and do something productive until 9, at which point I will watch Glee, conveniently forgetting it airs on FOX, because that show never fails to make me smile with its ridiculous and delightful Glee-ness.

Or maybe I’ll just make a crappy Whiskey fanvid to that “I’m a bitch, I’m a lover” song. Because I think that’s funny.


…

…Okay, one more gif:

( Happier, Dollhouse-ier ones behind the cut )

Bonus Dancing Mal:

So, funny story. While I was writing my Topher-as-Whiskey’s-handler AU, I took a break at one point to read a HIMYM fic before going back and writing a few more paragraphs. When I read over what I had just added, I realized that I had written ‘Barney’ instead of ‘Topher’ at one point.

Clearly, Barney’s secret job is as a Dollhouse employee. No wonder he can’t tell anyone.


Anyway, I’ve started watching Merlin recently. People have been talking about it more and I love the hell out of that Arthurian legend/medieval fantasy stuff, so I figured why not? It’s pretty delightful. Some of the effects are a little cheesy, but I watch Doctor who, so. =P The dragon actually looks pretty badass in long shots; it’s just that close-up they use when he’s talking.

Also, is it just me, or is there some weird, vaguely creepy tension between King Giles Uther and Morgana? It could very well be just me. His voice does funny things to me, and it could be making me interpret everything he does as more sexual than it really is.

I’ve almost finished the first season, but my friend just started watching Firefly for the first time and quoted it at me, so I took a break to embark on the Great Firefly Re-Watch ’09. We watch Serenity this Friday during laundry, so after that I’ll get back to catching up on Merlin.


On another Whedon-related note, the other day instead of studying I said, “I want to watch that episode of Dollhouse where everyone gets high.” So I did. And I noticed that in one scene you could almost read what it says on Topher’s bracelet:

( there is an image here )

Still can’t actually read it, but you can see that there are words. I don’t even care if it’s significant, I just want to know what that sumbitch says.

And I cut it out so the image wasn’t enormous, but Topher is wearing socks with hula girls on them in this scene. I just felt everyone should know this.


Also, I rewatched True Believer the other day as well, and I noticed a neat script structure thing. Toward the beginning of the episode, we have this exchange where Topher says something complicated, Claire translates it, and he reluctantly acquiesces:

( quotes )

I just thought it was a cute parallel thing that was almost certainly intentional but I never noticed before.

Yeah, pay no attention to me.

So, let me tell you the story of how SmallChild!Kay was traumatized as a wee Trick or Treater and has had mixed feeling towards Halloween ever since.

Once upon a time, the young Kay was about five years old, give or take a year, and all dressed up for Halloween. I can't recall if she was witch or a black cat or a beloved cartoon character this particular year, but rest assured she was cute as a button. She lived on a military base at this point, so Trick or Treating went down under a very specific timeline. When the appropriate time came, her mother - who was also dressed up, being lovely and a good sport - took her door to door with her little pumpkin pail in search of candy.

All was well until they reached The House. Now, The House seemed fairly ordinary. It was modestly decorated and the porch light was on, indicating that Trick or Treaters were welcome. No one was waiting, but a scarecrow had been propped up in a plastic chair, and a bowl of candy was set on its lap. This was not unusual for this neighborhood. The young Kay could recall many other folks who could not be home that night setting out bowls of candy with little signs requesting the children only 'take one please'. She could also recall the rather douchebaggy and too old kids who liked to dump the entire bowl into their pillowcases of candy. Nonetheless, this bowl was still full. At her mother's encouragement, the young Kay stepped forward, spied a piece of her favorite candy, and reached out to take it.

Then it all went horribly wrong.

With a fierce roar, the scarecrow sprung to life! The bowl of candy fell to the floor, and this demon of All Hallows Eve reached forward in a rage. The young Kay knew true terror. She shreiked and dropped her candy. She ran for her mother and hid behind her, clutching her hand for some relief from this nightmare.

The scarecrow backed down and began to apologize profusely. His terrible visage melted away for a more human face, but the damage had been down. Not even the scarecrow's mother telling him off and offering the young Kay as much candy as she liked could ease the pain.

From that day on, the young Kay viewed Halloween with a mix of anticipation and trepidation. Anticipation for the goodly amount of sugary sweets and the delights of fun costumes. Trepidation for the likes of that demon scarecrow.


...That being said, I made a kickass pirate costume a couple years back using only things found from a thrift store and the dollar store.

So my friend tells me that in French, 'I visited someone' means 'I visited someone' and you have to say 'I rendered a visit to someone' to avoid the suggestiveness. I vote that in English we turn this around and make 'I rendered a visit to someone' mean 'I rendered a visit to someone.'

Don't ask. I've wanted to do this ever since realizing it was Amy Acker in that one episode of How I Met Your Mother, and I finally gave in.

New rule: If a stupid idea makes me giggle for more than a minute, I'm not allowed to think about it anymore because I will end up doing it.

I just wrote a little bit of fic in relation to Dollhouse 2.04. It was written fairly quickly and doesn't quite feel complete, but I'm not sure what else I want to do with it yet. So, I'm continuing my 'posting half-finished fic bits' thing.

( 'Belonging' spoilers. Topher/Claire-ish. Topher's losing it, and he probably doesn't mind as much as he should. 605 words. Warning for language and creep? )

I slept for like 12 hours last night. I still feel kind of crappy, but the sleep and a hot shower definitely helped.

Okay, as promised! Here are my reactions, written out as I watched the episode. This episode was so crazy. I’m sure if I watched it again, I’d have even more thoughts. I already rambled on way too much, though, so I’ll restrain myself. Here we go:

( Spoilers for Dollhouse 2.04 - Belonging )


Damn it, I’m really interested in all these characters, and I really don’t want this show to be canceled. Most of the time I get into shows once they’re no longer on the air. This ratings-watching thing is agonizing.

On an unrelated note, the sky is REALLY clear tonight! You can see so many stars! As space and dinosaurs tend to reduce me to a seven-year-old version of myself, I pressed my face up against the car window as we were driving back from Taco Bell.

Me: The sky is soooo clear! It’s amazing!
Rachel: The people in that van probably think you’re staring at them.
Me: Look, look! The Big Dipper! It’s right there and so clear, look!
Rachel: I can’t. I’m driving.
Me: But it’s really cool!

Dollhouse was really really fantastic, and I have thoughts and feelings to share, but right now I am all congested and sniffly and my eye is watering and my head is fuzzy and I can't really remember too many details, so I will do a play-by-play tomorrow when I rewatch it on Hulu.

I'm going to take some nyquil and sleep now.

Fuck. This. Shit.

Man, this week was already heading toward Longest Week in the History of Weeks status, but at least I had Dollhouse to look forward to. Now even that delight will be slightly tainted.

Sigh. And I was just thinking that they seemed to be promoting it more lately.

Okay. Positives:
1. Still a new episode tomorrow.
2. Double episodes when it comes back in December!
3. So far, they’re still planning to air them all.
4. The fan outrage is delicious and encouraging.
5. Nearly have my friend caught up on the episodes. Tonight is the last stretch.
6. This will give me time to get the long-distance friend into it, as all episodes are legally available and she won’t have to play catch up while new ones air.
7. Will also have time to finish that pre-series AU fic where Topher is a handler (I’m blaming czgoldedition) without getting distracted by new ideas or having random details Jossed. (It’s an AU, but still.)
8. I can try to finish some of my backburner HIMYM fics.
9. Gives me time to seriously look into Yuletide this year, instead of thinking about it the day sign-ups close, panicking, and wimping out.
10. Something about real life and not getting distracted from schoolwork.

…Still ticked, but better.



Animated gifs make me happy, okay?

PROTIP: Headphones go over your ears, not around your neck. Then you can hear the music, and nobody else has to! Which, you know, is kind of the point.

Okay, I just posted, but I was thinking about this a lot last night. So, here's me speculating about Dollhouse again:

( Dollhouse theories and speculation, mostly Whiskey-related, with spoilers for all the aired episodes )

Okay, that took a long time to type and make coherent. It's dinner time now.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Interesting Moment of the Week: My chem prof inadvertently revealing his crush on Abby from NCIS.

TV News of the Week: Caught up on the two Glee episodes I missed because of Wednesday labs running long.

Confession of the Week: I teared up a little during the last song of the last Glee episode.

Eating Habits for the Week: Midnight runs to pizza places and fast food places, TV dinners, and half-pints of ice cream.

Food Obsession of the Week: Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey Ice Cream.

Good News of the Week: Got my friend to start watching Dollhouse. The jury is still out on if this is genuine interest or a desperate defense against my flailing about it to her.

Bad News of the Week: Double-whammy genetics and chemistry tests and a lab next week.

Looking Forward To: New Dollhouse next week!