Bethany

When did I become such a facebook whore? I used to keep such a strict LJ = fandom / FB = real life divide that basically ensured that I never used FB because... well, we all know my fandom >>>> RL priorities; but somehow I migrated all of my TV talk over there and I'm not sure how it happened. WILL BE REMEDIED SOON. Also, this possibly makes me a total bitch, but am I the only one who gets so annoyed when people make completely boring facebook updates? "____ went to work all day, then the grocery store to pick up paper towels, and now I'm going to bed. Tomorrow I'll stop by the post office." UMMM SORRY, NOBODY CARES. (Haha, this is probably how 95% of the people I'm friends with who don't watch Lost have probably felt about me for the past week or two, but... whatever. I demand to be entertained. How dare my friends expect that I be interested in their lives. Psssht! ...Yeah, all right, this does make me a total bitch.)

lalumena gave me some interview questions that I have been stalling on answering because they are just so hard-hitting! I am anguishing over choosing the perfect response for them! Girl, journo has made you positively ruthless.

( Meme! )

Two memes in one, bam!

Give me a character from any fandom I know at least fairly well, and I will tell you:

A) My OTP
B) The runner up
C) The anti-ship
D) My unpopular fannish opinion on said character
E) One person he/she never fell in love with, and why

and also

Reply to this post, and I'll tell you one reason why I like you. Then re-post this and spread the love.

Drive-by post before I have to get ready for work -- so, remember how I did some massive gushing over the BBC America Robin Hood page? Well! WELL. I'M ABOUT TO DO IT AGAIN.

First of all -- GO LOOK AT THEIR WALLPAPERS. Yes, that's right, there's a Guy/Marian wallpaper. And not a Robin/Marian one. LOLOLOLOLOL.

Second of all -- the Hunks of Sherwood forest is still awesome. This month: Sir Guy of Gisborne hasn't taken the death of Marian very well; after all, it's his fault isn't it? Can his humanity be saved or has he lost the ability to love anyone ever again? LOLOLOLOLOL.

Third of all -- check out the games! There's one where you get to be a sort of Nottingham stock broker and play the market to earn enough money to pay your taxes. I lost. The Black Knights burned down my house. Also, the Nightwatchman stole half of my money, that bastard (who does he think he is, Robin Hood?).

Fourth of all -- apparently the character playlists aren't gone, after all? ??!???! I was doing the "outlaw or villain" quiz, got Marian as my result (which, by the way, I wasn't even aiming for, but heccccck yes), and, after a particularly thrilling character blurb (Lady Marian: If only the world were black-and-white; you'd love to embrace the outlaw spirit, but you can't just up and leave civilization. You have obligations, and you have people you hold dear that you cannot abandon. What's your solution? You work inside the system to make change, playing innocent while secretly undermining those in power.), there are two links -- one to a character banner, and one to THE CHARACTER PLAYLIST WHAAAAAT. Well. I'm not sure if it actually works or not -- it redirects to iTunes, which I don't have installed, so I couldn't see it. But it's definitely worth further investigation for those of you who do have iTunes on your computers.

AND. YES. I'M MARIAN. THE INTERNET SAID SO, IT MUST BE TRUE.

Okay, these are probably new to nobody but me, but -- I was just browsing through the image galleries at Lucy Griffiths Online because, I don't know, I like to torture myself with the fact that SHE NEEDS TO BE IN MORE THINGS and WHY DOES SHE HAVE SUCH DODGY HAIR NOW and UHHHH OH MY GOD WHAT? IS THAT LAV-LAV? and other such nonsense. Um, but anyway, I digress from the true subject of this post -- the quotes page! How have I never heard some of these before?:

[About starting Robin Hood] "Everyone was completely new to me. They all knew that it was in their best interests to be friendly, but I just think these people are pretty damn funky!" Best cast description ever Y/Y?

"Marian is not exactly a weak character; she's physically quite able, as well as verbal, and she actually goes around doing her own fighting and protects other people. She's a strong woman and, although she loves Robin Hood desperately, you get the feeling that she could live without him because she's strong enough on her own." OH. OH. JUST... ♥ ♥ ♥

"I just absolutely love working with Richard [Armitage]. He’s probably the best scene partner I've ever had… He allows me to say what I think about my performance and his performance without getting angry about it, and the other way around. I often will ask him if there’s something he can suggest to help me out, or if he can give me a reason. If I’m finding something difficult, I can ask him why he thinks that might be. We have a very good friendship as well. We laugh a lot together." If they never ever manage to ever do another project together, it will be such a tragedy.

And in related news of lovely ladies who wow me with their awesome interviews, it seems every time there is a new article about Katie McGrath I just fall in love anew: 1 2 I had no idea she used to be a wardrobe assistant! That's awesome! Or that she was set on doing journalism but then changed her mind after, uhh, actually doing it. That I can certainly sympathize with. I don't really know why, but I am so utterly charmed by her career path, haha. ALSO ALSO ALSO I cannot waaaaait for "To Kill the King" to air on NBC on Sunday. I might cry slightly less this time because I'll get my family to watch it with me but, man, she is such a friggen powerhouse in that episode.

Ooh, and somebody at isabella_giz introduced me to this blog which has some gorgeous scans of Lara Pulver that, again, are completely new to me. How have I been missing out on all this stuff for so long?

- I can't decide which one I love more, this Hornblower/Bush vid to "I Touch Myself" or this Sam/Gene vid that inspired it. Oh, internets, DON'T EVER CHANGE.

- There is quite a good deal of win to be found over at trek_crack, but the intro post especially is not to be missed. Unsurprisingly, the Spock/McCoy bits are my favourite (ohhh man, Bones' little 'yay medicine/boo engineering' shout bubble? LOVE).

-I've started watching The Prisoner (been meaning to for ages, and now it's all up on AMCTV.com! How convenient!). After one episode I am confused as hell and will probably have nightmares for days, which means that I like it and plan to watch more.

- ETA: I almost forgot! If you haven't already joined in years past, you should all go check out the lost_bookclub; how else are we to occupy the long, lonely Wednesday nights between now and February? Also, I'm leading the Philip K. Dick month so, y'know. Be there or be square and all that.

And now for the Robin Hood portion of our evening:

- ARMITAGE -- GOOD LORD -- THAT MAN SHOULD BE ILLEGAL. The show has been off for all of... three days, and already I miss having him in my weekly schedule.

- I think I may have unraveled a portion of my deep and abiding love for all things related to the Gisbornes (aside from the obvious bits where they are smouldering and lovely and act circles around the material they're given): namely, brother and sister both are so stuck in the 80s and totally should have ended the series by starting their own heavy metal/hair band.

( Image cut, but only because I am a nice person )

Don't lie. You know you want it. I am actually contemplating a "Gizzy is Stuck in the 80s" playlist, but I don't know if I'll ever get around to it. Plus, man would it be hard to narrow that down. Maybe it'd be better to just hand out an instruction manual. 1. Put on Aerosmith/Van Halen/Def Leppard/Billy Idol/whatev. 2. Mope about until your simmering woobiness comes to a boil. 3. Angst to death.

- My great Robin Hood Rewatch continues! This is making up for the fact that I never posted about these episodes when I saw them for the first time:

1.06 - All of the "sparring" between Vaysey and the abbess is just an unparalleled delight to watch, hee! And once again with Gisborne being surprisingly religious -- I think this is swiftly becoming my new show-related obsession and some day I will have to do a proper write-up of my feelings on that. For now I find it interesting that on the one hand he can be so solemn and venerative in his attitude toward most church practices, and yet so completely derisive of Marian going to a convent. I suppose here it's more kneejerk anger, whereas in 2.08 it's more outright mocking (although I have to admit that I always join him on that when I watch the episode. Marian: "Okay, well, now that we're done having a jaw-droppingly hot make-out session, I think I'll just pop back into the convent." Guy: "Ummm, I don't think that's how nuns work. ...Have you been talking to Allan?"). Essentially, Guy is such an odd inconsistent bumbling idiot when it comes to omg pretty girl!!! Yeah, like that's news, but still. I know Armitage said of the first series that he wanted to make people's skin crawl during the Guy/Marian scenes, but mostly in this episode they just make me laugh at Guy's expense for being a GIANT AWKWARD CREEPER.

1.07 - Aaaand so Guy's wooing dumbness continues. "Curses! I need to get Marian another present but I didn't have time to go to the store. Well, this one looks nice; pity somebody else is already wearing it. ... Wait, who am I kidding, I'm mothereffing Guy of Gisborne and I'll take what I please and shoot sexy glances at passerbys as I do it." For the most part, though, this episode is far less about the awkward and far more about the epic angst and twisted attraction and betrayal potential and, oh dear, is this not what sold me on Guy/Marian from the start (because, yes, this was indeed the first episode of the show I ever saw)? Far more than my purely shallow thoughts along the lines of "oh dear they are so terribly attractive and to hell with the storyline let's just have the Richard & Lucy hour of hotness all the time," I was just so blown away by how well they feed off of each other as actors, how Marian's utter distaste for Guy begins to be eclipsed by her need to use him, how Guy's foundations are crumbled and rebuilt and crumbled again every time he encounters Marian anew. It's such a watershed moment for the two of them, when suddenly their relationship shifts from that of a relatively pedestrian match dictated by gender roles and societal conventions to that of a charged, inextricable political and ethical entanglement. The full gamut of emotions that the two of them run through in the proposal -- well, it's just as impressive to me now as it was during that fateful first viewing two years ago, when by the power of their sheer awesome they conspired to TRAP ME FOREVER AUGH (the "Feel it, it is real" line SLAYS ME EVERY TIME). And, shockingly enough, the bits of the episode that don't have to do with Guy/Marian are still interesting, too! Ah, yes, the good old days when the gang actually had relevant plots. The Allan/Djaq! And Will/Allan! And in fact just general Allan-ness of it all! Also, once more the Sheriff is so hugely badass here. How could I have missed the fact that he gives Guy an ass slap??! And then when he's busy goading Guy into taking his revenge on Marian -- yeesh. (Possible but doubtful significance to the fact that Vaysey refers to Marian as a "leper," given Guy's family history? I still sincerely doubt that the writers had any of that backstory in mind at this point in time, but at the very least it is one of those happy accidents of show canon.) I love how Keith Allen can be so alternately thrilling and chilling, especially during the hanging.

- In conclusion, can you tell that I'm still unemployed? Geez. Tomorrow I'm meeting up with one of the ladies I used to work for over the past few summers, so we'll see if anything comes of that (except of course all of that was "unpaid non-profit community enrichment" and now I NEED MONEY, PEOPLE).

I swear one day I will be able to say I HATE YOU, ROBIN HOOD and really mean it, but... today is not that day.

I decided to go ahead with the "Hells Bells" vid, and dang diggity this song is just so much fun! It's also going to take about a million years to finish because it's over five minutes long and right now I've only gotten through about the opening 20 seconds. I'm spending way too much time combing through old episodes to exploit all of the gorgeous religious imagery, especially in regards to Guy (a surprisingly consistent character quirk for Giz, and it makes such an interesting contrast with Vaysey's self-proclaimed godlessness. Eeee vid fodder!). For the most part I already watch episodes with "Team Castle" blinders on, but doing it now with actual purposes reminds me of just how entertaining and dark and action-filled and wily and twisted and sexy and fun they all are. Golly. "Evil People Being Evil (or Maybe Occasionally Just Morally Ambiguous, or Maybe Even Justified in Many Ways But Still Not Very Nice)" should be its own show and I would watch that mess every day of the week. While cruising my YouTube favourites for inspiration I stumbled across an edit of 2.06 with just Guy/Marian/Allan/Sheriff scenes and I'm pretty sure my brain exploded from sheer awesome. After 2.13 I worried that everything I loved about S2 would be forever tainted, but... nope. (Well, okay, that's partially a lie -- when I was going back through 2.12 I got sucked into watching all of the Guy/Marian scenes over again, as seems to happen so often, and THEY ARE KILLING ME SLOWLY. STILL. The scene at the inn and their long silent look and Guy's desperate, "I need to know," to Allan kind of make me want to throw up my insides.) 2.06 is still as delightful as ever, from Guy and Marian getting all Beauty-and-the-Beast over her wardrobe to SUSSEX!!!!! to gladiator battles over massive vats of boiling oil to Guy rescuing Marian while Robin sulks in the forest AHAAAHA BEST PART OF THE EPISODE -- okay. Ahem. I just really, really love it, okay? And I don't care what it says about me as a person that I even now still cling to Guy/Marian, because I will love them forever and ever amen.

Then I also made some progress on my proper rewatch starting back with series one. Right now I'm through "Turk Flu." (So, yes, I did finally sit through the entirety of "Parenthood" again. WHY GOD WHY, that episode is so terrible, once again redeemed only by Marian and her greatness.) I freaking LOVE that episode, possibly because it is the first time I feel kind of sort of not guilty for maaaaybe shipping Guy/Marian...? I mean, as plausible as it seems in later episodes, there at the beginning when Guy was all STABBING DUDES and ABANDONING BABIES and HAVING BAD HAIR... I tend to feel a little sheepish about my investment in them. By the time Guy invites her to the fair, though, my heart is filled by their awkward-but-somehow-hot chemistry. Another thing that struck me in this episode was the opening confrontation between Guy and the Nightwatchman, who he instantly assumes is a subordinate of Robin Hood. My first thought was, wait, how exactly does that make any sense? Hasn't NWM been around about a zillion years longer? And then I realized that, snap, Marian really was right about the extreme discretion she used with that guise, because it would seem that not even the tiniest rumor of her actions had reached the castle -- at least not before the whole kerfuffle in 1.03, when I'm sure Robin probably even name dropped NWM to the Sheriff. But before that? Completely under the radar. Ugh, Marian, just try to be more perfectly awesome, why don't you?

I completely forgot about Allan being stoned off his gourd at the end of that episode, ahaha. Good lessons for the children: don't ingest strange fungi you encounter in the forest.

And Djaq! Bweee!

And Will and Allan squishing together in a tiny barrel cart to sneak into the castle! Double bweee!! (ETA: Or, wait, whoops, that was 1.04. Okay, so maybe that episode has more than one redeeming value.)

And wow is this post rather pointless. Hey, I bet you guys didn't know I was completely over-invested in this cheesy reboot of a medieval legend, did you? Oh, wait...

I was feeling quite self-satisfied last night when I managed to peel myself away from the computer at the not-totally-ridiculous hour of about a quarter to midnight and head to bed.

And then, of course, I couldn't fall asleep.

("Time to establish normal sleeping patterns before going back to school!" the sensible half of my brain says. "But... but... think of all the Stargate we could be watching!" counters the other half. ...You see my dilemma).

I turned to my old standard method; viz., popping on the headphones and cruising the frequencies for some music to help me sleep. Fact: the radio is about a thousand times more awesome in the middle of the night. Less morning chatter, more "When did my adult contemporary station suddenly turn into a jivin' disco party mix on Saturday nights? *scandalized* *but intrigued*" My ultimate late night radio guilty pleasure -- Delilah. Oh yes, I listen. And occasionally cry, even. "OH MY GOD CYNTHIA FROM TEXAS EVEN THOUGH HE'S A JERK I AM SO SO SORRY THAT YOUR EX-HUSBAND WENT TO JAIL BECAUSE YOU CLEARLY AREN'T OVER HIM BUT GIRL DON'T FORGET YOU ARE SMART AND BEAUTIFUL SO DON'T BE AFRAID TO LIVE YOUR LIIIIFE!!" Although often ridiculous, it is sometimes genuinely sweet; and it plays the perfect sort of late 80s/early 90s "smooth (AKA boring) hits" for me to fall asleep to.

Last night I happened to be in the middle of listening to Genesis' "In Too Deep" when I gave myself a sudden case of the giggles because, well -- for some reason I've always connected this song with House/Wilson, and that is... so very, very lame. On so many levels. Once I started thinking about it, I realized that I actually have a tendency to do that with a lot of lame songs. You know, songs that are waaaay too embarrassing to ever include on any sort of fanmix, and yet that you can't help intimately associating with a particular show/ship/character/etc. A few of mine:

House/Wilson: ...I have no idea how/when/why I subconsciously appointed Genesis with providing the soundtrack for these two, but there you have it. "In Too Deep" (AHAHAHAHAAAA THE VIDEO MAKES IT ABOUT 125,947 TIMES BETTER *WIPES EYES*) as previously mentioned.

I know you're going, but I can't believe
It's the way that you're leaving,
It's like we never knew each other at all
It may be my fault,
I gave you too many reasons for being alone
When I didn't want to
I thought you'd always be there

Perfect for upcoming S5 post-Amber angst Y/Y?? And then "That's All" (IF POSSIBLE EVEN BETTER THAN THE LAST VID) offers a nice Wilson perspective (fits BEST ca. S2, I think):

Turning me on, turning me off,
Making me feel like I want too much
Living with you's just putting me through it all of the time
...
Truth is, I love you
More than I wanted to
There's no point in trying to pretend
There's been no one who
Makes me feel like you do

Star Trek: TOS: If I had the proper clips from the show, I would vid this one in a heartbeat. I mean, I can visualize it perfectly as an OT3 vid, and it's what plays in my head every time I listen to Michael Bublé's rendition of "I'm Your Man".

If you want a partner, take my hand
Or if you want to strike me down in anger
Here I stand
I'm your man
If you want a boxer
I will step into the ring for you
And if you want a doctor
I'll examine every inch of you

(Most ridiculous lyric ever? "Howl at your beauty like a dog in heat"? WHO WRITES THIS STUFF? And yet... I love it shamelessly.)

Robin Hood: I'm pretty sure I've already shared this one, but it's so perfect that it bears repeating. Robin/Marian (!! I KNOW!) to the Beach Boys' "Wouldn't It Be Nice":

Wouldnt it be nice to live together
In the kind of world where we belong
...
Maybe if we think and wish and hope and pray it might come true
Baby then there wouldn't be a single thing we couldn't do
We could be married
And then we'd be happy

Coincidentally, I love it for all of the reasons I ultimately don't ship Robin/Marian: it's youthful and sweet and over-idealized and way unrealistic for their situation. But, still, d'awww... it would be nice.

And, err, I think I already shared my embarrassing Guy/Marian pick.

SGA: Okay, the other thing that convinced me that this "ridiculous fandom songs" thing was a decided trend and not just a freak occurrence -- I also listened to my Emmy Rossum CD a bit last night, and "The Great Divide" (with a bonus PotO vid, as if we somehow needed to up the dork factor on this) has inexplicably become a central SGA song for me. I picture it, like... you know, mid-disaster McKay? Worn paper thin and hating the world but somehow using this moment to remember what he's fighting for and who he's fighting beside.

Help me calm this hurricane
Before this moment slips aways
Are you listening?
Don't turn away when I say
I need you

I think what makes me happiest about this is my complete and utter assurance that Rodney would, like, actively loathe it. *cackles*

Finally, this is suuuuch a silly John song: Adam and the Ants "Los Rancheros":

Soon my worries
Will be gone
Ranchero-ee-oo-o
There's a bullet with my name on it

To make me feel less epically lame, I now invite you all to share your own goofy inner soundtracks (fandom or otherwise).

As threatened, I couldn't resist compiling a picspam of all the best Guy/Marian hand!porn moments. Obviously quite image heavy, and it encompasses all of both seasons.

( These two just can't keep their hands off of each other -- not that I'm complaining! )

For the third and final part of my Fictional 2007 review, I bring you my year in television shows. This post has been an embarrassingly long time in the making (as evidenced by the fact that I did the first two within the same day and yet have been adding onto this one for the better part of the week), because, wow. I don't think I quite realized just how many new TV shows I've picked up on the wayside. I remember a few years ago making an agreement with myself to limit my major TV fandoms to only House and Lost, because I was HUGELY invested in both of those and didn't think I could make room for another obsession of a similar caliber. And then somehow I justified watching a few summer shows, some reality TV, maybe some educational programming... and holy bejeebies where did all these fandoms come from? I also blame the fact that, through some installation mix-up or something, I've been getting full cable (70+ channels) at school for the past semester despite the fact that I only pay for basic (about 15 channels); and being the terrible person that I am, I've decided to milk the mistake for as long as I can (and, ooh, spooky coincidence -- my Comcast bill literally just popped up in my inbox as I typed this. Weirdly enough, this is one bill I don't get annoyed at paying; instead, I get excited about having another month of TV!!! :D Yes, I am in desperate need of a life).

Caution: contains lots of large-ish images, as well as spoilery discussion of the most recent seasons of Lost, House, Robin Hood, Psych, Star Trek: TOS, Star Trek: DS9, American Idol, and Pushing Daisies

( Part Three: Television )