Would that this hoodie were a time hoodie!

So, you know those two escaped convicts that they keep showing on the news? My dad can't keep from giggling every time they say, "It is believed that [insert woman's name], the cousin and fiance of [insert convict's name], aided in his escape." I'll admit it, I too laugh every time. Oh, incest! How hilarious! *sigh*

The 30 Day Shipping Meme
Day 15 - What is your favorite real life movie pairing?

I pretty much covered my favorite real life ship on Day 10, and this meme shamefully neglects films, so, it had to be changed! Now, my favorite movie pairing. I think I'll go with the one that has pretty much been the basis of my entire shipping history:



Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins. This is probably my favorite scene in the entire film. This is the closest they ever get to pouring their hearts out to each other and they can't even do this without fighting. Henry is so friggin' emotionally stunted that he simply can't just admit that Eliza means something to him (beyond her being his plaything). Eliza is finally standing up to him and trying to express what she feels for him, and it's clumsy and defensive and not romantic in the least, but that's kind of their thing, and Henry just... he plays with her head, but at the same time, he is being genuine through a lot of this scene, and it's those genuine moments that have always won Eliza over, but she's not falling for it this time! No sir! And this breaks his heart, because he's terribly lost without her and he doesn't even know how it happened. I so, so love how he immediately calls his mother after Eliza leaves him and he sounds like a confused child as he says, "She's gone." And of course this scene is followed up with the "I've Grown Accustomed to her Face" scene, where he's storming back to his house and is mad jealous of Freddy and wishes Eliza and Freddy nothing but misery, and he switches between this fantasy and realizing that his own life without Eliza will be empty and meaningless, and even though the song itself is not the most romantic sentiment in the world, it's huge for Henry. That he let this woman get under his skin, that he suddenly depends on someone else to make his life complete, this baffles and scares him, but he's finally come to accept it. And the first thing he does when he goes into his (very empty even though he has a billion servants) house? He turns on the recording of Eliza's voice and listens to it with a fond/sorrowful smile. AND THEN ELIZA SHOWS UP. AND HE TELLS HER TO GET HIS SLIPPERS. And in Henry speak this means, "I love you, never leave me again," and it somehow ends up being the sweetest ending ever, even though it's kind of not, BUT IT TOTALLY IS.

Day 16 - What is the absolute worst pairing?

At one point in time, Betty/Henry from Ugly Betty was the bane of my existence. They just... ugh, they bugged the crap out of me with their syrupy sweetness and manufactured angst. I just couldn't take it anymore. It's not that they didn't have chemistry, because out of the plethora of love interests that Betty had, Henry was the only one where I ever felt any real chemistry between the actors (besides Daniel/Betty, of course, which was a different kind of chemistry, one that I liked, you see). But yeah, Betty/Henry was responsible for making me kind of hate Ugly Betty. But you know what? The show went on to do things that were 20 times worse than Betty/Henry, and somewhere along the way I completely forgave that ship and had even longed for the days when Betty/Henry was still a thing.

The only other ships that I have despised as equally are Shawn/Juliet from Psych and Paul/Echo from Dollhouse. They both elicit misery and nausea from me. I utterly hate what the Shawn/Juliet romance did to both of those characters. They just bring out the worst in each other and I hate that, especially since they are both pretty awesome characters when they're not angsting over each other (thank god the current season seems to have drifted away from them for a bit). Paul/Echo was just UGH. Ugh ugh UGH. They still make me shudder with their UGHness.

Day 17 - A pairing you thought would never work out, but did?

I'm going to say Bill/Sookie from True Blood, because originally I never really thought that I'd love them, but then somewhere along the way they stole my heart. It's just your typical Lady That all the Dudes Want to Screw/Broody Vampire pairing that seems to be all the rage these days (and is quite reminiscent of Buffy/Angel), but there's just something about these two that draws me in. I can roll my eyes at them and balk at their lunacy and giggle at their ridiculousness and still somehow take them seriously, possibly because the show acknowledges that their romance is rather creepy. What really won me over though is how Sookie can always manage to get Bill into a flustered, perplexed anger that is just so not intimidating that it's freaking hilarious (and Sookie finds him totally adorable when he's in this state, as do I). But beyond that, Sookie fights tooth and nail for her love for Bill. She will go to the ends of the earth to save him, she will risk her life like an idiot to find him even when he tells her it's over, she'll knock some sense into him whenever he tries to tell her he's not good for her, and she'll forgive him even when he comes thisclose to killing her (which, yes, is insane, but it was part of her doing anything it takes to save him). As for Bill, he loves her forever and always. Even when he tries to push the love away, he simply can't. She's a part of him and he'll always be listening for her, watching out for her, wanting to be near her, wishing he could give her a normal life. She's his reason for living. Er... I mean... she's his reason for undeading? I don't know. But anyway, I just love his intensity and his seemingly noble intentions (even though, you know, his intentions may not be so noble after all. But heck, even if he's had ulterior motives this entire time, I still believe that he truly fell in love with her. DON'T PROVE ME WRONG, SHOW).



ALSO, THEY'RE KIND OF PRETTY.

( Next time on firthgal's journal... )

The 30 Day Shipping Meme
Day 06 - The best kiss?

Well, I pretty much covered this in the TV meme, but let me talk about it again (and then add another one just for symmetry)

1. Jeff/Annie - Community (season 1 finale)



Beautifully shot, beautifully executed, and basically it was everything that a TV kiss should be. I think what made it super special though was that 1) I wasn't expecting something that huge to happen, and 2) the conversation they have just before it makes it clear that this isn't just about hormones, it's about what feels right for the both of them (even though their conversation was about other love interests, you could feel them starting to understand that they always gravitate towards each other because they feel like their actual selves around each other). Anyway, I love that kiss.

2. Betty/Armando - Yo Soy Betty, la Fea



Okay, I love pretty much all of their kisses, but this one comes after such a long time of Betty torturing Armando's soul, and Betty has been deeply tormented by the fact that she loves this awful man that she shouldn't love and doesn't want to love, and Armando is basically lashing out at her here for way more than just business reasons and his demeanor is just egging her on into carrying out her revenge, but then, but then he appeals to her with his heart. He tells her that his life is in her hands, and if she's ever loved him at all, then does she really want to see him suffer? And oh does it get her. And she doesn't even realize that he's talking about his ENTIRE life and not just the business, because his heart was in her hands too, and he was tired of suffering (of course, she doesn't know this, because she still thinks that he's only seducing her for business reasons). It's a very, very screwed up love, and not one that I would want for myself, but oh man did they share some freakishly hot kisses. I could basically watch these two makeout all day long. And they do the realistic making out, too. The kisses are messy, intense, and kind of seedy, just like their romance.

Oh, and just for organizational reasons, here's yesterday's meme post (I had posted it along with a personal entry, so here it is in a purely fandom entry):

( Day 05 - The pairing with the least chemistry? )

( Next time on firthgal's journal... )

Dollhouse. Kind of predictable? In a character sense, I mean, not exactly plot-wise.

( spoilers )

Meme time!

1. Reply to this post with "Icons!" and I will pick five of your icons.
2. Make a post (including the meme info) and talk about the icons I chose.
3. Other people can then comment to you and make their own posts.
4. This will create a never-ending cycle of icon squee. Whoo!

zombie_boogie gave me:



A long while back, probably a year now, actually, when I was obsessing over Repo! The Genetic Opera, I made some animated GIF's of Anthony Head, and I had entitled the entry "Head Porn" and went on to say, "Head porn is the greatest porn of all." awakencordy got a kick out of that and MADE ME AN ICON OF MY OWN QUOTE! How awesome is that? I will probably never, ever delete this icon, 1) because it speaks the truth, and 2) because someone actually quoticoned me! I love it.



BECAUSE IT'S TOTALLY TRUE. Uther and Morgana have never been more married than in that hall walking scene. Uther is patronizing and Morgana is eye rolly and they're both being snarky and then they're all affectionate with each other and Uther walks away with a big smile, and it just has a very domestic feel to it.



COMMUNITY! This show has a lot of great quotes, but this is by far the most useful one. Well, either this one or "To me, religion is like Paul Rudd. I see the appeal and I would never take it away from anyone, but I would also never stand in line for it." (coincidentally, that is EXACTLY how I feel about Paul Rudd) Anyway, this quote happens in Debate 109 (greatest episode ever), where the basketball team (that's really gay) barges into the gymnasium in the middle of the debate and Professor Whitman turns around and exclaims "By Zeus, what sort of jackassery is this?!" It's pretty hilarious.



Hans motherflippin' Landa. HIS PIPE IS BIGGER THAN YOURS.



BUFFY/GILES!!!! Oh, I could wax poetic about these two ALL NIGHT. But I will try to contain myself. I just really, really love this scene. Giles is getting ready to tell her goodbye, and Buffy has NO IDEA, and he is basically dying inside because he loves her and wants to be a part of her life but he figured out in season 4 that he couldn't be what he wanted to be nor could he be whatever the heck she wanted him to be and their relationship was just one big old undefined mess, and he was feeling useless, and then Buffy starts saying everything he's been thinking and he can barely breathe because he thinks she's telling him goodbye, and then out of blue Buffy says, "I need to know more. About where I come from, about the other slayers. I mean, maybe ... maybe if I could learn to control this thing, I could be stronger, I could be better. But ... I'm scared. I know it's gonna be hard. And I can't do it ... without you. I need your help. (pause) I need you to be my Watcher again," and then he just exhales and is holding in the tears and he has this smile and it's the most beautiful thing in the world. And just like that they are fixed. He's her watcher, she's his slayer, and that's all they need to know. They were so in tune during season 5, so co-dependent, so coupley! It was a beautiful thing. I can't get over how much more boyfriendy Giles was to Buffy than Riley was. Especially any scene where Giles and Buffy were talking to each other on the phone. HIS SMILE, OMG. He was so, so in love. I don't care what anyone says, the man was madly IN LOVE with her and season 5 was the happiest/most at peace Giles that we ever got to see, and it's precisely because he got to be so involved with Buffy, and she treated him as an equal, as her partner, rather than someone to be forgotten or an annoying authority figure.

Speaking of Buffy, I just got around to reading Vol. 5 of the comics, and I have to say that that was the best the comics have been so far, particularly the Buffy/Andrew adventure (this arc was written by Jane Espenson, so it is no surprise that she's written the most delightful Andrew interactions in the whole comic book series). I had already read the Giles/Faith one ages ago since I couldn't wait for the compilation, so, I am still meh about that one, the one where the last watcher (other than Giles) was feeding children to the demon that was keeping the vampires away and he was all "Buffy ignored you for YEARS. It's HER fault that Jenny Calendar died! You mean NOTHING to her!" and Giles is all GRR face but kind of sad because he's felt that he means nothing to Buffy for a long time now and they haven't spoken in forever but he still goes to save Faith and even though he doesn't say it he still loves Buffy more than anything. I REFUSE TO BELIEVE OTHERWISE. And the rest of the arc has so many throwaway moments where people mention Giles around Buffy or do something Giles-ish and she ACTS LIKE HE DOESN'T EXIST. I just translate this to: Giles hurt Buffy when he chose Faith over her, and so now she thinks she means nothing to him, and it's easier to ignore his existence than accept that he doesn't love her anymore. CLEARLY BOTH BUFFY AND GILES ARE DOOFUSES. Why do they never learn that their love for each other is deep and eternal? They may not always understand in what way they love each other, but any way you look at it, there is love there on both sides. AND THEY BOTH REFUSE TO BELIEVE IT. They both just wallow in self-loathing and deem themselves not worthy of the other's love. OH, THEM. I don't think they'll ever learn. But anyway, their separation has been built up in all 5 arcs, so you would think that their reunion in the next arc would be epic (but it's not. From what I read on the internet, it looks like it pretty much gets brushed aside).

Wow dudes, it feels like it's been forever since I've gone on about Buffy/Giles like that.

OH MY GOD.

ETA: ( And now for a slightly coherent reaction )

First, let me just say that I am going to miss seeing Conan on my TV every night. If he doesn't get another show soon, I will probably cry. But I love him so much for being such a class act. He could have fought NBC, he could have held a grudge against Leno, he could have folded and taken the 12:05 slot, but he walked away for the sake of the franchise that he grew up loving, the show that was his freaking dream to host for pretty much his entire life, and he made us laugh while doing so. This is the Conan that I will always, always love and support. I don't know where he's going from here, but I'll follow him wherever he goes. He'll always be my favorite host of anything. ALWAYS. I never did take to Craig Ferguson, I find Jimmy Fallon dreadfully boring, can only tolerate Leno so much, and can't freaking stand Letterman unless he has a guest that I really, really love. I do enjoy watching old clips of Jack Benny and Johnny Carson, but they were both before my time (well, Carson was hosting while I was a kid, but I was too young to stay up late enough to watch him). So, Conan will always own my heart. I love the man. And I hope that NBC still has to pay him every penny of what his contract said they would.

ETA: CONAN'S BEEN PIMPED. Ahahahahaha, HO. At least he's the pretty ho.

Second, I finally caught up on Dollhouse. I just marathoned the last 7 episodes this weekend and HOLY CRAP! What an onslaught of breathtaking awesomeness, good lord. I don't understand why the first three eps this year were so awful, to the point of me wanting to give up on this show altogether (and pretty much did until I saw my f-list explode with Boyd icons on Friday night). Episode 4 restored my faith, but apparently not enough for me to keep track of when Fox was actually airing the show (seriously, I was so, so confused, so I decided to just give it up since it was being canceled anyway). Pretty much everyone has already expressed much better than I can how wonderfully mind-boggling this show is, so I'll just do a quick assessment:

( spoilers )

I know my f-list has been going crazy over DeWitt/Dominic (seriously, I think I have 10 Dollhouse friends and at least 8 of them are all about the D/D), but for some reason this ship just never managed to capture that OTP part of me. This saddens me, because I so wish I could be a part of all the squee. My Boyd/Echo shipping heart feels so utterly alone. But I don't even get that excited over them, if I'm honest, since I ship them in a platonic sort of way. All of my excitement lies with Boyd. I am a Boyd fan through and through. Anyway, I am glad that you all can't stop talking about Dollhouse, because it forced me to pick up the show again and not miss out on its epicness. I really don't get the people who diss this show, because, good god, it is AMAZING. It just has this terminal problem of being way too slow in the beginning and then hitting us with nothing but epic awesome after most people have determined that the show is slow and pointless.

---

I spent most of my sick time catching up with Colin Firth movies that I skipped these past few years, and... now I know why I skipped them. But hey, it was good catching up with his career:

Easy Virtue - I actually enjoyed this one, though it was kind of slow. But I love that it all turned out exactly how I wanted it to. And Colin was totally sexy, which is all that really matters, yes? And Ben Barnes has a pretty singing voice. And the film made me laugh quite a bit.

Accidental Husband - Worst rom-com ever made? It's very possible. Uma Thurman and Jeffery Dean Morgan make Paul/Echo look like they have smoldering hot chemistry. Seriously, they were that terrible together. Colin Firth, however, was adorable and amazing as always, and he had so much more chemistry with Uma that it simply did not make sense that she was in love with the other dude. The film was kind of excruciating to sit through, honestly, and I got fed up and started fast-forwarding to the Colin bits. Will never ever watch this film again. It was so horribly cast that I just can't fathom the casting director ever getting anymore work.

Genova - Most pointless movie ever? It's very possible. I am not big on indie films, nor am I big on realism, so this movie was almost as excruciating for me as Accidental Husband was. The difference though is that this film was extremely well-acted, the little girl especially was very good. But this is just not my genre, and I kind of hate it when my favorite actors do these kinds of films, even though it totally shows off their acting chops. But I watch films to escape reality, not to be reminded of how sucky the world is. The only film that I've really enjoyed like that is Keane, and I'm convinced I only dug that film because I watched it at the height of my Damian Lewis obsession, so I didn't mind staring at his head for an hour and a half. Plus, he and tiny Abigail Breslin were simply amazing together. But anyway, back to Genova. Not even Colin's cuteness could save this one for me, because it was just too depressing, and I kept waiting for something to happen, but nothing ever did.

---

I also watched numerous other movies in my sick time, and they were pretty darn good (I believe I already mentioned my love of Up in the Air, so, here are some others):

The Lovely Bones - OMG, SUCH A GORGEOUS FILM. I didn't think I would dig this one, simply because these child kidnapping stories disturb me more than fictional things normally do, but I sucked it up and watched it because the previews kept making me want to, and, goodness, this film is so beautiful and heartbreaking and suspenseful and it almost has a whimsical quality to it. It also helps that it was a little bit of a psychological thriller. Everyone was amazing in this film, especially the girl that played Susie. It seems like it would be a tough role for someone that young to grasp, but she was excellent. And, that scene, the scene where she gets abducted, the whole time you know what's going to happen, and yet I was still squirming and yelling at my computer screen the whole time. But they didn't show anything in detail, so the film didn't disturb me at all like I had feared it would. And I so loved how they handled the afterlife aspects of the film. It reminded me a little bit of What Dreams May Come, only, surprisingly, it's not as heavy as that film. Through all the hurt and fear going on in this film, there's also a lot of hope and love and peace that comes with the moving on. Gorgeous film.

Precious - Another superb film. It disturbed me on many levels, but it also had a sort of whimsical note to it through all the atrocities that Precious experienced. Here's a girl whose parents rape her and beat her and tell her she's worthless, but she still has the ability to dream, and to love, and to not give up. It's actually kind of surprising how much this film made me laugh, but it had so many good lines, and it's one of those films that can make you laugh one minute and then in the very same scene make you break down crying. I was just blown away by this film, and if it doesn't win anything at the Oscars, I'll probably be a little angry. And, dudes, I didn't even recognize Mariah Carey in this film. I knew in the back of my mind that she was in this film, but I didn't see her, so I was like, "What? Mariah's not in this film." But she was. And she was really good. And Mo'Nique was the mother, but I didn't put it together in my head that she was Mo'Nique until the film was over and I was like, "OMG, WHAT?" She was just... wow. So different from her typical roles. She was brutal in this, totally became the character. I don't know if this film just had a really great director or what, but the performances were so, so good. I've seen Mariah and Mo'Nique in other films, and they were nowhere near this good at acting before, so I suspect this film had a darn good director. But anyway, that feeling of hope that ran through this movie kept it from being a total downer. And Precious, despite her circumstances, was still very much a 16 year old girl. She was such a beautiful character. Out of all the films I watched last week, this is probably the one that has stuck with me the most.

Sherlock Holmes - Now this, my friends, is my kind of movie. It was hilarious and awesome all around. I did not expect that much kung fu. I love that pretty much every action film these days has to have some kind of martial arts in it, and they're all going Jackie Chan style with the picking up of random props and using them to fight with. I LOVED the slow-mo think-it-out and then the live action where you see how ridiculously fast the moves are. I never knew that Sherlock Holmes was this badass. And Watson! And Holmes/Watson! They were beyond adorable together, and I loved Holmes' jealousy of Mary, and I kept thinking through the whole thing, "Ah, now I see why House/Wilson is always being compared to Holmes/Watson." They basically were House and Wilson, only more cheery and way more lovable. I also loved that Mary understood Watson and Holmes' relationship, and she knew that Holmes loved Watson just as much as she did. And the tension between Holmes and Mary was amazing. Basically, I OT3 the heck out of Holmes/Watson/Mary. Irene I didn't care for so much. I feel like she could have been way more kickass than she actually was. It seemed like she was just an afterthought to remind us that Sherlock Holmes isn't actually gay despite the fact that he wanted to marry Watson himself. And in the end she was just a plot device to introduce something more important. So, she was pretty much the only weak point of the film, I felt. But she wasn't bad or anything, just kind of pointless. And I am sad that Mary couldn't be in on the adventures, too. Mary was awesome! I think I love Mary more than I was supposed to. It is becoming a fatal flaw of mine to always fall for ridiculously minor characters.

---

The 30 Day Meme
( The Days meme - Days 18-24 )

---

Just in case anyone is interested, I wrote an Uther/Morgana drabble for the kink meme a couple weekends ago:

No Room for Regrets

I probably won't post it anywhere else, but thought I'd at least un-anon to my f-list. For some reason I was in a kinky sex-and-murder mood that day. *shrugs*

Just watched Dollhouse. GREATEST EPISODE OF ANYTHING EVER. God, I am baffled as to how this show can make me yawn one week and blow my mind the next week. This episode was absolute perfection from start to finish and exactly what Dollhouse should be all the time. I was so incredibly moved by this episode, and horrified, and on the edge of my seat, and moved, OMG. Sierra was phenomenal, and Victor, and TOPHER, and Boyd, and Adelle, and Echo. Gah, all the awesome people got to be extra awesome, and we were free from the epic fail that is Paul. BOYD, HOLY CRAP. That dude is way more badass than I had previously thought. Now I'm really curious about his past. I'm guessing he was a fallen FBI agent turned hired hitman before he got to the Dollhouse, and it would explain his lack of morals (even though, you know, he likes to voice concern, but he still gets the job done, always. He follows orders first and foremost, but he seems to be a bit of a rogue agent in everything that he does). Gaaaah, this episode. Everyone should watch episode 2x04. EVERYONE. This is what Dollhouse is supposed to be about. If the show was consistently this awesome, it wouldn't be in danger of cancellation. Anyway, this episode was epic in every way, and best of all, I finally, FINALLY got me some Boyd/Echo and Boyd/Topher interaction. It was glorious.

There are certain moments, certain little things that Anthony Head does that leave me in awe of how absolutely brilliant he is. This time, it's his reaction to the arm grab (yes, I am still obsessing over that). The more I watch that scene, the more it kills me. Just, he spins around in such a graceful manner, and then he's in this state of complete confusion, not sure how to handle this situation, and he's kind of embarrassed because everyone is seeing how he is so at Morgana's mercy, and his natural inclination is typically to put people in their places, but he looks into Morgana's eyes and his step falters and this sorrowful look comes over his face, and he is just lost to her:



They are in their own little moment there, and he wants so badly to make things better for her, but he can't, and once he comes out of his daze he looks around the room and remembers that there are other people in there, and he knows that Morgana is going to hate him and freak out, and just... guh, it's so heart-wrenching. And all this comes from a simple falter in his step that ASH gives to Uther. GOD, I LOVE THAT MAN. He brings such a beautiful vulnerability to the character. And I love this bit almost as much as I love the arm grab:



The way he is so desperate to hold onto her, to keep her from leaving their own little world, to keep grasping onto that tiny shred of a moment where she welcomed his love and they weren't at odds, to comfort her, and she just pushes him away and it freaking wounds him even though he knew it was coming. And he eventually turns away from her when she goes to Arthur because he just CANNOT TAKE the fact that she is shutting him out and acting like he doesn't matter. And, in the end, he really doesn't, because Arthur does get Gwen back. He was able to do for Morgana what Uther couldn't (even though, you know, it was more for Arthur himself than for Morgana, but still). And I so love that Morgana can wound Uther so easily by first acting like he's the only other person in the room, to doing an about face and acknowledging everyone else while ignoring him. GOD, WHY ARE THEY SO ANGSTILY BEAUTIFUL? I love them. I wish they had a more prolific fanbase. I know I say this pretty much every day, but the fact never changes. I find them damn near impossible to write well, so perhaps the fandom has the same problem, I don't know. Of course, my specialty seems to be comedic angsty fluff, so... Uther/Morgana is so the wrong ship for me. BUT I LOVE THEM. A LOT.

On a side note, I love that, when perusing all the general posted fan reviews for this past episode, it seemed like at least half of them mentioned the fact that Uther and Morgana are creepily married to each other, or if not that, then they at least mentioned the Uther/Morgana shippers. So, the ship is gaining wider notice, which is always a good thing. People are finally noticing that we exist! Woohoo! Now, if only some of them would write some epic fic for us, that would be fantastic.

I was speaking with pollyesther1 about why I am sort of in love with Arthur/Gwen, and even more so now that Lancelot is in the mix, and I'd thought I'd post my thoughts here since the Arthur/Gwen detractors have been more vocal as of late (and, believe me, I fully understand the complaints and kind of share them a little bit, but then I get all GUH about Arthur/Gwen and forget my complaints, so, here you go):

People keep saying that there's no chemistry between Gwen and Arthur, but I personally see loads. It may not be as strong as Merlin/Arthur, but it's there. It is just that their relationship is awkward, and they want to get to know each other better but they can't. Arthur feels a strong pull towards Gwen because, in his view, she makes him a better man. She is the only woman who has ever treated him as anything other than the king's son. She makes him feel special not because of his title, but because of who he truly is. So, I get Arthur's intrigue in her (and, really, I cannot stop myself from justifying his attraction to her by saying that Gwen is a socially acceptable manifestation of Arthur's love for Merlin). Gwen, on the other hand, has always felt a certain pull towards Arthur (you can see this in series 1 if you look close enough), but he was always not what she was supposed to want, and so she would focus on his poor qualities rather than his noble ones. Now she's been confronted with the man she's always known was there but refused to see, and she isn't allowed to explore the newfound feelings she has for him. And then along comes Lancelot, and everything is just so much easier with him. He is noble and brave and heroic and everything she's ever wanted in a man, and now he lives only for her (while Arthur has his father and Morgana and Camelot to deal with). In addition to that, Lancelot and Gwen have that instant meeting of souls attraction going on even though they don't actually know each other too well. They don't have to work at love because it's just existed for them all along, even in the moment when they first met back in season 1. With Arthur, it's messy and complicated, and Gwen is hesitant. And now, her feelings for Arthur will never be able to compare with the epic soulmatey love that she feels for Lancelot, and it's all just going to be so very tragic, and I have a feeling that Arthur will always know he's not #1 in her heart, but he'll always try to be, no matter what. So... yeah, I'm pretty happy with how the show has set up Arthur/Gwen/Lancelot so far. And as I said last night, when you really get down to it, the true romance of the show is still Merlin/Arthur, because Merlin is the one who is there for Arthur always. When Uther dies, when Morgana becomes his enemy, when Lancelot betrays him, when Gwen leaves him, Merlin will be there for Arthur through all of it, and he'll be the one keeping Arthur whole.

--------------

I neglected to talk about Dollhouse on Friday, because I was wicked tired and went to bed at 10:00, which I haven't done in a long, long time. Anyway, I freaking loved that episode of Dollhouse. You know why? VICTOR. VICTOR IS THE GREATEST. PLEASE KEEP HIM AS KIKI FOREVER. My heart sang with glee at the fact that Boyd was going to be Echo's handler again. Like, you have no idea how hard I was smiling at this news. I was waiting the entire episode for their big reunion. And... I never got one. Not one single interaction. BASTARDS. Instead I was subjected to Paul ogling a naked Echo, and then he was ogling Echo in her co-ed outfit, and GOD, THE WHOLE THING JUST NAUSEATES ME. They are worst pairing in the history of pairings. They lack chemistry, for one thing, and for another, EWW ICKY GROSS, PLEASE STOP. I would much rather be subjected to Shawn/Juliet on Psych for hours than to sit through five minutes of Paul/Echo. *shudders* This is how strong my aversion to them is. Just... show, please, make Paul Victor's handler instead of Echo's, because Paul is adorable and lovable and sweet when he's interacting with Victor. Anyway, aside from Paul/Echo, this episode was awesome, and it's the first time this season that I have not wanted to abandon this show.

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Back to Anthony Head, because I love the man. He is the sexiest man in all the world, and yet... there are times when he makes me laugh uncontrollably with his unintentional gayness. Times such as these. Bwahahahahahahahaha. I marvel at the fact that I still totally want him, hoop earring and all. ♥

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This song reminds me of why I so thoroughly love Phil Vassar:



I mean, I know that the majority of his songs all sound the same, but oooooh do I love his lyrics. And his voice. And his muscles. And his dreamy smile. But anyway, I still stand by my statement that if my life had a narrator, it would be him. Not that any of you actually know who Phil Vassar is, but you totally should, because he's awesome. Especially in concert.

Also, this song never fails to make me cry:



LOVE! Love love love.

An oldie but goodie:

01. Anyone who looks at this entry has to post this meme and their current wallpaper at their LiveJournal.
02. Explain in five sentences why you're using that wallpaper!
03. Don't change your wallpaper before doing this! The point is to see what you had on

( If this surprises you, then you obviously haven't been reading my journal )

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Dollhouse. It was... better than last week, I suppose, but not really, because IT DID NOT HAVE ANY BOYD. WHAT THE FREAKING HELL? What is with my TV shows this week leaving out my favorite characters? That's just not cool. And if his absence ends up somehow being linked to Claire, UGH. I WILL NOT BE A HAPPY CAMPER. I think I am the only person ever who is completely turned off by Boyd/Claire. At the risk of being pelted with potatoes, I will just say it right now. I'm not a Claire fan, never have been. She has her moments, but generally I am not too fond of her. I seem to like her best when she is facing off with Topher. But when paired with Boyd? She's just... not interesting. And neither is Boyd, which is sad, because usually I love that man with a burning passion. And... neither one of them were in this episode, so why am I talking about them? I DON'T KNOW. Basically, I just really, really miss the Boyd/Echo dynamic, and it is becoming clear to me that they were my main reason for watching this show. They were the heart and Dominic/DeWitt was the troubled soul. DAMN IT, SHOW! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO RUIN WHAT I LOVED SO COMPLETELY? And this is definitely a me thing, because most of my f-list is still enjoying the show immensely. So, I don't know what's up with me.

But anyway, the whole craziness with Echo in this episode? Would have never happened had Boyd been her handler. She wouldn't have run from Boyd because she would have felt an inherent trust in him the second she looked into his eyes, but when she saw Paul? All she felt was danger, and this KEEPS HAPPENING. And the show keeps trying to tell me that Paul and Echo's relationship is deeper and built on more trust than the Boyd/Echo relationship, but that's just not happening. Not at all. Echo has no emotional investment in Paul, while Paul is way too intense in his emotional investment in her. With Boyd, it didn't matter who Echo was, imprinted or not, she always had an affection for him, and Boyd always managed to have an innocent, totally not creepy at all devotion to Echo that was motivated by love. Paul is motivated by his libido, which will be even more evident in the next episode. UGH. UGH UGH UGH.

Also, this episode reminded me how much I miss Paul/Mellie. GOD, THEY USED TO BE SO BEAUTIFUL AND EPIC! And then this ep just dangled the awesomeness of their chemistry in our faces while they shoved Paul/Echo down our throats. NOT FAIR. Honestly though, I think I would ship Paul/Madeline even harder than I had shipped Paul/Mellie. Madeline is freaking wonderful, but obviously something is not kosher with her and her detached view of life now.

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I had a whole lot of trouble sleeping last night, so I decided to watch Ghost Town on HBO OnDemand while eating some chocolate covered gummy bears, and... this movie? It was surprisingly delightful. Although, I am more inclined to enjoy things at 3:00 in the morning than I am during normal hours, because it is a sweet reprieve from my utter uncomfortableness when I'm supposed to be sleeping. But anyway, it is always surprising how I manage to enjoy Ricky Gervais despite my non-liking of him. I mean, I don't hate him, but I don't exactly think he's all that talented. Mostly, he's just kind of a douche with the most annoying laugh in the world. And yet... I always end up enjoying him. Even though he plays the same character in every single thing, the only difference being his level of douchiness. But hey, I'm a Will Ferrell fan, so obviously that doesn't bother me. It's just... I don't get why I enjoy Ricky Gervais, because, well, I don't like him all that much. And yet I do. I don't know, it's crazy. But anyway, this movie was an enjoyable experience, though I would have preferred it without the mediocre love story. I would have preferred that Pincus changed because of Frank, and not because of Frank's wife, because honestly, the Pincus/Frank relationship was so much more interesting than Pincus and Frank's wife, but a love story is typical for these kinds of movies. I guess if they had made the whole ghost thing about Frank getting through to his wife, it would have been too much like Ghost. But seriously, I wanted Pincus to stay dead and drift off to heaven with Frank and bicker with him forever after. It would have been beautiful. But alas, they went with the poopy love story. Blerg. But the movie made me chuckle quite a lot, and that was really all I was looking for at 3:00 in the morning.

ASDFGHJKLJSDFHASDJFHSDGF!!!!!! Just pretend that Sarah Parish isn't there and it's like those are Uther and Morgana's wedding photos. OH YES. This one is obviously Uther entering the bedroom on the wedding night. OH GOD, HE IS ONE FIERCE MOFO. *shivers* I have a feeling that that will be my new desktop by the end of the night.

ANYWAY, now that that's out of my system, PSYCH! Oh, Psych. Just when I think I'm out, it pulls me back in. This episode was positively delightful, and it proves that every single episode centered around Gus is Psych at its best. Also, Lassiter and Juliet continue to act like they're sleeping together. And Juliet was so anti-Shawn in this episode that it was delicious. I know it won't last, but I will enjoy it while I can. Anyway, the Shawn/Gus-ness of this episode made my heart sing. They are so, so beautiful. This ep was just hilarious/awesome from start to finish. It helps that it was entirely about a cappella music...

So... Dollhouse. It was... not great. It's like they took everything that I loved about this show and flushed it down the toilet. I don't like where they've taken Boyd, I find Boyd/Claire epically boring, I cannot freaking stand Paul/Echo, they've given us less fight scenes and that was my #1 favorite part of the show (the one we did get in this episode was wicked awesome though), and the show is missing something without Dominic. The only thing I liked (besides the ONE fight scene) was the Claire/Topher scenes. Those were amazing, and I want more of that. Basically, if not for Topher, I would have seriously pondered dropping the show. Which is just sad, because it was one of my favorites last season. I think part of the problem is that I watched "Epitaph One," so I know how it ends. Or at least, I know how Joss intends to end it in terms of where the characters go, and now there's no mystery left for me. There's nothing to figure out, because I've already seen what it all leads to. WHY DID I WATCH EPITAPH ONE? WHY? *sigh* I am very disappointed. But, season 1 had a crappy start and ended up being ridiculously awesome, so perhaps the same thing will happen with season 2.

( Dollhouse: Epitaph One - Of course the only two ships that I loathed on this show are the only ones that end up being canon. Oh universe, you live to mock me. )

( Dollhouse: Unaired Pilot - SO much better than the aired pilot. Damn, FOX is stupid for meddling with this show. )

( Torchwood: Children of Earth - I knew everything that would happen beforehand, and yet my gut still got kicked in the crotch. )

( Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - Slughorn rules all )

I had more fandomness to talk about, but I think I am all tapped out for today. One thing, though. IN PLAIN SIGHT! OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!!!!! I will probably picspam this baby, because I need some way to express my giddiness. It was AWESOME IN EVERY WAY IMAGINABLE! OH GOD! MARSHALL!!! I'm even kind of tempted to write a fanfic, which I haven't done for this show since... jeez, mid season 1? AAAAAH, MARY/MARSHALL, YOU ROCK MY WORLD!